Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter belong to the wondrous mind of J.K.Rowling. I am simply borrowing them.
A/N: Hey y'all. I have no way of knowing if you like my fic or not as only one person has submitted a review. My thanks to Lunewen. You should read Lunewen's story How I Will Live which is turning out quite good.
Harry Potter and the Shards of Voldemort's Soul
Chapter 8: And a Child Shall Lead Them
Harry stirred weakly, his nostrils filling with the faint scent of bacon and eggs cooking. He opened his eyes twisting his head around to take in his blurry surroundings. He groped around for his glasses and found them on the night table. His vision now in focus, he finally recognized Ginny's room and remembered that Hope had fire flashed everyone to the Burrow. He briefly remembered her shocked face before passing out. Looking around, he found himself alone, but did see a chair pulled close to the bed and knew that his friends must have been keeping a watch over him. He heard a soft coo and he looked up to see Hope sitting protectively over him on the bed board. Harry reached up to pet the bird's soft neck who starting preening under his touch.
"Thank you for keeping watch Hope," Harry said softly. Hope cooed again and sang a note that brought a smile to Harry's face.
"Where is everyone girl?" Hope sang another note and turned her head towards the door.
"What? Is everyone down in the kit...," Harry started to say, but stopped at the sight in the doorway.
"HARRY!" cried Ginny who promptly dropped her steaming mug with a shattering of glass and raced to the bed burrowing her weeping face in to his chest. "W-we were s-so worried about y-you," she stammered out. Harry reached out and patted her shoulders awkwardly, unused to comforting weeping girls. .
"It's ok Gin, I'm fine, just a little drained that's all," he said soothingly.
"A little drained," she exasperated. "Harry, you've been unconscious for two days." Ginny's face collapsed again in to his chest weeping loudly. Harry sat there in shock with Ginny crying in to his chest.
"Two days," he breathed. "I've been unconscious for two days?" She nodded in response.
"Yes, we've been very concerned Harry," said a voice from the door. Harry looked up to see a disheveled looking Remus Lupin who stood in the doorway wearing his familiar plain brown robes. His face was lined and his eyes were bloodshot and blackened seemingly from lack of sleep and Harry knew that Remus had been one of his watchers. Waving his wand over the shattered glass, the broken pieces flew together to flawlessly reform a mug, although now it was empty.
"We thought that we were going to have to send for Madame Pomfrey again to check on your progress," Remus explained while moving over to the chair next to the bed. Slowly, Ginny's sobs died away and she lifted her tear-stained and bleary face from his chest and whimpered softly. Staring in to her face, Harry felt guilty for scaring her and his friends. Hope trilled a soft note and Harry nodded his head in agreement. She was right, it couldn't be helped. They needed to escape and this was their only method available.
"So what's been happening here?" Harry asked as he propped his pillow against the head board. Ginny sat down beside him on the edge of the bed and Harry's heart skipped a beat at her closeness. He almost reached out for her, but resisted the impulse to kiss her senseless. Luckily, Ginny had not noticed, but he thought that out of the corner of his eye he saw Remus quirked his mouth slightly. Damn his werewolf eyes. Ginny turned to give Remus a quick glance suddenly and Harry saw that they were giving each other a strange look and wondered what he had asked that was such a touchy subject. "What, what's happened now?" Then he remembered that he had brought the Dursleys and the Malfoys with him and his heart sank.
"Well," Remus began.
"It has been a very interesting couple of days since you've been unconscious," said Ginny finishing Remus' sentence. Harry didn't know if he really wanted them to continue but he bade her to go on.
"Well, the Malfoys and the Dursleys are both at Headquarters, although most of the wards have fallen, the Fidelius charm is still in place." Harry's eyes widened at that last bit of news.
"How is that possible? I mean with Dumbledore dea….gone; wouldn't all of his spells fade away, why would the Fidelius charm still be in place?"
"In a normal situation, I would agree with you Harry, but this is far from a normal situation. Albus apparently used two Secret Keepers when casting the Fidelius over headquarters."
"Two? I didn't even know that was possible. Who's the other Keeper?"
"That's the problem, we don't know. Albus left a bunch of notes with the address of Grimmauld Place on it so that we could bring others to Headquarters if we needed to. They would have to have been written by the other keeper or they wouldn't work now that Albus is dead," Remus answered.
"I wonder who the other keeper is. Do you recognize the hand writing?" Harry queried wondering who possibly could be the other Secret Keeper that would not be known to those in the Order.
"Unfortunately no, no one seems to know who the other keeper might be. We even asked Aberforth, Albus' brother, but he doesn't know either and has sworn that he is not the other keeper himself," Remus continued wearily rubbing his tired eyes.
"Strange," Harry murmured stifling a yawn. Despite the fact that he had been sleeping for two days, he still felt quite tired.
"What else has been going on?" he pressured them. But before Ginny could respond, Remus cut her off.
"Harry, there is plenty of time to discuss that later. For now, we should get Madam Pomfrey over here to check you out and then move you to Headquarters."
"No, I'm going back to the Dursley's as soon Madam Pomfrey gives me a clean bill of health. I owe it to Dumbledore and I need to renew the ties to the Blood protection from my mother," Harry said with determination. Remus gave him a crestfallen look before continuing.
"Harry, I'm afraid that going back to the Dursley's is out of the question since the Death Eaters have razed it to the ground," Remus explained softly. Harry eyes widened in shock then he gripped the side of the bed with fear.
"What about Hedwig?" Harry cried out. Ginny reached over and grabbed Harry's hand to calm him.
"Harry, Hedwig is fine and resting comfortably at Headquarters," Ginny said soothingly. Harry breathed a sigh of relief.
"I think that's enough questions for now Harry. You still need your rest," Remus said sternly.
At that moment, Harry stomach chose to nosily voice its objection to having a lack of food. Red-faced, Harry stammered," Guess I'm a little hungry." Ginny chuckled and Remus grinned.
"Madame Pomfrey did say to feed you when you awoke, guess your stomach is voicing its agreement to that. Come on, Molly is sure to have breakfast ready." They all got up and went downstairs; Hope leapt from her perch and settled down on to Harry's shoulder.
The kitchen was unusually quiet, save for Mrs. Weasley bustling in front of a few pans of bacon and eggs. Harry always marveled at the use of magic to cook and prepare food, so much different from the normal way of doing things, or rather the Muggle way of doing things. For years, Harry was the sole cook in Privet Drive, his Aunt and Uncle forcing all of the cooking chores on to him. Remember some of the food that his Aunt Petunia had cooked for them, he could understand why. At his entrance, Molly spun around giving a squeal of delight, her face lighting up at the sight of him.
"Oh Harry," she exclaimed before crunching him in one of her fierce breath-expelling bear hugs. Struggling for air, he tried squirming his way from her tight grip.
"Molly, if you don't let him go, you'll send him back in to unconsciousness," Remus told her humorously. Embarrassed and red-faced, she reluctantly let Harry go which resulted in his taking a big gulp of air. Chuckling, Ginny led him to the table, where Molly flew the plates of toast, eggs and sausages and bacon to the table. Harry was flooded with the sweet aroma from the food and his stomach voiced its impatience once more. Not wasting any time, he dug in to the food, shoveling as much into this mouth as possible. The others watched him in shock, almost frightened by the savage ferocity of Harry's ravaging. Suddenly aware of their scrutiny, he looked up mid-bite and saw the looks on their face and felt ashamed. He realized how he must look and wondered if this was how they looked at Ron when they saw him eat. He suddenly felt very exposed and felt like crawling in to a corner and hiding.
"Sorry," he stammered out, "I just feel extremely hungry."
"It's ok Harry, its just we've never seen you eat as much food before in your entire life. You could almost be a twin for Ron," Ginny said gently, suddenly aware that they were making Harry feel uncomfortable.
"Well, Poppy did say that Harry was going to be hungry, I guess this is just a result of the potions we've been giving him," Remus explained. Harry still didn't look convinced and suddenly didn't feel like eating.
"Harry, don't worry about a thing. Just eat up as much as you like. When you're finished, we're going to take you to Grimmauld Place, there are quite a few things that we have to go over," Molly said, trying to distract him back in to eating. Nodding silently, Harry continued to eat, but this time forcing himself to go at a slower pace. He wondered what all had happened for the past two days that they were not telling him. They ate in companionable silence, not wishing to disturb the peace of the quietness in the house which was a rarity considering that it had housed several children at one time or another. Once finished, Mrs. Weasley cleared the plates from the table before ushering them to the fireplace. Feeling a sense of dread, he realized that he didn't really want to go back to Grimmauld Place. He had never felt that it was his home, not since Sirius' death and it always brought back empty feelings inside. But now, those feelings were multiplied by the guilt he felt by Dumbledore's loss. Would this nightmare ever come to an end, would he be up to the task of taking out Voldemort? Hope felt his distress and nuzzled against his cheek. Smiling, he reached up and rubbed her neck gently. She trilled softly in to his ear and Harry nodded his understanding. She leapt in to the air before flashing away in a flare of fire. Ginny reached over and squeezed his hand warmly. Smiling, he looked up at her and felt her love and affection for him. Ginny had known his thoughts and heard Hope's words of encouragement. Yes, there was hope left in the world and love as well. He squeezed her hand back and poured as much love in to his gaze at her, willing her to understand how much he really cared for her, but just couldn't express in words. She smiled back in understanding. Yes, they were definitely going to be alright again.
Taking the bag of Floo Powder from Remus, Harry stepped towards the fireplace gingerly. He had always hated Floo travel ever since his first ill-fortuned trip down Knockturn Alley just before his second year. He threw the handful of Floo Powder at his feet and announced loudly his destination and in a flash of green fire, he was tumbling out of the Floo at Grimmauld Place. Instinctively, he paused, looking round the place as if waiting for Sirius to come around the corner to greet them. But Sirius did not come, could not come as Sirius was dead. He suddenly remembered too late that he needed to move away from the fireplace when he felt a weight collide in to him, knocking him to the floor. He knew it was Ginny on top of him, he could feel the curves of her body pressing against his back and for a brief second, he wanted nothing more then to turn around and kiss her endlessly. But now was not the time.
"Harry, I'm so sorry," Ginny stammered out, her face bright red.
"No Gin, it's my fault, I was lost in thought. Are you ok?" Harry replied while they helped each other up.
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you." They both stood there for a moment holding on to each others hands, not willing to let go.
"Ginny," Harry said softly, his throat catching slightly.
"Yes Harry," Ginny replied softly. Her heart was beating rapidly, her blood racing at his touch. She loved Harry so much, she just wanted to have him hold her forever and never let her go.
"Gin, if we don't move right now, we're both going to be sprawled out on the floor again," Harry told her. The moment dashed like a splash of cold water, she realized where they were and blushed again. They stepped out of harm's path second before Remus came out of the Floo brushing the soot off of his robes.
"Well it looks like the riff raff's back," came a drawling voice from the top of the stairs. Harry looked up to see the unmistakable form of Malfoy, smirking down at them. His heart stopped for a moment; how long had he been standing there? Was he watching them?
"How long have you been there?" Ginny voiced his own thoughts. Draco smirk widened.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" he replied again before turning away from the stairs. Molly turned to address the teens. "Well, I'm going to start preparing lunch as we're having quite a few visitors today," she announced. "Harry, after lunch, there is going to be a special meeting and you and the kids will need to be there." Harry blinked for a moment in confusion. What kind of special meeting and why were they now so approving of his being at order meetings all of a sudden? Well, maybe if Hermione is ready with her contract, this would be a good time to address the order about his concerns and plans. Yes, this may work out after all.
"Ok Mrs. Weasley, no problem," he said simply.
"Harry, I think Hermione and Ron are in the library. I'll be back, I have to go speak with Minerva about a few things, but I will be back for lunch. See you then, Harry," Remus told them. Harry nodded and Remus ruffled his already messed up hair. Grinning, Remus turned and Disapperated with a soft pop.
"So, should we go find the others?" Ginny said while heading to the stairs, but Harry grabbed her hand to stop her.
"Ginny wait. There's something that we need to talk about," Harry said gently. He led her in to the living room which was thankfully empty and sat her down on the sofa. He looked deeply in to her chocolate brown eyes and strawberry hair and his heart melted. How could he have ever wanted to leave this girl who had so captured his heart? This must be love, because he couldn't stop thinking about her. He cared so much for this girl that he would do anything to protect her. Therein was his problem. How could he protect her from Voldemort when he couldn't even protect himself?
"Ginny, I really care about you. But, I am really scared of loosing you," Harry started to explain, his voice catching again. Ginny opened up her mouth to interrupt, but Harry forestalled her by gently placing a finger on her lips. "I can't protect you from Voldemort. I can't even protect myself. I can't loose you to him. I've lost so much in my life; I just can't loose you too." Tears were now welling up in his eyes and he turned his face away from her. He didn't like to show his emotion, he felt it made him look weak. He felt a soft touch on his face before Ginny wrapped her arms around him.
"Harry, I love you. I love you more then anything else in this world. I understand why you wanted to break up with me. But, you have to understand that I can't live without you either." Harry her voice catch and his heart broke to know that he had hurt her so.
"Harry, I am not the type of person to sit idly by and watch other people take a stand for what is right. If you intend for me to be that person, then you've got the wrong girl. You want me to be apart from you because you fear for my safety, ok I can understand that. But, no matter what, we are all in danger and it may come to pass that I might have to defend myself. You can't be there at all times to protect me; you'll just have to trust that our love for each other will get us through any obstacle." Ginny tightened her grip on him and Harry his own arms around hers, reveling in her closeness. Harry turned around to face her and he almost smiled at her stern serious expression on her face. God, she was so beautiful, he thought.
"But Gin, this is no school duel, these are grizzled killers and it is very possible that you could be killed, even more so because you're with me," Harry protested, but he knew that she would broke no argument and didn't know if he really wanted it otherwise.
"Harry, I wouldn't be the girl you fell in love with if just sat back to shy away from danger. Yes, I could very well be killed in this war, but then so could you, which is even more of a possibility then me being killed," she told him flatly. Harry opened his mouth to protest, but this time Ginny cut him off with a finger on his lips. "Harry, you asked me about how you would feel if you were sitting at my funeral. Well, how do you think I would feel if I were sitting at yours? Don't you think that I would feel the same way?" He could Ginny's eyes fill with tears and his own eyes started to water once more.
"Harry, I know what you have to do and I understand the risks. But, no matter what, I want to be there for you, to help you in any way I can and to love you as much as I can. We only have one life to live Harry and I want to live it with you." Ginny fell in to his arms which Harry gratefully received, wrapping his arms around her and hold her tight. His face was meshed in to her hair and took in that flowery scent that aroused him so much.
"Ginny, I haven't had much experience with love in my life. But what I feel for you is so strong that it could only be love. I love you Ginny Weasley. I love you so much that it hurts. I want you to be with me, to help me and to love me. But, I need you safe. You must promise to stay out of the fight, to give me a reason to come back and believe me, I really want to come back to you."
"Harry, I can't promise you that I won't be caught in a fight, but I can promise you that I will be careful. I love you too Harry Potter, more then anything in this world, I love you," Ginny replied, her heart bursting.
Seeing, the love in her eyes, Harry placed his hands tenderly on her face and pulled her in to a fierce kiss. She melted in to his grip and responded in kind, holding on to him with all of her might. Her hands encircled his back, caressing and feeling the folds of his muscles. Harry deepened the kiss, his tongue seeking entry in to her mouth. She opened her mouth slightly and his tongue entered, swirling around her own sending her a flood of new sensations. She moaned within the kiss spurring Harry onwards. She felt his strong hands caressing her back, his fingers trailing down her spine to her waist, lightly grazing her butt. She started leaning back on to the sofa, pulling Harry down on top of her, feeling his strong chiseled chest on her heaving bosom. She wanted nothing more then to rip the shirt right off his body to feel his bare chest against her. She moaned again and arched her back, revealing her bare neck, which Harry graciously started to suckle gently. She moaned again curling her hands through his messy hair, this time louder and Harry suddenly became very aware of where they were and that Ginny's mother was only a short distance away.
"Ginny," he said urgently pulling out of her embrace breathing heavily. "Ginny we have to stop." Ginny frowned at him, her own chest heaving as she tried to regain her breathing. "Believe me, it's not like I don't want to, but not here and not now. Ginny, we can't do this yet. You not of age yet and I don't want any of your brothers to come here with wands blazing." She sighed as his sudden flair of nobility came to bear and reluctantly separated.
"I understand Harry, but I am my own person and my brothers will just have to get used to the fact that you're mine and that we will be together. Otherwise, I'll have to use my patented Bat-bogey hex on them," Ginny said sternly lightly touching his cheek. Harry grimaced at the thought, knowing what Ginny could be like when she was angry. He equally quailed at the thought of Ron and the others all trying to hex him for deflowering their baby sister.
"Face it Harry, you're mine and I'm never going to let you go," Ginny said with fierce glint in her eyes.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," he replied with a smile. "Come on; let's go find Ron and Hermione. Maybe we'll catch them in mid-snog," he said with a smirk. Ginny made a retching sound causing Harry to laugh. "Most likely, she'll be in deep study mode." Ginny laughed knowing that was probably the truth of it.
They quickly made their way to the library and sure enough as Harry thought, Hermione was face deep in a book. Surprisingly enough, Ron himself was also absorbed in a large volume that Harry easily recognized as being one of the books that they had brought with them from Hogwarts. Hermione was definitely starting to rub off on Ron as Ron would never before spend his time reading a book when he could be playing Quidditch, Chess or Exploding Snap. Yes, they have all had to grow up rather quickly in the past few years. Soon enough, Harry would be leading them all in to a battle that they all might not ever return from and it scared him half to death. Shrugging that thought aside, Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and they strode forward together hand-in-hand. Hermione looked and smiled at their clasped hands, thankful that they had finally worked their problems out and could become a foursome once more.
"Hey mate, glad to see you're finally awake," Ron said with a grin. "We were starting to get worried." Harry could see the dark circles around Ron's eyes and with a quick glance at Hermione, saw that she was in the same state which said that both of his friends had been standing over him throughout the past two nights as well. It gave a warm feeling to know that they cared so much for him.
"Yes, you gave us all quite a scare, but I'm glad you're ok," Hermione said earnestly. He could see her eyes glisten with a couple of unshed tears and knew that she was hiding her fear for him, but she blinked them away quickly and were gone. "I'm also sure that Mr. Weasley is quite overjoyed that you're no longer sleeping in his daughter's bed," Hermione told him with a smirk causing Harry to blush fiercely. She gave Ginny a sly wink who returned it with a giggle.
"You might as well have a seat Harry, there's a lot to tell you," Hermione said who promptly sat upon the opposite facing couch next to Ginny.
She proceeded to re-tell the events of the past two days, starting with the huge argument in the Weasley kitchen. Harry listened intently and smiled at Ginny over her courageous denunciation of the adult's maturity level picturing the sight in his head. Hermione then explained that she and Flitwick had completed the contract for both the Order and the Malfoy's to sign and that it was a binding magical agreement preventing anyone from even speaking about Harry's plans or the Order to anyone but another Order member. If they tried, then their mouths would snap shut and they would be unable to speak for approximately thirty minutes. The contract's magic recognizes that each Order member will be wearing the Phoenix pin and that without that Pin, then they would not even be able to recognize another Order member's pin. Should an Order member be captured, the Phoenix pin will also act as a special one-use Port key that will take them to a secure location.
"This will prevent any Order member from telling your secrets to anyone as they will be under a magical vow of silence. But if they are captured, then the Pin's Portkey can be activated to move that member somewhere safe which prevents the captors from using Legilimancy to reveal confidential information. All they have to do is touch the pin and say Home of the Phoenix and it will only work an Order member," Hermione explained to him, her face beaming, full of pride which was well earned.
"Good work Hermione. I knew that I could count on you," Harry said marveled at her cleverness.
"You should have seen her Harry. She threatened them all with a contract that would steal their magic if they turned on you. She was brilliant," Ron said with a prideful look in his eyes. Hermione blushed fiercely before snuggling in to Ron's shoulder. Harry smirked at them. It looks like their relationship is finally working out for them; at least until their next fight that is, Harry thought.
"So where are the Dursleys and the Malfoys now?" Harry asked them.
"The Dursleys and the Malfoys are on the Third Floor, but they are a few rooms apart so they aren't right next to each other. The Dursleys won't eat in the kitchen so we bring the food to them and Kreacher is currently serving the Malfoys, so we don't see much of them either," Hermione explained.
"Kreacher is serving the Malfoy's," Harry said incredulously. Hermione grimaced, but nodded grimly. Hermione was always outspoken about the rights of House Elves, but Kreacher was one Half Elf that didn't deserve such kindness. Kreacher was loathsome and vile and had betrayed Sirius which had cost him his life. Harry had inherited Sirius' belongings which unfortunately included Kreacher, but he had never managed to get him to serve willingly. The two times that he had ordered Kreacher to do something had been met with strong resistance.
"It's disgusting really; he was actually sobbing at Malfoy's feet and even cried out in joy when he was kicked aside. I'd say it'd be punishment for him if he wasn't so bloody happy about it," Ron said drawing out a stern expression from Hermione. "What?" Ron asked in confusion but Hermione just shook her head sadly.
"Well as long as he stays out of my way, then I don't care what he's doing," Harry muttered. He never wanted to have anything to do with Kreacher period, but was forced to keep him as his servant. "So what's this big meeting about?" Harry said while stretching his arms before wrapping them around Ginny's waist pulling her closer in what he hoped would be a transparent move. Ginny smiled and snuggled closer much to Ron's disgust.
Seemingly oblivious to the exchange, but quirking her mouth slightly in mirth, Hermione proceeded to respond to Harry's inquiry. "Well, the Order is gathering here to discuss the situation with Malfoy and for the official signing of the contract. Both the Malfoys and the Order are both going to sign it, including all of us. Then, we'll be able to discuss anything that you want to reveal to them. If they all sign the contract, then we should be able to discuss our plans with them."
"I'm still not entirely convinced about the Malfoys, but I have a funny feeling that he's changed," Harry mused. "Well, I guess that today will be the day where we finally put things together. After lunch, I will tell them about the Horcruxes and of the Prophecy, if and only if they all sign the contract. Even then, I think I want to limit the number of people who actually know the entire truth, but we'll cross that bridge when we see who actually comes to the meeting. Until then, I guess I can relax a bit. There's not much more we can do at this point, until we see how things stand during the meeting. Then the real work will begin." Harry ran his hand through his hair and arched his back to stretch out his shoulders. "Well, I guess we can do a little study session before lunch; Hermione did you …?" Harry queried Hermione who had plunged back in to her book. Without even raising her head, she flicked her hand towards the far left. But before he could rise up from the couch, Ginny pulled on his hand to stay him.
"Harry, I'm going to go help mum in the kitchen. I'll see you in a bit ok?" Harry smiled and nodded. Pulling her close, he reached out and kissed her gently on the lips, inhaling her sweet scent. She responded in kind, but broke the kiss far too soon. She smiled back and left. Looking back, he could just feel Hermione smiling from behind her book and Ron was pointedly staring at his, not wiling to meet his gaze. Chuckling, Harry turned back to the far left where their books were supposed to be.
Looking around, he spied the series of books on the large table by the window and walked over to pick up the book on Occlumency that he had already started. Having already read the first few chapters describing the basic steps, Harry now wanted to begin the process of putting those steps in to practice and learn the actual techniques. Flopping down on the cushy arm chair, he flipped through the pages and found the chapter he was looking for: Mediation and Focus Techniques. He began reading through, learning about Muggle meditation rituals that involved a lot of deep breathing and attempts to turn off the mind. He decided to try the process and closed his eyes. He slowed down his breathing to short measured breaths and attempted to close his mind. He found quickly that he could achieve an appropriate meditative state, but his mind kept wandering from thought to thought similar to the times when he was training with Snape. What was he doing wrong? Well, the book did say to use a focus object, so he decided to try focusing on a single image: Ginny.
He tried again, this time focusing on Ginny. He could picture her warm smiling face lightly speckled with her cute red freckles; her beautiful strawberry hair that flowed gracefully down her soft smooth neck. He loved her eyes, they were warm and friendly, but at the same time sharp and intelligent. Ginny was so remarkably talented, she could easily be ranked in the top-five students at Hogwarts. He cared for Ginny so much that it had almost broke his heart to try and break up with her. But, in the end, Hermione had been right about the two of them. They were indeed soul mates and he wouldn't want it any other way which is why Ginny could hear Hope as well as he could. Ginny completed him and he now understood that he completed her. Without one, the other could not survive. But he needed to protect her; he had to keep her safe, like behind a brick wall. Harry was startled at the results of that last thought as shockingly, his mind began to create a form of shield that remarkably appeared to him as a brick wall which completely surrounded his thoughts of Ginny. He marveled at the simplicity of it as all he had to do was simply envision a brick wall surrounding Ginny for protection and his mind had complied with his wishes.
Realizing now, Harry was startled with the fact that he had somehow just create an Occlumency shield around his mind. He was so shocked that he almost lost control of it and had to concentrate hard to keep the image together. It wasn't thick, but it was there; a seemingly granite wall surrounding his inner thoughts. Now all he had to do was make the process quicker and to find a way to strengthen his shields. Opening his eyes, he found that the shield was still in place, but it took a conscious effort to hold the image in place. He was trying to focus on the shield and his surroundings to see if he could train his mind to be instinctive with the shield. He wondered at how long he could last a Legilimancy attack now that he had managed to form his own mental shields. There had to be someone to help test him, maybe someone from the Order could help him.
"Harry!" Hermione said while shaking his shoulders. Harry blinked rapidly feeling his shields slipping away; he let them go and focused on the disturbance that was shaking him.
"Hermione? What is it? What's wrong?" he asked in confusion staring up at Hermione and Ron whose faces were etched with concern.
"We could ask you the same question mate?" Ron said.
"We thought you were just sleeping at first. We thought you were just tired from your experience with Hope, so we didn't disturb you. But then your eyes opened and you seemed to be in a trance. You were looking around the room staring, but you didn't seem to register anything. Are you ok?" Hermione's face was white and clearly she had been afraid for Harry. He felt guilty for scaring them and mentally berated himself for not telling them what he was going to try before he did it.
"No really, I'm fine. I wasn't sleeping, I was practicing my Occlumency shields and I think I've made a breakthrough; at least I hope I did, but only if I am able to reproduce the same affect," Harry rambled on. Hermione and Ron looked at each incredulously, hoping that their friend had not lost it.
"Harry, you said you were practicing your Occlumency? You do realize that we've been here in this room for over an hour?" Hermione told him, her face now even more concerned. Harry just stared at them in shock. Over an hour, he thought. That's impossible.
"Harry, tell me everything?" Hermione urged. He proceed to explain the chapter he was reading on meditation and focus objects which he even showed them as proof and described his attempt to achieve a meditative state. He told them that he started focusing on a single object and sort of glossed over the fact that his focus object was Ginny, but he had a feeling that Hermione had already figured that out. He then told them about the shield that he had created and how it had formed. During the entire re-telling, Hermione sat still, deep in thought, briefly reading a snippet of the chapter Harry was reading for verification.
"Well Harry, I think you're right and I apologize for not believing you, but you can understand my concerns with our past history," Hermione said apologetically. Harry and Ron chuckled thinking about their many adventures over the past seven years together.
"Don't worry; I probably would think that I was daft too in your shoes. Now, I just need someone to test me and help me improve."
"I'm sure somebody from the Order could help you," Ron said while stifling a yawn. "I just want everything out in the open so we can start training. I've found a few spells in this book that might be helpful that I want to try." Hermione beamed at him with pride and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek which resulted in Ron's face turning completely red.
"Ugh, what a sight to walk in on," Ginny said with a look of feigned disgust while walking towards them. Harry smiled and pulled her close for a kiss of his own. She melted in to his arms and returned the kiss warmly. They heard the sound of retching noises coming from Ron, but they didn't care. They finally broke apart to see Hermione arguing with Ron about his immature behavior and to mind his own business.
"Well, I came up to call you guys for lunch and to tell you Harry that Professor McGonagall was looking for him," Ginny informed them.
"Really, I wonder why?" Harry mused aloud. Ginny shrugged her shoulders in reply.
"Well, one way to find out," Ron said jumping and marching out the door. They all laughed and followed his lead to the kitchen.
The kitchen was surprisingly well lit. There were small globes of golden light floating near the ceiling to further illuminate the kitchen's usual dark interior. Mrs. Weasley was bustling by the stove waving her wand at a number of different sized pots all stirring independently and a sharp knife was evenly cutting slices of bread from a dark brown loaf on the counter. He spied Professor McGonagall talking quietly with Remus and Moody at the kitchen table. He approached them who immediately quieted their conversation and looked up at him.
"Hi Remus, Professors; is everything ok?" Harry asked.
"Potter," Moody growled in response. "I see you're still got that wand of yours in your back pocket. One of these days, you'll blow your arse off, you'll see." The grizzled ex-Auror was looking even more grizzled today then usual, with a few more lines etched on his battle scared face. "And I weren't your Professor, if you recall," he finished while taking a swig from his jug. Harry smiled and looked over at Remus was also grinning. He absently reached over and ruffled Harry's hair which Harry instinctively tried to smooth out but failing miserably.
"Well, Mr. Potter, you've assembled quite a group of friends, let me tell you," Minerva began. "They defended your cause quite admirably during your unfortunate absence, if you can call it that. I'm just glad that you're alright," Minerva said with uncharacteristic warmth. "I called you here to help clear up a little matter that has arisen. It seems that you have another devoted follower that is insisting on helping you." Harry wondered at who she was referring to. "Harry could you do me a favor and call Dobby/"
"Dobby?" Harry repeated in confusion. The group was startled at the sudden appearance of Dobby the House Elf.
"Oh sir, I've been so worried for you Mr. Harry Potter sir. Dobby knew that you were in danger, but he could not come to you here until you called him to you," the little House Elf squealed. He was wearing multicolored clothes of varying designs and an overlarge hat that looked like it might have been knitted by Hermione.
"Dobby, what are you doing here?" Harry asked. Dobby immediately frowned and looked around to find the first thing that he could hit himself with. "No Dobby, you are not to hit yourself. Do you understand me? Do not punish yourself. But why are you here?" Dobby looked up again, his wide eyes brimming with tears.
"Dobby is here to serve Mr. Harry Potter and his missus," Dobby cried out, bursting in to tears. Harry looked at the little creature and then back at Professor McGonagall. She was just as confused as he was.
"Dobby, you already work for Hogwarts. How can you serve me?" Harry asked him while patting him on the back to try and comfort his tears.
"D-d-dobby doesn't w-w-work for Hogwarts anymore. It was on the orders of Professor Dumblydore. He made me promise to serve and protect Mr. Harry Potter if anything should happen to him." Harry flopped down in shock beside the House Elf. Professor Dumbledore had sent him. Even from beyond the grave, he was reaching out to help him. Harry eyes filled with unshed tears, but he blinked them away. He looked up at Professor McGonagall and he knew that she was feeling the same thing.
"Dobby is here to protect Mr. Harry Potter and his missus Weazy," Dobby cried out again and this time ran to hug Ginny's leg who was immediately shocked and embarrassed. Remus reached over and put a hand on Harry's shoulder and gripped in support.
"Harry, I know you're hurting right now, but you would do this Elf a kindness and allow him to serve you, after all it was Dumbledore's wish," Remus told him softly. Harry nodded and rose to his feet.
"What do I do?" he asked them.
"All you need to do Mr. Potter is to make a pledge with Dobby to have him serve and protect you and your family, along with this house. It will be a magically binding agreement that will bond you as master and servant," Professor McGonagall explained. Harry nodded his agreement and turned to Dobby.
"Wait a minute Harry, you can't be serious," Hermione protested, but Professor McGonagall forestalled her.
"Miss. Granger, I know that you are incredibly intelligent, but in this matter, you are woefully ignorant. I know of your concerns for House Elf rights and in some ways, you are correct. But not all House Elves are treated inappropriately. It is their nature to be helpful and to serve in this capacity and to try and dissuade them from this is insulting to them." Hermione's eyes filled with tears and she plunged her head in to Ron's shoulders who tried to sooth and calm her down while giving her a sympathetic look. Ron had always known that Hermione's quest for House Elf rights was misguided, but she would never listen as was her nature for which Ron loved her all the more. Maybe, it was better that she learn the truth this way. Harry after receiving a nod from Ron that he could continue stepped towards Dobby who was still hugging Ginny's leg.
"Dobby, can you come here please?" Harry requested. Immediately, the House Elf stopped his crying and tentatively walked towards Harry. Ginny moved to stand next to Harry and gripped his hand in support. Smiling in thanks, he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it gently causing Ginny to blush. He let her hand go and she moved to stand behind him.
"Dobby, you came here to be my servant and to serve me and my house, correct?" Harry asked him gently.
"Yes sir, Mr. Harry Potter sir. Dobby would love to serve such an honorable and noble wizard," Dobby squeaked in an excited response.
"Dobby, I can't allow you to serve me in this capacity," Harry said firmly, bringing a shocked expression from everyone in the room. Dobby was about to burst back in to tears when Harry continued.
"Dobby, I can not allow you to serve me because you are my friend. You have helped to save my life on more then one occasion and I count you as one my close friend. A friend does not enslave another friend. Do you understand?" The little elf sniffled and nodded sadly.
"Dobby, I hereby request you serve and protect House Potter and its friends as a member of House Potter. You will not be a slave to my family, but be a part of my family. You will keep our secrets and the secrets of the Order of the Phoenix. You will watch over us and protect us. As a member of House Potter, you are welcome to stay here in my home in any room you like. You will have days off if you so choose to take them and you will wear any clothes that you desire. You will have no pay because as a member of House Potter you will have access to a vault that I will open and supply with funds in your name and you can purchase anything you desire. Dobby, do you agree to serve me in this capacity, as a member of House Potter?" Harry spoke calmly, but with an authority that belied his age. He was not Harry Potter, the nearly seventeen year old kid, but Harry Potter, heir to House Potter. The entire room was speechless. No one had ever made such an agreement with a House Elf before. Hermione was beaming at Harry with pride as was Ginny. Dobby was about ready to burst once more, but was clearly trying to control himself.
"Master Potter, I Dobby, will proudly serve as a member of House Potter. I will honor and protect our House and serve in whatever you's need," Dobby replied, his normally squeaky voice, now clearer and stronger. Harry reached out with his hand which Dobby took graciously. As they shook hands, a white piercing light engulfed them, binding them to each other. Harry could feel Dobby's presence in his mind and knew this was part of the bonding process. When the light cleared, everyone clapped their hands and cheered as Dobby barreled in to Harry's legs, hugging him tightly.
"Oh Master, you is the greatest wizard ever. I have never heard of a wizard offering to make a House Elf part of their family. This is the greatest day in Dobby's life. He promises to be a good elf and to never betray him," Dobby rambled on excitedly.
"Harry," Remus said as he approached him. "I am so proud of you today. Good job." Harry smiled in response and looked down at the small figure crying over his trainers and wondered if he really did make the right choice.
"Well, now that this issue has been taken care of, why don't we all sit down to lunch," Mrs. Weasley announced and much to her chagrin, Dobby had popped over to the stove and started sending all of the platters of food and bowls of soup to the kitchen table. Harry grimaced and knew that he would have to smooth things over with Mrs. Weasley who was usually the matron of the kitchen. Oh well, can't please everyone, he thought.
"Well, looks like you've inherited one of my hand-me-downs," drawled the unmistakable voice of Malfoy who had just entered the kitchen with his mother. Dobby immediately froze and grew afraid. Damn, Harry thought. He had forgotten about Malfoy.
"I see you've picked up my old servant," Malfoy continued, eying the elf coldly.
"Dobby is not servant, Dobby is part of House Potter and you is a very bad wizard," shouted the little figure which surprised everyone including Malfoy.
"Draco manners," Narcissa chided. "It is not appropriate to disrespect the owner of the House by disrespecting their help."
"Yes mother," Draco replied quickly who found a seat at the table furthest away from everyone else, his mother sitting beside him. Harry walked over to Dobby and knelt down to him.
"Dobby, I'm sorry about Malfoy. I should have told you that he was here. Malfoy is no longer working for bad wizards and he is going to be working with us. He is going to be a good wizard," Harry explained softly. "Don't worry; I won't have you serve them that will be Krecher's job. Ok?" Dobby nodded emphatically and went back to his work.
A few more Order members showed up for lunch. Tonks announced her presence by crashing through the door and then made a further spectacle by shrieking when she saw her Aunt Narcissa and Nephew Draco sitting at the table. Flitwick arrived as well, carrying a rolled up parchment which Hermione seemed rather excited about. Unfortunately, he couldn't stay as he had some business to take care of, but promised to return later this evening. Arthur and Kingsley would arrive after lunch and could only stay for the meeting as they would need to get back to the ministry to avoid any suspicion. Lunch itself was a quiet affair with the presence of the Malfoys, no one really felt like talking about the war with them in the room. Harry mused that this was indeed going to be very difficult to get the two groups to work cooperatively. Once the plates had been cleared, Professor McGonagall stood to bring everyone to attention.
"Now then, you all know why we are here. Mr. Potter, you and Albus embarked on a secret mission a few months ago which no one but your foursome of friends is aware of. It is as I understand a critical venture that you continue your mission that Albus had set forth. However, I do understand your reluctance to trust, especially after recent events. Miss. Granger has so eloquently asked that we all take a leap of faith and trust you and to that end, the Order and I have discussed that we can only come to one decision." Harry was perplexed at this sudden announcement. He looked over at his friends and they too were at a loss at this new change in events.
"Mr. Potter, I herby declare that the Order of the Phoenix will pledge to follow you as leader for the Order. Whatever help you need, will be yours," McGonagall stated. Harry was shocked and speechless. He had no idea that they would want to make him their leader. "Mr. Potter, please take your rightful place at the head of the table." Harry stood apprehensively and stumbled forward to the head of the table. He looked out at the group of people in front of him. They were all looking to him for leadership, waiting for his guidance. How could he lead them in to war? It was because of him that Dumbledore died and that Snape had managed to escape and now these people expected him to lead them against Voldemort. Surprising everyone, Malfoy raised his glass and turned to address Harry.
"To the new leader of the Order of the Phoenix," Draco said with no hint of a drawl or sarcasm in his voice. Everyone followed suit and toasted Harry as well. At that moment, he heard a piercing cry and Hope flashed in to the air above them and settled down on Harry's shoulders. She added her cry to the group. She trilled loudly announcing her agreement.
"So, I see they've made you some sort of God have they?" said a deep guttural voice from the kitchen door. "You'll probably end up just like your Professor Dumblydoof, dead." Harry's heart dropped at the voice and knew who it belonged to. Staring at him from the kitchen door stood none other then the bulbous figure of Vernon Dursley.
A/N: Well folks, that's all for now. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter after such a long wait. But here it is. I don't know when the next one will be out, but I'm thinking mid-next-month. Chow for now.
A/N: Hey guys, still going strong. I should hopefully get one more chapter out before New Years and then it will probably one chapter a week. Please submit some reviews. Ciao.