Disclaimer I do not own Harry Potter and everything recognisable belongs to J K Rowling.
Thanks for the great reviews! Here's the next instalment. Enjoy!!
Chapter Thirteen
Harry couldn't tear his eyes away from the picture of the so-called Dark Prince. Everything about him was sickeningly familiar. His pose, the way he was holding his wand, that silver mask, his silver mask, all in all it looked just like Harry. The dark haired teen looked up at Dumbledore to find him staring at him, searching him with his blue eyes.
Before Harry could open his mouth to speak, a noise made him, and everyone one else in the office, turn around. Ron had come bursting through the door, clutching a copy of the newspaper in his hand. Hermione, Ginny and Damien were just behind him, all looking considerably pale.
"Professor Dumbledore! Professor Dumbledore, Sir! It, it wasn't Harry! He was with us! It wasn't Harry!" Ron yelled fervently. He sounded out of breath, as he had no doubt run all the way from the Great Hall.
"Mr Weasley" Dumbledore addressed calmly.
"Please calm down. I know that it wasn't Harry." he continued.
Harry turned in surprise to look at the Headmaster.
"Oh…um…good." Ron said, embarrassedly. His face turning redder by the moment.
"Well, um…I'll…I'll just be outside then." He said as Professor McGonagall sternly ushered him and the others outside.
As the door closed, Harry turned once again to look at the Headmaster.
"You don't think it was me?" Harry asked, not believing that Dumbledore would be so trusting of him.
"No, Harry. I do not think it was you." Dumbledore reassured him.
James and Lily had stood up and were standing behind Dumbledore. Both had distress showing on their face.
"I only asked for you to come up here because I did not want you to walk into the Hall, not knowing about this incident."
Harry still doubted that but remained silent. His head was still spinning with what he had just seen.
"I haven't received any communication from the Ministry as of yet, but I daresay they will be in contact soon." Dumbledore said, turning to face James and Lily.
"Surely they won't think its Harry, will they, Dumbledore?" James asked, his nervousness clear in his voice.
Harry noticed how his dad's hands were clenched into fists and his eyes were clouded with worry.
"Harry was here at the time of the attack. There are plenty of people that will vouch for Harry being present at the Ball. He didn't leave Hogwarts last night! They can't blame Harry for this! Besides, anyone can be behind that mask! " Lily quickly added.
Dumbledore looked at Lily kindly.
"Do not worry, Lily. Harry is safe." Dumbledore reassured her.
Harry however, annoyed at the last statement, made for the door.
"Harry?" Lily called after him.
"Looks like you guys are finished here, I should go." Harry said with a hard look on his face. Turning to Dumbledore, Harry added in an angrily.
"And next time, Professor, don't worry on my behalf. I can deal with stares and whispers on my own!" With that, Harry left the office before anyone could call him back.
James caught up with him in the corridor.
"Harry, wait!"
Harry stopped and tried to push the sudden anger down. James faced him, concerned eyes met his.
"Harry, he's only trying to help…" James started.
"He doesn't need to help. I don't want his help!" Harry spat angrily.
"Harry…" James tried to intervene but Harry wasn't finished yet.
"Who does Dumbledore think he is? Telling mum not to worry, saying that I'm safe! My safety has nothing to do with him!" Harry continued.
James could only stare at his son as he ranted on angrily.
"I hate it when he acts like this! Like he honestly cares! He doesn't care about me, only cares enough to use me. To use everyone for that matter! I just can't stand him!"
Harry's eyes were swimming with anger and his hatred of Dumbledore was making itself more pronounced.
"You know that's not true. Dumbledore does care for you. You just can't see it." James told him evenly.
Harry opened his mouth, undoubtedly to shout, but seemed to change his mind. He glared at James instead.
"Forget it, you won't understand." He muttered, more to himself.
Before James could question him, Harry spoke, an emotionless mask drifting over his face.
"I guess you came because you want to know where I was last night, before the ball?"
James stared at Harry. It was times like this that James wished he could slap some sense into Harry. He wondered what he would have to do to show Harry that he had his full trust.
Choosing to ignore his son's ridiculous question, James turned to leave. Before making his way back to Dumbledore's office, James turned to look at Harry.
"We'll find him Harry. The one responsible for last night, and when we do, he'll wish he was never born." James said. He left after making that promise, leaving a bemused but slightly comforted Harry behind.
xxx
Harry didn't go to the Great Hall. Instead he headed for the common room again. He had to be on his own so that he could figure out his thoughts. The full impact of what had happened hadn't hit him yet. At least his dad believed him. For now that was enough. If only he could figure out his memories so that he could believe himself. That would be wonderful.
Harry's mind was still reeling from the image he had seen. As he recovered from the initial shock, he realised that there was no way that could be him. Even if he couldn't remember the late part of last night, that didn't mean there was a possibility that he had carried out this attack. He hadn't been sleeping very well in the last few days. The Dreamless Sleeping potion had run out and Harry knew he couldn't risk taking anymore. There could be a risk of addiction if he continued taking it without giving himself a break of at least two weeks. Harry figured that he was probably just very tired and his mind was so exhausted he fell into a deep sleep. Last night was a rare occasion that he had slept without taking the potion and had not been disturbed by any nightmares. Yes, that was the most likely explanation. He was exhausted, body and mind, and had fallen into a deep sleep. His mind probably didn't register the events of late last night. And in any case, Ron had just confirmed to Dumbledore that Harry was with them, in their company.
As Harry neared the portrait of the fat lady he saw the four Gryffindors waiting for him.
Harry's first reaction was to get annoyed at them. He saw the looks of worry and fear on their faces, however and felt his annoyance slip away. 'They're just worried, don't push them away' he told himself sternly.
They all entered the common room and headed straight for their usual spot. The common room was empty as everyone was still having breakfast. As soon as they sat down, Damien was the first to speak.
"Okay, what the hell is happening?"
Harry didn't answer.
Ron unfurled the copy that was still in his hands and all five of them looked at the picture uncomfortably. Harry started reading the article, wanting to know if the attack was actually blamed on him or not. He found that although the headline said 'Dark Prince' the reporter in fact didn't mention Harry. The only reference made was that the attacker was dressed familiarly to the Dark Prince. 'The silver mask that had once belonged to the Dark Prince was seen again'.
It was clear now that the Daily Prophet had only used those headlines to catch interest.
"It's obvious that this was a plot to frame you." Hermione said after looking at the figure for a few moments.
"Whoever did this though, messed up. They chose the same night as the Christmas Ball. The whole of Hogwarts can vouch for you. You didn't leave Hogwarts last night." Hermione went on, a little colour returning to her face.
Harry sat quietly, figuring out the facts himself silently in his own mind.
"And it is very convenient to hide behind a mask, isn't it. It could be anyone." Ginny added.
"Yeah, I mean he…he doesn't look like you, at all." Ron said unconvincingly.
Everyone turned to look at Ron. That was the thing that was troubling everyone. It was the fact that the picture looked like Harry. The hair, the pose, those emerald eyes. That was what had troubled Harry the moment he saw it. If he didn't know any better, he would have been certain that it was his picture for definite.
"What did Professor Dumbledore say?" Damien asked, snapping Harry out of his thoughts.
"Nothing, he just wanted me to know about this before going into the Hall." Harry replied.
"That was nice of him." Hermione said.
Harry only glared at her.
"So, he doesn't suspect you." Ginny asked.
"No, apparently he doesn't." Harry replied dryly.
"Of course he doesn't suspect you! Like I said, you were at the Ball last night. Everyone saw you." Hermione said determinedly.
"Hermione, everyone saw me walk into the hall over an hour and half late." Harry said. He had to say if no one else was going to mention it.
The other four didn't know how to respond to that.
"That doesn't mean that you were away. An hour and a half isn't enough time for you to leave Hogwarts, attack and burn a whole village, come back and then dress up and attend a ball. It's ludicrous if anyone suggests that." Ginny responded, looking Harry straight in the eye as she spoke.
"Exactly! You couldn't do all that in such a short time space." Hermione continued.
"You would have had to leave Hogwarts and someone would have seen you and reported it. You have to walk down to Hogsmeade before you could apparate because everyone knows that no one can apparte whilst in Hogwarts."
Harry's eyes darted over to Damien in time to see the colour drain from his face. He was staring at him, seemingly unable to tear his eyes away.
"…it would have to have taken three hours at the very least." Hermione had evidently been continuing her argument that it couldn't be Harry but neither Harry nor Damien had heard her.
"We should really go and catch some of breakfast." Ron said, looking a lot better than he had a few moments ago.
"Yeah, come on, Harry." Hermione said.
"I've lost my appetite." Harry answered, still looking at his brother.
"You should come and have something to eat. Besides, you don't want to hide out here. It'll just make people suspicious of you." Hermione told him.
Harry's glare made her gulp. She shouldn't have said that.
"Firstly, I'm not hiding anywhere. Secondly I couldn't give two shits about what others think! You should know that by now!" Harry almost spat at her angrily.
Hermione recovered and replied just as angrily.
"I do know that! That's precisely why I want you to walk into the hall, head held high! If you don't, it'll make people talk rubbish and while you may not be affected the rest of us are!"
Harry could only stare at her.
"You're our friend. I don't want anyone to say anything against you. We suffered enough of that last year." She finished a little gentler.
Harry looked over at Damien and saw, to his relief that he was looking at him again. The look of suspicion that had clouded his face moments ago was now gone.
"Come on, Harry." Damien said quietly.
Harry stood up and walked with the others towards the door. Just as he climbed through the portrait door, Damien caught up with him and discreetly squeezed Harry's hand comfortingly and whispered.
"Apparate or not, I still know it wasn't you."
Harry let out a breath he wasn't even aware of holding. He saw Damien's eyes shine with trust and felt like a weight was lifted from him. He might not care what others thought of him, but he had felt the stab of dread fill him when Damien had looked at him suspiciously. He could handle the distrustful stares of strangers but he couldn't handle it if Damien looked at him with mistrust. That would destroy him.
xxx
As soon as Harry walked into the Great Hall he wished he had just skipped breakfast. All the students had a copy of the Daily Prophet before them and were discussing it loudly. They stopped when they spotted Harry at the door. Harry watched as an uncomfortable silence washed through the room.
"Come on, Harry" Ron nudged him to walk.
Harry knew that it was important that he made an appearance after what had happened. He didn't want to make it look like he was hiding or something like that. Harry didn't do anything, or at least he didn't remember doing anything like this. He walked as confidently as he could to the Gryffindor table and sat down.
Hermione and Ginny started talking about the ball, intending for everyone else to talk about the ball as well. Unfortunately, this didn't work. Harry was very aware of the eyes glued to him. He acted as carefree as he could under the circumstances but deep inside he wanted to curse the living hell out of all of them. This acting civil thing was really not something he could do for very long.
He looked up as Dean Thomas asked him to pass the bowl of strawberries. Harry did so silently. Dean gave him a comforting sort of smile. Harry just watched in a confused daze.
Slowly, the babble broke out and the hall was filled with the usual chatter. Harry was not fooled though. The chatter was forced and strained.
As soon as the awkward breakfast was over, Harry stood up, ready to pack and leave this place. He had only a taken one step when Seamus stood up and approached him.
"I just wanted to let you know, that I…I trust you." he said awkwardly.
"Trust me?" Harry asked confusedly.
"You know…I know that it wasn't you, last night." He nodded in the direction of the table, where a copy of the newspaper lay.
Harry just stared at him.
"Um, okay" Harry muttered, not really knowing what he was supposed to say in response.
Following Seamus' lead, the rest of Gryffindor and many other students, expressed their trust in him. Harry could only stare at them in disbelief. How could they trust him? Were they so naïve that they had already forgotten his past?
Harry was glad that they left for Christmas break soon after Breakfast. He didn't think he could have taken much more of Hogwarts. As soon as they arrived home, James sat Harry down and explained a few things.
"First things first, the Minister fire called as soon as you left Dumbledore's office." Harry looked up at James, noting the look of relief on his fathers face.
"They don't suspect you, Harry"
Harry snorted.
"I guessed as much, otherwise I would be in Azkaban by now." Harry joked.
Both James and Lily paled at the mention of the wizard prison.
"Don't joke, Harry." Lily told him weakly.
James just ignored Harry's remark and pressed on.
"For once, the Minister's shown common sense and concluded that the Death Eater couldn't be you. The only similarity was the mask. Anyone could be behind that mask." James finished.
Harry didn't say anything; he just sat in silence, trying to absorb the fact that the Ministry were not pinning this on him. He wasn't stupid though. The Ministry had spent the last five months or so painting him as a saviour. It would not do so well if that saviour attacked his own people, would it?
James and Lily tried to make small talk with Harry for the rest of the day. After the initial talk coming back home, they completely ignored the incident. They were trying to make everything seem normal. Harry was his usual quiet self, letting Damien answer any questions directed at them.
Harry felt rather foolish at his initial panic. This was just some stupid Death Eater who was trying to take Harry's place. The next Dark Prince! That thought made sudden anger erupt in Harry. Who was this? And did they seriously have a death wish, imitating him?
Harry settled back comfortably, cooking up exactly what he would do to this person once he was caught.
xxx
"Damien! Harry! James! All of you get down here. We're going to be late!" Lily yelled for the third time.
It was almost midday and they were supposed to be at the Burrow by now. The Weasley's had invited them over at their house for Christmas Lunch. Lily had not been too keen on the idea since it was Harry's first proper Christmas with them and she wanted to spend it in their own home, just the family. She thought about Ginny and decided not to be so selfish and figured that it wasn't a bad idea. Harry would probably like to see her on Christmas. She figured they could have Christmas Dinner in their own home, just the Potter family, and Sirius and Remus of course!
"I swear, if you three don't come down this instance I will…" Lily stopped as Damien came running down the stairs.
"Tut, tut, threatening your family on Christmas! Honestly mum, where's your holiday spirit?" he smirked.
"Completely evaporated whilst waiting for you three!" Lily retorted.
Harry came down followed closely by James, seemingly arguing about something.
"What's wrong now?" Lily asked, feeling the last of her patience wither away.
"Explain to your son that I've been chosen as the Defence of the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts for a reason!" James said.
Lily saw the playful smirk on Harry's face.
"Fine, fine. I won't say anything. Don't blame me though when everyone falls asleep during your lecture." Harry teased as he brushed past them and headed for the floo.
"They won't fall asleep! My lectures are interesting. I know what I'm talking about." James continued to argue.
Harry turned to face his dad; he sighed dramatically and shook his head.
"Okay, dad. If you say so."
James opened his mouth but Lily stopped him from retaliating.
"Enough, we don't have time for this! James, pick up the pies from the kitchen. Damien, grab the bag with presents in them, yes, that one. Harry, stop patronising your father."
Harry smirked and followed Damien to pick up the presents for the Weasleys'.
"I'm not going to ask your opinion on my lectures, ever again." James commented as he walked over, holding the Mince Pies.
Harry only grinned back.
The Potter family arrived at the Burrow to find the small cottage filled with people already. Harry braced himself for this. As soon as they entered the house, Arthur Weasley hurried over to greet them.
"Hi James! Merry Christmas!"
He greeted each of them in the same way, wishing them a Merry Christmas. Harry managed to mumble back a Merry Christmas as well. He still found it strange. He had never celebrated Christmas before. 'Well, except for my very first one when I was only one' he thought to himself. Not that he could remember any of it. Voldemort wasn't really the kind to celebrate Christmas so Harry had grown up without it. He didn't tell anyone though. It wouldn't really do anyone any good.
Harry found a large crowd of red heads making their way over to him. He recognised the twins and the really skinny one. He was at Harry's trial, Percy, yes that was his name. He remembered the one with scars was Bill, so he assumed that the one he didn't recognise must be Charlie.
All the boys came over and greeted them, wishing them a Merry Christmas. Harry saw that Percy seemed almost nervous to be in the same room as Harry, the twins were acting like their usual self, making jokes and being relatively friendly. Charlie however was looking at Harry with distaste. Harry found his somewhat good mood vanish as he saw the distrust and severe dislike in his eyes.
Charlie didn't hang around and excused himself, heading into the kitchen. Harry didn't get the chance to wonder what was wrong as the next moment he was in the strong embrace of Ginny. Ron was standing next to her, smiling sheepishly at the sight.
"Merry Christmas, Harry." Ginny whispered to him, taking his mind away from everyone else.
Dinner was an interesting affair. All of them sat around the wooden table, eating and talking at the same time. Perhaps that wasn't good mannered but no one at the table seemed to mind. Harry was aware of the looks Charlie was giving him. He openly scowled as Ginny sat next to Harry and laughed with him.
"That's Charlie, isn't he?" Harry asked, just to make sure he wasn't mixing him up with someone else.
Ginny's smile faltered but she was quick to cover it. Not quick enough though as Harry had caught it.
"Yes. Harry did you know that Dad didn't get a chance to come to the Duel club? He wasn't even considered. Sucks huh?"
"Yeah" Harry responded.
Harry went with the sudden topic change. He could tell Ginny was not on speaking terms with Charlie. She refused to even look at him while he sat across the table, positively glaring at her.
Harry decided to ignore Charlie and his behaviour. He had only come here to see Ginny and perhaps Ron as well. He wasn't going to ruin the mood today by arguing with anyone.
Harry noticed the pretty fair haired girl sit gracefully at the table next to Bill. Ginny had introduced her as Fleur, Bill's wife. Harry watched as she focused intently on Bill and no one else. They both seemed very much in love. Harry glanced over at Ron and felt sorry for him. He was missing Hermione like crazy. She was on a skiing trip with her parents and so couldn't be here. Harry knew quite a lot about muggles, knowledge that Alex had picked up but he still don't know what skiing was.
"She's going to glide over snow with straps of wood tied to her shoes?" Harry exclaimed when Ron explained what snow skiing was.
"Yeah" Ron replied.
"Never pegged Hermione as the daredevil type" Harry said.
"Apparently, it's not that dangerous and Hermione said that muggles do this quite often. It's a popular hobby." Ron replied.
"Personally, I think she's making it up." Ron said as an afterthought.
Harry didn't comment.
Ginny helped her mum clear up the table. Everyone else settled around the fire. It was a cold crisp day. There was no sign of snow, but the day was very cold. The sun was shinning though, which made the boys go outside.
Harry caught a glance of the room built over the garage. He smiled as he remembered the time he had spent ten days in there, recovering from the transfer spell and the Death Eater attack. At that point in his life he had never thought he would be able to walk around as a free man. The only certainty he had was that he would die. Either at the hands of Aurors or Voldemort. The thought of Voldemort made his stomach churn uncomfortably. He had suffered another nightmare last night. It seemed never ending. If he took Dreamless Sleeping potion he was fine, but whenever he slept without the help of the potion, he would have nightmares. He knew he couldn't up the dosage of the potion. He had to take a break from it otherwise he would become addicted. He didn't want that.
He snapped out of his thoughts as Ron came and stood next to him.
"Remembering happy days?" Ron asked as he too caught the sight of the room.
Harry smirked and gave Ron a mock glare.
"It reminds me that I have yet to repay you for your…kindness. Sticking me in your back yard when I was ill and injured."
Ron smiled apologetically.
"We couldn't take you anywhere else, mate. Desperate times and all that."
Harry looked back at the small room.
"I guess it wasn't all that bad. You could have at least cleaned it though."
"We did! We spent ages cleaning and heating it." Ron cried indignantly.
"Cleaning? What were you cleaning?" a voice sounded behind them.
Harry and Ron whipped around and saw Mrs Weasley standing behind them, holding two mugs. Ron gulped audibly.
"Ron, what were you cleaning? I don't think I've ever seen you clean anything." Mrs Weasley said as she handed him and Harry a mug each.
Harry took the offered drink and turned to stare Ron, clearly amused by his fright.
"Oh, um, nothing mum. Harry and I were just, you know, discussing something" he trailed off, looking quite frightened.
Mrs Weasley looked at her son, scrutinising him with her stare. Ron shifted uncomfortably. His mum could always tell when one of them was lying.
She looked over at Harry and then back at Ron, but didn't say anything.
"Don't stay out here too long. It's too cold." She said. She gave Harry a warm look before leaving.
"Phew! That was close. I don't even want to think what mum would do to me if she ever found out." Ron said taking a gulp of the hot cocoa.
"Found out what. That you helped me?" Harry asked.
Ron shook his head.
"No, not that. Mum and dad always believed Dumbledore. They knew you were on the run from Voldemort. They would get angry if they found out we knew where you where and we didn't tell them. Furthermore, mum would freak if she found out you were ill and injured and we didn't get the proper medical help for you. That would probably upset her more than our deception." Ron explained.
Harry thought about that as the boys goofed around. He found the twins standing before him, smiling strangely at him.
"Hey, Harry! Want a go?" Fred said as he held out his broomstick.
The boys were throwing small balls into the air and one of them was flying around, trying to catch them.
Harry shook his head.
"No thanks."
"Not much for flying?" Bill asked as he joined them.
Harry was about to answer when Ron jumped in.
"Rubbish! Harry's the best flyer in Hogwarts! He's the fastest Seeker ever."
Bill turned to look at Harry, eyes wide with surprise.
"You played in Hogwarts?" he asked.
"Yeah" Harry answered.
"I didn't think you would have. Who taught you to fly?" he asked
Harry wasn't expecting that question. He looked Bill in the eye as he responded.
"The same person who taught me everything else." Harry said a little defensively.
Bill didn't flinch or even look taken aback. Instead he smiled.
"How many flying lessons did you take?" Bill asked, ignoring the warning looks Ron was shooting at him.
"I didn't actually take any flying lessons. I just found I had to fly one day and I did. It was more instinct than anything else." Harry responded.
"You know, Charlie didn't learn how to fly either. He was a natural, like you." Bill said after a while
Bill was about to say something else but then seemingly changed his mind. Ron was staring at Harry with awe. Harry didn't actually learn how to fly.
"Your instinctual magic is really advanced, if half the things I've heard about you are correct." Bill went on.
Harry just shrugged, not knowing how to respond to compliments.
"I heard from Ron that you're helping with the Duelling club." Bill said, the corners of his mouth twitching as he restrained himself from smiling.
Harry threw Ron a disgruntled look.
"You should teach them." Bill said after looking at Harry carefully.
"What?" Harry asked annoyed. He had only just met this guy and he was already telling him what to do.
"How to use Instinctual magic. You should teach the students that. It would really help them." Bill went on.
"I don't think I should be the one to teach them anything. It's not my place." Harry said. He knew he should be really annoyed with him. He didn't ask for his opinion and yet here he was giving him teaching advice. But for an unknown reason, he couldn't' get angry with Bill.
"No, it's not your place. But if you did help them, maybe they would survive the attacks. The War may be over, but there are plenty of battles to come."
A sad look drifted over Bill's face, the sunlight illuminated the horrid scars on Bill's face and Harry felt unexplainable pity for the young man before him. Harry understood what he was trying to say. If Bill had been a better dueller he may have saved himself from becoming so severely disfigured.
The boys went back inside when it was too cold to stay outside. Harry saw the adults sitting huddled next to the fire, talking quietly. Harry knew what they were talking about from the serious looks on their faces. The Dark Prince! Or rather the 'wannabe Dark Prince'. Harry stifled a bitter laugh. Honestly, which idiot decided to go and ruin their life by pulling this prank?
From what Harry had gathered, the impostor still had not been caught. The Ministry were claiming to be working hard to figure out who this was. The attack on the village of Redhill had left ten dead and fourteen injured. Most of the houses had been burned and had left many homeless.
The Ministry had put in a notice the next day, claiming that they had many witnesses and the person responsible would be found in no time at all. So far they had not been able to catch anyone.
Harry knew that his parents couldn't stop discussing it. They acted like everything was normal, but Harry would catch them talking about the impostor when they thought they were alone. Remus and Sirius were also forever talking about it. It gave Harry a headache just thinking about it.
Harry was still surprised the whole thing hadn't been blamed on him. It was a welcome change. He hadn't told anyone that he couldn't remember the previous night before the attack. He knew it wouldn't solve anything and would only make the situation worse. He kept that detail to himself.
Harry looked around for Ginny and realised that she wasn't there. He figured she might be in the kitchen so headed there. He wanted to stop thinking about the 'wannabe Dark Prince'. It only darkened his mood.
He was about to enter the kitchen when he heard arguing voices coming from inside. He decided not to go in and stood, listening to the heated argument.
"…like I told you last night! It's none of your bloody business!" Ginny was yelling at someone.
"Ginny, you're being stupid. You know his background and you're still getting involved with him!" Harry knew without a doubt who Ginny was arguing with. It was Charlie.
"His background had nothing to do with you. Stop interfering Charlie!" Ginny hissed at him. She tried to lower voice, not wanting anyone to realise they were arguing.
Harry cracked open the door and peeked inside. Both Ginny and Charlie were standing near the sink. They were evidently washing the dishes.
"I have to interfere. You're my sister and I'm not going to let you come to any harm!" Charlie argued. He was staring angrily at her while Ginny washed the dishes.
"I look after myself, Charlie. I'm sixteen! I can decide for myself who to date!" Ginny argued back.
Harry felt his heart skip a few beats. They were arguing about him.
"For God's sake, Ginny! He's a murderer!"
Ginny let go of the plate she was washing and turned to face him, a fierce look on her face.
"Don't you dare talk about Harry like that!" she hissed at him.
"Why not? I'm not lying! He's a murderer! He was You-Know-Who's right hand man. His son and you still want to date him?" Charlie asked, his eyes popping out slightly with anger.
"The reason I'm dating him is because I love him." Ginny said, taking care to say each word slowly and carefully so that her brother could understand her.
Charlie let out an exasperated sigh.
"Love? Ginny, you're sixteen. You don't know anything about love." He started.
"I know everything there is to love, Charlie. And in any case, you don't have a say in this. You're not my father. You can't tell me what to do. Mum and dad are okay with me seeing Harry, so I don't think you have any right to interfere!" Ginny snapped at him.
Charlie had his hands rolled into fists by now and took a step nearer.
"Don't delude yourself in stupid day dreams Ginny! He was brought up by the Darkest wizard of our time. He's cruel and evil, just like Him. You don't change from something like that! He's killed before, he'll kill again! You mark my words Gin. Sooner or later it will come out that he's the one behind these attacks..."
Ginny slapped Charlie hard on the face, cutting him off. The soapy water clung to Charlie's cheek. He looked at his sister, eyes wide with surprise and shock.
"You bastard!" she shouted at him.
"How could you say that? Harry is nothing like Voldemort. He's not cruel! He's not evil! And he's not a mass murderer! Whatever Harry did in the past was different. He killed because he was commanded to! Harry never killed out of his own accord!" Ginny was half sobbing now, angry tears filled her eyes as she stood with her hands curled into fists.
"You're so quick to point an accusing finger at him. Why don't you look closer to your own family? Dad's an Auror. He's killed plenty of people. Bill, Fred, George and even Percy took part in the final battle. Plenty were hurt and maybe even killed in the battle! You don't accuse them of being killers!" Ginny continued to shout.
"That's different, they only killed Death Eaters!" Charlie shouted back.
"So did, Harry!" Ginny retorted.
Charlie was speechless but only for a moment. He shook his head and glared back at Ginny.
"I tried making you see sense, but you're too far gone to see the truth. Your trust in him will be your downfall Ginny. He's not to be trusted. Think about it, if he could kill the one who brought him up, the one he called 'father', what makes you think he won't kill you?"
Harry moved away from the door, not wanting to listen anymore. His heart was beating wildly in his chest. His hands were curled into fists so tightly that his nails were digging painfully into his palms. All Harry could do was turn around and go back outside. He walked back through the living room ignoring everyone around him and hurried outside.
He kept on walking. He heard Ron shouting behind him, asking where he was going. Harry didn't respond. He jumped over the low fence and started running. He didn't want to stop. Charlie's words had struck a nerve. It hurt so unbelievably much that Harry didn't want to stop to accept it. Harry was a murderer. He accepted that. Harry killed many times in his life. He accepted that as well. He had betrayed Voldemort. He had killed the man that had brought him up. Harry didn't want to accept that. The one who had taught him everything he knew. The one to give him power. He had killed him. Charlie was right. Harry couldn't be trusted. No one should trust him. Not when Harry had betrayed his own father.
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