Disclaimer I do not own Harry Potter and everything recognisable belongs to J K Rowling.
Thanks to all those who reviewed! I'm amazed that all you guys love Tonks!
I'm sorry about the lateness of the chapter, my PC is playing up and keeps crashing on me. I've used my sisters PC to update. I hope you all enjoy the chapter!!
Chapter Thirty One
It seemed that no one would sleep tonight. Even though all the students were sent to their beds, everyone knew none would sleep. Too much had happened in the last few days to allow much sleep.
First, Tonks appeared to have died at the hands of Harry. Then Hogwarts was closing early because of Harry's threat and the fact that he could manipulated the wards. Then the Dark Prince actually came to Hogwarts and nearly killed Ginny Weasley! How he managed to get to Hogwarts no one could figure out. Then, the most amazing part of it all, Tonks suddenly made an appearance, looking very much alive, alongside Harry who nearly unmasked the so called Dark Prince but was stopped at the last possible moment by Aurors, trying to kill him. It was all rather dramatic.
The Aurors that had tried to kill Harry were currently waiting in the Great Hall. They refused to leave until the got a direct order from the Minister. They were told to stay out of the way as it had taken five people to keep Harry from killing them. The Aurors were eternally grateful for Dumbledore's intervention. He had somehow managed to restrain Harry otherwise the very last thing they would have seen would have been the bright green light coming out from the end of Harry's wand.
The 'Dark Prince wannabe' was gone. Dumbledore and a few Aurors had rushed to Hogsmeade but there was no sign of him. He seemed to have sneaked away before anyone could get to him.
The students walked slowly to their beds, shooting sympathetic and envious looks at Ginny, the only student that was accompanying the rest to Professor Dumbledore's office. What wouldn't the other students give to find out what was going to happen inside that office?
xxx
The door closed behind Sirius and he turned to stare at the other occupants. Dumbledore had already walked to his desk and was standing behind it. James and Lily were standing on one side of the room while Tonks and Harry stood on the other side. Charlie had helped his sister into a chair and was standing next to her, protectively. Remus stood in the middle, looking quite lost. Sirius sighed and readied himself to do a lot of explaining.
The first person to speak was Dumbledore.
"Everyone, please take a seat." He said while conjuring enough seats for everyone.
They all sat down, except for Harry. He chose to remain standing. He wasn't quite calm enough to sit down at the moment. He stood, leaning slightly on the wall behind him, his eyes diverted from everyone.
"I think a thorough explanation is in order." Dumbledore said rather coldly after few awkward silent minutes.
Sirius looked up at Harry and then looked at Tonks. She met his gaze and shrugged her shoulders. They both were trying to figure out who was to do the explaining. It was Harry's idea and he had literally blackmailed them into helping him, but he wasn't going to be doing the explaining. That much was clear from his expression. He was still caught up in how he had failed. He was furious at the Aurors for ruining his plan.
Nervously, Sirius cleared his throat. He looked straight at Dumbledore, not daring to even look at James, Lily or Remus.
"I think I should start at the beginning." He said quietly but every eye turned to him regardless, except Harry's. Sirius started to explain what had happened, his mind racing back two days ago, when Harry had been left with him and Tonks.
(Flashback)
Sirius closed the door after James, Lily and Remus left to meet with Dumbledore. Harry sat down on the sofa, his head bowed, a look tiredness on his face. Sirius sighed and went over to sit with him. Harry had not spoken to anyone since last night. Tonks was sitting on the bed, looking uncomfortably at Harry. She wanted to approach him and ask how he was but felt silly for asking such a question. It was obvious Harry was not alright. How could he be alright after what happened last night?
Sirius sat next to Harry and tentatively put an arm around him.
"How are you doing?"
Harry didn't answer but stiffened a little at the contact so Sirius moved his arm away. Harry still wasn't comfortable with physical contact and Sirius didn't blame him. Sirius still suffered nightmares remembering the abuse Harry had suffered when he was only a few years old.
"Are you alright?" Tonks asked, coming over to sit opposite him.
"No, I'm not alright." Harry answered quietly.
"We'll figure out who planted Nagini in your bed, Harry. I promise you." Sirius whispered.
Harry slowly turned his head to look at Sirius, his eyes taking in the older man's face.
"Just like you figured out who this Dark Prince is?" he asked.
Sirius felt like he had been slapped. He stared at Harry and saw the suppressed rage flicker in his eyes.
"It's not like we haven't been trying, Harry. We've been doing our best." He said defensively.
"Well, your best isn't good enough, is it?" Harry said harshly.
"That's not fair, Harry." Tonks said at once. "You can't say that. You don't know how hard all of us are working to get to him."
Harry threw her a scornful look before adding, "Yeah, I haven't forgotten how hard Aurors work."
Sirius gave Tonks a warning look. Harry was obviously still really upset. It wasn't right to take anything he said to heart.
"Harry, I know that things have been awful lately but I promise that we won't rest until we find this 'Dark Prince'. I swear it!" Sirius promised vehemently.
Harry looked at him closely. His unyielding gaze was making Sirius feel very uneasy. Finally Harry got to his feet and started pacing, reminding Sirius strongly of James.
"I'm tired of waiting! I'm tired of waiting for someone else to get him. I'm tired of sitting around and not doing anything!" Harry said from between clenched teeth.
Both Sirius and Tonks were staring at Harry as he paced the length of the room.
"Harry, I know you're upset but you have to understand that there isn't anything you can do." Tonks tried to explain.
Harry spun around to face Tonks. His eyes filled with determination.
"There's a lot I can do." Harry growled at her. "I know of a way I can get to him. But I can't do it on my own. I need help." Harry looked pointedly at the two Aurors sitting before him.
"What do you have in mind?" Sirius asked, intrigued.
Harry looked over at Tonks.
"Can you play dead?" he asked her.
Tonks looked between Harry and Sirius, lost for words.
"Excuse me?" she asked at last.
"Can you play dead?" Harry repeated.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"I need you to pretend that you're dead." Harry answered calmly.
"But why?" Tonks asked.
"Because I need everyone to believe that I killed you."
Silence met the end of Harry's words. Both Aurors were looking at Harry as if he were mad.
"Harry, go lie down." Sirius instructed, pointing at the bed.
"Let me explain." Harry started.
"No, you don't have to explain anything. You're obviously still in shock and are not thinking straight. Go lie down." Sirius said again.
"Sirius, listen to me!" Harry said through clenched teeth. Sirius complied but continued to look tiredly at him. "I know how it sounds but this is the only thing that will work."
"How is me pretending to be dead going to lead us to the Dark Prince?" Tonks asked.
"I need to make everyone think that I've completely lost it…"
"You're not off the mark there." Sirius commented quietly. Harry continued, ignoring him.
"…I need to pretend that I killed you because I thought you were a traitor." Tonks let out a surprised and indignant huff but Harry pushed on. "The Ministry will jump at the chance to arrest me. I know that oaf of a Minister has been dreaming of arresting me since last year."
Sirius stood up, not able to take anymore of this.
"You've lost it! How is getting arrested going to lead us to the Dark Prince!?" he yelled.
"I never said that I would be arrested. I said that the Ministry will jump at the chance to arrest me. I'll escape from Hogwarts before they manage to arrest me."
"How would you do that?" Tonks asked, not able to keep back her curiosity.
"By disapparating." Harry answered as if it were the simplest of things.
"How are you going to disapparate from Hogwarts!? No one can apparate or disapparate, the wards won't let you. You really need to lie down, Harry. You obviously can't think straight. I understand how you're feeling after what happened yesterday but…" Sirius' words died in his throat as Harry gave him an irritated look before disappearing with a pop.
Tonks was on her feet in seconds. Both Aurors stood with their mouths hanging open. Harry had disapparated! But that wasn't possible, not when inside Hogwarts. Without saying a word to each other both of them tried to disapparate as well, thinking maybe the wards were down. Both felt the familiar block as the wards stopped them.
Sirius and Tonks were still gaping at each other when Harry reappeared, a smirk on his face.
"Shall I continue?" he asked.
Sirius and Tonks both sat down wordlessly and nodded. Harry explained the rest of his plan. By the end of it both Sirius and Tonks were sitting with their mouths hanging open.
"But, Harry, how can you be so sure that this 'Dark Prince' will come to Hogwarts?" Tonks asked, looking quite pale at the sound of Harry's plan.
"Think about it. All the attacks that have happened have been done under my disguise. This person is trying to frame me for all his attacks. He wants me to be arrested by the Ministry. I know for certain there is a spy working for him in Hogwarts." Harry held up his hand to quieten the two as they opened their mouths in obvious protest. "After last night, it's certain that someone here is helping the Dark Prince. How else would he have known that I was sleeping in the dungeons and not my dorm? He must have found out about the sleeping spell that I was under. I need to carry out my plan in front of the whole of Hogwarts to ensure that the spy sees me and reports back that I've run away after committing murder. Like I told you, before disapparating I'll make sure to threaten everyone in Hogwarts. It would be too good an opportunity to miss. I leave Hogwarts, showing clearly that I can come back anytime as I can manipulate the wards and I threaten to kill whoever is helping the Dark Prince. He will see this as a great opportunity and will come to Hogwarts and attack the first person he sees, just to frame me."
"That's the other thing! We can't risk someone else's life like that!" Tonks cried at once.
"We won't. I have that planned as well." Harry said while taking a piece of parchment out of his pocket. He showed it to them.
"The map!" Sirius exclaimed, recognising the map he had co invented.
"Exactly!" Harry said. "It will show us everyone that comes onto Hogwarts grounds. That way we can stop any attacks from happening and catch him in the act. Even if something goes wrong, we'll have his name at the very least."
"How long have you been planning this?" Tonks asked, caught in between being impressed and conflicted.
"Since this morning." Harry answered.
"Harry, I don't know about this. Your plan is too risky. Too many things can go wrong. The Ministry has been looking for a reason to get you. I don't think it's safe to mess with them like this. Fudge will probably give a 'kill on sight' order on you. Not to mention that Tonks and I can get into a lot trouble with the Ministry as well for lying to them." Sirius said worriedly.
Harry turned to face Sirius, his eyes fixed unwavering on his face.
"You once said to me that you were my Godfather above everything else. Your Godson is asking for your help today. Will you help me?"
Sirius didn't know how to respond to that. He let out a sigh, before nodding his head. Against his better judgement, he was going to help Harry.
"Tonks?" Harry said, turning to her. Tonks looked at Harry for a moment. A strange emotion flickered over her face.
"Why do you want me to help you? A few days ago you said you didn't know me well enough to even feel comfortable with. All of a sudden you want my help? What made you ask me for help?" she asked, a note of hurt in her voice.
Harry stared hard at her.
"Because you're a Metamorphmagus." He replied simply. "You're the only one who can play dead convincingly."
"Wrong answer, Harry." Tonks commented dryly.
"Look, you're the only one who can help me with this. I need your help. Either you give it to me or you tell me 'no' straight up. What is it going to be?"
Tonks took a few minutes to answer, making Harry shift uncomfortably.
"I'm with you. You might not be comfortable with me but I sincerely care about you. If doing this will help to get to the person trying to hurt you, then I'll help you in whatever way possible."
Harry couldn't help the grateful smile that came at that answer. His plan couldn't work without Tonks.
"So when do we do this." Sirius asked.
"Now"
"Now?" Tonks asked, looking nervous.
"We don't have a lot of time. Hogwarts will be closing in two weeks but I think dad is going to pull me out of here sooner. Maybe even by tomorrow. We need to act now." Harry explained.
"What about Remus? I need to tell him about this." Tonks said worriedly.
"Yeah, and does James and Lily know about this?"
"I can't tell them." Harry answered.
"Harry…" Sirius started.
"They won't let me do this! I know they won't." Harry cut him off.
Tonks, Sirius and Harry argued over letting James and Lily know about the plan but Harry didn't relent.
"At least let me tell Remus." Tonks pleaded.
"I can't. He won't let us go ahead with this either. In any case, the less people that know about this the better. It has a better chance at succeeding."
"But Remus will think I'm dead!" Tonks said.
"Maybe that's a good thing. Everyone has learnt about you two dating. The spy will probably watch Remus closely for his reaction. If Remus thinks you're dead for real, he'll react better than if he knows it's all an act." Harry explained
After much arguing and pleading, Tonks and Sirius gave in, feeling apprehensive about Harry's plan.
"How are we going to alert everyone of my death?" Tonks asked, while lying down on the ground in a spread eagle pose. "There's something I thought I would never say." She commented with a nervous chuckle.
Harry took out his wand and with his other hand he levitated it to point at himself.
"Harry?" Sirius asked, eyeing the wand warily.
"An Unforgivable will set off the alarms." He said quietly.
Both Tonks and Sirius felt their hearts plummet to their stomachs.
"Harry! You can't! The Ministry…" Tonks started.
"I don't give a damn about the Ministry!" Harry spat angrily. "I'll do anything to get to that bastard who killed Nagini!"
Thinking about the mangled mess that was Nagini when he found her, Harry closed his eyes and concentrated on his wand.
"Cancel out my wand when the alarms go off." He said to Sirius, who only nodded his head, eyeing the wand with a precautious glare.
Harry took a deep breath before casting Imperius on himself. The spell cancelled after a few seconds. Harry shook his head to clear it. He could throw off the curse himself but wanted to save the precious few seconds he had.
He opened his eyes to see Tonks already lying in position. Her face had gone pale and death like. Her lips tinged slightly blue, her eyes closed. Harry turned to face Sirius, he was already heading out the door.
"You have to act like I killed her. Don't hold back, okay?" Harry said before standing over Tonks, his wand was already safely tucked in Sirius' pocket.
Sirius nodded before leaving the room, tears coming to his eyes. He wasn't acting, the tears were real, at seeing what Harry was forced to do in order to catch the Dark Prince.
"I hope this is worth it. I hope we get that bastard!" he muttered to himself as he saw Moody and Kennedy rushing towards him.
(End Flashback)
The room rang with silence as Sirius finished. Harry was still staring at the ground while Tonks sat, trying to get eye contact with Remus. James and Lily along with Dumbledore were silent, not knowing what to say.
"Did you observe the map? Do we have a name?" Dumbledore asked finally.
Sirius threw Harry a strange look before taking out the map.
"We did but there was a problem."
James looked up at him sharply as did Remus. The map was flawless, nothing could fool the map. What could possibly be wrong?
"What problem did you have?" Dumbledore asked.
"We tried watching the map but we couldn't keep watch over all of the castle, especially as we didn't know who we were looking for. It was impossible to keep a track of everyone, so I did a spell on the map, one that would highlight everyone that was already present inside the castle, all the students and Professors of Hogwarts. That way it would be easier to detect a newcomer. But it sort of backfired." Sirius said in a small voice.
"How?" Lily asked.
"The spell worked but it caused all the names to be abbreviated to initials. I couldn't get the spell to work and show the full names." Sirius explained.
"But did you get the initials of this Dark Prince?" Charlie asked, excitement clear in his voice.
"Yes" Sirius looked at Dumbledore glad that he had something positive come from this whole ordeal. "It came up as C.B."
"C.B.?" Dumbledore confirmed.
"Yes, but I regret I couldn't change the map back. I tried, but it seems to be stuck in that format." He told them regretfully. "I was planning on lifting he spell the moment we detected the Dark Prince's presence so we could reveal his identity but I couldn't do it. The initials are all we have." He dutifully informed.
"It is a lot more than we had to start with." Dumbledore responded. "However, I cannot express the disappointment I feel that the three of you took such a risk. All three of you will be targeted by the Ministry. You should have at the very least come to me. You put my school and my students at great risk." Dumbledore said with anger clear in his tone.
Sirius stole a glance at James and saw that his best friend was standing with his jaw clenched tightly, his eyes fixed on a spot above everyone else' heads. He knew that meant he was beyond mad. He was livid.
Ginny was still trembling. The fact she came so near to death was making her feel very sick. He looked at her Headmaster and opened her mouth to tell him what she was desperate to say.
"Professor?" Dumbledore looked at her and his expression softened.
"Yes, Miss Weasley?"
"I, I need to tell you that I…he spoke to me." She stuttered.
Everyone's focus shifted to her.
"He spoke to you. What did he say?" Dumbledore asked in interest.
Ginny told them what the Dark Prince had hissed venomously in her ear before throwing her from the roof. She hadn't dared look at Harry while speaking. Once she finished she chanced a glance. Harry was looking quite pale but had his head bowed so she couldn't read his expression.
"I wish to examine that memory of yours at a later date." Dumbledore said. Ginny nodded her agreement. "Perhaps we have more gain due to this incident than I first thought. We have his initials and perhaps from his voice we could gather more clues to reveal his identity. " Dumbledore commented.
"Sir?" Ginny asked again. "How did you, I mean, how did all of Hogwarts end up outside?"
Dumbledore looked over at Tonks and a small smile flickered over his face.
"I saw Auror Tonks' patronus outside my window. I can recognise her form. As soon as I saw the silver Chameleon hover outside my window I knew Tonks was alive. No two people can have the same patronus form. I ordered my staff to accompany me. My guess is that hearing the commotion outside, the students took it upon themselves to investigate and joined us on the grounds. They probably thought it was safer to stay with the Professors."
Ginny nodded her head. She looked over at Harry's silent form but he wasn't looking in her direction.
Before anyone could say anymore there was a commotion heard coming from outside. The next moment the door to Dumbledore's office was thrown open and ten Aurors piled into the room, flanking the Minister. Everyone in the room stared for a moment as Fudge's searching gaze swept around the room before settling on Harry. His face contorted with either fear or rage, or perhaps both. He pointed a finger towards Harry and yelled at his Aurors.
"Kill him!" At once the Aurors, all ten of them pointed their wands at Harry and prepared to say the killing curse.
Everything happened at once. Before anyone could finish the killing curse Sirius, Remus Tonks, James and Lily had all rushed forward and in an instant shielded Harry, their own wands drawn and pointed at the Aurors. Charlie had drawn his wand also but didn't move from his sister's side. The killing curses that were aimed at Harry were diverted away by the Aurors at seeing their fellow Aurors standing in front of their target. A bright green flash hit the ground just beside Dumbledore's desk, singeing the expensive carpet.
Harry was trying to push them out of the way. Not because he was trying to be brave but because he was trying to get to the idiot Minister so he could kill him by his bare hands. Dumbledore shot to his feet and in moments the situation had calmed down.
"EVERYONE! LOWER YOUR WANDS!"
Everyone complied but no one put away their wands. They were still held in their hands but not aimed at anyone.
"Minister! I would have to ask you to refrain from ordering any attacks before listening to all the facts." Dumbledore told the man in a commanding voice.
The Minister didn't respond to him. He was keeping a careful eye on Harry as he struggled to get past Sirius and his dad to get to him.
"You idiot!" Harry spat at him, while trying to get out of his dad's iron grip.
"Look here, you…you…!" the Minister stuttered at Harry.
"You ruined everything! I would have had him if it wasn't for your blasted Aurors!" Harry yelled cutting him off.
"I…had who? What are you…?"
"The Dark Prince! The one killing your people!" Harry yelled again, lashing out at James now as he kept pushing Harry back.
"The Dark…? But that's you!" Fudge retorted, confusedly.
"At one time yes, but not now you dimwit!" Harry snarled at him.
"Harry! That's enough!" James yelled trying to stop Harry from getting himself in more trouble.
The Minister looked around the room, as if trying to see who would help him against Harry, or at least explain what he was talking about. It was then that his eyes settled on Tonks. The Minister's eyes widened with shock. He obviously hadn't noticed her until now as he was too busy trying to get Harry.
"Auror Tonks! I…What is going on here?!" he asked going quite pale.
Dumbledore took over by standing before the Minister.
"Minister, I suggest you take a seat. James, I think it's best if you take Harry and go to your quarter. Charlie, I suggest Miss Weasley visits Madame Pomfrey." Dumbledore said giving Ginny a hand to help her to her feet.
Fudge was left looking flabbergasted as Dumbledore opened the door for Harry to leave along with his parents.
"But…but he has an arrest warrant issued against him…" he started.
"For a crime he didn't commit." Dumbledore finished looking pointedly towards Tonks.
Fudge looked at Tonks before looking away, as if it were too painful to look at her.
"How do we know she is the real Tonks? This could be anyone under a disguise!" he spat.
"I assure you she is the real Nymphadora Tonks. I have seen her patronus." Dumbledore said.
"But, but he cast an Unforgivable!" Fudge said, seemingly to have just remembered that fact.
"He cast it on himself so the alarms would be set off. If you give me a minute, I will explain everything to you." Dumbledore said in a voice that gave no room for argument.
That seemed to take the wind out of Fudge. He sat down in the chair behind him, his eyes still fixed to Dumbledore, a look of defeat on his face.
Charlie was leading Ginny out of the door first, James and Lily dragging a glowering Harry behind them. Ginny stopped as she passed the Headmaster.
"Sir?"
"Yes, Miss Weasley?" Dumbledore turned to her.
"I just wanted to say, thank you for saving my life. If you hadn't done that spell to slow me down, I wouldn't have survived." Ginny said, making an effort to smile at him.
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled for a moment before he replied in a soft voice.
"My dear, I am sorry to say that it was not I that saved you. I'm afraid I wasn't quick enough."
Ginny looked at him confusedly. She had just assumed that he was the one to have slowed down her fall.
"But if you didn't cast that spell then who…" she trailed off as she caught sight of Harry, standing behind Dumbledore. Harry knew what they were talking about and looked away as Ginny met his eyes, his expression softened and a look of unease took over his features.
Ginny felt her mouth dry up. Harry had saved her. How many times was that now? Before she could work up the strength to say anything, Charlie was pulling her gently out the door, leading her away from the office and towards the hospital wing.
James led Harry out as well, trying to get Harry as far away from the Minister and his Aurors as possible. It was out of fear that Harry would literally kill them. They walked in silence, heading towards their quarter. It was already late into the night, but as far as James was concerned, there was still a lot of explaining to do.
xxx
The first thing Harry saw as he walked into his dad's living quarters was Damien. He was standing next to the fireplace, both hands clasped behind him. He looked up as soon as they walked in. James and Lily seemed surprised by his presence.
"Damien? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in your dorm?" Lily asked, her voice shaking a little at the exhaustion she was suffering.
Damien kept his eyes fixed on Harry, there was something odd in his eyes. He was looking at Harry in a mixture of relief and extreme anger.
"I needed to know what was going on." He said in a tight voice.
James and Lily told him everything about how Harry, Sirius and Tonks had played all of them to catch out the Dark Prince. Damien stayed standing throughout the retelling. Harry was standing as well, unable to sit even though he was beyond exhausted.
Harry kept his gaze fixed to his younger brother, he knew what he must be going through. He hated lying to him but it was necessary. As soon as James was finished, Damien looked up from him and stared angrily at Harry.
Before Harry could open his mouth Damien bolted towards him and punched him hard in the face. Harry stumbled back a step, caught completely off guard by the sudden attack.
"Damien!" James yelled before rushing to his feet. Damien however wasn't listening to him. His focus was fixed on Harry as he recovered.
"You jerk!" he screamed at Harry.
Harry didn't retaliate. His face burned at the spot Damien had hit him but he kept his fists curled tightly in balls and at his sides. He should have guessed that Damien would be this upset.
James and Lily had reached Damien and pulled him away from Harry, in case he hit him again or that Harry retaliated.
"Get a hold of yourself!" James told the infuriated boy.
"Why? Why should I? Why should I care about him when he obviously doesn't care about us!?" Damien yelled as he glared at Harry.
"Damien, don't speak like that." Lily said, barely holding back her own tears.
"Why Harry? Why did you do it?" Damien asked, ignoring his mum and pulling out of his dad's grip.
Harry faced him as calmly as he could. His patience had been tested to its limit today and frankly, he couldn't put up with much more.
"Damien…" James started.
"Why didn't you tell us what you were planning? Why did you keep us in the dark? Did you not consider what we would go through watching you run away like that?! Did you spare even a single thought about us? Did you?!"
Harry was biting down on his tongue to keep from yelling at Damien. The rational part of him was telling him that Damien was just angry and wasn't quite aware of what he was saying.
The door behind Harry opened and Tonks and Sirius walked inside, both wearing fatigued expressions. Sirius saw the look Damien was wearing and a guilty expression appeared on his face.
"Pup, listen…"
No! I don't want to hear it! I don't need your excuses." He turned to face Harry once more. "I want to hear your explanation."
"Everything has already been explained to you." Harry stated as calmly as he could.
"No one had explained why you felt the need to hide the truth from us, from me." Damien's expression changed to one that conveyed how scared and hurt he was. "You don't know what it felt like to watch you run away like that. To think that you were once again going to be hunted until killed! Why did you not tell us, tell me? I never thought you would keep something as big as this from me!"
"I can say the same for you." Harry replied coldly.
Damien was speechless. He staggered back as if he had suffered a physical blow.
"Oh God, Harry! I can't do this. I can't have the same argument with you over and over again! I said sorry about a thousand times! And in any case, that situation was totally different! I only kept the drugging incident from you because I thought you wouldn't be able to deal with it. I was only looking out for you!"
"You kept the truth from me because you didn't trust me. You didn't trust my actions. Maybe I kept the truth about my plan from you because I don't trust you at all!" Harry shouted at him, the last of his patience gone.
Damien stared at Harry, he didn't know how to respond to that. Without saying another word, he turned and walked out of the room, leaving the rest behind in awkward silence. Harry didn't mean what he said but he had had enough with everyone. He said what he knew must hurt and wasn't sorry about it. Not at this precise moment anyway.
Tonks looked around the room. James and Lily were looking angrily at Harry and Sirius. She felt very awkward in the midst of this. She thought it was bad explaining everything to the Minister, but this was so much worse. Her eyes scanned the room once more and found that Remus was missing.
"I need to go and find Remus." She told the room at large. She didn't think anyone heard her for all the response he got.
She hurriedly left the room, setting out to find Remus and sort out the anger he must be feeling. The door closed with a soft click. That was the only sound in the room. The four people stood in the middle of the room in angry silence. Finally Lily spoke.
"Is the Minister gone?"
"Yes, he's gone. He's taken the Aurors with him." Sirius answered.
Lily nodded her head but didn't say anymore. She looked just as angry as James. Sirius knew this was how they were going to react but it still hurt him that his best friends wouldn't even look at him.
"Prongs…"
"Don't!" James hissed at him, still not making eye contact. "Don't call me that!"
"I'm sorry-" he tried to say again but was cut off.
"Sorry! You're sorry? For what? For making me live my worst nightmare again?" James seethed. Sirius didn't know where to look. He bowed his head and took the abuse. "From everyone, you know the ordeal I went through last year! You knew how this would affect me but you still let me believe that Harry was gone. You kept the truth from me! Why?" he demanded.
Sirius looked over at Harry but didn't say anything. That was all it took for James to start with Harry.
"And you!" he rounded on him. "When in Merlin's name are you going to learn that you're not alone anymore? That you don't have to take extreme risks? When are you going to let me and your mum help you?! You took such an absurd risk and gambled with your safety and all for what? Why didn't you let me handle this? The Ministry and the Order are all working to catch this guy. Why didn't you stay out of it and let them to their job!?" James asked, his face growing redder by the minute.
"Five months." Harry stated.
"What?" James asked, thrown by Harry's words.
"It's been over five months since this new Dark Prince started attacking and in all that time what is that you have learned about him? What have you and your Ministry and your Order all put together got on him? Nothing. You haven't got anything. I sat back for five months, waiting for you or an Auror to catch him, to stop him from killing innocents but nothing happened! I depended on you and what happened? The bastard got to my room and could have killed me in my sleep!" Harry spat in fury.
"No one could have anticipated that attack, Harry. Everyone thought Hogwarts was the safest place." Lily said from besides James.
"I thought I proved exactly how safe Hogwarts was last year." Harry told her icily.
James bristled as the comment brought back awful memories. He could still see Harry's hateful glare fall on him seconds before he took Bella's hand and disapparated to return to Voldemort.
"I just had enough! I couldn't sit back and just wait! I thought that maybe I wouldn't have to get involved but it seems futile to have thought like that! He was targeting me! All the attacks carried out were meant to frame me. What happened to Nagini, that was a personal attack! I wasn't going to wait around for another attack like that!" Harry spat angrily.
"There could have been a better way to catch him. Jeopardising your own safety while trying to catch him doesn't sound too smart to me." James said harshly.
"Smart or not, it still got him here." Harry responded.
"Harry! You were almost killed tonight! Any one of those Aurors could have hit you!" Lily exclaimed, not able to keep quiet any longer.
"But they didn't. That should be enough." Harry replied.
"You should have told us." James said quietly. He was addressing both Harry and Sirius. "You should have planned this all out including me and Remus. Do you have any idea what he was going through?" he asked.
"I wanted to tell you but…" Sirius said.
"But what!? You didn't because Harry asked you not to? Is that it? You should have known better! Not only did you risk Harry's life, you risked Tonks' and your own job as well. You can bet your promotion is taken away after this stunt!" James yelled.
"Promotion? What promotion?" Harry asked looking at Sirius.
"It's nothing." Sirius said with a warning look at James.
Harry didn't say anything more on the subject but his demeanour changed instantly. He had figured out what the truth was and suddenly he seemed too tired to argue with anyone anymore.
"James, I know how you must be feeling. I'm sorry, really I am but we saw this as an opportunity and we had to take it." Sirius explained.
"It was a risky plan and a lot could have gone wrong." James hissed, bringing up mental images of what would have happened if Harry was hit by one of the Aurors.
"The plan was fine and it would have worked perfectly if it wasn't for those Aurors!" Harry said, still feeling the burn of anger at the thought of the imbecile Aurors.
"Why didn't you talk to us about your plan?" Lily asked. It seemed they couldn't let this go.
"Because I knew you would have disagreed with it and would probably have tried to stop me." Harry answered tiredly.
"That's not true and you know it." James said, looking Harry straight in the eye. "You didn't tell us for the simple reason that you didn't trust us. You only told Sirius and Tonks because you needed them. You used them. You didn't have a need for me, your mum and Damien, so you didn't bother telling us anything. After all this time and everything we've been through, you still don't think of us as your family. You don't see the need to include us in important matters and tonight proved this!"
Harry looked James in the eye as well, the last of his patience and rational thinking evaporated.
"Think what you want. If that's what you believe then so be it."
With that, Harry turned and walked out of the door. It seemed his last day at Hogwarts was going to be spent in the Room of Requirement. Sirius gave James a sad look before turning and following Harry as well.
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I told you guys all the relationships were headed for a rollercoaster ride! What did you think? Please review. I had to take over my sisters PC to complete this so please review and tell me what you thought of it. I need all the inspiration!! Cheers!!