Inquisition

Harry awoke early the next morning amazed at how quickly he had fallen asleep the night before. Nevertheless, he still felt extremely tired. Healer Endlemire had told him it could take up to four weeks for his full strength to return and that he had to take it easy until then. That meant getting plenty of rest and using no magic.

The Healer had sensed his reluctance to discuss the details of what had happened to him; he had asked him only a minimal number of questions for which Harry had been very thankful. Harry had also been relieved that the Healer agreed to tell everyone that he should not be disturbed for the rest of the night. He needed the chance to think things through before he had to answer questions from the others; and the questions would come, of that he was unfortunately certain.

Harry sat up and placed his legs over the side of the bed and slowly stood up. He felt stiff and slightly shaky but it was a vast improvement over how he had felt just after he had escaped. Slowly he made his way to the small closet across the room where he found a hospital robe and he put it on. He went to sit in the chair by the window and stared outside.

He was never going to be able to do it, he thought to himself. This last encounter had nearly killed him. How could he or anyone else possibly believe he possessed the power to vanquish Voldemort, prophecy or not?

Harry shook his head in disgust. He had not even been in a position to duel because he had been caught so off guard. Some kind of 'Chosen One,' he thought. A chosen one who was easily ambushed by his enemy and was a threat to those he cared about while he was alive or at least conscious.

Dumbledore had told him not to shut his friends out and that he should confide in them; but Ron had nearly been killed once and Harry may have informed them that Ginny knew of Voldemort's use of the Horcruxes. A cold dread began to form deep within him. If anything happened to Ginny… the possibility terrified him more than the thought of facing Voldemort again.

He had assured himself that he would not be endangering Ginny by telling her everything. He had needed someone he trusted to be able to pass information on should the worst happen; but it turned out that he might as well have handed her right over to them.

He should have kept everything to himself and he should have gone alone right from the beginning. If Harry was captured again he knew Voldemort would eventually find out the full truth. That would lead him right to Ginny as well as Ron, Hermione, the twins and members of the Order. He had put his friends in danger for far too long.

If Dumbledore's assumptions were correct he now had to go after Nagini and then Voldemort himself, which was going to be even more dangerous. He had no choice; he had to continue the rest of the way by himself whether he possessed the ability to succeed or not.

His mind came back to the Order of the Phoenix and his feeling of dread intensified. Someone from the Order would be arriving soon to ask him about things he would rather not discuss. Harry did not want to tell them what he may have revealed to Voldemort. They had all worked so hard to protect him for so many years and how had he repaid them? By easily being captured and possibly betraying those they loved.

His thoughts were interrupted by a light knock on the door and he realized the time he was dreading had probably come.

He took a bracing breath and said, "Come in."

He was relieved to see only Healer Endlemire walk through the door.

"Good morning, Mr. Potter," the Healer greeted him cheerfully.

"Morning," Harry said with much less enthusiasm.

Healer Endlemire stopped directly in front of Harry and moved his wand in varying sized circles above him and asked, "How are you feeling this morning?"

"A bit tired," Harry replied, following the circular motion of the wand with his eyes.

"Quite understandable," Healer Endlemire said. "It will take some time for your strength to come back."

Harry only nodded.

"Speaking of which, there are a number of people here to see you. Do you feel up to having visitors?"

"Do I have a choice?" Harry countered with a humorless smile.

"They do seem quite insistent. I'm not sure they will leave without seeing you even if I insisted as your Healer."

"I guess that settles it then. Can you tell me who is here?" Harry asked, silently praying for at least one member to be absent.

"There's Kingsley Shacklebolt and Alastor Moody; they were the most adamant to come in no matter what my professional opinion might be," Healer Endlemire said, sounding annoyed. "And then there is also Remus Lupin and the other Auror, Tonks, is it? And Arthur and Molly Weasley, and their son Bill."

Harry closed is eyes and rubbed them under his glasses as if he was already quite fatigued. So much for a prayer being answered, he thought. He was going to have to explain everything in front of Mrs. Weasley. He was going to lose the one person that came close to being a parent to him once she learned what he had done to her daughter both before and after he woke up.

Harry said in a resigned voice, "Send them in."

When Healer Endlemire left to bring in his visitors Harry stood up from the chair and used its back to steady himself. He might as well face the inquisition looking more confident than he felt.

Remus was the first through the door. He took Harry's outstretched hand and then pulled him into an emotional hug.

"Harry! Thank, God! I thought we'd lost you! I can't tell you what that did to me… to all of us…!" Remus then pulled Harry into another even more bone-crushing hug.

He was rescued by Tonks who gave him a hug and kissed him on the cheek. "Wotcher, Harry! Good to see you awake!"

The others filed and expressed similar sentiments but it was the last two people who came through the door that caused Harry's stomach to perform an uncomfortable flip.

Mrs. Weasley walked up to him with tears spilling down her cheeks. She took his face into her hands and was looking at him like she was trying to reassure herself that he was actually standing before her.

At last she said, "Harry! Thank the stars you're back and you are going to be all right! We couldn't believe it when we thought… well that doesn't matter now. You're back with us where you belong. Oh, Harry!"

He was grabbed around the neck in another tight hug and he was finding it difficult to breathe. He wasn't sure whether it was because Mrs. Weasley was cutting off his supply of air or whether it was from the guilt that was rapidly welling up within him because she was so overjoyed to see him.

Mr. Weasley said gently to his wife, "Molly, take it easy. Poor Harry is starting to turn blue!"

Mrs. Weasley reluctantly released her stranglehold. Harry was then met with an enthusiastic handshake and another, less breath threatening hug from Mr. Weasley.

"It's good to see you, Harry."

"Thank you, sir… er, everyone. It is good to be back," Harry replied, not knowing what else to say.

Moody cleared his throat and said, "Shall we get to it then?"

Mrs. Weasley turned to glare at him and said, "For Heaven's sake, Alastor! We just got here and Harry only regained consciousness last night. Can't it wait?"

"No, Molly, it can't wait!" Moody growled at her. "We need to find out all we can as soon as possible."

Kingsley looked at Harry and said, "You understand that we need to ask you some questions about what happened to you?"

Harry nodded and said quietly, "I pretty much expected it."

Remus stepped forward and said, "Ron, Hermione and Ginny are the ones who told us you woke up and that they had been able to talk to you for a few minutes last night. Did they tell you about what has occurred over the past several weeks?"

Harry frowned and said, "No. We didn't have time to discuss much of anything before the Healers discovered I was awake. They only told me about how I got here. What's been going on?"

Moody said, "For one, the Death Eaters have been stepping up the number of attacks on those opposing You-Know-Who as well as on Muggle-borns. I won't go into the gory details but the recent attacks have been some of the most brutal yet."

Harry sat back down in his chair digesting this news and asked, "What else?"

Remus replied looking sadly at Tonks, "Several Aurors have disappeared and they have only found the body of one so far. It's four in total with the one gone missing this morning. He was… a good friend of ours."

Harry said, "I don't know anything about the attacks or missing Aurors, so I doubt that I can be of much help to you."

Maybe they would realize he really did not know anything useful and not ask him many questions after all.

Moody said gruffly, "The Auror that was found had been killed by an unknown curse and not the typical methods known to be used by Death Eaters. You are the only one who has been in the presence of You-Know-Who and his followers and are still alive to talk about it. Let us be the judge of what will and won't be helpful."

Mrs. Weasley turned her glare on Moody again and said threateningly, "You leave Harry alone! He as been through enough. I'll not have you nagging at him and asking him to discuss things I'm sure he would much rather forget!"

Harry looked at Mrs. Weasley gratefully but wondered how much she would be defending him once she knew what he had done to Ginny.

His attention was brought back to Kingsley Shackelbolt who said, "Anything Harry can tell us may be the only thing close to a lead we get. Do you understand, Harry?"

Harry nodded but didn't say anything.

Kingsley went on, "I know talking about what happened maybe difficult but even the smallest detail could give us clues to what You-Know-Who is planning. Obviously You-Know-Who did not mean to kill you immediately this time. Do you have any idea as to the reason?"

Harry replied, "No. The only thing I remember him saying was something about me being of use to him and that I was no good to him dead. He never let on why."

"So he definitely had a reason for wanting you to remain alive?" Moody asked.

Harry answered, "So it would seem. But like I said, I have no clue as to why he's changed his mind."

Kingsley continued, "Am I correct in assuming You-Know-Who attempted to obtain information from you that you did not wish to reveal?"

Harry swallowed hard and stared at a spot on the far wall; he nodded in the affirmative.

Kingsley asked, "Am I also correct in assuming he subjected you to some kind of torture? Most likely the Cruciatus Curse on multiple occasions?"

Harry nodded again and looked down at his hands. He clasped them in front of him so the others would not notice they were beginning to shake.

"Harry, what did You-Know-Who want to know?"

Harry answered, "He wanted me to tell him what I knew about the Horcruxes and what Dumbledore told me before he died."

"How many Death Eaters did you see?"

"At the cave, maybe about ten or twelve."

"Could you identify any of them?" Kinsley asked.

Harry replied, "Only Bellatrix Lestrange, Wormtail, um, Peter Pettigrew, I mean… and Severus Snape."

"Did they use Legilimency on you?"

Harry nodded again.

"How many performed Legilimency on you at one time?"

Harry replied in a low voice, "Two. At first just Voldemort and then Voldemort and Snape together."

Harry heard several sharp intakes of breath from around the room.

"I see," Kingsley said. "They are the two most powerful Legilimenses that we currently know of. They were successful in breaking into your mind and taking the information they wanted." He was expressing more of a statement than a question.

Harry frowned and said, "Not at first. I managed keep Voldemort out before it got to be too much and I passed out."

Kingsley looked at Harry in surprise, "You were able to stop him?"

Harry closed his eyes and nodded. He really didn't want to go into it, but he said, "At first it was only Voldemort. When he couldn't break into my mind he had Snape help him. That's when…"

Harry stopped and he remembered the helplessness he had felt. He remembered the pain Voldemort and Snape had inflicted upon him and he could almost hear Voldemort's voice in his head again. He felt his entire body beginning to shake and a sickening feeling had started to churn in the pit of his stomach.

This time Remus came to Harry's defense. "That's enough, Kingsley! Can't you see what this is doing to him? This can wait until he's stronger!"

Stepping forward, Healer Endlemire said, "I'm afraid I must agree. He should be allowed to recover before—"

"And I'm afraid I must insist on continuing to question him," Kingsley said. "We need to get information from Harry as soon as possible!"

Mr. Weasley said angrily, "Harry needs time to deal with what happened to him! You of all people should understand what he was subjected to!"

Kingsley was growing angry himself. "It is not my intention to hurt Harry. But our strongest and most experienced Aurors have been disappearing—and one is known to be dead! Yet Harry is here after a run-in with You-Know-Who himself. We need to know exactly what happened while he was held captive!"

Mrs. Weasley began to protest, "I realize some of those Aurors were your friends, but you need to consider Harry—"

Kingsley looked pointedly at her and barked, "If you continue to interrupt I will personally remove you and every other person from this room!"

Kingsley's last comment to Mrs. Weasley caused Harry to jump. He did not appreciate the fact that Kingsley had yelled at her especially since she was trying to protect him. From the corner of his eye he saw that Bill was looking angry and was about to say something.

Harry beat him to it. "That's no way to speak to Mrs. Weasley! She's only trying to look out for me!"

"I'm sorry," Kinsley said and softened his tone only a small degree. "But we need to know exactly what happened which will help us to—"

Something within Harry snapped and his temper flared. He stood up suddenly and looked angrily at Kingsley.

"What do you think I can tell you that will be helpful? Does it help you to know how I was caught off guard and placed under a paralyzing curse so I had no hope of fighting back? Does it help you to know Voldemort wanted me to tell him who had been helping me and when I refused he used the Cruciatus Curse on me so many times that I lost count? Or how about the last thing I remember at the cave was being hit by a curse that looked like the killing curse so I thought he had finally done me in?"

Harry did not really want to revisit what had happened but now that he began he found he couldn't stop.

Glaring into Kingsley's eyes, he continued, "I woke up in a dungeon tied up with a broken arm that hurt like hell and lying in my own blood. I was surprised to be alive but it was pretty hard to feel happy about it because I was scared to think about what Voldemort would do to me next.

"I didn't have to wait long to find out! I kept insisting I was alone but he continued to insist that others had been helping me and that I tell him who and where they were. When I refused, he used the Cruciatus Curse and Legilimency on me at the same time. Now there's a really nasty combination! Hermione had discovered a spell that enabled me to keep people out of my mind; I almost wish she hadn't— then I would not have had to choose to fight to keep him out. But I had to… I couldn't let him know…"

The shaking in Harry's body and his anger was subsiding as he story continued to flow out of his mouth on its own volition.

He turned away to look out the window and said, "It finally got to be too much for me and I passed out; but the next time he brought Snape."

Harry noted that no one admonished him for not saying Professor Snape.

"This time they both came at me. I never would have believed the pain could get worse but it did."

He heard a quiet sob come from Mrs. Weasley and guilt started to replace the anger he had felt only moments before.

He continued in a quieter voice, "I really tried to fight them… but I wasn't strong enough to keep them both out. Voldemort got into my head and insisted that I tell him what I knew about the Horcruxes. He wanted me to tell him who had been there with me and who else knew about what I had been doing."

He turned back to the room and looked at Mrs. Weasley. Guilt threatened to overcome him when he saw the look of compassion and concern for him in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry…" he said to her, almost in a whisper. "I couldn't stop them… I tried so hard but it wasn't enough. They got in and I let them see… um… Ginny's faced flashed in my mind. It was quick but it may have been enough for them to recognize her."

He closed his eyes when Mrs. Weasley gasped; he could not look into her face any longer.

"I knew I had to get him out of my mind… I couldn't allow him to see more. Somehow I did it but it felt like it split my head in two. Then he asked Snape to get some truth serum and to have Wormtail patch me up and feed me since I was no good to him dead.

"At some point, they untied me. I remembered that I still had two of Fred and George's Beans in my pocket. I used one to get into the next room to get my wand and our bag and the other to get out of there.

"I ended up in a field somewhere but I was so tired and so cold... Someone was coming towards me and I tried to hide but I fell. I thought the Death Eaters had found me and were going to take me back. I couldn't go through it again. The next time I'd as good as hand Ginny or Ron or Hermione over to him. I just wanted it all to finally be over… then no one would be in danger any longer because of me…"

"So you fought our attempts to revive you when you got here," Healer Endlemire said.

Harry answered, "I guess. Everyone would be better off if I stayed wherever I was… if I would just stay away and never come back. So you see I really don't know anything that can be of help to you. But at least now you all know that I'm not strong enough to fight him. I'm so sorry…"

As his voice trailed off Harry chanced a look back at Mrs. Weasley. His heart sank when he saw the look of anger on her face.

She looked him directly in the eyes and started to say, "How could you—"

Harry interrupted her. "Mrs. Weasley, before you say anything… I realize now that I have to go on alone. You won't have to worry anymore. I'll stay as far away from Ginny and Ron and all of you as possible. I promise. When I get out of here I'll go away. I'll—"

Before Harry knew what was happening, Mrs. Weasley had taken him into her arms and was encompassing him in a motherly hug.

Through tears she said forcefully, "How could you think that we would be better off if you went away? Of course I'm worried about Ginny and the rest of my family because of what is happening out there! But after all these years how could you think we would abandon you for any reason? Don't you understand by now? Arthur and I love you as if you were our own! You are and will always be a part of our family!"

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing but with all his being he wanted to. At that moment all he wanted was to forget what Voldemort and Snape had done to him and to surrender to the motherly embrace Mrs. Weasley offered him. But surely Mrs. Weasley must not have understood what he had let happen.

He said miserably, "But I let them get into my mind! I may have shown them that Ginny knows! Her life may be in danger because of me. I never wanted to let that happen. I want to protect her…"

"Listen to me, Harry," Remus said gently. "You can not blame yourself for anything that happened. You were able to do what many more experienced wizards would not have managed; you resisted him under nearly unbearable circumstances. So let's not hear any more of you 'letting' anything happen."

"But now he may know—" Harry tried to explain again.

Mrs. Weasley only held on to him tighter and he heard Bill say, "Remus is right, Harry. Everyone is in danger now whether they are associated with you or not. You may be at the top of his list but you aren't the only one Voldemort is after these days."

Mr. Weasley said, "Only by sticking together and loving each other as a family do we stand a chance to get through this war. And we most certainly do include you as part of our family. We may not know the full extent of what you feel you must do but know that you are most certainly not alone, Harry. I know I speak for everyone here when I tell you that we will continue to stand by you and we will all do everything we possibly can to help you."

Hearing these words, Harry finally let go of the anguish he had been holding in. He fiercely reciprocated Mrs. Weasley's hug and buried his face in her shoulder and her comforting embrace.

Eventually he heard Mrs. Weasley say as she continued to hold him and rub his back reassuringly, "I'm so proud of you."

Harry pulled back from her and said, "What? I don't see how you can still say that after what I—."

Bill had moved closer to them and said, "You were willing to sacrifice yourself to protect my brother and sister, and Hermione. Not many wizards would have willingly endured so much, much less fought so hard to keep their friends safe from him."

A movement on the other side of the room caught Harry's attention and he saw Ron, Hermione and Ginny standing just inside the doorway. He quickly stepped away from Mrs. Weasley. He turned back to the window and wiped the tears from his face in embarrassment.

He heard Hermione say tentatively, "We, um… we wanted to come by and see how Harry is doing."

Mr. Weasley cleared his throat and said to Kingsley and Moody, "I think you've gotten what you came here for. Harry's told you everything he remembers; we should let him get some rest now."

"Of course," Kingsley said. "Thank you for speaking with us, Harry. If you remember anything else that you think we should know please contact me." He turned and left the room with Moody.

Remus said, "We'll be back to visit with you later."

Dabbing a few stray tears from her eyes Mrs. Weasley patted Harry's arm and said, "Remember we all love you, Harry." She left the room with her husband, Bill, Remus and Tonks.

Harry had continued to face the window but he knew Ron, Hermione and Ginny were still in the room.

Finally he could stand the silence no longer and he asked quietly, "How much did you hear?"

"We're sorry, Harry…" Hermione said. "We should have knocked. We, um… got here just before you told Kingsley off for yelling at Mrs. Weasley, which he certainly did deserve! But really, we should have let you know we were here or come back later…" Her voice trailed off leaving the stilted silence again.

So they had heard everything, Harry thought. It was not Hermione's reaction to learning what had happened that he was worried about but rather Ginny's and Ron's.

It was Ginny whom he had placed in danger. What was she going to think of him now? Ron might be his best friend but he had always been fiercely protective of his younger sister. How was Ron going to react now that he knew how much danger he may have placed Ginny in?

The continued silence seemed to speak volumes; no matter what the other part of the Weasley family said both Ginny and Ron must be in agreement with his assessment of the implications of what he had done.

Harry slowly turned around. Ron was staring down at the floor presumably not wanting to look at him. However, Ginny was watching him and most of the color had drained from her face.

He said, "I know it probably doesn't matter at this point but I really am sorry for… er… everything. I never should have let you guys get dragged into this. It's my fight not yours so from here on out I'm going after him alone—"

He was interrupted when Ginny suddenly yelled at him, "You thickheaded, stubborn, idiotic prat!"

She moved toward him so quickly that he automatically stepped backward until his back hit the wall. He thought she was going to slap him, punch him or, more than likely, hex him. Ron and Hermione both stared in astonishment as Ginny continued to berate him.

"Did they scramble your brain and make you go deaf when they forced their way into that thick skull of yours? Didn't you hear a word of what everyone just said to you? We all care about you! You are not alone in this and you have a lot of people who want to help you! You aren't the only one fighting to end this war you know!"

Recovering from the surprise of her tirade Harry shouted back at her, "I'm only trying to do what's best for everyone!"

Ginny glared up at him. "The way I see it the sooner you stop all this guilt-ridden, noble, lone hero rubbish and realize that we're willing to do whatever is needed to help you, the better it will be for everyone; including you!"

Harry countered, "I'm not trying to be a hero!"

Is that the reason she thought he had done what he had? He took an angry step toward her so now there was barely any space between them.

Refusing to back down Ginny said, "Well it certainly sounds that way!"

He continued to glare at her for a moment and then it slowly began to dawn on him that she was definitely angry with him; but not for the reasons he had feared she would be. A pang of guilt washed over him as he noticed for the first time that she was wearing a scarf around her neck that hid the bruises he had caused the day before.

She was standing close enough that he could smell her subtle perfume and he felt his anger drain away. Suddenly, even though he knew he should not allow his mind to follow such a path he thought how beautiful she looked even when she was glaring at him.

"She's right, Mate," Ron finally said, breaking into Harry's thoughts.

He reluctantly pulled his gaze away from Ginny and Ron continued, "If anyone should feel guilty that they didn't do as much as they should have, it's us. We let you go back to the cave alone. We saw what happened. We never should have left you there with them."

Relief spread through Harry as he realized that Ron was speaking to him and was not angry after hearing what had happened.

"You thought I was dead. Heck, I thought I was dead. And there was nothing you could have done anyway, Ron. They may have captured you, too."

Ginny's momentary flare of anger toward Harry began to dissipate and she stepped away from him.

Hermione said, "But all those awful things they did to you! What you went through… mostly because you wouldn't tell him know about us! It's just so horrible!"

She started to cry and ran to him. She threw her arms around his neck and nearly knocked him off balance. He was starting to feel very tired and he thought he had better sit down again before he fell down.

Harry wobbled slightly with Hermione still attached to him and said, "Hey, that doesn't really matter now; but if I don't sit down for a bit you guys may be picking me up off the floor."

Hermione gasped and said, "Oh, Harry, I'm sorry! Come on, sit down."

She unnecessarily grabbed his arm to help him back to the chair. She sat on the side of the bed where Ron joined her.

"Listen," Ron said. "I hope you don't really think that you will be going the rest of the way on your own; to go after You-Know-Who, I mean. We're not about to let you."

Hermione agreed, "That's right. There isn't anything that he could do that would make us want to turn back now or abandon you."

Harry looked at them in amazement. Even knowing how close Voldemort had come to learning that they were helping him they still wanted to stick by him.

Not knowing what else to say, he settled on, "Thanks. But according to the Healer I won't be able to do much for a while, anyway. I guess thinking I can do it all alone and without you two was a bit thickheaded and idiotic of me."

Harry glanced over at Ginny; a part of him was hoping she would come over and join them.

Ginny felt as if Harry had just slapped her. She was glad to hear at least some of what she had tried to tell him seemed to have sunk in. Maybe it was too much to hope that he would realize that she could be a help to him, too; that she wanted to be there for him as well.

She said quietly, "I'm sure you three have plenty to discuss so I'm going to go catch up with Mum and Dad. Take it easy, Harry, and thank you for what you went through for us. I'll see you all later."

Harry thought he saw tears forming in her eyes just as she turned to leave but he could not think of a reason why. He was disappointed that she had decided to leave but it was probably for the best. She would be safer and better off the further he remained from her.

Hermione and Ron only stayed with Harry for another fifteen minutes when they realized how tired he actually was. After they said their goodbyes and had gone, Harry climbed into bed and fell, exhausted, onto his pillow. A major weight felt like it had been lifted off him knowing that his friends still supported him. He still had a lot to think about and to plan but that would have to wait.

The need for sleep overtook him but not before the vision of a very pretty red-head who could rage at him and comfort him all at the same time floated unbidden through his mind.