Chapter 13
"Animus? Are you alright?" The question broke the man out of his hazy thoughts. He turned around to face a young woman, her features familiar as that of a stranger. Why was it that he couldn't shake off the feeling of dread? It was a strange crawling on his skin, irritating him but not disclosing the source. The man realized that she was still waiting for an answer.
"Yes, uh... yes, I'm fine." He said with clear hesitation, grateful when the woman did not pursue the issue.
Had he been drinking lately? The young man couldn't recall a recent time in which he did, but that did nothing to comfort him, quite the opposite.
"Ok. That you-know-who guy seems like a creep; who in the world would even go for such a name? I swear, I don't understand these British people." His three companions broke into chatter, laughing about some subject or another. He couldn't bring himself to really care. Who were these people? The man knew that they were acquainted, but if that was the case, why couldn't he recall anything but fuzzy images?
Silver Death.
That rang a bell. They were a group of mercenaries; outcasts and underachievers that were blessed with only magic to make a living, and what easier living was there other than mindless violence? They decided to head over to England because of the brewing war. A bleeding state's scent attracted scum from all around the world.
The mercs usually took simple and little paying jobs like muggle-born hunting and muggle estate clearing. It was enough for them to survive, but just barely. And then, he had the great idea of going after the most delicious target: Undesirable Number 1. Easy 100,000 galleons to make, they claimed.
Despite not growing up in England, all seven of them have heard of Harry Potter. They often joked about the irony that his story presented; a baby hero that grew up to be the scapegoat of hatred. Some of them even thought that they would be doing a favour to him by killing the boy.
It didn't take them long to find out that the affair wasn't going to be as simple as they first thought. The boy and his two friends proved to be paranoid, to an extreme that the group hasn't quite seen yet. After two weeks of dead ends and trails gone cold, they finally had a breakthrough. For a reason unknown, the boy abruptly left his friends, this time not even being the slightest careful about leaving traces of magic. It was more than simple to pick up on his path after that.
Never had he expected to lose three of his men in his moment of stupidity. Up until now, they had a perfect record. The man could remember the fear he felt when one of his group members got his arm broken during a mission. They looked up to him and that made them his responsibility. And now three of them were dead, all thanks to him. Yet he couldn't even recall their names.
"Animus?" This time, there was an impatient note in the question.
The wizard shook himself from his thoughts. His three companions were looking at him with worry. He must've zoned out for quite a while.
"Sorry, I don't know what's up with me today. I must be tired after talking to that creep. I should just get some sleep." Trying to brush it off, he faked a chuckle. It must've worked, since they looked a bit more relaxed.
"Yeah, you were the one doing the talking, can't say I envy you. We'll see you tomorrow? I'm sure your wife is worried already."
He had a wife?!
A squeal shook Harry from his thoughts, causing him to move from the position he was stuck in for the past few hours. Hissing from the numbness of his neck, Harry slowly got up from the armchair he was sitting on, curious to see the source of the sound. It must've been Kingley's friends, he reasoned, which filled him with excited dread.
Harry did not expect the sheer amount of people in the tiny hallway; there were at least half a dozen of adults cramped in the little space. However, their attention was focused on a particular couple of people.
Remus was being hugged by a woman that Harry recognized as Tonks after a few beats, caught off guard by her peculiar hair. Unlike the typical pink hue that the auror typically used, the shortened hair was constantly shifting between all the colours of the rainbow. It was then when Harry realized that Tonks was crying quietly, and the reason for it showed right at that moment when she started slamming her fists against Remus' chest.
"I thought that you died, Remus! How could you do that to me? Think of what could've happened to the baby." She sobbed into his chest. Remus' muttered apologies and words of comfort were cut off when his mind registered the last part of her sentence. Gently grabbing her shoulders, the werewolf looked into his wife's eyes with desperate concern. "Is the baby alright?" He asked quietly, protectiveness shined in his eyes as he looked at Tonks, lightening in relief when she softly nodded.
Standing at the doorway, Harry had the chance to observe the scene objectively. The violent argument that they had not too long ago flashed before his eyes, causing Harry to consider if he made the right choice by pressing on Remus to stay. Seeing the love the two of them shared answered that question easily, leaving him to silently contemplate Remus' request. Was he up to the task?
He didn't want to ruin their moment, therefore Harry tried to stealthily go back to the other room. His plan didn't work out too well as he slammed his foot against the door frame with a quiet curse. The whole room's attention shifted to him before he felt two arms circling around him in a mighty hug.
Tonks' relieved mutterings didn't reach his consciousness, as Harry was too preoccupied feeling the scrutiny of the rest of the adults in the hallway. He could already feel the judgmental opinions forming as they took on his scrubby and shabby look. It was clear that if he wanted their support he'd need to work more than just the "I'm the Chosen One" reasoning.
At long last, the distressed auror let him go, allowing everyone to properly enter the humble room. The adults conjured themselves simple wooden chairs while Harry turned the armchair around to face the circle that they have formed, just another disadvantage on his side.
Kingsley was the first one to break the silence that has been caused by the stiff awkwardness that hung in the air.
"Harry, you of course know Tonks, but I'd like you to meet Aurors Savage, Proudfoot and Williamson. You might've heard of them."
Indeed he has, even though he never got the chance to actually meet with them before. Didn't they work for the ministry? Last time Harry checked, he was still the most wanted man in the magical world.
Seeing the teenager's cautious look, Remus hurried to explain from his own seat, which he was sharing with Tonks.
"They sought us out a few days ago, since they heard about the Order of the Phoenix, or at least what is left of it." The werewolf said with some degree of bitterness.
Savage, a dark haired mature man with hazel eyes picked up from Remus, "We aren't blind enough not to see that the ministry has been infiltrated on all fronts. With Scrimgeour, Dumbledore and his little club gone, there is no one to be able to rally an actual counter attack against the Dark Lord."
"And you want me to be that replacement." Harry concluded quietly, unsure of how to feel about the whole situation.
Another uncomfortable silence descended on the room, none of the adults willing to affirm or deny the statement. It wasn't what the teenager expected, he had hoped to be able to raise an army to fight against Voldemort, but who would follow such a young and naive wizard into a suicidal fight? The only way they would actually listen to him could only happen if he agreed to act like a poster boy for these adults. How come it always came down to that?
"Why don't you tell them about the Horcruxes, Harry?" Kingsley broke the silence, looking at him hopefully. They were really grasping at straws here, weren't they?
Reluctantly, the young wizard repeated his explanation of their hunt of the Horcruxes as ordered by Dumbledore. Expressions of disbelieve morphed into outrage by the time he was done.
"The Headmaster knew about them for more than a decade and he did nothing to inform us? His return could've been prevented if a professional hit team was assigned with finding them." Proudfoot, a short blond wizard with dark eyes declared with clear indignation. Harry tried to protest that Dumbledore only had suspicions about the soul containers, but it fell to deaf ears.
Williamson, a regal brunette witch with light blue eyes replied to him with a narrow look. "It doesn't really matter if it was just a suspicion or not, the possibility of the return of a terrorist is a national security matter. Dumbledore's inability to inform us has already cost England thousands of lives, and you are at fault as well." At Harry's surprised look, she continued, "Yes Potter, you. He has told you about the Horcruxes almost a year ago, and all you managed to do was to search for them with your pitiful group of friends."
"At least we found one of them!" Harry exclaimed in anger, taking out the locket out of his pocket and shaking it in front of him.
The atmosphere in the room completely changed at his declaration. The three aurors jumped out of their seats while taking out their wands, pointing them at Harry. Remus and Tonks jumped to Harry's side with their own wands pointed at the trio of the aurors, while Kingsley stepped between the two groups. The teenager had no idea how to react, not expecting such a violent reaction from the aurors.
"Are you insane? You've been keeping it on your body without destroying it? I thought you had at least some kind of sense Potter." Savage hissed at him, his eyes flashing as the tip of his wand glowed softly.
Kingsley turned towards the aurors, "He didn't have any way to destroy it yet, Savage. Put your wands down" He replied, trying to keep his voice steady.
"Which further proves his incompetence. You want us to follow a boy that is most likely being controlled by the Dark Lord right now, Kingsley, I think we have the right to be cautious." The auror answered him angrily.
Instead of being intimidated by the sight of three wands pointed at him, Harry felt his own wave of anger rushing in; he's had enough of this useless talking, which mostly revolved around blaming him and others. Stepping in front of the three aurors, he met their eyes with an objective of his own.
"Is this really just going to be a discussion about my mental capability? I've had that specific attribute doubted and torn apart over and over by pretty much everyone these past few years. And yet, here I am! Standing before you, perfectly capable of defending myself. All you people seem to remember are my weaknesses, instead of actually seeing what I've been doing in the last six years. Something that none of you, as high and mighty as you are, were able to accomplish. I actually contributed in the war against Voldemort." Any retort that they might've had was cut off by their flinch of the name, further fuelling Harry's anger.
"Look at you! You can't even bear to hear his name without having to change your pants. How dare you judge me when you haven't fought a single Death Eater throughout this whole war?" If he expected an answer, he sure didn't get one.
"All you've done so far was to sit on your comfortable chairs all day, complaining about Dumbledore or his little club being a disruptive influence on the magical world, while the actual criminals nod their heads along right in front of YOU!" The volume of his voice rose up another notch, Harry could feel a vein pumping angrily along his neck. The trio didn't offer even the slightest resistance to his verbal tirade.
"And now that your comfort and warmth are gone, you have the nerve to come to me, criticising a teenager's and a dead man's actions to feel better about yourselves. All you can offer is to turn me into a mindless poster boy to rally an inexistent crowd of rebels in a political fight against Voldemort. You... you filthy hypocrites." Harry felt the hot anger draining from him, leaving a tired cold shell behind. He collapsed on the armchair, unable to even look at the three aurors who by now dropped their wands back. Where did this frustration come from?
After a few minutes, the teenager realized that they were still standing in stunned silence, unable to move anywhere.
"Get out. Come back when you actually want to win this war, and I might not slam the door on your faces. We need the best, but I refuse to work with useless bureaucrats." He told them tiredly before turning away.
Behind him, Harry could hear the shuffling of feet and the shutting of the front door. Lupin and the other two didn't bother to say anything, still too shocked to offer anything intelligent.
Perhaps it was his imagination, but it felt as if the room became gloomier than it was before.