Harry Potter and the Art of War

"It is well that war is so terrible, or we would grow too fond of it." -General Lee

Harry Potter, a member of house Gryffindor who had just finished his third year yawned tiredly while continuing his homework under the covers of his bed.

Doing homework at three in the morning was indeed odd, just as it was do to so under the light of a flashlight, and most oddly of all using an antiquated writing utensil; the quill and well.

If that wasn't strange enough, he was doing homework in the middle of summer, and enjoying the time spent.

Still not even that compared to the oddity of the boy hiding under the covers, his relatives; an aunt, uncle and cousin would have gone ballistic if they knew he was doing said homework. However, he did have a backup plan should they decide to open his room.

He'd pull back the covers look over and say: "I couldn't sleep so I was reading a book." at which point he'd raise the copy of Tsun Tsu's 'Art of War' he'd found buried in the shelves of his cousin's hand-me-down bedroom.

That book would remain by his side; unread all throughout that summer. However, It wasn't until he returned to Hogwarts did that become of more importance than just an excuse.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore shouted, both in shock and confusion.

It wasn't long until the idea that someone might be out to kill him did Harry feel fear and fear drives a person to extreme lengths.

Again the black haired boy would spend countless hours under the cover of night studying... But this time instead of homework he would be reading through a thick tome; that of the Art of War.

He quickly learned that he needed to apply this to his life. However, he wouldn't reveal what he was doing... At least not until he had finished and studied it inside and out; which he eventually managed... About a month of constant study and he finally felt confident enough to bring Hermione into his trust about what he had learned.

Which is where this story truly begins.

"Harry, what is it? Why are you dragging me around like this? We have classes in less than an hour and I'm sure you-" At that Harry placed a hand to her lips, quelling her words.

"I'll explain once we're alone." He assured before slipping into an unused classroom.

Hermione was justifiably confused. After all, he had randomly grabbed her arm, and drug her off to an unused floor before dragging her into an unused classroom.

"I have a confession to make Hermione." Harry started slowly, fingering the Art of War in his bag before withdrawing it and handing the book to her.

"I first saw this as an excuse in case the Dursleys had ever caught me doing my summer homework. However... Once my name came out of the goblet..." Harry shook his head.

"I started to read it.. Inside and out. It taught me a few things... First I had been an idiot, and second I really shouldn't have trusted Ron like I had, and of course many more things."

Hermione had been gazing at the cover when he declared that he shouldn't have trusted Ron, and her head immediately snapped up, her brown eyes wide with confusion.

"What...?" She began before he once again place his fingers to her lips gently.

He was kind of enjoying their feel if he was honest with himself.

"Whoa slow down." He grinned at her before turning serious.

"I had to learn a few things and the Art of War was the very tool I needed. I... Learned that in a way I'm a 'General' even if I don't want to be. My friends could be both my superiors and... My underlinings. And allowing them to be emotionally torn to bits by a traitor is... Not right or acceptable."

It hurt to call Ron a traitor, but he was. When he was needed most he always turned his back on them and now... He couldn't let the only person who had stood by him thick and thin be hurt like that again.

"You've always stood beside me, you've always believed in me no matter the squalls and I can never begin to repay that." At that he released his touch on her lips before hugging her.

"Thank you. I... I should have listened to you more, and trusted you more." Harry whispered before letting her go.

"That's the most important thing Tsun Tsu taught me."

While the book had covered mostly military strategies his comments about deception and unity to keep military strength had really hit home.

"Oh Harry... I was glad to help." She smiled gently before pulling at his arm, and he willingly let her pull him next to her.

Another hug already? A bit of a surprise but he wasn't going to complain too much.

"So what did you learn?" She asked while in his embrace.

"Well... Voldemort is trying to kill me right? I... Need to utilize all my resources to stop him from killing me. And... That might just mean..." He shook slightly, not really ready to accept the idea that he might have to kill to survive.

"Oh Harry..." She whispered before gently leaning her head against his shoulder, then she spoke further.

"Killing doesn't make you a murderer. There's a difference between killing and murder. A murder is taking the life of a victim, someone who isn't out to kill you. A killing is when you take a life."

"I don't see the difference." Harry admitted.

"Voldemort murders. He takes the lives of innocents, and those that swear to protect the innocent. An Auror doesn't murder but kills in the line of duty, to protect. Which one is the hero?" She explains quickly.

"The Auror... But wouldn't it be hard on the Auror to take a life?"

"Even that of a scumbag? Yes. It's when it stops hurting that you need to start worrying." Hermione assured.

At that Harry closed his eyes again.

"The Auror has to remember that when he took the life of the Death Eater they were stopping the Death Eater from hurting anyone ever again. That's the difference between a murderer and a soldier. A soldier kills to protect those they love, and the country that they've sworn loyalty to. A murderer kills to kill. It isn't glorious but... They're doing what they have to."

"I don't know if I can do that..." Harry muttered softly.

"I hope you never will have to find out. But... If you do, don't worry. I know you'll do the right thing." She gave a gentle encouraging smile.

"Thanks..." At that Harry closed his eyes just accepting her statement and resting in the hug.

How long they stood there he'd never know but by the time they left they had been late for more than one class.

Hermione hadn't minded surprisingly and Harry was just grateful that she wasn't upset. However, the event had led to them having several detentions.

During one of which Hermione proposed that Harry needed to find allies, friends in all houses. Trusting her he readily agreed. Who would have known that a book several thousand years old would have caused such a change?

I was a bit surprised that my writer's block, medical crisis and so on all seemed to pop up all around the same time. I've been suffering from Chronic Headaches for a while now, and there are days that I just black out completely due to the pain.

Still, hopefully this issue will be taken care of soon. I just apologize for the terribly long wait.

And yes I need to address a few reviews from other fics here.

Radiant Chaos: No I havent' abandoned it. No seriously I haven't! I've actually decided that because I probably won't ever get the original plot back I'm going to reconstruct it from the ground up and frankly that's probably the best decision I could make with that. Hopefully it will live up and soar above the expectations.

(And Now that I look back... Man is it so much better than LoH. I swear I need to either A: Delete that stupid thing or B: Actually go back and edit the whole monstrosity, cutting out some of the stupid things, and adding a bunch of things to explain it better. Ugh... What a pain...)

Crystal Song: Don't worry I havent abandoned it either. I'm just dealing with blinding headaches. Ranger Harry will continue to move on!
(Although how I describe limit breaks may change dramatically and that's to cut out the overly-over-the-topness I had going...Even though Limit Breaks were by nature over-the-top...)

As to this particular idea, it just hit me and I figured I'd throw out this little snippet for fun and to get this update out there too.