Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K Rowling.

Chapter 61: Strength and Weakness

-Daphne-

The Great Hall felt empty, like a painting without a frame or sunlight without warmth. Not for the first time, my eyes wandered to the Gryffindor table, where Potter should have been, but wasn't.

"So where do you think they went?" Tracey asked across from me. No one else around us was looking at me, yet no one spoke or ate their food either; they were listening, because they knew that I was Potter's girlfriend.

"I've no idea," I said. "But they've been gone for an entire day, it must have been pretty far away. . ."

Tracey nodded. "I suppose so. . . I wonder if it is some kind of secret mission."

"Could be."

"I just hope he comes back soon," Tracey said.

I raised my eyebrows. "Really? Why do you care?"

Tracey smiled at me. "I want to be able to talk to my friend again."

"You're Potter's friend?" I asked in disbelief.

"No," she said. "I'm your friend."

I looked at her for a couple of moments. "You can talk to me," I observed. "Nothing is stopping you."

Tracet smiled at me; a little knowing smile I didn't like one bit. "Can I? You've barely said a word all day, all you do is look at his table like a little puppy."

"I do not look like a little puppy," I said. "Nor am I only looking at his table."

"Sure," Tracey said, clearly not agreeing with my statement. She stood up, both of us having finished our food. "Shall we go?"

I nodded and followed her out; I felt my shoulders unconsciously relax when I left the Great Hall, no matter how many times I told myself it didn't matter if folk stared after me, I couldn't stop to notice it, nor be bothered by it.

The last day had been harder somehow, ever since he left; it was as if everyone expected me to know what Potter was up to. I didn't even know who raised him, or where he hid away all the time, or, most importantly, what he was doing to stop Voldemort.

"Now you're doing it again," Tracey said from next to me. She was smiling like she'd just been declared the top student in class. "You can't stop thinking about him, can you?"

"I can," I said, quickening my step. "Right now I'm thinking about what I'll do if you don't stop bothering me."

Tracey smiled even wider. "You're allowed to say that you miss him, you know? He is your boyfriend after all.."

"Who told you that he is my boyfriend?" I snapped.

"Everyone. . . except you."

"Exactly. We're not a couple," I said, knowing full well I was outright lying.

Tracey stopped. "Daphne," she said. "Penelope Heathcliff claims that she saw you and Potter kiss."

I froze. "What!?" I hissed.

Tracey's mouth fell open for a second. "Wait! You actually kissed!? I thought it was just a silly rumour. . ." Tracey blinked, and looked at me as if she saw me for the first time. "Now everything makes sense," she said, shocked. "You've fallen for him."

"No," I said. "No, I haven't fallen for him. I haven't fallen for someone who–"

"I already know what he's done," Tracey interrupted. "But still, you like him, don't you?"

I didn't answer.

Tracey chuckled and started walking again. "Wow. Just wow."

I followed her close behind. "Don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Why?" she said. "Everyone already thinks you're fucking each other, which I know you don't, but still, it's the same sentiment, innit?"

"It's not," I said. "It's really, really not. One makes me sound like a whore, and the other like a. . . like a normal girl."

"Right," Tracey said. "Which one are you?"

I glared at her. "I still know the flaying curse, you know, and I never got the opportunity to try it in a real-life situation."

She rolled her eyes. "You won't flay me," she said. "Because then Potter will be mad at you, and that means he won't kiss you. . . you wouldn't like that, would you?"

I shook my head.

Harry would be mad at me if I did flay her, just like he would be mad at me when I told him the truth; but I had to tell him. What if he found out some other way?

I had to tell him, and show him that I was telling the truth when I did so. I had to show him that I—

I swallowed.

That I liked him.

The plan I'd come up with the Dark Lord was sound, I realised. I told Harry, he helped me save my parents, but then, instead of betraying Harry in the end, I showed him, proved to him beyond all doubt, that I was on his side.

-()-

-Draco-

Despite my misgivings with my mission, where the cabinet hadn't progressed an inch, I felt lighter than I had in months, than I ever had since mother left home.

The classroom I had chosen for my little club didn't just hold one meagre student anymore, there were an entire five of them. Sure, three of those were Lucas and his two mates.

But there were two others; they weren't even Slytherins either. It meant nothing, but every time one of them walked up to me and thanked me for the help, after they'd received a good grade, I couldn't help but smile and say: "it is yourself you should thank, not me."

Walking to the seventh floor didn't feel as arduous anymore, I didn't have a cold sweat by the time I got there, instead, I squared my shoulders and got on with it, trying my best to hold the images of my mother –in captivity– out of my mind.

"Mr. Malfoy," one of the Hufflepuffs said. A second year, named Elli.

I gave him a pointed look.

"Draco," he said, smiling shyly. "Do you know what Gamp's Fourth Law is?"

"I do," I said, and sat down at their table.

It was almost startling how quickly I could lose myself explaining the simplest of subjects, seeing the little spark in their eyes as they understood something difficult to grasp was. . . indescribable.

After I had finished explaining, the two Hufflepuffs went back to writing their essay.

Mere moments later, there was a shy knock on the door. The room quieted, everyone looked at the door. I went over and opened it, and the room returned to normal.

I didn't need to ask the people their names; I knew who both were.

Daphne's sister, Astoria, was looking at me blankly. To her left, her best friend –Clara something, I couldn't remember exactly– was standing, smiling at me. I blinked.

"We're here for the club!" Clara said, flashing all her white teeth.

"Welcome," I said and stepped to the side, letting them in.

Clara practically skipped inside, Astoria following with arms folded, sulking like a little storm. Astoria was similar to her sister, I realised. Or well, appearance wise they were, not counting the hair.

That blank look might as well have been from the other.

"Was there anything specific you needed help with?" I asked as they found a table.

I noticed that Lucas and his mates had gone quiet again, no doubt they acted a little more reserved with girls in the room. They were the same age too.

"Charms," Clara said, taking out a huge pile of papers and slamming them on the desk. "We're writing an essay on the summoning charm."

"Isn't that covered in fourth year?" I wondered.

Clara blushed. "It is. . . but me and Astoria wanted to revise for our OWLs." Astoria was staring into the wall, picking her nails absently.

"Aha, revising by writing an essay," I said, suppressing the urge to raise my eyebrows. "I guess Flitwick has changed his methods."

Clara nodded and patted the seat next to her. "He has, here let me show you what I need help with."

I looked at the seat for a moment, then saw the corners of Astoria's lips curl ever so slightly.

She was amused, I concluded. Then it dawned on me that there was no essay, they didn't need any help; and Astoria looked as if she was in the room at gunpoint because her friend had forced her there.

A friend which I suspected wanted to be with me for other purposes than learning.

I sighed, and sat down.

-()-

-Harry-

I breathed out a sigh of relief when I stepped outside the Three Broomsticks. It felt like I had travelled the whole day using the Floo network, even though the sun only stood right above us.

As I stepped through the gates together with the headmaster, I felt as if I could finally rest properly, as if an anxiety I didn't know I had just vanished.

The headmaster and I parted ways as we stepped inside the castle again. Once alone, I felt my shoulders relax, and looked up the staircases. I knew I was bound for the fourth floor; but which room did I want to visit first?

In the end, I walked inside the silver door, the door I'd walked into far longer than the other one.

"Welcome back," my master said as I entered, but didn't look up.

"It's great to see you too," I said dryly.

"So?" Rowena said, finally closing the book she'd been reading.

"So we found the horcrux, kind of," I said and sat down in the armchair, putting my feet on the table, despite my master's warning glare. "We know who has it and we know where he lives."

"And yet you do not have it," Rowena said. She didn't sound particularly upset. "What's this person's name?"

"Hadrian Venger," I said. "He's off on some expedition, completely off the map, so we will have to wait until he returns."

"Hadrian Venger," Rowena said, stroking her chin. "Yes, I assume you're having a look where he lives?"

"His sister is helping us," I said. I paused for a moment, thinking about whether or not I should tell my master about Jennefer's offer. "And Dumbledore is going to place a couple of members from the Order in the country too."

Rowena raised her eyebrows. "That seems rather underwhelming, considering it's one of his two last Horcruxes."

I shrugged. "We can't stay in Australia for what could be months, and Dumbledore will create a portkey to take us to Perth quickly, should it come to that."

"You better be ready then," Rowena said. "You could have to go at any moment. In the middle of the night, in the middle of our training, in the middle of a meeting with your girlfriend."

"I'm quite aware, thanks," I said. "I'm going to be ready, but as far as I know, neither Voldemort nor the one-armed man know about Jennefer or her brother. . . for the first time, we are one step ahead."

Rowena nodded slowly. "Perhaps, or perhaps Voldemort and the one-armed man have already found her and keep tabs on her, just like you do."

"It is possible," I conceded. "But let's be optimistic, hoping for the best, preparing for the worst."

Rowena shrugged and picked up her book again. "You can have the evening off," she said. "No practice."

I blinked. "What? What brought this on?"

Rowena smiled at me smugly from behind the pages. "I can see you're itching to go and see that girl of yours," she said. "Just take it carefully, okay?"

I stood up. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I think you know what." Rowena returned to reading her book, leaving me to shake my head, but then practically jog out the room.

It wasn't far from one room to the next; the door was closed, and locked. Which I could only interpret as one thing.

I destroyed Greengrass' attempt to protect the room and walked inside. The room felt empty, all of the bodies were gone, so were all the books.

Daphne was there though, the only thing which was important.

But she didn't stand up with some snarky comment or even insult me. She was just sitting in her armchair, staring out of the window, like she was lost in a world of her own.

"Hello Greengrass," I said. "Everything alright?"

Greengrass blinked, her eyes settling on me. Her blue irises looked like shattered glaciers of ice. "I need to tell you something," she said, her voice wavering.

One of her hands was shaking slightly, she clenched it into a fist.

"I need your help with something," she said.

"Whatever you need," I said. I looked at her shaking hand for a moment, I reached out and took the hand between mine, it was warm and clammy.

Greengrass stared at our hands for a moment, then she looked into my eyes. "Harry," she said. "If I tell you this–" She swallowed. "You may not like me very much."

My heart sank like a stone.

"But if I do tell you, I will need your help," she continued.

I frowned and looked at her. She didn't look me in the eye anymore, she was staring outside the window.

"Four days after Umbridge's office, I was called home," Greengrass began. "My family wanted me home because of some family emergency, only that I knew for a fact that it wasn't one. My grandma has been dead for years, after all."

I slowly stroked her hand, feeling it tremble inside mine, yet Greengrass still refused to look me in the eye.

My heart trembled in anticipation. The warmth I'd gained from thinking about her over the past days was all but gone.

"I thought I would be berated for helping Umbridge and embarrassing myself," Greengrass continued. "But I wasn't, my parents barely said a word to me. . ." Greengrass trailed off, and she closed her eyes.

Her hand had stopped shaking. She looked me in the eyes, and her blue eyes held so much desperation and hopelessness.

Part of me didn't want her to say whatever she didn't want to say.

"Voldemort was there," Greengrass said.

I stared at our hands, interlocked.

I extracted my hands and leaned back in my armchair. Greengrass' wand was laying on the table to the right.

"He wanted my help," Greengrass said numbly, as her hand fell into her lap again, void of support. "He offered me a deal," Greengrass said.

I felt my blood run cold, I wanted to believe it was a joke, but I knew it was not.

"And I accepted, in return for making you suffer, he would kill you. . ." Greengrass breathed out a shaky breath, I felt as if she left something out.

"How would you make me suffer?" I said, feeling nothing at all, like I was a cloud of purely nothing.

Greengrass bit her lip, and finally, looked up, into my eyes. "By making you like me," she whispered. "By making you love me. Then, I would break your heart and. . ."

"Voldemort would kill me?" I guessed.

Greengrass gulped. "The plan was for you to kill yourself."

I stared at Greengrass for what felt like forever. I inhaled. I exhaled.

"Why tell me?"

A tear ran down her cheek, but I found myself wondering if it was real or not. "I– I know you won't believe me Harry, but I– I like you, Harry. Every time we're not together, I'm looking forward until we are. every time I think about you, I can't help but smile." She smiled at me, and she was so beautiful.

I scoffed. "So you switched sides because you actually started to like me?" I said, incredulous. I shook my head. "How am I supposed to trust you now, Greengrass?"

Greengrass shrugged meekly. "I don't know, Harry," she said. "I don't know."

It felt like someone had splashed me in the face with water cold as ice, and that water was slowly trickling down me, inch by inch, I felt the cold wash over me. I felt ready to explode, but I just sat there, dumbly, looking at Greengrass as if she was a little cat, or a snake.

"Okay then," I said. "You've told me, now what?"

Greengrass opened her mouth, closed it, then pursed her lips, looking at me, the fear in her eyes almost palpable. It felt like aeons ago that I had looked into the same eyes and seen nothing but warmth.

"Harry," Greengrass whispered. "I just told you– Are you alright?"

I scoffed. "Ah yes, I'm ecstatic," I bit out. "Nothing lifts my spirits quite like finding out someone I liked was trying to kill me."

Greengrass nodded. "I'm sorry Harry, but please, I really like you, please don't–"

"Don't what?," I said coldly. "Don't hate you? Don't stop trusting you? Nothing you ever do will change the fact that I can never trust you again." I shook my head, and had to hold my glare back.

Greengrass swallowed. "Okay." She took a deep breath. "But my parents. . . we need to save my parents."

"We do?"

Greengrass' eyes pleaded with me. "Potter, please, they've done nothing, but they're trapped in our house. The second he finds out that I betrayed him, he'll kill them."

I snorted. "He won't," I said softly.

"Of course he will–"

"He'll flay them alive," I broke her off. "He'll torture them in just about every way you can think off, and then in a hundred more ways so gruesome you can't even imagine it."

Greengrass breathed shakily. "I know," she whispered. "Which is why I need your help. . . you're their last hope."

"You've been conspiring to kill me for months, and now, you expect me to save your family?"

"I don't– I don't expect you to save them. . . I don't deserve that from you, but that doesn't change the fact that they are my family."

"You shouldn't have told me, then," I concluded. "Your family would have been safe and sound."

"But you wouldn't," she said, with tears streaming down her cheeks.

I sneered at her. "You think you could hurt me?" I said, I shook my head. "Calling you arrogant is like calling Umbridge a slightly unpleasant person." I smiled at her mockingly. "Greengrass, I liked spending time with you, but you wouldn't have been able to hurt me." I stood up in my armchair, towering over her; Greengrass was staring nervously at the ground. "Not even close to it."

Greengrass looked up, her eyes were shining brightly. "Harry, please."

"I should kill you," I said. "And if not that, I should report you to Dumbledore, or the aurors."

Greengrass swallowed. "I don't mind if you do that, as long as you help my family escape."

I looked at her. "I've always thought you were a smart person, Greengrass," I said. The girl in front of me suddenly seemed far less than what I had remembered her as during my trip to Australia.

She was beautiful. She was witty. She was a master at insulting people.

But if telling me meant killing her family, and her family meant that much to her, well. . .

She couldn't like me that much, right?

"Do you know anything about Voldemort's operation?" I asked, suddenly.

"No, he only ever came and visited me at my house."

"That's convenient," Potter said. "Must be such a big loss for Voldemort –your betrayal– he loses what? Nothing?"

Greengrass stood up, and wiped the corner of her eyes with the hem of her robe, smearing her makeup. Her eyes begged me for a long moment as they looked into mine, my knees almost went weak.

But only almost.

-()-

-Rowena-

I heard him before I saw him.

Harry's footsteps slammed against the floor in fury, as if the floor itself had insulted him.

He was breathing heavily when he stepped inside, his face contorted into a strained mask, his shoulders tense. "Can we train?" my apprentice bit out, the words sounding jarred and hard as steel.

I watched him for a couple of moments, seeing the fury radiate off him like water from a boiling pot. "Yes," I said, having made my decision. "Yes we can."

Harry didn't wait for me to get up before walking inside the training room, he stopped at the end of the room, his shoulders heaving up and down, up and down. Even from the distance between us, I could see him clenching his wand like he was trying to choke it alive.

"Ready?" Harry asked, turning around, his eyes sharp as daggers.

I waited for several seconds before answering. I flexed my fingers, and tried to focus. Because I would have to focus. "Ready," I affirmed, my voice even as chalk.

The word had barely left my mouth when Harry's onslaught started, spell after spell flew towards me with deadly precision. I danced around them and could see Harry's green eyes narrowing further.

There was complete silence in the room, except the swooshing of spells and muted explosions as they struck my shields, or the wall.

Then he stopped, and everything descended into a quiet stalemate.

Harry's eyes were wild with fury, like a pair of boiling cauldrons just on the brink of exploding.

I smiled at him, and saw his eyes darken further.

He began anew with his barrage of spells, with not a trace of grace in it, I could feel the power in the spells humming in the air as they approached. I danced around them calmly, but internally, I couldn't help but feel trepidation about the danger every bolt contained.

What had I created? Every lesson over the last few years led to this. . .

I made no attempt to retaliate, knowing it would enrage him further, yet I could see that the boiling cauldrons in his eyes decreased in heat every moment, like someone had taken them off the stove.

That was when I pounced like a hungry predator. As my offensive began towards him, his anger receded into desperation. And soon enough, he was on the backfoot fending for his life.

I thought then that he knew as well as I did that he had lost, I gave him no window to retaliate, not a single second to waste.

As I flicked spells towards him, I couldn't help but feel impressed about his movement, his steps were precise, his balance sublime and he knew what he had to do several moments ahead. It was like dancing with someone when both had practised every single step countless times and perfected them.

Despite this, in the end, a dark green bolt struck him in the leg, sending him sprawling across the floor. Harry remained laying on the ground, his wand resting calmly in his palm. I appeared above him, my hands behind my back. "Are you done?" I asked.

He opened his eyes and glared at me, and there was anger in them, but not the kind I expected.

He pushed himself to a sitting position. "Yes," he spat out.

I sat down next to him, leaning against the wall.

I didn't say anything to him, only waited for him.

"Apparently," Harry began. "Apparently, Daphne was trying to kill me."

I hated how emotionless he sounded, as if he was talking about the weather with a complete stranger.

"All this time, she's been secretly plotting to kill me," Harry said, burying his face in his hands. "I want to be angry at her," he said. "But I'm not, I can't. . ." He looked up, and into my eyes. "I'm angry with myself," he said, shaking his head. "All this time, she was trying to kill me, and I had no idea." He glared at the wall behind me. "If she wouldn't have told me, I would have been fucking clueless. If she wouldn't have told me, I would have been continuing to walk around thinking she was the woman for me."

"You don't think so anymore?" I said.

He scoffed. "How am I supposed to trust her?" he said. "Yes, she came clean, but if I know she can hide that from me, she can hide practically anything from me, how am I supposed to trust her then?"

"You can't," I said. "But she told you, didn't she?"

Harry sighed, and his shoulders sagged. "Yes, she told me. And I don't know what to do. She told me because she didn't want to kill me anymore and apparently– She risked her whole family by telling me."

"Voldemort's involved?"

"Yes, he came up with the whole plan." Harry swallowed. "Apparently, the plan was for her to get to know me, for her to make me love her, then she would betray me and break my heart."

"Then they would kill you?" I guessed.

"No. The plan was for me to kill myself," he whispered. "The plan was to take everything from me, so that I would do the job for them."

I observed my apprentice. My heart shattered as I saw his emerald green eyes stare dimly ahead, at nothing. He clutched his knees, as if he was trying to keep himself warm.

"I'm sorry, Harry," I said. "If I would have known that activating that contract would have brought this much misery, I would have tried harder to come up with something else."

He shook his head. "This doesn't change the fact that I. . .that I enjoyed some of my time with her." He let out a deep breath, and stared into thin air absently. "The thing is, no matter what I do now, Voldemort's plan succeeded. He's fucking won, hasn't he?"

I frowned, observing the hopeless lines in his face.

"If she actually had ended up betraying me, I would have been–" Harry broke off, and clenched his fist. "But now, when she actually had told me, Voldemort has still won." My apprentice shut his eyes. "I want to go back to never seeing Daphne again, I want to pretend like I don't care about her at all, but I can't."

Harry stared at his feet, his shoulders were slumped, like a dead man. He looked tired, ready to collapse at any moment.

"I like her," Harry continued. "I can't help but think back to the dance. It was real. It was that reality which made her tell me that she likes me, and I– I like her, even though I shouldn't. If she dies too, I don't know what I would do. I really don't want her to die," he whispered. Harry sat up a little straighter. "I just know, deep inside, that this was Voldemort's plan all along, despite what Greengrass thinks. He must have known that Greengrass might actually start to like me, but he didn't care, because if she liked me, well, then I most likely liked her back."

Harry looked me in the eyes.

"Voldemort has given me a weakness," he said. "He's made me vulnerable. I was a fool for falling for Greengrass. I should have done what you said, and thought rationally about it."

I sat completely still for a moment. "Don't say that," I said. "What would you be without her?"

"Stronger," he said.

"No, you would not. Just about every second you don't spend here, or in classes, you spend with her. You don't hang out with any friends, except her. She is the only person preventing you from becoming a complete hermit."

"Well, perhaps it is better to be a hermit, then," he said.

I gave him a warning look. "Harry," I said sharply. "I understand that this has upset you, I'd be concerned if it didn't, but please stop pretending that being an emotionless bastard is a good thing, because you know it's not."

He shrugged. "Every time I've gotten to know someone, it's come back to bite me. Fleur ambushed me. Alice was burned alive. And now, Daphne. . . I feel stuck in a circle, it's just the same thing over and over and over again. Will it ever stop?"

Will it ever stop? It didn't for me.

"You have to believe it will," I said. "What else can keep you going? And I hate myself for saying this, because it goes against everything I want to say, but she's come clean. Maybe, just maybe, you can build something from here?"

He didn't look too convinced, I couldn't blame him. His and Daphne's relationship should be over, yet the fact remained, they had to marry each other. That fact was the one constant in a relationship which had seen a thousand different forms.

"She wanted me to save her parents," Harry said suddenly. "When Voldemort finds out about her betrayal, he will kill them, gruesomely."

"So?"

"I have to save them, don't I? She told me herself that she doesn't deserve my help, and maybe she's right, but it's the right thing to do, no?"

I smiled at him, glad that –somehow– there was still some humanity left in him. "That's for you to decide."

A shadow of a smile crossed his face. "Well, thinking rationally, it's the correct thing to do. Her father is brilliant with protective enchantments, he could be a crucial asset to the Order, and her mother. . . I don't know, she must be good at something."

"We can hope so." I looked at him expectantly. "Seems like you've got a lot to do."

He frowned. "What?"

"Well, you can't go and save her parents alone, can you? Perhaps it's time you finally acquaint yourself with that Order you always talk about."

He sighed. "I guess so."

He stood up and grimaced. Then his expression softened.

"Thank you, master," he said. "I really don't know what I would do without you."

I smiled at him. "You would do just fine, I know you would."

He shook his head. "I doubt it, but if you say so."

-()-

-Harry-

"Good evening, Harry," Dumbledore said as I walked into his office. "I have some news for you."

I sat down in the chair with a frown. "You do?"

"Yes, it's concerning the trial for your friend Alice's murderers."

A dark look crossed my face. "They should be killed," I said simply.

"They don't have the death penalty in Nanshu," Dumbledore said. "They've been sentenced to prison for life."

"Sir, you've got some sway in those matters, could you at least ensure they get the absolute worst cell in the whole prison."

Dumbledore looked at me coldly. "You came here for a reason," he said, switching subjects. "What did you want to talk about?"

I scowled, but pressed my annoyance down. I was here for a reason.

-()-

Greengrass was still in her room, according to the map. Her label didn't move at all, it was as if it was frozen in place inside the room of hers.

I took a deep breath just as I was about to walk in.

Greengrass was sitting in her armchair, frozen, like a statue. I cleared my throat, making her twitch in surprise.

She turned around, her eyes looking at me in disbelief, like I was an alien. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to tell you that we're going to save your parents," I said.

Greengrass' eyes melted before me. "I– Thank you, Harry," she said, and this time, I was certain it was real.

Was this how every conversation with her was going to be, me guessing whether or not she was lying or not?

"We're leaving in two hours, when we've assembled everyone who is needed, Dumbledore is working on it as we speak."

Greengrass walked towards me, until she was just a couple of centimetres away from me. "Thank you, Harry," she said. "I can't— I know I don't deserve it."

I said nothing, just watched her. Just mere hours ago, I'd been longing to return to her. Kiss those lips, hold those hands. Now, I looked at them and didn't know what to think or feel. Part of me itched to pull her close and devour her, the other part felt repulsed, revolted.

"We're going to take them to a safehouse, they'll have to stay there if they want to be safe. If Voldemort wants them dead, they won't be able to go outside until. . . well, you know."

"Until he's dead," Greengrass said.

I smiled, when she said it, it sounded so certain that that would happen. "If he ever dies," I corrected. "I came here to ask you for help, we have an old map of your manor, so we know the outlook, but is there anything else we need to know?"

Greengrass furrowed her brows. "During the break, there were always at least six of his followers around. They didn't stay inside the house, but they were always close, protecting us."

"That's good to know." I stared out the window, trying to imagine how that would affect my plan. "Also, do you know if there is any place with anti-apparition enchantments in your yard?"

"My father literally works with protective enchantments, he's put just about every protection on our house that exists. No one will be able to apparate on our grounds, just like Hogwarts."

I nodded in satisfaction. "Good, that's helpful. . . Also, this may sound like an odd request, but do you have any thick trees, or perhaps some tall statue?"

Greengrass looked at me oddly. "Sure, there are some pines behind our house. Why?"

I smiled. "I doubt we're going to be able to leave without a fight, Voldemort will no doubt send his followers to stop us, so we're going to be ready for them."

Greengrass nodded, but her gaze was absent. "Just as long as you get my parents out of there, okay?"

I nodded. "I will Greengrass, you'll see them in a couple of hours. I'll take you there after I return."

Greengrass nodded, her eyes wet. "I–" she choked. "Thank you, Harry."

She walked up to me, until I could feel her sweet perfume. She placed a kiss on my cheek. "Make sure you get out of there too, Harry, please."

I stood frozen, it felt like a burn mark on my chin; I didn't know if I liked it or not.

"Bye Greengrass, I'll see you soon," I said, and left, trying to keep her out of my mind.

-()-

I stood with a solemn frown in the corner as the members of the Order piled inside, some of them I recognised, like Nymphadora Tonks and Lupin, and some of them were complete strangers.

When Mad-Eye Moody walked inside, the door to the headmaster's office closed; there were fifteen of us inside in total, as many as I had requested for my plan.

I remained in the corner as Dumbledore explained to the members what it was all about. No one raised their voices and interrupted him, everyone listened in complete silence, frowns upon their faces, like soldiers about to march into battle.

"The whole property is heavily protected," Dumbledore said. "It'll be a problem to get inside, but I believe I can get it done, but it'll be a tiring thing to do."

"We need you in there, Albus," Mad-Eye said, you-know-whowill know about it the second we get in there. "He'll send all he's got to stop us."

"Yes, I know," Dumbledore said. "I believe Harry has got a plan to deal with that."

Every pair of eyes settled on me. I cleared my throat. "Yes, Moody, you brought Bellatrix with you, right?"

He nodded gruffly. "She's secured in one of the safehouses, but what on earth do you need her for?"

"She will–"

"Albus," Remus interrupted. "Are you really going to let him come?"

There was complete silence. "Yes," Dumbledore said firmly, leaving no room for discussion. "Harry has proven himself, and this whole operation was his idea. . ." He trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid. I knew the third reason he let me come, and why he let me take part in the meeting.

Dumbledore gestured for me. "Harry, if you would please explain."

I nodded and stepped over to stand beside Dumbledore. The map of the Greengrass property was laid out on the table.

I was silent for a moment, looking at everyone gathered around me. It would work, I assured myself. These people's lives were in my hands, there was no room for failure.

"Lupin, Shacklebolt, Jones, you're with me, we will make for the house. . ."

-()-

After I had finished my explanation, the room was deadly silent for a moment.

Mad-Eye smiled. "I like it, boy," he said. "It's crazy as hell, but I like it."

I nodded in reply. "Everyone knows what they've got to do?" I asked.

There was a collective murmur of affirmation. I saw Dumbledore standing in my periphery, he was smiling at me sadly. I nodded to him. "Let's go then," I said. "Might as well get this done."