Alas, I have been plagued by the sickness of the common cold these past few days. More time for me to stay in bed and write!
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Chapter Four: Arguments and Old Friends
Harry and Hermione sat in silence stunned by the news Dumbledore had just given them.
"Well," said Harry after a minute or two. "That was certainly unexpected."
"Yeah, I'll say," said Hermione sighing. Harry arched his eyebrows and shook his head. "Kind of ironic, isn't it?"
"In what sense?"
"My ex boyfriend is going to be teaching my current boyfriend," Hermione replied, frowning slightly.
"Hermione, I hardly think that after all these years that Krum will have a problem with me being with you," said Harry putting his arm around the girl sitting next to him. "Whatever did happen with you two anyway?" Hermione gave a slight chuckle.
"Long distance relationships don't work, Harry."
"Did you guys keep in touch?"
"Yes," replied Hermione thoughtfully after a pause. "Though I haven't heard from him save one time since after the Department of Mysteries."
"What happened?" Harry inquired.
"Well I wrote him a letter explaining what had happened to me, you know," she started. "When he wrote back he said that he was going away for a year to do research on the Dark Arts, and that he wouldn't be able to keep in touch."
"And that was it?"
"That was it." Hermione sighed. "I think he didn't want to be my 'shoulder to cry on' anymore."
"His loss," said Harry pulling Hermione close to him. "Besides, I have to thank him for asking you to the Yule Ball in fourth year anyway."
"Why?"
"Because I never would've realized how beautiful you were if I hadn't seen you in that absolutely stunning blue dress you wore," he whispered into her ear. Hermione sighed and put her head on his shoulder.
"You really think I'm beautiful?" she asked longingly.
"Angelic," was Harry's response. Hermione closed her eyes.
"I love you, Harry." Harry cracked a smile after hearing this.
"I assure you, the feeling is mutual," he said with a grin.
=====
The day of Harry's potential initiation rolled around, and, to his surprise, he wasn't nearly as nervous as he though he would be. This was brought to his attention at breakfast that morning.
"Nervous?" asked Fred. "George and I sure were when we were inducted last summer." Harry dropped his fork and looked at Fred, who at that moment, was the only other person in the room.
"You two have been in the Order for over a year and haven't told me?" he asked incredulously.
"Um.....yeah, I wasn't supposed to tell you that." Fred leaned in close. "Don't tell Ron. I know that he could join at pretty much anytime he wanted to, but he'll go starkers if he finds out that George and I haven't been feeding him information while we were in the Order." Harry nodded his understanding.
"No wonder Molly didn't confiscate the dust from you."
"Huh?" asked Fred through a mouthful of bacon. Harry looked him with a smile.
"Well I figured something was going on when she knew about the charm dust and simply yelled at you for it instead of taking it away." Fred beamed at Harry.
"You're much smarter than you look."
"Thanks."
"Yeah, it was the promise of that 'special stuff' that got us into the Order in the first place. Mum was going on about how we were too young, but the idea of the dust appealed to too many of the members for her concerns to matter. Only she and Dad objected."
"How come your dad objected to you joining?" Harry asked.
"Dunno. George figures that Mum threatened him or something, you know how she is."
"Indeed."
"Anyways, all the members wanted a small pouch of the dust to carry around with them, after we told them what it could do. That's why we needed Ron. We forgot the formula, so we needed the original dust that we had hidden at Hogwarts back." Fred explained. "It's a good thing that we got Ron to have Peeves help us. I didn't want to have to tell Dumbledore where we had kept all of our 'secrets' during our school days. And speak of the hippogriff-" Fred trailed off as Dumbledore, Molly, and Arthur walked through the door accompanied with Ron floating alongside them.
"I have no objection to it," said Dumbledore. Ron smiled but it was wiped away when his mother spoke.
"I have plenty of objections to it. It's not right for someone so young to have to worry about the problems of people so old. No offense of course, Albus."
"None taken." the headmaster replied.
"Listen, I know that Harry's joining the Order, and since I'm of age, I think it's only fair if I can too," said Ron indignantly. "The fact that I'm already dead aside, I happen to know that when Hermione turns 17 in September, she is also going to be wanting to join, considering the fact that she and Harry are one question away from getting married."
"Ron...." Harry began warningly. "Don't start spreading rumors."
"What? You know that if you asked her to marry you today she would say yes."
"Maybe so, but I think I'll wait until I'm a little older to worry about that," Harry said returning to his eggs.
"Suit yourself, but I most certainly do not want to be the only one around here that has no clue what's going on. I seem to recall Harry being put into that position a little over two years ago, and look at what happened!"
"Thanks for your vote of support, Ron," said Harry, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"What do you have to say about this Arthur?" asked Mrs. Weasley in a very stern voice.
"Molly it's his choice, he's of age," said her husband softly.
"You said the same thing last year when Fred and George joined." Immediately the room became silent.
"You two were in the Order and never told me?" Ron asked Fred.
"Well....uh....hmmm," Fred voiced, lost in thought. In all the years that Harry had known the twins, this was the first time that either of them had ever failed to come up with a good excuse to a bad situation.
"Well Ronnikens it was like this," said George strolling into the kitchen with his hands in his pockets. "We had something to offer, so naturally, they wanted our talent."
"Oh and you two are just so talented," said Ron with his arms crossed.
"Dost mine ears deceive me? I do believe I detect a hint of sarcasm," George said as he sat down and began piling eggs onto his plate.
"Well we won't lie and say it was for your own safety Ron," said Fred. "But it was a condition of our joining that we told no one." Ron grunted.
"Whatever, I could care less right now," he said. "It's like this. I want in. I'm of age, and Dumbledore here-"
"Professor Dumbledore," corrected Mrs. Weasley.
"-Professor Dumbledore doesn't see anything wrong with it, so why do you?"
"I don't care if he thinks that you could be the head of the Order. You shouldn't be put under the stress of dealing with adult issues like this. People die in this business Ron!" yelled Ron's mother. At that, Ron's face contorted with anger. Harry swore that if Ron were alive and still had color in his body, that his face would be the same red as the hair atop his mother's head.
"I believe," Ron began softly, his voice shaking with fury. "That I have dealt with enough 'adult issues' to last a lifetime. More than many of the other members of the Order, in fact." Ron's voice was still soft, but Harry could tell that he was about to snap any moment.
"Ron-" Mrs. Weasley began, but was cut off by Ron losing all control, just as Harry had predicted.
"I HAD TO WATCH LUNA DIE! SHE FELL ON TOP OF ME AS SHE WAS DYING! I THINK BASED ON THAT FACT ALONE, I HAVE GONE THROUGH MORE THAN EVERYONE ELSE IN THIS ROOM! With the exception of Harry, and of course, you Professor." Ron added. "I watched the woman I loved more than anything else in the world be murdered trying to save me. How can you possibly say that I shouldn't be put under the stress of dealing with Voldemort when it is not only very clear that I already am involved in this battle, but that he took away the one true joy I had in my life?" When Ron finished he broke down sobbing, the tears running off of his face evaporating into thin air. Everyone in the room with the exception of Dumbledore and Harry was visibly taken aback.
"Ron, I'm sorry, I didn't think-" Molly began but Ron cut her off again.
"That's right, you didn't think. You didn't think for one second about how I felt. All you cared about was keeping me out of the loop, in some deranged hope that I would suddenly decide to want to be blissfully ignorant about the situation. WELL GUESS WHAT?!" Ron roared. "I'M ALREADY UP TO MY NECK IN THIS SITUATION! AND I'LL BE DAMNED IF I JUST SIT BY AND LET HARRY FACE THE BASTARD WHO KILLED LUNA ALL BY HIMSELF!"
"You're right Ron, I'm sorry," said Molly with tears in her eyes while her husband comforted her. "Perhaps it's time for me to let you go and grow up. I had just hoped that this day wouldn't come for a long time yet."
"It's alright," Ron said floating into the chair next to Harry starting to regain his composure. "Just as long as you realize that I'm not a child anymore."
"You very clearly aren't," said Dumbledore twinkling. "Now perhaps I could help myself to some of this excellent breakfast that Dobby has prepared. Traveling seems to give me quite an appetite," finished the headmaster as he sat down next to Harry. Molly and Arthur nodded and left the room as Dumbledore began piling his plate with food.
"So Harry," began Ron clearing away the last of his sniffles. "Where is Hermione?" he asked putting emphasis on the word 'is'.
"She was sleeping when I got up, why?" Harry responded.
"Well you do know that I was right don't you?"
"About what?"
"Oh don't be so daft as to try to feign ignorance," said Fred taking a sip of his pumpkin juice. "We want to know when you're going to pop the question." Harry sighed and shook his head.
"Listen, I'm not going to be doing that anytime soon. I love her to death, but we're still really too young to think about that. We're both happy with what we have right now, so there's no need to ask her. Besides, I don't even think that Hermione and I are quite ready for something like that yet."
"We aren't ready for what?" asked Hermione walking into the kitchen. Harry glanced around and saw the twins and Dumbledore grinning into their plates of food, while Ron merely looked up to the ceiling.
"Uh...well...uh...umm," Harry stuttered.
"Oh for Merlin's sake we were asking him when he was going ask you to change your surname to Potter," said Ron looking back at Hermione. Hermione's eyes widened and her mouth opened slightly.
"As a joke right?" she asked.
"SEE!" yelled Harry throwing up his hands. "Neither of us are ready for that yet." Hermione walked over to Harry and sat down in his lap, visibly relieved. "Bunch of clowns, these guys are," he added commenting about the twins and Ron.
"I tend to agree with Harry here," she said. "Don't get me wrong, I love him to death, but we're kind of young for marriage."
"That's exactly what I said!" said Harry still waving his hands frantically. "But these blokes here-"
"Were simply wondering when you would tie the knot-," said Fred without looking up.
"-since it's inevitable and all," finished George. There were smiles shot around the room from the twins and Ron, and this continued until Harry broke the silence.
"Albus, you've been awfully quiet during all of this," he said. The headmaster looked at him and smiled.
"I was just listening to you all and taking pride in the fact that my information has been quite accurate for nearly 20 years." There were curious glances exchanged until Hermione broke the silence.
"Twenty years?" she asked and Dumbledore nodded.
"I don't even want to know," chorused Harry and Hermione at the exact same time. The two of them laughed and the room shared another chuckle.
"Come on," said Hermione standing up. "Let's leave these four to discuss our wedding plans in peace, shall we?" Harry smiled and stood up, following Hermione out the door. The moment they were out of sight, Dumbledore turned to the twins.
"I will, of course, understand if you don't have sufficient funds to pay me at this precise moment," he said twinkling. Groaning, the twins reached into their pockets and pulled out ten galleons each, which they counted and handed to Dumbledore.
"You three had a bet going on?" asked Ron with amazement.
"Yeah, we bet our good friend Albus here that Harry and Hermione wouldn't end up sleeping together until after 7th year," George replied. Ron looked mortified that his headmaster would have bet on something so sleazy.
"Now now," said Dumbledore. "That's not a nice way to say it. I merely suggested that we have a little wager on when Harry and Hermione would end up together." He was positively twinkling now. "I believe that Minerva, Hagrid, and your brother Charlie still have their end to keep up."
"I would never have thought that the teachers at Hogwarts gambled on student relationships," said Ron chuckling.
"Oh well no, not normally," said Dumbledore still twinkling away. "But we all felt that since it was quite obvious that they would end up together, that we have a little wager on when exactly it would happen. I hope that I haven't tarnished my image in your eyes, Ron?" Ron grinned.
"If anything, you've only gained more of my respect." All four of them had a good laugh at this comment. George however, did not appear to be done whining.
"I don't get it. Out of all the possible years for them to get together, you guess the sixth, and you're right."
"Who says I guessed?" said Dumbledore, his twinkle positively radiating throughout the kitchen.
"So you believe in that Divination stuff now?" Fred asked. Dumbledore looked sternly at the twin from above his half-moon spectacles but smiled nonetheless.
"I have always believed that those with the Sight exist, Fred. If, however, you are asking whether I myself possess the sight, I will tell you that I don't."
"Then how'd you know?" asked George in a whine. Dumbledore stood up preparing to leave.
"A cat told me," he replied. "About twenty years ago." The headmaster then bade them goodbye until that evening.
"What the bollocks did that mean?" asked Ron with his brow furrowed.
"Well you know Dumbledore-" began Fred.
"-always like to give cryptic clues," finished George.
"A cat, huh...." began Fred. "He probably means McGonagal. How could she have known?"
"Maybe she has the Sight?" suggested Ron.
"Nah, McGonagal has always been of the belief that Divination is a load of dung."
"Then how?"
"Forget it," said George. "It's a hopeless cause. You know Dumbledore doesn't want us to know the real answer, otherwise he would've told us. And he's smart enough not to give us a clue that we would be able to figure out. So let's just drop it." The three of them agreed silently and ate their breakfast (well, Fred and George did anyway), until Ron spoke up.
"SO..." he said. "You two have some serious explaining to do." Fred and George both feigned ignorance. "Honestly, with all the rule-breaking you two have done, you couldn't even tell me that you were in the Order?" Fred and George grinned at each other and set their eating utensils down.
"It was for your own good Ronnikens," the said simultaneously and sprinted out of the kitchen, with Ron zooming at a Peeves-like pace at their heels.
Harry and Hermione had gone back up to their room with finishing the last of their Summer
homework in mind. Half an hour after they had settled down to work though, Harry distinctly heard Hermione sigh next to
him.
"What's wrong?" he said looking up from his Transfiguration essay.
"I was just thinking about what Ron and the twins said down in the kitchen," she said with some sadness to her expression.
"What? About us getting married?" Harry asked in surprise. Hermione nodded. "Listen, don't get me wrong Hermione. I love you with every ounce of fiber in my being. I just don't think it's a good idea to get married while we're still in school." to Harry's surprise, Hermione smiled at him.
"So what about after school?" she asked. Harry took her hands in his.
"I'll be honest, the thought had crossed my mind once or twice," he said grinning.
"I guess I'll just have to keep from dying for another nine months then," she said jokingly. The smile immediately faded from Harry's face, in fact he looked almost as if he was going to cry. Hermione realized what she had said. "Oh Harry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it."
"Please," said Harry pulling her into a tight embrace. "Don't even joke about something like that. I don't know what I would do if I lost you."
"You're not going to lose me."
"I'm sorry," said Harry standing up wiping his eyes. I need to lie down for a little while. "The.......schoolwork is really tiring me out," he lied. To Harry's surprise, instead of arguing about how important work was, Hermione merely stood up next to him.
"I could use a break too," she said. Harry walked over to the bed and lay down in his regular clothes. Hermione followed suit, and laid down next to him, Harry protectively wrapping his arms around her.
"Everyone I've ever loved has died," Harry said. "I can't imagine continuing with my life without you."
"Don't worry," she said reassuringly. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise you that I will not leave you here alone. We're going to have children, grow old together, and when our children have their children, we'll be able to tell them all the stories from our school days, and how you defeated Voldemort." Harry smiled a little at hearing this.
"You make it sound so simple."
"It is, all you need to do now is promise me that you won't leave me."
"I've never been a fan of the whole 'overconfidence' thing, and promising that I'm going to live guarantees that Voldemort dies," Harry said, his voice showing his lack of self-confidence. "Even if I made that promise, I'm not positive that I could keep it."
"If you want to keep it badly enough, you will," she said staring into Harry's eyes.
"Then I promise you that I'll live through this with you," he replied. He softly kissed the woman he loved before he drifted off to sleep, Hermione close behind him.
=====
"Where in Merlin's name is he?" asked Professor McGonagal impatiently. "You did let Harry know to be here half an hour early, didn't you Albus?"
"Yes, Minerva, I'm sure that he's on his way," replied Albus. The headmaster and deputy headmistress were in the basement kitchen, along with Remus and Mad-Eye Moody. They were waiting the arrival of Harry for his initiation into the Order of the Phoenix.
"Funny," growled Moody, his magical eye fixed on the ceiling. "Seems that Potter and Ms. Granger have fallen asleep together." Minerva rolled her eyes and Dumbledore smiled.
"Perhaps I should go and get Harry then," the headmaster said. He walked out of the room with a wink at Professor McGonagal and walked up the three flights of stairs towards Harry's room. Arriving at it, he paused a moment before he knocked.
There was a groan from inside the room, followed moments later with Harry's voice.
"Who is it?" he asked groggily.
"Someone who doesn't wish to see you late for your initiation," replied Dumbledore. There was a rustling of sheets from inside the room, and a few seconds later Harry opened the door.
"What time is it?" he asked yawning.
"Six thirty-five," replied Dumbledore smiling. Harry groaned and looked at his watch, then back at Hermione, who was still fast asleep on his bed.
"Goddamnit," Harry muttered. "Sorry, Professor, give me a minute to get ready."
"But of course." Harry walked back into the room, grabbed some clean clothes from his dresser, and walked into his bathroom to change. He emerged two minutes later and walked over to Hermione, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. Her eyes fluttered open in response to this.
"Mmmmm, where are you going?" she asked in a very sleepy tone.
"Order meeting," Harry responded. "I'll be back in two hours or so." Immediately Hermione shot up, wide awake looking at Dumbledore.
"Professor," she began, failing to stifle a yawn. "Could I come with Harry tonight? I'd like to be with him when the members of the Order vote." Dumbledore beamed at her for a moment before answering.
"You may accompany him for the initiation, Miss Granger, but after that you must leave. Believe me when I say I've tried to convince the other members to let you join while you are still underage, but they wouldn't hear of it."
"That's fine, I just want to be with Harry when they vote him in," Hermione said. Harry turned and smiled at her, and the three of them left the room to head downstairs.
When they arrived in the kitchen a few moments later, they were greeted from a yell from Mrs. Weasley.
"Dumbledore you cannot be serious! You are not going to let Hermione join too-" she began but Dumbledore raised his hand.
"Molly do not worry, Ms. Granger is merely here to witness Harry's initiation," he said. "And I daresay she'll want to see Mr. Weasley's as well."
"So Ron's getting a chance?" asked Harry looking up at his headmaster. Molly scoffed at this, but a smiling ghost floated towards them before she could say anything.
"Of course I'm getting a chance. I'm 17 and I deserve just as much a chance as you do," Ron said. "Oh, but there's someone here that I don't think you're expecting," Ron whispered to Harry and Hermione.
"Who?" asked Harry. It was then a vaguely familiar voice spoke up from the shadows.
"It is good to see you again, Hermy-own-ninny. And you too, Harry." Harry turned to see who the voice was coming from and saw a person Harry had not seen in over two years.
"Krum?" Harry asked wide-eyed.
"Viktor?" asked Hermione at the same time. Krum smiled and stepped out from the shadows.
"Yes, I haff come back. Ven Dumbledore asked me to be your teacher this year, I asked him vether or not I could join the Order. He agreed, and so I am here, to see if I am voted in or not," he said smiling. For a moment the room was silent. Then, to everyone's surprise (mostly Hermione's), Harry walked over to Krum and extended his hand.
"It's good to see you again Viktor," said Harry. Krum looked slightly surprised but took Harry's hand and shook it nonetheless, nodding.
"You too, Harry." Hermione walked over to the both of them smiling. When Harry's withdrew his hand, Hermione extended her's, but Viktor pulled her into a hug instead.
"It has been far too long, Hermy-own-ninny. I'm glad to see that you are vell?" Hermione looked at Harry expecting jealousy to be running rampant across his face, but was surprised to see him smiling.
"I'm very well Viktor, thank you," she said pulling away. Krum smiled and crossed his arms.
"You know Harry, I know you veren't lying back during the Trivizard Tournament, but I haff to admit, I always knew that you two vould end up together." Harry and Hermione blushed at these words, even harder when they saw that almost everyone else in the room was smiling and nodding.
"How could you tell?" asked Hermione.
"Please," said Krum. "Snitches are not the only thing that I notice. You two positifely glow ven you are together." Harry turned to look at Dumbledore at these words, and saw the headmaster twinkling profusely.
"As you all see," Dumbledore said, dictating to the room. "Viktor is very observant. It is one of the reasons that I had no objections when he asked if he could join the Order. His sense of sight could prove invaluable to us." There was a slight chuckle from the collective crowd, but the happiness of the moment was shattered when a very familiar drawl came from one of the shadowed corners.
"Perhaps if we are done reminiscing over all of the tender memories that Potter and Granger have shared with Krum, we might be able to get on with the business at hand?" said Snape, his voice absolutely dripping with disgust. Harry's heart sank. He had forgotten that Snape was in the Order, as hard as it was to forget. However his thoughts were abruptly interrupted by an outburst from the Bulgarian seeker behind him.
"You!" shouted Krum, his eyes wide with hate. "Vy is he here? He vas vith the traitor Karkaroff! He is a death eater!" The were a few gasps around the room at this accusation. Apparently not everyone knew the Snape was a former death eater.
"Viktor," began Dumbledore. "Yes, Professor Snape was at one point a death eater. He has, however since redeemed himself, and no longer serves Lord Voldemort. He is a member of this Order and will also be one of your peers when you teach at Hogwarts. In case you don't remember he teaches potions to our students," Dumbledore finished. Krum scowled but said nothing.
"Now then," said Dumbledore rubbing his hands together. "We have three initiations tonight. Not everyone is here yet, so if everyone is willing to wait a few minutes for the remaining members, we can get started once they arrive." There was a murmur of assent and everyone began to talk amongst themselves.
"Still plotting with the enemy, eh?" whispered Ron to Harry and Hermione. Harry chuckled and Hermione scoffed.
"Hardly," she said scathingly.
"Come on, now, I'm joking," Ron said. The three of them conversed for a few more minutes until Mundungus Fletcher and Tonks barged into the room, looking visibly winded and out of breath a few minutes later.
"Sorry...we're....late," said Tonks gasping for air. Mundungus fell into a chair and promptly took a great swig of Firewhiskey from a bottle that he removed from his cloak.
"C'mon Dung, not in front of the kids," said Remus. Groaning, Fletcher put the bottle back inside his cloak.
"Now then,' said Dumbledore. "I believe that we are now all present and accounted for. So, if there are no objections, perhaps we could have the speeches of those who wish to join now." There was a collective nod from the room, and Harry and Hermione took a seat at the table. Dumbledore spoke again. "Perhaps, Viktor, you could go first?"
"Off course," said Viktor walking to the front of the room. "Vell most off you already know that I am going to be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts next year at Hogvarts." Harry distinctly heard Snape give a derisive snort in response to Krum's opening sentence. "Ven Albus hired me for the job, I asked him if it vould not be unreasonable to join the Order. Although he had no hesitation in his answer, I vould like to explain to each of you vy I haff asked to be a part of this moofment." Harry looked around the room and saw several people listening intently, a few others seemed to have already made up their minds.
"The simple and main reason is this," Krum continued. "I despise the Dark Arts in all shapes and forms. Ven I learned that my former headmaster, Karkaroff-" Harry noticed that Krum spat the name as he said it. "-vas a death eater, I immediately set off to track him down and find him. Vith the help of the Bulgarian Ministry, off course. That search began in the early summer off last year, and lasted the entire year."
"So that's what he was doing," Harry heard Hermione mutter.
"Two months ago, I found him in Siberia. He vas looking for some kind of ancient artifact. Ven I captured and interrogated him under the influence of Veritaserum, he said the he vas searching for something called 'The Torch of Green Fire'. Said he vas going to give it to you-know-who in an attempt to get back on his good side. I haff no doubt that this information is news to most of you. It is with this information that I pledge my body and honor to the causes of the honor," Krum concluded. Everyone save Dumbledore, Snape, and Minerva was visibly shocked with the revealing of this information.
"How do we know if this is true or not?" asked Fred from the back of the room. "No offense, of course, to you Krum. I just want to know how any of us can know if this information is accurate." Harry couldn't recall either of the Weasley twins speaking with such intelligence, and with one look at Hermione, he could tell she was thinking the same thing.
"I can attest to the validity of Viktor's story," Dumbledore said. "One, I interrogated the former headmaster myself after Krum brought him back to Bulgaria. Two, the artifact that Karkaroff was looking for is in my possession, and I can safely say that had he found it, he most certainly would have been able to return to the ranks of the Death Eaters with remarkable favor." There were murmurs from around the room, but Dumbledore spoke again before anyone could start asking questions. "Perhaps we can hear from Mr. Weasley now?" The room grew quiet and Ron floated up to where Viktor had stood to make his speech.
"Well, I remember that when I asked to join there was one person who was already against it outright," Ron began. "That person was my mother. She said that I was too young to comprehend what pledging to the Order meant. She told me that I was too young because people die in this business. I ask you all to look at what I have become for a moment. I am dead. Most of you witnessed the battle that took place in Hogsmeade last year, but for those of you who didn't, I will tell you how I died." He paused here for a moment to look at Harry, seemingly for permission. Harry understood Ron's gaze and nodded.
"Four months ago, a force of teachers and students from Hogwarts, myself included, snuck down to Hogsmeade on a
regularly scheduled Hogsmeade weekend. We had learned of plans from Voldemort that he was going to attack Harry there
during the next visit. After we were all in
position, magical replicas of myself, Harry, and Hermione here began traveling down the main street we had surrounded.
Almost immediately, over a hundred death eaters along with Voldemort himself apparated onto that same street. A fierce
battle ensued. However as the battle was slowly coming to a close..." Harry could tell that Ron was struggling to
say the next few sentences. He knew what Ron was trying to say. "...Voldemort himself directed the killing curse
at me."
"Hang on," interrupted Tonks from the table. "I thought that you couldn't become a ghost if you were killed by Avada Kedavra. I thought the puropse of the spell was to rip your soul out." At this Ron's face fell. He looked as if he was using every ounce of energy (or whatever ghosts had) in his being to fight back tears. Dumbledore walked over to him and put his arm on Ron's shoulder (as best as he could, Ron being a ghost, after all).
"Forgive me," Ron said sniffling. "This is tough for me to talk about." There was a slight pause as Ron regained his composure, then he resumed his speech. "No Tonks, you're absolutely right. Luna Lovegood was standing next to me at the time. Although most of you will not believe me when I say this, we were deeply in love. Most adults deny it, but it is possible for people my age to know what true love is." Harry felt Hermione squeeze his hand under the table. "In an effort to protect me from death, Luna pushed me to the ground, and at the same time, received the full force of the spell that had been cast at me." Tears were starting to form in Ron's eyes. "During our time at Hogwarts, we had both researched the path to becoming ghosts in the afterlife. But, as Tonks mentioned, Avada Kedavra rips the soul from the body. Ghosts are, naturally, the souls of those who have died. This is why Luna is not standing here before you today. When I stood back up to face Voldemort, I realized that she was dead. In my blind rage, I rushed Voldemort shouting every jinx, hex, and curse I knew, but none affected him. In the end, he conjured a sword which he drove through my body." There was a slight shudder from the room at this. "My mother told me that I was too young to join because people die in this business. My argument is this. It does not seem rational, to me anyway, that I should be kept out of the Order solely because of my age, when it is apparent that I have already faced so much death in my life. All I ask is that you grant me my wish to help." With that Ron floated back to the table and into a chair. The silence in the room was deafening. After what seemed like an eternity, a person in the room began to clap. Harry turned and saw that it was Dumbledore. One by one each of the other members joined in until the room was filled with the sound of applause. This lasted for about a minute, then the headmaster raised his hand for silence.
"While Mr. Weasley's speech was quite...beautiful, if I may say so, I believe that we have one more speech that needs to be given before the voting." Albus turned and looked and Harry, who slowly, recognizing his cue, stood and walked to the front of the room with the speech he and Hermione had prepared, though not before she gave his hand one last squeeze.
"How can you expect me to follow something like that?" Harry asked Dumbledore. There was a slight chuckle from the room, and Harry continued, though in a more serious tone.
"On Halloween night after my first birthday, Lord Voldemort himself entered my parent's house in Godric's Hollow and killed my father and mother. My father died fighting, trying to protect my mother and I. After Voldemort killed him, he turned his wand at me, telling my mother to stand aside. She wouldn't, and was killed as a result. Her love is the reason that Voldemort's killing curse rebounded on him 16 years ago," Harry stated. He was a little surprised at how calmly he had said all of this.
"We know this already," drawled Snape.
"True," admitted Harry. "The way the story's been told, the first great war with Voldemort ended on that night 16 years ago. Some might even say we are in the second war now, but those of us in this room know otherwise. This war has existed ever since Voldemort first came to power, and will not end until he is either dead, or conquers the world." Absolute silence followed this. "Now for the part most of you may or may not know." Harry looked at Albus, who looked back questioningly for a moment, then nodded his understanding. Harry pulled out his wand.
"Conjurus," he said, and a silver basin appeared in front of him. Albus smiled at him then put his own wand to his temple. He pulled it away with a thin, silver-colored strand attached to the end of it, and put it in the newly conjured pensieve. Then he tapped his wand to the surface of the new mist and Professor Trelawney rose from the basin just like she had done in Dumbledore's office over a year ago.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches.
Born to those who have thrice defied him,
Born as the seventh month dies.
And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal,
But he will have power the Dark Lord knows not.
And either must die at the hands of the other,
For neither can live while the other survives.
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...."
(Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, pg. 841)
The mist that was Sibyll Trelawney sank back into the basin, and Harry vanished it with a flick of his wand.
"You now all know what I have known for over a year. To sum it up for those of you who don't understand it, I will kill Voldemort, or he will kill me." There was a resounding silence after this sentence. "I would now like to point out, that the prophecy states that I only have the power to vanquish Voldemort. It is not written in stone that I will defeat him. I will need help, and I am asking for that help to come from this Order. The sole purpose of the Order, as I understand it, is to fight against the Dark Lord, whomever it may be. Well out of all the people in this world, I am the only one who can kill Voldemort. I will have to fight against him eventually, with or without the help of those of you in this room. That is why I wish to join the Order, because I believe with your help, my chances of surviving this war will increase dramatically." Finishing his speech, Harry returned he his seat next to Hermione and she immediately put her head on his shoulder, both of them awaiting the verdict.
"Well now," said Dumbledore rubbing his hands together. "I think it's time to decide. I won't waste any time with chit chat, all those in favor of admitting Viktor Krum?" Everyone in the room with the exception of Snape raised their wands and small lights emanated from the tips of them.
"Ronald Weasley?" asked Dumbledore. This time everyone raised their wands without hesitation.
"And Harry?" asked Dumbledore one last time. There were hesitant looks around the room, but everyone raised their wands nonetheless. "Excellent!" said Dumbledore beaming. "Come now!" he exclaimed to the room. "We have three new members, should there not be celebrating?" He clapped his hands and instantly the room expanded to the size of the dining room and tables lined with food appeared for everyone.
"You told me that there was going to be a meeting after the initiations," said Harry to Dumbledore, who was already piling food onto his plate.
"I lied," he replied grinning. "I thought it would be better for you if you didn't know there would be a celebration you might miss afterwards."
"Albus, seriously, you need to stop hiding things from me," Harry said. The headmaster looked a little taken aback at being addressed by Harry with his first name, but grinned anyway.
"I'm sorry Harry, you're right," he said putting his hand on Harry's shoulder. "I daresay though, that now you're a part of the Order, I won't be able to keep as many secrets from you anymore."
"I should hope not."
"Oh come now Harry," said Dumbledore. "You and I both know things that the other doesn't, and it's better that way. If everyone knew everyone else's secrets, what fun would there be in life?"
"None, but isn't it better than being dead?" asked Harry softly. Dumbledore though for a second before replying.
"If that is the way you feel, I will tell you everything you wish to know. However, consider that if you do survive this war, which I have no doubt that you will, what will happen then? You already will know everything you probably would want to. There would be no more secrets for you to uncover, no more adventures to quest for. Life will become very dull for you. Even if you do decide to have children with Ms. Granger one day-" Harry's face turned cherry red at that. "-it would still be pretty boring to never have any of your own problems to fix. I would always prefer to live without some knowledge. I find the fact that I still do not know everything I want to is what enables me to get out of my very comfortable bed in the morning," Dumbledore finished. He then walked off to talk with the other members of the Order, leaving Harry standing there to think for himself. Hermione walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him in a death-grip hug.
"Oh I'm so proud of you," she said into his chest.
"Well I do have you to thank for my speech," Harry said grinning.
"Nonsense, you came up with most of it yourself."
"You and I both know that's a lie," he said, still smiling. Hermione looked up at him and grinned.
"Fine, but you know I don't like to brag about my work," she said. "How come you didn't tell me there would be a party?"
"I had no idea," Harry replied honestly. "I just asked Dumbledore the same question."
"What did he say?"
"That he lied in order for me to concentrate better." Hermione's eyes widened.
"He didn't!"
"Yep, but I don't think he meant any harm by it. He never does," Harry replied.
"I know. So is there a meeting tonight?" Hermione asked, her eyes twinkling very mischeviously.
"Not that I know of. Professor?" Harry asked as Professor McGonagal walked by. "There isn't a meeting tonight is there?"
"No Potter, simply a celebration for the new members of the Order. You are free to leave whenever you want, although I suggest letting some of your friends congratulate you first." Harry nodded and went off to find the Weasley family with Hermione.
After about an hour, Harry had managed to talk to everyone in the room that he knew personally (except for Snape), and they had all given him congratulations. Harry was just about leave with Hermione at his heels, when Krum stopped them.
"Congratulations, Harry," he said.
"You too, Viktor." There was silence for a moment, then Harry and Krum found themselves shaking hands again, just like they had earlier that night. "Are you staying for the night?" Harry asked.
"No no, I am on my vay to apparate back to Bulgaria, I still haff some packing to do, and I prefer my own bed anyvays."
"You're always welcome to stay anytime you want," Harry said. Krum smiled at this.
"Thank you Harry. Perhaps I should get going now, I daresay that you and Hermione are also tired after tonight's events. I shall see you later," Krum said bidding them goodbye and then setting off up the stairs to the front hall. Harry and Hermione waiting about a minute to give Viktor time to apparate away, and then with one look at each other Harry and Hermione bolted up the stairs to Harry's room.
About an hour later Hermione collapsed on top of Harry completed exhausted and sweaty.
"Oh my....." she whispered.
"Oh my good or oh my bad?" Harry asked looking at her.
"Good," she replied. "Amazingly good." She kissed Harry softly on the lips and then rolled off of him and onto the bed. "That was incredible Harry."
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Harry said smiling.
"And you didn't?" Harry pretended to think for a moment, which caused Hermione to grab her pillow and smother him with it. Harry retaliated instantly, pushing her off and rolling on top of her, pinning her to the bed. She looked up at him wide-eyed, her eyes mixed with fear and longing.
"You wouldn't," she said.
"Like bloody hell I wouldn't," came Harry's response as he began to tickle Hermione feverishly. The two of them ended up rolling around on the floor in a very chaotic tickling war, and when it finally came to an end, Harry looked up at Hermione (who was standing at his feet) and grinned.
"What?" she asked.
"You just look so beautiful in the moonlight." Hermione suddenly seemed to become self-conscious as she realized that she was still wearing absolutely nothing as a result from their episode a little earlier. She covered herself and started to go back to bed, when Harry stood and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her towards him.
"What are you trying to hide?" he asked. "You know I've seen everything already."
"I know, I just feel ashamed of my body sometimes," Hermione admitted. Harry turned her around to face him.
"You have nothing to be ashamed of. There isn't a girl in the world I would rather have over you," he said. He lifted her chin slightly to kiss her, and the two of them fell into bed wrapped in each others arms. Five minutes later they were asleep.
Harry was flying again. He loved to fly, although this seemed different. He wasn't on a broom, but he was definitely flying very fast somewhere. He landed with a 'pop' outside a house, along with several other people in black cloaks.
"Go," Harry said, and the other people moved off around the house. Silently, he moved to the door and, using his wand, opened it. He ascended the stairs silently, and walked down the hallway at the top of the stairs to a door. Opening it, he saw a man lying in his bed, reading a book. The man looked up from his book, and upon realizing he was not alone, his eyes widened with fear. He quickly reached for his wand on his nightstand.
"Incarcerous," Harry said. Ropes bound the man tightly and he walked up to him, chuckling slightly. "This one will be more use to us alive, Lucius." The figure struggled against his restraints as Harry looked to the figure that had appeared next to him, who was none other than Lucius Malfoy.
"HARRY!" yelled Hermione shaking him. "WAKE UP!"
"Wha-what happened?" Harry asked groggily, his hand searching for his glasses.
"You were squeezing my wrist, then you started screaming," she said frantically. The dream came rushing back to Harry and he could only say one sentence as he shot out of his bed and started to get dressed.
"They've got Krum."
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A/N #1:Well there it is folks. It took me a long time to write this one. By the way, Krum's speech is NOT an error in my spelling. In her books, JK has him convert all of his w sounds to v's, and all of his v sounds to ff's. This is why the word 'of' appears as 'off' when Krum says it.
A/N #2: Shortly after posting this chapter, I was alerted about a slight continuity error in my writing in the very last sentence of Harry's dream sequence. When Harry (who is in Voldemort's body) says, 'This one will be more use to us alive, Lucius', he IS NOT looking at Lucius. The next sentence implies that after he says that, that is when he turns and looks at Draco's father. I was trying to use a movie technique here in my writing where a character says something to another person without looking at them, then looking at them after they finish saying it. Sorry if I confused any of you.
Review, I know I left a cliffie but don't worry, the story will continue as always.
Next chapter up sometime next week, depending on the reviews.
Oh, and I realize that I'm pushing the R-rating even more with this chapter, but don't fret. I read
much more scandalous works than what I've written here.