Trust and Betrayal
By: JA_Japster
Inspired and partially based on the OAV "Samurai X"
Copyright Notice: Harry Potter is copyrighted to J.K Rowling and Samurai X and Rurouni Kenshin is copyrighted to Nobuhiro Wazuki and Shueisha Jump Comics. The fanfiction is the product of JA_Japster and should not be reproduced in any fashion without permission.
Trust
Part XI: Love and Hate
The brooms and dust pans danced down the hallway as if controlled by invisible strings, cleaning the floor of any dust. The parade of cleaning apparatus continued until the corridor was spotless, and then in a flash of light, all but one of the brooms vanished in thin air. The remaining broom floated in the air for a moment, and then fell in the waiting hands of Hermione.
She twirled it with the dexterity of a carnival performer, and then planted it on the ground. A small smirk formed on her lips as she flipped it back up, caught it with one hand, and then spun it around expertly, swiftly cleaving the air. Her arm struck faster than the eye could follow, plunging the broom back and recalling it with the speed of a striking snake.
Suddenly she paused, realizing how absurd she would have looked if someone had stumbled upon her. She blushed involuntarily. As a child her parents had insisted in educating her in basic self defense, and while those methods would be useless in a wand duel, the technique was both invigorating and relaxing. The urge had overcome her, the boredom of menial labor weathering her usual firm self control.
The cleaning work was easy…too easy in fact. Hermione was a thinker, and if not properly occupied, boredom quickly settled in. She would do almost anything for something more intellectually stimulating or involved than this, cleaning hallways or making beds. A normal uneventful life seemed so tame after only a few days living around the intrigue of rebels and assassins. Men like Harry.
Harry…
It had been nearly three weeks since she had last seen him climbing the stair case, still bleeding from the wound on his face. It seemed like an eternity ago.
Dumbledore suspected with good reason that the traitor within the Order was working out of the Three Broomsticks, and concerned for Harry's safety, shifted his and Ron's area of operations to another undisclosed safe house somewhere in London. Because of this, Hermione seldom saw the two. Once in a while they would show up unannounced in the middle of the night, but only to converse with Dumbledore or one of his lieutenants. They never spent more than a few hours at the tavern; never long enough for Hermione to attempt to speak with Harry again.
She was still uncertain if she should feel saddened by Harry's absence or relieved by it. Ever since that rainy night two weeks ago, her thoughts had scarcely left the raven haired assassin, and more and more she found herself unable to sleep, kept awake with fear. At first she thought that if she did not see him, gradually she would forget about whatever her feelings were for Harry and get her life back in focus. It would seem that was not to be, however.
Hermione sighed and leaned against one of the broomsticks. Part of her wanted to hate Harry for what the Order had done to her life. They had stolen her fiancé, the man she loved. And yet the other half of her was madly attracted to him, and it was this conflict of will that fascinated her heart. The indecision, the perilous balance between love and hate created an intoxicating sense of excitement that enraptured her thoughts.
"Miss Granger?"
Hermione looked up and saw a young red haired lady walking towards her. It was Ron's younger sister, Ginny, who also lent help to Madam Rosmerta. Though they worked in the same building, Hermione knew little of her. She was a strikingly attractive girl, a year younger than Hermione but still unmarried. Some of the other works gossiped that Ginny was waiting in vain for Harry to finally take notice of her.
Hermione smiled. "Please, call me Hermione, Ginny. We've only worked together for almost a month now."
"Sorry, Hermione. Force of habit." The red head said. "What are you doing?"
"Just thinking. I'm a little bored." Hermione replied honestly.
Ginny laughed, and smiled, her eyes flashing playfully. "You were thinking about Harry."
Hermione lurched so quickly the broom clattered noisily to the floor. She made no move to pick it up, blushing furiously. "How did you know?"
Ginny smiled wickedly. "I didn't."
With a flick of her wand, the broom sailed back into Hermione's hands. She narrowed her eyes at the younger girl. "That was very shrewd of you, Miss Weasley."
"Oh come on," Ginny said. "There's nothing to be ashamed of. You're -how old? Twenty?"
"Eighteen." Hermione corrected.
"Just about Harry's age then. You're both young and available. Why wouldn't you be interested in him?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Hermione insisted.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "We've all seen it, how you're light is always the last one to go off when Harry is out, how you're eyes always seem to light up when his name is mentioned. Things like that."
See, that voice whispered, I'm not the only one who sees the truth.
"Coincidences." She snapped, suddenly feeling very irritated and wishing more than anything that the conversation would end. "Now if you'll excuse me I need to get back to cleaning."
Ginny grinned, her eyes surveying the immaculate corridor, and with it the apparentness of Hermione's lie. "Sure." She said. She turned and began walking away, but then stopped halfway down the hallway and turned. "There's one thing I should tell you though."
"What's that?" Hermione replied impatiently.
"There's a lot more to Harry than even he probably knows. Dark things. I would be careful around him."
"Ginny, honestly, I have no idea-"
"Right, right, you have no interest in him." Ginny said shaking her head. "Forgot. Sorry."
Hermione watched as the girl turned the corner, but even after she was gone Ginny's departing words lingered in her mind. Had her warning been sincere, or was it just a childish scare tactic to intimidate a possible rival for Harry's affection? Harry was a dangerous man…but an evil one? No…she was sure. Harry fought and killed for a cause that he believed was just, there was no evil in that? Was there?
Men like him killed Theodon. Was that not evil?
But Harry did not kill him!
Are you so sure?
Well…
And if he did, would it make any difference by whose hand your lover was slain? If Harry killed Theodon could you forgive him?
I could never forgive anyone for murdering Theodon.
Then could you forgive Harry?
No.
Then is Harry not evil?
I don't know…
Do you love him?
I don't know…
Do you hate him?
I don't know…
Could you ever forgive the man who stole your world?
I don't know!
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Harry sat outside under the shade of an oak tree, reclining against its stout ageless trunk, his eyes closed in silent meditation. He was aware of the argument ensuing in the lone house neighboring his private spot, but he felt no need to get wrapped up in the midst of it. In there he would find himself tangled in the deceptive web of politics, but out under the open sky he found freedom in nature's calm embrace. He was a soldier, and soldiers were meant to carry out orders, not create them.
You're a tool.
Harry smiled. He felt no shame. He was a part of something, an integral component that would one day shape the future of England. He was needed. He had purpose. He had happiness.
The slight noise of approaching footsteps caused Harry's eyes to spring open and his hand to involuntarily reach for his wand partially concealed under his arm. It was Ron. He plopped down beside Harry and sighed.
"Do you ever feel like quitting the Order and just returning to your normal life?"
"No." Harry answered truthfully.
Ron smiled. "Spend three hours with those obstinate bastards and you'll feel differently, my friend."
"So what was the verdict?"
"Indecisive."
It was the first time the two factions of the Order had met since their last meeting at the Three Taverns almost a month ago, and from the increasing volume radiating from the small meeting house it seemed like its outcome would be no more productive. Following the Death Eater's ambush on their assassin squads, several cells of the Order were in favor of a swift retaliation to avenge their fallen, something once again that Yates was devoutly for and Dumbledore staunchly against.
"Their faith in Dumbledore is weakening. Their beginning to think he's complacent and weak, and that he's lost his stomach for a fight. " Ron continued. "And I don't know, maybe he is. People died in those ambushes, friends I knew some of them. It doesn't seem right to leave the Ministry's treachery unanswered."
"Was their ambush any better than what we do?" Harry mused.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron asked pointedly. When Harry didn't answer, Ron stood and glared at his partner. "You're brothers and sisters were killed, and you just think it's nothing."
"I think it is war." Harry replied. "They knew the risks, just like you and me."
"Let me guess. You're siding with Dumbledore?"
"I think Dumbledore knows what he's doing. Retaliating now, especially with our traitor still unexposed, would be foolish. More people will die for absolutely nothing."
Ron scowled. "You kill so remorselessly sometimes I wonder if you even have any value for human life."
Harry shrugged. After a long moment of silence it became apparent that Harry had nothing more to say, and Ron turned his back to him angrily. "Dumbledore wants us to go back to the tavern and keep a low profile there for a while until we receive new orders."
"You disagree with these orders." Harry stated.
"Damn right I do." Ron hissed. "Yale is talking about breaking away from Dumbledore if he refuses to cooperate. He's talking about initiating his plan tonight if Dumbledore doesn't see it his way."
The raven haired assassin closed his eyes and shook his head mockingly. "What children our leaders are. If you don't play the game I want to, I'm going to set London on fire and murder thousands of muggles."
"I want to join them." Ron declared.
"Don't be stupid, Ron." Harry said.
Ron's face flushed red with rage. "You're the stupid one, Harry!" He yelled. "Blindly following
a man who wants to win this war through pacifism. All those killings, Harry, every single one we've carried out was
Yale's idea! Dumbledore opposed them too, and look how far they've gotten us. Don't you see what will
happen if we follow in Dumbledore's folly?"
"And what will happen if we follow Yale's?" Harry shot back. "How the hell do you propose we save England when we're going to burn half the country to ashes?"
"It's better than standing around doing nothing!"
Harry hesitated. He had used those words once. He had shot them at Sirius' face with the same anger and conviction that Ron was using now. Harry had believed himself to be so right back then, so how could he only see idiocy in his friend's plan? Did Sirius see the same thing when Harry had confronted him all those years ago?
"Don't do it, Ron." Harry urged.
But Ron would not listen to reason. With a snarl of annoyance, he turned and stormed off in the distance. Harry watched his friend leave, an uncomfortable knot forming in his stomach. He wanted to call out to him, to urge him to return, but he could not. It was not his choice to make. It was Ron's. He could not make him do what he wished no more than Sirius had.
For the first time Harry realized this was the first time Ron was not at his side, as a companion, as a friend. Without him there, Harry suddenly felt very alone in the world.
"Ron." He whispered.
Author's Notes:
Sorry about the long delay and that this chapter is really quite uneventful and not that well written. I had A LOT of
stuff to do this past week with finals coming up. And to add to all the mayhem my computer had the bad graces to die on
me, meaning I lost my first draft of chapter ten. When I wrote this, it was pretty late at night, so I might go ahead
and rewrite this later on if I decide its crap when I look at this again in the morning. I'm going to become
increasingly more busy as my school's drama program is about to start production for The Music Man in which I am
going to be dancing and acting in…I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad about that.
Thanks for all the good feed back! Keep reading and reviewing!
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