I am not J. K. Rowling, nor am I associated with Scholastic or Warner Brothers. I do proudly ship H/Hr however and am willing to associate myself with any pumpkins and/or hippogriffs involved therein.
OK, so the whole 'one week' thing didn't work out, but here it is anyhow. I am still going to do my darnedest to get "Off Balance" finished before Deathly Hallows and do an update (or two) of "Going On" as well. Whether my darnedest is going to be good enough or not, I don't know. I'll leave that judgment up to you good people. Anyway, enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 19 3/4: An Army of Keepers
"You're not at all in the right position, Harry," Hermione instructed him as she chewed on her bottom lip pensively. "Move your leg a little to the left. No, my left. There, that's it. Perfect."
"Is he in the lotus position now, Miss Granger?" Harry could hear Professor Leon Chambers ask casually. Harry's eyes were shut tightly and his hands balled up in fists over his legs, which were bent at the knee, and his feet now touched his thighs. While he had wanted to spend some quality time with Hermione, this was not exactly what he had in mind. Still, he had asked her to set up this little occlumency lesson and it would be rude of him to walk out now, no matter how much he really wanted to.
"Yes, Professor," she answered dutifully.
"Excellent," Chambers told her as he rubbed his hands together gleefully. "We can get started." He could hear his Transfiguration professor taking a seat a meter or so from where he was sitting. "Open your mind, Mr. Potter. Oooopen your miiiiiind."
"I thought I was supposed to be learning to close my mind," Harry muttered.
Chambers' voice was mildly chastising. "Your mind is like a great doorway between cosmic realms, Mr. Potter. In order to close it, you must first learn to oooopen it."
'Voldemort already has learned to ooopen it. That's the problem,' Harry thought to himself bitterly.
"I sense…negative thoughts," Chambers declared. "Negative energy. Refocus those thoughts. Make them happy. When anger exists inside you, the cosmic doorway is locked. Positivism is the key. The key is always in front of you, Mr. Potter. Use it."
Harry didn't quite know how to do that and was about to tell Professor Chambers so when Hermione's hands found his shoulders, rubbing them gently. Suddenly, he remembered her love for him that he had experienced rather vividly inside the Department of Mysteries. Positive thoughts were no longer hard to come by. "That's it, Mr. Potter. You are one step closer to achieving the inner balance you seek. Now, do not be alarmed, but my mind is going to reach out and begin to seek entry into yours."
"Shouldn't my eyes be open?" Harry asked, although he almost immediately wondered why he'd bothered.
"That is a myth, Mr. Potter. Eye contact is not necessary in order for true legilimency to take place." Harry suppressed a groan. 'If this bloke knows more about legilimency than Dumbledore or Snape, I'll eat Hagrid's rock cakes.' "Now, what I want you to do is to find that cosmic door inside yourself and keep it closed, no matter how strongly my mind presses against your own. Can you do that?"
"I think so," Harry answered honestly. 'If your legilimency skills are as phony as everything else about you, this should be a piece of cake.' Once Chambers had said the word 'legilimens' aloud, Harry waited patiently for the feeling of another mind probing his own. After a few moments where nothing at all happened, Professor Chambers stood up slowly.
"You may open your eyes now, Mr. Potter," Chambers told him. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you've wasted your money. You are, without a doubt, the most accomplished occlumens I've yet come across. You do not need further instruction."
Harry's eyes flew open and became very wide. "What?!"
Hermione looked quite surprised as well. Her smile was a happy one but her eyes betrayed a certain amount of disbelief. "Are you certain, Professor?"
"Very much so," Chambers confirmed heartily. "It almost seems a shame to keep your ten galleons for this hour. However, since I did potentially deprive someone else who is legitimately in need of my services…"
Over Professor Chambers' shoulder, Harry could see Commodus Brinecove approaching in the distance. This gave him an idea. "Professor, if you wouldn't mind, could I try legilimency on you? Since I've already paid for this hour and everything."
Chambers appeared to consider his proposal. "Well, I suppose there would be no harm in it. Be warned, however… I am not so bad at occlumency myself." The balding middle aged man with a pony tail sat back down on the carpet. "Simply allow me to assume the lotus position and then you may….Yes, hello, Professor Brinecove," Chambers called out as the DADA teacher entered the Transfiguration classroom. "May I help you?"
"There is a matter we need to discuss," Brinecove informed him in a low voice. "But it can wait until you've finished your lesson. I'm rather anxious to see how this goes."
'So am I,' Harry thought to himself. "Very well. Mr. Potter, you may begin when ready." Professor Chambers was sitting exactly as Harry had been, his eyes closed and his arms and legs in the lotus position. 'Did I really look that stupid?' Harry wondered.
As Professor Chambers furrowed his brow in concentration, seemingly prepared to ward off any attack on his mind, Harry's eyes met Commodus Brinecove's. Between the plot to kill Harry, Ravenclaw's quill, the life debt that Snape had once owed him, his conversation with Harry 's mother or his youthful attempt to become a Death Eater, there was bound to be something in Brinecove's mind that was worth taking a look at. 'Let's see how much eye contact really matters in legilimency.' "Legilimens!" Harry called out, thrusting his wand vaguely in the direction of both the seated Chambers and Brinecove, who was standing just behind him.
Harry's mind pushed past Commodus Brinecove's mental defenses easily, but then an odd thing happened. Once inside, he could not see Brinecove's thoughts at all, nor experience his memories. It was as though he were running up against a rubber wall again and again, bouncing off no matter how many times he took a good run at it.
Breaking eye contact, Harry nearly cursed aloud. He had accomplished nothing and now Brinecove would have a valid pretext to punish him. At best, he could expect a detention. At worst, he might be expelled. Commodus Brinecove's knowing smile had not vanished, however, and he did not speak as Leon Chambers rose from the floor with a look of triumph. "Better luck next time, Mr. Potter. It was a good try, but you did not manage to open the cosmic doorway inside my mind. If it's any consolation to you… you've been thwarted by a master."
Harry shook Chambers' hand when he extended it. "So it seems," Harry replied, his eyes never quite leaving Brinecove.
"Professor Chambers," Brinecove said in an urgent tone. "If you have a moment, I'd like to speak with you in private. I'm afraid something unfortunate has happened." As Brinecove and Chambers walked off to stand at the far end of the hallway outside, Hermione gestured for Harry to follow her into a darkened corner.
"Listening beetles," she mouthed and Harry instantly knew what she meant. He leaned over her, catching the scent of a pleasantly light but fruity shampoo that she frequently used as he did so.
"Professor Slughorn is dead," Brinecove's voice came softly out of the tiny wizarding wireless set Hermione held in her hands. "The entire school's been effectively shut down for the day and all faculty members are to be questioned by the Headmistress herself as to their whereabouts at the time of the attack."
"But…" Chambers sputtered. "But she couldn't possibly suspect…"
"I don't think she suspects any of us," Brinecove said as Chambers sighed heavily. "Still, we should be careful. Who knows what she might find out if one of us slips up?"
Harry stole a look down the hallway before Hermione pulled him back. Professor Chambers now wore an indignant look on his face. "Well, it won't be me."
"See that it isn't," Brinecove said threateningly. "There's something else, too. Azkaban's been attacked. All of the inmates have been set free. Every Death Eater, murderer and madman that was being held there is now on the loose. There have been calls for the Minister of Magic to declare martial law."
Harry and Hermione eyed each other worriedly. "Do you…do you think he will?" Chambers asked with a gulp. When Brinecove said nothing, he asked, "Where do you think the Death Eaters will go?"
Brinecove snorted. "Everything points to the same thing, doesn't it? The Dark Lo…You-Know-Who is building an army, probably the largest army we've seen yet in this war. I don't think there's any way to know what he might do with it."
Harry shook his head. He did know what Voldemort was planning to do with his army: he was bound to send it here, on or before Halloween. The only question that remained was what to do about it. 'There's only one thing to do,' Harry thought resolutely. 'We have to build an army of our own.'
***
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Harry's wand tapped the Marauder's Map and the outlay of
Hogwarts promptly appeared on the parchment. He was perched on the stairs leading up to the Gryffindor boys'
dormitory with Hermione sitting next to him, her head leaning over his shoulder as she examined the map carefully.
"It looks like everyone's here," she remarked, as the two of them stared down at the perfectly sketched rendition of the Gryffindor Common Room. Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom's names appeared right where Harry knew there to be a very comfortable couch and Harry smiled when he saw how close Luna and Ron were on the map. Standing nearer to the fireplace were Minerva McGonagall, Remus Lupin, Arthur Weasley and Alastor Moody, who were probably discussing Order business. Bill Weasley and Oliver Wood were seated in armchairs on either end of the couch, as Charlie Weasley and Hagrid stood in one corner, likely engaged in a conversation about dragons.
"Yeah," Harry agreed. Everyone who he had invited was here except for Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks, who were on Auror detail just outside Hogwarts grounds. "Not very surprising, is it? Most of them are or were Gryffindors. I didn't really think any of them wouldn't show."
Hermione gave him a quick, comforting kiss on the lips. "You're worried about this, aren't you? About what you're going to say."
Harry exhaled sharply. "How do I ask eleven good, decent people to put their lives on the line for me?"
"You asked me, didn't you?" Hermione pointed out encouragingly. "And I said 'yes'."
Harry smiled thinly in spite of himself. "So should I give them each a good snog first, too? Would that help my case any?"
"I don't think that's such a good idea, Harry," Hermione replied coyly. "You might enjoy it with Luna but I think by the time you got around to snogging Hagrid you'd realize you made a huge mistake."
Harry laughed at that. "Very true. But even Luna isn't really my type."
"Oh?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "Well, then, just what is your type? Are you still into 'pretty Quidditch players who flip their hair'?"
"Nah, not really," Harry said playfully as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Right now, I'm more into brilliant girls with understated good looks and a heart of gold." Just as his lips hovered over hers, he pulled back slightly. "You don't know anybody like that, do you?"
"I should certainly hope not," Hermione replied with a small, wry smile. "I wouldn't want you to dump me for her."
"Not a chance," Harry assured her with a chaste kiss. Soon, the kisses became much less chaste. By the time the two of them would ordinarily have been ready to move things to the bedroom, the clock below chimed loudly, rattling them both and reluctantly making them break away from each other.
"You'd better get down there, Harry," Hermione said through ragged breaths. "You wouldn't want to be late. Not for this."
Harry nodded sharply. "Right." Harry began to descend the stairs, then turned around and regarded Hermione with a perplexed look. "You're not coming?"
"How would it seem if I came down from the Gryffindor boys' dormitory with you?" Hermione asked pointedly.
"Better than it would look if you came down from the boys' dorms without me, I'd say," Harry remarked cheekily.
Conceding Harry's point, Hermione followed him down into the Common Room and took a seat between Luna and Neville on the couch. This left Harry standing alone in the middle of a dozen people, some of them old friends, some merely acquaintances, who he now needed to convince to help him lead an army. An army which did not yet exist. It was a task vital to ensuring Voldemort's defeat and one that he was not entirely prepared for. Still, he had to try. After all, the worst thing they could do was say 'no'.
'Actually, that's not true,' Harry's brain informed him traitorously. 'They could run to any of the Ministry's flunkies and tell them that I'm trying to start a revolution. But they're not very likely to do that, are they?' Alright, so none of these thoughts were terribly helpful. 'They're all staring at you. Think, Harry. What would Dumbledore do? Tell a joke, maybe?' Harry thought about that for a moment. 'Why don't I know any jokes?' he asked himself in a panic. As several of the invitees began to look restless, Harry steeled himself. 'Alright, it's now or never. When all else fails, be honest.'
"I'm not much for making speeches," Harry began. "I reckon most of you know already that Voldemort's preparing to attack Hogwarts on Halloween. For those of you who don't…well, he is. He's doing it because he wants something that Salazar Slytherin put here a thousand years ago. Something that will make him immortal. He won't hesitate to kill anyone who stands in his way and he'll take the school apart brick by brick to get there if he has to. He won't be alone, either. His forces are as strong as they've been since the last war. So we're looking at what's probably going to be the largest battle in either war against Voldemort. Except, of course, our side doesn't have an army. So it'll be more like a slaughter."
McGonagall looked stung. "I can assure you, Mr. Potter, the Order of the Phoenix stands ready to protect the castle from any force that might assail it."
Harry shook his head. "The Order isn't going to be enough. Not this time. Voldemort already knows how they think; how they fight." Harry walked the length of the common room with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Voldemort's coming with the largest force he can gather. We only have a real chance to beat him if we do the same."
"When you say 'we'," Remus Lupin interjected, "who do you mean?"
"Everyone in this room," Harry answered him. "I've asked all of you here because I need you to help me build an army…and to lead it, once it's built."
There were murmurs and whispers circulating around the room now; so many of them that Harry couldn't keep track. "McGonagall's right for once, Potter," Moody growled. "The Order can take care of this on its own. There's no need to bring amateurs and kids into this fight."
"I can't speak for everyone here," Oliver Wood pointed out defiantly, "but I don't intend to just stand by and watch as an evil wizard army tries to destroy Hogwarts. When you owled me and asked me to come here, Harry, I didn't know that this was what you had in mind, but…I'm in. Sign me up."
"With all due respect, Mr. Wood," McGonagall said primly, "you are a professional Quidditch player, not an Auror. I fail to see what kind of serious role you or any of the other students might play in a wizard's army."
Harry grinned devilishly. He had been hoping for this very thing: a chance to show what his chosen officer corps could do. "Oliver, you wrote a paper in your fifth year that was called 'An Unconventional Defense of Hogwarts', didn't you?" Wood nodded. "The essay diagrams Hogwarts' natural magical defenses…but I'd wager it also does more than that, doesn't it? Voldemort went to great lengths to make sure that it was taken out of the castle by Professor Quirrell. So what does it propose exactly?"
"Well, I, erm," Wood began nervously, "sort of studied the muggle Battle of Britain and came up with the idea of using an air force to protect the castle."
"An air force?" Arthur Weasley questioned with a frown. "You mean using those muggle Oreo planes?"
"Brooms, more like," Oliver explained patiently. "I got the idea during a really rough Quidditch practice. It, erm, was just a theory, though," he added sheepishly.
"It's more than that now," Harry said authoritatively. "Oliver, I want you heading up Hogwarts' Air Defense Force. Anybody who's a fifth year or above and can ride a broom will be eligible to join. You can start training them right away if you like."
Mad-Eye Moody glared angrily at Harry. "You're talking about conscripting children!"
Harry refused to back down, well remembering how he had felt about joining the fight when he was in fifth year. "I'm talking about letting young people who are willing and able to fight have a chance to defend their home." He then turned his attention back to Oliver Wood. "I don't want you to work with just brooms, though. Luna, do you think you could train some people to ride thestrals?"
"As long as the people I would be training could see them," Luna Lovegood consented. "Of course, there aren't very many thestrals at Hogwarts now. I could probably lure some more in with freshly baked blodberry muffins, though."
"Hagrid," Harry called out, eager to turn the subject away from blodberry muffins, "do you think you could give Luna a place to keep the thestrals?"
"I don' see why not," Hagrid agreed with a bewildered look.
"Good," Harry replied quickly, "I'd also like you to work with Charlie Weasley on something. Could the two of you have some dragons ready for battle by Halloween?"
"Well, I…" Hagrid began to hedge but Charlie cut in with, "Not a problem, Harry."
"Great." Harry turned to face Neville Longbottom who seemed to have been following the proceedings reasonably well, although his face had a dazed look to it. "Neville, I need you to reorganize the D.A."
"M..me?" Neville stammered. "Why me?"
"You were the best in the club at learning new spells, other than Hermione." Ron made a soft cracking sound under his breath, perhaps to indicate that Harry was whipped. "And I need Hermione inside the castle. Someone needs to lead the students in battle. Will you do it, Neville?"
"Yeah," Neville agreed shakily. "Of course I will. I'll do it," he added, almost as though he was having trouble convincing himself that he could.
"Why do you need me inside the castle?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Because, Miss Granger," Harry elaborated in a purposefully businesslike tone, "you're heading up our interior defenses. Specifically, I want you to lead a special house elf division."
Hermione's eyes lit up as though she had just been given exactly what she wanted for Christmas. "Oh bloody hell," Ron muttered. "Hermione's got herself an army of house elves. Give me Voldemort any day."
"That's the spirit, Ron," Harry said, only barely suppressing a laugh. "Remus, I'd like you to be in overall command of our forces on the ground."
Lupin looked ever-so-slightly amused. "Does this mean that I will outrank Mr. Longbottom?"
Neville looked like he wanted to sink into the couch as Harry replied, "Yes, it does. You'll be in charge of all of the students, the Aurors and members of the Order of the Phoenix who choose to fight."
"Are you asking the Order of the Phoenix to make Remus Lupin its leader then, Mr. Potter?" Headmistress McGonagall asked pointedly.
"Of course he isn't," Mad-Eye Moody interrupted crossly. "He intends to take over the Order himself. The boy wants all the power that Dumbledore had, but none of the responsibility."
"That's not fair," Charlie Weasley said, rising to Harry's defense quickly. Soon the room filled with angry conversation, as various members of the Order of the Phoenix began arguing among themselves over Harry's merits as a leader.
"I didn't ask for any of this, you know," Harry said quietly. At his words, the roar became softer, eventually dying out as he continued speaking. "It's times like this that I think back to the day when I turned eleven, before I knew about wizards or magic. I keep seeing that little boy in my mind's eye; the one who only wanted someone to remember his birthday. I was so thrilled to find out that I was special; that there was this whole world where someone like me belonged. Where I could fit in. I had no idea what that world was going to be like but I knew that it had to be better than the one I had grown up in. It couldn't possibly be worse.
"Whenever I find myself wondering what it is that I'm fighting for, I remember that boy. I remember the world that he wanted to live in. I think about all the other children everywhere who want to live in that same world. That's why I'll do anything I can to make sure that that world exists one day. Even if that means giving up my own life.
"I know you all have questions about this; about me. I understand that. I know I'm not ready yet to be another Dumbledore, but I'm not that little boy anymore, either. I'm not standing here now because I want to take over the Order of the Phoenix. I'm not interested in gaining power or positions. I'm here because there's no one else who can defeat Voldemort. Dumbledore believed that. Now I'm asking you to believe that, too.
"You can choose to help me. You can stand up and fight Voldemort or you can hide in the shadows and hope that he goes away on his own. I've already made my decision. I would suggest that everyone here do the same."
"And what about us, Potter?" Moody asked grumpily. "Don't we get a choice? You haven't even told us yet what you're going to be doing during this grand battle scheme of yours. Are you planning on hogging all the fame and glory by leading us from the sidelines while we do all the work?"
"I won't be the one leading the army," Harry answered simply. The room became deadly silent. "I'll be inside the castle with Hermione," a glare silenced Ron before he could make another cracking noise, "in case Voldemort breaches our defenses. What he wants is inside the Chamber of Secrets. I have to defeat him before he gets to it. Because if I don't stop him now, there will never be any stopping him.
"None of you have to fight if you don't want to. But if you do…show me by doing something. Say his name. No more 'You-Know-Who's or 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's." Harry did not flinch at all as he said, "Voldemort."
Most of the twelve people surrounding Harry Potter were reluctant, but Remus Lupin stepped forward boldly. "Voldemort."
Hermione soon joined him, rising to her feet with a look of determination on her face. "Voldemort."
Ron was next. "Voldemort."
Luna Lovegood, after turning her head both ways and examining everyone carefully for a few moments, stood next to Ron. "Voldemort."
A few more long moments passed before Bill Weasley shrugged his shoulders and said, "Voldemort."
Never one to be outdone by his older brother, Charlie Weasley followed soon after. "Voldemort."
"Voldemort," Hagrid said in a quiet voice.
Headmistress McGonagall stepped forward dramatically as Alastor Moody looked on in disgust and Arthur Weasley raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Voldemort."
Oliver Wood and Neville stood at the same time and said "Voldemort".
All eyes turned to the Weasley patriarch and the former Auror with the artificial eye. Finally, Arthur managed, "V…V…Voldemort."
Moody's teeth were clenched and a look that Harry could only describe as sadly furious was set in his one remaining natural eye. "Voldemort," he said in a rough voice.
Harry exhaled slowly. "Good," was all he could bring himself to say, but he felt like pumping his fists in the air and shouting. "I'll meet with each of you separately later to discuss specifics." Harry's eye caught something suspicious on the Marauder's Map, which was sticking out of his robes. "Right now, though, I think I'd like to speak with Remus, Ron and Hermione. Alone."
Given the need to conceal what they were doing from the Ministry's appointed instructors, the invitees filed out of the Gryffindor Common Room quickly but not as a group. As they departed, Neville, who wore an anxious expression on his face, returned to the boys' dormitory. Harry waited until he was alone with his father's old friend, his best mate and his girlfriend to pull out the map and point out a name that now appeared there. "Peter Pettigrew's inside the castle."
Ron's eyes widened, Hermione looked worried and Remus Lupin frowned as he took the map from Harry. "He certainly didn't waste any time, did he?" Lupin asked rhetorically. "He can't have been out of Azkaban for more than twelve hours. Then again, he was a Marauder. He knows about all of the old secret passages."
Harry gave Remus Lupin a beseeching look. "We should seal all of them off and post a guard at each one. We can't possibly hope to protect Hogwarts if we can't control who comes in."
"We can't have a Death Eater running around loose in the castle, either," Hermione said as she shivered slightly. "We have to find him."
"Finding a rat in a castle this size won't be easy," Ron pointed out. "But I think I could do it. He used to be my rat, after all. And it's not like you gave me anything else to do," he muttered ruefully.
"Actually, I think finding Pettigrew would be a good job for Hermione's new house elf unit," Harry said with a grin. "They know the castle better than even the Marauders did and I expect they can tell an animagus from the more common variety of rat." As Ron looked downcast, Harry broke out into a wide smile. "Do you remember when Mad-Eye Moody asked me if I was going to hog all the fame and glory for myself?"
"Yeah, and you said you weren't going to be leading the army," Ron remarked matter-of-factly. "But you never said who…" Ron looked stunned as Harry's grin widened. "You want me to do it?! But…Harry…I've never…"
"You know how Voldemort thinks better than anyone," Harry reminded him. "You've always been a whiz at wizard's chess, so you're a natural tactician. And there aren't more than two people in the world who I trust as much. All I really need you to do is coordinate orders between Wood's forces in the air and Lupin's on the ground, but…essentially, you'll be in command." As Ron hesitated, Harry appeared to be rethinking his decision. "That is, unless you don't want the fame and glory. Maybe Bill or Charlie would be willing to…"
"No, I'll do it," Ron agreed quickly. "I'm just surprised that you picked me, is all. And that you took so long to tell me about it." Ron's eyes narrowed. "Is this payback for the little 'whipped' noises I was making during your speech?"
"You might have something there, Ron," Harry replied teasingly.
"I must confess that I'm more than a little surprised you chose me for a leadership position as well," Remus asked with a look of concern. "Do you really think people are going to trust a werewolf to lead them in battle?"
"They will if you give them reason to," Harry replied, "and I have every confidence that you'll do just that. The members of the Order of the Phoenix will follow you without too much trouble, I think, and all of the students who'll be fighting remember you as the only decent Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher they've ever had. As for the Aurors, well…I was going to ask you to talk to Kinglsey Shacklebolt and Tonks on my behalf, to see if they might do some recruitment. D'you think you can handle that?"
Lupin swallowed nervously but nodded, clearly unhappy about having to talk to Tonks so soon after their break up. "I believe so, yes."
Hermione glanced up at the clock. "It's nearly time for us to be making our rounds, Harry," she reminded him.
"Alright," Harry acknowledged, "I'll catch up with the two of you later." Harry snatched the Marauder's Map back from Remus, causing the older wizard to look affronted. "This might be a good time for the two of you to talk strategy, you know."
As the Head Boy and Head Girl neared the portrait hole, Ron turned to face Remus Lupin. They made such an unlikely duo that Harry had a hard time suppressing laughter as each sized the other up. "I don't know how you feel about it, but I think our strategy should be to kick Voldemort's arse," Ron said, his tone exaggeratedly brave.
"Yes, of course," Lupin replied in mock seriousness. "But perhaps we should try to kick him someplace else first, as a diversion. Somewhere very near Voldemort's arse. Just so he doesn't see the arse-kicking coming."
"You do realize that you've created a monster, don't you?" Hermione whispered in Harry's ear as they exited the portrait hole. Harry could only chuckle at that. Monster or no, he had every confidence in his best mate and former teacher. 'I only hope I'll do as well against Voldemort.'
***
"All clear in here," Harry called out in a stage whisper as he exited the Charms classroom, joining Hermione
as she walked down the third floor corridors. The last time Peter Pettigrew had been spotted on the Marauder's Map
he had been on this floor. Harry chose not to walk around with the map in use, as he did not want it to fall into the
hands of Professors Brinecove, Chambers or Percy Weasley, who might easily confiscate it.
"I'm sure the house elves will find him in no time, Harry," Hermione assured him. "They're really quite capable creatures, once they get over their feelings of inferiority." Hermione seemed positively giddy with glee. "Oh, I can just see it now. I can teach them spells, build up their confidence, knit them some nice, new uniforms…"
"Maybe we should hold off on the uniforms for now," Harry said tactfully. 'Unless you want Dobby wearing them all, that is,' he added to himself.
"Harry," Hermione began warily as the two of them walked past the Hospital Wing. "You didn't just put me inside the castle during the battle to keep me safe, did you? Because I'm your girlfriend, I mean. You wouldn't do that, right?"
Harry had been expecting this. "Hermione, if I wanted to keep you safe during the battle, I'd send you somewhere far away from here. Like a wizarding school in Siberia."
"There's rumored to be one there, you know," Hermione pointed out nervously. "Sort of a reform school for Durmstrang drop outs. I don't imagine it would be very safe."
Harry stopped walking, took Hermione's hands in his own and looked into her eyes. "I need you inside the castle because I have a sinking feeling that no matter how hard we try to keep him out, Voldemort's going to find a way in. I need someone I trust in charge here once I go off to fight him. And there's nobody that I trust more than you."
"Really?" Hermione asked in a very small voice. "Not even Remus or…or Ron?"
"No one," Harry assured her as he kissed her lightly on the cheek. "I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone."
"I feel the same way about you," Hermione confessed. "I don't know what I'd do if…if…" Her eyes began to tear up and Harry suddenly ached to hold her. As if she had read his mind, she fell into his arms easily, her head resting easily on his shoulder. "Oh Harry. I feel as though there are a million things we should be talking about, but I don't really want to talk about any of them."
"I know exactly what you mean," Harry said in a soothing voice. Ever since his journey to the Department of Mysteries, Harry had longed to be in her arms again, to show her that he loved her every bit as much as she loved him. There had always been something holding them back, however. "I'd skive off the rest of our rounds, but with Peter Pettigrew on the loose…"
"Maybe we should check the map again," Hermione advised. "Just to see where he's gone."
As soon as he had solemnly swore that he was up to no good, Harry searched the map diligently for Pettigrew. "He's gone. I mean really gone. He's not anywhere on the map. See?" Harry leaned down to show Hermione that Peter Pettigrew was nowhere to be found, only to find that Hermione seemed to be much more interested in kissing him.
"Hermione," Harry said between kisses, "this is serious. Pettigrew could be…anywhere…"
"We should…talk to Remus about it…in the morning…" Hermione replied as she finally stopped kissing him. Her eyes were still filled with passion as she gazed up at him, however. "I'm afraid there's not much that we can do about it until then."
Harry smiled at her mischievously. "There isn't, is there?" His lips hovered over her forehead for one tantalizing moment, then began to lightly plant kisses all over her face. "I wonder what we could do in the meanwhile."
***
Happily, while Harry could not gain entrance to the Head Girl's room, Hermione had no such trouble entering the
Head Boy's. The results of this revelation were predictable yet very enjoyable. "We must have broken a dozen
school rules just now," Hermione pointed out lazily from beside Harry as they languished together in his bed.
"You told me not to stop, you know," Harry countered. "Several times. In a very firm tone." He put his arm around her and squeezed her close to him. "And if I don't listen to the Head Girl, who will?"
"You are quite the charmer, Harry Potter," Hermione told him with an indulgent laugh. "You always were able to get me to break the rules, despite my better judgment. And I'll bet if I stay in this bed with you all night, you'll get me to break a few more. But," she continued, causing Harry's lip to puff out slightly in a pout, "I can't. If Headmistress McGonagall caught me here, we'd both lose our badges."
Harry waggled his eyebrows. "We don't need no stinking badges," he said in the best fake Mexican accent he could manage. For emphasis, he began gently nibbling at the nape of her neck.
"Harry," Hermione said through gales of pleased laughter, "stop. Please. I beg of you. Or I'll be here all night. We need the freedom of being Head Boy and Head Girl, Harry. You know that as well as I do."
The pout had not yet left Harry's face. "But what about my occlumency lessons? I was hoping you might help me with those."
Hermione looked down, avoiding Harry's eyes. "Professor Chambers said you didn't need occlumency lessons anymore."
"Professor Chambers doesn't have dreams as Voldemort every night," Harry reminded her as a shadow passed over his face. "Also, he's a gigantic fraud, but that's neither here nor there."
"Well, he did manage to teach me legilimency," Hermione said in a meek voice, "but I think he is wrong about your not needing occlumency lessons. Maybe he just isn't ready to deal with what's inside your mind."
"I know I'm not," Harry muttered. "But I don't think Chambers even saw into my mind. I sure didn't feel anything if he did." After a moment's thought, he had to amend that statement. "Well, I did feel annoyed every time he told me to oooopen my mind."
"He's a bit of an eccentric who believes in things that I don't," Hermione said, "but you could say the same thing about Luna Lovegood."
"Yeah," Harry agreed quickly, "except Luna doesn't charge people to hear her talk about snorkacks." He snorted derisively. "Seriously, if that man could read my thoughts, then he'd probably be here now, pounding at my door, threatening to sue me for mental slander…"
Both teens fell silent as there suddenly was a pounding at Harry's door. Hermione shrunk under the covers. "Go see who it is, Harry," she said fearfully.
"Why me?" Harry asked.
"Because it's your room," Hermione replied, clearly horrified at the entire situation. "It could be Headmistress McGonagall. Honestly, the things I let you talk me into…"
Warily, Harry sat up in his bed, threw on a pair of pajama bottoms and walked to the door. He opened it only a crack but soon felt it shove hard against him, allowing a shadowy figure wearing a blue hood and a long black cloak to enter the room, his wand pointed at Harry. "Avada kedavra!" a deep male voice called out.
"Harry!" Hermione screamed just as he ducked underneath the green jet of light. Harry rose quickly to fire a countercurse, but the blue hooded figure had already darted back down the hallway outside. Before he could vanish from sight, however, Harry had followed him into the hall and fired a jelly legs jinx at him.
As the mysterious figure scrambled about, his hood fell away from his face, revealing the familiar visage of Severus Snape. Before Harry could do anything else to stop him, however, Snape threw a glass vial to the floor, which released a great puff of smoke. Harry could no longer see well enough to fire a spell and began coughing violently. By the time the smoke cleared, Snape was gone.
"Harry, are you alright?" Hermione called to him frantically as she ran to his side. "What happened?"
"It was Snape," Harry declared breathlessly. "He's escaped. We need to find him." Striding across the Head Boy's room purposefully, he grabbed the Marauder's Map from his trunk and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
"That's odd," Hermione said as she looked at the map from over his shoulder. "Snape's still in the dungeons. There are two members of the Order guarding him"
"There's no way he could have gotten back there so quickly," Harry assessed. "It must have been someone else using polyjuice potion." Harry's eyes searched the map for someone walking near the Head dorms, but every hallway leading there was empty. "But…if it wasn't Snape…who else would want to kill me?"
"I don't know, Harry," Hermione answered him shakily. "But we need to find out."
To Be Continued...
It's a little short for the wait, but I guarantee you the next two chapters will make up for it. You guys have been great, I hope you'll really enjoy the last three chapters.
ITL