Chapter 366
"So they just miraculously guessed?" Ron sneered angrily. Harry was tempted to get up and walk away. If Ron really thought he was lyingabout it… "Neville said he recognised the healer's name, and Hermione…" hegestured vaguely, "well, she's Hermione." And maybe in hindsight he'd given
her enough to work it out when he'd talked to her about his time in the States.
"As if that's…" Ron broke off suddenly and grimaced, swiping a hand over hisface and leaving a streak of dirt on his forehead, "well, that probably doesexplain Hermione." He glanced at Harry quickly before looking away
shamefacedly. "You really didn't tell them?"
"I'm not in the habit of lying, Ron." Harry snapped. Ron flinched but nodded. "I know. I'm sorry, mate." He stared down at his
trainers. "And really sorry about the whole…you know."
"Telling the world?" sniped Harry because he was a little irked. More thanalittle, maybe. Ron flushed and nodded. "I was just…you didn't come back! And you knowMoody said to watch for strange behaviour and Sirius is the closest persontoyou so if you were going to be kidnapped by anyone…"
"I get it, Ron." Harry sighed and pushed his glasses up his nose. "I thought
about telling you last week about, uh, Healer Allen, because I knewI was goingto need cover eventually but I hadn't gotten round to deciding about it, because, you know, I didn't really want to have to tell anyone, and then Siriuschanged my appointment time today because he thought I would need tospeak to Healer Allen afterwards and…" he shrugged.
"Did…why did you need to…uh…" Ron trailed off at Harry's raised eyebrowsandhe flushed brightly as he registered just how personal his question was.
"Sorry." He muttered. Harry relented with a sigh. "They've got some credible information whichtheythink means Voldemort is going to get me into the Tri-Wizard Tournament aspart of some ritual to give him a body." Ron grimaced and pulled at his laces. "That's…pretty crappy. Sorry, mate." Hepaused again. "So, that's the reason then?"
It was hard to keep hold of his want to keep it all secret when he heard theconcern in Ron's voice. His best friend wasn't asking to satisfy his curiositybut because he was worried about Harry. And thinking about it, Hermionehadprobably asked for the same reason. Harry kept his eyes on the opposite stand as he lifted one shoulder in a
gesture meant to convey it didn't matter. "I guess now, yeah. I mean, at thestart it was, uh, the Dursleys mostly."
"Oh."
"And, you know, what happened with Quirrell and the basilisk." Harry continued. He made a weak hand gesture. "Then…this Summer…just other stuff andnowthis."
"Ginny refused to see the mind healer." Ron replied. Harry knew it wasn't as much of a non-sequitur as others might think; Ronusually had a point to his tangents.
"Mum and Dad dragged her to one but…she didn't want to go." Ron sighed. "I
offered, you know, to go with her? I mean, sometimes…sometimes I dreamtheprat actually obliviated us and Ginny died so you know I thought maybe it
wouldn't hurt for me to go too." Harry nudged his shoulder, unable to talk because that right there was why
Ron was his best mate. Because Ron was the type of friend who would
confide his own deeply hidden secret thought about needing a mind healer
just to make Harry feel better about seeing one.
"She told me no." Ron shrugged as though it didn't matter but Harry knewbetter. "I was going to ask you to talk to her about it, see if you could changeher mind about going but then…well, she turned all stalkerish and," he blewout
an exasperated breath, "I don't know what's with her but it wouldn't be fair toyou to ask so…"
"I can still try," offered Harry, although the idea of talking with Ginny was
excruciatingly painful, "or maybe the fact that she knows I'mseeing one will
get her to go to one too."
Ron winced again. "Yeah, I'm really sorry about that." Harry sighed. "It probably would have gotten out anyway. It's not like peopledon't follow me around constantly." He shivered as a harsh gust of windslapped over the stands. "Come on. Let's go inside and see if we can get lunchfrom the kitchen."
"Yeah." Ron stood up eagerly. "We can get Hermione to come along too."
"You're just hoping it'll get you out of her 'I told you so' lecture which it won't!" Harry got to his feet and poked Ron as he laughed in agreement. "You oweNeville an apology too." The look was fleeting – just a twist of lips and a glower that shimmied
through Ron's expressive eyes for a moment – but Harry caught it. He
grabbed hold of Ron and pulled him to a stop as he made to leave.
"OK, what was that?" demanded Harry. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 367
Ron shuffled his feet and avoided Harry's gaze. "It's…nothing." Harry rolled his eyes, pulled Ron back down so they were sitting again andglared at him.
Ron huffed out a breath and folded his arms across his chest. "Why is Nevillealways hanging around with us now?"
It wasn't as though he hadn't known the discussion was going to happenat
some point, Harry told himself as he wrestled with his irritation at Ron's
jealousy.
"Why is it a problem?" Harry asked bluntly. "Neville's a good guy and he's agood friend."
"I know but…" Ron frowned heavily and averted his gaze fromHarry's hardglare. "Look, I know it's stupid but I liked it when it was just you, me andHermione. Now there's all these other people, including Neville and…" he
shrugged again. Harry guessed at what Ron didn't say; that he didn't want to share Harry andmaybe even Hermione with other people.
"Those other people are not going away, Ron." Harry pointed out crisply. "I
have alliances and responsibilities and…and, you're my best friend, and that'snever going to change," he saw Ron's face brighten, "but I also like havingmore friends than just you, me and Hermione." He sensed Ron's confusion.
"At the beginning of the Summer, I was thinking about how we stopped talkingto Hermione over the Firebolt, you remember?" Harry said. Ron nodded.
"And I thought if you and I had fallen out, who would I have spent time with?Hermione, sure, but who else? I realised I'd kind of, uh, hidden behind youandHermione because of all the Boy Who Lived stuff." Harry admitted. "So, therewouldn't have been anybody else because I didn't know anybody else."
"Except Neville." Ron muttered.
"Not really." Harry said simply. "Neither of us have paid much attention toNeville these last couple of years, which was pretty bad of us when you thinkabout it, because we had each other but who has Neville had? He's never saidanything but it can't have been great us and Dean and Seamus ignoring himall
the time."
"Not all the time." Ron said defensively.
"Most of the time." Harry insisted. He looked away into the distant sky. "I
sometimes think it could so easily have been me who ended up without aclose friend in our dorm. If you had sat with him instead of me…"
"Weird, mate," Ron commented, "since I sometimes think it could have beenme, you know, not having a friend, if you and Neville had grown up together
like you were supposed to." Harry nodded at him, sensing Ron was finally getting it. "Right, but we didn't
grow up together and you sat with me so…it's Neville on his own and…" hesighed, "Neville doesn't deserve that when we can all be friends."
"I understand I guess," Ron sighed heavily, "it's…I hate the godbrother stuff youtwo go on about it? You're my best friend."
"I am," Harry agreed fervently, "but Neville's Mum and my Mumwere best
friends; his Dad and my Dad were like brothers. If Neville's parents hadn't beenattacked I would have grown up with Neville as my brother so…I'mnot goingto ignore that we were supposed to be family." He stopped Ron with a lookwhen he went to argue. "You have your family, Ron. You have your brothersand Ginny."
"I'm happy to share them with you." Ron said quickly.
"And I really appreciate the sentiment but you can't, not really. They're yours." Harry pointed out. "And you don't get what it's like to not have them, Ron. Not
to have them or your parents. You've never had to open presents at Christmasand know there isn't one from your parents – and seriously I hope you never
do." He waited a beat. "But Neville knows what that feels like, so if he andI
can be family for each other, well, I think that's what our parents wanted."
Ron nodded slowly and heaved another sigh. "I've been a bit of a prat, haven't
I?"
"Yeah, but you're my prat." Harry said with a small smile. "Come on; it's lunchtime. I'm voting we eat in the kitchen so I can avoid the masses and everyonethinking I'm crazy."
"On the plus side, I haven't seen any stalkers yet." Ron offered cheerfully asthey started the climb back down the stands. Harry brightened. That was true. Nobody had stalked him at all when he'dleft
the tower. Maybe his craziness would put off the horde of girls wonderingif
he was going to date them. Huh. Maybe every cloud did have a silver lining. o-O-o
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 368
As they stepped into Albus's office at Hogwarts, Sirius considered againwhether he should have had Albus stay back in Black Manor after the War
Council for their discussion. It might have been better to have talked tohimabout the whole problematic issue of Albus keeping secrets on Sirius's homeground and with the officialdom of the War Council providing a back drop. But
Sirius figured he could sneak a visit to Harry on his way out of the school andin truth he wasn't too intimidated by the Headmaster's office he found himself
in. Fawkes cried out a greeting and swooped over as Sirius took his seat. Siriuspatted him and accepted Albus's offer of refreshments. A house elf popped in immediately with a pot of tea and some English muffins. Albus played Mum and poured the tea, handing over the delicate china cupwith an openly curious expression. "I have to admit that I thought you might
want to talk to me about the fallout from the discovery of Harry's mind healing. I was impressed that you managed to keep it out of the Prophet except for
some minor hints in Miss Skeeter's article."
"I, or rather Brian, reminded the editor that Harry is a minor and any detailsabout his medical treatment appearing in a newspaper would definitely result
in legal action." Sirius said. "When Harry alerted me to the potential problemyesterday, he mentioned that everyone was staring at him?"
"Ah, well, it is not the first time he has been the centre of attention," Albusallowed, "although in this instance I believe our new bullying policy has madeit difficult for anyone to be deliberately cruel to him." He smiled briefly, hiseyes twinkling. "That, and the fact that Mister Malfoy, and possibly muchof
the student body, is attempting to remain within Harry's good graces thanksto the political power he now knows he wields."
Sirius hummed an agreement.
"On a positive note, Doctor Jordan reports that five other students have
requested mind healing since the news leaked of Harry's treatment." Albuscommented.
"How many of them require it?" asked Sirius dryly. Albus beamed at him. "Three of the five." Sirius nodded slowly. Well, at least some good had come of it.
"On a serious note, Harry has quietly let it be known that the mind healingisprimarily to do with the death threats." Albus continued. "I believe that hasbeen accepted as an understandable reason why a caring parent has insistedupon him seeing a mind healer." Clever little raven, Sirius thought admiringly. Harry had indicated he hadcomeup with a plan when they'd talked; blaming his getting treatment on Sirius wasa good way to go.
"I have to admit I continue to have my doubts that his knowing about the ritual
is a good thing." Albus said.
The comment arrested Sirius's attention, the implicit criticismtensing Sirius'sgut. He picked up his tea and took a sip to calm himself. "According to HarryI
should have told him much sooner." He began. "He pointed out he wasn't achild."
"Do you feel you should have told him sooner?" Albus asked. Sirius's lips twitched because he had a feeling Albus thought he was
comforting him or guiding him. He shook his head. "I'm comfortable that I toldhim soon enough." He gazed over the desk at Albus. "But this conversationdoes segue nicely into what I actually wanted to talk to you about in the first
place."
"Oh?" It wasn't very often that Albus Dumbledore looked confused and theMarauder part of Sirius took pride in the achievement although the adult part
of his brain (the part that sounded remarkably like Remus) remonstratedwithhim lightly that he needed to focus. He ran over the strategy he and Remushad discussed again in his head. It was a good strategy; it would work toget
through to Albus. Sirius was sure of it. Sirius sipped his tea and set it aside. "Why haven't you offered to tell me thedetails of the prophecy yet, Albus?" Albus paused mid-chew of his English muffin and he finished rapidly, pattinghis mouth with a bright green napkin that matched his robes. "Do you reallyneed to know the details of the prophecy?"
"I'm not sure," Sirius lied lightly, "do I?" The older wizard picked up his tea and sipped it, evidently disconcertedby
Sirius's request and playing for time.
"After all, Albus," Sirius pointed out dryly, "it's rather hard to make that
determination when I don't know the details."
"Sirius…"
"Did you tell James?" asked Sirius sharply. "How about Lily?" His grey eyesdarkened at Albus's chagrined face. "Did they know the details of why their
son was targeted? Why they were in danger?" Albus paled and his gaze jerked away from Sirius. Fawkes gave a mournful trill. Chapter 369
"I did not tell them the specifics." Albus admitted when Sirius refused tofill
the silence. "I told them that there was a prophecy that related to Harry or
Neville; that either boy could be the one to vanquish Voldemort. That therewas more but that what I had told them was as much as Voldemort himself
knew." He raised his eyes. "It was a war and I could not risk even themknowing more than that."
Sirius sighed heavily and clasped his hands on his lap. "And now?"
"The risk of Voldemort finding out…" Albus began.
"Do you honestly believe that I would tell Voldemort anything if he capturedme?" Sirius asked incredulously.
"He is a Master Leglimens." Albus countered.
"And my head is protected." Sirius shot back.
"It is not an acceptable risk…"
"That isn't your decision to make this time round, Albus." Sirius snorted. "It'sarguable whether it was your decision alone to make back then." They both looked at each other. The fire crackled breaking the tense silence. Albus sat back, defeated. "I can show you the memory of the prophecy inapensieve. Will that be acceptable?" Sirius sighed. "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…" Albus's eyes widened comically fast.
"…and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power theDark Lord knows not ... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither
can live while the other survives." Sirius completed.
"How did…" Albus began before he stopped and closed his eyes. "There isonlyone way that you could have listened to the prophecy."
"Yes." Sirius said simply.
"Harry knows?" Albus's eyes reopened to look sorrowfully at Sirius.
"He knows." Sirius confirmed.
"Voldemort…"
"Harry is trained in Occlumency and has additional protection thanks tohisfamily rings. Besides, if Voldemort is close enough to Harry to read the entireprophecy out of his head then it's likely to be the culmination of the prophecyone way or another." Sirius argued. "The only other people who knoware
Remus and Bertie, both of whom also have mental protection."
Albus drew in a sharp breath and exhaled loudly. "I still cannot agree withyour
decision to allow Harry to hear the prophecy, Sirius. He should not have tobear such a burden at his age." Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You don't have to agree since it was my decisiontomake," he said firmly, "but let me ask you this; before my escape fromAzkaban, when were you intending to tell him, Albus?" He shifted forwardasAlbus's gaze fell once again to his desk. "I know he asked you why Voldemort
was after him at the end of his first year. I know you had a second opportunityto tell him at the end of his second year when he fought the basilisk. Youcould have even told him during his third year had you taken the time toexplain to him why everyone thought Sirius Black wanted to kill him."
"He was too young…"
"At eleven I perhaps would have agreed with you. At twelve, having facedVoldemort twice in as many years, he deserved to know why in general termsat the very least. Certainly, at thirteen and with the knowledge that a massmurderer was supposedly wanting to kill him, he definitely deserved to knowwhy even if you didn't tell him the exact words of the prophecy." Sirius argued. Albus shook his head stubbornly.
"Harry's right, Albus," Sirius continued, "he's not a child and the events of histime in the wizarding world to date have eroded any sense of his havinganormal childhood." He stared down Albus. "He saw a man burn and die under
his hand. He killed a monster and almost died himself in the effort. He
confronted the man who handed him and his parents to Voldemort. As muchas I hate that these things happened to him, they did, and because of that, heis not a child."
"He is not an adult either." Albus countered, his hands holding tightly totheedge of his desk.
"No, he isn't," Sirius agreed, his own argument to Harry echoing in his head, "and, accepting that perhaps it was your decision to make prior to my beingawarded guardianship officially, as I've already said; what Harry should andshould not know is not your decision to make now – it's mine. I also recall apromise to help him that you made at the start of the Summer, Albus. Keepinghim in the dark doesn't help him, you have to see that." He could see that his words were impacting the older wizard to some degree– there was a flush of embarrassment perhaps even shame across Albus'scheeks along with a muscle twitching in his jaw, a strange tension in his bodyas he absorbed the point Sirius was making. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 370
"Setting Harry aside," Sirius pressed on, "I am an adult. It is certainly not your
place to decide what I should know or should not know when it pertains tomyson, and given my current position, what I should or should not knowwhenit
pertains to the war effort." Albus sat back, defeated. He nodded slowly. "I confess that I had not
considered my silence about the prophecy in the light of our changed
positions." He made a small tsking sound. "I forget that I am…"
"Part of a team?" suggested Sirius when Albus failed to complete his
sentence. Albus gave a huff of what might have been agreement. Sirius took a deep breath. "Let's talk about the prophecy. You've had longer tothink about the wording, to try and understand what it means. I'd like toknowyour view." He was almost amused that Albus seemed surprised that Sirius wantedhisinput. Sirius reached for his tea and indicated the abandoned muffin in front
of Albus. Albus took the hint and started to eat again, chewing slowly andevidently thinking about what he was going to say.
"Obviously, the first part indicates that a vanquisher approaches and providesthe clue to their identity." Albus began. "I considered many different variationsof what the words meant – the seventh month, those who thrice defied, andso on – but at the end of July it was clear that Harry and Neville were thecandidates, with Harry as the younger possibly being the one."
"Only Voldemort had to mark one as an equal." Sirius said.
"He did not know that part of the prophecy, of course, otherwise it may havedeterred him from going after either of them. But he marked Harry as anequal
the moment he chose to eliminate Harry as the potential threat, to make Harry
the sacrifice for his next horcrux." Albus agreed, rubbing his fingers on thenapkin and picking up his tea. "And he chose not the pureblood child but theone that shared a muggle heritage even if for Harry it was once removed."
"So he chose the one who most closely resembled him – a half-blood –because he believed they were the more likely threat." Sirius mused out loud.
"Exactly." Albus confirmed, wrapping his hands around the teacup. "I supposeothers might point at the literal scar that Harry received but for me it was themoment the choice was made that marked Harry; his life would never be thesame regardless of the outcome of that night."
"No."
"I also believe that night at Godric's Hollow was never meant to be the
moment of prophecy – of vanquishing – but the moment of marking." Albuscontinued. "Tom stood in front of Harry that night believing he would eliminatehis prophesised vanquisher and instead created him, literally making Harry hisequal in the accidental transference of a shard of his soul."
"And you believe the vanquishing that day wasn't the prophesised
vanquishing?"
"Oh no," Albus shook his head, "Tom wasn't vanquished that night, merely
reduced to a true equal state with his nemesis. And while no doubt Harry'sinnate power helped to save him from the Killing curse levelled at him, I thinkyou and I both know James and Lily played a part in his survival. However,
from a mark as an equal perspective, Harry was still a baby and the eventsof
that night resulted in Tom assuming a similar helpless condition; after that
night, they were equal in all ways."
"And as Harry grows in strength and ability, so too does Voldemort." Siriusthought out loud. It wasn't something he and Remus had explicitly debated.
"Yes," Albus agreed, "so as Harry returns to the wizarding world, so too doesTom. And then this year; Harry gains allies and support, and so too does Tom. Destiny has kept a balance between them."
"But 'neither can live while the other survives,'" murmured Sirius, his handclenching around the teacup with enough force that he thought it might crackthe china.
"Indeed," Albus replied softly, "metaphorical more than literal as both are livingas in alive, but to fully live their lives without the threat of the other? No. Until
the prophecy is resolved, neither will have the life they want; they will merelysurvive, eke out an existence." He frowned. "Unfortunately, the prophecy isalso open-ended as to who will be the victor between them. Harry has thepower to defeat Tom but 'either may die at the hand of the other' and thustheoutcome is uncertain."
It was the part of the prophecy that Sirius hated. He wanted it to say Harry
would be the one to live; to defeat Voldemort. Sirius sighed. It was time, he mused, for him to address the main reasonfor
their discussion. "And 'the power he knows not'?"
"Ah, well, I rather thought it had something to do with the ancient magic Lilyhad invoked," Albus admitted ruefully, stroking his beard, "but I had forgottenthe Potter family magic." He raised his eyes to meet Sirius's. "Harry seemstohave an affinity for using it and the other family magics allied to him." Sirius nodded, unable to deny it after the Wizengamot sessions.
"I recall a tale that suggests the most powerful wizard of a generation couldcall upon all of the family magic?" Albus asked tentatively.
"We've heard the same tale and Harry thinks it's a possibility that he couldindire circumstances call all the family magic to him." Sirius admitted bluntly. "But he believes that he would forfeit his own life in the calling of it."