Choices and Consequences

The atmosphere around The Burrow was a bit strange for the rest of the holidays. Harry slowly recovered his strength - enough to get out on his broom in the paddock and toss a Quaffle around with Ron and Ginny - but nobody's heart was really into having fun. Mrs Weasley came back from the Order meeting distraught, and had been put to bed by her husband, who cautioned the children to behave themselves whilst she was upset.

She was up and about the next day, but very nervous, constantly stealing glances at the family clock which showed Charlie's hand hovering between "Mortal Peril" and "Not where he should be!", and she looked like she might break down in tears at any moment from the stress.

The twins attempted to cheer her up by bringing home some of their most recent inventions, but it didn't really have the desired effect, culminating in Mrs Weasley bursting out in tears again after a teapot exploded showering the kitchen with confetti.

"I've had enough!" she wailed at Fred. "Your brother's missing and I can't take this anymore!"

She ripped off her apron and slammed it down on the table, then stalked out into the garden, and Harry could hear her sobbing out there. The twins looked at one another and quickly followed her out to apologise.

"That wasn't what I meant by behaving yourselves, boys," Mr Weasley remonstrated with them that afternoon when he returned from work. "Please don't upset your mother any more."

"We're sorry, Dad," George replied contritely. "We just thought it might cheer her up."

Things got a lot quieter after that, and everyone chipped in with the chores without so much as a word of complaint. They could tell that there was more to the story than Charlie simply being arrested on an Order mission, but none of the youngsters were able to find out exactly what was going on.

By the time they all gathered at Kings Cross for the return journey to Hogwarts, the sombre mood had been over them for a fortnight, and Harry felt a little guilty at the feeling of relief that came over him when they left The Burrow behind. It wasn't that he didn't like the place, but with Mrs Weasley's overpowering grief casting a pall across the house and Ron and Ginny's constant bickering about Hermione, he felt a little out of place. He looked forward to returning when the current crisis had passed and it was a happier place once again. Ginny had tried to make him feel better about it, but even then he felt a little unsure about parading their relationship in front of her parents.

Settling down in a quiet carriage towards the front of the train, the two of them took a moment out of Ron's sight to snuggle together, but it was a brief opportunity as Ron bustled in behind them soon after.

"Where's Hermione?" he half-demanded as he levered his trunk onto the racking and flopped down on a seat opposite Harry. "I thought she was going to be coming back on the train with us."

Harry shrugged, but moments later, Hermione's bushy head poked around the door frame, and her eyes lit up as she saw her friends gathered together. Ginny jumped up to greet her, and she enthusiastically hugged Harry as well before they all settled down again. Her only interaction with Ron was a rather disgruntled "thanks" as he helped her lift her luggage into the compartment and up above their heads.

"What's with all your excitement?" Ron asked grudgingly.

"Oh, I just had the most wonderful Christmas!" Hermione exclaimed enthusiastically. "It's been so long since I got to have Christmas at home, and we had my favourite Aunts and Uncles over for Boxing Day!"

She continued, not sensing the uncomfortable silence in the carriage.

"None of them know about magic of course, so I had to explain school in really the broadest terms, but really it was a little bit sad, knowing that I might not have Christmas with them all around again. After all, when we leave Hogwarts we'll all be getting jobs in the wizarding world and I'm sure we'll lose contact with friends and family, especially..."

Her enthusiastic explanation drew to a slow halt as she took in the faces around her.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly.

Harry shared a look with his girlfriend, and let her explain what had happened over the holidays, from his illness and visions to Charlie's disappearance and Mrs Weasley's sorrow.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Hermione exclaimed, her hand flying to her mouth as she realised how insensitive she must have seemed, going on about what a good holiday she'd had with her family when her friends had experienced trauma and grief.

"It's okay," Ginny reassured her, though Ron didn't look quite as sympathetic or forgiving. "You didn't know after all."

Ron just grunted and stared at his shoes.

The tense atmosphere was eased a little when Neville and Luna joined them. Luna seemed to have heard and understood what was going on, and sympathised with the Weasleys, while Neville was his normal quiet self, despite his increasing confidence, and as the train started moving out of the station, conversation turned to less delicate matters, like Harry's training, Quidditch, and the Christmas presents that they had all received.

Travelling back to Hogwarts in January was very different to their journey at the start of the school year. It soon got dark outside, and the landscape was dotted with frost and snow at various points of the journey, rather than dappled with sunshine as it often was in September. The lamps spluttered into life early in the trip, casting an eerie glow in the compartment. There seemed to be some sort of warming charm on the carriages though and it wasn't until the train pulled into Hogsmeade station and they tumbled out onto the platform that they realised how cold it was, and the chill wind bit through their clothes.

"C'mon!" Harry yelled, as he tugged on Ginny's hand and dragged his trunk along behind him. "Let's get into a carriage, quick!"

They stumbled along the platform towards the waiting thestral-driven coaches with shudders as they hunched their backs against the cold wind.

"It could be worse," Ginny shouted at him above the noise of the wind. "It could be raining, too!"

"Don't tempt things!"

She snickered at his response and yanked open the carriage door as they finally arrived at it. Harry let her in first then passed both their trunks up to her, quickly climbing in alongside to get out of the howling wind.

"Where did Ron and Hermione get to?" he asked through chattering teeth as he pulled the carriage door to behind him.

"I thought they were ahead of us."

Harry peered out of the window back to the platform as the carriage started to move, but couldn't see either of his friends.

"Let's hope so," he said, letting out a sigh and settling back into the seat. "You know what Ron will be like if he misses the feast!"

Ginny giggled and burrowed into his shoulder, sharing their warmth and taking the opportunity of her brothers' absence to snuggle together with her boyfriend.

Harry bent down slightly and let his lips touch hers gently.

"Merlin! You're freezing!" he said in surprise.

"I know. Now get back down here and kiss me properly so I can warm up!"

They spent a short while warming each other up - far too short for Harry's liking - and the carriage soon came to a halt and they broke apart before they could be interrupted.

"We have to do more of that, more often," Ginny said with a lustful sigh as she pulled her hands out from under Harry's robes where she'd been exploring the contours of his chest, albeit over the fabric of his vest. Harry couldn't agree more, and discreetly adjusted himself as he levered himself up and out of the seat to the door.

The wind hadn't abated in the short journey through the village, but the massive castle did provide some shelter, which they appreciated as they hauled their luggage into the entrance hall. Madam Hooch met them there and told them to leave their luggage and head straight to the Great Hall for dinner.

Ron and Hermione still hadn't shown up by the time Harry and Ginny settled down at the front table with the first years, and Harry was starting to worry a little.

He didn't have to wait too long for their appearance though. A few minutes after Professor Dumbledore had bid them eat, the door slammed open and Ron stalked in. Harry could just hear Professor McGonagall remonstrating with him, as the tail end of her admonishment was cut off by the door slamming again behind him.

"Mister Weasley!"

Ron was furious for some reason, but Harry couldn't understand what could have happened between them leaving the Hogwarts Express and getting up to the castle that could have enraged him so. Ron stormed across to the Gryffindor table, ignoring the complaints as he bustled past people who had already started to eat, and plonked himself down ungracefully at a spare seat next to Seamus Finnegan.

Harry saw him turn to the Irish boy and growl a reply as Seamus enquired after him.

A few moments later, a chastened Hermione crept in quietly, and gently sat at the end of the nearest table, which happened to be the Hufflepuff one. Looking across the hall, he caught her eye and she gave him a brief, watery smile and tapped a finger on her collarbone, reminding Harry of the medallion he wore.

As she turned back to the Hufflepuffs and spoke briefly with Hannah Abbot on her left, he saw her slide her hand inside her robes and grasp something. Almost immediately he felt his own medallion warm up as a message was transferred to it.

He dropped a fork, and bent down under the table to pick it up, pulling the medallion out to see the message Hermione had sent.

Talk to you later.

He tried to catch her eye again, and she gave him a small nod, though she still looked a little miserable, and he wondered what was going on. He thought that Ron had gotten over his earlier annoyance with Hermione, and had overcome his jealousy in general, but now he wasn't so sure.

He exchanged worried glances with Ginny and turned back to his dinner with an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach at what might have occurred. Suddenly he didn't really feel all that hungry and he just pushed his food around on the plate for a while, before giving up on it and sitting back with a discontented huff of frustration.

"Calm down, Harry," Ginny said, squeezing his knee with one hand as she shovelled the remnants of a tasty-looking chicken and mushroom pie into her mouth with the other.

"What is it now, though?" he asked rhetorically.

Ginny shrugged and swallowed, lifting a napkin up to her mouth to wipe her lips.

"I'm sure everything will be okay - it's just Ron being a prat again. You know what he's like: one minute he's best of buddies with everybody, then all of a sudden he's got a problem and is ranting and raving."

"Can't he just leave it for a bit?"

"I dunno, Harry. He's not always been quite so bad. I just reckon it's his hormones playing up - I've heard all sorts of snide comments about how emotional we girls get, but sometimes I thing Ron's just as bad."

Harry sniggered a bit at the thought of Ron characterised as a hormonal teenage girl.

"Anyway, I'm sure Hermione will let us know as soon as she gets a chance."

"Yeah, she said she'd speak to us later," Harry told her, and saw a strange expression come across Ginny's face briefly, before it was swept away by another flash of irritation.

"Let's just hope their row wasn't as loud as the last one," she noted, a little unhappily.

"Whatever it was, neither of them looks happy," Harry muttered, looking across at Ron, who was engaged in a boisterous exchange with Dean and Seamus, and at Hermione who sat quietly at the Hufflepuff table picking at her food and nervously flicking her eyes across to where Ron sat.

"Well we'll find out when we get back to the common room, I'm sure," Ginny reassured him.

Before they could rush off back to the common room though, Dumbledore stood up at the top table and cleared his throat to attract the attention of the students.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts everybody. I hope you all had as enjoyable a Christmas as possible, and are looking forward to the new term. I have a few quick announcements before you retire for the evening.

"Firstly, as a result of a number of incidents last term, Mister Filch has asked me to remind you all that you're not to use magic out of class, in and around the school, and I'm sure that the rest of the faculty would back my plea for you to remember that you are here to learn and should treat your use of magic responsibly.

"That said, I understand that a certain pair of former students have done very well for themselves by using the skills they have learned within these walls for less... serious... purposes-" Dumbledore was interrupted by a pointed cough from Professor Snape. "Nonetheless, I would urge you all to refrain from unnecessary use of magic between classes.

"Secondly, there will be a Hogsmeade weekend for third years and above towards the end of the month, which I'm sure you'll all be pleased about."

The Headmaster paused for a moment and smiled gently as a frisson of excitement spread among the students.

"Finally, those sixth years who availed yourselves of the opportunity to re-take your Astronomy OWL practical will be pleased to know that the results have arrived, and your Head of House will speak to you individually either this evening after Dinner or tomorrow morning."

Hermione's head shot up in interest and Harry and Ginny exchanged glances and a wry chuckle. If anything could take Hermione's mind off whatever Ron's problem with her was, it would be finding out how she'd done on her OWL re-sit.

He watched as she scanned the room hoping to see Professor McGonagall moving among the students, and saw the fading of her enthusiasm when it was apparent to her that the Deputy Headmistress wasn't in the Hall.

In the meantime, Dumbledore had returned to his seat, and the normal noise level returned to the Great Hall, as friends turned to one another to talk about going to Hogsmeade or started to move out of the Hall to head back to their common rooms.

Harry could hear Ron continuing to argue with Seamus and Dean as the three of them left the Hall, but they were too far away for him to hear any of the words.

"Come on then," he said, nudging Ginny, "let's go and find Hermione and see what this is all about."

---

It wasn't Hermione they found first though. By the time the two of them had managed to get back to the Gryffindor common room, she was nowhere around, and it was left to one of the third year girls to tell Ginny that Professor McGonagall had diverted her to her office to talk about her Astronomy OWL result.

Instead, they came across Ron, Dean, Seamus and Neville, still having a heated discussion in a corner of the common room, and Harry and Ginny went over to join them.

"What's going on, guys?" Harry asked.

Ron, Dean and Seamus looked up at him in surprise and shut their mouths quickly.

"This lot are whinging about Hermione again," Neville prompted them.

"No we're not," Dean argued.

"Not exactly," Seamus added.

"So what is the problem?" Harry asked.

Three of the boys exchanged glances, then Seamus and Dean pointed at Ron.

"Ron?"

"It's nothing, mate," he replied, avoiding Harry's eyes. "Really."

"Of course it isn't. It's a nothing that brought you up to the castle in a foul mood, getting into a row with McGonagall, and now into an argument with these three. What's going on?" Ginny asked.

"Hey, we're just tryin' to find out why he wants to be our friend all of a sudden, like," Seamus interjected.

Harry looked from face to face, seeing confusion on Neville's, determination on Seamus's, and something like guilt on Ron's.

"Dean?"

"Like Seamus said, mate. We've never been big mates and we're just wondering what gives."

"You mean apart from the huge argument Ron and Hermione had last term about me?"

"Well, sure," Seamus noted. "I mean, that blew over fine, right?"

Ron mumbled something that Harry didn't quite catch, but knew was meant to be vaguely reassuring.

"Well, fine," Harry responded, and put an arm around Ginny's waist as they turned to walk away.

"It works both ways, you know, Gin," Ron added to their backs. "It's not always my fault."

"No, but you sure have a way of making it seem like you're the injured party every time," she shot back over her shoulder at her brother.

Ron growled angrily at her and muttered to himself, before glancing around the room and then turning to his companions.

"C'mon. Let's take this somewhere a bit more private."

With that he stomped off up the stairs. Dean and Seamus shared a glance, then shrugged their shoulders and followed him, while Neville's eyes flicked from the stairway to the retreating backs of Harry and Ginny, before he decided to follow the latter.

Harry sat down on a sofa with something of a sigh, and Ginny lowered herself onto it next to him and stretched out, slipping off her shoes and sliding her legs across Harry's lap.

"So we're no wiser," she noted with a groan as she lay back, letting the sofa's arm rest support her head.

"Nope. I'm surprised that he didn't get more of a telling off from McGonagall though, after slamming the door in her face!"

"Actually, he did." A voice broke into their discussion, and Harry twisted his head around to see Neville standing behind them. "Mind if I join you?"

Ginny waved him to the chair next to them.

"I can't be bothered moving now," she apologised.

"So what do you know then, Neville?" Harry asked as the moon-faced boy settled himself down.

Neville scratched his head. "Well I don't know exactly what started it," he began, "but I was sat down that end of the table when they came in, and Ron was talking loud enough to be heard by most people down that end, even though he was outside the Hall.

"McGonagall basically told him that he had to mend his differences with Hermione and that she clearly hadn't meant to offend him." Neville paused. "Something about the stress he was under because his brother was missing or something..." His eyes flicked to Ginny as he said this last.

"Yeah, Charlie's been missing since Christmas," Ginny acknowledged softly. "That's no excuse for Ron's behaviour, though."

Neville looked a bit dubious, but was reassured when Ginny gestured for him to continue with his story.

"Well, he started going on about how insensitive she had been all year, meaning Hermione, and how he didn't see why McGonagall was interfering. Of course, McGonagall wasn't going to take him answering her back, and basically said that they were supposed to be friends, they had to work together as Prefects and that if he didn't buck his ideas up she would have to consider whether he was really all that suited to the role."

Harry winced, remembering how proud Ron had been at making Prefect.

"Ron didn't take that very well at all. He shouted at her that if that was the case, that if she was going to tell him who his friends should be and threaten to take away his badge for not getting on with them or with the other Prefect in their year then maybe it wasn't a position he wanted.

"That was when he stormed into the Great Hall and slammed the door in her face."

"So what happened after that?" Ginny asked.

"Ron stomped in and sat with those two, as you must have seen, then a few minutes later Hermione came in, but I haven't seen her since dinner."

As Neville spoke, the portrait hole opened and Hermione slipped into the room, looking around nervously. Neville waved to her and beckoned her across, asking where she'd been in a quiet voice as she approached.

"I've been talking to Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall about Ron," Hermione explained as she joined them, sitting on the arm of the sofa, next to Harry, "not that I particularly wanted to."

"And?"

She gave Harry a dark look. "Well, I know I wasn't exactly tactful when I asked how Christmas had gone, but I didn't expect such a nasty reaction. It might have helped if someone had actually owled me over the holidays and let me know what was going on!"

"Hey! I was ill for a lot of the holidays!" Harry protested.

"Not after Christmas, you weren't. And I had to find that out from Professor McGonagall as well. You could have let me know you were okay afterwards!"

Harry looked down at his feet, a little abashed. With everything that had happened over the holiday, and his preoccupation with the way that Dumbledore had dismissed his concerns, he hadn't thought to send a letter to his friend, and felt a bit guilty about it.

"Anyway," she continued, a little mollified at Harry's obvious discomfort, "they asked me to try not to provoke Ron and to be sensitive to the fact that Charlie's been arrested."

"But you'll have prefect patrols and stuff with him," Ginny put in. "You can hardly avoid him there. You know how easily riled he is with all that stuff - you're constantly arguing about it!"

Hermione twisted her head around to scan the room and make sure nobody was within earshot, then bent her head down closer to where Harry and Ginny sat. Neville also moved closer to hear.

"I didn't tell you this, but with the way that he spoke to Professor McGonagall outside the Great Hall, he's not going to be a prefect any more," she said quietly.

There was a moment of silence, then Neville piped up.

"He's not going to be happy, despite what he was yelling at McGonagall about it earlier."

"I don't think he's happy about anything at the moment, Neville," Harry noted. "I don't think that this will make all that much difference."

"So who's replacing him?" Ginny asked.

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. McGonagall didn't let me in on that, but I guess we'll find out soon enough."

"As long as it's not me," Harry half-joked.

"Why not?" Neville asked.

"Because that'll just top things off for Ron, won't it? He's already jealous of the attention I get and things like that - taking his prefect badge away and giving it to me will make things worse, believe me!"

"Hmm, Harry's right," Ginny agreed with a sigh. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

"Well, I can always turn it down if it's offered to me, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here: we can't assume that I'm going to be picked. That's not fair on the other guys."

Neville began to protest that Harry was the best person for the post, but was interrupted by a thundering of footfall coming down the staircase to the boys' dormitories as Ron, Dean and Seamus charged down the stairs, through the common room and out through the portrait hole.

"Wonder where they're off to?" Neville mused.

"We're getting off track here," Ginny pointed out. "What we really want to know," she continued, turning back to Hermione, "is what you and Ron were arguing about in the first place that brought McGonagall's attention to you before you got here. And where did you get to when we got off the train, anyway?"

Hermione blew out her cheeks in frustration.

"Well you four nipped out quickly, but Ron held me back. He just wanted to have a go at me for being so chipper when he was depressed about losing Charlie and the way that the holidays had basically been spoiled as a result. I don't know whether to believe he was really depressed, or just annoyed that something so important got in the way of having a good time.

"He started going on about how insensitive I was, and how I didn't seem to care about his feelings, which I thought was rather unfair, since I didn't have a clue what was going on. When I pointed that out, he just went off into a rage, cursing and bemoaning just about everything that's wrong with his life.

"Anyway, by the time we got off the train and up the platform, the coaches had gone and we had to walk up to the castle, with Ron grumbling all the way.

"When we finally got here, Professor McGonagall met us in the entrance hall and was asking why we were so late, which just set Ron off again, and they argued all the way to the Great Hall. I guess Neville's told you the rest."

The moon-faced boy nodded at the last.

"So it's not anything new then," Harry said. "He's still just pissed off at you and me and that he doesn't get the credit he thinks he deserves?"

"I think so," Hermione agreed. "I mean, I don't doubt that the situation with Charlie is affecting him, but it's not as though Charlie's in the safest of places when he's out in Romania, or that he's not aware of the dangers of working for the Order. What's happened to make this any different?

"Yeah, but there's a difference between knowing someone is at risk and them actually being pulled in by the Ministry though," Neville disagreed. "I heard that they had them all ready to push through the veil!"

They all looked around at each other in shock at such drastic measures.

"That's no reason to take it out on me, though," Hermione noted heatedly, once she'd pulled herself together again. "Ginny's not going off on one because of it and Charlie's her brother, too."

"Well, let's not argue about it between ourselves as well," Harry interjected to calm them all down, stroking Ginny's knee comfortingly. "It's bad enough that Ron's being an arse about it. We don't have to follow his example.

"Did McGonagall say anything about your Astronomy result, Hermione?" he added, to try and change the subject.

Hermione gave him a knowing look, as though to say he might change the subject now, but she wasn't going to forget about it.

"Oh, yes," she replied, the corners of her lips twitching upwards into a small smile. "I got an Outstanding."

"Good," Harry stated emphatically. "I dread to think what would have happened if you hadn't!"

She reached across Ginny and slapped his shoulder.

"Harry!"

"Well you'd have been really disappointed if you hadn't bettered your original attempt, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, but that's not the point!"

"What about the rest of you?" Ginny asked.

Harry and Neville shared raised eyebrows, not really having thought about their own results.

"No idea," Harry said. "McGonagall's supposed to come and talk to us about it, I guess."

"That's what Dumbledore said," Neville agreed.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You two! Don't you care whether or not you passed?"

"Sure, I do!" Harry protested. "But it's not like running up to McGonagall's office to find out is going to change it."

Hermione huffed a little, but then settled down, and Harry thought she understood that the exam result wasn't quite as important to him as it was to her.

---

The next morning saw Harry summoned to Professor McGonagall's office after breakfast to discuss his Astronomy OWL. He chewed on a nail nervously as his Head of House entered the room, but relaxed when he saw her slight grin.

"Here," she said, handing over the envelope he'd been expecting. "Don't look so worried, Mister Potter. I'm sure you did quite fine."

He looked down and carefully pried open the wax seal, wondering whether he' lived up to the Deputy Headmistress's expectations, then breathed a sigh of relied as he saw the words 'Exceeds Expectations' in bold print coming out of the envelope upside down.

"See," McGonagall added, "nothing to be concerned about at all."

"Thanks, professor," Harry said. "I'm sorry I didn't get it right the first time."

"Don't be ridiculous," she said with a smile, which softened her words slightly. "I can quite understand the need for a re-sit. I just hope nothing like it ever happens again!"

"I'll bet!" Harry said to himself softly.

"Anyway, I wanted to ask you about the Prefect role, as well, Mister Potter," she continued. "I'm sure you've heard by now that I've had to relieve Mister Weasley of his duties, and I wanted-"

"Not me, professor, please," Harry said quickly, forestalling any thoughts McGonagall might have had about pressing the badge onto him.

"No? Why not? I'm sure the Headmaster must have told you that the only reason you weren't offered the position last year was because he felt you had too much else to occupy you?

"He did, and isn't that still the case now?" Harry suggested. "I've still got no free time with everything else that's going on, and I'm not sure I'd be good at it anyway."

"Nonsense, Potter. But if you're sure you don't want the job, who do you suggest I persuade to take it on?"

Harry thought, but wasn't really sure.

"It's not really my decision, professor, but you've asked me before to do my best to try and get on with Ron, and giving me the Prefect badge he'd just had removed will only make him more jealous."

Harry could see that McGonagall was mulling this over, and eventually she gave in to his request.

"Okay then, I'll have to have another think, but I don't want you telling anybody about this conversation."

Harry agreed, and left the office with mixed feelings - he was pleased with his Astronomy result, but was a bit disappointed that the situation with Ron had effectively forced him to turn down the Prefect position.

As it turned out Neville had passed his re-sit with Exceeds Expectations as well, and all of the others retaking the OWL had passed, which pleased Hermione somewhat as she felt that justice had been served. In the end, Dean was given the Prefect badge and asked to work with Hermione, which seemed to work out quite well, and Hermione even commented to Harry quietly that she actually found that Dean took his responsibilities a bit more seriously than Ron had.

Ron spent quite a lot more of his time with Seamus and Dean than he ever had in the past, distancing himself from Hermione, who in turn immersed herself in her work and Prefect duties, and spent her free time with Harry and Ginny. There was still tension in the air between the two former friends, and Ron's face regularly flushed up aggressively when the two were in the same room, but he managed to control himself, and there were no more outbursts from the redhead over the first couple of weeks of term. Harry was a little sad about the way that his first real friends had fallen out, but there was little he could do about it.

Eventually, one morning saw the Weasley family owl, Errol, deliver a letter to Ron at breakfast, and those watching the Gryffindor saw the sense of relief that crossed his face and the tension in his shoulders ease considerably.

After breakfast that day, Ron took Harry and Hermione aside and apologised to them for his behaviour, which they accepted gracefully, and things started to get back to normal between them.

At about the same time, Harry noticed that the Headmaster seemed to becoming even more stressed and was away from the castle at mealtimes even more often than normal. He asked Mad-eye Moody about it on one occasion, but got little from the ex-Auror other than that Dumbledore was needed by the Ministry on a seemingly regular basis, which dragged him away from Hogwarts.

Harry wondered whether this had any connection with the strange visions he'd had over the Christmas holidays, and Dumbledore's apparent refusal to believe what it was he'd seen, but this was just speculation, and he was none the wiser even after talking to all his tutors about it.

He wondered why Dumbledore was so insistent that it couldn't be Lucius Malfoy that Harry had seen in his vision. Did the Headmaster really think that he was hallucinating? Or was he just reluctant to trust Harry's vision without any independent corroboration? One thing was sure, he no longer had the luxury of Professor Snape being in Voldemort's inner circle to confirm or refute the question.

More worryingly, if Malfoy was free, what did that mean for others that had been captured at the Ministry the same night? Were they all on the loose as well? And why had this not become public knowledge in the way that Sirius's escape had been made? Was somebody covering it up? Or had he really just imagined it?

These thoughts worried Harry as he tried to get to sleep each night. His Occlumency exercises helped to some extent, but it didn't stop him worrying about it, and why Dumbledore seemed so eager to believe that everything was actually okay.

---

That weekend, Dumbledore was away from the castle again, overseeing the release of those members of the Order that had been captured by the Aurors, and was discussing security with the Minister, who again seemed to have his own agenda.

"I can't see why you are concerning yourself with these issues, Dumbledore," Minister Fudge said as they crossed the threshold into his office. This time there were no additional "guests" there, and the Minister of Magic and the Headmaster of Hogwarts were alone in the plush room. "I'm quite sure that those who have been sentenced to Azkaban are secure there - there's no reason to think otherwise. We've had good security there over the years and only the one breakout."

Dumbledore quietly noted to himself that it was actually two previous breakouts, unless of course the escapes the previous year had been orchestrated by the Minister himself. In the current situation though, he didn't dare make such a suggestion.

"I have reliable information to suggest that Lucius Malfoy, at least, has escaped the prison and has rejoined Lord Voldemort."

"Ah rubbish, Albus!" Fudge responded, shaking his head back and forth. "What sort of source could you possibly have that could tell you who is inside Azkaban and what You-Know-Who is doing?"

Dumbledore spent ten minutes explaining Harry's connection through his scar to Voldemort, and what he had claimed to have seen while he was ill and unable to properly perform his occlumency exercises. As he talked, Fudge looked more and more incredulous, and even as Dumbledore felt he had reached the crux of his argument about the tortures going on, a sly grin crept across the Minister's face that made the Headmaster stop in mid-sentence.

"You're finally admitting that the boy's delusional, Albus?" he demanded.

"What? That's not what I said at all!" Dumbledore argued.

"It sounded very much like it. He seeing through You-Know-Who's eyes? I sincerely doubt there can be any other explanation. No, no, I've heard enough. I really don't know what you came here for Dumbledore, if it was to explain the ramblings of that fool."

"Need I remind you that it was that fool who told you that Voldemort was back, and who you disbelieved for over a year because 'it just can't be true'?" Dumbledore pointed out.

"Exactly my point," the Minister blustered, "the experience clearly affected him badly and has driven the least of sense out of his mind, reducing him to hallucinations and vision such as this.

"Now," Fudge continued, emphasising the change of subject, "I believe you wanted to talk to me about security?"

Dumbledore sat silently for a split-second, partly in shock at the ease with which the Minister had simply dismissed his concerns.

"Yes, yes. Of course. We need to ensure the safety of the students for the forthcoming Hogsmeade visit. With the Dark Lord back, and the Dementors around, having abandoned Azkaban, clearly we need to make sure that the village is safe for everybody when there is such a large crowd of traders, villagers and students alike likely to be gathered for the weekend."

"Well, indeed," Fudge agreed with a slight smile, "we must ensure the safety of the children. What did you have in mind?"

"I thought you might spare some Aurors to keep an eye on things," Dumbledore suggested, breathing a little easier now that the Minister seemed to be warming to his suggestion.

"Of course," Fudge replied. "I'll see to it that a couple of the off-duty members of staff are posted there for the weekend. I'm sure that'll keep things in check."

"Erm, Cornelius, I was thinking more along the lines of a full Auror detachment, and them stationing there for a few days beforehand, checking out the situation as it were."

"A full detachment?" Fudge looked surprised, yet not surprised, and Dumbledore was starting to feel as though he was being manoeuvred into a corner. "That's twenty Aurors, Albus. There's no way I could spare a full detachment for Hogsmeade. No, no, that just won't do. My Aurors have got other vital duties to attend to."

Privately, the Headmaster wondered where the Minister's priorities lay - the 'vital' duties that the Aurors seemed to be posted to at present were as bodyguards of the Minister and other high-ranking Ministry officials, and security for the private and business properties of prominent purebloods.

"Surely our children's safety is more important than protecting peoples' property, Cornelius?"

Fudge glowered at Dumbledore.

"As someone who has been promoting trespass on such property, I hardly consider you a suitably disinterested observer on such matters. I don't want to see you or any of your little band anywhere near Hogsmeade. If I recall correctly, part of the deal we agreed was that you would disband your little 'Order', no?"

"Yes, but-"

"But nothing, Headmaster. Stick to running your school and obeying the law, and you'll be fine. Let the properly elected Minister deal with Ministry matters."

The Minister stopped for a moment and gave the impression of thinking.

"In fact, you'd be best to keep your nose out of politics altogether, Dumbledore, otherwise you might find that your so-called followers are less safe than they think. Just because we didn't execute them this time doesn't mean they're out of the woods if we pick them up again."

Dumbledore tried to resist as Fudge steered him out towards the door of the office, but the magic of the place supported the rightful Minister and the Headmaster found himself back out in the ante-chamber where he'd been waiting before the meeting began before he could impose his own magic on the situation.