Harry Potter and the Time of Shadows

- Chapter Twenty-Five-

The Time of Shadows

When Harry woke up in the hospital wing, he had maybe two seconds before he remembered what had happened in the Forest. A part of him wished that if he could just stay where he was and not do anything, then maybe it would not have really happened.

Through his cloudy vision without his glasses, he could faintly see the shape of Madam Pomfrey facing away from him. He looked sluggishly around for his glasses, and rolled over in his bed to look for them on his other side.

When he was facing the other way, what he could faintly see managed to cheer him up slightly. Ron and Hermione were lying in beds next to him, holding hands and looking into each other's eyes. They seemed so peaceful together.

"Harry!" Hermione said, noticing him. Ron turned around in his bed, but they were still holding hands.

"Hi," Harry said weakly. He wasn't sure what to say. There were a thousand questions running through his head, but most of them he wasn't sure how to ask.

"How long have we been here?" he asked.

"Two nights," Hermione replied. She looked at him dutifully when she spoke. "Madam Pomfrey said she could have woken you up yesterday but she didn't think it was good for you."

Harry nodded. He hesitated before he spoke again. "Did we get them?"

Ron shook his head. "Lucius Malfoy got away before anyone could catch him," he said quietly. "And Wormtail ... Dumbledore Stunned him and presented him to Fudge as proof that Sirius was innocent."

"That's good isn't it?" Harry asked uncertainly.

Ron cast an odd look at a bed on the end of the row, which had hangings around it. "Fudge insisted he be revived right there by the school gates. Wormtail attacked Fudge and escaped."

"Is Fudge alright?"

"He'll be fine," Hermione replied, lowering her voice. "But it's amazing that he can still be so arrogant when he's injured. He's being transferred to St Mungo's this afternoon though."

Harry heard a rustling noise from the bed that Ron was looking at. Cornelius Fudge pulled back the curtain, his arms covered in bandages.

"Excuse me Madam Pomfrey," he said loudly. "Do you think I could have my breakfast while it's still morning?"

Madam Pomfrey carried a tray to him while muttering to herself.

Harry blinked, looking at the Minister, remembering the last time they had seen each other Harry had tied him up on the floor after Fudge had tried to attack him.

"Hello sir," Harry said.

Fudge looked at Harry, apparently noticing for the first time that he was awake.

"Hello Potter, good to see you're conscious again."

"I hear you met Peter Pettigrew," Harry said firmly. "Do you believe me now that it was him who betrayed my parents and not Sirius?"

"I saw Pettigrew for barely a few minutes, and most of that time he was Stunned," Fudge replied. "It could have easily been somebody else Transfigured, or taking Polyjuice Potion."

"I suppose you have a point," Harry said. "You would know more than most people about impersonating somebody."

Fudge paused for a moment, shifting uncomfortably in his bed.

"But think about it, why would somebody pretend to be someone who has been allegedly dead for fourteen years?" Harry continued.

"To make sure Black was released," Fudge replied bluntly. "A Death Eater could have assumed Pettigrew's identity and made sure I saw him so I would think Black innocent. Without Pettigrew there isn't anything to prove your story."

"You just don't want to admit that you were wrong, even after you've seen proof with your own eyes."

"Betrayal is not the only charge against Black," Fudge replied staunchly, fiddling with the bandage on his arm. "There are other charges that he is undeniably guilty of. Like being an illegal Animagus and breaking into Hogwarts castle!"

"And you don't think that fourteen years in Azkaban is punishment enough for that?" Harry yelled back.

"This is not open for discussion Potter. And I wouldn't try blackmailing me into it. I would be just as likely to be removed from office if I released the most wanted man in the wizarding world with no evidence. Now if you'll excuse me, I would like to enjoy my breakfast while it's still mildly warm." He pulled his tray towards him and began eating a kipper.

Harry sighed. He felt like he had lost Sirius again, when he had come so close to getting him released.

"I'll tell you one thing though," Fudge muttered, munching on a piece of toast. "My brother's in a lot of trouble."

Professor Fudge! Harry remembered the Minister muttering that he would kill his brother when he and Dumbledore left for the Ministry.

"I have to go see Professor Fudge," said Harry, sitting up in his bed. "I have to make sure he's all right."

"Harry, he's fine," said Hermione, taking her arm away from Ron. "If there was anything wrong, Dumbledore would sort things out."

"Oh no," said Harry, dropping his voice to a whisper. "You didn't see the Minister yesterday, he seemed really off his rocker. He could have dome something to his brother when they were at the Ministry."

He got up, and started to leave the hospital wing, when he was stopped by Madam Pomfrey.

"Where do you think you're going?" she barked. "You're not leaving this ward anytime soon."

"Come on," Harry said. "My stomach is fine now. I was hit by the Cruciatus Curse a couple of times, but all I've got now is a few aches. A Muggle aspirin could fix that!"

"That is besides the point Potter!" she howled. "You have been through a very traumatic ordeal. You were hit by a Stunner when you were severely weakened. You need rest!"

"Please," Harry begged. "I'm just going to see Professor Fudge, I'm not doing anything dangerous. I'll be back soon."

"Well all right," Madam Pomfrey huffed. "But come right back here afterwards!"

But by that time, Harry was already halfway down the corridor on his way. He headed towards Fudge's office, hoping he would still be there. He reached it, and was going to knock on the door, when he noticed it was already half open.

He pushed it open all the way, and stepped in. Fudge was standing behind his desk, his back to the door. He was staring out of the window, and the blind that was usually above the door was gone.

"Harry," he said before Harry had even spoken. "I saw you coming."

Harry noticed that the Marauder's Map was lying on the desk. He was reminded of being in a very similar situation with Lupin at the end of his third year.

"I-I wanted to make sure you were ok," Harry said, his voice strangely hushed. "In case your brother did anything to you."

"Well Harry, I am not ok," Fudge said, turning away from the window to face Harry. "And my brother did do something to me, he fired me."

"What?" Harry yelled. "He can't do that!"

"I think you'll find he can, he did it to Hagrid after all," he said calmly, sitting down, and motioning for Harry to do the same.

"But he can't now," Harry protested. "Now we can force him to let you stay."

"We could, but we won't. I do not want to stay here if it makes Cornelius unhappy. He may be an angry, thoughtless Squib, but he's still my brother. I went to see him in the hospital wing last night, he seems to be regaining his strength."

Harry had never fully understanding the bond between brothers, as he had never had one. But he knew he would feel he same about any of the people he cared about. Especially Ron, he was the one who had just lost a brother, as had all of the other Weasley children. He felt close to tears as he thought of Percy's terrible scream as he descended down the ravine. That sound would stay with him forever.

"I know it cannot be easy for you Harry," Fudge said softly. "But you can't feel guilty about Percy, and nor can Ron. I know he'll feel terrible about what happened, but you have to show him that he did everything he could to save his brother. And you have to stay with him, you have to be his brother."

"I know," said Harry, thinking of their entire five year relationship. "But he always was."

Fudge nodded. "Your life isn't an easy one Harry. You've seen things the rest of us don't see in our worst nightmares. And I won't pretend that there aren't more loses to come, but that can't be stopped. As long as we are in the Time of Shadows, there will always be darkness, we just have to make sure that the light is stronger."

Harry knew that this was true. He had not seen the last of Voldemort, he was sure of it. He respected Fudge's way of speaking the truth, even if it was not what others wanted to hear. It comforted him, to know that he was not being fed some elaborate tale, just to keep him happy.

"That's not the only bad thing that happened last night," Harry said. So far since he woke up he hadn't spoken of or even thought about some of the terrible things he had done. "I used the Imperius Curse and the Cruciatus Curse on the Death Eaters, and I -- I killed Hagrid."

Professor Fudge looked puzzled. "Killed him? Oh --" and then to Harry's amazement, he began to laugh. "You didn't kill him Harry!"

"What?" Harry said, nonplussed.

"Hagrid is alive! I spoke to him at breakfast this morning. He seemed a bit distant, he said something about doing some bad things and having a bit of a nasty fall, but that he was strong enough to take it."

"That's great!" Harry said. "So he's not dead, I didn't kill him. But -- I still used two Unforgivable Curses, I could go to Azkaban for the rest of my life."

"I wouldn't worry about it Harry," Fudge said reassuringly. "I don't think anybody who was there on our side would report it to anyone at the Ministry, and if either of the Death Eaters said anything they would have to explain what they were doing inside Hogwarts in the first place, and I don't think it's in their best interests to do that."

Harry nodded, still worried about it. He had enjoyed it, there was no denying that. He was ashamed but it was just something he was going to have to live with. He didn't feel much like telling Fudge that though, he didn't want anyone to know.

"I suppose if they did try to send me to Azkaban we could just threaten to expose your brother again," he said.

Fudge briefly gave Harry a penetrating look that Harry could not read. "You can't just blackmail Cornelius for absolutely everything Harry. In fact, you can't blackmail him at all. He and Dumbledore have made a gentleman's agreement, it has been decided that neither Dumbledore, you, nor anybody else who discovered his secret in the past few days, will be able to use it against him anymore. That information has already made a lot of difference. I don't know if anyone has told you yet, but Fudge has gone public about You-Know-Who's return."

"I heard," said Harry quietly. He didn't want to admit that he had been eavesdropping on the conversation between the Minister and Dumbledore.

"Did you read the Prophet yesterday?" Professor Fudge asked. Harry shook his head. "The entire issue was devoted to it. I saved my copy, if you want to read it."

He took out a paper with the bold headline "YOU-KNOW-WHO RETURNS." Underneath it was a moving picture of the Minister and Dumbledore, both smiling pleasantly and shaking hands.

"No thanks," Harry said, pushing away the paper that was being offered to him. "I don't know how much of it I'd want to hear."

"That's fair enough," said Professor Fudge, and he put it back in his desk drawer.

"Don't go," Harry said suddenly. "Stay here at Hogwarts."

Fudge shook his head warmly.

"It's not an easy life being the brother of the Minister for Magic either," he said. "He gives me a job that he thinks will benefit him the most. I help him in my position, then as soon as I have served my purpose, he makes me leave."

"Well then at least I'm sure you've had some interesting jobs," Harry said to him.

"Yes I have," Fudge said, smiling. "I have worked in virtually every branch of the Ministry, and had a lot of partners. Of course, some I have enjoyed some more than others. For instance, I worked in the Department of Mysteries with your father James, and the Committee on Experimental Charms with your mother Lily."

"What?" said Harry.

"I worked with both of your parents at different times in my career. I worked with your dad on -- well I'm not really allowed to tell you, top-secret. But I worked with your mother on fighting the Unforgivable Curses. Do you remember the homework that my brother set for you back in October, about who discovered the ability to fight the Imperius Curse?"

Harry nodded.

"Well it was your own mum, Lily Potter and I."

"Wow, they worked at the Ministry?" said Harry, never knowing that before.

"Yes, they both had very high-ranking jobs. Didn't you ever wonder how they managed to raise that fortune in Gringotts for you?"

Harry smiled too. "A Muggle relative once called my dad an 'unemployed bum'. I got so mad that I used some accidental magic on her. Maybe part of the reason I got so angry was because it could have been true for all I knew. Thank you."

"For what?" Fudge asked.

"For filling in another part of my parents lives. I really appreciate it," Harry said.

"So then, I have taught you something, and you have benefited from what you have learned?"

"Of course I have," Harry replied.

"Then for once," Fudge said. "I have served my own purpose, instead of my brother's."

Harry did not know what to say. He thought of everything that happened, and wanted nothing more than to be a normal person.

Fudge rose out his chair, and extended his hand to Harry. He got up, and took it.

"It's been a privilege," he said. "And here." He held out the Marauder's Map. "You can have this back, just promise not to tell me what you're going to do with it."

Harry took the Map, drew out his wand, and wiped it blank before putting it inside his robes.

"Wow, I didn't know you could do that," Fudge said. "I've been hiding it from other people when all this time I could've done that!"

Harry laughed, glad for the tension-breaker.

"I'll see you again Harry," he said. "I'm sure of it."

Harry nodded. "I'm sure of it too."

Harry walked to the door, and with a last look at his professor, he left the office.

Once he was in the corridor, he heard footsteps coming his way. He looked around and saw Hermione at the end of the hall.

"Harry," she said as soon as she saw him. "I was going to get you from Fudge's office."

"What is it?" Harry asked, hoping nothing else had happened.

"Come with me," said Hermione, grabbing his arm and guiding him down a corridor.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked her after a few minutes of following her blindly.

"Here we are," she said, stopping in front of the stone gargoyle that Harry recognised as marking the entrance to Dumbledore's office.

"Hermione, what are we doing --?"

"Pixie stick," she interrupted, speaking to the gargoyle, who instantly leapt out of the way.

"How did you know the password?" Harry asked as Hermione got onto the steps.

She did not answer, and Harry got onto the staircase after her, feeling very suspicious.

"What's going on?" he asked, and again, Hermione did not respond. For maybe a split second, Harry thought that perhaps it was not really Hermione at all, but Lucius Malfoy or Wormtail, who had taken Polyjuice Potion and taken on Hermione's appearance.

They got to the top, and Hermione knocked on the door.

"Come in," said Dumbledore in his politest voice.

They walked into the office, where Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, examining a long piece of parchment that had a lot of names on it. He looked up at them.

"Harry, Hermione," he said. "Please sit down."

They sat, and Harry wondered more than ever what they were doing there.

"Have you brought it?" Dumbledore asked Hermione, who nodded silently.

Harry was about to ask what she had brought, when she drew something out of her pocket, and laid it on the desk, still covered by her hand. It made a metallic clink against the wooden desk. She slid it over to Dumbledore, and took her hand away. It was her silver Prefect badge. Harry had not even noticed that she had not been wearing it.

"What's going on?" Harry asked again, and it was Dumbledore who spoke.

"Harry, yesterday Miss Granger came to me with a simple proposition, you instead of her, as a Prefect."

Harry turned to Hermione, who shrugged.

"It only seemed fair," she said. "You did save our lives."

"And I for one, think it showed excellent nobility and selflessness, which are incredibly valuable moral traits," said Dumbledore.

"I can't believe you did that," Harry said, smiling at her.

"However," Dumbledore said. "I have thought about it long and hard, and I feel that I have to deny you this request."

"What?" Hermione exploded. "You can't do that! You said it showed good moral traits!"

"Yes," Dumbledore said. "And it is because of those moral traits I feel that I cannot lose you as a Prefect. Furthermore, as you just showed, you are not afraid to question authority when you feel that something is unjust."

Hermione blushed, and Harry smiled at her.

"And so I have decided to do this."

Dumbledore reached into his desk drawer, and took something out. It was a silver P badge. He put it down on the desk next to the other one, and slid them both across to Harry and Hermione.

"Harry Potter," he said in an official voice. "I officially name you a Prefect of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Harry smiled, picked up the badge, and gave Hermione a hug.

"I trust you will serve the position admirably," Dumbledore continued.

"Congratulations Mr Potter," said Hermione before pulling out of the hug.

"Miss Granger," Dumbledore said. "Would go kindly go to the hospital wing, find your friend Ronald, and tell him to come up here. Also, give him the password."

Hermione nodded, and left the office leaving Harry and Dumbledore alone.

"You don't have to do this," Harry said straight away to his headmaster. "I don't have to be a Prefect, it's not that important. Plus I think that some people in the other houses might complain that Gryffindor has two Prefects."

"Well we can deal with that later. But that is a very mature attitude Harry," Dumbledore replied. "You should have heard the protest made by Lucius Malfoy when your mother was made a Prefect."

That brought back into Harry's mind what he had been thinking of the night before, but had been lost amongst his worries for Percy and everything else.

"My mother was a Slytherin?" Harry said, staring at the end of Dumbledore's beard.

"Yes, Severus told me that Lucius told you that," Dumbledore said.

Harry nodded.

"And how do you feel about that?" he asked.

"How do I feel? I don't know, I mean, I thought my mum was a good person."

"She was," Dumbledore interrupted. "As good a person as I ever met. And like I said to you once before, when the Sorting Hat sings its song every year, it never once says the word 'evil'."

"I guess, but how was she made a Slytherin? What did the Hat see in her?"

"I can only give you my opinion based on what I know of her history. Your mother was Muggle born, you know that. Well when she received her acceptance letter, she only then realised she had magical powers. From what I hear, her parents were overjoyed with her, but her sister, that was a different matter."

Harry remembered what he got his letter what his Aunt Petunia had said about everyone else being proud of her.

"Your aunt did not take her sister being a witch very well. Even before she left for Hogwarts, she treated her badly. She made fun of her, called her a 'freak'. This hurt your mother very much, and she decided to try and be the best witch she could be, so your aunt would realise what a wonderful thing it was, and how helpful she could be.

"This desire to become great turned into an almost obsession. She became power-hungry. I am guessing this is what the Sorting Hat saw in her. Remember, she did not want power to cause terror, she simply wanted to help, and prove herself to her only sister."

Harry swallowed. "So it's Aunt Petunia's fault that mum was a Slytherin?"

"It was not intentional, I'm sure. Besides, there was one other thing that could have influenced the decision; your grandmother."

"I thought you said she was proud of her?" Harry said, confused.

"Oh yes, she was. Very much so. But, shortly after your mother was accepted, she fell ill. Throat cancer, unless I'm mistaken. The doctors told her that she did not have much time left. Lily, bless her soul, craved this power to help her own mother also."

"Did -- did she die?" Harry asked, never hearing anything about his grandparents before.

"Not straight away. She held on for a quite miraculous time. She stayed alive for roughly seven years. Sadly, she passed away shortly before Lily finished here at Hogwarts. It's a shame she never got to see what her daughter could do as a qualified witch."

Harry bowed his head. He wondered what his grandparents had been like, both his Muggle, and wizarding ones.

"Wait," said Harry, realising something. "If mum was Muggle-born, would she have been allowed in Slytherin? I mean, the founder, he didn't like them."

"No, Salazar Slytherin was not fond of Muggle-borns. I do not know why she was placed in his house when he put part of his own mind into the Sorting Hat."

"What about the other Slytherins? Were they mean to her?" Harry asked, feeling awful if his mother had been an outcast for seven years at school. He knew what that was like from his time at school with Dudley.

"I can't tell you that she had an easy time at school, but she did have her friends to help her."

"Like my dad?" Harry said. "And Lupin, and Sirius."

"Yes," Dumbledore replied quietly. "And Peter Pettigrew, and her one friend inside Slytherin House: Professor Snape."

"Snape was friends with my mum?" Harry asked uncertainly. "But, then why was he enemies with her other friends at school."

"I don't pretend that I knew every intricate detail of your parents' personal lives at school, quite the reverse. But in my opinion, it was jealousy."

"Jealousy?" Harry repeated.

"Yes, I believe that Severus envied what James had with your mother, because he wanted her for himself."

Harry gave an involuntary shudder. Snape had been in love with his mother.

Just then, Harry heard the door open behind him. He turned around, and saw Ron walk in, gazing around the office, having never been there before.

He sat down in the seat Hermione had left. He looked at Harry, then at Dumbledore, and briefly at Fawkes the phoenix, resting peacefully on his perch.

"Ron," Dumbledore asked kindly. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Ron replied hollowly. Dumbledore remained silent, looking into Ron's eyes the way he had Harry's many times. "I will be fine," Ron corrected.

"That was a brave thing you did," Dumbledore said, not looking away. "You tried to save him Ron, you did everything you could."

"I know," Ron muttered weakly.

"You can't blame yourself. I'm sure nobody else will."

Ron nodded, seemingly unable to speak anymore.

"Your parents have been -- notified. They will be here shortly. They don't blame you at all Ron."

Ron nodded again. Mr and Mrs Weasley were coming to Hogwarts. To claim the body.

"Harry, could you excuse us please?" Dumbledore asked.

"Of course." Harry stood, and approached the door. As he opened it, he heard Fawkes let out a single note of song. Harry paused, listening to it, but walked away without looking back.

*

When the three of them were all back in the hospital wing, none of them spoke about anything that had been said in the headmaster's office.

The next day, they had their first visitors. Several of the staff came in at once to see them. Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Snape were there, as well as Hagrid and Charlie. Harry saw that Professor Fudge was not there, and was not surprised.

"Potter, Weasley, Miss Granger," McGonagall said solemnly, sitting next to Hermione's bed and laying a hand briefly on her shoulder.

Flitwick stood behind her, and said nothing. It was the first time that Harry had seen the small man with no smile on his face, and no excited movement, he just stood there, not knowing what to say.

Snape also did not sit, he stood next to Harry's bed. They looked at each other, and nodded to each other. There was a silent understanding there. Neither of them would forget what had happened in the Forest, but both knew that nothing would change.

Harry also suspected if Snape knew how much Harry had been told about his school days with his parents. Snape opened his mouth, but paused, clearly unsure of what he wanted to say.

"Take care Potter," he said, without infliction.

Harry gave the tiniest smile; that was good enough for him.

Charlie, Harry had just noticed, was sitting with Ron, neither of them talking. But the looks on their faces told Harry exactly what they were feeling.

After a few minutes, the Professors left the room, leaving Charlie and Hagrid.

Hagrid, who had been lingering by the doorway before, now came forward, stopping in the space near Harry that Snape had abandoned. He crouched low down, and rested his head on Harry's bed.

"I'm so sorry!" he said, beginning to weep. "I can' believe what I did ter you! I put Cruciatus on yer! They're gonna send me ter Azkaban again!"

"Hagrid," Harry said firmly. "It's all right. You were under Imperius, you can't be blamed. Most fully qualified wizards can't fight it."

"Still," he said through his sobs. "It's all my fault! I brough' yer to 'em. It was all they needed and I go' it for 'em.!"

"Hagrid," Harry said, something occurring to him. "Where were you all this time you've been gone? I mean, you said that Death Eaters had been training you, but that's not true, is it? Lucius Malfoy just made you say that, right?"

"Yeah, I think so," Hagrid said, regaining himself. "I don' really remember much 'bout tha' time."

"They gave you a Memory Charm?"

"Yeah, maybe, I'm not sure. I do remember a couple o' things. They asked me stuff, but first they gave me this drink. It looked like water, but it weren't, it tasted different."

"Veritaserum," Harry said. "A truth potion. You probably remember some of it because your giant blood stopped the Memory Charm working properly, even if a few of them tried it at once. What questions did they ask?"

"Er ... about you, I think ... and Dumbledore. Something about ... about spies ... there was more..."

"Oh no," Harry said. "He was getting information about Dumbledore's operatives. Do you remember if you told him anything?"

"I don't know." Hagrid answered.

No, Harry thought. Voldemort had his Death Eaters use Hagrid as a source of information. They had no idea how much he knew.

"I told him everythin' I bet!" Hagrid said, collapsing into tears again. "I'm a failure! I shouldn' be allowed ter live with wizards!"

"That's not true Hagrid," Hermione said. "You're a good wizard. I mean, you're great at making those pumpkins really big at Hallowe'en."

"And you did the Cruciatus Curse!" Harry added. "Only someone very powerful could do that."

"S'pose," Hagrid said. "But I ain't allowed ter do magic really. They won' let me."

"There are ways you can be a qualified wizard," Harry said, remembering something. "Fudge told me the other day, there are tests you can take."

"That's right," Hermione said. "But they do take about a year to do properly."

"A year?" Hagrid repeated. "But, Dumbledore jus' gave me my job back, who'd do that when I'm off becomin' a wizard?"

"I could do that," Charlie replied, who had so far been near silent with Ron. "I'll do your job for another year so you can be trained up."

Hagrid looked at the man who had just lost his brother, and smiled. "Thanks Charlie."

*

When they were finally released from the hospital wing, there was less than a week of school left. Harry thought of Privet Drive, and how the Dursleys had no idea about what he was going through. Of course they probably would not treat him any better if they did know.

They headed straight for Gryffindor Tower, Ron and Hermione hand in hand. As soon as they entered it, every head in the common room turned to look at them. There was utter silence.

Very slowly, Neville got up from his seat next to Seamus, and walked up to them. Harry gave him a solemn nod, which he returned. He did not know what to say to anyone.

Fred, George and Ginny were sitting alone in a corner. Ron broke apart from Hermione and went over to join them. Hermione watched them, and started moving towards them. Harry laid his hand on her arm, stopping her. They needed to mourn their brother together, as a family. Before long they would be home, and the family would comfort each other. Time would heal the wound, Harry knew. But they would need a lot of it.

Ron was summoned to Dumbledore's office again the next day when Mr and Mrs Weasley arrived at Hogwarts. He requested that Harry be there as well. Although Harry felt uncomfortable with the idea of being there when the Weasley family discussed Percy's funeral arrangements, he went there to support Ron. Hermione also offered to come for support, and Ron seemed glad of this.

When they got there, the rest of the family was already there, including Charlie and Bill. None of them made any comment about Harry and Hermione being there. Dumbledore merely nodded at the pair of them.

"Mum, Dad," Ron said quietly.

"Ron," Mr Weasley said. Nobody spoke for a while, and Harry was beginning to feel even more uncomfortable.

"We are here to discuss detail for the -- um -- funeral," Dumbledore said, breaking the silence.

"Yes, right Albus," Mrs Weasley said. "Er -- we have set the date."

"When is it?" asked Bill.

"August the First," replied a girl that Harry had not noticed before. Penelope was sitting on the end furthest from Harry, wearing a black dress and wiping her eyes with a linen handkerchief.

"Isn't that --?" Ginny started to ask, but trailed off.

"Yes, that was our wedding day," Penelope said before collapsing in tears again.

"I'm so sorry Penelope," Ron said to her. "It's all my fault."

"No it's not," Penelope said firmly.

"How can you say that Ron?" Mr Weasley said. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"Your father's right Ron," Mrs Weasley agreed. "It was them, the Death Eaters. They're the ones to blame, not you."

"I hope you two can come to the funeral," Mr Weasley said, changing the subject.

"Of course," Hermione replied.

"I'll be there," Harry said. "Even if the Dursleys say no."

Mr Weasley nodded. "Albus, I think we should leave now. And if it is all right with you, I would prefer the children to come back with us now, rather than wait until the end of term."

"Of course they may," Dumbledore answered.

"No," Ron said. "I want to stay here for the rest of the term at least. If that's OK with you."

"Me too," Ginny said.

"And us," Fred and George added.

Mr Weasley nodded. "If you think it's best. You have the right to choose. You're not kids anymore."

"Don't worry Dad," Charlie said. "I'll look after them."

Mrs and Mrs Weasley stood with Penelope.

"Are you coming Bill?" Mrs Weasley asked.

"Er," Bill said, looking between the children and the parents. "Yeah, I'll be right there." He cast a look around at his brothers and sisters. "See you soon," he said to them.

The four of them left the office, leaving the Hogwarts students alone with Dumbledore and Charlie.

"Are you sure you wish to stay?" Dumbledore asked.

"I am," Ron said. "I want to keep busy." The rest of the Weasleys murmured agreements.

"Very well," Dumbledore said. "I shall take you back to Gryffindor Tower then."

They all rose, and walked out of the room together.

When they got back to the common room, Ron, Hermione and Harry sat separated from the others. Ron smiled, and gave a very quiet chuckle.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, putting her arm around him.

"Dad. He said that we're not kids anymore. When did that happen?" he said.

"I don't know. Today, I think," Hermione said.

"Yeah maybe today," Harry said. "Or maybe it happened on that day, in the Forest."

"Maybe," Ron replied. "But kids or not, it's never easy when someone you care about leaves."

He turned to Hermione. "I love you Hermione. Don't ever leave me."

"I won't. I promise." She hugged him tightly and kissed him on the cheek.

*

Harry found himself thinking of that meeting a lot over the next few days. He thought of Cedric. He wondered how his parents were coping, and how Gavin was. It was almost a year since he had died, but it was still fresh in his mind. He supposed those were the things that you never forget.

Harry felt like there was a shadow hanging over him, one that he could not get rid of. He knew that it would never go away, not while Voldemort was around. He wished that there was some way to magically get rid of him, but there were some things that not even magic could fix.

He ran his fingers over his cloak, the one Dobby had given him for Christmas. He thought back to Dobby and Winky's wedding, that was a good memory. A lot of good things had happened this year, one of the best being Ron and Hermione finally getting together, even if it was not under the best of circumstances. He felt sorry for Ron, he must have had a few minutes of half-happiness before his brother was killed.

Percy was not the only person who had died that year. Oliver Wood had been killed two weeks after Voldemort had returned. Karkaroff had been killed by Voldemort himself. Now that they were once again in the Time of Shadows, these horrible deaths were inevitable.

Harry had seen more than his fair share of suffering in his reasonably short life. He had witnessed his first murders at the age of one.

He did not sleep well that night. His dreams were plagued by images of what had happened. He saw Hagrid's face contorted with fury as he used the Cruciatus Curse, Lucius Malfoy hitting Hermione, striking her down. He saw Ron, holding onto Percy's hand while he hung over that ravine, and heard his bone-chilling cry as he fell, and the thud of the impact.

The next morning, the fifth-years were called into the Great Hall to receive their O.W.Ls results.

They lined up outside, while what Harry recognised to be the seventh- years were inside getting their N.E.W.Ts results. After a few minutes, they left the Hall, and Harry stopped Fred and George to ask how they had done.

"A's," they both replied.

"That's good, isn't it?" Harry asked when they were gone.

Hermione was the one who answered. "An A means acceptable. It's not quite as good as an E, and of course an O is the best score."

"That's what Percy got," Ron said.

The three of them fell into silence as the rest of the seventh-years filed out of the Hall, sharing their results with each other. A few minutes after the last of them had disappeared, they were called in.

Everyone sat down at their house tables, while Professors Sprout, Flitwick, McGonagall and Snape handed out envelopes to their respective houses. Harry purposely avoided looking Snape in the eye, and Professor McGonagall gave him his letter without making any extra comment.

Harry held the yellow parchment in his hand, staring at his name on the front. As hard as it was to believe, it had only been a week since he had taken the tests, even though it felt like a lifetime ago.

Ron impatiently tore his letter out of his envelope the second he got it, and gave a small smile, before folding it up and putting it in his pocket.

"Well?" Hermione asked. "How did you do?"

"Ten," he said quietly, and produced a tiny smile.

"That's great Ron," Harry commented, as Hermione kissed him on the cheek.

"What about you Hermione?" Harry asked.

She neatly removed her letter, and read her score. She smiled broadly, but hid it when Ron looked at her.

"Eighteen!" she said, clearly trying to cover her excitement, but failing.

"Congratulations!" Ron said, more enthusiastic about her mark than his own.

"It's the highest anyone has got in the history of Hogwarts!" she continued, reading her letter. "It equals two previous scores, and I've got a medal for it in the Trophy Room!"

"We have to go and see that!" Harry said.

"What about you Harry?" Hermione asked. "You still haven't read yours."

Harry held up his letter. He moved his hands across the top edge of it, unwilling to open it and read what was inside. This was what it was all about. The heavy load of homework they had received in the last year, or all the other years come to think of it, it was all for this.

"Wow!" Neville said opposite them, having just looked at his own parchment. "Nine!"

Harry smiled, and resigned himself to open his. He took a deep breath, and tore the envelope open, the way Ron had done. The words were written in green ink, and there was a large Hogwarts crest at the head of the paper.

Harry Potter,

Enclosed are the results for your Ordinary Wizarding Levels. You have shown great progress in your five years in our tuition, and you should be very proud of yourself.

Astronomy: 1

Care of Magical Creatures: 2

Charms: 2

Defence Against the Dark Arts: 3

Divination: 0

Herbology: 1

History of Magic: 0

Potions: 1

Transfiguration: 2

Total O.W.L score: 12

Professor M. McGonagall

"Twelve!" he said.

Ron and Hermione congratulated him, and their spirits could not help but raise slightly. It was going to be all right, eventually.

After lunch, they went up to the Trophy Room to see Hermione's award. It was in a small display case in a corner of the room, with two others that looked just like it. They each had the words Medal for Magical Merit engraved on it, as well as the bearer's name and the year they had received the award. Harry read the name on the medal to the far left.

"Albus Dumbledore," he read. "Wow, look at the date on it. If he took these tests when he was fifteen, he must be over a hundred-and-fifty years old!"

Harry remembered one time during the previous year when Harry had thought of Dumbledore as an old man. It was true that he was getting older, but he was sure that he had a good few years left in him yet.

The other medal was fifty-three years old. The name on it sent a chill down Harry's spine: Tom Riddle.

*

Not nearly soon enough, the very last day of the school year came. Harry sat at the Gryffindor table as he had every other day. Ron and Hermione sat to his right, one arm around each other.

Harry looked at the other three house tables, at each individual person, and wondered whether anyone else had gone through the kind of year as he had. While he was certain that none of the others had been lured into the Forbidden Forest and confronted by Death Eaters, there had to be someone else who had suffered in some way at the hands of Voldemort.

Gryffindor had won the House Cup again, mostly because of their excellent performance in the Quidditch final, but this meant little to Harry this time around.

Dumbledore sat in his chair at the front of the Great Hall, silently surveying his students. Hagrid sat to his left, looking slightly less sorrowful than he had before, possibly from the thought of becoming a fully trained wizard. On the other side of Hagrid was Charlie, whom Harry had never seen looking so gaunt.

It was then that Harry noticed that Ginny had been sitting opposite him the whole time, staring at him. He gave her an encouraging smile. Some things never change, he thought.

The headmaster stood, and Harry instantly looked up. Dumbledore let the quietly talking crowd slowly fade into silence before he began to speak.

"This time last year," he said, his moderate voice carrying throughout the entire room. "I stood here, and I warned you all that we were facing dark times. And now, one whole year later, and we do have some idea of what we are up against.

"Several people in this room have suffered tragic losses because of Lord Voldemort, both many years ago, and quite recently. Each victim of his wand deserves an honourable mention, however I would like to talk about the loss of one man today.

"Just weeks ago, some of our students were taken by servants of Lord Voldemort, and placed under their control. When this man tried to come to their rescue, he was tragically killed.

"Percy Weasley was a good man, he attended Hogwarts a few years ago like all of you, and he was made the Head Boy. After leaving school, he began work at the Ministry of Magic, and was engaged to a wonderful girl. It saddens me to tell you that he was murdered within these school grounds."

There was a low rumble of voices around the room, but it quickly stopped as everyone was anxious to hear what else Dumbledore had to say.

"I am sorry to say that the Death Eaters responsible for this escaped from Hogwarts, and have not been caught."

Harry looked over at Draco Malfoy, and saw that he was slumped in his chair, merely bored, and not paying the least bit of attention to what Dumbledore was saying.

Dumbledore called for everybody to stand and repeat his name. They did, and Harry purposely did not look through the crowd to see if there was anyone who had remained seated.

*

Harry boarded the Hogwarts Express, Hedwig in her cage on his trunk. Ron and Hermione were behind him, none of them saying a word. He did not think that he could leave Hogwarts in worse spirits than he had at the end of his last year, but it did not even compare.

Voldemort was back. Everybody knew it now. The entire magical world had been plunged into darkness, back into the Time of Shadows.

Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in a compartment with the rest of the Weasleys. Hermione had her head rested peacefully on Ron's shoulder. They looked very comfortable together, and Harry did not want anything to happen to them. He thought of them as his family, so he was protective of them, and felt a sense of responsibility toward them.

Ginny began to cry in the seat next to him. He took her hand in his, and held it tightly. She looked up at him, her beautiful brown eyes full of water. He really did care about her, even if he did not feel about her the way she felt about him. She rested her head on his shoulder as Hermione was doing with Ron. It was not about affection, just the comfort of another person.

He looked at Ron opposite him, and they looked into each other's eyes for a moment, before Ron gave Harry a silent nod. Hermione smiled at him, and Harry felt that they had grown somehow in the last few days, and become adults.

When the old lady with the trolley came by, Harry let her pass without buying anything. He was not in the mood for sweets and snacks at the moment, and no one else in the compartment bought anything either.

The door to their compartment slid open, and Harry looked up to see Cho walk in, the first time he had seen her since Percy had died.

He got up, giving Ginny time to lift her head off his shoulders, and followed Cho silently back out of the door, to a more empty compartment on the other side.

"Yes?" he asked her quietly. He remembered the last time he had talked to her, next to the lake on the last day of the exams. When he had accused her of pretending to be interested in him to win the Quidditch Cup.

Cho did not speak, but put her arms lightly around Harry. He held her closely to him as well.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I know this must be a hard time for you Harry. I'm sorry I was so angry with you."

"You shouldn't be the one to apologise," Harry replied. "I never should have said what I did. Do you forgive me?"

"Of course I do." Cho leaned in to kiss Harry, but he pulled away. She looked at him, the hurt expression on her face made him feel so bad.

"I -- I don't think I'm ready," Harry said. "Not yet. It's just not -- not the right time."

"I understand," Cho said softly. "And I know how you feel. After Cedric, I didn't think I could go on. It will get better, you know that don't you."

Harry nodded. "I'll see you next year," he said. Cho smiled at him, and walked silently out of the compartment.

Harry stared at the door she had walked out of, thinking. He couldn't be with her now. Voldemort had used his best friends as leverage to try and force Harry to serve him. He was sure Voldemort would have no hesitation to do the same thing with a girlfriend.

He had to be alone at this time. He knew he was endangering everyone he cared about, but if he didn't have them, there was no way he could pull through this time.

Harry turned around to the other door, the one shielding his friends. He watched them through the glass. Ron and Hermione were resting comfortably together. Fred and George were sitting close to each other, not speaking. Ginny had her back to him. She was alone, most likely waiting for him to come back. None of them looked up and realised he was watching them.

A wave of calmness swept over Harry. As long as he had them, everything was all right. As long as he had them, he had something to fight for.

He walked forwards, ready to return to them, when he heard the door that Cho had left through opening. He slowly turned around, and saw Draco Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle standing either side of him. They had that look again, that arrogant, satisfied look that they had at the end of their last year.

"What do you want?" Harry spat.

"Still acting the tough guy I see," Malfoy sneered. "You just lost someone close to you at the Dark Lord's hand. Don't you see that this isn't the end Potter? He won't stop until he has you. If it was me, I would give in."

"Well then you're weak," Harry retorted. "I'll never serve him, he'll have to kill me first."

"It's better to be at the Devil's right hand, than in his way," Malfoy said. "If you obey him, he'll give you more power than you could ever dream of."

"And you would know this?" Harry said. "After all, you're going to obey him yourself before long. Just two years, and then he'll be burning the Dark Mark into your arm. And then you will belong to him. You'll just exist to do his bidding. Is that really what you want Malfoy?"

"I want power," he replied. "And I know that the Dark Lord can give it to me."

Harry took a step closer to Malfoy and spoke slowly and clearly, so he could hear every word.

"I will never be loyal to that force of evil. I intend to fight him, by any means necessary. I wouldn't expect someone like you to understand, but I believe in doing the right thing."

"Oh please," Malfoy said dismissively. "You think that you're going to win just because you're with the good guys? This isn't a fairy tale Potter."

"Get out," Harry said, pulling his wand out of his pocket. "Now."

"I think I'd prefer to stay actually," Malfoy said calmly, taking out his own wand. "And I think I'm going to remove you!"

"Well then you'll have to go through us too."

The door behind him opened, and Ron and Hermione stood on either side of Harry, pointing their wands at Malfoy. Malfoy smiled, not shaken at all.

"Weasley, I would have thought you'd learned by now that it's pointless to fight it. How many more of your family has to die before you face up to the truth?"

Ron took another step forward, so he was in front of Harry.

"How would you like it if I told someone at the Ministry where your dad was on the day Percy died?" he said fiercely.

Malfoy laughed. "Do you think that Fudge would do anything about it if you did? He wouldn't admit that his second in command was a Death Eater. That would throw the entire Ministry into disarray. And nobody would want a Minister who doesn't realise that his deputy was serving the Dark Lord. He would be shunted out of office before they could even have a trial."

Ron pointed his wand straight at Malfoy's heart. Hermione advanced and did the same, so that Harry was now standing at the back, with both of his friends protecting him.

"Careful Mudblood," Malfoy said. "I don't think my father would like it if he knew you were threatening me."

"I'm willing to take my chances," Hermione said coolly. Her hand was completely steady, and she looked at Malfoy with nothing but raw hatred. Harry realised that she was holding Lucius Malfoy's wand, he remember that they had been switched in the Forest.

"How sweet," Malfoy said coldly, sneering at the three of them. "Potter's foul little friends come to his rescue whenever he needs defending."

"It's OK," Harry whispered to the pair of them. "I've got this."

After some hesitation, they both stood down and backed away. Harry stood another step forward, his wand still raised.

"Now you're going to leave right now, before I throw you out," he said threateningly. "And you're going to take these two idiots with you," he added, looking at Crabbe and Goyle.

Malfoy said nothing, but remained where he was. His wand was barely a foot from Harry's chest. Harry cleared his mind, then raised both hands, summoning up all of the energy he could.

Very slowly, Malfoy was raised off the ground, and in a few seconds his head was just inches from the roof of the train. Then, Harry extended his arms, and Malfoy was thrown backwards through the air. He smacked against the wall, and then slid down it, landing heavily on the floor.

He got up, glaring malevolently at Harry. Harry gripped his wand tightly, in case Malfoy was about to curse him in revenge.

"C'mon," he said to Crabbe and Goyle, and they left the compartment.

"Wow Harry," Hermione said when they were gone. "You're really getting good at that wandless thing."

"Thanks," Harry said smiling. "Shall we go back in?" he asked, jerking his head toward the compartment Fred, George and Ginny were in.

Harry opened the door for Hermione, and she walked in, leaving Harry and Ron alone. Harry quietly shut it before Ron walked through.

"Ron," he said, not sure how he would say what he wanted to say, or if he should even say it at all. "You're my best friend. And I couldn't be happier for you and Hermione. But I have to tell you..." Harry lowered his voice to barely a whisper, "If you ever hurt her--"

Ron raised his hand to stop Harry speaking. "I know," he said. "But don't worry, I don't intend to."

Harry smiled, and pulled Ron into a brotherly embrace.

The two of them entered the compartment together, and sat back in their seats. Hermione put her head back on Ron's shoulder and Ginny did the same with Harry. The six of them were silent for at least half an hour, the only noise coming from Crookshanks and Pigwidgeon, while Hedwig slept.

"Oh," Hermione said suddenly. "I almost forgot."

"What is it?" Harry asked, as Hermione got up and pulled her trunk out of the luggage rack.

"Ron and I got you something," she replied. "We got it a few days ago."

"Oh yeah," said Ron. "I'd forgotten about that too."

Hermione found what she was looking for; it was a small envelope, which was unmarked on the front. Harry took it and tore it open. There was only one thing inside of it.

It was a photograph of himself, Ron and Hermione, all standing together in the Leaky Cauldron. Harry remembered Colin Creevey had taken it at his birthday party. In the picture, the trio were laughing together, seemingly without a care in the world.

Harry looked up from the photo at his two best friends. He didn't know what to say. It was definitely one of the best presents he had ever got. It would be a great reminder during the long gruelling summer holidays of what to look forward to when he returned to Hogwarts.

"I know just where to put this," he said, reaching up to the luggage rack for his own trunk. He opened it and looked through it for the photo album of his mum and dad.

He found the small, leather-covered book. Not finding an empty space to put the picture, he placed it between two of the pages, then began absent-mindedly thumbing through the book to look at the photos. He saw image after image of his parents, alive and happy. In most of the pictures they were cheerfully playing with baby Harry in their house, unaware they would be dead before they could see their son grow up.

He remembered seeing his old home in a dream at Christmastime, when Dumbledore had met with Voldemort. He thought of the Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore was protected against Voldemort's wand, the one person who was safe from him.

When they eventually got back to King's Cross, they all collected up their belongings and stepped off the train. Mr and Mrs Weasley were waiting on platform nine and three-quarters.

Mrs Weasley hugged all of her children, lastly Ron. She gave him a strange look and Ron nodded. She turned to Harry, not changing her expression in the least, and Harry knew what she meant. It was as if he could see into her mind through her eyes, and what she was saying came as great comfort to him.

It's not your fault.

She hugged Harry too, and the Weasley children all came together with their parents. Harry hugged Hermione as well, and she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Lastly Ron gave Hermione a hug. A hug that told her silently that nothing would ever tear them apart. Harry couldn't help but smile to himself when he saw them.

Everyone said their goodbyes before Hermione and the Weasleys walked through the barrier back into the Muggle world.

Harry stayed where he was, watching all of the other children and parents leaving. He saw Mrs Malfoy greeting her son, and Gavin hugging Mr and Mrs Diggory. Cho was standing with a man who had to be her father.

Neville met his grandmother on the platform. Of course his parents could not be there, since they were locked away in St Mungo's, insane; another casualty of Voldemort's wrath.

When the platform was completely deserted, Harry still did not walk through the barrier. He put down his trunk and Hedwig's cage, and sat at the foot of a tall pillar, staring up at the dusky sky.

Maybe it wasn't so bad, he thought. It couldn't hurt to have a bit of a break from the wizarding world, especially after such a stressful year. He could just stay up in his room most of the time like he had the previous summer.

He was still unable to bring himself to leaving the platform. He knew that Privet Drive was probably the best place for him at the present time, but it came as little comfort.

He thought of what was in store for him in years to come. It was never going to be easy, but he could handle that. He wondered how long it would take the Weasleys to recover from the loss they had suffered.

He realised again, and more than ever, how much everyone was in danger just because they were his friends.

Harry wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there, fiercely telling himself that everything would be all right in the end. Eventually, he resigned himself to leaving. He picked up his trunk and Hedwig's cage. Standing up straight, his shoulder squared and jaw set, he walked forwards, with so many burdens on his head.

As he finally walked through the barrier, one thought echoed through his mind.

It was all just part of the great joy, and terrible sadness, that came with the world that was disappearing behind him.

THE END