Trinity

Chapter 12

Harry, Ron and Hermione stumbled into each other and the nearby wall when the portkey deposited them in the back courtyard of the Leaky Cauldron. Harry took a deep breath before discarding the mitten into a nearby rubbish bin then he turned on one heel and wordlessly led his friends into the pub. The place was nearly empty, an odd state of affairs for this time of night, with only a couple of hardy souls, hooded and all but anonymous and to all intents and purposes drinking steadily in one corner. A quick flash of red hair from under the hood of one of these drinkers revealed who they were and Harry gave the twins a brief, curt nod before striding over to the fireplace. He pulled a small bag of floo powder out of his robes and offered it to Ron and Hermione before following them through.

He stumbled out into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place to find Remus standing and waiting for him while Mrs Weasley fussed over Ron and Hermione. Remus took one look at Harry then stepped forward with alacrity, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"What happened?" he asked with concern.

"Snape was there," Harry growled.

Mrs Weasley gasped. "Are you hurt?" she asked of all three teens.

Harry shook his head. "No, he stayed hidden." He relaxed a fraction and smiled grimly. "And Ron and Hermione wouldn't let me do anything stupid."

"Good," Remus said firmly then he paused and frowned. "Hang on, if Snape stayed hidden how did you know he was there?"

Harry held up the wrist that Asmodeus was wrapped around. "He knew," he said.

"He's an adder, isn't he?" Remus said after examining the snake from a safe distance.

Harry nodded. "He's very old and blind and I promised him I'd take him somewhere warm and where he'd be well-fed. He was Morfin Gaunt's snake and he was very helpful."

"What should I get for him?" Mrs Weasley asked, eyeing the snake nervously.

"A dish of warm milk for now," Harry replied. "And his name is Asmodeus."

Mrs Weasley bustled away looking uncomfortable but seemingly glad of having something to do. She was back shortly with a small dish of warm milk and she placed it on the table before returning to the stove. Harry sat down at the table and carefully unwound Asmodeus from his wrist, hissing soothingly to the little snake. He placed the snake near the milk and Asmodeus perked up when his flickering tongue scented the treat.

Ron and Hermione joined him at the table as did Remus and they watched as Asmodeus tentatively tried the milk. Mrs Weasley joined them carrying five mugs of hot chocolate and even she was forced to smile at the little snake's obvious delight.

"How was Asmodeus helpful?" Remus asked after a sip of his hot chocolate.

"He's been there since the Gaunts lived there," Harry said, the last of his anger dropping away as he wrapped his hands around the warm mug. "He belonged to Morfin Gaunt. He's never left. He said that Voldemort came there twice. Once to find something that I'm fairly sure was Marvolo's ring. That ring that Dumbledore had last year. The second time Voldemort was there must have been to hide the ring. Then Asmodeus saw the Headmaster arrive to find the ring."

"So there was a Horcrux there," Remus said musingly.

Harry nodded. "He also told us that Nagini used to visit him."

Both Mrs Weasley and Remus stared at Harry in surprise.

"We speculated that Voldemort must be using Riddle Manor and I think Snape's appearance supports that," Hermione said. "He must have seen the light from our wands."

"Why didn't he attack us though?" Ron said with a frown. "That's what doesn't make sense."

"Yes, it does," Hermione replied before anyone else could. "It would have been three against one and even though he's more experienced that us I think we could have defeated him. There's also the fact that Voldemort wants to kill Harry personally. I think Snape would get into trouble if he did it. This isn't like the situation with the Headmaster."

"I guess," Ron said dubiously. "I still think it's odd that he didn't even throw a single insult at us, let alone a spell."

"Yeah, that was a bit odd," Harry said as he rather absently stroked Asmodeus' head. "He's never passed up an opportunity to have a go at me before. Hell, I even tried provoking him."

"What did you do?" Remus said with a hint of disapproval and anger in his voice.

Harry looked at him neutrally. "Called him names," he said flatly.

Remus grimaced; he was well aware of which name Harry was likely to have used. "That didn't provoke him?" he asked instead of chiding Harry like he really wanted.

Harry shook his head. "Not even an insult came out of it."

"Very odd," Remus said thoughtfully as he sipped his hot chocolate. He knew how much Snape hated the name James and Sirius had given him.

"Why would Nagini bring Asmodeus food?" Ron asked absently as he stared at the little snake. "I mean it's not like they're the same species or anything."

Harry shrugged as the last of the anger and tension from the evening bled off, leaving him feeling a touch lethargic. "Asmodeus? Why did Nagini come down to see you?"

The little snake looked around blindly from his treat. "She was lonely," he hissed. "She said her speaker was always busy and hardly ever spent time with her."

Harry blinked then looked over at Ron. "She was lonely apparently. Voldemort was ignoring her a bit."

"Snakes get lonely?" Ron asked, also starting to look like he was about to fall asleep.

"Doesn't everybody?" Harry muttered, unaware of the sudden sharp looks he got from the others. His voice hadn't been as quiet as he'd thought.

Remus took a deep breath and clapped his hands, startling the others. "Time for bed, I think," he said firmly.

The three teens looked like they wanted to protest then Mrs Weasley began fussing over them and they reluctantly surrendered. Harry hissed to the little snake then scooped him up. They trooped up the stairs wearily before wandering along the corridor toward their rooms. Harry paused at the door to his room and turned to face his friends.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"What for?" Hermione said gently.

"Tonight," Harry replied. "Being stupid. Trying to provoke Snape."

A compassionate look settled on Hermione's face and she took one of Harry's hands in her own as Ron gingerly placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I just...hate him," Harry whispered. "The Headmaster pleaded with him but that didn't stop him. He just...did it. Killed him. Professor Dumbledore spent years defending him, gave him a job and a home and he was an evil bastard all along. He was wrong." The last was said with an ineffable sadness.

"Who was wrong?" Ron asked carefully.

"Dumbledore," Harry said heavily. "He always said Snape could be trusted." He looked up at his friends and they winced at the weary and almost defeated look in his eyes. "But he was wrong. Snape is a Death Eater and Dumbledore paid the price for his mistake."

Ron and Hermione exchanged glances, unsure of what had prompted this mood in their friend.

"Get some sleep, Harry," Ron said after a long silence. "It'll all look different in the morning."

Harry just stared at him. "Will it?"

"Well, Mum always says so and she's usually right," Ron said with the tiniest hint of a smile.

Harry's lips quirked and his mood seemed to lift fractionally. "Yeah, she usually is. Night, guys."

He turned and opened the door and slipped quietly into his room, closing the door behind him. Ron and Hermione stared at the closed door for a moment then they headed towards their own rooms. They stopped outside Hermione's door and Ron bit his lip nervously as he looked down at the girl. He rolled his eyes in exasperation when he realised that Hermione was deep in thought.

"Hermione?" he prompted and she gave a start and looked up at him. "You were miles away," he continued.

She blushed. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ron." Her voice trailed off and Ron recognised her 'figuring-out-a-problem' expression.

"What's wrong?" he asked pragmatically.

"Professor Dumbledore pleaded with Snape," she said absently.

Ron frowned. "Yeah. So?"

"Doesn't that strike you as a touch odd?"

Ron shrugged. "He was ill and he must have figured out by that stage that Snape wasn't there to help him. I'd plead for my life too."

"You maybe," Hermione said. "Me as well. But Professor Dumbledore?" She looked up at him curiously. "It doesn't strike you as just the tiniest bit odd?"

Ron was about to make a flippant response when Hermione's words struck him and his brow furrowed in thought. "Well, yeah, I suppose it is. But I'm not sure where you're going with this, Hermione. Dumbledore's dead. We saw the body and the whole phoenix and tomb thing and everything. Harry saw his body."

Hermione scowled and looked down at the floor. "I know," she said with some frustration. "It's just...odd."

Ron rather nervously took one of her hands in his. "Hermione, sometimes things are just like they seem. I mean, yes, it is odd that Dumbledore pleaded but he was ill and he was seeing the true colours of a man he trusted." He shrugged. "I guess it just affected him more than we thought it might."

Hermione sighed and nodded then she looked down at their joined hands. Ron shifted nervously and tried to take his hand back but Hermione wouldn't let him go. He blushed a bright red. She smiled up at him then leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips.

"Thank you, Ron," she said quietly before letting go of his hand and slipping into her own room and closing the door.

Ron stared at the closed door for a moment as one hand drifted up and touched his lips where she had kissed him. He smiled rather goofily and took a deep breath; no matter what else was happening, everything was pretty much alright in his world right now.

"Ron?" Remus' soft, slightly hoarse voice startled him.

Ron whirled around and blushed, his ears turning bright red. "Er, hi, Prof...Remus."

Remus' lips twitched. "Weren't you meant to be going to bed?" he said with a calm interest that hid his amusement.

"Er, yeah," Ron said then his grin widened. "She kissed me."

"That's good," Remus said, unable to stop the amused smile this time.

"Yeah," Ron said happily.

Remus watched the happy, slightly dazed look settle in on Ron's face and chuckled. James had looked alarmingly like that when he and Lily had first started going out.

"Ron?" he said getting the young man's attention. "Bed. Sleep. It's probably not a good idea to stand outside Hermione's room all night."

Ron blinked then nodded. "Er, right!"

As Remus watched the young redhead meandered along the corridor towards his room. He hastily swallowed a laugh as it took Ron three tries to get the door open then he let that laugh out as a chuckle when the young man disappeared inside his own room. He shook his head and walked up to Harry's door. He carefully opened it and peered in. There was a single candle burning on the bedside table and he could see Harry's curled up on his side under the blankets. Casimir was perched on the windowsill, watching his master while Hedwig was doing the same from the top of the wardrobe. He could see the little adder coiled up on the bedside table at the base of the candlestick.

He silently walked into the room and over to the side of the bed. Harry was apparently fast asleep but his face still looked drawn and tired. Remus reached out and hesitated slightly before brushing the messy fringe out of Harry's eyes. Tonight had been the Trinity's first mission and it seemed to have gone well except for Harry's bout of idiocy with Snape. Remus silently resolved to tell Moody about that. Harry might not be too happy with him but Moody would soon set him straight. Of course there was a slight possibility that since Harry had been honest enough to tell him that he might also tell Moody.

A rustling from the windowsill made him turn and he saw that Casimir was watching him with interest. He walked over to the phoenix and gently stroked the feathers on its head.

"Now where did you come from?" he murmured to the phoenix. "I know for a fact that leadership of the Order does not entail getting a free phoenix. Albus already had Fawkes when he started the Order."

Casimir looked smug and butted his head into Remus' hand when he stopped his caresses. Remus raised an eyebrow as he started petting the bird again.

"Remus?" came Harry's sleepy voice from behind him.

He turned around and saw the young man squinting at him blearily.

"Hey," he said softly, walking over to the bed. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"S'okay," Harry said groping after his glasses. He grabbed them and shoved them onto his face. "What's up?"

"I just came in to see if you were okay," Remus said as he sat on the edge of the bed.

Harry considered that in silence. "Are you mad at me?" he asked suddenly.

Remus sighed; he didn't need to ask for the why on this question. "Yes. No." He gave a small huff of laughter. "I'm not sure actually." He paused. "Why did you do it? You could have been hurt...or killed."

Harry pushed himself up into a sitting position. "I'm not sure," he said quietly. "I just...got angry."

"Are you going to tell Moody?" Remus asked.

Harry stared at him for a long moment then a grin flashed across his face, surprising Remus but warming him nonetheless.

"I guess I'd better," Harry said. "Because I get the feeling that if I don't, you will."

"It...had crossed my mind," Remus admitted.

That grin flashed across Harry's face again. "Actually I'm more worried about Ginny finding out," he said ruefully.

Remus laughed at that. "That's your own fault. Red-haired women are temperamental. I remember Lily actually throwing things at James on occasion."

Harry started to look a little worried. "Ginny wouldn't do that, surely?"

Remus chuckled as he stood. "She's a red-head and you did something stupid. I'd make sure I talked to her in an empty room."

Harry began to look alarmed and Remus grinned. He brushed his hands together with an air of amused satisfaction.

"Well, my work here is done," he said.

Harry scowled then laughed. "I'd throw a pillow at you but then I suspect I'd just have to get up and get it myself."

"If you throw your toys out of the cot, I won't pick them up," Remus confirmed.

Harry laughed. "Somehow I don't believe that. I'll bet you were the first person to pick up my toys when I threw them out of the cot."

"Well, me or your mother," Remus conceded with a smile. "Sleep well."

"Thanks," Harry replied as he pulled off his glasses and Remus headed for the door. "You too."

*******************************************************************************

Harry was the last one down in the training room the next morning and he did a bit of a double take when he walked in. Ron and Hermione were standing very close to each other and talking quietly. Then Hermione laughed and gently brushed Ron's cheek causing him to blush and smile shyly. The redhead leaned down and very gently kissed Hermione. Harry leaned against the doorjamb and smiled.

"So everything's sorted out and I'm not going to have to put up with everything I did during the last year again," he said in a conversational tone as Ron and Hermione jumped apart. "Because that was really awkward for me, you know."

Ron and Hermione stammered out several incoherent words until Harry laughed and walked into the room. Before he had a chance to say anything further, he heard a very angry female voice yell down the stairs.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER! GET UP HERE!"

He sighed as Ron snickered and Hermione smothered a grin.

"I'd say Mum just told Ginny what happened last night," Ron said, looking innocent.

"Do you think I could ignore her?" Harry asked, looking plaintive.

Hermione snorted with laughter. "Not if you want to live," she replied merrily. "My advice is to go up there and face it now. If you let her stew about it, you'll only make it worse."

"She's right, mate," Ron said. "And my advice is to head her off at the pass." He shook his head then continued in an exasperated tone, "And I can't believe I'm giving you advice on how to deal with my sister."

Harry decided not to laugh at that and headed for the door. As he walked up the stairs he debated how to handle this. Finally he decided that maybe Ron was right and he opened the door at the top of the stairs. He found Ginny waiting for him in the hallway and the moment she saw him she grabbed his arm and dragged him into the parlour.

"What did you think you were doing?" she yelled as soon as the door closed behind them. "Baiting Snape! Are you trying to get yourself killed? Or tortured?"

Harry took a deep breath. "Ginny, I'm fine. I know it was a stupid thing to do. I was angry and I wasn't thinking. I won't do it again, I promise. And I'm sorry."

Ginny glared at him then she stomped across the room and gave an inarticulate shriek. She whirled around and Harry was relieved to see a hint of humour in her eyes.

"You're really annoying, you know that," she demanded. "I was all ready to have a good yell at you and then you go and apologise and grovel before I can do anything!"

"Er, sorry?" Harry offered carefully, swallowing a sudden urge to giggle.

Ginny snorted then shook her head and walked over to him. "Please be careful," she said quietly. "I promised to stay safe for you. Can you please promise to be careful for me?"

Harry closed his eyes for a moment then he pulled Ginny into his arms. "I promise I will be as careful as I can."

Ginny's eyes closed at the wording of the promise but she didn't call him on it. She knew what he had to do and she knew how dangerous it was. And she knew asking for the moon would just get her disappointment in the end. She'd just have to take what she could get.

Harry tipped his girlfriend's head up and kissed her gently. He'd felt something clench inside him when he'd made that promise. He knew if it came down to it and he had to take a risk to finally defeat Voldemort, he'd do it. No matter how much danger it involved or how badly he could be hurt or even if it could kill him. He had to do it. But he supposed he could tone it down on the deliberate baiting of Snape.

"Potter!" Moody's growl startled them apart and Harry looked over his shoulder wildly.

The grizzled ex-Auror was standing in the doorway with a glint in his eye and what Harry could only call a smirk on his lips.

"If you're finished molesting your girlfriend, we've got work to do," Moody growled.

"I wasn't molesting her," Harry replied indignantly as Ginny began to giggle. "I was kissing her. There's a difference."

"So you say," Moody said suspiciously. Harry blinked at him then he saw the gleam of humour in the older man's eyes.

"Well, yeah, I mean there's a fundamental difference between molesting and kissing," Harry continued lightly, enjoying the deepening of the amused gleam in Moody's eyes.

"Oh? And what's that, Potter?" Moody said, willing to go with whatever punch line Harry was setting up.

"If I had been molesting Ginny I'd now be lying on the opposite side of the room in a new and interesting shape while she whistled for her six brothers and let them finish the job," Harry said with a grin. "But since I was kissing her...with her consent...I'm standing upright and am very tempted to do it again."

He looked down at Ginny to find her smothering her laughter then he heard hoarse, barking laughter come from Moody.

"Never a truer word spoken, Potter!" the ex-Auror said with gruff amusement. "Now come on. We've got work to do."

Harry gave Ginny a quick kiss. "Duty calls," he said wryly and she laughed and waved him off.

He walked over to where Moody was standing and the older man clapped him on the shoulder before they headed down to the training room.

"You look surprisingly unhexed," Ron said to Harry with a grin as he and Moody walked in. "I thought she'd get a Bat-Bogey in at the very least."

"I took your advice," Harry replied. "I headed her off at the pass."

"What did you need to tell me, Potter?" Moody interrupted as he leaned against a table. "It must be something pretty good if Lupin was evasive and your girlfriend was angry."

Harry ran a hand through his hair and glanced over at Ron and Hermione. They looked back at him blandly and he realised he wasn't going to get any help from that quarter. He ran his hand through his hair again then rather nervously tried to flatten it. He glanced up at Moody and saw the man was waiting patiently.

"I, er, got a little angry last night," he admitted reluctantly. He knew this was not going to go down well with the ex-Auror.

Moody nodded calmly, knowing from experience that there was more to it than just that. "Go on," he growled.

"I...er, I...Snape was there. In hiding somewhere, not at the house," Harry continued even more reluctantly. "I...tried to...bait him into attacking me." The last bit came out in a rush.

"How?" Moody said flatly.

Harry winced. "Um, called him names. Moved out into the open so I'd be an obvious target."

"And did he attack you?" Moody asked.

Harry shook his head. "Didn't say a word or do anything."

"Well, at least one of you had some sense," Moody growled then he pushed himself off the table and thunked over to where Harry was standing and got right in the young man's face. "What in Merlin's name did you think you were doing, Potter?" he bellowed which caused Harry to flinch. "Or were you even thinking at all?"

"I wasn't thinking. I was angry," Harry said softly, his eyes dropping to his feet.

"I understand that, Potter! We're all bloody angry at Snape," Moody growled as he started to pace in front of Harry. "But when you are out in the field you cannot afford to feel anger. You have to be objective. You have to think! If you don't, you are going to get yourself and your friends killed."

Harry's eyes flicked up to Moody then over to Ron and Hermione. He nodded silently.

"When you are out on a mission, you are a commander," Moody continued. "And you are responsible for the safety of those with you. Did you think about that? How much danger did you put Granger and Weasley in trying to talk you out of your fit of insanity?"

"I don't know," Harry muttered. "Some."

"You can get angry when the mission's over, Potter," Moody continued. "Never during. You have to be aware of everything going on around you and anger robs you of that ability. Were you paying attention to anything other than Snape? Or could Voldemort have crept up behind you and killed you where you were standing while you were busy?"

Harry swallowed but didn't say anything, a red flush staining his cheeks. It was answer enough.

"Right, that's it," Moody said firmly. "You three are standing down from any more missions until I say you're ready."

"What?" Harry yelped, staring at Moody in disbelief. "You can't do that!"

"You were the one who agreed that I would be in charge of your training," Moody continued inexorably. "You gave me the right to say whether or not you three were ready to go out on missions. Well, now your chickens have come home to roost, boy. You showed last night that you are not ready. Ergo, no more missions until I say so."

"I'm the leader of the Order," Harry said hotly. "You can't stop me from going on missions."

Moody's face became hard and anger crept into his eyes. "Oh, yes I can. I stopped Albus, I can stop you. Is this how you're going to act in the Aurors? Questioning your orders? You won't last long, boy."

Harry glared at Moody then in a sudden sharp move he pushed past the older man and stormed out of the training room. Ron and Hermione made a move to follow him but were stopped by Moody's outstretched hand.

"Let him go," the ex-Auror said calmly. "He needs to think this through on his own."

"You're not angry with him?" Ron asked, looking a bit startled at Moody's response.

Moody laughed gruffly. "No, Weasley. A little disappointed but not angry. He got lucky. For some reason Snape played it safe. Merlin only knows why but I suppose we can be thankful for his restraint. You got out of that without anyone getting hurt. I've stood the three of you down for a reason. Potter needs to learn to control his anger. To shove it down and direct it properly out in the field." He paused. "If any of you had been hurt then I would have been angry."

"He's always had a bit of a hot temper," Hermione admitted. "Can he do it?"

"If I could, he can," was Moody's reply. He looked over at the two students. "Potter will be fine. He needs to think this through but he's smart enough to see that I was right. He'll be back and he'll apologise. If not today then tomorrow."

"You sound very sure of that," Hermione said dubiously.

Moody chuckled. "Took me three days to apologise to my instructor but Potter's a bit smarter than I was back then. He's been through more. Now, what are you two waiting for? Aren't you supposed to be running?"

Ron and Hermione sighed and glanced over at the door again then they started in on their training.