The Art of Peace

Chapter 20

Reunions

Harry led the way out of the Great Hall as quickly as possible. He had been stared at and talked about before, but it had been nothing like this. For the most part it seemed to be speculation on who he was - he had been declared dead after all, and his scar was still under the glamour, so even most of those who heard Dumbledore call him 'Harry' were only connecting him to the Potter family. Finally they made it through the gates of the castle to enter the confusion beyond.

Dumbledore and Snape stopped in shock at the scene before them. Carts were being unloaded and tents set up as Lobsang and Sifu moved through the camp giving orders on where things should go. Seeing the small group approaching, they left their work and moved over to meet them.

"What is this, Harry?" the Headmaster asked as his tongue finally became untied. "Who are all these people?"

"They're with me, Professor. They have come to get rid of Voldemort once and for all. I'd like you to meet Lobsang and Sifu; they're as close as we have to commanders."

Rather than moving to shake Dumbledore's hand, the two men inclined their heads in an abbreviated bow.

"I am Lobsang, and this is Sifu. Anything we can do to help, we are willing. You will find our troops well-trained and ready for any type of attack."

"And why should I trust you? The only proof of your intentions is that you came with Harry. How do I know you will not betray us at the first opportunity?"

"You have no way of knowing our true intentions, I agree. However, your former student obviously trusts us, and you are not dead or captured as you would be if we were your enemies. Your strength is obvious, and therefore your worth to your enemies as well. Do not delude yourself into thinking we serve you, though. We are here to destroy the evil that haunts our young friend's life, nothing more. What happens beyond that point is your concern, not ours. You also have no power over Harry, as he is no longer your student but a member of our army, and therefore under my commands. Do not attempt to control him or bypass my authority with regards to him. All concerns or contacts will be addressed to myself, Sifu, or someone we have appointed to be our representative. We will, of course, relinquish control on the battlefield to the commander of the field. That is the only wise choice after all. This is our offer; there will be no compromise. If you refuse, we will move our camp and carry on the war ourselves. As I said before, we are not here for you or your people, although of course we will be happy to see them safe once more. Will you agree to our terms?"

Dumbledore sat there stunned for a moment. While in his head he knew that these wizards were probably on the same side, their arrogance was astonishing. Who were they to tell him whether or not he could contact Harry? Was he not the boy's Headmaster? Since he had never graduated, Harry was still a student and under his authority. Perhaps that card could be used later, though. Now was not the time to make demands. It was better to wait until they were committed to the battle before slowly removing their authority and placing it under his own. A single command was the more practical route after all. Finally stating the response he had known he would give all along, Dumbledore replied:

"Your terms are acceptable. Please follow me and we will meet with my commanders to discuss tactics. We will need to verify your army's battle-readiness, but that can be determined after our meeting."

Noting Sifu and Lobsang's nods of acquiescence, Dumbledore turned to head inside with them behind him, only stopping for one last remark.

"Harry, you will find Remus and Sirius down the hall that formerly housed Fluffy. I am sure they will be delighted to see you."

Meanwhile, inside the castle Arthur Weasley had finally overcome his shock and burst out of the room, the curious eyes of the diners following him. Tearing through the halls leading to the former Gryffindor Common Room, he tried to reason with himself over what had just happened. A little over four years before he had joined the rest of the wizarding world in its mourning over Harry Potter's death. With him had died much of the hope they had against the growing evidence of Voldemort's rebirth and return. Of course, to the Weasleys, Harry was much more than The Boy Who Lived. He was a friend to the children and like a son to Arthur and Molly. It had been one of the most tragic events Arthur could remember, watching his family fall apart before his eyes in response to Harry's death. Now that he looked back on it, though, Ginny had not been as distraught as the rest and had never participated in reminiscing about the boy they had come to know and love. That made sense in light of her recent disappearance and Harry's subsequent return, but it forced Arthur to admit that his only daughter had kept a secret from him for four years. What else was she hiding? Had her notoriously boyfriend-free life been anything but? How was he to trust her now? With a start, Arthur remembered the matter at hand; Ginny could come later. For now, he had to decide how to tell his family that Harry Potter was back, alive and seemingly more powerful than ever.

To say that they took the news well would be a massive lie. On the contrary, for the first twenty minutes after his announcement Arthur had to listen to accusations on everything from his lack of intelligence to his apparent position as a spy for Voldemort. He took the tirades in stride; after all he would have done the same had he not seen it with his own eyes. Finally, though, he had had enough.

"Listen, all of you. I don't know what happened, but Harry is here at the castle right now. He came in with Ginny and Professor Snape; spoke briefly to Headmaster Dumbledore, who confirmed his identity; and then left to show the headmaster something outside. I can't tell you anything else; we'll just have to wait until we hear the news."

Almost before he had finished talking there was a rush on the door as people ran to find their friend and hero. Arthur almost felt sorry for Harry for a moment, but it was his own fault for leaving, so he shrugged and followed the crowd.

Harry was taking the long way around to see Sirius and Remus, using the extra time to gather his thoughts for the inevitable argument. Unfortunately his roundabout route took him past the Gryffindor common room just in time to be flattened by a veritable flood of Weasleys. The quickly expanding pile of bodies burst apart with a flash as Harry reacted to the perceived attack. Of course this made things even worse when Harry realized just who he was attacking and his immediate cessation allowed the now even angrier group to get to its feet. Muttering curses at the world in general, the nearest Weasley turned to the current object of his ire.

"Why don't you watch where you're going, you sod! Can't you see that... that... Harry?"

"Ummm... Ron? Hi, uh, how are you?" Harry stuttered as he realized just how much trouble he was in. The entire Weasley clan was gathered in front of him, and Hermione as well, and they did not look very happy. In fact, they looked to be downright irate. The first hint he had on just how angry they were was Ron's fist flying at his face. Only a quick sweeping block kept him from a broken nose, and Ron's face as he finally balanced himself held the promise of more to come.

"How could you do that to us?! We loved you like one of the family and in return you do this? You leave for four years as a corpse and then come back like everything is normal? You'd better start running now, or you really will be a corpse this time!"

Harry looked at the group in front of him nervously. This was definitely not the meeting he had been hoping for. He had known it would include yelling and recriminations, of course, but he had at least been hoping for a somewhat neutral territory for the meeting, not a random run-in in the hall. Of course, if yelling was going to be involved, and it looked like more was on the way, he had to yell himself to get a word in. Giving up on all hopes of a rational reunion, Harry began to yell.

"You want to know why I did it? You want to know why I thought the only people who had ever treated me like a human had to think I was dead? I wanted you to be safe! Everyone I was near was dying or getting so close that only luck was keeping them alive! Ginny could have died in Second year just for being my best friend's brother! Ron, you sacrificed yourself in First year just to let me figure out a puzzle! In Third year you went after a known murderer! In Fourth year Cedric died just for being next to me! You want to know why I left? I left to keep you alive, and it worked didn't it? Aren't you standing in front of me alive? Isn't your family here, too? What did you expect me to do? Sit back and let everyone die? I saved your life, and if you can't handle that, that's your own problem!"

For once the Weasley clan was silent. The Harry they knew never yelled like that, but at the same time this was definitely Harry. The lack of a scar had not changed him that much physically, but it was obvious that this was a hardened version of the boy they had known. He radiated power and confidence, something he had lacked before. Finally, Hermione broke the silence with a sob.

"Oh, Harry, why couldn't you have just told us?" she cried, running forward and grabbing his shirt with her fists. "You don't think we knew that being your friend was dangerous? We started every day knowing that, but we still wanted to be our friend because you were still Harry. You great idiot, you're back now, everything will be fine."

As if that was their queue, the rest of group gathered around him, greeting him one by one with brilliant smiles, or like Molly Weasley, who sobbed her eyes out. Harry just took it all in; feeling for the first time that day that all was right with the world. Here were people who loved him no matter what and would continue to do so despite his mistakes. Finally he had to pull away, though - he had a godfather and an honorary uncle he needed to see.

The door leading to the third floor corridor looked the same, and Harry felt the same trepidation opening it now as he had when he and his friends had first discovered it. Inside was much different now, of course. It was decorated now, with paintings lining the walls watching him as he passed. Much more of it was open as well, what with the lack of a three-headed dog guarding it. The door to Sirius and Remus' rooms was obvious as it was covered by a painting of a dog, wolf, and stag. Unsurprisingly, a quickly muttered 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good' opened the painting without difficulty, and Harry swiftly entered into the suite beyond. As with most parts of the castle and the wizarding world in general, it was much larger on the inside than one might expect. A spacious living room with couches and bookshelves opened up on a kitchen and a hallway extended back to what Harry could only assume were the bedrooms. Just a moment after he entered, movement was heard from the bedrooms as someone came out to check on the disturbance. Sirius ambled into the living room, only to stop in shock at the sight of his godson before him. Unlike most of his counterparts, he knew that Harry was alive, but as his last attempt at contact had been a miserable failure, he had quickly lost all hope that Harry would return. With a muffled sob he launched himself at Harry, gathering him into a bone crushing hug. A moment later Remus did the same as he followed the noises from wherever he had been. Wrapped tightly with no hope of escape, Harry tried desperately to say something before he suffocated from the combined force of their hugs.

"Sirius! Remus! Can't... Breathe!" he gasped. Finally letting go, the two older men just stood there, beatific smiles on their faces at the sight of their little lost boy returned. Remus broke the silence.

"You came back! I thought you were gone forever! Why did you do that to us?"

"Now's not the time for that, Remus," Sirius interrupted. "He came back and that is all that matters. You'll stay this time, though, won't you Harry?"

Harry's face dropped. "I don't know. I came back because I found out I was needed. I have a home now, and people who love me for who I am, not for being the Boy Who Lived. Once Voldemort is gone, I don't know what I'll do, but I doubt I'll stay. Of course, then Dumbledore won't be after me, so you two will be free to visit."

"Don't say that, Harry," Remus replied. "You know we always had your best interests at heart, and so did the Headmaster. We've always wanted you to have a good life, but you're the only person who can defeat You Know Who. There was no choice. You know that, don't you?"

"No, I don't, to be honest. I'm not a pawn, and I refuse to become one. That is why I don't want to stay. If I win, I would just be set apart even more. There will never be a place here that I can just be myself, and that is all I have ever wanted. Of course, there will be a lot of things to worry about before then, so let's just forget about it for now, all right?"

Sirius and Remus nodded in acquiescence, and the three of them settled into one of the couches to catch up with what had happened over the past few years. They all knew that this momentary peace could not last, but for now it was all they had, and they would enjoy it.