So Close

Dumbledore had a sad, knowing look but it was Snape that spoke up. "I thought you weren't taking the Prophet, Potter," Snap spat out, his opinion of the student clear in the tone of his voice. "How could you know what has been going on?"

Harry could tell he was having trouble controlling his anger towards the Professor, but as calmly as he could he said, "Because I've watched them happen."

This caused a collective intake of breath and Harry noticed Mrs. Weasley's, Hermione's and Ginny's hands go to their mouths. "What do you mean watched them Potter?" Snape coldly asked.

"I dreamt about them and watched the people die," Harry said over the loud breathing of the women in the room.

"Maybe you really read about them and are just trying to make sure everyone continues to coddle you with sympathy," Snape spat.

"Why you ..." Lupin started but was cut off by Dumbledore, "Severus!"

"Read about it did I!" Harry exclaimed, no longer trying to keep the anger down. He began by rattling off the names of some who were killed, but realized this information would have been in the Prophet. "Did the Prophet print what picture the Hufflepuff girl was holding when she was killed?" Harry yelled, and not waiting for an answer he continued, "She was holding an article from the Prophet where it said that I'm some big hero. She thought I'd come save her and this just made Voldemort angrier." No one was saying anything and Harry continued, "Did the Prophet print how Mr. Banks and his family were killed? Did it say that his fingers were cut off first when he tried to grab his wand? Did it say that he had to watch his daughter tortured with the Cruciatus Curse before being killed? Did it print that Voldemort kept taunting him with the fact that his wife had just found out she was pregnant with another girl and hadn't told him yet?" At this, there were gasps and obvious crying. "I bet it didn't. He had to watch his daughter, his wife and unborn daughter die before he killed himself. You want more? I'll show you more," Harry exclaimed and quickly drew his wand and said, "Accio Parchments." No longer caring about any underage magic law.

The next moment, a stack of parchments landed in front of him. "Here! Read these and you tell me if I got this from the Prophet," Harry yelled pushing the stack towards the Potions Master and angrily sitting back down, not looking at anyone.

For the next few minutes, there was silence except for the sound of turning parchment as it was passed from Snape to Dumbledore. "Why did you write this down Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"Because I never want to forget how evil he is. You all talk about him killing people, but that's not the half of it. He doesn't just walk in and quickly kill them. He tortures and humiliates them first," Harry replied still unable to contain his anger.

"If you would have even attempted to learn Occlumency, you wouldn't have seen this," Snape said, still sounding very cold.

"We're not going to talk about that, Snape," Lupin said sounding angrier than Harry had ever heard him.

"I'm not going to let you poke around in my head again," Harry added, glaring at Snape.

"So you'll just let him lead you into another trap," Snape said causing more gasps. "Who will get hurt next time? Why...."

Harry cut him off before he could finish, "That will NEVER happen again."

"Why's that, do you think you know better now? Without blocking him, he'll lure you back," Snape coldly replied.

"That's not what I meant. I meant that no one else will ever get hurt if I...how did Hermione put it?" Harry sarcastically said, not looking at her. "Oh yeah, if I get another 'thing for saving people.'"

Now there was mumbling from many people but Snape was the loudest. "And how do you think you can prevent them from being hurt?"

"Because, next time I guarantee that no one will go with me. I don't care if I have to stun them, I'm going alone," Harry firmly said over the other voices.

"That's just what he wants. He'd have no trouble killing you by yourself," Snape said, sounding like Harry was the stupidest thing he'd seen.

Harry suddenly stood up, knocking his chair over as he did, and yelled, "I DON'T CARE IF THAT HAPPENS! You don't get it, do you? You seem to be under the impression that I think that would be a bad thing! Well I don't!" Pausing for a moment, Harry got more confident with the silence. "And what do all of you care anyway? Huh? You think I don't know? Most of you don't give a damn about me, Harry. You care about me, The Boy in the Prophecy." Now there were more gasps. "You guard me and make me stay at the Dursleys because you know what it will mean to your precious prophecy if I die, not because you liked my parents or anything, otherwise you'd be guarding Ron and Hermione as well." After another second of silence, Harry announced, "I'm going out!"

There was still silence as he reached the door, but before he swung it open, the calm voice of Professor Dumbledore said, "Please don't leave the property, Harry."

This caused Harry to stop for a second as he breathed deeply, trying to rein in his anger. Then he swung the door open and continued walking straight outside.

Hermione had jumped up and watched him walk down the lane. "He's going to leave Professor, we have to stop him. It's not safe out there," she said obviously worried about her friend.

Again Dumbledore spoke up very calmly, "I do not think Harry will leave the property, Miss Granger. At least not yet." Hermione continued to watch her friend until he stopped at the line of shrubs marking the edge of the Weasleys' property. At this point, he began pacing back and forth along them.

"I thought the prophecy was destroyed," Ginny said, causing everyone to look at her.

"The official record of the prophecy was indeed destroyed," Dumbledore said. "However that was not the only way to learn what it said. Harry does know exactly what it contained."

"And all of you know as well?" Ron said looking at everyone.

"We don't!" Fred exclaimed and George shook his head as well.

"Mum?" Ginny said turning to her mother.

"They know the basics Miss Weasley," Dumbledore answered her. "Only Harry and I know the details that Voldemort does not."

"Can you tell us?" Hermione asked and then turned to watch Harry as he paced.

"I'm afraid that has to be Harry's decision," Dumbledore responded. "However, now that he is aware you know that he has been told about the prophecy, I would imagine he may be interested in talking about it to someone. If he does, please do not press him for the details. He knows Voldemort isn't aware of them and would do almost anything to find out more."

"Do you really think Harry believes all we care about is the prophecy?" Mrs. Weasley asked though the many tears in her eyes.

"Molly, I have no doubt that Harry knows that you and Remus truly care for him with or without what any prophecy says," Dumbledore said reassuringly, and after a pause added, "Now for the rest of us, I'm not so sure."

"What about my idea now, sir?" Tonks asked causing the rest of the order to look confused.

"I have changed my mind and now am in full agreement with your idea. I'll speak to Harry about this before I leave," Dumbledore said.

"Do you really think he'd go off, you know by himself?" Ron asked.

Dumbledore sighed and said, "Of that I have no doubt that he would."

Harry didn't know how long he had walked back and forth along the shrubs, trying to decide how he felt about what just happened. In some way he felt better now that everything was out in the open, but he felt very guilty for saying that they didn't care about him and for storming out like he did. Turning to retrace his steps along the shrubs, he saw Fred and George walking towards him. He stopped and when they were close and said, "You two give up apparating everywhere?"

"Ah, well no," Fred said and then George added, "We just thought it was safer to not sneak up on you right now."

"So, I guess I kind of lost it in there, huh?" Harry said hanging his head.

Now the twins beamed as Fred said, "I'd say. You'd make a fine Weasley you know."

"You both know about the prophecy then?" Harry asked, sounding depressed.

"Not us!" they both said before George added. "We don't know anything about it."

"But," Fred added, "you know none of us, especially Mum, give a damn about any prophecy."

"I know," Harry quickly said. "I would never think that any of you and especially your mum would care."

"You may want to mention that to her," Fred threw in.

"Yeah, she's worried you think that about her," George agreed.

Harry felt his heart drop. The last thing he would ever want would be to cause Mrs. Weasley to think he thought anything bad about her. "I'll do that!" Harry quickly replied. "I'd never think that about her."

"That's what Dumbledore told her, but it would be good to come from you," George said.

Harry saw the twins look between each other and knew they wanted to say something else. Just then Fred spoke, "Now, we heard what you said in there and everything, but we both want you to know that if you go off, we want to come with you." George nodded.

"What?" Harry asked.

"We're saying that if go off like before that we want to help," Fred added.

"You heard what happened last time! Sirius died, Ron, Ginny and Hermione were hurt bad. I can't let that happen to anyone because they followed me," Harry said.

"Yeah well, maybe they didn't know what they were getting into," George said.

"But now we all know," Fred added, "and we're willing to risk it. All we're saying is that we can help. If all you need is some...supplies...we can provide some things for a diversion. Whatever you need."

"And, we won't tell the rest," George said.

"Yeah, it'll be just between us," Fred confirmed.

"You two are mental, you know that," Harry said shaking his head, but this comment caused the Weasley's to smile broadly.

Before they could respond, a voice startled them all, "I trust you two aren't trying to pass on your legacy to a younger student." Professor Dumbledore had walked up carrying a sandwich on a tray.

"Ah, no sir," Fred said.

"Harry would never," George added. "ever do anything to disrupt the school." Fred finished.

Dumbledore just gave a slight smile at this comment. "Would you two mind if I spoke to Harry for a minute before I leave? I believe your mother has sandwiches waiting for you as well," Dumbledore said and the twins quickly apparated away.

"They're quite brilliant aren't they?" Dumbledore asked.

"They sure are," Harry said.

"Have a sandwich Harry," Dumbledore said, handing him the tray. "I'd like to speak to you about a few items." The old wizard paused as Harry took a bite of the sandwich. "First off, I'd like you to try again to learn Occlumency."

Harry nearly choked trying to talk so quickly. "There's no way I'm letting Snape poke around in my head. He never tried to teach me anything."

Dumbledore put up his hands. "I'm not talking about Professor Snape. I regret how things turned out last year for both of you. I cannot do it either, but there is someone else who is talented in Legilimency and he has offered to teach you."

"I don't see the need anymore. I can deal with the dreams now," Harry said sadly.

"Let's forget about the dreams for a second. Couldn't you see the benefit of Voldemort not being able to recognize when you aren't telling him the truth?"

Harry perked up at this and Dumbledore continued, "Wouldn't you like to be able to hide thoughts from him? You will meet him again and what if he asked who you care about the most? Wouldn't you like to hide the answer from him?"

Harry hadn't thought of it like this before. That would be a very useful thing to know how to do. "I hadn't considered that," Harry admitted.

"Blocking the dreams would still be entirely up to you, but I think you would find it beneficial as well."

"I guess as long as it's not Snape, I'd be willing to learn," Harry said, now seeing other uses for learning the technique. "Thank you for explaining it like this," Harry added.

"Oh, don't thank me, it was Tonks' idea. I hadn't agreed until hearing you earlier," the Professor honestly said. When he realized Harry wasn't going to say anything he continued, "The other thing I wanted to ask you was a favor." Harry looked confused as Dumbledore said, "I know you declined my initial request to continue with the D.A. group, but I'm asking again. I would consider it a personal favor if you reconsidered."

"But sir, if we hadn't started that last year, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Luna wouldn't have been placed in so much danger," Harry exclaimed.

"I think that's the wrong way to look at it Harry," Dumbledore said. "The progress of some of the members of the group has been remarkable. I'm sure you saw how far Mr. Longbottom has come because of the group."

Harry had to nod because he realized this was true. "But sir, this year we will hopefully have a real Defense teacher and they can learn that way."

"You know it isn't the same Harry," Dumbledore replied. "In addition to helping the other students, leading this group would look good on your Auror application," the old wizard added with a slight smile.

This caught Harry's attention, knowing he may need as much help as he could get to become an Auror without taking Potions. "What changes would we have to make? I mean can we run it the same way?" Harry asked.

Now Dumbledore smiled more openly as he said, "We would like to open it up to more students fifth year and up, but you and Miss Granger may reject any you saw fit."

Harry shook his head and realized he would do nearly anything Dumbledore asked him to do. "I suppose you knew all along that I'd give in."

"Well," the Headmaster said with a grin, "I had my suspicions. However the intensity of your comments inside did cause me to doubt slightly." Harry frowned remembering how much of a tantrum he had thrown earlier. "I think you would be surprised to realize what some people think of you Harry. Prophecy or not, we would have an abundance of volunteers to help out."

"But I'll never be able to really know for sure," Harry sadly said.

Dumbledore appraised him for a moment and said, "I've already told you that you have struggled under more than any other student to come to Hogwarts, and I wish I could say it would get better soon. Alas, we cannot count on that happening. You can do this Harry; you just have to believe that you can. Don't give up hope."

"I just want it to end sir," Harry admitted, sounding defeated.

"I imagine you do, but make sure it ends at the right time, for the right reasons," Dumbledore replied studying him closely. "I'm confident things will get better. I should return to the school. I trust you will at least try to enjoy your remaining holiday."

"I'll try sir. Thank you," Harry said, still sounding sad. Dumbledore nodded and disappeared the next moment.

Harry stood there in silence for a while and then noticed Ron and Hermione sitting at the table outside of the Burrow. He knew he would have to face them sooner or later and decided to get it out of the way. As he walked toward them, he saw them exchange looks with each other and he could tell they were worried how this was going to go. Harry promised himself he would try his best to not become angry with them, knowing they weren't to blame for how he was feeling.

Just before he opened his mouth to speak, the back door of the Burrow flew open and a very angry, very loud Ginny Weasley stormed towards him. "You listen here, Harry Potter! If you think for a second that we're going to let you go storming off to fight alone, you've got another thing coming. If I so much as think that's what you're planning to do, I'll hex you so much Madame Pomfrey will need to work overtime. We know what's going on out there and I don't care if you do have a," Ginny turned to glare at Hermione, "saving people thing," turning back to Harry she continued, "I'm coming with you."

Harry, having never borne the brunt of Ginny's anger was stunned. She must have realized this and spoke again in a very determined but calmer voice. "I know the risks Harry and I'm willing to take them. You can't do everything on your own."

"Yeah, um... you know... what she said," Ron sheepishly added nodding toward his sister.

"We all feel that way Harry," Hermione threw in.

Harry shook his head and said, "I don't know about all of you. Fred and George just told me the same thing. I think you all are a bit off in the head." He tried to smile after saying this.

"Hey, don't lump me in with that lot," Ron piped up. "I like to think I've got a bit more sense than them."

Ginny spoke up again before Harry could sit down, "So, do you promise to let us go with you?"

Harry looked between the three of them, then sighed and honestly said, "No, I can't promise that. All three of you were hurt seriously last time and I walked out without a scratch. I couldn't live with myself if something worse happened."

"Harry," Hermione said in a soothing voice, "let it be our choice. We may try to talk you out of it or we may want to come along. Give us the chance to make that choice."

Ron was vigorously nodding his head in agreement, but Harry could only say, "I'm not going to lie to you, I can't promise that. But, I'll seriously think about it."

"I meant what I said earlier you know," Ginny added as she sat down, clearly not happy with his answer.

"So tell us the bit about the prophecy," Ron finally said.

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed. "You promised to give him some time on this."

"I did! He doesn't seem to be yelling at us now," Ron quickly replied.