The Marauders' Sons

Harry was a little edgy the next day. Today was to be the first DA meeting of the year, and also the first one ever to involve Draco Malfoy in a positive role. This was also the day that Tom was going to ask Ginny to take on a very dangerous role with the DA. Both of these developments were not going to go down well with Ron. Tom didn't seem to care, but Harry was nervous as ever. He wasn't sure if he could trust Malfoy, despite Snape vouching for him, because, quite frankly, he wasn't sure if he could trust Snape either. If Albus Dumbledore had taught him anything, it was that we all deserve a second chance, and if Sirius Black and Wormtail had taught him anything, you only had one extra chance. He decided that if he could give Cho and Marietta a second chance, he had to give one to Draco Malfoy, slimy git that he was. Hermione was a logical person, and therefore would put her feelings aside and give him a chance. Ron, however, was a different case all together. Ron was very loyal, very stubborn, and very emotional. Harry was pretty sure that he would be the hardest to convince.

The meeting that night would not consist of the entire DA, however. The only members in attendance would be Harry, Ron, Hermione, Tom, Draco, Cho, Ernie, Luna, the new members, and, assuming she agreed, Ginny. This would be a chance for them to see the new members in a fighting situation, so they could see who would fit Tom's plans.

Tom, was at the moment, trying to figure out how he could get Ginny to join him. He barely knew her, but she seemed capable enough. She was definitely pretty, and she was with the rest in the Department of Mysteries, but he wasn't sure how to approach her. So, with absolutely no idea exactly how he was going to do it, he walked over to Ginny at breakfast and sat next to her.

"Morning."

"Hi Tom, how are you?"

"Fine, look, can I talk to you for a minute...alone," he added, as Colin Creevey's ears perked up when he said this. Now that he thought about it, he should not have tried this now, as Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way towards them.

Tom and Ginny got up and met the Trio halfway, Tom leading Ginny along.

"Good Morning," Hermione greeted him and then kissed him lightly on the lips. Tom took this opportunity to whisper to her.

"Keep Ron busy."

She gave him a look, and then realized that he was holding Ginny by the elbow and trying to lead her away from everyone. She was still a little confused, but when she saw the look that passed between Harry and Tom, she gathered that Harry could tell her about it later. She nodded slightly and then turned to Ron.

"Ron, could you come with me for a minute, I need your height," she asked him; having absolutely no idea what she was going to have him do. That's my Hermione, Tom thought, as she was very quick with a solution.

"OK, lead the way," he answered as the two of them walked away, a little wary of the byplay that he had obviously missed between them. He was not the brightest star in the sky, but he was no one's fool either.

Tom and Harry exchanged another significant look, and then Tom led Ginny out of the castle. They walked a little in silence, until they reached the lake, and as Tom looked around and could not see anyone around nor sense them, he stopped.

"I suppose you would want to know what I have to say that I could not say in front of everyone else."

Ginny wheeled around on him and started on him with gusto, "I am no fool, I saw the looks between you, Hermione, and Harry. I want to know what is going on and I want to know why you are so keen to hide it from Ron."

Good, she's observant. "Hermione doesn't know much, but Harry and I have something in mind, and we would like you to have a more...unique role with the DA this year. As good a guy as your brother is, I doubt that he would like to know the details of what is going on. Before I tell you anything else, I would like you to sign this parchment. It has a similar quality to the other contract that you signed for the DA, but this one, well, if you go back on this, you will envy Marietta. A lot."

Ginny seemed a little worried about putting that much at stake for something she didn't even know yet, but as she looked at the parchment she noticed that there was already a name on it.

"That's not..."

"Draco Malfoy, the one and only, at least I hope so, that's a pretty shitty name."

"What does he have to do with this? He's not in the DA, Hell, he was one of Umbridge's goons that broke us up in the first place!"

"Yeah well, sign that parchment and I will tell you everything you need to know right now."

"OK, but I want some answers."

That's two, I hope that Cho has found me a Slytherin, and then I need to find another girl, maybe a Ravenclaw... "Good, now that you are one of us, I can tell you a little. I will let you know the rest later. Draco has switched sides. He went to Snape and wanted to spy on the Inner Circle of the Death Eaters, but Snape wasn't having any of it, so he sent him to me. Tonight, you, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Cho Chang, Ernie Macmillan, Luna, and me will take a look at the new members, and then we will go from there. The three of us, that is you, me, and Draco, will be a little off shoot of the DA, with a little bit of a different purpose than the rest. The DA will still be a secret, and we will be an even bigger secret, like Aurors I suppose, and there will be five of us. The rest, I will tell you tonight, but try and keep all this to yourself."

"What..."

Tom knew this was coming, so he cut her off, "I will handle Ron, and more importantly take all the blame. You have nothing to worry about, though I think I have a tough night ahead."

"I do not need your protection, thank you very much! I will handle Ron! As I was about to say, what do Cho, Ernie, and Luna have to do with this? Why do they have to be there?"

"Well, they are the people that Harry asked to look for some new members to fill the whole that the older students left. Luna looked around Ravenclaw, Macmillan was sent to Hufflepuff, and Harry sent Cho to look for some Slytherins."

"Do you really think she will find any?"

"I hope she can find at least one willing to work with us. I mean, I realize that it's a long shot, but a few Slytherins would be a nice addition."

"Good luck to her. Anyways, when should I be in the Room of Requirement?"

"Seven sharp, and don't be late."

So, with another hole filled in the depth chart, Tom and Ginny made their way back to the castle as the bell marking the end of breakfast sounded.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What did I miss back there?"

Harry and Hermione were in the entrance hall, waiting for Tom so they could go to Potions, which none of them were looking forward to. Ron had not gotten the grades to get in, so it would be the first class that Ron and Harry would be apart. Harry still could not get over how much not having Snape around to distract him helped his potion making ability.

"Tom wanted to talk to Ginny about some secret DA stuff, and we both thought it best that Ron didn't know about it."

"Not only are you keeping this from Ron, you are keeping it from me! This is ridiculous! But, you know what? I'm not even going to yell at you all that much. I much rather save it for Tom," Hermione had an evil look in her eye as she said this, and I made Harry slightly nervous. Better him than me, may God have mercy on his soul.

Harry was saved however, as Luna came out of the Great Hall looking for him.

"Harry, would you like to come with me to class? Maybe I can cheer you up before your first class with Snape." Thank you, God.

"Sure thing. Hermione, I will meet you and Tom in the dungeons later. Go easy on him though," and without further ado, Harry made his escape.

Hermione was more than a little angry with Tom at the moment. Neither of them had asked the other, but they had reached an understanding that they were in a relationship. The lack of an official announcement was fine with her, because unlike her fellow Gryffindor Sixth Year girls, namely Lavender and Parvati, she did not put much stock in "all that fluffy nonsense." This was fine with Tom; because he was as apathetic as she was at times like this. What really got her going was that he was hiding something from her. She was very open with him, and he was at least willing to listen to her, even if he never told her anything. She had finally cracked however, and she was going to let him have it. She was not going to just stand by and let him keep her out anymore.

Tom and Ginny returned from the grounds and as soon as they saw the look on Hermione's face, they both stopped dead in their tracts. Ginny had never seen her like this before, and Tom knew that the look on her face was meant for him, as she held his gaze as he walked over to her.

"Hi, um, is there something you wanna talk about?"

Looking back, it was one of the stupidest things he would ever say.

"There bloody well is something I want to talk about! Why is it that you know all there is to know about me? Why is it that we only talk about me? But for some reason, it seems OK that Harry knows what is going on, but perish the thought that you tell me a FUCKING THING! You never let me ask anything about you! I don't even know your god damn middle name! Why..." Hermione was by no means done with her little tirade, but she was cut off before she had a chance to really drive a stake in him.

"Malcolm," was all Tom said, because he knew that he deserved this. He was a little shocked at the F-bomb she dropped, he had never heard her really swear before, but he had every intention of letting her rip into him, as he actually did feel bad about hiding pretty much his entire life from her. She really had spilled her heart out to him in the previous two months. She spoke of her relationship with her parents, which was a little odd, as they knew almost nothing about her anymore, they spoke of her adventures with Harry and Ron, they even spoke of Viktor Krum, though Tom was a little miffed when she brought up the Second Task. But he never allowed any talk of his life. He was running from his past, and she wanted him to relive it for her. He knew that it wasn't healthy to bottle these things inside, and the pain was killing him inside, but he also was afraid that if she knew of the things he had done as recently as the previous April, she would want nothing to do with him.

"What was that?"

"My middle name is Malcolm, it was my grandfather's name. He died around the same time I was born, so they took Malcolm Thomas O'Malley and made it Thomas Malcolm O'Malley," Tom lucked out however, as the interruption in her venting helped her calm a little.

"You know very well that I was only using that as an example! You refuse to let me get to know you," her anger was slowly being replaced with sadness due to the hurt that had caused her anger in the first place, "I want to be with you, I really do. I have honestly never met anyone who I felt so comfortable with and could make me so comfortable with myself, but..." here she trailed off, because her emotions were getting the best of her and she was desperately trying not to cry. She hated feeling vulnerable, especially around Tom.

Tom moved closer to her and held her in her arms, rubbing her back with one arm and putting his right hand on her head, holding her tight, letting her release a tear or two on his chest. He hated himself for doing this to her, hated himself for doing what he did to them, and was willing Hermione to feel better.

"But what?"

"I barely know you."

She's right. Then the bell dismissing breakfast rang, and they had to get down to the dungeons to spend some quality time with Severus Snape.

"Hermione, hunny, we have to get to the dungeons, unless you want to go to the Hospital Wing, I'll tell Snape."

She looked up at him, her eyes a little puffy, with a few tears falling from each of those beautiful brown eyes. Nevertheless, she had a small smile.

"What?" Tom asked her with a small smile of his own.

"You just called me 'hunny.' You have never done anything like that before. I can make it to Potions, though I want you to promise me that you will talk to me."

"I promise, besides, an ugly loser like me has to kiss up a little to keep the peace. Looks wont get me far. Now lets go, Snape awaits."

He knew he could never keep that promise, knew that he would be foolish to ever agree to it, but he could never have said no to her when she was like this. Especially when it was his fault.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That night was the first meeting of the renamed Defense Association. There would only be a few people there, but it was still technically the first meeting. The meeting was scheduled for seven that night, but the Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Tom went to the Room of Requirement at 6:30, so they could get things organized before Ginny, Draco Malfoy, Cho, and the new recruits arrived. When they arrived, Tom was a little confused as to why they kept walking past it.

"What exactly are we doing?"

"To get in the Room of Requirement, you have to walk past the spot in the wall three times while thinking of what you need. The door will appear and the room will provide what you are looking for," answered Ron, as they all looked at him, shocked that he could be so articulate.

"What the Hell is that look for?"

"That's better," Harry murmured as they walked into the room.

"It looks different," observed Hermione, as she and the other three looked around the room.

And it was indeed. The year before, it merely looked like a classroom in the dungeon, with bookshelves on the walls and various dark detectors throughout the room. The dark detectors were still there, but the room was a little different. For starters, there was a door that led to another room. This room looked like a war room, there was a long table on the right side of the room, and on the other side there was what looked like a weight room, though this one was complete with a dueling area. The main room was not all that much different, except that the bookshelves looked like the belonged to a general as opposed to a group of students. There were several books on strategy, including The Art of War, and there were also a few spell books, but they were not like the ones from before. These books looked like they belonged in the Restricted Section of the library, and some even had names like, Knowing When the Unforgivables Are Forgivable. Hermione and Ron turned on Tom.

"What were you thinking of?" they asked together, but Tom looked confused.

"He didn't know how the room worked, remember?" came Harry's voice. They turned to him and he looked right back at them with a steely resolve.

"These were all my idea."

Harry felt that it was time to get very serious about the Prophesy. Dumbledore wants the castle safe; I'll make it bloody impenetrable! The Department of Mysteries had several affects on him, besides guilt. When he saw Hermione almost die, and the feeling of helplessness right before they were saved by the Order, in his mind, he was not doing all he could to stop Voldemort. They were still vulnerable, he was still vulnerable, and this had to change. And if they were better prepared, Sirius would never had to even come to the Ministry, and he would still be alive. No one will ever die again on my account. Also, over the summer, he realized that Hogwarts was his true home, the only place that he and his parents had really shared, and he was going to do everything that he could to keep it safe. The safety of the people inside the castle was the last straw. So he decided it was time to start treating this thing like the war that it was.

"We need to be ready for anything. After the Ministry, I'm not taking any chances."

They three of them all stood, a little uncomfortable. None of them had ever heard Harry mention that day in June. He was trying very hard to hide how he felt, the guilt, the pain, the anger that was almost controlling him. There were a few times when his guard fell for a little, sometimes as fleeting as a second, but when it did, even then he never spoke of the day that Sirius died. As they stood there in shocked silence, Harry put the shield back up.

"Look, this may seem a little drastic, but I think we need to be ready for anything. I don't like it, and I hope that none of you do either, but I think it is for the best."

The three others remained silent, as they all had a silent debate raging in their minds. He is right that we need to be ready, but isn't this a little much...It was Ron that spoke first.

"We know mate, we know, but we can't let You-Know-Who..."

"Voldemort," Harry interrupted him, like he always did. Like always, however, he was ignored.

"...dictate how we do things. Just because he has no soul doesn't mean we have to be like him to win. We have to be better than him."

Hermione was nodding her agreement, but Tom stood silent. He knew that they were both right. The rest had to maintain their sense of humanity, but Harry had greater evils in his future than they did, so he had to learn to do these things. This did not mean that Tom wanted Harry to be as ruthless as Harry wanted to become, though. He himself was a lost cause, but that did not mean that Harry had to become like him. Harry had been through enough in his life, and Dumbledore had sent him to protect his nephew, so he had a duty to help Harry.

"Harry, why do you want to learn the Unforgivables?" it was Ron who asked the question, which greatly confused Tom. They don't know the Prophesy? This could get ugly... Tom was told the Prophesy the first night that he was in England, so that he would know just what would be at stake. Since he was a relative stranger, he assumed that there were a few people close to Harry, including Ron and Hermione, who knew it as well. It never occurred to him that they did not.

"I...I...I need to."

"Harry," Hermione started, "you can tell us. What is it?"

Harry did not plan on revealing the Prophesy to anyone. He had no intention of scaring them away, not to mention the fact that he did not want to give Voldemort even more reason to go after them. He knew that now, however, he was cornered.

"I'll be outside," Tom almost whispered, feeling that this was not the place for him at the moment.

"No, you should know too, Tom, I trust you, and you have a right to know the danger you are in."

Tom was greatly touched that Harry trusted him so much; they had only known each other for a few months after all.

"Why?" he asked, still not used to people trusting others so much, as he certainly did not.

"Hermione is the smartest witch I know, and if she trusts you, then you must deserve it."

"Thanks."

"Anyway," Harry started, wanting to get it over with now that he had to deliver, "this all goes back to before I was born. There was a Prophesy made, by Trelawney actually, that said at the end of July, there would be a child born that could defeat the Voldemort, 'one with the Power the Dark Lord knows not.' It was me. That is why he murdered my parents that night, to kill me before I could even defend myself. When my mother died to protect me, well, that is why the Avada bounced back at him. Then it says that 'neither can live while the other survives.' It means that I have to kill him before he gets me. This scar," he said as he lifted his hair, "is a sign to show that it really is me who has to do it. Kill or be killed. Murderer or murdered..."

Harry suddenly could not face them, so he turned and faced the empty cushions the room had provided. Tom was looking at the ground, but Ron and Hermione were staring at him, and he could not take it. All the color had left Ron's face, and Hermione was on the verge of tears. Then he felt someone hug him, and turned to see Hermione looking up at him, with tears in her eyes, yet a steely resolve there too.

"You will not be alone. We will help, all of us, and there is no use arguing either, because that is that," Hermione said, daring him to even try to tell her she could not.

"We are with you all the way, mate, till death," Ron added, still pale as a ghost.

"Till death," Tom repeated. He was the one who made Harry feel as better as he could get under the circumstances, however. Harry only felt worse to see the looks of fear and worry in Ron and Hermione's face, but Tom looked different. His face was cold as ice. He gets it, Harry thought, he knows that I don't need their comfort or sympathy, I need their help.

"Right, well, I better explain what exactly is going on," Harry said, trying to sound as business-like as he could, and to change the subject. "First off, there will be a few new recruits, and Tom will be dealing with them, after I talk to them for a little bit and they sign the parchment. Tom, this is your little project, so why don't you take it from here."

Sneaky little bastard, he doesn't want to tell Ron... "OK, so to get a few things out of the way, there are a few things that you, Ron, may not like. As a matter of fact, I would appreciate it if you gave me your wand."

Ron seemed to think that Tom was just kidding, but when he didn't look it at all, he obliged.

"Well, first off, I am going to have a group of four others and myself to take care of some of the sneakier and more dangerous jobs that we will be doing this year. I already have two of the recruits lined up, Ginny and Draco Malfoy."

The result was exactly as expected. Ron was absolutely furious. He did indeed reach for his wand, the wand that was now in Tom's hand, and when that was not available, he started to rail into Tom.

"HOW COULD YOU HAVE MY SISTER, MY SISTER, INVOLVED NOT ONLY WITH SOMETHING DANGEROUS, BUT WITH DRACO BLOODY MALFOY!"

On the whole, Harry thought that Ron took it fairly well. He fully expected him to lunge at Tom, fists flying, but he held his ground. Ron was still ranting and raving, but Tom didn't seem to mind. Harry thought that he must have been trying to get it all out quickly. He's obviously never seen Mrs. Weasley in action...

"Are you finished?" Tom asked, after Ron started to catch his breath, "Good. I know you are only worried about your sister, and you hate Draco Malfoy, but it is very much too late. They have both signed a contract similar to the one that you signed last year, but with even more dire consequences to anyone who dares go against their agreement. Remember though, Harry trusts Malfoy as well, and your sister faired as well as you did in the Department of Mysteries last June, so she can take care of herself. You know what?" Tom concluded, holding Ron's wand, "I think I will hang on to this for a little while longer."

This effectively shut Ron up, though he was still not very happy. He continued to stare daggers at Tom, with the occasional look at Harry.

There was then a knock at the door, and Hermione opened the door to reveal Cho and her six blindfolded recruits, Draco Malfoy, and Ginny. Ron gave Draco and Ginny a withering look, as Hermione welcomed them graciously, the exception being Malfoy of course.

"OK, before we begin," Harry started, "you can take off your blindfolds, and I think Draco has something to say."

Tom and Harry made it painfully obvious that they expected an apology from Draco for all the problems he has caused over the years. Draco did not like it, but when he was reminded that it was two against one, he agreed to open his first DA meeting with...

"I know I have been a right pain in the ass and a complete bastard, and I mean it when I say I am sorry, but while I'm an asshole, my father and You-Know-Who..."

"Voldemort," Harry broke in, causing Malfoy to stammer.

"R-right, him...are just foolish and evil, so here I am to save the day," he managed to finish with a little of the Malfoy arrogance that he lost when Harry said Voldemort.

"That was sweet," Harry started to assume the leadership role once again and addressed the newcomers, "anyways, I would like to welcome you all to the Defense Association, or the DA for short, but before we get into anything you have to sign this parchment and when you do, you agree to never betray this group or its members, and if you do, well, we all saw Marietta, didn't we?"

The six signed the parchment, and as they did, Tom took an inventory of the new recruits, as he still needed two more people, preferably girls. This eliminated the three boys, so he sized up the three girls. He also wanted at least one more Slytherin, and as there was only one Slytherin, who was a girl, so she was in. That left the Ravenclaw girl and the Hufflepuff girl. He and Harry had decided that the best way to determine who was to be taken was to have them duel, so he immediately decided that the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff should duel, and he would take the winner, and the other four could go screw as far as he was concerned. It was a lot easier to pay attention to one duel as apposed to three.

"Now I have a little surprise for you," Harry said with a mischievous smirk, "you will each be fighting one another, and we will be watching, as Tom here would like to see what you can do. So, what do you think Tom, who against who?"

"Well, those two," he said, pointing to the most the aforementioned duo, " those two, and those two."

As it worked out, two of the boys dueled and two of the girls, with one mixed match-up, the one between the Slytherin and a Ravenclaw boy. Poor kid never had a chance... Tom thought as the Slytherin girls dismantled the poor bloke, and beat him in about five minutes. She shot curse after curse at him, all the while avoiding his attempts at Disarming her, and she honestly made him look foolish. The other match-up that Tom had an interest in was much more entertaining. They dueled to a dead heat, with one blasting away at the other, and eventually they were only three feet apart, as they both continued to advance in an attempt to gain the upper hand. It was at this point that there was finally a decision. The Ravenclaw girl dodged yet another Stunner, and proceeded to kick the Hufflepuff square in the jaw. She fell flat immediately and the Ravenclaw relieved the other of her wand.

"SHE CHEATED! This was a duel, and she kicked me in the bloody face! She cheated!" the Hufflepuff yelled, when she realized what had happened.

"Well," Tom began with a grin, "if this was a duel, you would be right. However, this was a fight, and seeing as it is perfectly within the law to kick someone in the face, she wins."

The Hufflepuff girl was still very angry, and was now giving Tom and Harry the same kind of look that Ron was earlier. Harry ushered the rest out, and with a wink to Tom, left him to handle his new team.