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Author: legobean Part: 16: If You’re Guarding My Body, Who’s Guarding You? Rating: Teens Status: WIP Reviews: 54 Words: 10,973 Updated: November 25, 2007, 5:57pm
16: If You’re Guarding My Body, Who’s Guarding You?Disclaimer: By reading the following chapter you give up all rights to ever hold me responsible for anything, ever. You may not copy, redistribute, or profit from this story. By reading you acknowledge that Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling, not me. Furthermore, the thoughts and opinions expressed in this story may not be my own. Never mind that I'm the one writing it and posting it under a pseudonym that I've been using for years. If you enjoy the story you agree to give me your firstborn, but only if your firstborn is out of diapers, because I really don't want to spend all my time changing stinky diapers and feeding children. Further, if I'm ever really desperate for a place to crash, you must allow me to sleep in your guest room free of charge, or at least on your couch. I reserve the right to change this agreement at anytime without notifying you and without your consent. In fact I'm going to do it right now. I revoke everything in the second paragraph of this disclaimer. Just so we're clear, Harry Potter is still owned by J.K. Rowling, and you can't redistribute my story. Oh, and if I can't make any money from it, neither can you. You thought you were reading a software licensing agreement for a minute there, didn't you? *** The next morning when Harry woke up Ginny was gone. She, Ron, and the kids had taken the Floo Network back to Ron and Hermione's first thing that morning. He found Hermione sitting at the breakfast table waiting for Harry to come down, and Molly puttering the kitchen. "Where is everybody?" "Bill and Fleur are having a lie in, and then have some errands to run this afternoon. Ginny took the kids over to our house to watch movies. George and Ron are back to work this morning." "Oh." "Something wrong?" Hermione asked. "It was just kind of abrupt. I would have liked a chance to say goodbye to people." "People?" Hermione asked pointedly. "Fine, I wanted to talk to Ginny. She seemed upset last night." "She seemed okay at dinner." "Yeah, well, I was a bit out of my mind at dinner." Hermione giggled. "Yes, you were." Harry gave a grin, trying to hide his embarrassment. "It wasn't entirely my fault you know." "I know. Ginny said she gave you a bit of cheering up before you two came down." Molly dropped the dish she had been putting into the cupboard, and it shattered on the counter. "It was a Cheering Charm, Mrs. Weasley," Harry explained while fighting back a blush. "Oh, of course, dear. Just have butterfingers this morning." She beamed a smile at him. "Eat your breakfast, Harry. We have work to do," Hermione prodded. "Yes, dear," Harry replied sarcastically. *** Hermione worked Harry practically nonstop well into the evening. They were back to working on some post war memories. They were mostly following Harry around while he did nothing much in particular. They had moved through many of the memories. He found that he was doing a much better job of coping with the depressed puddle of goo he had become after the war than he had when he had first started. It still bothered him to watch himself being so vulnerable, but he no longer felt like those feelings represented him. He was very thankful that the depression no longer gripped him so tightly. Still whenever he reflected too much on the war, he would find himself slipping back into the abyss. It was a struggle to stay out of it. But he found that his thoughts of Ginny managed to fight away the darkness most of the time. The trouble now was that he had somehow messed things up, again. Late in the evening he received what he could only classify a distant note from Ginny via Ron and Hermione's owl.
It was frustrating that it seemed he couldn't get out of his own damn way, so that he could have the kind of relationship and friendship he wanted with her. Hermione was a great help with teaching him to confront his demons, but it was Ginny who kept them at bay, and he absolutely loathed it when she was angry with him. It wasn't until the next night that he managed to formulate some sort of reply. However he was struggling to put words to parchment. He hadn't intended to exclude her from his meeting with the Minister, he would have liked her to be there, but didn't want to force her to be there if she wasn't interested. But now it seemed not expressing his desire for her to attend with him had been yet another mistake.
That was as far as he had made it so far. It hardly seemed to convey the feelings necessary to make her forgive him. He was keenly aware that whatever he wrote, he needed to be sure that it didn't make her angrier. He put the quill back to the parchment and urged his hand to write something eloquent.
Harry looked at the letter and frowned. It didn't seem to say exactly what he wanted. Then again writing was never his strong suit, and when it came to women, a seven high was about the about the best he could manage. He sealed the parchment and tied it to Hedwig's leg. After a gentle nip of his finger she was gone. *** It was New Year's Eve, and Harry was agitated. He had sent Hedwig out five days ago, and she had been exhausted when she returned in the morning. She had not returned with a letter, a note, or anything from Ginny. Despite Hermione's assurances that Ginny was fine, Ginny had now gone an abnormally long time without coming to see him. Ron had stopped by yesterday and also assured him that Ginny was fine. He wanted to send her another note because obviously the last one hadn't said the right thing, but Mr. and Mrs. Weasley didn't have an owl of their own anymore. They said they just didn't post enough letters for it to be worth the expense since Errol had died. Harry was concerned to send Hedwig out again so soon since it had taken her more than a day to recover from her last trip. She wasn't even hunting at night anymore. If that wasn't enough, Harry was supposed to meet his Auror detail today. He had gotten a short note from Tonks this morning that she would be by to introduce them at one in the afternoon, and it was quarter to. He hadn't really thought much of the idea of having a minder again when the Minister suggested it, but the more he thought about it, the less he liked it. Minister Bell had made excellent points, but he just didn't like the idea of having people around all the time. The fact that Tonks's note had also said that she had a surprise for him wasn't helping. Harry hated surprises. He guessed that was from living a life where every time you were surprised someone you cared about ended up dead. "Harry, stop pacing," Hermione snapped. "You're driving me crazy!" "You were the one that thought this Auror guard was a good idea," he spouted back. "Well, I think it is a good idea to make sure you're safe, and protected from your …er… fans." Harry sneered. "Sure, Harry, go kill Voldemort, but don't face a few excited fans by yourself." "It's not like that, Harry. You're a private citizen, you can't just go around fighting your way through crowds of people. You will end up assaulting someone. Even Ron and I have trouble with them sometimes. Ginny ends up having to take the kids to places where we are afraid there will be trouble, because we sometimes get mobbed if we get recognized in places where there are large crowds." "You do?" "Yes, it's aggravating. I now have some small idea of what it's like to be Harry Potter." "How come nobody mobs Ginny then?" "You kept her out of it, remember? To the wizarding world she's just some school girl you went out with for a month. If you start being seen out with her again, then we will have to find someone else to take the kids to the zoo." Harry laughed despite himself. "You can't go to the zoo?" "We can go to the Muggle zoo all right, but we tried taking the kids to the Magical zoo when Harry was three, and he almost got trampled in the crowd. It was so frightening. So, if we go out as a family, we generally have to go out as Muggles." "I'm sorry." Hermione glared at him. "Do you want me to roll up a newspaper and whap you in the nose every time you apologize for something that's not your fault?" "Er…" "Then just stop it. We get that you didn't want these things to happen, but they were our choices to make, not yours." "Is that an advanced Healer technique? Smacking them with rolled up newspapers?" Harry asked with a smirk. "Most of my patients are slightly less thick than a brick wall," Hermione replied. "Ah, yes, but how many of them dueled with Voldemort?" "Just the thickest one. He was apparently too thick to run away and fight another day." Despite her teasing tone, Harry could hear the hurt in her voice, and her bitterness angered him. Hadn't he won? Didn't he manage to keep her and Ron safe? It seemed a small price for her to pay, not getting herself killed in the final battle. Harry was about to open his mouth when a series of cracks sounded outside. He glanced at the clock. It was one minute after one. Since he didn't know these people he decided to introduce himself. He pulled his battered wand from his pocket and approached the door. "Harry, it's just your Auror detail. What are you doing?" Hermione demanded as he hurried quietly towards the door. "Shhh! I'm just going to make sure they are who they say they are," Harry whispered. "Harry, you can't fight them; they are Aurors! And there are six of them, and you are out of practice!" Harry gave her the cheeky grin he always gave her when he was about to do something incredibly reckless. Harry took three running steps towards the door before removing the door with a spell and then diving through the opening. He trained his wand at the group while shouting, "Verrimus." He rolled to the ground as the legs were swept out from the first three, before the remaining four members of the party scattered. He cast a quick Petrificus Totalus that nailed Tonks and kept her still before casting a spell to keep the three fallen Aurors pinned to the ground. The other three remaining Aurors had scattered to make it more difficult for him to subdue them. Harry quickly negated their advantage by Apparating to their flank and stunned the one directly next to him. The other two Aurors finally managed to get a spell off. Harry dodged several jets of orange and yellow light, before hitting the far Auror with a tickling jinx. That distraction was enough that he was able to bind them with Incarcerous. Harry was surprised to find he recognized his last opponent and was even more surprised by who it was. "You won't get me with a tickling jinx, Potter." "Well, thankfully I do know a couple more spells." "Harry, stop that this instant!" Hermione shouted from the doorway. "I'll be done in a minute," Harry called back. "No, you won't," the Auror shouted and fired off a series of hexes at Harry. He put up a strong shield and the curses bounced off harmlessly. He fired a few curses at her and she put up a shield that impressively managed to block his powerful curses. However, when the last one crashed against her shield, it knocked her off balance. It was what he was waiting for. He threw a powerful Banishing charm at her and knocked her backwards. When she was twisted over sideways, he summoned her and as she zipped towards him, bound her in ropes. She tumbled to the ground with an "oof." Harry calmly walked over to her and removed her wand from her hand, which was now tightly bound to her chest. "Hi, Cho." "Hi, Harry." Cho grimaced. "Why are you attacking us?" Harry unfroze Tonks, but summoned the rest of his bound and unconscious opponents to him. "This is who you sent to protect me?" he asked. "Well, they are supposed to protect you from the general public, and maybe a couple of dark wizards. We didn't train them to fight you," Tonks answered sarcastically. "Thanks for the welcome by the way. Next time just say, 'Hi, Tonks, it's good to see you.'" "Hi, Tonks, it's good to see you." Harry gave her a brief hug. "Better." Tonks nodded. Harry went over to one of the squirming Aurors. "What's your name?" "Anton Wellington, sir." "Hi, Anton, why weren't you more prepared? I subdued you only a few seconds into the skirmish." "We were briefed that this would be an area full of friendlies, I wasn't on guard to be attacked, sir." "Well, that's an honest, albeit disappointing answer. Would you like to help him out, Ms. Chang? Is it still Ms. Chang?" "Constant vigilance," she sighed. "Yes, it's still Ms. Chang." Harry woke up the Auror that he had stunned. "Hello, Miss?" "Covington," she answered, while rubbing her side where she had hit the ground. "Ms. Covington, why weren't you prepared to defend your back once I Disapparated?" She looked at him quizzically. "The, uh, only Apparation point inside the wards was between Boy Alpha and me, I expected if you Apparated back in, it would have to be there. I didn't think you could end up behind me," she answered while trying to shake off the effects of the stunner. "Boy Alpha?" "It's my code name," Cho offered. "Ah, yes. Well, not entirely unsound strategy, but I had already broken though the ward once, you should have suspected I might be able to do it again." Harry looked around. "Anybody want to tell her why?" "Constant vigilance!" they chanted. "Ah, much better." Harry quickly interviewed each Auror asking their name and why they failed to subdue him. As he interviewed them, he let each one up off the ground, until only Cho was left bound and laying on the ground. Tonks had a serious case of the giggles, but was doing her best to keep it under control. Hermione had made several disapproving noises, but Harry was ignoring her. Finally, Harry turned his attention back to Cho. "Ms. Chang, I must say I am most disappointed, I helped train you myself." "You never did that to us in training," she answered defiantly. "Opponents always adapt, Cho. I know that I at least taught you that," Harry said dispassionately. "Yes," Cho sighed, "you did." "Do you know how I beat you?" Harry asked. "Simple, you did the impossible." "Well, I did it, therefore it can't be impossible." Harry grinned. "You can't Banish a Wizard," Cho insisted, still looking highly disgruntled while laying immobilized in her robes. "Foolishness! Of course you can Banish a wizard. Didn't I just do it?" "Maybe you can, normal wizards can't." Harry sighed. "I'll show you. It's not the normality of the wizard that matters. Too many people believe that things are impossible simply because they've never seen them done. You should never assume an opponent won't do something you haven't seen before. But if it will help convince you, I'll have someone else do it. Hermione, can I have you do a brief demonstration for me?" Hermione frowned a bit but came over anyway. "Mr. Caldwell, can you allow us to demonstrate on you for a moment. I'll make sure Hermione doesn't hurt you too badly." When he nodded, Harry leaned in and whispered to Hermione. "Standard Banishing spell as hard as you can cast it. It works as long as you have enough magical energy to push through the resistance of his magical energy. You'll feel resistance to it, but just hold it on him and he'll move before the spell fails, trust me. Aim for his stomach, the center of gravity is easiest." Hermione nodded. She snapped her wand towards the young Auror who fairly easily left his feet and flew backwards. Before he hit the ground Harry called, "Accio, Mr. Caldwell." He turned to Cho. "Is this proof enough, or do you need some other normal wizard to it." She nodded. "Harry, I did mean it like that. You do all sorts of extraordinary things. It's not bad, it's amazing, but how did you make Hermione able to do that? I studied magical fields in Advanced Magical Theory at Hogwarts. His own magic should have been enough to protect him." "I will answer that question, if you decide you still want to take on this assignment. If you all are to guard me, then I think you should have to train with me. I can instruct you on defensive magic, and hopefully expand your minds to deal with situations you haven't encountered before. I don't want anyone I don't trust with a wand guarding me. I'm sorry if that seems extreme, but I won't spend my time worrying that you may get hurt while trying to protect me. I don't like the thought of anyone getting hurt because of me, and I won't allow you to put yourselves at risk unless I think you're properly ready. The choice is of course up to you." He released Cho from her bonds. "Tonks, could I speak to you for a few minutes before we continue?" "Sure, Harry." She smirked. "Are you sure you wouldn't prefer to rough me up a bit more first? Maybe slap the ropes back on, so we know who's in control?" she asked cheekily. Despite her teasing she did follow him inside. They walked inside the kitchen, and as Harry entered the house he returned the door to its former place. After they sat down at the table, Tonks asked, "Do I get to come to class, too, Harry? I always regretted I never got to be in the DA. I had to learn from Mad-Eye, you're a much cuter teacher." "Very funny. Why is Cho Chang on my security detail?" Harry was not amused. "We wanted someone you knew personally and trusted. She assured us that there was nothing between you. She told us that you'd had a little bit of history but that it was nothing, just one kiss and one date. You helped teach her in the DA, so you're familiar with her. She was at the top of her class at Hogwarts. She was in the top of her class in Auror training. She swore loyalty to you when she joined the Order of the Phoenix, and she is a believable companion, which is what she will be posing as when you are in public." "Companion!" "It's not real, Harry. But for now it's largely an advantage against people who may want to harm you, if people don't know you are under protection. All of these candidates were chosen partly on their marks in disguise, subtly, and subterfuge. They blend in well, and you don't know that they are there. Ms. Chang is actually a very experienced and extremely talented hit wizard. I was quite surprised she was willing to do this, it is a bit pedestrian compared to the majority of her assignments." "Then why is she here?" Harry asked in a rather unfriendly tone. "Calm down, Harry," Tonks admonished. "She volunteered. We put out subtle feelers to Aurors who knew you personally and had been loyal to you, and she wanted the job quite badly. She's a serious asset and extremely well trained, your earlier demonstration not withstanding." "Unbelievable," Harry muttered. "What?" "How would you like to have one of your ex's assigned to follow you around and pretend to be your boyfriend?" "She assured me that her past feelings wouldn't be an issue. If your feelings for her are going to create a problem, we will find someone else." "I don't have any feelings for her." "Then what exactly is the problem?" "Ginny." "Why is Ginny a problem?" "Because I am trying to make amends with her, and Cho rubs her the wrong way. She isn't going to appreciate this." "I'll talk to her. Let her know that it's strictly professional." "Is that the duty of the Aurors's Minister Liaison?" "It's the duty of someone who is friends with both of you." "Okay, I guess we should go back out there, and see if any of them still want the job," Harry answered, changing the subject as quickly as possible. When they stepped outside they saw that the Aurors had formed a circle around Hermione, as she and Cho were telling them stories about the DA. "So who wants out?" Tonks asked. "It will not show up as a blemish on your record. You will simply move on to your next assignment and we will find someone else to be on Harry's detail." Nobody spoke up. "All right, good, Harry has requested that you train with him. I expect all of you to make a good showing of the Ministry training program. You all know your assignments. Lisa, you are free to go as soon as Harry dismisses you for the day. You are up for Beta tomorrow. Any questions?" "Do we have to train on our day off?" Anton asked. Harry nodded. "Until I'm comfortable with your progress I would like you to. Unless you have a particular reason you can't spare the two hours off." "Do we get paid overtime?" "I think the experience itself will be tremendously rewarding. I would have loved to receive personal instruction from Harry. However, I will discuss it with your field office," Tonks replied. "Anything else?" There were no answers, as all the Aurors stood up. "Lisa, you're on for Garry tomorrow at ten." "Great," Harry said. "Here tomorrow at eight AM for training. We will do the shift change at the end of training." He could feel the groan from the group, but nobody made and audible noise. He would have to get them whipped into shape. This could actually be fun, he decided. It fulfilled the itching he had to use some of his magic, and he'd enjoyed instructing the DA. Tonks and the two Aurors who had to be back in a few hours to start their shifts took off. Lisa stayed to familiarize herself with the layout of the Burrow. Harry went inside the house to play twenty questions with Cho. Hermione, deciding that Harry was going to be busy the rest of the day, headed home after making Harry promise to be ready to work shortly after ten the next morning. "So Harry, I have a bunch of questions that will make it easier for us to adapt to protecting you. First, I need a list of all people authorized to be on the premises. Anybody who isn't on the list will be asked nicely to leave, if they fail to comply, they will be removed by force. All unauthorized entries will be provided in a log to you at a time of your choosing, and you can add any names to the authorized list that you would like. Nobody arrives inside the house without authorization," Cho finished succinctly. "I don't think that's really going to work. This isn't my house. This is the Weasleys' home and they can let whomever they like into it. I will not have their friends hassled, because they are being nice enough to let me stay here." "Well, I can have them add people they want to the list, but if there isn't a list we would have to leave our posts for each visitor, and ultimately that is less convenient for people who should be on the authorized list, and leaves you more vulnerable because your guards are out of position." "If the Weasleys want to provide a list that's fine. This is their home, I am not going to decide who can come and who can't." Cho nodded. "Next question. Do you have any businesses you plan to frequent, once your return is known to the public?" Harry shrugged. "I don't know, we'll see. I don't actually have any money right now." Cho arched her eyebrows at him. "Well, I can't very well go to Gringotts; it's kind of a big giveaway, isn't it?" "Very well. We will wait on that one. Do you have a daily routine?" "Like what?" "What time do you normally get up? Go to bed? Do you take a walk at a specific time? It helps us to make sure were prepared." "Look, if we're going to play twenty questions, how about you answer a few of mine?" Cho gave him a bright smile. "Sure, what do you want to know?" "Why did you want this job?" Cho's smile got even broader. "Well, there were lots of reasons. I wanted the opportunity to see you again. I wanted a chance to prove my loyalty to you after the whole Marietta fiasco. I always believed in you, Harry, and you were a great friend to me. I wanted to repay part of that. But that's not the only reason. I am tired of my job, and I want to get into the senior Auror staff. Eighteen months on this job, and I have been assured I can get any job in the Auror office I want, short of department head or Minister Liaison." "So this is for your career?" Harry asked skeptically. "My career is part of it, and I want to be upfront about that. But, it's a good opportunity to do something for someone I like and respect. I can't tell you much about my past work in the Ministry, but while it was exciting, I don't want to do it anymore." "You don't want to be a hit wizard anymore?" Harry asked. Cho started a bit, clearly surprised. "No, I've had to do things…that I'm not proud of. I don't want to do them anymore." Harry took a long hard look at her, but her gaze didn't waver from his. She was telling the truth, he was sure. "What's your next question?" "Do you mind if members of your detail eat in front of you? It will be necessary for us to eat during our shifts." "Of course not, in fact I would be shocked if Mrs. Weasley doesn't constantly feed all of you." "Why did you swear loyalty to me during the war?" Harry asked his question in response to Cho's. "A great wizard told me that sometimes you have to choose between doing what is right and doing what is easy. Swearing my life to you was the right thing to do, hiding would have been the easy thing to do. Following your example is what felt right to me. Swearing on my life was just what was required to join the Order." Harry was flabbergasted. He'd had no idea that the Order had been requiring that. "You must know I wouldn't have wanted you endangering your life?" Cho nodded. "If it mattered to me if you wanted me to do it or not, I would have asked you first. Well, assuming I had been able to find you." There was a moment of silence and Cho took the opportunity to ask her next question. "Do you mind if we get some of your hair so we can produce a decoy?" Cho asked. "I would prefer you only take what you need for one potion at a time, and I get asked every time you use it. It's fine in some situations to use a decoy, but I don't want anyone doing anything truly dangerous disguised as me." "If it were truly dangerous there is no way we would let you go," she stated firmly. "I don't need a babysitter," Harry grumbled. "I don't want you, or anyone else endangering their lives over me." "That's the point, Harry!" "It bloody well is not the point. If I am in real danger, I order you to scatter and take care of yourselves first." "Harry, you are the principle, and I will do whatever you say when I can, but you can't give me orders." "Cho, I don't want people sacrificing their lives for mine. I will have all of you removed if you insist on putting your lives in unnecessary danger." "Harry, why are you always so difficult?" Harry shook his head. "I don't want to be difficult, I just want to be normal. This is all very un-normal." Cho smiled at Harry and patted his hand. "Sorry, Harry, but you will never be just another man to me. But I like what you are, and I like that you are not what other people think you are." "What's that?" "You aren't a super star, a model, a plastic mold of a hero. You are flawed, completely perfectly flawed." She blushed deeply at this. "Let's finish this later. I hate paperwork." "Sounds good. I hate paperwork, too." "So what do you normally do during the day, since you don't go out?" "Normally I spend all day working with Hermione, but I think she's given up for today. I actually have some correspondence I'd like to catch up on." "Well, why don't you show me where I'll be staying and then I will check on the perimeter guard. We aren't here to harass you Harry. All of us will do our best to stay out of your way. Unless …you want to talk or something." Harry nodded and showed her to the last room on the first landing, where Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had agreed to house Harry's bodyguard. He then went to write another note to Ginny to see if he could get her to talk to him. He had a feeling that she wasn't going to like the new arrangement and he had no clue what to do about it. *** It had been two days since Cho's arrival at the Burrow. He had sent the letter he had written to Ginny with Hermione but had yet to see a response. Hermione said she was being aloof and wouldn't talk to her about what was bothering her. That meant either it was something Ginny was embarrassed about, or that she was so mad that Harry felt his chances of earning forgiveness might be slipping away. He had thought about Flooing over to Ron and Hermione's and demanding that she tell him what was wrong. However, he doubted that would work. Harry was at a loss. His only source for practical advice on women didn't know what was going on. It wasn't helping that Cho's professional demeanor had lasted exactly one day. Now whenever they were alone she flirted and teased him mercilessly. It was innocent mostly, but it didn't help the guilt Harry was starting to feel for not telling Ginny that Cho was here in her childhood home. Of course he would tell her, if she would just talk to him. The good news was that while Hermione was being utterly merciless in her treatment schedule the last two days, and he had remembered some very helpful memories from before the war. They had actually watched the memory of destroying Hufflepuff's cup. It was both exhilarating and frightening. It was also the memory of the first time he had ever Vanished a person. They had found the cup hidden in the ruin of Hepzibah Smith's vast mansion. Not that it was that ruined, but it had certainly fallen into disrepair. They had the feeling that nobody had entered it in some time, when they stepped inside. It took an hour of careful searching to find the trap door to the dungeon. Once they were inside they had found it to be crawling with Lethifolds. Hermione was shocked at first until she figured out that they weren't in fact real Lethifolds; a fact that became readily apparent when they proved immune to the Patronus charm. Ron had been half smothered before Harry figured out they were not immune to being Banished. Harry had driven them to the very back corner of the dungeon and conjured a wall and made the new wall Imperturbable. The threat was subdued for the moment before things had gotten really interesting. They had removed a heavy stone from the floor and found the cup gleaming like it had been polished just moments before. It had taken a dozen revealing spells and Harry running his hands over the cup for almost an hour before he thought he had worked out how to destroy the protections that had been placed on it. He'd had to fill it to the top with human blood. After much arguing they had used Ron's blood. It was then that Harry learned that Ron and Hermione were more discrete than they had let on. To destroy the cup it needed to reach forging temperature with a human virgin's blood. Ron's blood didn't work, and Harry had thought he had been wrong about how to destroy it, until Ron mention that his blood couldn't be used and for that matter neither could Hermione's. This bit of news had come as a bit of a shock. Not that he hadn't expected it to happen eventually, he just always assumed he would have been able to tell. It wasn't like they were children, they were both nineteen and had been out on their own for almost two years. Harry remembered it as a wake up call to just how focused on the hunt he had become. He had not been paying adequate attention to his friends. The decision was easily made. He had used his own blood. Hermione had provided the heat, fire charms always being somewhat of a specialty with her. That itself had been an impressive show to watch. Harry had put up the strongest shield he could muster. As the cup glowed red, a large red sphere had started to emit from it. Harry couldn't tell exactly what it was, but he could tell that whatever touched it would be instantly killed. Harry had quickly vanished Ron and Hermione, and Apparated out of the house using so much power that the Wards around it were blown apart. The house had become visible to Muggles for just moment before it exploded. The thing about Vanishing anything is that when you want to put it back you have to put it back exactly where it came from. Unfortunately, after the house had so spectacularly destroyed itself, the place had been crawling with Aurors and Death Eaters. Not at the same time of course, but a rather steady supply of both. Two days after it exploded the Aurors finally quit patrolling it constantly. They did leave security spells in place, for whatever good it did. The two Death Eaters who arrived to watch the place had easily disabled them. It was Harry who had disabled the Death Eaters. The most disturbing part of the memory had been the ease with which Harry had killed them. Clearly Harry in the memory wasn't worried about the lives of the two men. He'd severed their spines at the back of the neck and had moved into the ruins of the house before their bodies had even stopped twitching. They'd had to stop the memory at this point, as Harry had thrown up at the sight of the two men he had killed. It bothered him that he had thrown up, while Hermione had seemed largely unaffected. Her explanation that the time for taking prisoners had passed, and that if Harry had not acted she and Ron surely would have died was no comfort. It was obviously not the first time Harry had killed, but his former self's ambivalence towards human life was upsetting. Was that really something he wanted back? Dumbledore had tried to teach him that every wizard's life was precious and that no wizard was beyond redemption. How had Harry come to forget those lessons? He was surprised at Hermione's shrug, she who had always defended everyone. She stated simply, "We did not wish to wage war, but the forces of evil cannot always be stopped with quill and parchment." Compassion left them when wizards they had stunned and left in Ministry custody had killed Hestia Jones not even twenty-four hours later in yet another attack. She had been defending a young family of Muggles who had just learned they had a wizard among their children. There had been no survivors among the attack. Hestia's family had lost their mother, too. And Hermione had lost her innocence. She'd felt responsible for Hestia and the Muggle family. If she'd stopped the wizards the day before, Hestia might still be alive. "Those are the choices you make in war, Harry. That's how you learn to take a life," she'd said sadly When they had returned to the memory, they had skipped ahead to Harry rebuilding the dungeon of the house brick by brick. It was painstaking work, even using magic. He had been exhausted when he finally returned Ron and Hermione. They were more or less physically unharmed. However, spending three days in complete sensory deprivation had caused them to become slightly mad. Hermione had explained that the worse part had been the panic that she might be trapped there forever. Her mind would have remained conscious, but unable to interact with anything ever again. Although it wasn't in the memory they watched, she reported that she and Ron spent a week celebrating the destruction of the Horcrux by making sure they got as much sensory input as humanly possible. He had been afraid to ask her exactly what that meant. He was brooding again now. He knew that. Mostly about the two men he had watched himself kill. Somewhere they had families that would never really know what happened to them. He hadn't known them. They could have been anyone's parents, but he had barely paid them any mind as their bodies lay on the ground. He was beginning to understand why he'd had to go away. To defeat the monster that was Voldemort, he had become the monster that was Harry. Even now he knew the world was probably better off without those two dark wizards, but it had been he who was the judge and executioner. He found them guilty of conspiring with Voldemort, and his sentence had been carried out swiftly, there were to be no appeals. He wanted to talk to Ginny so she could reassure him that Frankenstein's monster could be saved, but he was going to have to find his own way. Hermione assured him he had done nothing wrong, the rules of engagement had been clear. You kill them before they alerted Voldemort to your location. They had made the mistake before. Stunned and incarcerated Death Eaters asked questions even when they were Obliviated. It wasn't helping that Hedwig was refusing to hunt. He had taken enough care of magical creatures to know that she was sick. He had brewed her some potion and hidden it in her owl treats. But, she wasn't getting better. Harry knew she was old, but he couldn't bear the thought of losing his one companion through all the summers at Privet Drive. She wasn't just his pet. She had been his life line. She was that which kept him from going insane under the care of the Durlseys. He owed her so much. Cho had bugged him at his rather uninspired lesson that morning. She watched him closely and she knew he hadn't eaten after dinner and had cornered him. She had pushed him into his room and sat him on his bed while she crouched on the floor in front of him. "What's up, Harry?" She had asked "I'm fine." "Ah, the famous Potter self diagnostic. No matter what's wrong, the indicator always points to fine." She was joking, but Harry didn't think she was all that funny. "Look, Harry, part of a bodyguard's duties include not letting the principle die of starvation while you're trying to prevent them from being cursed. You don't like Molly's cooking, fine. I'll get us a pizza, and we'll eat in here. But you have to eat." "Knock it off, Cho. You're not my mother." Harry glared at the pretty girl. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world to do, glaring at a beautiful girl searching your face with an honest and open expression of concern. "Fine, I'll tell Hermione." "That's low," he growled. "I get the job done. So what's your pleasure?" "Everything," "Ew, that's evil." She tapped the earring on her right ear and said. "Boy Epsilon, I need a medium pizza with everything." She paused. "I'll stay with him until you get back." She got an angry look on her face. "Just do it, Floyd. It's for Shifty Seeker, not for me." She paused for another minute and then added agitatedly, "I don't know, maybe he needs to breathe fire later. Just get moving." She turned back to him, but was still holding her ear. "He'll be back in thirty minutes or it's free." She smirked at whatever his response was. "Oh, and Epsilon, be discreet. Shifty doesn't need to catch hell from the Mother Dragon." "Nice codename." "Thanks!" Cho beamed. "Why am I Shifty?" "I've seen you play. Something shifty is up with the way you fly." Harry smirked. "Just because you can't beat me." "Oh, have you been practicing? Because I might just have to see about that." Cho wiggled her eyebrows at him. "If you want to beat me at something you should try chess, I'm dreadful at that. Quidditch? You have no chance, you never did. I would think you had learned that by now." "Okay, now I'm going to beat your arse. Whenever you and Hermione get done with whatever it is you hide in here doing all day, you are my new sparing partner. No wands, just hand to hand combat. I'll show you your proper place." Harry snapped his fingers and a flock of blue birds flew out of his hand. He waved his other hand, and they all vanished. "Who needs a wand to do magic?" Cho stared at him briefly, raising her eyebrow. "No magic, strictly Muggle combat." "What's the fun in that?" Harry mused. "I get to wipe that self assured smirk off your face, that's what's fun." She grinned. "Stuff it, Chang." Cho was remarkably easy to spend time with. He'd always struggled being comfortable around new people. Not that Cho was new exactly, but it had been so much harder before when he'd still had feelings for her. He shuddered to think what things may have been like in fifth year if she had been this easy for him to talk to. However, that was a life time ago, and neither of them were really what they had once been. They spent the rest of the evening talking easily. He even ate a few slices of the pizza. He felt remarkably better when he settled down to sleep, even though he did still have dragon breath even after brushing his teeth. *** The first thing he was aware of was someone shaking him. The second thing he was aware of were the details of the nightmare he was waking up from. "Easy, Harry, you're okay. It's just a dream, relax." "Cho, what are you doing in here?" "You were having a nightmare. I came to make sure you were okay, and you were rather agitated. I didn't want to leave you like that." "Oh, I suppose you don't know." Cho stayed silent waiting for an explanation of what she didn't know. However after half a minute or so, she finally asked. "Know what?" "I'm not exactly a stranger to nightmares. It's generally better just to let me sleep through it, otherwise I won't get any sleep." "But it can't be very restful twisting and turning like that," Cho cooed sympathetically. "Welcome to my life. I'm a man of little sleep." "Me, too." "So, Ms. Chang, what keeps you up at night?" She smirked at him. "Right now? Green eyed wizards and their many trips to the bathroom." "What?" "I have an alarm that goes off each time someone enters or leaves your room. Every time you get up to go to the bathroom I wake up and check to see what's going on. I fall back asleep after you fall back asleep. You are a very poor sleeper." "Tell me something I don't know." Harry thought for a moment. "Look Cho, nobody who lives or stays in the house would ever harm me. I trust them implicitly. Why don't you set your monitors up so that you just know when people come and go from the house. You will get a lot more sleep that way." Cho looked at him skeptically. "I don't like the idea of you being up and wandering around and me not knowing." Harry sighed. "I don't like the idea of you feeling like you need to know every little thing about me. When I agreed to this, the Minister indicated it would be a slightly less personal experience." Cho's face fell. "I'm sorry. I guess I should be less familiar with you. Goodnight, Harry." Cho stood up to leave, before Harry reached out and grabbed her wrist. "Cho, look I don't want you to be just a shadow, but I do need more space than you're giving me. It's been nice talking with you. I'm glad I have gotten to know more about you. I really am, but I'm a very private person. I don't like my problems on display for anyone." Cho gave him a weak smile. "I like being your friend too. It's the whole bodyguarding thing. You need to get to know the principle as well as possible. It's best if you're an afterthought, you know, just something that's always there, like a pair of favorite shoes. I don't want you to be uncomfortable around me, professionally or personally, because after this assignment is over, I would really like for us to be friends." "I'd like that too, but as a friend or as body being guarded, I need space." "I'll see what I can do." "Why don't you see if you can get some sleep?" Harry asked. "All right, just don't run off," Cho answered with a smirk. "Don't tempt me," Harry sighed. *** Harry had eventually gotten up. He knew Cho had checked on him because about twenty minutes after he got up and went down the kitchen, Anton came into the kitchen just to say 'hi' and grab a cup of coffee. The whole Auror detail was quickly getting on his nerves, and he really didn't see how Cho was supposed to guard him constantly without ever getting any time off. Every time he asked her about it, she assured him that she would be fine, but it seemed a bit much. Even if he did spend the majority of his time locked in his room with Hermione. They had just finished with their training when the post arrived. Included was a letter he hadn't exactly been looking forward to.
The ball sounded perfectly dreadful, but he supposed he had to be reintroduced somehow. Better there than in a stuffy Ministry room in front of a hundred reporters all determined to badger him to death. If it meant he could ask Ginny out on a proper date, it might even be bearable. He wrote out a quick reply and sent it to the Minister's office to let them know that a visit would be fine, and then told Cho to add Wanda Watson to the list of approved visitors. "The Minister's secretary?" Cho asked. "You know her?" "Sure, she was a Ravenclaw. Four years behind me I think." "Is she trustworthy?" "I don't know her that well. We've rubbed elbows a few times at the Ministry. She seemed nice enough at school." "I don't think I ever noticed her at school." Harry replied. "Yes, well, Harry, a bit of advice, I wouldn't open with that bit of knowledge." Harry smiled a little and shrugged. "Don't suppose there is any chance she doesn't know who I am?" Cho let out a small snort of laughter. "You never know, maybe she spent all her time in the library?" "We could hope." "Keep dreaming, Harry." Cho smiled at him and they dug into a large breakfast that Mrs. Weasley had left for them. *** When Harry found himself waiting for Wanda Watson at four o'clock he was beginning to think that returning to the Wizarding world wasn't such a good idea. He had spent most of the day with Hermione discussing the nightmares he had experienced the night before and listening to her explanations of why sometimes killing was necessary. He knew this of course. Some people did deserve to die. But here several years removed from the emotions that had made it so easy to do at the time, he wondered if he might have saved some of those that he had felt justified in killing. He was supposed to be fighting Cho in hand to hand combat at the moment, but he had begged off so that he could meet Wanda. She hadn't been particularly gracious about it. In fact she had smirked and called him a chicken. It seemed rather uncalled for; he would much rather fight an army of Death Eaters in hand-to-hand combat, than make plans for a ball where he was the guest of honor. Shortly after four, there was a rap on the door, and Cho greeted a rather short witch with an impossible head of blond curls. It wasn't that they were impossibly blond, or impossibly curly, it was that there were far too many spirals to possibly fit on her head. She was wearing the oddest robes, they were tight and showed off her ample cleavage, two things that robes rarely accomplished. He was in her presence for only a few seconds and she hadn't even said anything yet before he got the overwhelming urge to vomit. She was going to be perky. He could deal with morose, aggravating, mean, intolerant, or even rude, but, oh, how he loathed perky. "Cho, it's so good to see you. I must say I was both shocked and delighted to hear you had taken this post," Wanda bubbled. "How've you been? We simply must get together and catch up sometime." "I'm good," Cho answered. "Well, I've been just terrific of course. Working directly as the Minister's personal assistant, but you knew that." She finally turned and saw Harry standing slightly behind Cho. "Ah Mr. Potter, how delightful to see you again! I can't tell you how excited I was to hear that you had returned to us. I was so appalled to hear what you had to go through during the war. I mean I knew the papers kept blathering on about how you were the Chosen One, but I never though our shy, handsome, and fearless Harry would have to be the one to kill Voldemort. Tell me, was what the papers said about the final battle true?" Harry was impressed by her ability to speak without having to stop to take breaths, but he was caught slightly unprepared when she had abruptly ended speaking. It seemed his hesitation didn't matter much because after a second she continued on as if she had never stopped. "Oh, of course it isn't true. I can scarcely believe all the half truths and outright exaggerations they print in the Daily Prophet. Working in the Minister's office has been an eye opener let me tell you. Why, just last month there was an article in the paper about an Auror that had gone rogue and killed his partner in order to marry his partner's wife. It was completely untrue of course, the Auror was actually killed by a falling piano over in the Hampshire district. They were apparently moving it into some apartment when the support cable snapped. It was tragic, his wife, the poor dear, the Minister met with her himself. She was clearly broken up about the whole thing. Not in the mood for a little romance at all." She had stopped speaking again, but Harry wasn't sure if he was supposed to respond to this oral report, or respond to the previous question, or what exactly he was supposed to do. He blinked and was shocked to find his hand was being vigorously pumped up and down by the diminutive witch. "Well, it is very nice to see you again, Mr. Potter. I can't tell you how many updates I have had to sit through on investigations into your disappearance. The Auror office gets calls all the time you know, people claiming that they saw you at the grocer, or by the pond at their local park. The claims were always ridiculous of course, but the Auror office checked them out just in case." She released his hand. "Well, we have a lot to cover. Should we have a seat somewhere, and we can discuss the plans for your return to the Wizarding world? It's going to be an absolutely fabulous party. I can't tell you how much the stuffy Ministry could use a good reason to have a party. It's always illegal this, and international that. We all need some time to let our hair down and have a good time I always say." Harry found his mind numbing to the endless prattle, unfortunately it provided little relief as he felt a throbbing start just around his temples. "Yes, well, let's see if we can keep this brief, shall we?" Harry asked. "Oh, of course, Mr. Potter, far be it for me to waste your valuable time." Harry led her over to the kitchen table and took a seat across from her. She pulled an impressive pile of documents out of her tiny handbag, which was obviously much larger on the inside than it was on the outside. "Well, let's see here, currently we're planning on introducing you just after cocktails, but before the actual dinner is served. You will be arriving at the Ministry by special Portkey. Since the Department of Magic Transportation won't be aware of your return until after the ceremony, the Portkey is being provided by the Auror's office. The Portkey will transport you to the Minister's private sitting room, where you and Ms. Chang will wait until the guest of honor is announced, that's you. You will then walk out on stage, pause for a few moments for applause, and to be photographed. Then you will be asked to give a speech. Do you need a speech to be provided to you, Mr. Potter?" "I have to give a speech?" "Well, yes, of course! You are the guest of honor!" "What is the speech supposed to be about?" "Oh, you know the usual stuff. How terrific it is to be back in London. Thank the Minister for the wonderful party. Say something eloquent about the end of the war, and how happy you are with the progress the country has made. Just the usual stuff." "But I don't know what progress the Wizarding world has made! I've been out of touch." "Oh, well, aren't you a dear? It doesn't all have to be true exactly. These things are always the same. Compliment the right people, give the press a few quotes, it's all nonsense really. We can have one of the speech writers make it up for you if you'd like?" she asked. "No, I'll think of something, I guess." "Excellent. Then after your speech, the dinner will be served. Do you have a preference on your entrée?" "Erm, what are my choices?" "Well, you are the guest of honor, you can have whatever you'd like." Harry once again lost himself in the mindless prattle. It sounded like an awful lot of irritation to have to go through. He was doing okay until Wanda announced that Harry would be expected to start off the first dance of the evening. "I what?" "Well, it's tradition for the guest of honor to start the first dance next to the Minister and his date, or in this case his daughter." "But I don't really dance." "It's okay, Harry. I will work with you on that. We can do it after our hand-to-hand combat training," Cho offered. "Er, thanks, I guess." Mercifully, after a dozen or so more questions, Wanda left, but not before she had worn Harry down to his very last nerve. He felt uneasy about the whole proposition of the ball. He really hated being the center of attention. If he had to go he wanted Ginny as his date, but everyone seemed to assume he was fine going with his bodyguard. It was not exactly just a social occasion for him, it was intended to be an evening with a purpose. He just hoped that Ginny would understand if he couldn't take her. *** Ginny was upset. She wasn't really that upset with Harry anymore, although when she thought about it she could still get pretty riled. She was upset because she wasn't getting what she wanted, and she had a feeling that it was her own fault. Harry had sent her a letter of apology and while it failed to make her feel better about the situation, it was clear that his contrition was sincere. Not knowing what exactly her role was in Harry's life was frustrating beyond compare. Worse was that it was difficult to lecture Harry, when she didn't even know what she should be. Was she his girlfriend, something less, something more? After the letter on Christmas Eve she had thought those doubts were behind her. What she really hated was the thought that Harry was sitting at the Burrow feeling guilty over her. He had enough to worry about without her insecurity. The other thing that was upsetting her was Hermione and Ron's total lack of helpfulness in her attempts to find out what was going on. She had been excluded from the meeting with the Minister, and now whenever she asked them what happened they suggested she talk to Harry. She had finally managed to get Hermione to spill that Harry had agreed to take on an Auror detail for his own protection. It didn't sound like Harry, and she didn't like it. It sounded like a severe lack of privacy to her. It was all well and good that Hermione thought it was a good idea, she wasn't trying to entice Harry into kissing her. Hermione didn't have a need to sneak Harry away from her parents' watchful eyes and into some secluded spot. Ginny did. "Just go talk to him," Hermione stated agitatedly. "I don't know what to say!" "Well, you have been stomping around here since Tuesday, and you are driving everyone nuts. Just go fix it. You were mad, and Harry's apologized. If you want something more from him I suggest you go tell him exactly what it is, because you are making a mistake sitting around here sulking." "What do you mean?" "I mean get your arse over there and see for yourself. Skulking around here snipping at people isn't helping your cause." Ginny sighed. Hermione was right of course. She hated that. Hermione was always right. Well, almost always, and if you gloated when she was wrong, heaven help you. "Maybe I will pop over and see him, do you mind?" "No, please go. We've had quite enough of you around here lately." Hermione paused. "But Ginny? Please keep your temper. Things might not be what they seem." Ginny frowned at her cryptic and often meddling friend. What did that mean? She went into the den and grabbed a pinch of Floo powder tossing it into the fire and called, "The Burrow!" When she stumbled out of the fire and came to a stop just before the kitchen table, the sight before her eyes was from some other distant evil universe. Harry was sitting at her parents' kitchen table holding hands with Cho Chang. It was like someone had rifled her nightmares searching for a scene and then painted it in living color. She felt her cheeks grow hot with rage. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt," she spat at them. She turned and grabbed another handful of Floo powder and growled, "923 Akerly Lane, Dartford."
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Help keep Phoenixsong Running - Donate Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling, Warner Brothers, and its various affiliates. Without the brilliance of J.K. Rowling, PhoenixSong.net would never exist. The stories we've published here are manifestations of our appreciation for the world that she has created. That said, all fan fiction stories and artwork published on PhoenixSong.net are copyrighted by the listed authors and artists and may not be published or distributed elsewhere without the express permission of the authors and artists.© The Admins of PhoenixSong.net, 2004-2007 Code ©Jeconais, 2004 |