Forsaken
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Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female
Rating:
Adult +
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50
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Category:
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
50
Views:
2,163
Reviews:
4
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
To Whom Do You Pledge Your Loyalty?
Chapter 29 - To Whom Do You Pledge Your Loyalty?
The first Saturday in November dawned incredibly dull and grey, the sky threatening icy rain. The House banners snapped angrily in the breeze that blew through the Quidditch pitch, whipping the cloaks of the Aurors securing the pitch up into the air behind them.
Harry stood at a window in the seventh floor corridor, eyeing the green cloaks stalking around outside the locker rooms. He was glad he had gone down early that morning to change and grab his broom. He’d hate to think what the Aurors would have done to his treasured Firebolt. He felt his pocket for his gloves once again and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Mr. Potter, there you are,” cried an exasperated voice. Harry closed his eyes.
“Good morning, Professor,” he said wearily, opening his eyes and looking down the corridor at Minerva. He barely kept himself from sneering at the man next to her. “Minister.”
“Potter,” said Scrimgeour. “We’d like a word with you, if you have a moment.” Harry looked back out the window and sighed loudly.
“I’m busy at the moment,” said Harry. “If you’d like to make an appointment for later this afternoon, I may be able to squeeze you in.“
“Potter,” said Minerva, her fury barely concealed, “the Minister has taken time out of his busy schedule to see you.” Harry scoffed and turned to lean his hip against the window sill.
“From what my sources tell me,” began Harry, smirking slightly at the furious expression on Scrimgeour’s face. “The Ministry is too busy incarcerating innocent people to worry about such trivial things as me fighting some Death Eaters. You released Stan Shunpike yet?”
“Yes,” hissed Scrimgeour through clenched teeth. “Turns out we were wrong about him being an informant.”
“Imagine that,” said Harry. “And what about Samuel Cossenger, the one the Ministry says is ‘deep within Voldemort’s council’? I can ask the next time I see him, but I’m pretty sure Voldemort has no clue who Mr. Cossenger is. Well, until now, that is.”
“Let’s go, Potter,” said Minerva sternly. Harry slowly pushed himself off the wall and walked behind her towards the gargoyle guarding her office.
“Snickerdoodles,” she said tartly. She waved Harry onto the spiral staircase. He stepped onto it and rode to the top. He didn’t bother to wait for Minerva before pushing open her office door, taking his customary seat in front of her desk as the other two stepped into the room. He crossed his arms defiantly as Minerva stepped around her desk.
“Now then,” said Minerva, sitting down in her chair. “Rufus, I understand you wanted to speak to Mr. Potter concerning his apprehension of several Death Eaters a few weeks ago.”
“Indeed,” said Scrimgeour. He turned his bespectacled gaze onto the young man in front of him and smiled. “Mr. Potter, I want to assure you that the squadron of Aurors is stationed here for a reason. We don’t want any students putting themselves in unnecessary danger, as you and your friends did the other day.”
“Excuse me?” said Harry quietly, his expression darkening.
“I understand the pressure you’re facing from the public, what with these rumors of you being the -“ he laughed -“ the Chosen One.” Harry glared at him. “But that does not give you permission to go around hunting for Death Eaters.” Harry chuckled, glancing at Minerva’s concerned face.
“You’re joking, right?” he said. “You expect me to just stop defending myself and my friends from murderous lunatics?”
”I don’t think you realize the worry that many parents have about their children being put in harm’s way,” said Scrimgeour. “We just don’t want any accidents happening.”
“Oh, and since I don’t have parents, that makes me the threat. Is that what you’re saying, Minister?” asked Harry hotly. Scrimgeour narrowed his eyes.
“Someone has to look out for your best interests,” said Scrimgeour. “I realize Dumbledore was closer to you than his position warranted or even allowed, and that you are trying your best to fill his shoes, but I must ask you to stop -“
“And if I don’t?” interrupted Harry recklessly.
“Then I will be forced to take you into protective custody,” said Scrimgeour easily, “for your own protection, of course, until the threat is neutralized.” Harry blinked a few times, thinking he was dreaming. He glanced at Minerva, whose pale visage and wide eyes were enough to dispel that notion.
“That’s quite the ultimatum, Minister,” said Harry, drumming his fingers slowly on the arm of his chair. “I’ll have to consult with my advisors on the prudence of adhering to such a ridiculous demand. I’ll let you know my opinion on the matter soon enough. In the meantime, I will continue doing what I’m doing, instead of fumbling around for quick fixes to the problem.”
“Why, you insolent little prick!” growled Scrimgeour, losing his temper completely. “The entire Ministry is dedicated to the war effort! How dare you sit there and -“
“The Ministry is a fucking joke!” shouted Harry, jumping up from his seat. “You have done nothing but increase the fear of law-abiding citizens with your idiotic suggestions for protection and arresting those who have no means of defending themselves! Just because you’re scared shitless doesn’t mean the rest of us are!” Minerva didn’t say a word, hearing only the ragged breathing of the two men in front of her.
“If you think you can come here and threaten me into submission,” said Harry, “you are sorely mistaken, because let’s face it, Minister - you need me. You need me to do your job because there is no possible way that you and a bunch of Aurors can defeat him without my help. I didn’t ask for Voldemort to kill my parents and for him to have some kind of weird vendetta against me. But my friends and I will keep fighting until the job is done. If you don’t like it, you can just fuck off.” He checked his watch. “I have a Quidditch match to captain in little less than half an hour, so if you don’t mind - Headmistress, always a pleasure.” Minerva’s eyes were wide as she raised a trembling hand to her face, watching Harry stride confidently from the room.
Harry quickly walked back to Gryffindor Tower and went upstairs to his room. He dashed off a note, made a copy of it, and sent them to Severus and Kingsley. He sat down on the bed, hanging his head in his hands. There was no way in hell he was going to cave into that gutless coward’s manipulations. He had a war to win, and no one was going to tell him to stop fighting - not now. Not until it was finished.
A bright white fox leapt into the room. Harry touched his wand to the patronus.
Harry -
My first reaction to this is to tell you well done, even if Albus would have objected to your telling the Minister of Magic to go fuck himself. However, I fear Scrimgeour may be less than forgiving of this episode. Be prepared for the backlash, against yourself and against the others. I will write to all the adults involved and make preparations for the worst. Be cautious, but don’t you dare give that man an inch. If you start getting a bad vibe, you get the hell out of there quick and come home.
S
There was a loud knocking on the door. Harry swiftly burned the note and waved his wand at the door.
“Hey,” said Ginny warily, sticking her head in the door. “Kingsley wants to see you. He’s pretty wound up out here.”
“Damn it,” muttered Harry. He ran downstairs and through the commons room to the portrait. He pushed the door open and saw Kingsley pacing the floor outside.
“Kingsley?” asked Harry, Ginny appearing at his shoulder. Kingsley grabbed his arm and pulled him down the hallway.
“You’ve really done it this time,” said Kingsley. “There are already rumors flying that he’s going to have you brought up on charges of treason.”
“Treason!” hissed Ginny. “He can’t do that!”
“He could if he wanted it badly enough,” said Kingsley, looking from her to Harry. “What exactly did you say to him?” Harry crossed his arms and glanced up and down the hall.
“I told him the Ministry was a joke, and that he needed me to do his job,” he replied, “and that if he came here to threaten me into submission, he could go and fuck himself.”
“Shit,” said Kingsley. He rubbed his unshaven face with his hand. “That’s what I was afraid of. You haven’t by any chance been reading the legal briefs in the Prophet recently, have you?” Harry frowned.
“No,” he said slowly. “Should I be?”
“Yes!” hissed Kingsley. “Scrimgeour has proposed additions and stricter enforcement of the Articles defining Treason for the Wizengamot to discuss in their next session! Why do you think the number of arrests has spiked in the last few weeks?”
“Because he can’t find any Death Eaters,” said Harry angrily. “He’s just pissed because I have more information than he does.”
“And he’s going to start wondering where your information is coming from, believe you me,” said Kingsley. “If he ever found out about your source, you would find yourself locked up faster than you could blink.”
“That’s not going to happen,” said Ginny fiercely. “We’ve been more than careful with that kind of stuff.”
“In any case,” said Kingsley, looking over his shoulder. “Be on your guard. Scrimgeour can recruit spies here just like Voldemort can.” He glanced between them briefly before hurrying down the corridor.
“Shit,” said Harry. Ginny wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned against him. He hugged her to him, resting his cheek on top of her head.
~~+~~+~~+~~
Monday’s Prophet was full of old stories on the battle in the Hall of Prophecy, starting the rumor mills grinding once again on what Blaise teasingly dubbed as Chosen One theories. If Harry had been reclusive before, he was down right invisible now. He skipped most of his classes, spending his copious free time in a secluded corner of the Restricted Section hidden under his Invisibility cloak.
On a particularly frigid night towards the end of the month, Harry was demonstrating how to cast a proper ward detection charm when there was a knock on the door of the unused classroom they had commandeered for their sessions. Harry scowled and walked over to the door. He cracked it and pointed his wand at the empty space outside the door, narrowing his eyes.
“State your name and business,” he growled softly. A low chuckle came from the space.
“Like mother, like son,” said a familiar voice. Harry immediately pulled the door open, feeling the air move as the person stepped into the room. Harry shut the door and cast a few charms on it as Severus cancelled his disillusionment. Severus conjured himself a chair and sat down heavily.
“Sir, your face,” said Ginny, eyeing the long gash across Severus’s cheek that just barely missed his eye as it ran up into his hairline. Harry reached out a hand, but Severus grabbed his wrist.
“It’s fine,” said Severus calmly. “Just a little accident.” He glanced at Harry, apologizing with his eyes. “I’ve come to ask for your help.”
“What do you need?” asked Blaise immediately. Severus took a deep breath and sighed.
“There has been a huge attack ordered for Hogsmeade this weekend,” said Severus quietly. “Saturday, to be precise. I have already informed the Council about it, but there isn’t a lot of preparation we can do without it becoming obvious there was an informant.”
“It’s a Hogsmeade weekend!” cried Caitlyn. “The town will be packed with students.”
“Which is why I need all of you in Hogsmeade,” said Severus. “The students need to be brought back here as fast as humanly possible. The Death Eaters assigned to this mission are not to spare anyone.”
“So we have to be prepared for losses,” said Neville quietly. Severus nodded once, not allowing himself to think about that.
“You must also be prepared for the Ministry’s reaction to your involvement,” said Severus. “Our dear Minister has made it perfectly clear that he will not be tolerant of young vigilantes upstaging his war efforts, which means none of you will be able to return here, if at all.”
“Did you tell McGonagall that we couldn’t come back?” asked Harry, pacing up and down the floor.
“Yes,” said Severus, “just so she wouldn’t think you had been kidnapped or something equally horrible. I wrote all of your parents this afternoon and told them that you would be in my care for the duration of the war. I’m still waiting on replies from Cate’s parents and from your grandmother, Longbottom, but the rest of your parents are fine with you leaving school, so long as you take your tests after everything is all said and done.”
“My grandmother didn’t know I was doing this, exactly,” said Neville, panicked. “She didn’t know we were in contact with you.”
“Relax, boy,” said Severus calmly. “Minerva is a very good friend of Augusta’s. I made sure she talked to her first before I went and sent an owl. I had a very nice dinner with her and Minerva a couple of weeks ago and smoothed things over.” He smiled at Neville and pulled a small box from his pocket. Waving the kids out of his way, he set the box on the floor and tapped it with his wand, restoring the trunk to its normal size.
“You need to wear these on Saturday,” said Severus as he opened the lid. He handed each of them a large parcel wrapped in brown paper. “They’re specially designed to block curses and hexes, though they won’t block everything. Same for the dragonhide boots.” Harry pulled out a set of lightweight robes from his parcel and held them up to himself.
“Wicked,” breathed Neville, staring at the black robes inside his parcel. “Dueling robes.”
“Official dueling robes of every Aurory from here to the Sudan,” said Severus with a smirk. “I had these made to resemble your school robes.” He reached back into the trunk and stood up, a silver case in his hands. He walked over to the teacher’s desk and set the case down, flipping the catches to display three long black sheaths along with three shorter ones.
“I trust I don’t need to warn you about the dangers of these things,” he said sternly. He pulled out a couple of the long daggers, drawing the blades from the leather. He eyed the kids carefully and handed the blades to Blaise and Neville. He pulled three shorter ones and handed each of the girls one. The last - a long dagger with a single ruby set in the hilt - he gave to Harry.
“Only as a last resort,” said Severus quietly. “Unlike most spells, these things have no countercurses and are quite messy.” He shut the case and walked back over to the trunk. He placed the case inside and shrank the trunk once again, putting it in his pocket.
“If you have time,” said Severus, sitting back down in his conjured chair. “You might want to brew a few potions - Invigoration Draught, Nerve Regenerator, Blood replenisher - just to have on you in case you need it. Harry can get you recipes, although I will say I do not feel comfortable with Cate or Longbottom brewing.” He raised his eyebrow at those two, getting sheepish smiles and red faces in return.
“And do not brew any Throwing poisons,” said Severus sternly. “Those would most certainly give me away, as they are among my personal dueling arsenal. Any questions?”
“Can we talk to McGonagall about strategy?” asked Blaise thoughtfully. “It might be better to have some of the Order securing the passageways to free us up to protect the students. It would also keep them out of sight.”
“We could use more of the passageways that way,” said Harry. “We can also get portkeys to the hospital wing to move the wounded --”
“The Order cannot know about this,” said Severus over them, effectively silencing them. “You cannot talk about this with anyone. I must have your word you will not draw attention to yourselves.” Blaise glanced at Neville worriedly.
“It’s a test,” whispered Harry. “He’s trying to see if you’ll tell.” Caitlyn and Ginny looked from Harry to Severus.
“Yes,” admitted Severus. “Among other things.”
“What other things?” demanded Harry. Severus ran his hand through his hair.
“Could the rest of you give us a moment, please?” said Severus softly. Harry cursed under his breath as he walked towards the window. He threw it open and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, lighting one as the others left the room. Severus leaned his arms on his legs, cradling his head in his hands. He exhaled slowly and looked up at Harry.
“Come here,” he said. Harry didn’t move, keeping his back to Severus. “Harry -“
“Tell me the truth,” said Harry, staring out across the grounds. “Why now? We’ve already had three Hogsmeade weekends. He could have done this a lot sooner if he was just testing your loyalty.”
“I don’t know,” said Severus tersely. He sighed, calming himself a little. “I don’t pretend to know the way the Dark Lord’s mind works, child. He is not exactly the most rational being at the present time, so it may be a combination of things. His recruiting efforts have not gone as successfully as they could have, though he has added quite a few bodies to his ranks. The lost of Pansy in particular was a great shock to him, probably due to Draco bragging about her when he was first branded. Mark Anthony and Felicity have gone into hiding to be on the safe side. I don’t know if Pansy told you or not.”
“Does he suspect you?” asked Harry, spinning around to face him. “Is that why he’s doing this - because of the locket?”
“I don’t -“ Severus sighed and slumped back in his chair. “Possibly.”
“Possibly,” repeated Harry incredulously. “Doesn’t that worry you just a little?”
“Of course it does!” snapped Severus. “I’m the one who has to tell him that his chalice he has sent me to find is not where he thinks it is. It’s rotting in a fucking bank vault belonging to Albus Dumbledore!”
“Alright!” conceded Harry. “Alright.” He took one last pull on his cigarette and flicked it out the window.
“Come here,” said Severus, holding out his hand. Harry walked over to him slowly as Severus conjured up a footstool in front of him. He motioned for Harry to sit. He could easily see the agitation, the fear, the determination, all of it swirling around behind the boy’s tired face.
“You haven’t been sleeping well,” said Severus. Harry rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses.
“The dreams have come back,” muttered Harry.
“You’re going to have to be a bit more specific,” said Severus. “You tend to have a multitude of very interesting dreams.” Harry grinned a little.
“The nightmares, for the most part,” said Harry. “I’ve had a few really weird ones lately - ones of my parents that morph into - different things.”
“Any scar activity accompanying these nightmares?” asked Severus, his worry growing by the minute. Harry shook his head, shifting his gaze to the floor.
“But you would tell someone if they did, correct?” said Severus firmly. Harry rolled his eyes.
“Yes,” said Harry. “Someone almost died the last time I had a scar-burning dream. Believe me, I don’t want any more blood on my hands than I’ve already got.”
“That wasn’t the reason I said that, child,” said Severus. He stood and lifted his hand, gently pushing Harry’s hair back from his forehead.
“Try and rest,” he said. “Things will unfold as fate has decided they will. We can do nothing but our best and hope that Fate is on our side rather than theirs.” He raised his wand and cast a Disillusionment charm over himself. “I will see you soon.” He turned and quickly left the room, leaving Harry to sit in his thoughts.