Time as a Healer

The kitchen was brightly lit, a fire crackled in the large fireplace and there was a scraping of chairs as everyone sat around the large table in the middle of the room. There was silence for a moment until Molly Weasley bustled forward with a plate of home made cookies and Butterbeer for everyone.



There was little chatting until Harry stood up at the head of the table. At some point there had been an unspoken agreement that Harry would become the head of the Order of the Phoenix in place of Albus. Harry didn’t enjoy the responsibility, it meant having to think about everyone all of the time and do his best to keep them safe. He relied heavily on the others, especially Arthur, who was the oldest surviving Order member apart from Severus.



‘I wanted to talk to you all about Severus.’ Harry murmured slowly.



There were a few glances between the Order members and Neville blanched a little.



‘Is he coming back then, Harry?’ he asked him.



They had all talked for a long time about the possibility of bring Severus back to the Order but it had been agreed that this would be as a last resort. Knowing that he was coming back meant the situation had become more serious than any of them had realised.



‘Yes, he is Neville. Before I go into the reasons why, I need you all to know something.’ He paused and hoped he was doing the right thing.



‘You all know he has been sharing a house with Hermione for the past five years?’



Everyone nodded.



‘Well, tomorrow, we are going to get him and for the safety of the operation, his memories of the last five years are going to be removed. They will be replaced with false ones. He will think he has been away looking for Potions ingredients and will have no memory of living with Hermione at all.’



He looked around at everyones faces and stopped at Luna, her eyes wide.



‘Poor Hermione,’ she stated softly. ‘She’s losing a friend.’



There was silence as what Luna said sank in. It hadn’t occurred to them that this was going to be harder on Hermione than anyone else.



Harry smiled at Luna gratefully.

‘My point exactly. Hermione will be coming to live here at Grimmauld Place, she will need company around her right now…’ he glanced at Ginny. ‘It might be a good idea not to talk about it, she is feeling upset enough and I need her to stay focussed. We have a job to do and so does she.’



Molly’s brow furrowed. There was more to this than met the eye, she could tell by the way Ginny and Harry were looking at each other.



‘What is this about really, Harry?’ She said softly. ‘And don’t tell me it’s nothing. I can see you’re not telling us something.’



Harry sighed deeply and looked at Ginny, who shook her head at him. They had debated telling everyone the truth but Ginny had convinced Harry that it was Hermione’s decision to make.



‘There is more to say, but it’s Hermione’s choice if she shares it with you or not. I’m sure you will all know eventually anyway, but for now it’s enough for you to know she’s going through a rough time.’ He looked at Molly pleadingly. ‘I’m sorry, Molly…’



Molly smiled at him sadly. She loved her son-in-law and she knew he was only doing what he thought was right. But she cared for Hermione too. Perhaps she could provide a shoulder for her when she moved in, she mused.



‘Let’s move on then. Seamus has been doing surveillance at the Manor, I’ll let him fill you in.’



Seamus looked around the table but didn’t stand up. He had filled out and grown taller over the past few years. His face was haggard, a few days stubble on his chin and dark shadows under his eyes. He had observed things over the past week he never wanted to think about again.



‘The revels have started again… they’re bringing in muggle females and I haven’t seen any leave.’ His jaw twitched slightly.



‘Do we have any ideas to his identity yet, Seamus?’ Arthur looked at him over steepled fingers.



Seamus shook his head. ‘No. He wears a glamour all the time. He actually makes himself look like Voldermort, the sick bastard. But the others love it, they fawn and scrape and he walks about waving his wand around.’



‘Is he as powerful?’ Harry asked, his eyes narrowing. It was a brave or stupid man who would put himself into the shoes of the Dark Lord unprotected.



‘Only because he uses Voldermort’s own spells, no other reason. The way he goes on though, he’s very convincing.’ Seamus shook his head.



Harry bit his lip, his brow furrowed slightly.



‘I think you might have hit on something, Seamus. What if the others’ really do think he is Voldermort? I don't know how else he would he be getting away with it! Lucius wouldn’t condone another in his place, not after almost losing Draco. The Malfoy’s must be convinced it’s him or they wouldn’t be allowing him free reign of the Manor.'



There was amurmur of agreement and nodding of heads.



Arthur looked up at Harry, smiling a little. 'Well done, Harry. I think you've got it.'



Neville looked down the table. 'But what do we do? We can't just walk through the front door of Malfoy Manor and tell them he's an imposter!'



Harry pondered for a moment.



'We need to get to Draco, I think. He’s the only one we have any hope of convincing…and we really could use his help.’



‘And how the hell will we do that?’ Ron spoke from the end of the table.



He didn’t contribute to meetings very often now. Since moving in with Lavender he had distanced himself a little from the others, wanting to forget Voldermort and just get on with his life. He returned to the Order reluctantly and intended to leave as soon as the new threat was eliminated.



Harry shrugged. ‘We use Severus.’





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Hmmm...this fighting stuff is tough to write so I hope it's going ok... back to the lemons, I think... pwp coming up...literally!