The Inadequate Life

“Harry!”

Harry pulled his hand back just before he threw down the Floo powder that would transport him and Ginny to their meeting with Tonks and Remus. The two of them looked over to the stairs, where Angelina, Alicia and Katie had appeared and were bearing down on them. “Er… yeah?” Harry said nervously.

“We’ve got a bone to pick with you,” Katie declared.

“What did I do?”

“You said you had an assignment for us!” Angelina reminded him pointedly. “It’s been a week—when are you going to give us something to do?”

“There’s only so many times Angelina can drag Fred off for a shag before she gets bored,” Alicia said, and smiled placidly when Angelina glared at her.

Harry grimaced. “All right,” he said reluctantly. “We do have something for you to do. There’s something I have to do first that I’ve been putting off, and that’s why I haven’t asked to meet with you. But I promise that right after this meeting, I’ll come back to the house and get it done. Then we can talk after that, okay?”

“Okay,” Angelina said. “But right after lunch we’re coming to find you.”

“Let’s just meet in the second conference room at two,” Harry suggested.

The three girls agreed, and headed back up the stairs, already speculating wildly—and loudly—about what Harry planned to ask them to do. Ginny gave Harry an odd look. “You know, you never told me exactly what you want them to do,” she pointed out. “You just said you hadn’t really planned it out well enough yet. And what do you have to do before you can give them their job?”

Harry sighed and raised his hand with the Floo powder. “I have to have a serious talk with Hermione,” he said, and threw down the powder. “Tonks’ apartment!”

When they came out of the Floo, Tonks was there to help them up. Harry could tell from the look Ginny gave him that his cryptic comments hadn’t satisfied her, and he would be hearing about it later. “Hi Tonks,” Harry said to the stunningly purple-haired young woman. “Is Remus here yet?”

“He’s waiting in the other room,” Tonks said with a grin. “C’mon. I can’t wait to see the look on his face when you start filling him in.”

Harry was deeply embarrassed when Remus tearfully thanked him for permanently taking care of Fenrir Greyback. “Knowing he’ll never be able to do to any other children what he did to me… it means more than I could possibly say,” Remus explained.

“Well you know… it was an accident,” Harry admitted. “I was just trying to stop him from hurting any of us…”

Remus smiled. “I never for a moment thought you went to the Shrieking Shack with the intention of killing Fenrir,” he said. “Speaking of which, perhaps you’d better tell me some of what Dora couldn’t. I knew you were making some plans, but they sound a great deal more complex than I’d thought.”

“First things first,” Ginny said pointedly, and pulled a vial of Veritaserum out of her pocket.

Remus readily agreed to take some, and proved who he was and where his allegiances rested right away. In the interests of fairness, Ginny and Tonks each took some as well; Harry didn’t only because the wrong question could have him revealing things like the location of the D.A.’s headquarters. “But I still have to prove who I am,” he said thoughtfully. “Hmm…”

“I know,” Tonks said quietly. “The last time we met, I told you that Remus thought it was his job to be your godfather now.” She ignored Remus’ indignant exclamation. “What did you say in response?”

Harry went a bit red. “Er… I said that I’d rather have him as a friend than a godfather.”

“Right.” Tonks gave Remus a pointed look. “You have something to say?”

Remus’ mouth snapped shut. “Evidently not,” he muttered.

“Er, Remus… Tonks mentioned the geas to you, didn’t she?”

“Yes she did,” Remus confirmed, frowning at Tonks for another moment before turning his attention back to Harry. “Part of me wishes that we had taken that much precaution within the Order—it certainly seems wise in retrospect.”

Ginny had learned how to cast the geas with tutelage from Hermione, and had pretty well mastered it. It took almost no time to cast, and then they asked a few specific questions; Remus was unable to answer certain questions, proving that the spell had worked. “Good,” Harry said with satisfaction. “Now, most of what we’re doing, I’m going to let Tonks fill you in on now that she can. But I’m going to explain the basic idea of what we’re up to—as much as I can, anyway.”

“You mean that even after placing a geas on us, there are still things you won’t tell us?” Remus asked.

“There are some things that no one else in the D.A. knows but me, Ginny, Ron and Hermione,” Harry said. “And even with all the precautions we’re taking, we need to keep it that way. Dumbledore thought that some of it was so important that he didn’t tell anyone but me.”

“Told ya,” Tonks said smugly to Remus.

Remus sighed. “I trusted Albus’ judgment,” he said, “and I trust yours, Harry. All right… tell me about this army of yours.”

Harry and Ginny spent about an hour telling Remus the most basic aspects of what Dumbledore’s Army was doing. Harry also told Remus about the House of Black, since Harry was the Secret Keeper, so that Remus would be able to go there for their next meeting. Remus asked a lot of questions, and seemed utterly gobsmacked—and not a little impressed—by how organized the D.A. was.

Finally Harry looked up at the clock and was shocked to see that it was almost noon. “We have to go,” he said abruptly. “There’s a lot more to do today. Tonks, you can fill him in on the rest, right? Especially about what we’ve talked about.”

“No problem,” Tonks agreed. “If I know Remus, he’ll notice half a dozen things immediately that’ll make the plan better.”

“Good. Make sure to remember them for the next time we meet,” Harry said as they walked back to the fireplace. “We’ll owl you. But if something comes up and you really need to talk, send an owl to Fred and George’s shop.”

“Thank you again, Harry,” Remus said, shaking Harry’s hand. “For trusting me to help you in this. I think if I hadn’t, James and Sirius would have resurrected themselves just to come haunt me.”

Harry smiled at the thought of the ghosts of his father and Sirius pestering Remus like two troublemaking poltergeists. He and Ginny said their goodbyes, and Flooed back to the House of Black.

It was lunchtime, so a few D.A. members were in the kitchen eating, and they all greeted Harry and Ginny as they picked themselves up and headed for the stairs. Ginny barely waited until she and Harry were out of earshot before growling “Well?”

“Well what?”

“Don’t give me that! What’s this about having to meet in private with Hermione? You two haven’t had any secrets from me and Ron before! Have you?” she asked furiously.

“No, of course not,” Harry said. “Look, it’s not exactly a secret so much as it’s—really personal. I don’t know what Hermione’s thinking about it, and I didn’t want to say anything until I’d had the chance to talk with her in private.”

Ginny considered Harry silently for a moment. They reached the second floor and headed down the hall to the staircase leading to the third floor. Ginny seemed about to voice another question when someone called their names; “Harry! Ginny!”

Turning, they saw that Neville had come out of the greenhouse and was hurrying towards them. “Hi Neville,” Harry said once Neville reached them. “Are you okay?”

“Um… not really,” Neville admitted; he looked embarrassed. “I, um… I need some help. In the greenhouse.”

Harry blinked. “But—but what about Lavender and Parvati?” he asked confusedly. “Are they not enough help?”

“Well… they aren’t helping me anymore,” Neville replied, looking surprised. “They didn’t tell you?”

“No,” Ginny said a bit angrily. “Actually, we haven’t seen them practically at all in the last few days. We thought that you were keeping them busy.”

“Oh.” Neville hung his head. “I—it was kind of my fault,” he confessed. “They were trying, but neither of them is really any good at Herbology. They kept making mistakes, and eventually Parvati almost went in the room with the Last Rites plant—I barely stopped her in time.” Ginny and Harry were both shocked, knowing how dangerous the Last Rites plant was. “And I got angry and snapped at them,” Neville continued, shamefaced. “They got upset and said they were leaving and not coming back.”

“They what?” Harry yelped. “I don’t believe this! What do they think this is, a class they can skive off?”

“Neville, don’t worry,” Ginny said. “Lavender and Parvati are going to get a very thorough dressing down, and they’ll be back to help you right away.”

“Um, well actually, I’d rather you didn’t,” Neville said hesitantly. “You see, even though Lavender and Parvati really were trying, they were hindering more than they were helping. I was spending most of my time watching them to make sure they didn’t do anything—er—”

“Stupid,” Ginny stated flatly.

“Um, yeah. They just don’t care enough about plants to be careful.”

“They never have,” Harry said reluctantly. “Remember the time in fourth year that Parvati wasn’t paying attention and accidentally brushed against the Tickling Tree? She was in the hospital wing for weeks.”

“I remember,” Neville said with a shy smile. “I heard that they had to keep giving her Sleeping Draughts so she wouldn’t laugh her throat raw. I really think it would be better if Lavender and Parvati were doing—well, anything else. But I can’t run the entire greenhouse by myself anymore, not with everything that’s needed. I tried, but I haven’t been able to do more than just keep the plants alive. I’m way behind on everything else. I really need some help.”

“You’ll get it, don’t worry,” Ginny assured him. “Were you planning on being in the greenhouse for a while?”

“I, um, I kind of have to be right now,” Neville said. “I’m just going to go to the kitchen for a bit of lunch and then head right back. Why?”

“We’ll be bringing you some help—some better help—later this afternoon,” Ginny said firmly.

Harry raised his eyebrows at her. “We will?”

“Yes.” Ginny smiled at Neville. “Thanks for having the courage to swallow your pride and tell us, Neville.”

Neville flushed. “It, um… you’re welcome.”

After Neville had walked off, Harry turned to Ginny. “Gin, I know this is important, but I told Angelina, Alicia and Katie—”

“I haven’t forgotten,” Ginny interrupted. “Nor have I forgotten about your private conversation with Hermione! So here’s what we’re going to do, Harry: you’re going to go do whatever it is you’re doing, and I will deal with Lavender and Parvati, and with finding their replacements to help Neville. And once we’re both done, you and I are going to have a very long talk about keeping secrets!”

Harry swallowed nervously. He’d never intended for Ginny to think he was keeping secrets from her—this was something he’d only even thought of, and hadn’t talked about with anyone. “It wasn’t really like that…”

“You’ll have plenty of time to explain later,” Ginny interrupted again. “We said from the beginning that we weren’t going to let—us—get in the way of the D.A., and I’m not about to start now, not when we’re so close to being done with it all. But you’d better be prepared to explain yourself later—and it had better be good!”

Without waiting for Harry to respond, Ginny turned and stormed up the stairs to the third floor, leaving Harry staring slack-jawed after her.