"We have to what?!" Harry exclaimed, mentally processing the implications of this.
He stood with Ron and Hermione on either side of him, facing Moody and Professor McGonagall in a bedroom of the Weasley's house. In this situation, however, it did not seem to matter that it was three against two.
"I'm afraid that there isn't any way around it Potter, the three of you will simply have to move into your house…for good," Moody said, sounding like a stern uncle but undeniably pleased with himself at the same time.
And Moody was very pleased with himself. During the reception following the wedding, he had been sitting next to Harry lecturing him once again on 'constant vigilance' minutes away from when the toasting should have started.
"For example Potter," Mood had said, exchanging goblets with him--not the Moody was planning on drinking from his own goblet--and holding Harry's goblet up, examining it. "Your goblet could have been poisoned. The wine could have been poisoned, or poison could have been put into the goblet itself. They've been sitting out here for some time…and with place settings no less, I'll have to talk with Molly about that…so anyone could have come by and dropped a few drops of something in. But how do you know? Well, you start by observing the color, and then the smell…."
No matter how use everyone was to Moody looking for poison in everything he ate or drank, no one really expected him to ever find any. His roar of, "POISON!!!" while it had been expected at least subconsciously by everyone that knew Moody at some point, still came as a shock to everyone.
There was, of course, the minor uproar you expect to find when there is an attempted poisoning at a wedding reception during a war. Wands had started springing to the hands of their owners as if they expected Death Eaters to spring from beneath the tables, a few witches had fainted, and it had taken more than half an hour to get the bride calmed down.
The ministry had been called in, and had tested everything else and after making sure that the culprit was no longer on the grounds, had announced that only three goblets had been poisoned; his, Ron's, and Hermione's.
Moody had been practically dancing around, or as much as he could considering the gravity of the situation. After all this time of stiffing food and bringing his own drinks he had finally been vindicated. All of his collogues had been shown that his vigilance had more than paid off. Tomorrow, the whole wizarding world would know as the Daily Prophet was putting the incident in which Harry Potter's life had been saved on the front page.
Harry was so sick of being on the front page, but was more concerned about what this incident implicated.
"I agree with Moody, Potter," Professor McGonagall said, though not with the barely concealed joy Moody possessed. If anything, she appeared slightly annoyed with Moody under her concern for the current circumstances. "I will admit," she continued, "that I would have expected you to be poisoned and not your friends as well, but…."
"I know why Professor," Harry said quietly, he had given this some thought. "Whoever put the poison in the goblets in the cups had to have been looking at the place settings. He knew that Moody was seated beside me, and that there was a good chance that he would catch it. I conclude that no one was meant to die from this poisoning."
McGonagall opened her mouth, and then closed it again, frowning, unable to disagree.
"And then there is the fact that Ron and Hermione were targeted as well as me," Harry bitterly continued. "If it wasn't meant to kill me, it wouldn't have been meant to kill them either. This means that Voldemort probably wanted to tell me that my friends are in danger for no other reason than that they are my friends. It happened at a wedding, which while it may have been the most convenient place to do it, means that he is trying to separate me from any normalcy in life, that I couldn't even have one day of untarnished bliss to enjoy with my friends.
"It's about him and me, and that's all it really comes down to," Harry finished, not able to keep the tartness out of his voice. He looked over towards Ron and Hermione who were both sitting on the bed for lack of room to stand. Ron was frowning to himself, nodding at Harry's statements, but his face held a resolve that more than suggested he was planning on sticking this one out. Hermione was still somewhat pale, and though it was apparent that she agreed with him, it still looked like her mind had reached several other conclusions none of which she liked very much.
Professor McGonagall had a sad look in her eyes. "You've grown…haven't you," she muttered under her breath before speaking louder. "While that may be true, it doesn't change that all three of you should live in Grimmauld Place for your own safety. Leaving to do whatever it is Professor Dumbledore had wanted you do to," she still sounded distinctly unhappy about not knowing what exactly that was, "but other than that, it might be better for you to stay where you'll be safe."
Safe…with the Malfoys for company. It didn't sound much more fun than his short visit to his uncle and aunt's house…Harry had only gone because Dumbledore had wanted him too…but there was no where he could safely escape to should matters become strained. He couldn't go to Hogwarts to escape anymore, or to the Weasley's either because of the danger it would put them in.
It was a trap of his own making, he had allowed the Malfoys to stay, but what other alternative could he have decently chosen?
"Fine, we'll go stay in Grimmauld Place. Is there anything else we need to address?" Harry conceded tiredly, knowing that there would be at least one more thing to talk about, and he wasn't disappointed.
"Yes, there is," McGonagall admitted, "and it's the Malfoys. Moody disagrees with me on a few of the finer points here…." Moody harrumphed, but McGonagall continued, "Well, we don't let them know any more than they have to for obvious reasons. However, you all should at least be civil to them. Friendly would be better, but civil will do for now."
"WHAT!" Ron exclaimed, almost jumping off the bed, only stopping when he bounced into Harry. "Civil, friendly even, to Malfoy!"
"Think about it Ron," Hermione said, finally giving voice to the conclusion she had reached even before reaching this room. "What if, in spite of all of our efforts, Malfoy finds out information that stands a good chance of getting Voldemort to 'forgive' his failure if he gives it to him? If we are as nasty to him as he had been to us while we were still in school that would only push him to go back to Voldemort. Personally, I think that Malfoy's decision to run was made entirely with his head, but this isn't what he wanted to do, and wouldn't have if he had had any other reasonable choice. While I've never thought personally that Malfoy ever had much of a heart, he isn't totally horrible, so it may be possible--though probably very unlikely--that he might someday actually 'turn good.' However, it won't happen unless we go the extra mile."
"What do you expect? Am I supposed to show up with candy and flowers or something?" Ron protested.
"I wouldn't suggest it," Hermione said with a small smile. "He'd probably think that you were trying to poison him or something."
………….