Someday, when I'm all growed up, I'll write a story about my own characters. Until that day, I'll just borrow JKR's.
“I knew she was kissing up to us,” said Ron, “but that was bloody ridiculous!”
Hermione scowled. Apparently teachers never “kissed up.”
Harry stayed silent, content to let Ron and Hermione argue it out for a while.
“We cannot be teachers!” Ron shouted. “She’s gone completely mental! We’re not ready for this! It’s not just fighting You-Know-Who; it’s something we’re just not ready for!”
“So, basically,” Hermione said, “what you’re saying is that you’d rather fight Voldemort “ oh, for crying out loud, Ron, don’t whimper! “ than help teach a bunch of kids to defend themselves against him.”
“Yes! You understand perfectly! I knew I could count on you, Hermione.”
“I think that it’s a good idea to change the curriculum of the school if the Ministry isn’t going to be able to conduct the testing anymore,” pointed out Hermione, “but I’m not sure we ought to be a part of it. Of course, everyone will probably say that at first, before they get used to the idea. But I think it might be a good idea to stay here temporarily until we have a better idea where to look for the next Horcrux. We can use the library to plan our next move, and since we have no idea how to destroy them once we find them, some research wouldn’t hurt us at this point. And don’t forget that once Harry’s had his birthday, we can all come and go as we please, and the teachers won’t really be able to say anything about it.”
Harry decided right then that if Ron and Hermione ever agreed on anything from the start, he could be absolutely certain that it was a bad idea.
Predictably, Ron was still arguing against remaining in school. “We have a mission! McGonagall wants us here under her thumb, so we won’t get in the Order’s way while we carry it out, that’s why she asked in the first place!”
Hermione jumped in at this point. Apparently teachers were never guilty of this kind of manipulation either. “Does not!”
“Does too!”
Harry decided to intervene before they continued on this vein all day. “Don’t forget, he said, we do need the school right now. It might not hurt to stick around and see what’s up until term starts. We can always take off if we have to.”
Ron and Hermione stopped arguing.
“Hermione needs the library if she’s gonna solve any part of the mystery of what was in that potion, unless, of course, either of you have a better idea of where we can do that kind of research.” He waited, but neither of them responded. “Ron, I swear I won’t let McGonagall use us in that way. We will be able to come and go as we please, and if our staying here doesn’t work out we can go. And I think we need to acknowledge the possibility that in the future we may need to tell some other people “ the ones we know we can trust. Not the Order, but some of our friends. Dumbledore was specific about who he wanted to know about this mission, but we’ll need them before the end, I have a feeling. And we’ll need the information the Order has about Voldemort and his followers to finish the job.”
Harry rose, and paced around the Common Room, running his fingers through his hair.
“I realized while she was talking that, aside from killing Voldemort, I’m rather useless to all this. I don’t have the skills to do this really at all. I’m terrible at research, I don’t think I’ll be able to come up with any kind of battle plan. I’m going to need you both, and I’m not going to be able to spend all my time on this project because I honestly don’t have much to contribute right now. I will need to keep my skills sharp, I’ll need to keep moving, and for that, I’ll need people to practice dueling with, somewhere to look up spells, and a good place to practice, all of which I would have here. If I don’t do something with my time while I’m waiting to make a move against Voldemort, I’m gonna burn out before we reach the end, and I don’t want that. I want to finish this. And to finish it properly, we’re going to need to know what the Order knows. I suppose we might be able to get that from someone else, but I’d rather not try unless we have to. We just need to make sure we have an exit strategy before we join up.”
Ron was scowling, Hermione smiling. Excellent, thought Harry, they still don’t agree.
“Well,” Ron said at last, “I wouldn’t mind staying for a while. But I still think that we should have the option to leave at any time, and that McGonagall shouldn’t necessarily know that we might not stay. There must have been a reason Dumbledore didn’t want her to know about the Horcruxes.”
“Yes,” said Hermione, “I would like to stay too, but I don’t think we need to worry about McGonagall. And how do we know she doesn’t know, anyway? We’ll leave if we have to, but I don’t think the Order will give us any problems, and Harry’s right. Their resources will be very helpful.”
“Okay,” Harry decided. “I know you don’t like the change in plans, Ron, but right now it’s the best we have, and the Order really can help. In the meantime, I want to know what you guys think about telling a few of our friends about the mission.”
They set about deciding who they should invite into their secret, if and when it became necessary. There were really only three names of their fellow students put forward, and in the end, they decided that any one of them would be acceptable, although they wanted to wait until it was necessary. Ron wanted to tell his parents, and Hermione wanted to tell McGonagall, but Harry wanted to wait until he needed someone before he could tell them what he was doing. Harry felt that, as the one entrusted with the mission after Dumbledore’s death, he was doing the best thing he could by deciding who to turn to for help now rather than later. He knew, somehow, that he would need some help before it was all over.
In the end, they decided to keep Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, and Neville Longbottom as options for whom to tell about their mission. These were the three people who had gone to the Ministry with them in their fifth year, the three who had showed up when Hermione used the contact Galleons to round up the D.A. when it was needed a few weeks before. Harry felt that Luna had a knack for finding the solutions that no one else would believe, and that she might provide some much-needed random theorizing as well as the fact that she was loyal to the cause. Neville was the one that Harry was adamant about, because of his connection to the prophecy “ the other potential Chosen One “ and Harry felt that Neville had suffered enough to earn a place in the mission to kill Voldemort. Just because Voldemort had gone after Harry first was no reason to leave Neville out of it.
Ginny was the final arguing point. Harry wanted her nowhere near the danger, but he had to admit that she was exceptionally powerful for her age, loyal, and had her own score to settle with Voldemort. Harry also felt, deep down, that he would need her, although he said nothing of this to Ron or Hermione. She was a steadying influence on him, and he felt that he would need that in the coming months even if they couldn’t be together. Ron grumpily relented in the end, and Harry, although he had his doubts; felt that he should do the same. Now he felt horribly guilty for considering including her in their plans instead of guilty for leaving her behind.
Abracadabra by DrTaylor
Chapter Notes: How do you decide the path of your whole life in twenty minutes?