Harry Potter- The New Prophecy

Emergency Meeting

Harry was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. All he wanted to do was go home, curl up with his wife, and go to sleep. Instead, he found himself in the middle of yet another order meeting, where time ticked by slower than ever.

The meeting had started nearly an hour ago, and so far all they had managed to get through were several versions of the events that had taken place that evening. Harry had explained what he remembered, though many of his memories of the evening were blurred, especially what happened after he had started losing blood. Whatever Harry wasn't sure about, others were able to fill in. From what Harry gathered, they hadn't been very successful, but they also hadn't lost anyone on their side, which was a blessing in itself.

"Most of the death eaters managed to escape." Ron said. "Except for the ones who were stunned long enough to be arrested. Then, of course, the one that Harry killed." He turned to smile at his best friend. "Bloody brilliant, mate."

"Ron!" Hermione snapped, clearly horrified by his view of the word 'brilliant.'

"What? It was." Ron insisted. "I mean, you should have seen Harry. He was soaked in blood. I thought he was going to pass out at any minute. But there he was, shooting down death eaters. I'm not sure who it was that he killed, but it was still brilliant."

Ginny put a hand to her mouth and stifled a sob when her brother mentioned how close Harry was to dying, and several of the women shot Ron a disapproving look.

Harry put his face in his hands and sighed. He didn't like to kill if he could help it. It hadn't been the first time, of course. He had killed Quirrel in his first year. He may not have meant to kill him, but it still counted in Harry's opinion. Then there was Voldemort, whom he had killed in the final battle, followed by a death eater or two after the war had ended. He had killed his fair share of people; all people you could argue deserved it, but it never got easier.

"You saved my life." Bill told him, obviously trying to relieve some of the guilt. "I was already fighting off a couple of death eaters and hadn't realized he had his wand pointed at me from behind my back. If it wasn't for you, I might not be here."

"You did what you had to." George added.

"Better one of them than one of us." Fred said.

Harry sighed. "I know. It doesn't make it any easier, though."

Dumbledore caught his eye and gave him a reassuring smile. "Taking another life, no matter how evil, should never be an easy thing, Harry." He said wisely. "The moment that taking another life becomes easy is the moment you truly lose yourself. The guilt and the regret—that is what makes you different from them. Don't ever feel bad for feeling guilty about the loss of a life. I'm sure we've all been there. I know I have."

There were several nods of agreement throughout the room.

"Now that we got that out of the way," Albus began. "It is time to discuss some precautionary measures. I do not believe it is safe for anyone to return to the Burrow, at least not for the foreseeable future."

Molly closed her eyes, and a few stray tears rolled down her cheeks. The Burrow had been her home for over forty years. The thought of having to leave, even if it wasn't forever, was hard.

Arthur took his wife's hand in his own and gave it a gentle squeeze. He appeared to be just as upset as she was, though he tried to hide it. "Where will we go?" He asked Albus.

Harry was about to offer that they stay at Grimmauld Place when Bill spoke up. "You can stay with us at Shell Cottage. There is more than enough room, especially since we've added on."

Shell Cottage didn't used to be that big. It was a decent-sized house and had enough room for Bill and Fleur along with their three children, but a few years ago Bill decided to add on. At the time, he and Fleur had been discussing having more children, and they figured they would need the room. Even though they ended up deciding that three children was enough for them, adding on proved useful when they had visitors. Often times, Teddy and the other children enjoyed having sleepovers there due to the fact that it was so close to the ocean and was the perfect place to play.