Who'll Fill a Coward's Grave? ↣ Harmione

Chapter Four

Chapter 4 - A Prophecy Told

Ron was first to react, quickly making his way over to the entering trio. "Hermione, I don't really know what to say. Sorry just doesn't seem to be enough."

Hermione had a now blushing Ron in a hug, tears once more running down her cheeks. Not knowing how to cope with a crying Hermione, Ron turned his attention onto Harry. "Glad you were there, mate."

Harry just nodded as he took Hermione back into his arms - just before Mrs Weasley arrived. With her arms around the hugging couple, Molly was in full smothering mode.

"Oh my dear, we're all so sorry for your loss. You're going to have to leave the kitchen however as we're about to have an Order meeting. I brought some sandwiches so you children could go somewhere and chat..."

His arms tightening around Hermione, Harry stared straight at the woman. "Mrs Weasley, what age were Ron and I when we saved Ginny?"

If Harry had drawn back and smacked Molly one, the effect on the crowded room couldn't have been any more pronounced. He noticed Arthur move to wrap his arms around Ginny, almost as if to reassure himself his daughter was still with them. Harry's question also had Molly taking a few steps back. Although she now had the complexion of a bottle of milk, after being reminded of the day she almost lost two of her children, Molly was a tough witch. She wasn't about to have her opinion publicly challenged by the teenage wizard in front of her.

"That doesn't change the fact you're still only fourteen. You need to leave this to the adults..."

Using the same calmness that served him well last night, Harry then proceeded to use logic to destroy her argument. "Ron and I took an adult with us to save Ginny. That 'adult' tried to leave us all down there to die - while he got a new bestseller out of our deaths. Last night, I waited on the adult who was supposed to be guarding us taking action - we just buried a good man because I waited. We have a returned Voldemort who wants everyone in this room dead, and a powerfully corrupt Minister of Magic who would throw all of us in Azkaban - but only if he didn't have a dementor with him at the time."

Not being able to contain himself any longer, the sarcasm was dripping from every syllable of Severus' comment. "So you think you know better than everyone in this room now? Potter, your arrogance is astonishing."

The expected explosion never came, a respectful Harry calmly answered Snape. "Professor, I would be the first to put my hand up to admit the amount I don't know is astonishing. There are people in this room, yourself included, with a far greater understanding of what is happening around us - and what we need to do to change things for the better. I would love to go and spend time with my friends, time spent just being a teenager. Whether people in here like it or not that just can't happen. Time and time again, Voldemort has come after me. Now he's coming after my friends, I can't keep relying on luck to save me and them. I need to be better, I need to be more prepared, then next time we might not have to bury any of ours."

Looking directly at Snape, Harry tried to reach the man behind the scowl. "Professor, from the moment I met Draco his greatest ambition was to be just like his father. Lucius Malfoy was a death eater, one who turned up in Crawley with the intention of taking my fifteen year old girlfriend to Voldemort. Her parents were only muggles, not worth their consideration, they were simply to be dealt with. Lucius took his son on that mission, a mission Draco was clearly looking forward too. Had I stunned both of them, Fudge would have seen the Malfoys were cleared of any wrongdoing - and I would probably still have ended up sentenced to Azkaban."

Now talking to the entire room, Harry made his point. "That is what we're up against here, a corrupt system where the death eaters use their positions and gold to help make the rules. These are the same rules they know they can break whenever it suits them, their position and gold again enough to protect them from justice. That is why I need help with training, to fight against all of that. That is the only way we're ever going to win this war, because this is a war. I've witnessed two innocent casualties of this war murdered in the last couple of weeks, it's time to fight back."