The Speaker and His Wraiths

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Harry sat patiently in the ringing silence following his speech. His nine sat beside him on the pulpit, also silent, but the rest of Harry's Wraiths sat before them in the Come-And-Go Room processing the information they'd been given.

In the short period after lunch with no classes, Harry had scheduled a meeting and brought everyone together. To say his Wraiths were antsy to know how it went was an understatement. To some, they wanted to know if Plan B would be necessary. Others worried something had gone wrong, which it sort of had. Regardless, every one of them waited anxiously as Harry told them about the meeting.

After he'd finished, each of his nine had said a small piece on how they'd personally perceived both the meeting, the attack, and the Dark Lord. Once that was done, however, nobody had spoken. It was understandable, and Harry waited patiently for his Wraiths to collect their thoughts and prepare their questions.

"Do you know what the Dark Lord might have done after you left?" Theo raised his hand, breaking the silence.

"No, but he probably wouldn't have killed anyone." Harry said evenly. "I'll be writing to him after this meeting to double-check, though."

"Do you know who might have told someone about the meeting?" Neville called with a frown. "Could it have been a Wraith?" Chaos broke out, but Harry raised a hand for silence.

"It couldn't have been a Wraith." Harry told the room firmly. "Believe me, I considered it, trying to understand every angle, but it's not possible."

"No offense, but why not?" Blaise raised an eyebrow from his seat.

"Because the Order did not know who we were." The room seemed to collectively reach the same conclusion Harry had. "First of all, a Wraith would've had to admit to being one of us, and who the rest of us are. If a Wraith had done that, Dumbledore wouldn't have interrupted the meeting; there wouldn't have been a reason to. I was at the castle the moment directly before and after the meeting, and he would've come for me for betraying him."

"Alright." Blaise nodded, satisfied. "Thank you." Harry smiled at him.

"Could it have been a test from You-Know-Who?" Harry spotted a Ravenclaw raising her hand. Her name was... Edgecomb?

"Excellent question, but I don't think so." Harry hummed. "The Order knowing about our alliance hinders both us and the Death Eaters, and wouldn't be worth it in the long-run. On top of that, Voldemort wants to protect me because of my status as a Horcrux. Having the Order attack me, risk killing me, wouldn't be worth it for just a test."

"You really trust him?" Justin Fin-Fletchley asked hesitantly. "You-Know-Who, I mean."

"I do and I don't." Harry said, making a so-so motion. "Do I trust him not to betray us? Absolutely. There's no gain for him at all, especially since I'd be his enemy again if this fell through. But do I trust him to be reasonable and easy to deal with before the ritual happens? Absolutely not. However, I think the result outweighs the risk. As long as we stay safe and vigilant, it should be fine."

"Doesn't it bother you we don't know who ratted you out?" Colin Creevey called, "It might happen again."

"Honestly?" Harry grinned at him, "I think Voldemort's got it covered." The room collectively shuddered, and Harry softened his smile. "Any more questions?"

"What are you going to write in your next letter?" Terry Boot called.

"We should ask how he handled the Order." Ginny answered for him.

"And whether he caught the traitor." Pansy added.

"Maybe ask about the alliance too?" Luna suggested. "He said he was still interested, but he'll definitely have questions for us." They all looked at Harry expectantly, and he smiled.

"Yeah, pretty much just all of that." Harry told them, "I'm definitely going to suggest another meeting, but on a smaller scale. The purpose of that first meeting was to prove we're serious about our terms, and that I wasn't lying to him in that first letter. We've done that, so hopefully he'll trust us a little more now."

"But you're going to have more meetings?" Susan Bones asked.

"Definitely." Harry confirmed. "I'm expecting at least two more meetings before we actually perform the ritual. We'll need to explain it all to Voldemort and get his insights on it. Despite his... insanity he used to be a really intelligent wizard."

"You won't be going to those meetings alone, will you?" Abbott frowned.

"No, I'll ask for volunteers." Harry assured her. "Sometimes we might need to recycle volunteers we've already had if no one else wants to, but that's perfectly fine. I'm not going to force anyone. Alright?" Abbott nodded determinantly. "Okay, any questions?" There was a small silence, and then Harry smiled. "Okay then, you all should be getting to class. Most of you have about ten minutes, but some of you younger years still have a short half hour break before lessons."

Harry watched fondly as people stood and chatted as they left, some enthusiastically talking to their neighbors while others murmured their concerns with friends. Both were good, in Harry's opinion, because a group needed cautious level-headed people as much as they needed excitable unshakable ones. Balance. Too much of one or the other tips the scale towards inaction and overthinking or recklessness and jumping straight into the deep end without stopping.

"Hey! Fred, George!" Harry called, blinking in remembrance as he saw them heading for the door.

"What's up, Oh amazing leader?" George raised an eyebrow as he and his twin headed over.

"Listen, I know I thanked you during my speech about the meeting but seriously, thank you for the Shield set." Harry smiled. "It was so cool."

"Ah, don't mention it." Fred waved him off.

"It's the least we could do to contribute to the cause." George grinned.

"And besides, the money you sent us was enough thanks by itself." Fred added.

"Really, we're set to buy our shop now."

"I'm glad." Harry sighed happily, "As I said, I was hit by a stunner to the back. Without that cloak things would have gone very differently."

"Glad to be of service." George said, still grinning.

"I won't keep from class, but yeah, thanks." Harry waved as they jogged away, and sighed again. When he finally turned to his nine, they were all watching him. Harry smiled.

"Alright, let's write a letter then, shall we?"

Voldemort,

I'm certain none of my Wraiths were responsible for the interruption of our meeting. Not to accuse your Death Eaters, but you should take a closer look at how many people you told about our correspondence.

At the very end of our conversation you said we still had things to discuss, and I agree. Most importantly, the ritual my Wraiths and I proposed. We didn't get a change to talk about it before the Order showed up.

That leads me to my next question, what did you do after we left? I'd like to know if you said anything about my identity, our goals, or the alliance, just so my nine and I can be aware of all the facts. Because of how close we are to Dumbledore and the Order, it's best that we have warning if anything might have tipped them off about our identities or involvement.

Lastly, I'd like to thank you for meeting with us. I'm aware of the trust you put in us to bring your Death Eaters and yourself out into the open to meet with us. Despite the mishap that occurred, my Wraiths and I are relieved you seem receptive to our cause and terms.

Thank you.

Looking forward to our continued alliance,

A Speaker and His Wraiths