Harry arrived back at the Great Hall to find a congregation of older students being pep-talked by Professor McGonagall.
Surely it was about the arrival of the Ministry of Magic.
She was just short of enraged, pacing a dozen steps in one direction, just to spin on her heels and storm the other way, her finger declaratively jabbing the air as she went.
"I did not see Hogwart's saved from the evil mechanisms of the Dark Lord just for a bunch of dodgy beauracrats to swoop in and take control!"
She was ominously alluding to combat, but Harry saw that her troops were weary, oh so weary.
He walked up and stood beside her, and saw the looks in their faces rise considerably.
She placed a warm hand on his shoulder, her chest swelling.
"Anything to add, Mr. Potter?"
Oof, he wasn't expecting a speech.
"Er, uh. We know you're tired, the last thing any of us want is to fight again so soon after so many of our friends were....lost. Look, Kingsley Shacklebolt is head of the Ministry now, he's a friend..."
A polite, very familiar voice broke into his speech as several shapes began to apparate near him.
"Ahem. Shacklebolt WAS head of the Ministry."
Umbridge.
Dolores Umbridge.
Harry's hand stole closer to his wand, and he was glad to see that McGonagall did the same.
"Umbridge. You're supposed to be in Azkhaban!" she said.
Umbridge turned that spoiled smile to her, her voice like syrup from a sick tree.
"Things have been set in motion with the fall of Hogwart's.."
"Hogwart's is STILL HERE..."
"Ahem. If I may continue...with Scrimgeour gone, there was a consensus among the decision makers that someone with a little more...conviction than Kingsley Shacklebolt be in charge of..salvaging what's left of the school.."
"You mean there was a coup and some of the most crooked members released you from prison! Where is Kingsley?"
Umbridge didn't answer, only smiled knowingly. The half-dozen aurors she brought with her began to spread out.
McGonagall backed away, pulling Harry with her.
As they went, Harry began assessing the order of who we would hex, starting with the most talented aurors. He would leave Umbridge to McGonagall.
Umbridge looked beyond her to the students.
"Ahem. Students, I must ask you to return to your rooms, after all, it IS a school day and..."
"They are with US, bitch. They have proudly fought the last battle with us, and if we can repel and defeat the DARK LORD, we should have no problem with a fat...conniving..."
Wands were drawn fast.
Harry drew down on Simon Hecklepuss, he saw him flinch a bit.
Suddenly, a cloaked figure landed between the groups, trailing behind him thick black smoke.
He stood, turning to Umbridge.
Murmurs went around.
"A Death Eater!"
"Still alive?"
"Impossible!"
Umbridge smiled, a but too relieved for Harry's taste.
"Ah, a former servant of the Dark Lord. Are you here to help us reclaim the school, and show these welps the TRUE meaning of law and..."
The figure struck, his pale arm blindingly flicking a killing hex. It found home directly in Umbridge's open mouth, and she crumpled to the floor, shatting herself.
The other aurors, dumbstruck, hesitated a split-second.
It was all Harry and McGonagall needed to quickly disarm them, wands flying.
One last auror ducked Harry's spell, and moved to retaliate.
Just before he could, he dropped frozen to the floor, Hermione standing behind him.
"Hermione?"
She looked pleased, but something stirred in her face, just below the surface.
As far as the identity of the Death Eater, well...
"Weasley!" McGonagall cried as his hood dropped. Ron's pale visage shown out at them, somehow older and crueller than just days before.
"Excellent ruse, Weasley! I knew you were an exceptional wizard!"
He stopped her with one uplifted hand.
"It's no ruse, Professor."
"What? Ronald, surely..."
"I'm sorry Professor. Things have happened lately (looking at Harry) that have convinced me that the straight way, the wholesome way, often leads to sacrifice, loss, and betrayal."
He spit the last word like an unsavory seed.
"Ronald! Think of what you are saying!"
"Oh, I've given it plenty. It's a cruel world, and sometimes the only way to get what you want, what you DESERVE, is by casting aside what is good. It only handicaps you. Makes you suffer."
McGonagall was in tears.
"Potter, talk to your friend! Stop him, for God's sake."
Harry only lowered his head, silent.
Ron glowered at him.
"Me and my friend will surely be having our talk, one day soon."
He beckoned Hermione over, and she hugged him, draping one smooth leg over his own. She looked at him, enthralled.
Together, they apparated away, leaving a cyclone of smoke that swirled and drifted away.
Harry walked away to the gasps of the students and the wails of the Professor.
2
At Hog's Head
Harry sat alone at a table, several empty mugs in front of him. He gestured for another Butter Beer, belching lightly.
A chubby waitress delivered it without a word.
He looked around, his vision swimming delightfully.
So this was his celebration, Voldemort vanquished, Hogwart's saved, his whole existence redeemed, and he sat quite drunk, short his two best mates.
Ah, but the life of the Chosen One is never without sacrifice.
He was beginning to accept the cruelty of his fate, relishing the daily bitterness. It gave him a certain..swagger.
A few students came in, seeming to be enjoying a day without classes. One of them, a blonde with thick curls and thicker curves, caught his bleary attention.
She met his gaze, giggled to her friends, and sneakily hiked her skirt up a few inches. The tan legs beneath were wonderfully squishy, he could imagine the dimples he would leave when he squeezed them.
He winked, and drained his Butter Beer.
