Song Of The Guardians

The Guardians

Hermione was pacing the living room floor and wringing her hands anxiously. Harry's eyes followed her progress for a moment before he looked over at Professor Snape. "I'm at a loss," Harry admitted in resignation. "What are your thoughts Professor Snape?"

Snape's brow was furrowed in thought. After a pause he said "I feel that we have very few options in this case. Unless you'd like to kill them all and save us the trouble." Ignoring the eye rolling that followed this statement, he continued. "Disloyalty to the Freemans would likely result in having our memories erased or altered. If somehow that is not the outcome, it would be because we killed them."

At this, Hermione could not help but laugh. She had even stopped pacing. Draco smirked and then looked over at Snape, who appeared to be a bit surprised but smug. "I'm sorry," Hermione said, attempting to stifle her giggles. "Please go on Severus," she said pressing her lips together and clasping her hands behind her back.

Severus nodded, smirking slightly in amusement. He collected his thoughts and went back to the subject at hand. "Choosing to protect the Freemans could be beneficial to us. Aside from the obvious boost to our numbers, they have power that would otherwise be unavailable to us. If they are the power that the lunatic vampire seeks, we have no choice but to stand between the Freemans and the vampires."

"I agree completely," Minerva said seriously. After consideration, she added "Almost completely - That bit about killing all of them was unnecessary." Severus chuckled darkly, causing Minerva to smile and roll her eyes at him. She then turned to Harry and said "We should have them come inside so can talk a bit more."

Harry looked around at everyone. "Are we all in agreement?" he asked, his arms spread in an open invitation.

Neville nodded enthusiastically, his eyes wide in his amazement at the whole situation. "Siren's are actually real," he said, awestruck. "We can't turn our backs on them." Ron and Ginny nodded in agreement.

"I agree," Hermione said quietly. "All of this is so overwhelming, but we should stand by them. They didn't have to tell us, but they did." After a brief pause she added "They went against the Guardian to tell us the truth."

Harry nodded his approval at her. He looked to Minerva and Severus, seeing their steadfast assurance that this was the right course. Then, he remembered that one person had said surprisingly little throughout most of the evening. He focused on Draco with a questioning look. "Anything to contribute?" he asked politely.

"I'm not sure there's anything I can add at this point," Draco drawled in response. At the expressions on his friends' faces, he sighed irritably. "I'm not particularly thrilled about all this," he grumbled. "But, fine. Yes, I'm in." He watched as Harry hurried to retrieve the Freemans, with a sullen expression. He was angry with himself for sulking, but he also felt very hurt that Caroline had kept this information from him. He supposed that he couldn't reasonably demand such disclosures from her since they were not together. However, this knowledge didn't lesson the sting of this particular situation.

A few moments later, Harry returned with the Freemans and Andy. Minerva rose from her seat before anyone else could speak. "Professor Freeman," she said, her expression severe "your resignation is declined." She peered at Caroline over her spectacles. "It is unacceptable and I will not tolerate such foolishness." A tiny wink betrayed her serious tone, causing Caroline to smile in gratitude.

Andy cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention. "Does this mean you have made a decision?" he asked, eyes darting to each face in the room. His right hand twitched just a bit with the urge to grab his wand, just in case.

Severus noticed the twitch and smirked. "Relax," he said smoothly, his arms crossing over his chest. "The others have informed me that homicide would be in poor taste at this time. We have chosen to offer our assistance."