Piece By Piece

Chapter Twenty-Two: Game Plan

(Brief A/N: I edited this a bit because a few typos were bugging me. If you get a second chapter notification, that's why. Thank you!)

"It's no use strategizing; I'll go alone."

James looked up abruptly at his son and let out something like a startled cry. He wants to go alone?! There's no way he'll survive!

Everyone else present seemed to agree. Suddenly Harry was the target of a few dozen voices asking him if he was serious and telling him off for even suggesting the idea.

"Are you insane?!" James heard Hermione screech. "How'd that work out last time, huh?"

"We won the damn war, Hermione," Harry countered.

"You died!" Ron exclaimed.

"Briefly!" Harry protested. "And the plan still worked!"

James pushed Sirius off of his shoulder and stood up, but he found himself at a loss for words. How was he supposed to say what he truly felt about Harry's idea without sobbing on the spot? How was he supposed to counter his son's suicide mission by simply saying, "I can't let you get killed?" How was he supposed to say anything without ranting to the entire crowd about how much Harry meant to him; how after all these years apart James couldn't possibly be expected to let his son leave with the possibility that they'd never see each other again? Despite having only been with his son for a few weeks now he knew that Harry wouldn't step down from an idea like this because James was afraid of losing him again. Harry, like his mother, was a man of strategy, not impulse and emotion.

As if she could read James' thoughts, Lily chose that moment to speak up. "Everyone stop!" She yelled.

The room became almost silent. Harry and his friends turned their attention to her.

"We know that they have the potion to keep bringing themselves back," Lily said. "If we destroy it and make sure they can't make anymore we've solved a huge part of the problem. After that it's just taking out everyone who they managed to bring back."

"That'll require way too much manpower," Harry countered. "It's too risky; too many people could die. I can't..." Harry's voice trailed off. He paused. "I can't let more innocent people die when there's an obvious solution."

James couldn't take it anymore. "But if you go alone," he said, his voice shaking, "They'll kill you."

"Maybe," Harry shrugged. "Or maybe they won't."

James was baffled at Harry's apparent willingness to die. "What do you mean maybe?"

"Well, sure," Harry began nonchalantly, "Their life goal or whatever is to kill me; we know that. But mum raised a good point: we saw those potion ingredients. It's apparent that they might be trying to bring back everyone's favorite noseless genocidal maniac. And at least in the first version of that potion... they need me. So they might throw me in a cell and stall for a few days; during which time I can plan and execute a takedown."

James found himself unable to speak again. How could Harry be so willing to die? How was he so ready to jump into this plan in which he himself admitted that he only had a small chance of surviving?

"Mate," Ron butted in. "If you die, we're screwed. They'll think they've won; and there's no telling what they'll do after that. I know you were pretending to be dead but surely you must've heard what they said towards the end of the Battle of Hogwarts. They were ready to massacre us all! You can't just go in and give them what they want! We need a plan."