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sua_layAuthor: Rimau Sua Lay
Rating: overall NC-17, Angst, Drama, Action/Adventure, First Time
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairings: Harry/Snape, Ron/Draco, (Sirius/Remus)
Date: December 2002 - May 2007
Disclaimers: Not mine, borrowed without permission, am not making any money. Please don't sue. Sherbet Lemon?
Summary for Book Five: - It's time to try to save the world. Fools and idiots may be the wizards' only hope. Revenge does indeed taste strange. Kinda furry.
Warning: This part contains deaths, gore, total stupidity, explicit sex between men, disturbing themes and angst.
The earlier parts of the fic can be found here.
The clock ticking on the mantle sounded really loud in Harry's ears as he finally sat down on a chair, cradling a cup of tea in his hands.
He could see from the disapproving glare Eppy threw at them all from the doorway that they would probably have to deal with the dishes later on, but right now that was the least of his problems.
Simple chores would be a relief after all the insanity he'd faced today; the china wouldn't demand his full attention, neither would it demand him to become something worse than even his worst nightmares. There would be no guilt in cleaning either.
Smiling a little, he fidgeted with his cup, glad that no one in the room could read his thoughts.
"Harry?"
Harry looked up to meet Sirius' worried gaze, shaking his head slightly. It was pretty sad how something as simple as a smile could make his godfather look like that. But then again he didn't exactly have much reason to really smile right now. "Nothing, am just..." He made a gesture with his hand. "It's just been a crazy day, that's all."
That certainly made everyone nod.
"Yeah," Hermione muttered. "I can't really remember when things haven't been crazy."
Another sentiment everyone could agree with.
Remus took a better position on the couch next to Sirius and offered hesitantly, "I know we're all tired of talking, but I think we should... Things have changed and I for one need some time to deal with everything and I thought we shouldn't just brush everything that's happened today under a rug and go on as if nothing's different."
All the meetings he had taken part of today were even now a blur in his mind, decisions and plans making his head spin and he could only imagine how it had to be with Harry who had been at the center of everything.
Harry nodded. "You're right. We really should talk about what happened." He looked around the living room. "And since we're all here..." It was almost as if they'd already known they couldn't just go to bed after all that they'd been through today, gathering together in here for a bit of a snack and the mellow atmosphere that was light years away from the bustle back at the Headquarters.
He could see worry in Sirius' eyes, the sentiment mirrored in the way Remus was looking at him and the quiet nod Hermione threw in his direction.
Maybe Remus was right; for once they couldn't simply brush things away.
"Before anyone says anything nice..." Or Sirius rushed to give him yet another hug. "I just want to say... Fudge's dead and it's not anyone's fault. No need to circle around that subject and worry I'll break. Yes, I feel bad about it, but... you know."
Sirius let out a choking sound. "Oh, Harry..."
"No, I mean it. Honestly. You don't have to think you'll say something wrong; believe me, you can't say anything I haven't heard already." Harry didn't know any other way to say it. They had never talked about things like this, not openly anyway, and he was so tired of polite platitudes and hesitation right now.
Draco nodded at that. There was a time and place for games, but when they had to deal with serious business, they couldn't just sit around and talk in circles.
"You can say that again..." Muttered Sirius, his expression darkening.
There was a very uncomfortable silence in the room. They all knew what he meant by that, and it was kind of hard not to agree with him.
Harry nodded. "Yes. I have heard it all before, and it's a good thing because I'm the one person who can't simply sit in silence and think about everything until I go crazy. And yeah, I know you hate Snape for what he said today, but he was right. I do tend to wallow sometimes."
He was glad no one tried to even deny his words, knowing himself all too well on this account.
"I don't care! He didn't have to say it out loud like that!" Sirius growled. If Harry really intended to be open about this, he could be honest with his opinions. Not that he tended to hide what he really thought about Snape most of the time.
"Yes he did."
The glare Sirius cast at Harry showed clearly that this was the one thing they would never agree on.
Draco nodded quietly, understanding Harry's comment better than these Gryffindors ever could. They coddled each other and used all the soft emotions to carry each other through everything, and while that was probably all right during most of the time, it wouldn't work now.
"But this isn't just about Snape." Harry knew that they should move on, or they'd be doing the no he didn't yes he did -thing for the rest of the evening. "We have a completely new situation at hand. Think about it, Sirius! No more Dementors!"
That seemed to push all thoughts of Snape away from Sirius' mind. "Yes!" Besides the worry about Harry, that had been the one thing he'd focused on all day. "No more Dementors."
"Of course that means Voldemort will be totally pissed off now and he'll do something rash." Draco couldn't help pointing that out.
Sirius rolled his eyes, muttering, "Slytherins!" Always concentrating on the bad things. He for one was going to be deliriously happy about the fact that he would never have to face a Dementor again.
Probably celebrate the whole thing with Remus just as soon as the children went to bed.
Taking the muttered word as a compliment, Draco nodded. He wasn't certain just when exactly he'd stopped being afraid of Sirius Black and his insane eyes, but it was clear to him now that Harry's godfather wasn't as dangerous as he'd thought. "And proud of it."
Harry grinned at the way Sirius rolled his eyes again, glad to see that not all the relationships between their two houses were strained. Not that he found it hard to deal with Slytherins, but it was nice to see that Sirius was treating Draco almost like he treated Ron and Hermione.
It was also good that the banter was taking them away from the topic of Snape and honesty; he didn't want to explain more about it, pretty certain that no words could really describe the whole thing.
Remus coughed. "House pride aside... Are we going to be ready for whatever happens next?"
"Yes." They had to be. Harry had to believe all their plans would work and that they would indeed be ready for Voldemort's attacks. "We will deal with Voldemort and the Ministry will deal with the rest of the world."
He didn't really like the way he felt about the whole mess right now, but was honest enough to admit that Fudge's death made things easy. At least now he didn't have to worry about the Ministry's agenda and power plays.
"Oh fuck!"
Everyone turned to Ron, who had been sitting in silence until now, nursing his hot chocolate.
"Ron?" Hermione poked at him. "You okay?"
"I.... Fuck!" Completely shocked, Ron looked around the room. "Oh fuck! My dad's the Minister for Magic!"
The words made Harry laugh out loud. "Just figured that out, eh?" He'd been wondering just exactly when would that sink in; Ron had been acting way too calm all day.
"Yeah.... Merlin! How the hell did that happen?" Ron's eyes were wild, his hands shaking so hard that Hermione grabbed his mug and placed it on the table before he could pour his drink all over his already crumpled robes.
Harry chose not to voice his earlier thoughts, just happy that they had someone to deal with the day to day business of their world who would let him deal with the war.
"I think your dad will be an excellent Minister," Hermione said, smiling at her friend. "At least he's not a pompous ass like..." She flustered, realizing that she was going to criticize a man who had just died.
Sirius didn't seem to have a problem with the whole thing, considering he was nodding firmly. "So true." He looked at Ron. "Minister Weasley. That doesn't sound bad."
That brought a blinding smile to Ron's lips.
Harry noticed the way Draco's eyes went blank for a moment, and had to wonder if the Slytherin was thinking back to the way things could have gone. After all, he had been preparing to become the son of one of the most important people in the Wizarding World.
The way the blank look turned into a speculating squint wasn't as worrying as it probably should have been.
"Of course that means things around here will change too." Harry didn't like being the voice of reason, but someone had to point this out. "We now have our great leader and the son of the Minister for Magic living under the same roof. People will be even more interested in us."
"Great..." Hermione sighed.
Remus nodded, agreeing with her completely. "Yes." He looked at Ron. "But I believe we should take this seriously; a situation like this might even put you in danger."
Hiding a crooked smile behind his cup, Harry listened to his friends discuss about being more careful from now on, wondering just how blind even those closest to him could be. Ron was already in more danger than most people could ever be, simply by being his friend.
But maybe it was good that they were talking about the whole thing. He needed everyone to be able to take care of themselves, and if this forced Ron to be more on guard from now on, so be it.
He sat back, content with just listening, glad that no one expected him to take charge of the discussion as if this was just another meeting. It wasn't like he had all the answers anyway.
This was now life, and he couldn't honestly say he was feeling bad about the way things had turned out. The way Arthur Weasley had been shocked but determined spoke volumes, and Harry was certain he would be able to organize the Ministry like he would organize his plug collection. There would be no more questions about how serious the war would be; Fudge's death had already showed everyone just how serious this was.
