Fic: No Hiding Place book Five: High in the Sky (18/28)

[sua_lay]

Title: No Hiding Place: Book Five: High In The Sky (18/28)
Author: 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.

Part 18

The air almost seemed to tingle with excitement as everyone around the Headquarters kept talking about the Ministry's raid at the Riddle House, speculating about what this would really mean.

Harry didn't comment on any of the speculations, glad that people were finally seeing the big picture on their own.

Sadly, the excitement didn't last for long. Soon, there were more reports on distant villages being pillaged, the Dark Mark shining on the nightly sky and showing that yet another family had been lost.

Flitwick put the sentiment into words. "They're killing us!"

No one in the room could argue with him, for it was the truth. No matter how they had trained and planned, the Death Eaters were still out there, destroying their world. It was slow, a homestead at the time, and such warfare could take years with the casualties including more innocent bystanders than Aurors or the members of the Order.

Sitting here, talking about strategies was beginning to make everyone frustrated.

"I don't think Voldemort wants that final battle," Bill Weasley said quietly. "And why would he? Things are going so well for him and he will accomplish everything he wants without a full attack."

There were agreeing murmurs at his words, the younger Order members looking grim. It was beginning to sound like nothing they could do would really make a difference.

Harry nodded. "A real battle could go either way. Voldemort is evil, but he isn't stupid." Which was a pity, really.

He wasn't surprised when no one suggested making the first move. Their world had always been so good at waiting, sitting still, holding its breath as the enemy marched around destroying places and people and doing nothing until they absolutely had to.

They were the good guys, so they would do what good guys did and wait.

"So... What do we do next?" Ron asked, fidgeting a little in his seat.

"Things have to change!" Frustration was evident in the small gestures Hooch made. "We can't just sit on our arses and wait!"

Titters of laughter erupted from all around the room, but when the laughter died, there were agreeing words and nods replacing the amusement. They really had to do something and everyone knew that Voldemort's people wouldn't stop until they were stopped.

When it was clear that Harry wouldn't say anything, there was a short silence followed by hesitant suggestions. Like so many times in the past, people were bouncing ideas as if this was an early Order meeting where everything was fresh and new and all kinds of things were possible.

Harry simply listened, waiting for the first person to finally realize what was really going on. He didn't want to say it first, didn't want to reduce everyone else into a pawn he would order around.

Surprisingly enough, there was talk about the Malfoy Mansion, suggestions about marching there and destroying the place coming from the Weasleys. Some people wanted to concentrate on the smuggling operation and get rid of the threat the dark creatures posed.

If only Voldemort tried to fight them in the open, or challenge Harry into a duel. That would make everything so much easier.

Near Harry, Ron was locked in a heated conversation with Malfoy. Sometimes he was so annoyed by the git, he just wanted to smack him around, but since that would probably lead to other activities better kept in the bedroom, he settled to muttering insults instead.

Draco seemed to be enjoying the argument as well, his scathing remarks asking for more angry retorts. It was almost a game now, and this time both knew exactly what they were playing.

"Stop being such damn idiots!" Hermione was tired of listening to the bickering, never really being able to escape it, not here and not at home. "If you insist on picking a fight, at least..." Her mouth fell open.

Harry closed his eyes, swallowing hard. He should have known she would be the one to see it, the one to say it out loud, and now that there was no chance to back away from this anymore, he was both relieved and terrified.

"Harry? I..." Frowning as she tried to organize her thoughts, Hermione looked at the head of the table, not really stunned when she saw the hard expression on his face. "We are going to pick a fight, right?"

Shushing each other, people turned to listen what was going on.

"The Death Eaters are scattered all around and we can't really attack their stronghold like that. But if they were all in the same place..." muttered Moody, delighted by the idea of having Death Eaters in one place so that he wouldn't have to go and search for them.

"Yes." Harry didn't have to say anything else.

Now it wasn't even about guessing, it was about having the nerve to actually say it out loud. Hermione was still staring at Harry, unable to contain her amazement. "We need to bring the fight here. To our turf, to Hogwarts."

It was the only strategy that made sense, and she knew she was right even before Harry nodded.

There was something inherently wrong with the concept of actually inviting the fight to their doorstep, but slowly people all around the room seemed to warm up to it.

Harry cast a look at Dumbledore, knowing it was indeed time. "That sounds like a plan. Then we can control the fight, as much as it can be controlled." Reversing Voldemort's plans, making him react for once.

It was almost laughable how easily people started to grasp the strategies after that, calling out things they could do, things that had already been set in motion.

Even the Weasleys had to agree that launching a major attack on the Mansion would be foolish, but then Draco Malfoy commented with a slightly annoyed voice that the Malfoy Mansion wasn't the only ancient stronghold; there were other places they could target.

"The Goyles have a castle, and the Buldstrodes have a few estates near by," Snape said.

No one was really surprised to see the two Slytherins nod at each other, but the idea of actually attacking someone's home seemed wrong to most of the people.

Of course it might send Voldemort's people to defend their homes, or more likely drive the Dark Lord to do something rash in fear of losing his troops. Strategically it was sound, but it was still distasteful.

Harry's quiet, "This is war, people. We can't always do what's nice and right in order to save thousands," settled that issue quite firmly.

It didn't wipe out the pensive expression from Draco Malfoy's face, though.

There were other things, plans that were less worrying. Arthur Weasley suggested they evacuated most of the Ministry offices and bring everyone to Hogwarts. Dumbledore mentioned Hagrid and offered to call in the reserves from Beauxbatons sooner than planned.

"So essentially we make a lot of noise and make it look like we have a plan for something big and Voldemort can't do anything but react?"

The Aurors seemed to like the idea a lot.

Moody smiled, his scarred face almost beaming. "Voldemort is paranoid about everything. He can't let this go!"

Considering Moody's need for constant vigilance, his comment was hilarious. No one laughed at him, though. Everyone was too busy nodding and agreeing with him.

It didn't take long for most of the people commit to the whole thing, and after assigning those in charge of all the operations, the room cleared of enthusiastic Order members and Aurors as they went to find their place in the whole thing.

The inner circle of the Order didn't move, neither did any of the Weasleys.

As the door closed behind Moody, Hermione said quietly. "Of course we could also make sure the Death Eaters can't move around by issuing warrants for their arrest. And maybe we could destroy Voldemort's home and kill his pet snake and see if that makes him do something stupid."

That certainly made Harry flinch, but he'd been expecting it. He'd always known Hermione wasn't stupid. "That does sound like it might goad them into a fight, yeah."

"Why?"

Flitwick leaned closer to Sprout who shushed him and kept her eyes on the two Gryffindors, her expression baffled, with awful realization slowly dawning.

Harry smiled a sad little smile. "Are you asking me why we're doing this or why we're doing it like this?"

"I get the strategy. What I don't get is all the secrecy. You've been planning this for a long time, haven't you?" Hermione's 'you' was aimed at Dumbledore as well.

"Yes, we have." Harry could see the others nod as well, both Dumbledore and McGonagall casting looks at their colleagues and Figg and Fletcher simply agreeing.

Even though Sirius and Remus hadn't attended to all the secret meetings, they were nodding as well; they had been aware of most of the plans, even though the very calm and cold way Harry was actually guiding them all in this fight came as a surprise anyway.

Harry let all pretense drop and for once didn't moderate his words as he looked at his friend. "If our great leader Harry Potter suggested we actually go and kill Death Eaters and attack their homes and told everyone that we have planned a strategy for ages when the Ministry did nothing... What would happen?"

They both knew what would have happened, and he could already see it in Hermione's eyes.

"Chaos. Or then everyone would have argued the whole thing until we got nothing done," Hermione said quietly.

"Yeah." Those would have been the easy things. "Or maybe everyone would have just followed and done exactly what I told them to do." Harry made his disgust at the prospect show on his face.

"So now it's a joint decision instead of you telling us what to do." It still didn't seem to make sense. "Why?"

Harry smiled, the twist of his lips cynical. "Absolute power corrupts. I don't want to be put in the position where everyone lets me lead and no one uses their own brain."

That seemed to satisfy Hermione, her frown slowly melting into an understanding expression. "Oh. So now we won't be trading a Dark Lord for a..."

"Yeah." Harry didn't really care what term they would invent for the monster he could so easily become.

He met Snape's gaze for just a moment.

Arthur Weasley leaned back on his chair and said, "Well I for one am glad that someone decided to make plans about vanquishing Voldemort." He looked slightly uncomfortable as if he found it strange to criticize Fudge and his organization now that the man was dead and he was leading the Ministry.

It was quite easy to agree with him, even though Hermione was still looking pensive.

"All right. Can anyone think of anything else we can do to make sure Voldemort will commit all his forces to attacking Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

Snape had been watching Black with a strange expression on his face. Seeing the mutt in his canine form from time to time these past few days had made him think about something, but he wasn't certain he should make the suggestion after all.

When no one had anything to offer, he looked at Harry, his gaze unreadable. "There is one thing that might get his attention." He hesitated for just a second. "You could start a rumor that you're trying to become an Animagus."

His words were met by a puzzled silence.

Harry swallowed hard, his expression pained, but nodded anyway. "I think that would work."

"I don't see why that would frighten Voldemort." Hermione looked from Harry to Snape, clearly needing more information. There had never been any sign that the Death Eaters would be concerned with Animagi, unless you counted Sirius and professor McGonagall.

Keeping his gaze firmly away from his godfather, Harry muttered, "Trust me, it will." This was one of the moments he actually wanted someone to take his word for it.

Of course hoping that Hermione wouldn't be curious about something was completely useless. "Why?" She looked expectant, leaning forward. "How can you tell?"

Harry felt like he was under Ministry interrogation, the questioning looks compelling him to say something just as strongly as veritaserum would. He couldn't think of anything convincing to say, figuring that his friends and family wouldn't believe any lies and he couldn't tell the truth.

"Voldemort has always feared our hero here will become a magical Animagus." Snape's cold voice cut through the silence. "Since it's extremely rare and dangerous to even attempt becoming one, he will probably believe Potter to be foolish enough to try."

Turning towards Snape, Harry felt almost boneless with relief. He should have known Snape would be able to think of something plausible. A completely ridiculous thought of actually trying something as stupid as becoming a magical Animagus flashed through his mind, followed by an insane mental image of turning into a Blast-Ended Skrewt.

"And just exactly how would you know that?" Annoyed by the whole subject, Sirius glared at Snape. He didn't like the way the git was making comments about something that important to him.

Snape didn't say anything; he simply raised an eyebrow.

The words Sirius muttered at that were not really audible, but they were all too easy to interpret anyway.

People knew by now that the issue of Snape's past wasn't something they should approach, but no one was delusional enough to forget it.

Harry smiled at Snape, his expression more gentle than amused. He'd already known Snape would keep his word, and he also knew exactly what it cost him to do so.

"Er... Harry?" Bill Weasley coughed, looking slightly embarrassed. "I wonder if..." He looked at Snape and bit his lip.

"What is it?"

Bill cleared his throat again. "Wouldn't your relationship with professor Snape also aggravate Voldemort?"

There was a startled silence.

Sprout looked at Harry, baffled. "What relationship?" Glancing at Flitwick, glad to see he was just as confused as she was, she didn't notice the tension rising in the room.

"No." Harry shook his head firmly.

Now the silence was strained, a strange mixture of embarrassment and anger.

"The relationship between Snape and I is personal," Harry said, not turning his gaze away from Bill. He didn't dare to look at Snape. "I'm not going to use that as a weapon."

"What relationship?" Sprout whispered again.

"I do believe Voldemort's people already know I have moved in with Potter," Snape stated calmly, as if it was quite normal for him to talk about his relationship with Harry. "The way they see our... personal association is not important."

Blinking, Sprout started, "I don't understand, what..."

"Oh for Merlin's sake, Pomona! You're not that thick!" McGonagall glared at her colleague.

"I... Oh. Oh!" Flustering, Sprout turned to Snape. "Oh I must apologize, Severus. I didn't realize... How silly of me!"

Snape refused to comment on that, even though his expression suggested there were plenty of things he wanted to say. Sitting ramrod straight, he waited for more questions and shocked comments, and was surprised when there were none.

"This is the one thing I refuse to discuss about in public." Relieved to see that Snape wasn't going to hex anyone, him included, Harry added, "I'm entitled to have something private, something that isn't anyone else's business, and this is it. I am not going to use my relationship with Snape as a means to an end."

It was so easy to say it out loud, the word rolling on his tongue as if it was the most natural thing ever. His relationship with Snape. Noticing that Snape hadn't seemed to find the term repulsive or offending, he finally turned to look at him.

Snape was looking at him just like he always did when he was doing something extremely Gryffindor, and the expression brought a silly smile on Harry's lips.

The soft growl escaping Sirius was drowned under hesitant mutters of congratulations.

Since it was clear that the subject was closed, no one lingered with their well wishes, except for professor McGonagall who saw it prudent to touch Snape's shoulder and smile at him before leaving the room. Arthur Weasley was whispering to his sons, clearly questioning Ron about it all and making him squirm with every question.

Harry didn't really care.

No matter how Snape had stated he didn't mind living with him, he had dreaded this, knowing that sooner or later people would find out. It was a pressure he could have lived without, but at least now there wouldn't be foolish questions within the inner circle.

He wasn't naive enough to believe it would stay between the people who were still quietly leaving the room, but the way even Sprout had nodded solemnly at his words of privacy might keep it from becoming a general discussion any time soon.

Before Harry could go to Snape, Hermione intercepted him. "We need to talk."

Even with her being just a friend, those words made Harry shiver. "Okay." He had no idea of what this was about, but considering Hermione's genuinely angry expression, this would not be fun.

"You're hiding something."

That made Harry blink. He'd half thought it was about Snape. "Huh?"

"You and Snape and Dumbledore. Don't bother to deny it, I could see it when we were talking about the Animagus thing." Hermione had been watching her friend and knew there were things he was keeping a secret. There had been occasions when she'd let him keep his silence, but this wasn't one of them. "I want you to tell me what it is."

Harry saw the determination and sighed, knowing he couldn't stop Hermione from asking questions.

Even with the room already empty, he pulled out his wand to cast a silencing charm around them. Then he gestured for Hermione to sit down, taking a chair next to her.

The sudden casting had made Hermione flinch, but now she was leaning forward, looking eager to hear what Harry had to say.

"Before I tell you, you must promise you'll never say a word about this to anyone. Not even Ron." Not that Harry didn't trust him. He just didn't want him to start acting strangely around anyone.

Hermione nodded. "I promise."

Knowing that she would keep her word no matter what, Harry sighed, "When we came from the cottage, I made Dumbledore tell me the real reason behind Voldemort's obsession in me. And my family."

That was the last thing Hermione had expected to hear. She opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it before any words came out. Instead, she nodded, encouraging him to go on.

Harry kept the explanation simple, knowing that Hermione had actually listened in the History of Magic classes and could probably give hours long lectures about the circle of the year and Wild Magic. He told her about the way Prongs could easily play the role of the King Stag, how Voldemort had fixated on the symbolism.

During his monologue, Hermione sat there in silence, listening. Her mind was already working on the matter. She had to admit that while it sounded ludicrous, it did make more sense than some of the things she'd encountered in the wizarding world.

"All right." Frowning a little, she tilted her head to the side. Obviously trying to find some kind of a flaw in Harry's logic.

The expression was familiar from school. It made Harry smile a little, reminding him of how life used to be so simple back at Hogwarts.

Hermione ignored the smile. "I understand the logic behind Voldemort's actions. It does fit rather well. Your father's Animagus form, your birthdate. There are indeed people who do believe in the Wild Magic. Did you know that they say the Forbidden Forest is one of the places it's still strong?"

"No." Harry had to admit he didn't. It was probably told in 'Hogwarts the History', so no wonder he didn't know.

"Of course not." Now there was a hint of amusement in Hermione's eyes. "Anyway, I don't understand why you have to keep it a secret. I mean, I know some people would idolize you even more because of it, but otherwise..."

How funny Harry had never even thought about that. "It's not that. Nothing that simple." He put a hand on Hermione's arm to silence her. "Do you know how my father and the others became Animagi?"

"To be with Remus when he turned into a werewolf. Before the Wolfsbane was invented." Her reply was prompt, as if she was answering to a question in the class.

Harry nodded. "Yes. When my father, Sirius and... Pettigrew found out about Remus, they tried to figure out a way to help him. They did find a way. Sirius found a way." He looked Hermione straight in the eye.

Comprehension dawned on her immediately and she closed her eyes for a moment. When she looked at him again, there was sadness in her eyes. "Becoming an Animagus was Sirius' idea, and if your father hadn't become a stag... Harry, if Sirius ever finds out it will kill him!"

"I know. That's what I told Albus and Snape. He can never know about this." Glad that she'd understood what he was after, Harry let out a relieved sigh.

No matter how weirded this whole thing made him, he could never ignore the fact that at least one person would believe it without hesitations. Sirius would not survive such a blow, whether or not the theory was ever proven right.

Hermione looked contemplative, staring into distance. When she finally spoke, her voice was full of wonder. "I'm not surprised Voldemort is so afraid of you. Do you have any idea of how much symbolism there is in your life? Things that pureblood wizards living on this island would recognize immediately. I'm not talking just about your birth and your father, but later on. Fostered by others, finding out who you are, being mentored by a wise old wizard..."

"Yeah, well at least I pulled the sword out of a hat and not the stone." Astonishingly, Harry smiled at that. "It's not that easy, Hermione. When you look back on anyone's life you can see whatever symbolism you want to see." Not that he was an expert, really, but since the press interpreted his life the way they saw fit, why not others as well?

He couldn't believe he was a mystical savior of the world. Certainly if he was, he'd be someone stronger and braver. He'd have some real secret powers that had nothing to do with being very good at flying and being able to eat more Chocolate Frogs without barfing than any other Gryffindor in a decade.

The old stories were all entertaining, but they had nothing to do with him. He was just him. Harry Potter. Nothing special, really.

"Harry... Why not simply challenge him into a duel?" Hermione had heard the suggestions for that, knowing all too well that Harry had heard them too and ignored them.

Smiling crookedly, Harry said, "Maybe if I'd challenged him years ago... unofficially, of course. But by the time I was old enough to actually stand a chance against him, or really challenge him, this had already become bigger than just him against me."

Nodding, Hermione mused, "You might want to say something about it to people, though. They're wondering about it."

"I'll think about it." It sounded like Harry was not going to say more about the subject.

"Okay." Even though she sounded a bit skeptical, Hermione dropped the matter. There was already something far more important in her mind. "Harry, does Snape know about all this? I mean about Sirius," she asked hesitantly, with a strange look in her eyes.

"Yes," Harry said. He remembered how shocked he'd been back then, begging him not to say anything about this to his godfather. "I asked him never to say anything about it."

Remembering the haughty expression Snape had used to make everyone remember about his past as a Death Eater to explain why he would know about the whole thing affecting Voldemort, Hermione smiled happily. She didn't really need to know more; if Snape was willing to do that -- and not for Sirius' sake, she could bet -- he was all right. "Okay."

Harry hadn't expected it to be this easy. "Are we cool with this?"

"Yes, Harry." Hermione nodded. "We're cool with this."

---

Comments

[xikum.livejournal.com]

I truly, absolutely hope that Sirius NEVER finds out about the reason Voldie went after James and Harry!!! Even hearing it brought up again, telling one other person - is scary. However, given that it is Hermione, I can see why Harry told her - she would draw more attention ferreting it out for herself.

But, Um.... Why hasn't Harry said anything to anyone yet about the Invisibility Cloak having gone missing, and from his own room, at that?? As it was his father's, and a treasured heirloom, I cannot see that he would have let this sit unremarked for so long... and unaccounted for, it does present a threat!

[sua-lay.livejournal.com]

I think the people who know the real reason will keep it a secret for as long as they live. Don't even want to think about how Sirius would react; whatever sanity he still has would be totally lost. :(

Harry should have reported the theft, definitely. But I think that he honestly forgot about it, probably shrugging it off as something he misplaced himself. One more reason to feel guilty in the future.