~ Chapter Eight ~

The Order of the Phoenix trudged into Grimmauld Place, solemn and despondent. Moving directly into the Dining Room, the group waved away Molly's insistence that the children remove themselves from the room so they could hold a meeting. The group was exhausted but they acknowledged as one that what they would be discussing needed to be heard by everyone especially by those closest to Harry Potter.

As it was, nothing could have prepared the group for what had met them at the Department of Mysteries. They had hoped Severus would turn up, almost expected that You-Know-Who would send his most loyal Death Eaters to see whether the Order were moving the Prophecy and engage them in battle. Their hope had been to obtain enough prisoners that their master would make a deal: his minions for Harry Potter. Only the Harry Potter they had received wasn't the one they had expected and everything had fallen apart.

Half an hour of silence, broken only by the whispering of children, finally abated with the presence of Albus Dumbledore. The aged wizard looked fatigued and, though standing tall, walked slowly towards the head of the table to start the meeting. He sank into his seat and waved everyone off who started to stand in respect.

Molly bustled around as everyone settled attempting to get the Order to eat or drink with all but the Headmaster refusing the offer. As a cup of tea was placed before him, Dumbledore began speaking.

"I know we have all been dealt a great shock today. I have spent much of the afternoon speaking with Minister Fudge about the return of Lord Voldemort."

Heads bowed in defeat shot up. That was certainly the best news they had heard for a long time.

"Minister Fudge believes You-Know-Who has returned?" Kingsley questioned in relief.

Albus nodded with a small smile.

"About time," Moody barked. "The man should begin discussions on how the Ministry will be defending the people and weeding out Death Eaters."

Before the group could even murmur in agreement, Albus sighed. "Unfortunately, the Ministry is more concerned with removing Cornelius from power as they attempt to reassure the people that they are still capable of protecting and running our community."

While the Ministry were well within their rights to do so, it was nothing more than a power play and a waste of time. At this time there would be no election held for the people. Instead, the Wizenmagot would decide the next available and suitable candidate from within Ministry ranks until the next election could take place. Their decision could affect the balance of the war and they wouldn't know for a couple of days yet.

"I fear, we will be meeting again soon in regards to this matter but for now there is nothing we can do. There is however much that needs to be discussed before we can depart." Albus said as he surveyed the room.

The Order members shuffled in discomfort at the attention the children were now paying their discussion. They looked so hopeful in the face of their news that most of them had to glance away from the young faces. When no one would speak up, Molly turned towards the Headmaster.

"What occurred today, Albus?"

Remus hung his head, silent tears streaming down his face. He didn't want to hear a repeat of the events of the day given the circumstances. But he needed to remain strong, he needed to prove that he could pick himself up and rise to the tasks ahead. He couldn't hide away as he had done after James and Lily. There was still a war to fight. There was a war to be won.

"Our plan to lure a Death Eater to us using the Prophecy worked all too well." Albus admitted.

Casting a sorrowful glance at Remus Arthur began, "Severus arrived to check on the location of the Prophecy as hoped. We cornered him against the shelves, a ring of Order members to keep him subdued. Only he wasn't concerned with our presence. He knew we were there, waiting for him."

Moody barked out a laugh causing several members to jump. "Damn Invisibility Cloaks, that boy appeared from behind Snape and picked up the Prophecy without even a glance in our direction."

Alastair had been so focused on the Death Eater before their group he hadn't stopped to consider someone else might be in the room. He knew Snape wouldn't bother with backup. The man was deadly and certainly didn't need to rely on others to keep safe. Yet, he'd been wrong.

Ron and Hermione exchanged shocked glances, both quickly reaching the same conclusion.

"Harry was with Snape?" Ron asked in disbelief.

The Order mutely confirmed this with a few shaky nods not confident in opening their mouths to speak.

After a pause to gather her thoughts, Hermione questioned. "Headmaster, didn't you conclude Professor Snape had kidnapped Harry. Why would Harry be in the man's presence if he was being held captive?"

"Unfortunately, Miss Granger, I was wrong." Albus admitted.

"How could you be wrong in this regard?" Molly demanded, thinking about the poor boy who was within the grasp of Death Eaters and You-Know-Who without anyone present to keep him safe and well.

"Potter stood by Snape voluntarily." Moody snapped.

"As far as we can tell," Arthur corrected.

"How could there be confusion over whether Harry was standing near Snape freely or not?" Ron demanded.

"When Harry first turned towards us, his eyes weren't his own. One was green while the other was red. We could only assume You-Know-Who had some control as to what Harry was going at the time." Arthur explained.

"Did he at least speak with you?"

"Or did he let out a cackle and run off?" Fred and George joked.

The Order sent the twins disgusted looks as Molly swatted them over their heads. "This is not a laughing matter," she scolded.

The twins settled and sent an apologetic look towards their mother yet they refused to back down. They wanted to know whether Harry spoke to the Order. The group sat in silence, their silence speaking volumes.

"Harry spoke to us," Tonks admitted. "He was dismissive of our presence preferring to talk to Snape. He did acknowledge he knew us but he didn't particularly care. He'd retrieved the prophecy and wanted to leave."

Hermione stood in outrage. "You can't be telling us that you allowed him to just walk away!"

Numerous members of the Order shot to their feet shouting at the now cowed teen.

"What did you think would happen you silly girl? Of course we attempted to keep his attention. We weren't going to allow him to walk away with the Prophecy." Moody spat.

Albus stood, raising his hands in a placating manner, and waited for the room to settle. The children's question seemed to fray on the already frazzled nerves of the Order. The day had been long and it wasn't over yet but they needed to push forward.

"Let's not make this day longer by arguing. Everyone needs to have this information before we can proceed."

Once the group had settled Albus allowed the conversation to continue.

Kingsley continued, seeing Moody was too tense to speak without anger.

"To keep Mr Potter speaking with us, we tried to explain he needn't leave with Snape. However, Harry stated Snape had only one job and that job was to protect Harry. We told him, pleaded, that the Order could perform the same job and do an even better job but nothing we said would change his mind."

"Harry asked why we were protecting him." Tonks admitted.

The Order shifted, everyone glancing around the room to avoid eye contact. Their reply had been the end of Harry's willingness to speak with them. He was their saviour and he wanted nothing to do with the title.

"Our words only pushed Harry back towards Snape." Arthur admitted. "We managed to corner them as they were leaving and Harry lashed out. He told us he'd never been happy around the Order. He'd become so miserable he'd ordered Snape to kidnap him."

"Harry wanted to be free from us?" Hermione whispered in disbelief.

Ron simply sat in silence. It hadn't been difficult to notice Harry hadn't been his usual self over the past few months. Many people had simply assumed it was still a reaction from his time in the graveyard. But Ron and Hermione had doubts.

Certainly, Harry had been defensive over his time in the graveyard. He'd never back down from telling the truth but the more he interacted with people the more he seemed to deflate. Strangers and friends alike would offer support or compliments and Harry would smile politely but they could easily see the strain in his eyes.

They'd gone to Dumbledore and had only made Harry shy away from them. Following him, waiting up for him, nothing could get their friend to open up any more. It wasn't until after he'd fled that they had realized the one common theme between all incidents. Everyone had commented on how alike he was to James. These comments did nothing but add to Harry's despondent attitude and when he reached a breaking point Snape had been his way out.

"We will need to relocate." Remus commented. "Sirius always planned to leave everything to Harry and I doubt he would have changed his will."

"Sirius is dead, how?" Molly questioned in shock. Certainly, the pair had argued a lot but neither would wish death upon them.

"Harry did it, didn't he?" Ron asked.

There really wasn't any need for him to ask the question. Knowing what they did, it was easy to tell Sirius had uttered something Harry didn't want to hear. Yet, they couldn't believe Harry would become a killer over a few words.

"Harry pushed Sirius into the Veil after a comment mentioning James." Remus breath hitched as he recalled the moment of surprise on his friend's face. "I'd never seen Harry so angered in my life. Being compared to James was almost a sin in his eyes and it wasn't something Harry ever wanted to hear again."

"I still don't understand why we have to move. Sirius permitted us to use Grimmauld as Headquarters. Why don't we have legal rights on the house?" Molly broached.

"Regardless of the fact Harry killed Sirius, his will is legal. The goblins don't care if one person was killed by the other. They were hired to do a job and so everything that belonged to Sirius will transfer to Harry."

"Can't we petition to have the funds transferred to another member of the Black Family, perhaps someone who would aid us?" Hermione suggested.

Tonks shook her head. "If we tried, the Old Rules would still apply. During those times, it was legal to kill another family member if they had wronged you. The goblins work by these rules and as such, yes, only another member of the family may contest the will. However the only member of the Black family that offers us support can't contest the will as the family disowned her for turning her back on the Family's wishes."

Hermione frowned. "But she's still a Black by blood. Why would those outdated laws mean anything?"

Tonks laughed depreciatingly. "My mother, Andromeda Black, married a muggle. Perhaps it would have been different if she had married a muggleborn but because of his irrelevance to magic the Black Family disowned her in name and blood. She can no longer claim to be a Black and without my father she would be no one."

There was so much Hermione desired to say. She wanted to shout and rage for the injustice of the system. These Old Laws purebloods lived by were outdated compared to the laws of the muggle world. If more muggleborns could work within the Ministry then things could change. Laws would be altered to benefit everyone. No muggleborns would feel inferior to the snobbish purebloods that currently ruled. Equality would be her aim.

"There is only one way to settle this…" Albus spoke. "Kreacher?"

The Order waited anxiously. Then Albus Dumbledore's beard turned vibrant green reminiscent of Harry Potter's eyes and the curse that he survived.

"Kreacher doesn't have to obey nasty bloodtraitors and mudbloods." The glee in his voice was hard to stomach. "Kreacher will go and tell master house isn't safe."

With a snap of his fingers, the elf had altered their appearances and disappeared. Every single person had Phoenix in shimmering red and yellow written across his or her forehead. Instantly people started trying to erase and remove the marks. It was noticeable and those working in the Ministry couldn't afford to have such a damning mark. The Ministry didn't support them and this would end their careers.

"Albus, these marks can't be removed or glamoured. What are we going to do?" Tonks fretted.

She couldn't go back to work like this. None of them could and while Molly was fine, everyone else had to be around other people. They couldn't afford to showcase their support of the Order so openly.

"I'm afraid there is nothing we can do. House Elf magic differs from ours. The only way to remove the marks is to ask the elf's master or kill the house elf."

Many of them were determined to kill the house elf. No one had liked Kreacher. He'd only made living within Grimmauld Place horrible. Yet they couldn't. The house elf had disappeared returning to its master and without the elf they were stuck.

"What are we going to do Headmaster?" Ginny sobbed.

The teens still had to go to school. Everyone would know what side of the war they were on. Ginny had friends that wanted nothing to do with the war and seeing the giant mark on her forehead would cause them to ignore her. The Death Eater children would also use this to their advantage and turn people against them further.

"The only way this will end will be with the return of Mr Potter." Albus stated.

Determination flared within them. They knew Harry didn't want to be with them however he was a necessary part of winning this war and they wanted to win.

Moody smirked. "So we are going to go full attack, about time."

"I'm afraid we have no other choice. Without Mr Potter we can't win with war and we can't resume our lives. The only chance we have in this war is to attack Voldemort's base, locate, and return with Harry Potter. From there we will need to remind him of everything we have done for him and everything that we can do. We can be his family. We will protect him." Albus vowed.

The Order readily agreed. They would need to pull together to win this war and that was something they did well. All they need was a new base of operation until they obtained Harry Potter. Then everything would work as planned.

x-x-x-x-x

The adrenaline took time to wear off and in that time, Harry paced; back and forth, thoughts running through his head. He had killed Sirius Black… his godfather. There weren't many people that he had left connected to his parents and slowly he was killing them off.

Once, he had loved listening to the words of people as they described his parents. The words however slowly turned into repetitive phrases that Harry couldn't stand to hear any longer. All he had wanted was someone to focus on him and not the memory of his parents. He just wanted to be Harry and Sirius was only a reminder that he would always be the son of James and Lily.

Inhaling deeply, Harry noticed he was no longer pacing. Warmth surrounded him and black consumed his vision. A constant beat calmed his frazzled nerves. Harry relaxed to the murmuring of Severus Snape.

"How are you the only person connected to my parents I can stand to be around?" Harry muttered into Snape's cloak.

"While I acknowledge James and Lily were your parents, I see you. You are an individual and not just the sum of your parents. Your achievements and your mistakes are your own. You learn and follow your own path."

Harry wrapped his arms around Severus and rested his cheek against the man's chest to listen to the calm heartbeat keeping him relaxed.

"Why can't they see?"

Severus didn't need to ask what Harry meant when he mumbled into his robes. Yet he didn't have an answer to give. Listing the reasons would only worsen Harry's mood and Severus wanted nothing more than for the presence of the Order to disappear from their lives for good. The Order's influence, even as insignificant as it was now, still held them in power. As long as the Order had some control in the Wizarding World, they didn't have any power.

Instead of answering the question, Severus chose to inquire, "Is their inability to see the reason you killed Black?"

Harry's arms tightened around Severus. "Out of everyone, I granted Sirius the most leeway. He wasn't stable after his imprisonment in Azkaban. He had lucid moments but then he would always slip and forget where he was and who he was with."

"I never witnessed any of this." Severus admitted.

He'd known the stay in Azkaban couldn't have helped the man but he'd never witnessed the man as anything but the aggravatingly playful man-child Black had always been. Though, he had to admit, there weren't many times they had interacted with one another. If anything, both did their utter best to remain as far from the other as possible.

"You wouldn't have." Harry admitted. "Sirius some method of appearing sane when it was needed. Occasionally he would slip. It would only be small, like calling me James, but no one would really question it. When he was alone with Buckbeak, Remus, or me, he would relax and just be another person."

Before Severus could ask, Harry stepped back and shook his head.

"He wasn't anything like Bellatrix but his mind was broken. There were hours when he would be silent and depressed only to laugh suddenly at an unspoken joke. He wasn't violent but he couldn't function as an adult without his method."

Harry walked over to a seat by the fireplace and wrapped his arms around his legs. Severus sat beside him offering comfort and support when Harry leaned against his side.

"I needed him to be an adult… to have the capability to think for himself and not rely on Dumbledore. However, he needed someone to tell him what to do and so he listened as Dumbledore told him once again I was safest with the Dursley's. When he called me James on any occasion, I always gritted my teeth and pushed passed it, reminding him who I was. For him to call me James when he was lucid… I couldn't…"

Harry shuddered as another sob escaped.

"I got so angry." He admitted. "After everything I went through I could only hope that when he was lucid he knew who I was and in that moment he dashed my hopes."

"So you killed him in an act of mercy, knowing he wasn't coping with being out of Azkaban." Severus concluded.

Harry pulled away once again and looked him in the eye. Red stared into black. "No, Severus I killed him because the one person I thought of as family couldn't see me. Once again, I lost to James and so I didn't need him any longer."

Severus remained silent as Harry turned towards the fireplace and shrunk in on himself in thought. He hadn't thought that Harry could feel such anger. Dumbledore had always said Harry's ability to love would be the end of the Dark Lord. However, knowing Harry held a piece of the Dark Lord's soul meant something would eventually have to give. Harry was no longer the ray of light the Order desperately held in such high regard and nothing would ever change that.

Just as Severus opened his mouth to speak once again, the Dark Lord entered the room taking in the two of them on the sofa and moved to sit opposite.

Harry sat up properly and reached into his robes, pulling out the little sphere that they had risked their freedom to retrieve for the man. Yet, they hadn't lost their freedom merely escalated the war the two factions were adamant to win.

"I am glad you have returned." The Dark Lord commented, then followed in Parseltongue. ~You appear upset.~

~Severus is merely learning new aspects to my personality.~

The man waited patiently for Harry to continue leaving him no option to remain silent.

~He didn't realize I could be so ruthless when regarding someone I loved wronging me.~

~He will learn or leave.~

~He will learn.~ Harry replied adamantly.

The Dark Lord conceded to Harry knowing he wouldn't convince his Horcrux otherwise.

"You have retrieved the Prophecy."

Harry handed the small sphere over to their master and sat back once again leaning into Severus for support. He knew he needn't worry, the Dark Lord wouldn't harm him, but this tiny prophecy had altered his life once before and he wasn't entirely certain it wouldn't once again as they listened to the words.

The small sphere was gently turned by the Dark Lord as the man took in every little detail. Once he had memorized and noted everything he needed to, the sphere was activated.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...
Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...
And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...
And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."

Sybil Trelawney's voice ebbed into nothing as the room was once again engulfed by the crackling of the fire.

"I can't believe that hack made the prophecy." Harry rolled his eyes.

"It matters not," The Dark Lord spoke. "Knowing what we do, you will never vanquish me. You are my key to eternal life and I shan't be destroying you for a few words made by, as you said, a hack. This changes nothing."

The words caused Harry to relax and rest his head against Severus' shoulder. Severus had yet to say anything but Harry doubted he would be speaking to the man about this prophecy any time soon.

"What will happen now?" Harry inquired.

The Dark Lord smirked. "Now, I have a war to win."

Not entirely happy with the chapter but it will do. Enjoy.

~MidnightEmber