Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

A Pirate's Tail	By : SamHill Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Slash - Male/Male Views: 3181 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Not in any lifetime does Harry Potter (and his universe) belong to me. They are the sole property of J.K. Rowling, et al. I make no money and I mean not copyright infringement.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
A/N: See Chapter One for all disclaimers and warnings

Chapter Thirteen:

“Well?” Ron demanded. The group of fifteen people stood in the receiving hall of Hogwarts Castle, milling about tables covered with maps, blank parchment, freshly sharpened quills and bottles of ink.

“They’re gone,” Seamus confirmed.

One of the women, Hermione, Ron thought, let out a soft cry. Ginny looked absolutely furious as she stood there with one hand around her friend’s shoulders and her brown eyes blazing. Ron knew a moment’s pride in his head-strong sister, but he returned his attention to more serious matters.

“So he was right then. The little shit really did betray us to Voldemort.”

“Yes, and now we’ve got to either fortify this castle or flee,” Sirius replied, face grim.

“We stand our ground as Harry instructed. We’ve got the forest at our back and beyond that are the highlands. Voldemort doesn’t yet know of our alliance with the Scot who dwell there; Ron, we should send word tonight that we can expect an attack within a month’s time.” Cedric ran a comforting hand down his wife’s arm before pacing the length of the room. “The horses and the newest recruits are on their way and Bill and Fleur have already sent word to our allies in France. We can thank Harry for that later.” There was hope in his words but no one in the room felt it. Once Voldemort had his hands on Harry, their leader’s life would be forfeit.

“We’ve got to alert the others. Mum and dad will have to ready the house and we’ll need to make sure all the stables are in working order. We’ll have nearly seventy horses to tend to.” Ron stood stock still, arms crossed over his chest as he stared down at the map Harry had given them a week prior.

Hermione wiped away her tears and steeled herself. Harry would need them to take charge in his absence and she refused to let him down. “Charlie should be walking through that door any time now and Moody right behind him. They’ll have sixty recruits with them as well, so we’ll need to make sure we have enough food in our stores.”

Ginny nodded. “Harry and I took an accounting of everything two days ago. We’ve plenty of beef and pork but no fowl. The chickens will need to be killed and cleaned, but we’ll leave that to the boys when they arrive.”

The twins stepped up, their usually cheerful faces serious. “We’ve got the dungeons ready for living. We’ll move all the women and children unable to fight or defend themselves there. The tunnels leading out into the forest are well hidden and the lads on the other side already know we’ll be escaping out that way if worse comes to worst,” Fred said.

“We’ve got the exits reinforced against collapse saving all but canon blast. Tomorrow we’ll start moving food down there as well. We’ll have people gathering vegetables and the like right up until Voldemort shows his scaly face.” George looked ferocious in his anger, his stocky body tensed as though every muscle was coiled and ready to spring.

There was a loud knock and the double door opened to admit one demon-faced Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody and his one-time student, Charles Weasley, the second oldest of the Weasley clan. They had barely cleared the space that separated Charlie from his brothers when the recruits began to trickle in, one by one as well as in groups of ten and twelve. They spread themselves out amongst the rest, clad in uniforms of Harry’s design and his greatest surprise yet.

The uniform trousers were the basic military style, but the tunics they wore beneath their open coats – though some wore only the tunic – were two-toned, done in the colors of Cedric’s house. His family coat-of-arms was stitched over the right breast and enlarged to cover the entire back. It was amazingly detailed and Ron wasn’t the only person wondering just how Harry had managed to pull that off. His question was answered when the ladies from the inn, accompanied by several others but without the devious Lavender Brown, also filed into the room, bringing their total closer to one hundred.

Bill moved to the forefront of the group, his scarred face twisted with fury. “Victoire is young yet, only seven this past December, so she has no memory of a time in which Voldemort did not rule our home country with an iron fist. I do. They were good times, those years before his father usurped the throne and before Voldemort succeeded him. The war we have been preparing for will see us waking up to those times once again.”

“She eez a ‘appy girl. I weel see ‘er ‘appy for zee rest of ‘er life,” Fleur added, eyes and stance fierce.

Hermione moved forward next. “Ron and I wanted to wait until this war was over, but obviously,” she laughed, “that didn’t happen. This battle brings the hope of a better life for our child, though.”

The crowd broke down into two groups; tactical combat remained centered around the map and its box of colored marking instruments while those in the strategic group began making lists of the weapons, armor and foods that would need to be forged and/or gathered. Ron led the first group with Bill and George at his side while Hermione led the other alongside Ginny and Fred. As the afternoon sun fled to the horizon, candles were lit and easily eaten foods were brought out.

Slowly the group of fifteen expanded into nearly eighty, and while plans were made, the new members were distributed as evenly as possible according to strengths. Voldemort had caught them unawares when he had seized the throne while having his father’s sanity brought under scrutiny; they would not make that mistake again.

It was when dawn began to approach and eyes began to grow heavy with sleep that Susan Bones, a newcomer to the group but an old friend of Hannah and Harry’s, began to weep as she whispered to the other women about Harry’s disappearance. It was clear that thoughts of their leader remained foremost in their minds and worry was becoming a distraction they could ill-afford. Ron wondered if he should say something, but for all his skill in battle planning, he lacked the eloquence to address an entire room full of people.

It was Cedric who stepped forward to speak, and every eye in the room was at once turned to watch him with anticipation. The hushed voices of ninety-odd people didn’t so much fade out as immediately cease and it was once more made obvious just why Harry had chosen this young man to assume the throne and not himself. Cedric’s mere presence, both commanding and soothing, demanded the attention of every eye and ear without him ever having to raise his voice or rely on some dramatic action. He cleared his throat and faced the people who believed in him enough to die for him. His words flowed like water down a parched throat.

“For those of you who do, fear not for we will not leave Harry Potter to whatever fate it is Voldemort has condemned him to. For ten years this extraordinary young man has fought to undo the devastation that has befallen our country. For seven of those years he has pushed the limits of his mind and body to overcome the disadvantages of his childhood and make him the man he is now. He has made himself stronger, smarter, braver and more deadly with a sword than many so that he could see the day when a true Prince could take the throne.

“There are many of you who remain unaware of this fact, but our families are both of royal lineage, Harry’s and mine. He would have you remain ignorant of this knowledge because he feels that he does not have what it takes to be a king for England. He would tell you this himself, were he here, just as he said it to me six years ago. Just as he reminded me shortly before he was kidnapped.

“At the time when it became clear that Voldemort would lead England into ruin while feeding his own greed, Harry chose me to succeed the throne. Only a select few here were aware of that until the recruits appeared. It is for me that he fights now and it is for me that he has sacrificed himself. I will not allow that to be in vain, nor will I leave him, dead or alive, to be desecrated by a man who hides behind his followers and uses violence and death to scare people into believing his lies. If he should die, it will be an honorable death and when he is buried it will be a funeral fit for a king.

“ Know this; when we face Voldemort, and we will, he will know that he was wrong to challenge England. She shall have Her revenge for the blood of her people spilt in his name. We will take from his body and those who remain faithful to him, a pound of flesh for each life pointlessly lost to his hunger for power. We will eradicate the evil that has festered within the womb of England so that when we are reborn, it is with the courage and honor She once stood for. When Voldemort stands at the end of my sword, I shall not hesitate to strike him down. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” The passion of Cedric’s words stole the voices of his audience and they stared at him breathless, waiting, though they knew not what for.

“So mote it be,” Luna murmured in her soft, musical voice. It sounded eerily like an omen and several followed as Dean crossed himself.

~ * ~

Tbc
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- 14
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A Pirate's Tail