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Deepest Darkness by MithrilQuill

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Chapter 19 The Pieces are Ready

Rook and Queen
Castle and King
Steeds are steady
Soldiers Green

The Pieces are Ready



Ron strode into the Headmistress’s office, his mind occupied with those old D/A lessons and which curses had come to be the most useful, which ones would be best learned and taught for their next maneuver. The room was too quiet for his liking…he wasn’t that late was he.


Looking up, the boy came face to face with a handsome man with unruly hair, knitted brows and a flushed face. He had, quite obviously, just finished a rather unexpected verbal explosion which had rendered the rest of the room silent.


Ron walked closer to him and they stood face to face. The far-away familiarity about the man’s face made his heart ache slightly. Black hair, a slightly darker complexion, grey eyes that Ron knew must be responsible for Harry’s dumbstruck ‘I’ve seen my parents in a freaky mirror’ look, a golden locket hanging around his neck, and most of all, the set expression of an experienced chess player.


He let his eyes sweep the room and then allowed his face to break into a grin. “Chess, RAB?”


“The flow into Hogwarts needs to distract from the flow out of it,” Ron closed the door to the hospital wing and led the way to the Room of Requirement, “Go on Hermione.”


Neville looked up from the game of exploding snaps that lay abandoned on the table before him. Exploding anything wasn’t very popular lately.


“I know, Ernie, it’s just that we can’t sit here on our arses and wait for a special invitation into the secret hideout of the Order, we have to find a way to do our bit before we burst from guilt.”


“Yeah,” Ernie said wistfully, “Hannah…she…she was never the strongest witch, and always crying for odd reasons, especially around exam time, but she gave them a good fight. I saw the house with my own eyes afterwards, the thing was demolished; she turned out to be a fierce Badger and not just when it came to people making fun of firsties.”


“The question, though,” Ernie continued, “Is what.”


Both boys suddenly stiffened and Neville’s hand tightened around the small coin he had been fingering in his pocket, a coin which was now warm to the touch.


……


“Well everyone’s here, except those who…can’t be,” Dean broke the eager silence.


“What about Seamus?” Harry gritted through clenched teeth, “What’s his excuse?”


“I’ll take care of him.”



Ron stood before the door of the small Muggle dwelling, checked that the address was correct, and knocked twice.


“What do you want?!” the voice was harsh and hassled, and the other boy clearly knew exactly what he wanted and wasn’t having any of it.


“Aren’t you going to ask me to come in, mate?”


Seamus growled and suddenly looking around the busy street around him he pulled his old classmate in and closed the door with unnecessary force. “Listen, Ron, you can tell your bloody Chosen Boy to go look for other people to feed his nonsense stories to, I don’t give a damn about Prophecies and I don’t care if you and Hermione have forgotten what old Trelawney’s classes were like, but I’m not buying any of that chosen crap. It’s killed too many people already, stupid bloody gits, Harry’s not going to save them and it’s time to stop idolizing him and look out for our own backs!”


Ron blinked several times and watched Seamus’ flushed face as the boy gasped for breath. Realizing that he’d better have his say before the boy regained enough breath to either launch into another tirade or kick him out he began his very short impromptu speech, “Exactly, mate,” he looked the boy in the eye and wondered how long it would take for Moody to declare Seamus his heir, “That’s why I’m here. Because we’ve got a plan and we need to start fighting properly instead of waiting for Harry to figure it out. We need to defend our families properly and be one step ahead of the enemy.”


“Oh right, and you’re just giving up on Harry and turning this into some sort of bloody chess tournament, give me a break, Weasley!”


“Whether I believe a blasted prophecy or not is my own bloody business,” Ron gritted his teeth, “What I’m telling you is that I’m not willing to rely on Harry performing some miracle to save the day, I’m going to do everything I can too and I know we can only do it together, Seamus, united.”


Seamus raised his arm and pointed a shaky finger to the door. Whether this silent dismissal meant that he was starting to waver or that he had had it, Ron didn’t care. He wasn’t finished yet. “I already lost Ginny because I was stupid and relied on the bloody Prophecy, and I’m not going to lose another person!”


Seamus’ expression was slightly apologetic and the pointing finger dropped, giving him permission to at least speak his mind.


“We need to work together and not just to protect the people we love, but to give them tools to fight with. Bring your family and come, Seamus, you don’t have to even look at Harry and you don’t have to fight, we’re going to teach people, children and families, some defense and they’ll be in a safe place, surrounded by people who are willing to give their lives for them.”


There was a long silence in which Ron saw Seamus’ mother for the first time. She had walked into the room sometime during his rant and now had a hand on her son’s shoulder.


“Give us an hour, Mate.”


Ron grinned, inclined his head to the boy’s parents, and let himself out the door.



“This one’s for you Ginny,” Ron whispered, “This one’s for you.”


Liam was grinning eagerly from his place on the hospital bed as some of the water splashed his face. He was really good with a wand that boy, and Hermione, Ron thought, Hermione was a genius. He would be keeping that spell in mind for later.


“Petrificus Totalus!” he yelled, pointing the wand at the small boy and hoping that he wouldn’t shock the senses of out of him like Pomfrey clearly expected. The red beam was ducked only moments later and Ron walked over to pat the boy’s back.



“And we need to divide his forces and give ourselves time to secure the upper hand in the Hogwarts battle before Voldemort shows up.”


“But there’s nothing he wants more than Hogwarts right now, Ron, and-” Hermione began.


“Sure there is,” he said watching the last groups of Pomfrey’s patients and families Portkey to the new headquarters, “But it’s not something we’re willing to give up either so we have to play our pieces right.”



“Aww come on, Shacklebolt, I’m not going to refuse to cover for a mate when he needs it, but you can at least let me know what’s got you so worried that you need to take two whole hours off tomorrow!”


The twitch in the tall Auror’s lips was barely perceptible. “It’s not personal, mate, I wouldn’t ask you to cover unless it was something important.”


It wouldn’t do to give any detail too easily, the other Auror might be unable to keep his excitement in check when it came to “secret missions” but he wasn’t stupid.


“Fine,” the red-faced man said, clearly put off, “But don’t expect me to lie for you if it turns out to be something suspicious, things like this are too dangerous these days.”


Kingsley straightened his back and let his nostrils flare. The other man knew just how to get to him and that was something he’d relied on, still his anger was not purely pretend. He clenched his fists a couple of times before dropping the angered appearance for a careful, slightly hesitant one.


“It’s not like that,” he said it slowly and through gritted teeth, “But we need to get him into the ministry safe-room quietly before something happens.”


“Who?” the way his friend said it, Kingsley knew he had already guessed.


“Harry, mate, it’s Potter, and I’m not supposed to be telling you this, you need to keep it real secret and no one is supposed to know I’m gone. We think some of You-Know-Who’s men have found out I’m with the order so if I take an official leave or anyone notices I’m missing- it’s trouble.”


“Don’t you trust a man, Shacklebolt, of course I’m not going to risk the entire Wizarding World, I’ve got it all taken care of, mate, no one will notice a thing!”


Kingsley gave the man a firm a handshake. A last glance that told him that, thankfully, although his friend was trying his hardest to keep all the excitement bottled in, he would be noticed by a certain someone who was prowling around the heavily protected Wizarding hospital in hopes of getting news of Potter’s whereabouts and his health.


……


Ron stood up and eyed the man who was fingering the shimmering cloth of the invisibility cloak and staring down at the chess pieces. He returned Kingsley’s curt nod and took Harry’s offered hair, disregarding the half-hearted protests. A quick Diffindo and a slight limp for effect and he was ready to set this war into action. RAB grabbed hold of the fake locket and pulled the invisibility cloak over his head.


Taking the vile potion down in one gulp the boy looked up at his best friends and the small group of order members present, “The Pieces are Ready.”


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