Discussions continued
“So what’s the plan?” Hermione asked.
“Ah yes.” Ron stroked the nonexistent hair his chin. “The plan. The plan to prevent disaster . The plan specifically to keep Harry safe.”
“I knew showing you that movie was a bad idea.” She sighed, rubbing at her temples. Oh the things she did for love.
Harry’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “You showed Ron the Emporers New Groove?”
The redhead beamed at them. “Yes, and I loved every minute of it.”
“But seriously,” Hermione butted in, unamused. “We need to get our shit together.”
“I think that’s a given.” Harry sighed, shoulders slumping in exhaustion. He was so tired, so tired of the world and their expectations.
“The question though, is how to not fuck things up.” She didn’t curse very often, but when she did, lesser men hid in fear. They most certainly did not fall into that category, Ron was a simp and Harry too doting.
“That’s not a question.” Ron tilted his head to the side, mirth in his eyes.
“Ron, I will castrate you.” She hissed, shoulders hiked up. “You need to take this seriously. This is our future.” Their baby brother and niece depended on it.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He rolled his eyes, a cocky grin on his face. “I’ll fight you every minute of it and win.”
“No.” She said smugly. “You could never win against me, magic or no magic.”
Harry looked at the both of them, eyes wide.
“Why is your flirting so violent?” He couldn’t help but ask. This was something he hadn’t heard before. Was that bedroom talk??? Either way, that was something he never wanted to hear again.
“Why is you-know-who your baby daddy?” The curly-haired girl shot back. Clearly, Hermione was on a roll today, not that he could blame her; stress was taking a toll on all of them.
“Low blow Hermione, low blow.” He threw himself back, rubbing against the scar on the back of his hand.
“But seriously, what are we supposed to do now?” Ron asked, clearly attempting to get back into his girlfriend's good graces. Smart choice, that was.
“I suppose that has to do with what we want and what needs to be done to get that.” Hermione said, prim and proper as usual.
“What we want?” He snorted. “I can’t even think about what I would want.”
“That’s why you got us.” Ron grinned.
“Lucky me.” Harry rolled his eyes before turning serious. “I probably wouldn’t be here without you guys.”
Whether by his own hand or the hands of another, he should have been long dead. Living with the Dursleys was a danger in and of itself. Between the violations, assaults, and bullying, he ought to be dead. Magic alone had kept him alive; without it, his broken bones and torn insides would never have been healed.
However, that didn’t stop the temptation to kill himself. It was a brutal admittance, one he rarely focused on. His friends, his true family, had given him a reason to live. Hell, they even provided an additional escape.
“Oh Harry,” Hermione murmured, pressing a hand to his back. “Please don’t think like that.”
“It’s hard not to sometimes.” He admitted. “Especially with how-” He shuddered, unable to continue the sentence.
“So,” she looked hesitantly at Ron. “I think it’s obvious that the Dursleys need to go.”
“Wait a minute…” Harry leaned back. “Do you mean to go as in go, or go as in ‘go’?”
“Yes.” The curly-haired girl gave them a sly smile.
“What do you think of Dumbledore, then?” Ron smirked, leaning forward.
“You don’t want to know what I think of that despicable excuse of a man.” She scowled. “Especially considering the man sanctions child abuse…”
Harry winced, though ultimately, there was nothing he could say.
“Harry, we both know he knew. He knows and never did anything. That’s not right.” Ron added.
“I know.” He sighed, lips pressed together. What else could he say?
“So what are we going to do about it?”
“Killing him would make him a martyr.” Harry groaned. Why did adulting have to be so fucking hard.
“Unfortunately.” Hermione grumbled.
“We could publicly ruin him.” Harry pointed out, unable to stop the corners of his lips from inching up. That would most certainly be entertaining.
“Yeah, probably the best at this point.” She agreed.
Ron nodded, mirth in his eyes. “We’ve got some pretty good shit on him at this point.”
“I bet Rita would loooooooove to hear what we have.” Harry drawled obnoxiously, moving to drape across the other boy’s lap. “Don’t you agreeeeeeee, Ronald?”
“Oh quit it,” he snorted, unable to deny such a cry for attention. What? Siblings stick together.
“So should we do it anonymously?”
“I think it depends on our end goal and how safe we’ll be here.” The dark-haired boy admited.
“I half like the idea of using a pseudonym so we can fly under the radar for longer, especially when Dumbledore is headmaster. I will admit that the nice thing about bringing it up directly is the political sway that comes from your name.” Hermione said.
“Good thing it can be used for something!” The boys crackled, wrestling at each other.
“Oh boys,” Hermione sighed fondly. “We still need to get things organized.”
Harry pulled away, draping himself on the couch. “I admire your desire and ability to plan, I really do, but any plan involving me goes to shit.
“Harry-”
“You can’t say that it’s not true,” he laughed, soft and bitter. “My greatest skill in life is creating problems.”
“No.” Ron said firmly. “Trouble may find us, but it is never you that is a problem, and we will tell you over and over again until you believe us.”
“Maybe,” he admitted. “But it doesn’t change the fact that we’ll find trouble. We always do.”
“And we always solve it together,” Hermione admonished. “We’re a team, right?”
“Dumbledore will no doubt be out to get me.”
“Maybe,” Hermione offered, “but that doesn’t mean there’s no hope.”
“Especially when your baby daddy has a similar goal.” Ron snorted.
Harry tilted his head to the side, brows furrowed. “What?”
“Harry,” Hermione said exasperated, “We all want to get rid of Dumbledore.”
“I suppose that’s true.” He grinned ruefully at them. “Especially if he really wants to start a courtship.”
“You know he has to ask your family permission to court you, right?” She nudged him.
“Fuck.”
“If he doesn’t reach out to us,” Ron said, giving him a side eye, “We’re going to have to throw a wrench in some of his plans.”
“Rooooooooooon!” He whined. “Don’t be mean!”
“Having a child together means coparenting,” Hermione sniffed. “He wants a relationship beyond that so he needs to ask permission to and court you.”
“Sounds like too much work.” He grinned cheakily.
Ron snorted and pushed him off of the couch. “Go back to bed lover boy. We can talk more when it’s not as late.”