Faux Bravery

End of Year

"MACKANZIE WEASLEY!" I lent away from the red letter shouting in my face, my hair turning white almost instantly. Behind me, Ron and Hermione watched with rapt attention, though Ron was a tad pale, he knew exactly what our mother could be like when she was angry, and this was it. It had been a couple of days since the incident on the Third Floor, and we had asked Madam Pomfery if we could see Harry. I, unfortunately, had caught the howler right outside the door. "How dare you risk your life like that! Putting your brother in danger like that! I thought you promised to look after him! This is not looking after him! Just wait until you get back home, Mackenzie, you'll be grounded for the entire school break!" The letter then burst into flames in front of me, ashes slowly fluttering to the ground. I sighed.

"What was that?" Hermione asked.

"A howler." I said remorsefully, my hair bleeding back to brown. "Mum only sends them when we've royally messed up, seems as if I've copped one." The doors then opened beside us, and Madam Pomfrey said we had five minutes to talk to Harry. Before either of them could race to him, I grabbed both of them by the back of their collars and pulled them back. "Don't even think about it."

"Oh Harry." Hermione almost sobbed as we stopped at his bedside. "We were sure you were going to, Dumbledore was so worried-"

"The whole school's talking about." Ron but in. "What really happened?"

"Don't hound him." I scolded. "Only if you're comfortable with it, Harry, we do want to know." Harry then did open up about what happened, how Professor Quirrel was the true person behind the incidents throughout the year, the Mirror of Erised (which had to be explained to Hermione and I), how he got the stone...and how You Know Who was still alive, living on the back of Professor Quirrel's head, hidden by his turban.

"So...the stone's gone?" Ron confirmed. "Flamel's just going to...die?"

"That's what I said." Harry said. "But Dumbledore thinks that...what was it? 'To the well organised mind, death is just the next great adventure'."

"I always said he was off his rocker."

"So, what happened with you guys?"

"Hermione came back through the door, and we managed to wake Ron up after a while." I started. "We were heading over to the Common Room to grab Aquila when we quite literally ran into him in the Entrance Hall. It was like he had already known what was going on, and he stated 'Harry's gotten to him, hasn't he?' and he raced right off to save you."

"D'you think he meant you to do it?" Ron asked Harry. "Sending you your father's Cloak and everything?"

"Well!" Hermione huffed. "If he did, I mean to say, that's terrible, you could have been killed!"

"No, it isn't." Harry argued. "He's a funny man, Dumbledore, I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know? I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know? I reckon he has a pretty good idea we were going to try, instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help. I don't think it was an accident he let me find out how the Mirror worked. It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could..."

"Yeah, Dumbledore's barking all right." Ron stated. "Listen, you've got to be up for the end of year fest tomorrow. The points are all in, and Slytherin won, of course, you missed the last Quidditch match, we were steamrolled by Ravenclaw without you, but the food'll be good."

"Don't go and start making him feel bad." I scolded. "Don't worry about anything." I said to Harry. "If you're up for it or not, I'll make sure you get some food." It was then that Madam Pomfrey almost steamrolled us.