Harry Potter and the Power of Proper Communication
After the Christmas argument about Harry's Firebolt, Hermione decides that she's not putting up with the boys' sulking anymore, and she's going to do something about it. What happens next is a testament to the strong bonds forged through people actually talking to each other, the desperation involved in keeping your best friend alive and in one piece, and the desire to build a better, safer world for him to live in, no matter what the objections from the adults.
In other words, the risk in manipulating things to create child-soldiers is that they will decide that you, too, are also something to protect themselves against.
Revised, Edited, and Rewritten: After a lot of feedback about how the writing got better as this fic went on, I've been taking a break, not just to have the burn-out breakdown from IRL work, but also to rewrite some of the earlier chapters (mostly 1-5) hoping to improve on what was already there, and add things I wish I'd thought of the first time.Updated So Far: Chapters 1, 2, and 3 - an additional chapter inserted after Chapter 3 - and 4 (which is now Chapter 5, I guess)