harry 05

27

Smoke and Mirrors


Over the next two weeks, events at Hogwarts seemed to improve the moods of many students. After Harry’s meeting with McGonagal, the notices about the searches were taken off of the house message boards. Ginny, as Harry had hoped, seemed satisfied with McGonagal’s apology, and she had made efforts to let Professor Lupin know that she forgave him as well. All in all, the mood within the castle seemed to lighten considerably.

That is, everywhere except the room of requirement, where Harry had taken to holding D.A. training sessions every night. Attendance was by no means mandatory. Harry though, would take the time to teach new spells and defenses to anyone who came by no matter how often. Much of the time, Harry studied and trained alone, though under the close supervision of Ginny.

Ginny found it much the same as his training sessions in his own room of requirement at his house. Again and again he would watch as his old battles played out in front of him. Time and again she stood on the top of the tower as Harry watched Dumbledore’s death over and over again. He still insisted that there was some clue waiting to be found in the scene, though a clue to what he could not say.

“Are you ready to call it a draw yet, Harry?” Ginny asked as she stood and stretched in the corner.

“What?” Harry asked having his attention to the frozen form of Snape broken.

“You’ve been staring at him for the last ten minutes,” Ginny said. “It’s almost time for dinner.”

“I guess you’re right,” Harry said walking toward her. “He’ll still be here the next time I need him.”

“I don’t know why you would need to look at him again,” Ginny observed. “You’ve looked at him from every angle a hundred times since the summer. You might have to face the fact that there isn’t anything to find.”

“There has to be, Ginny,” Harry explained. “Nothing Snape did that night makes any sense. Every action he took just raises another question about what he was thinking at the time. Everything he did was so unlike him.”

“Maybe it was more like him than we knew,” Ginny said making Harry stop to consider the possibility briefly.

“Anyway,” Harry said not wanting to concede his position, “let’s go down to dinner. After we eat I need to send an owl to Fred and George.”

“Well, that is enough to worry anyone,” Ginny said with a grin. “You have to worry any time those two are involved.”

“It’s nothing really,” Harry said. “I just asked them to make another map for me. I just need to check on the progress.”

“Oh that makes me feel much better,” Ginny said sarcastically.

“Well, you asked,” Harry pointed out.

“I know,” Ginny said holding up her hands. “I know.”

Harry and Ginny walked into the Great Hall and quickly found a seat across from where Ron and Hermione were apparently having a debate.

“Is it true, Harry?” Ron asked before Harry could sit down completely.

“I would have to decline to answer since I don’t know what the question is,” Harry said with an amused grin.

“The mystery dot…” Ron began, “On the map… That was you?”

“Of course,” Harry confirmed.

“Well why am I always the last one to know?” Ron asked. “How could it have been you? We were there with you at the time. You said you didn’t know who it was.”

“At the time, I didn’t,” Harry said. “I was just as confused about it as anyone. That I knew of, I was the only one the map would refuse to identify. I had asked Fred and George to build in that feature. It didn’t begin to click as a possibility that it could be me until after we went to Wick. I looked at the footprints the mystery person left behind and something felt familiar. I went back there that night and put my own shoes on top of those footprints. They fit perfectly. That was all the proof I needed to tell me that I was the one who did it. I had already found my dad’s time turner, but I hadn’t used it yet.”

“We’ve known about the time turner for a while now, Ron,” Ginny said. “I thought you would have pieced this all together by now.”

“Well excuse me for not being the suspicious type like some other people I know,” Ron accused. “The least you all could have done would have been to tell me about it when you realized it.”

“I honesty didn’t think about it, Ron,” Hermione said. “I just naturally put that together as soon as I realized Harry had a time turner. I just thought everyone else would as well.”

“Well not all of us can have the brains to figure things out like that,” Ron sulked. “The less intelligent among us need a little help now and then.”

“Ron, I didn’t mean anything like that and you know it,” Hermione said apologetically.

“I guess,” Ron said after a brief pause. “Just once it would be nice to be the one to learn something before any of the rest of you though.”

Tonks walked up behind Ron and Hermione and said, “Evening everyone.”

“Evening, Professor,” the four of them responded.

“Would it be possible for me to borrow you for a while, Ron?” Tonks asked.

“Me?” Ron asked startled.

“That’s what I said,” Tonks confirmed.

“Look if you’re doing this because of what I just said,” Ron began, “it really isn’t necessary.”

“Considering that I have no idea what you lot were talking about,” Tonks said, “the chances of that are slim at best.”

“You mean you really need to see me?” Ron asked as his spirits lifted.

“Actually Professor McGonagal sent me to find you,” Tonks said.

“Oh great,” Ron said as his spirits deflated once again. “Well if I’ve done something I shouldn’t have can I take Hermione up with me?”

“I’m afraid not,” Tonks said. “This is Order business. Hermione wasn’t invited.”

“Order business?” Ron asked as he perked up again. “You don’t want me then. You want Harry.”

“I can assure you that I was quite clear on who I was sent for,” Tonks said as her patience began to wear thin. “Now, are you coming or do I have to stun you?”

“I’m coming,” Ron said excitedly as he stood and hit his knee on the bottom of the table.

“It isn’t going to be dangerous is it?” Hermione asked fearful.

“I can’t really answer that,” Tonks said.

“Ron,” Hermione said taking hold of his hand. “Promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I will,” Ron replied with a dazed smile on his face. “I promise.”

“Don’t worry,” Tonks said as she pointed Ron in the right direction. “I’ll keep an eye on him for you.”

Harry, Ginny and Hermione watched in silence as Tonks led Ron out of the Great Hall.

“You don’t suppose they would take Ron out on a hunt for death eaters do you?” Hermione asked as she bit her bottom lip.

“Surely not,” Harry said sensing the worry growing in Ginny as well. “McGonagal would never agree to letting a student do that. Just look at how protective she’s been of me all year. If she won’t let me in on it then she has something else planned for Ron altogether. Maybe they just need to ask him a few questions.”

“I hope you’re right, Harry,” Hermione said as her eyes became watery. “I don’t know what I would…”

“Don’t worry, Hermione,” Ginny said as she reached out and took Hermione’s hand. “I’m sure Harry is right. They may just be trying to get information about the D.A. or something.”

“I wish them luck,” Harry said. “If Ron is nothing else, he’s loyal. It’s one of his strongest qualities. They would have an easier time getting information out of me.”

“Still,” Hermione said with worry evident in her voice, “there has to be something we can do.”

“Ron might be a bit resentful if we stick our noses into this one,” Ginny observed. “He did just have a fit over not knowing about Harry as the mystery dot.”

“I don’t care,” Hermione said not feeling any calmer. “He’s been gone less than two minutes and I’m a nervous wreck already. Please, Harry. There has to be something you can do. I’m not thinking clearly enough right now to do it on my own.”

Harry took a breath as he considered what he was about to agree to before he sighed and said, “All right, Hermione. If it would make you feel better I’ll keep an eye on him. I’ll have to go up to my room to get my invisibility cloak.”

“Be careful, Harry,” Ginny warned. “As much as Ron won’t like being spied on, the Order will like it even less.”

“Very likely,” Harry said as he stood to go. “I’ll try to keep under cover.”

Before Ginny or Hermione could say anything else, Harry disapparated, and Ginny said, “I may never get used to him being able to do that even here at Hogwarts.”

Ron had tried to question Tonks about what he was needed for on the trip to the Headmaster’s office, but she would only tell him that everything would be explained to him when the time was right. After several attempts, he finally gave up and contented himself with concentrating on the tightening feeling developing in his throat.

Once Tonks had opened the door to the Headmaster’s office, Ron stepped inside cautiously to find McGonagal, Lupin, Kingsley and his dad waiting for him. It was his dad’s presence that startled him the most.

“All right there, Ron?” Arthur asked as he walked closer. “You’re looking a bit green at the moment.”

“What are you doing here, dad?” Ron asked. “Has something happened?”

“No,” Arthur said giving his son a proud hug. “They thought my being here would make you feel better about what we’re about to do.”

Ron swallowed hard and asked, “And just what are we here to do?”

“We need your help,” Kingsley stated. “We’ve been working on a project, but haven’t been able to get past a barrier that stands in our way. Professor Lupin tells us that you might have a talent that will be useful to us. Interested?”

“How am I supposed to answer a question like that?” Ron asked. “You haven’t told me what the project is yet.”

“That’s the way it has to work I’m afraid,” Kingsley said. “If you don’t sign on with us then you can go back to dinner with your friends and forget this conversation ever happened. Agree to join us on this mission and we’ll portkey to another location. Once there, you will be told exactly what we need from you.”

“I wish we could tell you more now, Mr. Weasley,” McGonagal said. “Just know that the potential danger to you is being minimized as much as is possible. The Order members in this room other than myself will accompany you to your destination where still more members await your arrival.”

“You aren’t expecting me to hunt death eaters are you?” Ron asked fearful of the answer he would get.

“Certainly not,” McGonagal said, as she stood up straighter. “Do you really believe I would allow a student to engage in that type of activity?”

“Oh good,” Ron said relieved. “For a minute there I was thinking this was something better suited for Harry.”

“I would like to keep Mr. Potter as far from this project as possible,” McGonagal said. “I’m sure he would feel differently though.”

“I’m not so sure I don’t feel differently,” Ron admitted.

“Now, Ron,” Arthur said as he put his arm around Ron’s shoulder, “surely you don’t think I would let them put you in serious danger.”

Ron was about to answer when he looked around and asked, “Where’s mum?”

“Well,” Arthur began as he cleared his throat, “you know how she is. Probably best that you not mention this to her.”

“I thought so,” Ron said as he took a breath and surveyed the Order member’s faces. “Okay. I’m in. When do we leave?”

“Right away,” Kingsley said indicating a rusty old cauldron sitting on a table nearby. “Gather around everyone. I’ve set it to activate five seconds after the first person touches it.”

Silently, they all moved into position. Kingsley nodded to the group and they, along with a very nervous looking Ron, reached out and took hold of the rim of the cauldron. Seconds later they were spinning so fast that Ron nearly lost his grip.

After what seemed like ages, they finally stopped and came into contact with solid ground again. Ron’s feet hit something hard and sent him flying away from the cauldron only to land on his back in the darkness. He sat up and looked ahead of him in the darkness just as lightning streaked across the sky and illuminated the dark fortress wall, and caused his mouth to drop open in fear.

McGonagal walked to her desk after the group had portkeyed away, and she looked at the activated map on her desk to assure herself that the party had arrived at their destination. After seeing that their dots and labels were in the right location, she began to pace her office nervously.

“I never would have agreed to this if Arthur hadn’t volunteered Ron for the assignment,” McGonagal said. “At least he is being well protected.”

“Perhaps better than you know,” Dumbledore ventured, making McGonagal turn to look at him. “In the future it would not be a good idea to leave a map such as that activated on your desk.”

McGonagal walked to her desk quickly and surveyed the map again. As she feared, another dot appeared on the map with the original group.

“Easy there, Ron,” Arthur said as he helped Ron stand up once again. “It isn’t as bad as all that.”

“But… But… But…” Ron stammered with wide eyes. “Azkaban? Is that where we are?”

“Yes, Ron,” Arthur confirmed. “Don’t worry though. When this is over we get to leave.”

“What are we doing here?” Ron asked as he was led up a rocky path toward the gates of Azkaban.

“We brought you here to help us find something that was hidden here many years ago,” Lupin said as the group walked though the gate to find Moody standing among aurors and Order members alike. “It was Harry who gave us a tip about its location. We’ve just hit a bit of a problem trying to recover it.”

“Well if all of you can’t recover it then what do you expect me to be able to do?” Ron asked still not believing he was really walking through Azkaban. “What is it anyway?”

“It’s a horcrux, Ron,” Lupin said as he watched Ron’s eyes open even wider.

“A horcrux?” Ron nearly squealed. “I don’t know how to find them.”

“We’ve already found it,” Moody said. “We just need you to get to it.”

“A horcrux,” Ron said shaking his head. “I knew you should have brought Harry.”

“He doesn’t have your talent with Concealment charms,” Kingsley said.

“I don’t see where that is going to do you any good unless you want me to hide from the horcrux,” Ron pointed out. “Which I’m willing to do, mind you.”

“It’s unlikely that you would have to, Ron,” Tonks said. “This is just one stage we’re asking for you to help us through. There are likely more stages to penetrate beyond that one. You won’t have to recover the horcrux personally.”

“Still,” Ron said as he swallowed again, “I would feel better if Harry were here with me.”

“Then you can relax,” Moody said as his magic eye looked off to Ron’s left. “Potter is here.”

“What?” Ron asked at the same time as Lupin and Kingsley as they looked around.

“It’s no use hiding now, Potter,” Moody said as he turned his head to look where his magic eye had been focused. “I can see you plainly through that cloak.”

Seconds later, Harry pulled the cloak off and revealed himself to everyone in the courtyard.

“Harry, what are you doing here?” Ron asked as he walked closer to Harry.

“I think we would all like to know that,” Lupin said with a serious look as he converged on Harry as well.

“I’m sorry, Ron,” Harry said fearing that Ron would be upset with him. “I wasn’t here to interfere.”

“Then why are you here?” Moody asked.

“And how did you get here?” Tonks asked.

“I’m here because I promised Hermione that I would keep an eye on Ron,” Harry explained. “I was just supposed to watch him and make sure he wasn’t in any danger.”

“Really?” Ron asked with a grin. “Was she really that worried?”

“She was nearly mental, mate,” Harry said. “Promising to watch your back was the only way to calm her down.”

“Wicked,” Ron said as his smile widened. “She loves me.”

“As touching as that is,” Kingsley began, “this may not be the best time or place to discuss it. We now have to deal with the problem of Mr. Potter being here.”

“I’ll look after him,” Arthur said as he stepped to Harry’s side. “He already knows why we’re here. It wouldn’t serve any purpose to send him away now.”

“Not if you want my help anyway,” Ron stated. “I say he stays.”

Kingsley considered the options briefly before saying, “Very well, but if you interfere in any way I’ll have you locked in a cell here, Mr. Potter.”

“I understand,” Harry said.

“Wow, Harry,” Ron said as they followed the order members toward the center of the courtyard. “You picked a great time to drop in. These Order guys were beginning to creep me out. It’s nice to know I’m not the only sane one here.”

“From what I could see you were doing fine,” Harry said. “You could have done this alone.”

“Maybe,” Ron acknowledged. “It makes me feel better knowing I have someone who I can trust watching out or me.”

“Well, I like that,” Arthur said slightly insulted. “What am I here for?”

“No offense dad,” Ron explained. “The Order has it’s own agenda. I’m D.A. through and through. It felt weird being the only one here.”

“If anyone had told me that I would be walking through Azkaban tonight I would have thought they were crazy,” Harry said in a hushed voice.

“I know what you mean,” Ron said. “Weird isn’t it?”

In he center of the courtyard, Harry and Ron saw everyone gathered around a small pool of dark water. As they drew close they could see the water rippling slightly in the night breeze that was blowing.

“This is where we think it’s hidden,” Kingsley stated as he pointed toward the pool. “We detected strong magical spells operating in this area while we were sweeping the prison for a possible hiding place for the horcrux. It took months of effort just to discover the secret to activate the protection. The pool appears to be about a meter deep normally. We tried to empty it, but more water appeared to replace the amount we took out. We believe that it is an original feature built into the pool when it was constructed. Repeated attempts to drag the bottom of the pool for the horcrux proved unsuccessful. Attempts to make the horcrux reveal itself through the use of spells proved equally as fruitless.”

“Did you ever consider that maybe the magic you detected was the spell that keeps the water level full?” Ron asked.

“That was becoming a popular theory,” Kingsley admitted, “but then Remus related to us the details of Professor Dumbledore’s last mission to find a horcrux.”

“Of course I could have told you about that at any time if anyone had asked,” Harry pointed out. “But of course I’m not really here, so don’t mind me.”

Kingsley gave Harry a warning look before he said, “As I was saying, it was when we found out about the blood key used to gain entrance to the cave where Dumbledore found the last horcrux that we decided to give it a try here. Even a single drop of blood dropped into the water will turn the surface into a solid mirrored glass. The problem comes whenever someone looks over the edge and sees their reflection in the mirror. Any body part reflected in the mirror will make it turn back into its liquid state.”

“What about an invisibility cloak?” Ron asked.

“We tried that,” Kingsley replied. “Somehow, it detects the person under the cloak the same way Alastor’s magic eye does. The only thing we haven’t been able to try so far is having someone look over the edge while using a concealment charm. That we know of, there is only one living person other than the Dark Lord who can perform a full body concealment charm successfully.”

“I see,” Ron said as more of the color drained from his face. “At least now I see why you wanted me along. You wouldn’t happen to have any idea what’s going to happen when I look over the edge would you? I mean, I’m not suddenly going to be pulled into the water am I?”

“There is no way for us to know,” Kingsley admitted. “Actually, it may not work at all. This is only a guess on our part.”

Ron took hold of Harry and pulled him to an area away from the aurors and Order members before he asked quietly, “What do you think, Harry?”

“I don’t know, Ron,” Harry replied. “This may be very different than the hunt for the locket. The blood is most likely a common element given Voldemort’s fascination with it. Beyond that there are a lot of unknowns. The lake was full of inferi, but Voldemort spent a lot of time planning and implementing that series of obstacles. With this one he sent one of his death eaters to do it for him. I don’t think he would have had time to fill the pool with inferi or any other creatures in great numbers. I don’t think the dementors would have given him that much time. Whatever tasks lay beyond the mirror are likely to be skill and logic puzzles.”

“Great,” Ron said sarcastically. “So if I get pulled into the pool to solve any of those I would really need Hermione to help get me past them.”

“Ron,” Harry began as he dropped his voice even lower, “I wasn’t going to bring it up, but you need to know that you have another option if you don’t want to do this. I’ve been practicing the concealment charm ever since that day in class. I can’t hold it for as long as you can, but I can do the full body concealment now. I could take your place if you wanted.”

“You would do that?” Ron asked.

“Someone needs to try,” Harry said. “I’ll volunteer to take your place if you really don’t want to do it.”

Ron thought about it seriously for a moment before he said, “I can’t let you do that, Harry. We all know what you have ahead of you. I can’t let you risk getting hurt doing this for me. Besides, you heard what Kingsley said. If you interfere he’s going to lock you in a cell. He knows as well as I do how McGonagal would freak out if she even knew you were here, much less risking your life.”

“Are you sure?” Harry asked.

Ron nodded and said, “I’m sure.”

“I’ll hold on to you while you look over he edge then,” Harry offered. “If anything starts to happen I’ll be able to pull you back.”

“Thanks, Harry,” Ron said. “I’m really glad you’re here watching my back, mate.”

“Well somebody has to,” Harry said. “I don’t want to be the one to go back and tell Hermione if something goes wrong.”

“I’m ready,” Ron said as he walked back to where Kingsley and the others waited. “Harry is going to hang on to me just in case.”

“I said before that Mr. Potter was not to have anything to do with this mission,” Kingsley said sternly.

“I think we can all see that Mr. Potter is already involved whether we like it or not,” Moody said. “Lets get on with this either way. The sooner we get through the glass barrier the sooner we can get them back to Hogwarts and let McGonagal deal with them.”

“I doubt it will be that simple,” Lupin observed. “None of us will hear the end of it if anything happens to either one of them.”

“Very well then,” Kingsley said as he pulled a dagger and pushed the tip into he palm of his hand before letting the blood drip into the pool. “You can begin when you’re ready.”

“Ready, Harry?” Ron asked.

Harry reached out and took hold of the back of Ron’s robes as he said, “Be careful, Ron.”

Seconds later, Ron vanished from view. Harry, having a tight grip on Ron’s robes, followed behind Ron as he moved closer to the pool. Ron stopped just short of it, and considered for a moment before leaning over the edge and looking into the mirror.

“It looks like clear glass,” Ron said. “I think I can see the bottom. There’s some kind of light I think. No. Wait. It’s coming closer. It looks like something reflective. It’s a…”

At that moment, Ron felt a powerful tug forward toward the pool that lifted him off his feet and pulled Harry in with him. Lupin reached out frantically and grabbed onto Harry’s ankle as he was pulled into the pool after Ron, but he to was pulled inside along with his two students.

Ron’s scream was cut off, as he slammed hard into a solid dry surface. If he had any air left in his body, it would have been knocked out when Harry immediately landed on top of him. Lupin landed just behind Harry, and finally let go of his ankle when he hit the ground.

“Harry,” Ron asked with a shaky voice, “what happened?”

“I’m not sure,” Harry said as he rolled off of Ron. “I thought we were being pulled into the pool, but it’s dry here.”

“Nice of you to tag along, Professor,” Ron said as he turned his head and noticed Professor Lupin trying to right himself.

“Well I couldn’t very well let you two have all the fun,” Lupin said with a grimace as he sat up and started to look around.

“Look at that,” Harry said in amazement as he pointed above them.

They all looked up to see a square opening overhead with rippling water above it. They could all see the shimmering faces of Kingsley and the others as they looked over the edge and scanned the water.

“So, any theories about this one, Professor?” Harry asked. “This is a new one on me.”

“Well judging from the relative size of the opening above to the size of the people looking into the pool, I would guess that we’ve been pulled into a magically expanded artificial environment,” Lupin said as he stood and dusted himself off.

Harry and Ron looked at him in astonishment before Harry said, “That sounds better than anything I had in mind. What exactly does it mean?”

“I think he means it’s like the tent we used at the Quidditch World Cup,” Ron said. “It can be almost any size on the outside, but be magically expanded on the inside to provide a larger amount of room.”

“Exactly,” Lupin agreed.

“Somehow I liked walking into the tent better than dropping in here,” Harry said.

“It stands to reason,” Lupin said. “Voldemort would have been able to install the protections he wanted in this room before he sent his death eater to bury it in the bottom of the pool. All the death eater would have to do would be to set the spells in place that we’ve encountered up to now.”

“That doesn’t sound very promising,” Ron said as he drew his wand. “I don’t suppose Voldemort would make the horcrux easy to get to. Lumos.”

The area beyond Ron’s wand burst into illumination, and Ron began to sweep around the area as Harry said, “Well he didn’t spend much time on the decoration.”

“There,” Lupin said as Ron’s wand light reached the edge of a stone alter at one end of the room.

Harry and Lupin both shot light from their own wands at the alter and the surrounding area that had not been searched as Harry said, “This looks like the only thing in the room. There are no doors to other areas. The horcrux must be on the altar.”

“Hmm,” Lupin said. “Surely it couldn’t be that easy.”

“I wouldn’t call what we’ve been through so far easy,” Ron commented.

“Actually, compared to the search for the locket I went on with Professor Dumbledore, this one has been fairly easy so far,” Harry said. “I suspect it will get much worse from here on.”

“So what do we do now?” Ron asked.

“You two don’t do anything,” Lupin said seriously. “You weren’t even supposed to make it this far in the search. We all thought you would look at the mirror and see some way of opening the way for the rest of us to take over from there. The recovery of the horcrux is solely up to me now.”

“You won’t get any argument from me,” Ron replied.

“Harry?” Lupin asked.

“I can’t interfere or Kingsley will lock me in a cell,” Harry said with a slight grin. “Remember?”

“Just make sure you remember it,” Lupin said seriously.

“So what are you going to do?” Ron asked correcting his earlier question.

“Start with the obvious,” Lupin said as he held his hand out toward the altar. “Accio horcrux.”

They all waited, but nothing resulted from the spell.

“Maybe a little less obvious is in order,” Harry suggested.

“So it would seem,” Lupin replied as ropes flew from the end of his wand toward the altar only to pass through the altar and strike the wall beyond.

“Oh you have to be kidding me,” Ron said. “It isn’t even real.”

“Don’t be too sure,” Harry said. “The water in the pool was a liquid until a drop of blood was added to it. This altar may operate the same way.”

“Great,’ Ron said. “So, all we have to do is walk over to it and drop in some blood.”

“You’ll stay right where you are,” Lupin corrected. “I’ll walk closer to it.”

“Of course,” Ron conceded.

Lupin walked forward cautiously, aware that unseen traps may yet be waiting to spring. He had made the trip half way to the altar before he heard faint sound to either side of him. He turned his wand to one of the side walls just in time to see wetly glistening arrow points protruding from the walls. Instinct took over as Lupin ducked and rolled closer to the altar just as the arrows flew through the spot he had just been occupying. Harry and Ron directed light at where the arrows had struck the walls and heard the hissing sound as the acidic poison on the arrow tips began eating into the stone walls.

“Professor,” Harry yelled. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Lupin answered, though a look at his face clearly showed how shaken he really was. “I’m just going to take a minute to survey the walls for any sign of more surprises.”

“If you need me to, I can…” Harry began.

“I already told you not to do anything,” Lupin interrupted. “The last thing I need is for one of you to walk into a trap like that one. I’ll be fine. Just give me a chance to collect myself again.”

Lupin looked at the walls very carefully before turning his attention to the ceiling. Neither place showed any signs that another trap was waiting to spring. Lupin stood and carefully took a single step before surveying the area once again and taking another step. All of his steps played the same way until he reached the base stone of the altar. He placed a foot on the stone gently as he stepped up to look at the altar top. As far as he could see, it was a blank transparent stone. He ran his hand through the stone as easily as the rope had penetrated it previously. Taking a deep breath, he aimed his wand at his hand and whispered a mild cutting spell. Moments later, one, then another drop of blood dripped from his hand and passed through the altar and onto the stone below.

“It didn’t work this time,” Lupin yelled back to Harry and Ron. “The blood didn’t make the altar solid. I don’t see any sign of an object that could be a horcrux yet. I’ll have to try something else.”

Over the next few minutes, Lupin used every summoning spell he could think of to draw the horcrux out of hiding, but to no avail. He tried to charm the altar to make it solid. He tried to transfigure it. He tried applying heat and cold, but that too met with less than desirable results. He tried several spells and incantations on it, but nothing he did made the slightest difference in its form or solidity.

Lupin decided to step back from the altar and see if there was anything he was missing. As soon as his feet had left the stone base, there was a rushing sound from overhead, and a long metal spear shot down out of the ceiling and buried itself into the center of the altar’s solid stone base. Almost immediately, a dark green smoke began to spew from the punctured rock. Lupin knew immediately that whatever the gas was in the smoke, it was almost surely of a deadly nature.

Lupin turned to walk back the way he had come, but almost immediately found that a shield had gone up in his path and blocked his way. The smoke from the stone had already filled the far end of the chamber, and it was quickly moving in his direction. He tried to disapparate, but it proved as impossible as it was in Azkaban above.

Ron watched in horror as the gas closed in on where Lupin stood as she shakily said, “Harry, what do we do?”

“Stay calm,” Harry said as he concentrated on Lupin’s exact location.

Just before the gas reached him, Lupin suddenly noticed a hand closing tightly around his upper right arm. A moment of weightlessness followed as Lupin blinked and found himself standing next to Ron with Harry holding tightly to him.

“What…” Lupin began.

“Are you all right, Professor?” Harry asked as he released Lupin’s arm.

“Did you…” Lupin began again.

“Sorry, Professor,” Harry said. “I know you told me to stay out of it, but I wasn’t about to let you go that easily.”

“Harry, that was amazing,” Ron said with a wide smile.

“Ron isn’t the only one who’s glad you’re here, Harry,” Lupin said as he looked back at the gas contained by the shield that had trapped him just moments before. “Thanks.”

“Glad I could help,” Harry said. “Just don’t tell Kingsley about it.”

“Speaking of Kingsley,” Ron said, “should we look for a way out now?”

“Well there is still one side of the room that we haven’t tried yet,” Harry said.

“We didn’t see anything over on that side before though,” Ron said. “Besides, what if there are more traps on that side? That would be really bad if the rest of the room was full of deadly gas.”

“I don’t think so,” Harry commented as he used the light from his wand to illuminate the wall on the opposite end of the room. “We chose what we took to be the easy path before just because we could see the altar against the far wall. Being the most obvious choice, we investigated. It turned out that the altar might never have existed at all. Finding that out nearly got one of us killed.”

“So you think it was put there as a decoy to lead an intruder to his death?” Lupin asked.

“I think so,” Harry said. “After all, think about how this whole thing started. There was a simple pool of water that turned to glass when blood was dropped in it. Ron was the only one who could look into the glass. Maybe the same is true down here. Maybe we should let Ron conceal himself to see what isn’t so visible to the rest of us.”

“That could be a risky proposition,” Lupin pointed out. “Doing that may set off another trap for all we know. Besides, would Voldemort really use the same trick he used for the mirror in the pool. If someone did manage to get past the pool, he surely would have figured they would try it again down here.”

“I would agree with that if we hadn’t just experienced the thing he placed in here to distract someone from thinking of that option,” Harry observed. “We know that the horcrux is here. We can also be fairly sure it isn’t on the side of the room we already tried. Unless someone else has another idea, I don’t think we have much choice but to try a concealment charm.”

“I’m willing to try it,” Ron said. “If we stay right here and I take a look, maybe I’ll see something on the other side. After we know where it is, then we can figure out how to go about getting to it.”

“All right then,” Lupin relented. “Harry and I are going to hold onto you though, just in case.”

Harry and Lupin each took a firm hold on Ron’s arms as Ron readied himself and then disappeared.

“I see it!” Ron exclaimed. “There’s another altar on the far wall. It looks more solid than the other one did. There’s a gold cup of some kind…”

Ron never got the chance to finish his sentence as he once again was pulled along with Harry and Lupin right up to the altar by an unseen force. A split second later, they all heard the unmistakable sound of arrows rushing through the air and striking at the stone walls behind them.

“I guess it’s a good thing we didn’t try to walk over here,” Harry said as he looked back at the deadly area they would have just walked through.

“I can see it, Harry,” Ron said. “The cup is just sitting there on the top waiting for someone to take it. It has the Hufflepuff symbol etched into the side of it.”

“That would be the cup that belonged to Helga Hufflepuff,” Harry said. “Dumbledore suspected Tom Riddle stole it when he was working at Borgin and Burks.”

“Well he picked a strange place to hide it,” Ron said.

“Can you think of a more secure location?” Lupin asked. “If the dementors were still guarding the prison, no wizard would want to get near it if they didn’t have to.”

“I guess you’re right,” Ron said. “So what should I do now? Should I try to grab the cup?”

“Take a careful look at the altar first,” Lupin said. “Look for anything that might trigger a booby trap. I wouldn’t put it past Voldemort to put one in even at this stage.”

“I can almost guarantee it,” Harry said.

Ron was silent for several seconds as he looked over the altar carefully for any sign that something was amiss before he said, “I can’t see anything. The stone is completely smooth.”

“Does the cup have anything in it?” Harry asked.

“No,” Ron replied. “It’s empty.”

“All right then,” Lupin said. “Reach out very slowly and touch it gently to make sure it’s real.”

Ron reached out his hand and brushed it lightly against the metal of the cup before he said, “It’s real enough. I don’t seem to have activated any unseen traps by touching it. What next?”

“I suppose it is possible that Voldemort expected the arrows to deal with anyone who tried to take it,” Harry said not sounding truly convinced.

“Harry,” Lupin said, “if he picks up the cup and poison gas starts spewing out of the top of the altar, would you be able to apparate us all back to the center of the room the way you did with me the last time?”

“I think so,” Harry replied. “It won’t make much difference if there isn’t a shield on this end to trap the gas from going beyond it.”

“Voldemort must have had some plan for getting out of here once he had gotten the horcrux,” Ron said. “Maybe the horcrux is a portkey as well.”

“You might be right,” Lupin admitted. “The brief touch you gave it would not be enough to activate it if it is.”

“We may have to consider the possibility that we might not like where it takes us if it is a portkey,” Harry pointed out.

“This is all well and good,” Ron said, “but what if he built some kind of time limit into this? We could activate it just by standing here and debating all of the possibilities.”

“Let’s do it then,” Lupin said. “We’ll hold on to you while you grab onto the cup. “Be ready to apparate us, Harry, just in case.”

Ron reached out and placed his hands firmly around the cup and held them there for several seconds as he waited for it to activate a portkey. The seconds passed, but nothing happened.

“Are you touching it?” Harry asked.

“Yes,” Ron replied. “I think we can strike the portkey theory off the list.”

“Lift it off of the altar carefully,” Lupin instructed.

Ron lifted the cup off of the altar and he, the cup and the altar sprang into the visible realm suddenly.

“Oh, this can’t be a good sign,” Harry said just before a metal spear shot from the altar and clanged against the roof of the room.

Lupin gathered Harry and Ron close as he performed a shield spell to protect them from the falling stone the spear had dislodged. The effect of the spear impact continued though, as they all heard the sound of glass beginning to crack. They looked back to the tiny clear window through which they had apparently entered the room to see cracks spreading over its surface. Seconds later the window gave way and water began rushing down into the room from the pool above.

“Somehow I don’t think we’ll be able to swim out of this place,” Ron said nervously as water splashed up against the base of the altar.

“Hold on to me,” Harry said as the water rose quickly. “I think I can get us out.”

Ron and Lupin took a tight hold on Harry’s shoulders as Harry concentrated on moving though the window opening and into the courtyard above. As the water reached their knees, they disapparated and felt the cool night air on their skin as they reappeared in the spot they had been occupying before they had been sucked into the pool.

“Ron!” Arthur exclaimed as he quickly stepped over and took Ron in his arms. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine dad,” Ron said as his dad showed no signs of letting him go. “We found the horcrux.”

“We were afraid we lost all of you,” Kingsley said as he walked over to Lupin.

“You very nearly did,” Lupin said as Ron handed the horcrux to Kingsley. “Arthur, you should be proud of Ron. We never would have been able to locate the horcrux down there without him. Kingsley, before you toss Harry into a cell as you said you would, you should know that neither Ron or I would have made it out without Harry’s assistance.”

“Well I’ll let him go this time,” Kingsley said with a grin, “but you can be the one to explain their involvement to Professor McGonagal. Take the horcrux back to Hogwarts with you. Arthur and Tonks can help you escort Harry and Ron back. I’m sure they’ve been missed by now. I have some things I need to discuss with Moody before I follow behind you.”

Kingsley handed Lupin the horcrux and Lupin motioned for his departing party to follow him. They walked out of the gates of Azkaban as a proud Arthur kept his hand rested on Ron’s shoulder. A short spinning ride on the portkey later, they came to rest once again in McGonagal’s office.

McGonagal turned to see Harry and Ron before she ran to them and wrapped her arms around them in a very un-McGonagal type way as she said, “Oh, my goodness. I’m so glad you returned unharmed. I was so worried.”

“I was just trying to keep an eye on Ron,” Harry said. “I’ll accept whatever punishment you think is fitting.”

“I don’t intend to punish you at all, Harry,” McGonagal said with a smile as she let the two of them go. “The only thing I want from the two of you is your promise that you won’t tell anyone where you went tonight.”

“That won’t be easy,” Harry said. “Hermione and Ginny sent me to look after Ron. I have to be able to tell them something.”

“We certainly can’t tell them the truth,” Ron observed. “Hermione would flip if she found out I went to Azkaban.”

“I’ll help you come up with a plausible cover story on the way back down to the Great Hall,” Tonks said. “You two don’t need to keep those ladies waiting any longer than they already have.”

“Are you sure you aren’t going to punish me?” Harry asked as he looked back to McGonagal. “I’ve really laid a prime opportunity at your feet this time.”

“I’m sure,” McGonagal said. “Now go on to dinner. You leave with the gratitude of the Order of the Phoenix.”

Harry and Ron turned and followed Tonks out of the office.

Once the door was shut, Lupin placed the horcrux on McGonagal’s desk as he said, “I guess you were happy to see them. You didn’t even wait to find out that we recovered the horcrux.”

“So soon?” McGonagal asked as she examined the cup. “Why didn’t you send Harry and Ron back sooner? Was the horcrux that easy to find?”

“There was nothing easy about it,” Lupin said. “You had better sit down before I give you the full report.”

“Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like the danger level they were placed in?” McGonagal asked as she sat down behind her desk.

“You won’t,” Lupin assured her. “Just let me go on record now for saying that if we ever decide to use one of them in an Order operation in the future, we should use both of them. They make a great team.”

“I always knew Ron had it in him,” Arthur said proudly as he sat to listen to the report as well. “I just wish I could tell his mum.”


28

Fury


“What news do you bring me, Bellatrix?” Voldemort asked as he braced himself for the news.

“My master,” Bellatrix said with a bow, “no more death eaters disappeared during the night. They are all accounted for.”

“How do you account for that, Bellatrix?” Voldemort asked. “At least one had vanished on every previous night up to the last one.”

“I have no explanation, my Lord,” Bellatrix replied. “I have a guess, but it goes against the infinite wisdom of your belief.”

“Then guess,” Voldemort said trying to keep his calm, “and let me judge it’s worth.”

“I have had a report that a select group of aurors set out on a secret mission last night, my Lord” Bellatrix said. “No documentation was made of the mission as is required by Ministry regulation.”

“Is it your belief then, that aurors from the Ministry went out on a secret mission last night to avoid capturing death eaters?” Voldemort asked.

“I believe it possible that the aurors could have been occupied with another task, my Lord,” Bellatrix said knowing she was treading into dangerous waters.

“That would suggest you believe the aurors to be responsible for the nightly disappearances of the death eaters,” Voldemort observed with warning in his voice. “I have already explained why the aurors are not responsible for the disappearances.”

“I know, my Lord,” Bellatrix said bowing low. “Forgive my ignorance.”

“If the Ministry had captured so many, I would know it,” Voldemort said as his voice grew louder. “I have spies in the Ministry who would not dare keep such information from me. Besides, any captured death eaters by the Ministry would have been featured in the Prophet. No, Bellatrix, the Ministry did not capture any death eaters. It is equally preposterous that they decided to desert en mass. There is only one possibility, as I have said before. He was responsible for capturing death eaters before he went back to school, and he is responsible now.”

“But the-boy-who-must-not-be-named has been seen at Hogwarts on every night that a death eater was taken,” Bellatrix said just before her body became wracked with pain.

“Do not question me again, Bellatrix,” Voldemort yelled. “I know he is involved. I can feel it.”

“Forgive me, master,” Bellatrix said through gritted teeth as she tried to ignore the intense pain flooding through her. “I have sworn to obey. Please, master.”

“Very well,” Voldemort said as he released his spell from her and she collapsed on the floor. “Now, tell me, when is the next time the students will be allowed to visit Hogsmeade?”

“The first Saturday in December, my Lord,” Bellatrix responded as she tried to right herself.

“Good,” Voldemort said as he crossed to his desk and picked up a small corked bottle. “Make sure there is no death eater activity anywhere near Hogsmeade between now and then. I want the students to feel safe when they walk out of the gates that day.”

“I’ll see to it personally, my Lord,” Bellatrix said.

“Take this,” Voldemort said as he handed the bottle to Bellatrix. “This potion is to be an early Christmas present for Harry, or should I say, for his girlfriend. Even a single drop of the potion on her skin will have the desired effect. Then he can watch her suffer terribly. Take care not to get any on your own skin, for there is no antidote. Coordinate the attack with Lucius, but do not share details of it with any of the others. There is only one target. I believe a small number of death eaters would be appropriate for this attack. Stealth will be your ally this time.”

The weeks passed slowly at Hogwarts leading up to the Hogsmeade weekend they all hoped would be allowed. Harry filled his time outside of class taking walks outside with Ginny in between his abundant training and study sessions. Ron was happy to see that Harry’s walks began to take more of his time, as he found himself increasingly unable to tear himself away from Ginny to return to the Room of Requirement.

On the morning of the Hogsmeade weekend, Harry was walking down the stairs with Ginny, Hermione and Ron. Harry was paying a bit too much attention to Ginny, and not enough to his own footing, as his foot came down on the edge of a step and he fell forward. Ron, seeing what was happening, jumped down four stairs to bring himself even with Harry as he reached out and stopped his fall.

Harry felt Ron’s Hand close on his upper arm, and Harry was surprised by a sudden flash of white light just ahead of him. As soon as it appeared, it disappeared once again.

“Thanks, Ron,” Harry said as Ron pulled him back to an erect position.

“You had better be more careful, mate,” Ron warned.

“Did you all see that flash of light?” Harry asked as he looked around for its source.

“What flash of light?” Ginny asked as she looked to Hermione and Ron to see similar questions on their faces.

“Really?” Harry asked. “You didn’t see it? Just as Ron caught me there was a flash of white light.”

“Maybe it was just a reflection,” Hermione reasoned.

“Or maybe it was that proverbial life flashing before your eyes sensation,” Ginny said with a grin.

“I’m more likely to accept Hermione’s suggestion,” Harry said with his own grin. “Lets hurry down to breakfast before McGonagal changes her mind about letting us go.”

“Probably best not to mention that you’re seeing flashes of light,” Ron pointed out. “She’ll lock down the school over it if you do.”

The students walked out of the castle to find a group of aurors waiting to escort them to Hogsmeade. The aurors held them all there until all of the students had formed between their ranks. Only when the castle doors were closed behind them did the aurors allow the group to move forward. It was plain for the students to see that their trip to Hogsmeade would be restricted much more than any in the past.

Once inside Hogsmeade, the students saw more aurors stationed at regular intervals along the street. Death eaters would have a hard time penetrating the Ministry defenses if they decided to attack. The aurors were under direct orders from the Minister of Magic to clear the streets of all students before joining in the fight against any attacks.

After lunch at The Three Brooksticks, Harry emerged onto the street with Ginny Hermione and Ron, and Harry said, “Well, Ginny, Ron and I are going to… I mean we need to…”

“Are you trying to say you have a bit of shopping to do that you don’t want us around for?” Hermione asked.

“Well, in a word, yes,” Harry said as Ron nodded in agreement.

“That’s fine, Harry,” Ginny said with a grin. “Hermione and I have some things we need to look at as well. Let’s meet back here in an hour.”

“Sounds great,” Harry said hugging Ginny. “Stay out of trouble you two.”

“It seems odd that you two would be saying that to us,” Hermione separated from Ron’s hug. “I think it more likely that we should be saying it to you.”

“I’ll be on my best behavior,” Ron said.

“That’s what we’re worried about,” Ginny said with a chuckle as she and Hermione started to walk away.

“So where did you want to start?” Harry asked as he tore his eyes away from Ginny’s retreating form.

“I was thinking Hermione might want a new quill or some stationary,” Ron commented.

“Either way we can find both at Scrivenshaft’s,” Harry said as they began making their way up the street.

“Have you decided what you want to get for Ginny yet?” Ron asked.

“Nothing specific,” Harry replied. “I just know that I want to get her something as sweet and beautiful as she is.”

“Keep in mind who you’re talking to, mate,” Ron said in mock disgust. “She is my sister you know.”

“I need you to be serious now, Ron,” Harry said with a grin. “I only have an hour to find something, and I need your help picking it out. Otherwise I’ll have to wait until we leave for Christmas and find something in London for her. I don’t want it to be something last minute this year. I want this to be special.”

“So exactly what are your intentions with my sister, mate?” Ron asked in all seriousness.

“What makes you ask that?” Harry asked.

“I saw what it did to her when you broke up with her over at the end of last school year,” Ron explained. “I just don’t want to see her hurt again. As much of a pain as she can be, I love her, Harry.”

“So do I, Ron,” Harry replied. “So much so that one day you and I will be brothers.”

A smile spread over Ron’s face as he said, “I was hoping you would say that, Harry. I just had to make sure.”

“Right,” Harry said with a mischievous grin. “So, what exactly are your intentions with Hermione?”

Ron flushed immediately as his hands went into his pockets and his pace quickened and he said, “You know perfectly well what my intentions are. I can’t believe you didn’t wake me up as soon as you realized I was talking in my sleep.”

“Well I tried to put a silencing charm on you, but Hermione blocked it,” Harry commented.

“We really have to start waking up earlier,” Ron commented as he came to the steps of Scrivenshaft’s.

Forty-five minutes later, Hermione and Ginny emerged from Honeyduke’s as Ginny explained, “Remember who my brother is, Hermione. Of course he’ll like it. If there is one thing he loves it has to be food.”

“I guess you’re right,” Hermione admitted as she and Ginny walked slowly back down toward The Three Broomsticks. “I guess I just feel bad that it didn’t take nearly as long to pick something out for Ron as it did for Harry.”

“Well, Ron isn’t a very complicated person,” Ginny said. “Everything he is he makes known. Harry is a different situation all together.”

“I guess you’re right,” Hermione conceded, not noticing the two hooded figures that walked out from the alley beside the post office.

Just as planned, the two death eaters blended into the busy street full of people wrapping up to protect from the chill of the season. Keeping a watchful eye on the aurors whom watched for a larger attack, they quickened their pace slightly so they could easily catch up with their target before they could enter another building. Not until they were right behind Hermione and Ginny did they spring their attack.

“Out of the way, mudblood,” Lucius spat as he shoved Hermione hard from behind and made her fall to the ground.

Ginny turned in surprise to see Lucius and Bellatrix as Bellatrix laughed and said, “Happy holidays from the Dark Lord.”

Bellatrix uncorked the bottle and thrust it at Ginny. Ginny tried to bring her arm up to block the potion that spilled out toward her, but a few drops landed on her cheek.

Hermione rolled over with her wand ready, and she used a disarming spell to wrench the potion bottle out of Bellatrix’s hand. A moment later, she went limp as a stunning spell from Lucius put her out of the fight.

Ginny could feel the effects of the potion as soon as it contacted her skin. The spots where it landed burned as the potion absorbed into her cheek and began to spread throughout her body. The pain reached a fever level quickly and she felt herself begin to topple as she lost consciousness. Somewhere near her, someone screamed as people began to scramble away from the scene.

“Wow, mate,” Ron said as Harry held up the dress he wanted to buy Ginny from Gladrags. “Even I can see how beautiful that is. She’ll love it.”

Just then, Harry stopped as a small flash of light erupted in his field of vision as it had before. This time though, the light didn’t go away, and it was accompanied by a feeling that twisted Harry’s insides in knots.

Harry dropped the dress on the floor as he turned toward the front of the store with wide eyes and screamed, “NO! GINNY!”

Before Ron could ask what was wrong, Harry disapparated. When he reappeared on the street near The Three Broomsticks, his wand was already being drawn. His heart sank as he saw Ginny and Hermione lying on the ground with two death eaters standing over them. Harry aimed carefully as a spell shot from his wand and caught Lucius in the chest and sent him careening back trying to maintain consciousness. Bellatrix laughed again as she grabbed onto Lucius’ arm and they both disapparated before Harry could get another shot off.

Harry sank down next to Ginny as tears burst from him and he cradled Ginny’s trembling body in his arms. An auror ran over and revived Hermione seconds later. Even as a crowd gathered around them, they could all hear Ron’s screams of distress as he called out to his sister for an answer.

“No, Ginny,” Harry sobbed as he held her to him. “It was supposed to be me. Why? Why couldn’t I protect you?”

“There was nothing you could have done, Harry,” Hermione said as her head cleared. “They came out of nowhere. They threw some kind of potion onto her.”

“Why didn’t you stop them?” Harry yelled at the nearest auror through his sobs. “How many of you does it take?”

“Let me through,” Ron said as he pushed his way through the crowd followed by Lupin and Tonks. “Oh, God! Ginny!”

“Harry we have to get her to St. Mungo’s right away,” Lupin said.

“I’ll take her,” Harry said as he held her tighter. “This is my responsibility.”

Before anyone could argue, Harry and Ginny disapparated. Hermione, Ron, Neville and Luna followed shortly thereafter.

“Good lord!” Lupin exclaimed as the students apparated away without asking permission. “Tonks, take that bottle of potion to St. Mungo’s. They’ll need to analyze the potion to develop the antidote. Keep an eye on those kids until I get there.”

“Well don’t take long,” Tonks said as she picked up the bottle with a set of tongs. “I’ll need your help before long. Harry will be a mess after this. You know what he’s going to want to do.”

Tonks disapparated knowing there was no need to elaborate. Lupin and the aurors gathered the remainder of the students together and escorted them back to the castle as quickly as possible.

Tonks apparated into the lobby of St. Mungo’s to a flurry of activity around the reception desk as healers tried to make Harry release Ginny so they could take her away. Orderlies grabbed Harry and physically pulled his hands from Ginny as she lay on the gurney. The guttural scream of pain that erupted from Harry as he struggled with the orderlies nearly made Tonks’ heart break.

“GINNY!” Harry screamed as he continued to struggle. “I’M SORRY, GINNY!”

Before Harry could say anything else, one of the orderlies aimed his wand at Harry and filled his body with a powerful sedative. Almost instantly, Harry went limp in the arms of the orderlies.

“Get away from him,” Hermione demanded as she, Ron, Neville and Luna pushed the orderlies away and took over supporting Harry. “What did you do to him?”

“It was only a sedative,” an orderly assured her.

“Take this potion to the healers,” Tonks said as she walked over and handed the bottle to an orderly. “Tell them it reacts on contact.”

The orderly left on his task right away as Hermione said, “We need somewhere to put Harry. It won’t take long for the Profit to hear about what happened. We can’t let them find him like this.”

“There’s a private waiting room down the hall,” a short orderly said as he rubbed the eye Harry had elbowed during the struggle. “Follow me and I’ll show you where it is.”

Ron and Neville picked Harry up together and carried him down the hall and into the small waiting room the orderly indicated. They laid Harry down on a sofa along the far wall, and Ron sought out Hermione’s shoulder to release his own emotions on.

Fifteen minutes later, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley arrived with Professor McGonagal. In the next half-hour, Fred, George, Moody, and Kingsley joined them.

Percy sprinted from the reception desk for the waiting room the receptionist had indicated. The aurors posted at the door allowed him to pass between them as he burst into the waiting room.

“Percy!” Mrs. Weasley exclaimed as he caught sight of her and walked over quickly.

“Mum,” Percy said with concern etched all over his face, “dad, I just heard what happened.”

Mrs. Weasley wrapped Percy in her arms as she said, “Oh, Percy, Ginny is…”

Mrs. Weasley burst into tears once again, and Arthur said, “We’re still waiting to hear from the healers, son. I know Ginny would appreciate you being here.”

“I’m not so sure,” Percy admitted. “I know I haven’t exactly been…”

“You’re here now,” Arthur said. “That is all that matters.”

“Thanks, dad,” Percy said as he reached out for Arthur to join the hug with Mrs. Weasley.

Three hours later, Healer Snagprat walked into the room looking too grim to be the bearer of good news. Mrs. Weasley had the impulse to stand up, but seeing the look on his face made her clasp onto her husband’s hand instead.

“Healer,” Arthur said, “how is my daughter?”

“We have her sedated,” Snagprat said. “In addition, we’ve had to put her on a heavy pain killer.”

“What’s wrong with her?” Fred asked as he walked closer with George, Ron and Percy.

“There is no easy way to tell you this,” Snagprat said looking sorrowful. “Apparently the potion she was attacked with mimics the physical effects of the cruciatus curse.”

“Oh, Ginny,” Mrs. Weasley sobbed as she buried her head in her husband’s shoulder.

“How soon before it wears off?” Ron asked hoping it would be soon.

“I wish I could tell you that it will,” Snagprat said deflating them all. “So far, the effects are slowly growing stronger as time passes.”

“Have you been able to analyze the potion yet?” McGonagal asked.

“Not yet,” Snagprat replied. “It’s been infused with some sort of spell to block our attempts to break it down. We can’t even guess at what ingredients were used to make it. Unless that changes, we won’t be able to develop an antidote.”

“And if you can’t?” Arthur asked as the words caught in his throat.

“The pain will continue to build,” Snagprat replied. “Eventually it will build to a level where the pain medication won’t be able to mask the pain any more. At that point, giving her a higher dose of pain medication would kill her. If we don’t… Well, she won’t be able to take the pain for very long after that.”

“Are you trying to say that my sister is…” George began.

“We’re going to do everything we can to develop an antidote in time,” Snagprat said. “We haven’t given up on her. You shouldn’t either.”

“If any of the teachers at Hogwarts can be of any help to you healer,” McGonagal said, “then I place them at your service.”

“Thank you, Headmistress,” Snagprat said. “I would like to send a sample of the potion over to your potions master to see if he has any better luck than we have so far.”

“I’ll deliver it to him personally,” McGonagal said.

“I’ll have the sample prepared and brought to you,” Snagprat said. “I’m very sorry that I didn’t have better news for you all. I’ll come back and update you on our progress as soon as I can.”

Snagprat left the room, and the Weasley’s huddled together around their grieving mother. Across the room, Hermione tore her attention away from the Weasleys as Harry began to stir next to her.

Harry’s eyes sprang open with a wild look in them as he sat up and yelled, “Ginny!”

“Easy, Harry,” Hermione said as she put a hand on his shoulder and everyone in the room looked over at him. “The healers are looking after her.”

“What happened?” Harry asked, as the look in his eye didn’t soften any.

“They had to sedate you, Harry,” Neville said.

“They didn’t have much choice, of course,” Luna said softly.

Harry looked over at Mrs. Weasley’s tear stained face as he shot up and crossed over to her and fell to his knees saying, “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Weasley. I should have been there. I failed.”

Mrs. Weasley saw the tears flowing from Harry as she gathered him in her arms and sobbed, “It wasn’t your fault, Harry. You didn’t fail.”

“I promised to watch after her,” Harry said as he cried in pain. “I promised to protect her.”

“Harry, you…” Kingsley began before Harry turned to look at him with rage in his eyes.

“Don’t talk to me,” Harry said acidly as he stood up to face Kingsley. “I trusted the aurors to keep us all safe. The streets were lined with aurors, and you couldn’t stop two death eaters from attacking Ginny.”

“We weren’t prepared for such a small scale attack,” Kingsley said.

“Do you think I would have left her side if I didn’t think you could protect her for a single hour?” Harry yelled. “I don’t consider that attack small scale. Neither does the girl laying in that hospital room right now.”

Mrs. Weasley gave an involuntary sob, and Harry turned to look at her. He could tell from the look on her face that there was something he didn’t know.

“What is it?” Harry asked. “What’s happened?”

The room fell quiet as Harry looked from person to person growing more anxious with each second that passed. Finally, Hermione stepped forward and began to confess to Harry everything that Snagprat had told them. As she did, they could all see Harry’s rage grow. When Hermione was done, Harry turned and marched straight to McGonagal.

“I want the map back,” Harry said not caring that he was being demanding.

“Why do you want it?” McGonagal asked not really needing and answer.

“Why do you think I need it?” Harry said as his voice grew louder and his temper reached a boiling point. “There are people I need to find.”

“You know very well that I am not going to give it to you in your current condition,” McGonagal said.

“Fine,” Harry screamed as he backed away. “There are other ways to find death eaters.”

Before anyone could say anything else, Harry disapparated. The tension in the room, already high, grew in the moments following Harry’s disappearance.

“We have to find him,” Ron urged. “There’s no telling what he’ll do.”

“Uh… Actually,” Neville said shyly from the back of the room, “I don’t know how much he’ll be able to do. When we laid him down I took his wand out of his pocket so it wouldn’t get broken. I just didn’t think to give it back to him after he woke up.”

“Unfortunately,” Hermione said, “in his current state of mind, I don’t know if he’ll let not having his wand stop him from doing something stupid. It could actually be more dangerous for him without it.”

“I know how to locate him,” McGonagal said quickly. “I’ll have to go back to Hogwarts to do it, but I’ll send Remus to get him back. I’ll send news as soon as I can.”

McGonagal disapparated from the room, and left the others in a nervous silence.

Meanwhile, Harry apparated into the entry hall of his house. With fury burning his insides, he felt his pocket briefly for his wand. Not finding it only served to infuriate him more as he reasoned that it had been purposefully stolen from him to keep him from using it for the reasons he currently had planned. Undaunted, Harry ripped open his front door and walked out onto the porch and down to the middle of the walk leading to the street.

Harry planted his feet as he looked around the street and screamed, “Here I am! If you want me then come and get me! Come on! What are you waiting for? I know you’re there! What are you afraid of? Come and take me to that bastard you work for! I’m going to kill him! Do you hear me? I’ll tear him apart with my bare hands if I have to! Come on!”

From a house just down the street, two death eaters sat and watched Harry’s madness play out in front of his house. Between them, a whispered debate began.

“I say we take him while we have the chance,” Flint said not taking his eyes off of Harry. “He’s asking us to do it.”

“You must have lost your mind, Marcus,” Bulstrode whispered. “You know we’ve been forbidden to do anything. All we’re supposed to do is watch the house and report everything we see to the Dark Lord.”

“We were told not to go in the house, Millie,” Flint corrected. “He isn’t in the house. We can grab him and take him back. We would be heroes if we captured him.”

“I really don’t think that was what our master had in mind,” Bulstrode said. “He said to watch the house and report. That was all.”

“You’re in your first year of being a death eater, Millie,” Flint pointed out. “I hardly think I need to ask you to interpret orders for me.”

“Well it doesn’t matter anyway,” Bulstrode said as she looked out the window and up the street. “The Order just arrived.”

“Damn,” Flint said. “I could have taken him if you hadn’t been arguing with me.”

“Sure you could,” Bulstrode said not sounding convinced.

“You can attack a young girl from behind but you can’t face me?” Harry screamed as his voice began to get scratchy. “Come on you cowards! I don’t even have a wand! Come on!”

“Harry,” Lupin said as he ran up to the end of the sidewalk, and five other Order members took a defensive position covering angles of possible attack, “what are you doing?”

“You’re ruining everything,” Harry said with a wild look in his eye. “They’ll never come out with all of you here.”

“Harry, you have to stop this,” Lupin said as he took tentative steps closer to Harry. “I know you’re hurting right now.”

“You don’t know anything,” Harry cried. “How could you know what it’s like to have the thing you hold most dear in your life stolen from you?”

“Because you aren’t the first person to lose someone in this war, Harry,” Lupin explained as he walked closer still.

“Ginny means the world to me, Remus,” Harry said. “What am supposed to do without her?”

“If it comes to that,” Lupin said as he stepped within inches of Harry, “you have to keep going the best you can.”

“I don’t know if I can,” Harry sobbed. “It just hurts so bad.”

“I know it does, Harry,” Lupin said softly. “I know exactly how you feel right now.”

“How could you?” Harry asked.

“I think it’s time I showed you,” Lupin said as he put his hand on Harry’s shoulder. “Will you take a little trip with me so I can show you.”

“I guess so,” Harry submitted.

Lupin held tightly to Harry’s arm as he nodded to the Order members to let them know everything was resolved. A few seconds later, Harry and Lupin disapparated.

When they reappeared, the fading light revealed an old stone wall with vines clinging to its surface. Lupin let go of Harry’s arm and pulled out his wand.

“Where are we?” Harry asked as Lupin walked toward the wall and stopped in front of it.

“Not far from your house,” Lupin said as he tapped some of the stones in the wall with his wand.

Just as with the entrance to Diagon Alley, the stones in the wall began to reorganize themselves into an elaborate tall arch that framed the grassy area beyond. Lupin walked in without saying a word. After only a short delay, Harry followed him.

Harry walked just inside the arch before he looked in the direction where Lupin was headed and he stopped and said softly, “A cemetery.”

Lupin stopped in front of a grave and looked back at Harry and said, “Well, you wanted to see it. You need to look at this.”

Harry’s feet started walking toward Lupin of their own accord. In his mind, Harry wondered if he really was ready to see what Lupin wanted to show him. It wasn’t until Harry drew even with Lupin that he stopped and looked at the grave before him. The impact of it hit him instantly as he fell to his knees as tears welled in his eyes once again.

“Lily was as kind a person as ever lived,” Lupin said as Harry noticed her gravestone and the one beside it. “James was one of the bravest men it was ever my pleasure to know. They loved each other desperately. Together, they loved you even more. The day they were killed was one of the worst days of my life, Harry. I felt then like you do now. I wanted to kill everyone I knew to be a death eater, and I didn’t care if that meant I would be killed in the process. I was so bad that Dumbledore locked me in the dungeon at Hogwarts until he could make me see that there was something worth living for. Dumbledore was looking for Sirius as well, because he was in no better state of mind than I was. He didn’t find him in time though.

“The aurors found him instead,” Harry said as he reached out and touched his parent’s gravestones.

“After Sirius was arrested,” Lupin continued, “Dumbledore made me realize that there was something worth living for. It was you, Harry.”

“Me?” Harry asked as he looked back and noticed Lupin with tears of his own.

“It may sound silly,” Lupin admitted, “but he made me see that I was the last one left who could really tell you what your parents were like. I should have brought you here sooner, but I wasn’t sure I could stand to look at their graves again myself. So you see, Harry, I do understand exactly how you feel. I feel that way every day.”

Harry stood and pulled Lupin into a hug as he said, “Thank you, Remus. I guess I still need someone to look after me.”

“We all do, Harry,” Lupin said. “That isn’t something you ever grow out of. Take as much time here as you want, Harry. There’s no hurry.”


29

Return and Departure


It was after nine by the time Lupin walked into the private waiting room at St. Mungo’s with a solemn Harry following behind him. As soon as she saw him, Mrs. Weasley jumped up and ran to Harry, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

“Oh, thank God you’re all right, Harry,” Molly said as she kissed his forehead and pulled his head onto her shoulder. “You had us all worried sick.”

“I’m sorry,” Harry said. “I didn’t mean to make everyone mad at me. I wasn’t thinking right.”

“No one here is mad at you, Harry,” Arthur said as he stepped closer. “We understand. No one here has been in their right mind lately.”

“It’s good to see you back, mate,” Ron said as he came over and gave Harry an uncustomary hug as well. “I was just about ready to set out looking for you myself.”

“He wouldn’t have been alone either,” Bill said as he stepped close and shook Harry’s hand. “Charlie, Fred, George, Percy, Ron and I were conspiring to drag you back here.”

“I am ‘appy you ‘ave returned as well, ‘arry,” Fleur said as she placed a light kiss on his cheek.

“It’s good to see all of you again,” Harry said trying to be as cheerful about it as possible, even though his emotions were still a bit raw. “When did you get here?”

“Shortly after you left,” Charlie said. “Everyone was in quite a state when we first arrived. Things calmed down a bit after McGonagal sent word that Lupin had you.”

“I guess I’m lucky he found me when he did,” Harry said.

“Still,” Hermione said, “we were getting worried when you didn’t come back.”

“I wanted to,” Harry assured them. “I just had to take some time to realize exactly where I fit in this war.”

“Did you?” Charlie asked.

“I think it was a beginning,” Harry replied. “I still have some growing to do yet though. Did Neville and Luna leave?”

“Kingsley and Tonks took them back to Hogwarts a while ago,” Ron said.

“Neville didn’t want to go though, Harry,” Hermione said as she pulled Harry’s wand out and handed it back to him. “He wanted you to know that he only took your wand out of your pocket to keep it from breaking. He was so upset by it they nearly had to stun him to make him leave.”

“I’ll have to get a message to him to let him know that I appreciate what he did,” Harry said. “Things might have been worse if I had it with me”

“What happened?” Ron asked before he realized he shouldn’t have.

Harry looked at all of the people listening and he said, “I’m kind of thirsty. I think I’m going to go and find something to drink. Ron, would you and Hermione come with me? I’d like to know anything else the healers might have said about Ginny.”

“Sure, Harry,” Ron said as he looked to Hermione for confirmation. “We’ll walk with you.”

Once back out in the hallway, Harry walked toward the place the thought he remembered there being a small cafeteria. Ron and Hermione fell in step with him, but remained silent, waiting for Harry to speak.

“The Prophet knows about what happened,” Harry said. “There are reporters all over the lobby. They were all asking me about the attack. How can I tell them? I can hardly make sense of it myself.”

“Don’t worry about the Prophet, Harry,” Hermione advised. “Let the Ministry explain to them how this could have taken place.”

“It just makes me sick to think about it,” Harry said sadly. “Voldemort didn’t care who he hurt. He was just trying to get to me, and it worked.”

“Why did he have to pick Ginny?” Ron asked.

“If he hadn’t it would have been Hermione,” Harry said, “or you. He wanted to do this to someone he knew I cared about.”

“We’re not going to let you pull away from us because of this, Harry,” Hermione said. “We won’t let you shut us out just because you think it puts us in danger.”

“I don’t want to,” Harry said. “I just feel so helpless right now. I need you to help me find something I can do to help Ginny.”

“Just being here is all we can do, Harry,” Hermione said as she spotted the door to a small chapel and stopped in front of it. “And we can pray.”

Voldemort looked up from his chair to see Lucius walk into the room and bow before him as he said, “My master, I have a report you will be interested to hear.”

“Speak, Lucius,” Voldemort said guessing what the report may be about.

“The death eaters watching the-boy-who-must-not-be-named’s house report that he was seen there this evening,” Lucius said with a smile. “According to their report, he looked and sounded as if he had been driven mad. He stood in front of his house calling to them to come and take him. Flint said he could have captured him if the Order hadn’t arrived and taken him away.”

“It would have meant death for him if he had,” Voldemort said with an almost happy expression on his face. “They were told to watch the house and report. Make sure he remembers that. Harry is not to be touched. Especially not now that he is hurting so deeply. In a couple of weeks, the potion will rise to it’s full potential, and there will be nothing the healers can do to stop her anguish. I want Harry to watch her final days of pain as she squirms in her bed. It will weaken him more in the long run than anything else I could have done to him.”

“You are wise, my Lord,” Lucius said with another bow.

“Unleash the dementors, Lucius,” Voldemort ordered. “Let them feed. Soon, we’ll break the spirit of the Ministry and the Order just as we have with Harry.”

One week later, Mrs. Weasley walked into the waiting room they had all come to know so well to find Ron and Hermione huddled together on the sofa.

“Where’s Harry?” Molly asked with a touch of alarm.

“He’s in the chapel again,” Ron said. “He’s spending more and more time there lately. He’s getting desperate for some good news.”

“I think we all are,” Molly said as she fought to control her tears. “The attacks during the last week have pushed the Order and the Ministry to their limits trying to control it. It’s tearing your father and I apart to have to spend so much time away from Ginny. Our only saving grace is knowing that you three are here to watch after her.”

“It’s hard enough for us to watch,” Ron admitted, “but I don’t know how much more Harry can take. The healers let us go in and see her again. While we were there, she had another spasm of pain. The healers had to increase the painkiller again. Harry was in tears when he ran out of there and straight to the chapel.”

“We all just feel so helpless,” Hermione said. “There has to be some way to break though the spell on that potion.”

“The healers are trying,” Molly assured them. “Professor Slughorn and Professor Lupin have been working on it as well. They haven’t had any luck so far either. I think we could all do with a small miracle jut about now.”

Just then, there was a commotion in the hallway as the aurors posted outside the doors stopped someone from entering. They were not at all surprised. Since they had been there, several people had tried to slip past the aurors for one reason or another. Molly pulled the door open slightly to look to see whom it was this time.

“Mrs. Malfoy?” Molly asked as she opened the door wider. “What are you doing here?”

“Mrs. Weasley, I’m so sorry about your daughter,” Narcissa said. “I had to come to tell you that, and I wanted to see Harry. I don’t have much time.”

“Harry is in the chapel down the hall,” Hermione said anxiously as she walked next to Mrs. Weasley. “I can show you where it is if you would like.”

“Oh, thank you,” Narcissa said. “I would appreciate it.”

Hermione walked out of the room followed closely by Ron, who walked just behind the two women as they made their way to the chapel at a quick pace. They came to the open door and paused at the doorway seeing Harry sitting in the front pew with his head in his hands.

“Harry,” Hermione said softly making Harry look up and turn around, “there’s someone here to see you.”

Narcissa stepped into the small room and Harry shot out of his seat to walk over to her urgently as he said, “You shouldn’t be here. The hospital isn’t protected. Voldemort can find you here.”

“I had to come,” Narcissa said, “no matter the danger to me.”

“I have to get you out of here,” Harry said as he reached out and took hold of her hand and turned to Hermione. “I’ll take her to my house for now. I’ll come back as soon as I can.”

With that, Harry and Narcissa disapparated. Narcissa was surprised when her body seemed to lighten momentarily just as the view before her eyes shifted instantly to the entry hall of Harry’s house.

“How did you…” Narcissa began in amazement.

“What were you thinking?” Harry asked as he turned and walked into his living area. “You know it isn’t safe for you to be away from a protected area. I can guarantee you that Voldemort is still looking for you.”

“I couldn’t stand it any longer,” Narcissa confessed. “I was sitting in number twelve for a week after I found out what happened to Ginny Weasley. I knew how much you must have been hurting. You did so much to help me when I needed it, I just had to come and tell you how sorry I was.”

“I appreciate that,” Harry said. “I really do, but…”

“I know I was taking a chance,” Narcissa said as her eyes moistened. “That was the only thing that kept me from coming to you as soon as I read what happened. I just couldn’t stop thinking about Draco, and how I would feel if he were the one in that hospital bed. I thought that if I made my visit short, I could be in and out before Voldemort had a chance to find me, or worse, take control of me and use me for something awful.”

“But you could have…” Harry began before what she had said caught up to him. “Wait. What do you mean, take control of you?”

“He has the power to connect with his death eaters through their dark mark,” Narcissa explained thinking Harry already knew. “He can control their mind and, therefore, their actions.”

Harry slapped his hand to his forehead as the pieces suddenly slipped into place in his mind and he said, “Please excuse me for a minute.”

Harry ran out of his living room and up the stairs two at a time as he thought about what he needed. Narcissa walked back to the entry and watched as, he frantically opened a door she had never noticed at the top of the stairs.

Fred and George looked up from the table they were staring at as they heard the insistent banging on the front door of their shop.

George instantly pointed his wand at the table and said, “I didn’t do it, I swear.”

Fred made sure all was secure in the back room before he peered out at the front of the shop and said, “It’s Harry. He has bloody scary timing sometimes, George. If I didn’t know better I would say he’s reading our minds.”

“I feel sorry for him then,” George said with a grin as they walked to the door and unlocked it.

“Come in, Harry,” Fred said as his brother opened the door.

“Why was the door locked?” Harry asked. “It’s the middle of the day. Why isn’t anyone on the street?”

“Dementors,” George said as he closed and locked the door again. “They’ve been swarming over the street periodically. People are trying to lay low for a while.”

“We don’t mind,” Fred said. “It gave us a bit of time to work.”

“The map?” Harry asked as Fred and George looked at one another and grinned.

“We just finished it this morning,” George said. “We had just tested it when you started banging on the door.”

“Good,” Harry said. “I need to use it right away.”

“I’ll get it,” Fred said as he shot his brother a quizzical look.

“We changed the words to erase the parchment to ‘I didn’t do it, I swear’, Harry,” George said as Fred was off getting the map. “Everything else seems to work just like you asked for.”

“So, what are you going to do with it first, Harry,” Fred asked as he walked back in and handed Harry the new map.

“I’m going to find a cure for Ginny,” Harry said looking more serious than either of them had seen him in recent years.

“How are you going to do that?” George asked as Harry’s likely path flowed into his mind and disturbed him slightly.

“However I have to,” Harry replied.

“We’re going with you, Harry,” George stated.

“If it’s a cure for Ginny we want to help,” Fred argued.

“Not this time,” Harry said as he back up a step. “I have to do this on my own.”

“What are you planning to do?” Fred asked with concern, sensing that Harry was planning something crazy.

“Make a deal with a devil,” Harry said just before he disapparated, and left them both with wide eyes knowing that they needed to tell someone right away.


30

My Enemy, My Hope

“You what!” Molly and Hermione exclaimed at the same time.

“How could you do that?” Ron asked. “You know what Harry’s state of mind has been like lately.”

“What were we supposed to do?” Fred said defensively. “He came by the shop and asked for it.”

“We didn’t know he was going to use it right away,” George said. “When he told us he was going to find a cure for Ginny we told him we were going to go with him.”

“He disapparated before we could stop him,” Fred said. “We don’t know exactly where he was going. He just said he was going to make a deal with a devil.”

“That’s why we knew we had to tell someone about it,” George said.

“He’ll go straight to Voldemort and you know it,” Hermione accused. “I’ll go to his house. If he’s there, maybe I can stop him.”

“I’ll go back to Hogwarts and let McGonagal know,” Ron said. “Maybe she can use the map to find Harry.”

“At the very least she can put the Order on alert,” Molly said. “I’ll go to the Ministry and tell Kingsley. Maybe they have a way to find him.”

“What should we do?” Fred asked.

“Stay with your sister,” Molly ordered. “Harry may decide to come back to see her before he goes after You-Know-Who. If he does, do whatever you have to do in order to keep him from leaving. Stun him if you have to. Don’t give him a chance to say no.”

“We understand,” George confirmed as the others hurried out of the room.

Harry apparated under a clump of trees at the edge of a golf course. He wrapped his cloak tighter around himself to shut out the cold rain that was falling in Seattle that early morning. Walking carefully across the slick grass, Harry came to the edge of the trees and looked across South Spokane Street at the houses on the other side. It was not a house that held his attention, but, instead, the apparently overgrown vacant lot that sat neglected between two of the houses. He stepped just into view at the edge of the trees, and waited. He hoped he wouldn’t have to wait long. Every second mattered now.

Draco Malfoy rolled over in his bed and groaned as he heard the rain against his window once again. Having lived in England his entire life, rain was nothing new to him, but the rain in this foreign land where he might as well have been a prisoner grated on his nerves with every drop.

Summoning what energy he could, Draco rose from his bed and started to dress. Looking in the mirror, he sighed at his appearance. Weeks before he had given up on many of the personal grooming practices he had employed for most of his life. His hair had grown long and ragged in the months previous. To Draco, the state of his hair perfectly mirrored the way he felt inside. He pulled his hair back in a vain attempt to force it to behave, but settled on wrapping a band around it to hold it in a tight ponytail.

Turning to his bedroom door, Draco prepared himself for yet another grueling day, as the unwelcome company of Severus Snape. Barely any words had passed between them concerning the night he had killed Dumbledore, but Draco could see in Snape’s eyes that he blamed him for the predicament they found themselves in. In Draco’s mind it was Snape who was to blame for dragging them half way around the world, and cutting them off from the magical world he had always known. Sequestered in a muggle house, as he was, unable to roam outside even on the darkest of nights, Draco felt it would have been preferable to face the punishment he would have received if he had returned to the Dark Lord. It was a fleeting thought though, for Draco was well aware of the level of punishment he would have received had he done so. If only Snape would allow him to communicate with his mother.

“It’s about time you woke up,” Snape said as Draco stepped off of the bottom stair step. “There is more food in the kitchen. I went out briefly last night to procure more.”

“I still don’t understand why you can leave the house and I have to stay behind all the time,” Draco said moodily. “I haven’t set foot outside this house since we got here.”

“You know very well why you can’t,” Snape replied dryly. “You refuse to take any of the potion I developed to mask your dark mark for a short time.”

“I don’t know how you get any of it down,” Draco said. “I literally gag just from the smell while you’re brewing it.”

“I drink it because I must,” Snape said as if that were answer enough.

“Well drinking it hasn’t gotten us any closer to getting out of here,” Draco accused. “I’m going to go crazy here.”

“That is because your mind is far too undisciplined,” Snape said.

“Oh not that again,” Draco said as he raised his voice. “I don’t need occlumency to protect me from anyone but you. You won’t ever let me leave this place anyway.”

“Weak,” Snape said. “Even Potter was more disciplined than you.”

“It won’t work this time,” Draco warned. “For all we know Potter is dead right now. The last newspaper you brought back was months ago. We have no idea what has happened since the Dark Lord broke the death eaters out of Azkaban.”

“We can’t take the chance of wondering too close to a wizarding community even here in America,” Snape said. “There is no way to know how far the Dark Lord’s influence stretches now. I located us in the middle of a muggle community, because it is the last place they would look.”

“I know,” Draco said as he wondered to the front of the room. “That doesn’t mean I have to like it. Maybe if it would stop raining.”

Draco pulled the curtain back slightly to look out at the rain soaked street in front of the house. It only took seconds for him to lock his focus on the dark figure standing against a tree directly across the street.

“Professor,” Draco said in a near whisper, “I think you need to see this.”

“What is it?” Snape asked as he stood and walked to the window.

“Somebody is standing on the other side of the street under a tree,” Draco said as Snape looked. “It looks like he’s looking straight at us. Do you think he can see the house.”

“Of course not,” Snape said as he noticed the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. “You and I are the only ones it will appear to. The spells I put on it would keep a muggle from taking any interest in the vacant lot they could see.”

“Maybe he isn’t a muggle,” Draco said as his body tensed.

“Still,” Snape said, curious about the stranger himself, “there is no way any wizard could know that there is a house or know that we are in it.”

“Well he seems to have taken an interest in the empty lot for some reason,” Draco observed. “Otherwise why would he stand out there in the rain for so long.”

“We’ll wait,” Snape said as a car passed on the road and he watched the man slip behind a tree momentarily before slipping back out after the car had passed. “If he’s still there tonight, I’ll go out and deal with him.”

“Is that a good idea?” Draco asked. “I thought we were trying to minimize contact with wizards.”

“It won’t really matter,” Snape explained. “If he knows there is a house here, it is not safe for us to remain here any longer. We will have to move to a new hideout. I need to interrogate him to make sure the death eaters are not following close behind. At the very least, perhaps he will supply me with the news you are so desperate for.”

“Where will we go next?” Draco asked.

“I have already prepared another location just in case we had to abandon this one,” Snape answered. “Go and eat something. You may need all your strength. I’ll watch our visitor.”

First one hour, then another ticked by as Snape observed the figure standing in the shadows of the tree. It was only when cars were passing on the street that the man slipped out of sight only to reappear in his original spot moments later. Snape began to get frustrated, though he made a point not to let Draco see it. There was no logical reason the man would stand staring at the empty lot unless he knew that someone was hiding there, yet there was also no possibility that they could have been discovered.

“Maybe he saw you when you went out this morning,” Draco said as he walked back downstairs from packing his things.

“That is impossible,” Snape said as he stood and took his attention away from the window. “I left through the back door and returned the same way. I apparated from the back yard to get the food. I followed the same precautions when I returned.”

“Maybe that potion doesn’t work as well as you thought,” Draco said cuttingly.

Snape wanted to slap Draco, but resisted as he said, “Keep an eye on our visitor. I am going to secure the things I will be taking with me.”

“Fine,” Draco said as he sat down in the chair beside the window and looked outside. “Professor! He’s walking across the road.”

Snape walked quickly back to the window and watched as the hooded figure walked swiftly across the road to stand on the sidewalk just in front of the house. In one swift motion the man raised his hands and removed his hood.

“Impossible!” Snape exclaimed.

“I don’t believe it!” Draco exclaimed as he looked on in disbelief. “How could he have found us?”

“I don’t know,” Snape said as he began to think of a new plan of action. “Perhaps the Order is using Potter as bait to try to get us to reveal ourselves.”

“At least it isn’t a death eater,” Draco said. “Even I can handle Potter.”

“You will do nothing,” Snape warned. “Even if Mr. Potter is here alone he is not undetectable. If someone sees him and reports it back to the death eaters they will not leave here until they find out what he was looking for. We will still need to leave here.”

“So let’s take him prisoner,” Draco said. “We can find out what he knows.”

“And then what?” Snape asked. “Will you dispose of him as you did with Professor Dumbledore? He can’t know for sure that we’re in here. Capturing him would only confirm it for him.”

They both watched as Harry drew his wand with one hand and a piece of parchment with the other. Harry moved the tip of his wand over the parchment as if writing on it before sending the parchment flying toward the house. The parchment stopped in mid air three meters short of the window and grew to the size of a small billboard. Writing appeared on the parchment in a scribbled black handwriting.

“I don’t have times for games, Professor Snape,” Draco read. “We need to talk.”

Seconds later, the parchment returned to its normal size and flew back into Harry’s hand.

“I guess that blows your theory about him not knowing we’re in here,” Draco observed. “What now?”

“It would appear we don’t have much choice,” Snape said still trying to reason how Harry had known. “We’ll have to let him in and capture him before he can tell anyone else where we are.”

Harry waited impatiently as the minutes ticked by. He knew that someone inside the hidden house had read the message. Otherwise, the parchment would not have returned to him. For all he knew, Snape may have done the smart thing and left without Harry knowing it. Harry decided to only wait a few more minutes before he would consult his new map once again.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a small folded piece of parchment flew from the vacant lot and landed on the sidewalk in front of Harry. Harry bent to pick it up, and found that an address was written on it. Looking up, Harry could see a house standing in the middle of the previously empty lot. The door was open. They were inviting him in.

Harry walked up the path leading to the door as he gripped tightly to his wand. He was not presumptive enough to assume that Snape was just going to welcome him into the house. He knew that he had to keep his senses alert.

Harry walked slowly through the door, and had just cleared its path when it slammed shut behind him. Wand at the ready, he had already performed a shield charm by the time a red blast erupted from behind a chair and rebounded harmlessly against another wall. Harry whipped his wand at the chair and sent it sailing back into his attacker and pinned Draco against a wall. Harry dived to his side to avoid another blast sent at him from the stairs. Harry rolled to a crouch and brought his wand up, but Snape was already on the move as he tried to rush Harry. Before Snape could get off another spell, Harry oiled the wood floor and sent Snape sliding out of control into a side table. Harry had to roll out of the way again as a purple jet of light lanced out from Draco’s wand and exploded a vase sitting on a shelf on the other side of the room.

“Stay out of this, Malfoy,” Harry yelled as he aimed at the chair pinning Draco to the wall. “Levicorpus.”

Draco was jerked upside down by an ankle and hung suspended in mid air as he listened to the sound of his wand hitting the ground after slipping out of his grasp. Harry turned back to face Snape just as a force shot from Snape’s wand and caught Harry in the chest. Harry flew backwards recoiling from the impact of the spell, and landed on the floor near where Draco was hanging. Harry quickly stood and then ducked down again to avoid the stunning spell Snape shot at him, and Draco twisted in the air to escape being hit himself.

Snape conjured a shield to protect himself as Harry sent a hex his way that impacted against the shield with a ringing thud. Snape dropped his shield in order to perform another spell, but an unexpected battering spell from Harry hit him in the gut and knocked the air out of his body.

Snape struggled to regain his breath as he whipped his wand forward and pulled Harry’s feet out from under him. Harry hit the ground on his back and before he could regain his feet, a force suddenly pressed down on him and held him to the ground. Unable to move his wand hand, Harry looked up to see a still panting Snape walk closer with his wand trained on him.

“Who is with you, Potter?” Snape asked anxiously.

“No one,” Harry replied as he struggled in vain to resist the spell holding him down. “I came alone.”

“Do you expect me to believe that?” Snape asked as he stepped even closer so that he was looking directly down into Harry’s face.

“It’s the truth,” Harry said. “I’m alone. No one knows where I am.”

“Were you foolish enough to think you could defeat me alone?” Snape asked expecting a positive response.

“I didn’t come here to fight with you,” Harry said.

“Then why did you come?” Snape asked expecting a lie.

“I came to beg you to help me,” Harry said shocking Snape before he was able to cover his surprise.

“Why should I believe that?” Snape asked with a dry tone. “No doubt you wished to defeat Dumbledore’s killer.”

“I will when I see him,” Harry said. “I know you didn’t do it. Voldemort was controlling you with your dark mark.”

“How did you know he could do such a thing?” Snape asked suddenly interested.

“Narcissa Malfoy told me,” Harry said.

“My mother?” Draco asked as he continued to hang by his ankle. “Why would she have talked to you?”

“I’ll let her explain that when I take you back,” Harry replied.

“What makes you think we’ll be going back?” Snape asked.

“Like I said,” Harry groaned knowing he was losing valuable time, “I came here to beg for your help. Ginny is dying. I need your help to try and save her. Bellatrix attacked her with a potion. They haven’t been able to break it down to analyze it yet.”

“Why come to me about it?” Snape asked relishing that Harry needed his help and was being forced to ask for it.

“Because the half blood Prince is the most brilliant potions master I know,” Harry said truthfully. “I came here knowing that you probably don’t care what happens to Ginny or any of the rest of us who are fighting against Voldemort. I had to try anyway. You’re the last hope I have of saving the woman I love.”

Snape’s spell holding Harry down lifted suddenly, and Harry watched Snape take a tentative step back. Harry sat up and made a show of putting his wand away before he stood to face Snape.

“It is not safe for either myself or Mr. Malfoy to roam any place that is not unplotable,” Snape informed Harry.

“I can take care of that,” Harry said.

“I would not be able to assist you without a full potions workshop full of equipment,” Snape said eyeing Harry.

“You’ll have it,” Harry promised.

“The Ministry and the Order would arrest me if they found out I was back,” Snape said.

“I’ll make sure you don’t have that to worry about,” Harry said.