A/N: I want to clear a few things. This won't be a Ron bashing story. Also, a few people complained that I made it seem like Harry was wrong to be angry. Chapter 1 was written in Harry's PoV, this is why it seemed like he was wrong. Hermione had problems with a few things he said but that doesn't mean she doesn't gave him right. They will eventually come to this later and you will see what I mean.
Original OotP book doesn't explain why Hermione or Ron couldn't contact Harry and what Dumbledore really told to them. I don't think they would simply obey Dumbledore, so this story will have its own explanation.
I want to thank everyone that reviewed to this story. Seeing people interested in the story made me write this a lot faster. I hope you will like it.
Oh, and I disclaim everything besides the plot.
CHAPTER 2: Ambush
"You!" growled Harry.
"That's right Potter. I told you that you would pay for what you did." said Draco grinning.
"I wasn't talking to you Malfoy," said Harry. "I was talking to the scum that you call father."
"Why you-"
"No Draco, let him talk" said Lucius softly. "We will see if he can still talk like this after a few Crucio's."
Harry was about to retort when Hermione elbowed him in the ribs.
"Don't talk with them. We have to attack before they do." she whispered to him. Harry nodded.
"When I say now" said Hermione. The Malfoy's didn't notice anything since they were to fixated on their own victory.
"The Dark Lord will be happy when I finally bring you to him." said Lucius with a very uncharacteristic grin.
"Ready?" asked Hermione, while trying to not move her lips.
"I will be rewarded beyond believe. I will become the closest to Dark Lord himself. He will trust me more than anyone else. I will-"
"NOW" screamed Hermione and both pointed their wands at their enemies.
"Stupefy" they shouted at the same time. Red lights erected from their wands. Hermione's spell hit a careless Draco in the face and he fell down unconscious. Unfortunately, Lucius noticed at the last moment what was happening and blocked Harry's spell.
"Crucio" hissed Lucius. Hermione dodged the spell while Harry threw another stunner. Malfoy once again blocked it and laughed.
"Is that the best you can do Potter" said Lucius and threw another curse at Harry. Harry dodged it again. Hermione tried a blasting hex but the Death Eater used another shield.
"Don't interfere mudblood" said Lucius.
"Because you are a symbol of fairness right?" hissed Hermione sarcastically. Both Harry and Hermione continued sending hexes at Malfoy. He was more experienced and used much more lethal curses than them. But he was slower and the younger ones dodged a few spells that he threw at them. Hermione looked Harry in the eyes for a moment and he understood at once what she was up to. They both started to slowly walk towards Lucius while sending hex after hex and avoiding Lucius's curses.
"You can't dance forever" growled Lucius. He was barely moving but he still looked out of breath.
"And you can't block forever" said Harry. He threw another blasting hex at Malfoy. Malfoy erected another shield to block it. It withstood the spell, only to be shattered by Hermione's own blasting hex. Lucius stumbled and tried to regain his balance. Unfortunately for him, few seconds he lost were enough for the other two.
"REDUCTO" screamed both Harry and Hermione. Lucius hastily tried to make another shield but it couldn't held the combined power of two spells. The spells, while weakened by his shield, still hit Malfoy on his wand arm. He screamed in pain as he fell to the floor. He was holding his nearly destroyed arm.
"Wait" Harry shouted a little too late. Malfoy grabbed his son with his healthy arm and whirled around. Hermione threw a stunner at him but Lucius apparated with his son before the spell could hit him.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other, both out of breath. Then Hermione slowly walked to Harry and hugged him tightly.
"Are you okay?" asked Harry with concern while he hugged her back.
"Yes, don't worry." said Hermione.
"Let's go home." said Harry, when he saw that Hermione was about to say something. "I doubt we will be as lucky when we meet someone else. We can discuss everything else later"
Hermione nodded. They snuggled at each other and started walking when Hermione stopped him.
"I think we won't have to worry about going back Harry" said Hermione.
"What do you mean?" asked Harry with concern. She simply pointed her finger. A wizard stumbled right towards them- a very angry looking wizard.
"You two are in serious trouble" growled the wizard.
XxXxXxXxX
There was chaos in Grimmauld Place number 12.
"I can't sit here and do nothing" said Sirius, and stood up. "I am going to search for them."
"Sit down Sirius" said Remus angrily. "We have already one idiotic life saving attempt, we don't need another one."
"Remus is right," said Molly. "We have no one else left to search for you, so please sit down."
"My godson is missing," said Sirius loudly. "I refuse to just sit here and do nothing."
"Kingsley, Mad Eye and Tonks are already searching for them" said Remus angrily. "You leaving won't help anything. Besides, Albus said-"
"Don't start with that old fool" screamed Sirius angrily.
"You just hate him because he doesn't allow you to leave this place." said Molly.
"Maybe I am" said Sirius. "He has no right to restrict our lives. Neither mine nor Harry's."
"He is only doing what is right" Molly shouted. She too was on her feet now. "Without him, you would have lost your freedom in a few days."
"At least I would have a freedom. Even for a few days" bellowed Sirius.
"STOP!" said Lupin suddenly, with discipline in his voice. "Sit down, both of you. We can't afford to fight with each other at the moment. We can just hope that the children will arrive safely"
Sirius started pacing the room while Molly once again sat down. After a few minutes Sirius once again opened his mouth to say something when they heard the door open.
"Who is there?" asked Molly.
"Just a pair of idiots" came another, angry voice from the door. Then the door opened and 2 red faced teenagers entered the room, followed by a very angry Mad Eye Moody.
After that, all hell broke lose.
XxXxXxXxX
Lord Voldemort was angry. No, he was furious. He pointed his wand at the pathetic figure in front of him.
"Crucio"
The man screamed with pain. He begged his lord but the most feared Dark Lord in century didn't stop. He held the curse for a whole minute before finally stopping it. His servant lie there, covered in his own blood, trying to maintain conscious.
"You finally found Potter" said Voldemort with a barely controlled anger. "But you couldn't bring him to me."
"He wasn't alone my Lord" complained Lucius in a weak voice.
"Is that your excuse" said the Dark Lord, when his anger started to rise again. "You got defeated by two children and this is YOUR EXCUSE. I can see it in your pathetic mind. You had the child and wasted your time bragging like an idiot."
"I will definitely bring him next time my Lord" said Lucius in a pleading voice.
"There won't be a next time" growled the Dark Lord. "Not even that brat is stupid enough to leave his safe place a second time. You wasted that chance."
He once again cast the Cruciatus curse on his servant. He enjoyed the screams of the arrogant pureblood a little longer and then stopped. No matter what mistake he made, Lucius was useful. Breaking him wouldn't bring him anything.
"Let this be a warning Lucius" said Voldemort. "If you make another mistake, I won't be as merciful. Now take him out and leave me alone."
Two other Death Eaters quickly came and took a barely conscious Lucius Malfoy out of the room. All the others quickly bowed in front of their Lord and left.
"Enjoy the few extra days you gained Potter" said Voldemort. "At the end, it won't change anything."
XxXxXxXxX
"-DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW IRRESPOSIBBLE-"
Harry now knew how Ron felt whenever his mom screamed at him. They came back half hours ago and Mrs. Weasley didn't seem like she would be finished any time soon. Everyone else stood there and waited for their turn.
"-YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED. IT IS NOT SAFE OUT THERE, AND YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THE RESPONSIBLE ONE HERMIONE GRANGER-"
Hermione stood there with her best friend and listened to Molly's never ending rant. At the beginning she was terrified, then for a while she wanted to object to her. Now she only felt bored.
"-AND HARRY, HOW CAN YOU JUST LEAVE WHEN WE CLEARLY TOLD YOU NOT TO-"
Hermione wondered how she managed to spontaneously find so many topics and change between the two of them so easily. She guessed that she had enough practice with Fred and George.
"-DO YOU THINK YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO THINKS OF HER SAFETY YOUNG MAN-"
Hermione looked at Harry. She feared for a second that Harry couldn't stay silent after this statement but she saw that she didn't have anything to worry. Harry already stopped listening what she was saying.
"-YOU ARE STILL CHILDREN. YOU CAN'T JUST-"
"I think it is quiet enough Molly" Sirius finally cut in. "I also have to talk with them and it would be better if they can still hear me when I am talking."
"But-" said Molly, she clearly wasn't finished yet.
"No Molly, it is enough" said Arthur firmly. "I think they now know how stupid they acted. Let Sirius talk with them."
Molly thought for a second and then nodded.
"Fine, I have to contact Albus so he knows that we can finally have the meeting, that we HAD TO delay" said Molly. She left but not before giving Harry and Hermione one last sharp look.
"Thank you Sirius" said Fred to the old marauder. "Five minutes longer and they would have broken our record."
"What record?" asked Ron.
"Who can make mum rant the longest record of course. They nearly broke it." said George. The Weasley children laughed at that but Sirius remained serious.
"You two, follow me." said Sirius and walked upstairs. Harry and Hermione didn't have much of a choice and followed him. They entered a small room.
"This is where I keep Buckbeak" answered Sirius their unasked question. "Now-"
"If you are going to give us a lecture, please don't bother," said Hermione. "Mrs. Weasley already gave enough of that."
"Please, I know that you didn't even listen to most of it," said Sirius. Both blushed at this, confirming his statement. "I am not going to lecture you. You are safe now and this is what counts. Now tell me what happened?"
"We already told it. I found Hermione, we talked and decided to come back. We met Moody on the way here" said Harry.
"Harry, you are talking to a marauder" said Sirius. "I can see that you are leaving something out. Now I make you an offer, tell me what happened and together we will find a way to tell it to the others. If you don't tell me then I'll tell everyone what I know and you will have to explain it yourself."
"This is called black mail, you know that right?" asked Hermione.
"Well, I don't have a problem with that" said Sirius grinning.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other and they both nodded. Harry started to explain everything since he arrived at Grimmauld Place, while Hermione corrected some of his mistakes. When they finally finished their story, Sirius could only stare.
"So you two actually fought against Lucius Malfoy?" asked Sirius.
"This is what I said, yes." answered Harry.
"Impressive." said Sirius approvingly. But then something else came to his mind. "Wait a minute. Ron found your wand in his room. This is why we were so worried to begin with. How could you have fought him Harry?"
Hermione blushed at this and pulled out both wands from her pocket.
"Well you see, I had a second wand with me."
"Am I right to assume that it was not just luck that you had a second wand?" asked Sirius who looked amused at her embarrassment.
She quickly explained about her daily training –which Harry now noticed was also a secret- and how she bought a second wand.
"Please don't tell anyone" she said after she finished her story. "It is kind of illegal you know."
Sirius laughed.
"This is hilarious. I never expected to do something like that Hermione. My godson definitely isn't a good influence on you." said Sirius. Then he tried to act serious. "You shouldn't break a law young woman."
"Well you are right" said Hermione. "It is just a hobby of mine and this is not even the last time. One time, I used a time turner illegally to save an escaped prisoner. I should really stop doing such things."
"Ouch" said Sirius, while Harry laughed. "Anyways, we could probably say the others that Harry took one of the spare wands downstairs. This is what we guessed before."
"What spare wands?" asked Hermione.
"Black family is a really ancient family" said Sirius. "There are wands hidden everywhere so in an emergency, no one would stay unarmed. Look." He went to an old bookshelf and took out a wand, which was barely visible behind the books.
"What do you mean by Black family" asked Harry.
"This is my old home Harry" said Sirius. "Welcome to the Ancient and Noble House of Black."
Harry was surprised to see how hate filled Sirius's words were.
"Ok, this is a matter for another time," said Sirius, his eyes started to twinkle with joy. "Now more importantly: Are you two a couple now?"
"Well," started Harry blushing. "We actually didn't have much time to discuss this."
"Then talk now" he said and went to the door. "I will tell the others that you are discussing something important. No one can hear you here. But if you ask my opinion, you two would make an excellent couple and waiting for another two years would be waste of time."
He winked at them and left, leaving two confused teenager behind.
"What did he mean by that?" asked Hermione. Harry just shrugged.
They just sat there in silent, trying to avoid each others eyes. After a few minutes, they couldn't stand the silence anymore and both started to talk.
"Harry-"
"Hermione-"
"Fine you go first" said Hermione with a smile on her face.
"Okay" said Harry and took a deep breath. "First, I want to say that I don't want you to feel forced to anything. Like I said, I love you –I really love you- but if you don't love me back, it won't change anything between us. Well, I hope it anyways. If you accept to be my girlfriend, you would make me the happiest man in the world. So before you say anything that would cause me a lot of mental damage, I at least want to ask. Hermione Granger, would you like to be my girlfriend?"
"So no pressure right?" said Hermione giggling. Harry actually smiled at that. "Well, I would like to answer you with another question. Do you think I would kiss someone just because he said that he loves me?"
"I knew you wouldn't accept but-" Harry's eyes suddenly went wide. "Wait a minute. You DID kiss me back there."
"Yes, I did." said Hermione with a smile on her face.
"What does it mean?" asked a confused Harry.
"That means that I would love to be your girlfriend Harry Potter" said Hermione and once again, her lips found his. They shared a long, passionate kiss before finally separating.
"So you were actually teasing me." said Harry, with a goofy grin on his face. His arms were around her wrist.
"You don't say" said Hermione, her arms still wrapped around his neck.
"Well, do you want to go downstairs my lovely little bookworm?" asked Harry, who had a hard time to stop grinning.
"Now that we have even more secrets that will eventually cause chaos- I would love to." said Hermione. She gave him a last peck on his lips they left the room.
When they entered the kitchen hand in hand, they noticed that it wasn't as empty as before. The whole room looked at them and everyone went silent. Sirius was looking at them with a grin on his face but he was definitely the only one.
That was chapter 2. I know I promised a confrontation with Dumbledore but I needed a good point to end the chapter and this one was the best.
Also to avoid confusion, they are not having an Order meeting so not the whole order is there, just a few. That also means that all Weasley children at the table, including a certain red headed girl.
Please review. I know I make mistakes, but I am trying to avoid it as much as possible. Please review, any comment is welcome.
