Ron and Harry walked out of the book shop. Ron hadn't spoken yet, and Harry wasn't sure whether to be relieved or to wait for the explosion. When Ron stopped, he braced himself.
"Look, Harry…I just wish that you'd trusted me enough to tell me."
"It's not about trust, okay? When you're a kid, you learn not to talk about it because it gets you in a lot of trouble. As you get older, eventually you don't want to talk about it. It was just one more thing that made me different from everybody else."
"If you ever want to talk, you know you can, yeah?"
"Yeah."
Ron nodded and that was it. They headed into the next shop.
Hours passed and nothing had happened. Then Harry caught a glimpse of somebody behind them. But then, the person stopped as something caught their eye on a display. Just a shopper then, he thought. Only, the guy was around the corner after the next store. Harry deliberately delayed them in the cloak shop. If the man was really shopping, he should have moved along by the time they'd come out.
At first glance, he was gone as they stepped out. But…no. There he was inside the store across the street. He looked like he was shopping, but he was definitely angled to watch the street. Harry discreetly tapped his leg three times; their signal that a watcher had been spotted.
They entered the next store and Ron made sure to watch the reflection in the glass. He spoke quietly, "He's moving out into the street. Stay sharp."
Nothing happened while doing their inspection, but they stayed alert. The guy seemed to be gone as they moved to the next store, but rather than reassure them, it made both of them more tense. They went to shop after shop, and nothing happened.
The final store, a little hole in the wall at the furthest corner of Knockturn alley, was a potions shop. The proprietor looked up, and then rolled his eyes as he saw that they were Aurors. "We're an honest business, we are! Ye ought to be leavin' us alone!"
"I'm sorry to impose, sir. We'll do our inspection quickly and be off."
With a frown and a rude gesture, the man began to ignore them. They cast detection spells as they moved from front to back. There was a store room in the back. Ron called out, "We're checking the back."
"Fah! Whatever."
The back room was row upon row of potions, vials, powders, plants, and glass bottles. Each shelf packed so thick that you couldn't see the next clearly. They nodded at each other and began the grid to scan for dark magic. About halfway through, Harry heard a shout up front. As they spun to check it out, the door to the back room slammed shut. Somebody shouted Nox and the lights went out, leaving them in darkness.
A streak of light flashed and as it was fading, he saw Ron tumble backwards. Harry dropped to a crawl, and headed towards his friend. Another shout and a spell flashed above his head, raining debris onto his back. Everything was soon just a series of lights punctuating the darkness.
Harry was relieved when he heard Ron rejoin the battle. He could hear him somewhere ahead and he kept moving. His hand bumped something warm. "Ron?"
"Guess again, Potter." With a murmured lumos, the man's face was lit and Harry could see several other wants pointed at him. He recognized that face from the last time he'd been held captive. That wasn't a comfortable thought. Off to the side he saw another area light up as Ron was captured.
Both Aurors were bound, silenced, and disillusioned. Their captors shuffled them out the back door and down a dingy alley. They didn't spot anybody along the way, and ended up being herded to a set of stairs. They were led inside an apartment was above a shop, and the building looked like it was ready to fall down.
Harry took in their surroundings. They were in the main room. Another door was on the left. He assumed it was a bedroom. Ahead, he could see a door leading out to a balcony. There were the seven men who had captured them, and four more in the room they'd just entered. So far he hadn't seen Macnair.
One of his kidnappers knocked on the bedroom door. "Boss, we got 'im."
He stood back as the door opened. Macnair grinned. "Mr. Potter. How nice to see you."
"Wish I could say the same, Macnair."
"Oh, don't worry. I only need you until Draco comes for you. Then you won't have to see me anymore. Better yet, tell me where he's hiding. I'll make your stay even shorter. So what is it, exactly, that manages to pull him to you?"
Macnair approached. "Is it danger? Or is it being injured?" He cast crucio. As Harry screamed, Ron bowled into Macnair. He kicked out at another of their captors. Unfortunately, he was one man against many, and a stunner took him down. Macnair spit on him. "Damn blood traitor! Lacero!"
Harry could only watch from where he lay on the floor as Ron's bloody body was dragged out.
# # #
Macnair was getting impatient as his men hadn't returned. The man snapped his fingers at two of his men. "Go see where those fools went to. It doesn't take this long to dispose of a corpse!"
When more time passed, he became visibly agitated. He shoved his wand under Harry's chin. "Where are my men?"
"I've no idea. Actually, I have no idea how a lackey like you even managed to get this many people to follow him."
"You'd be surprised what people will do for gold."
Harry chuckled. "Oh, you mean that heist you planned? Did your men tell you that they squealed? We know all about it, Macnair. Gringotts has been warned. How long will these thugs stay with you now?"
Macnair backhanded Harry, sending his glasses flying. "Why isn't Malfoy here yet?"
"He won't show. Malfoy is somewhere safe, where you will never reach him!"
"We'll see about that. Crucio!"
# # #
Harry came back to awareness slowly. Macnair was in the bedroom, but he could hear him arguing with somebody. "We just need Malfoy, and we won't need to break in. We can just imperio him. He has so many galleons we'll still be rich!"
"This has turned into a mess, Macnair! I didn't sign on to kill Aurors. I'm not a death eater. Now I'll be a wanted man!"
"Once Potter's dead, there's nobody to tell tales; but if you don't have the stomach for this, then go!"
They kept arguing, and Harry tried to unobtrusively see how many men were left in the room with him. He jolted when he felt something cut the ropes binding his wrists. Then his wand and glasses were pressed into his hands. Dread filled his stomach when he felt cloth covered fingers gently brush his battered face. Draco!
Harry heard footsteps come up the stairs. "Check it!" somebody ordered. Harry turned his head a little, and he watched as the man opened the door and took a stunner. Fabric slid and revealed Draco and Hermione, already casting spells.
Harry managed to get his glasses on and stumble to his feet. Malfoy pulled him out of the way of a curse and his brain kicked into gear. As he came back up, he took out a man trying to come in from the balcony.
Later, Hermione would duplicate the memory to show Ron. Harry and Malfoy stood back to back; dodging and casting so flawlessly in sync that it looked like a dance. Harry cast protego as a spell raced toward Draco, and it spattered harmlessly away. He immediately spun right under Malfoy's casting arm to stun a man cursing them from the side. He was no sooner done casting than he felt Draco grab him and twist them both out of the way of a death curse. Both flowed out of the dodge, wands coming up in unison.
Right about then, the rest of the men from the balcony managed to get inside. Harry began deflecting and blocking the spells as Draco took the offensive. Man after man dropped in their onslaught.
Somewhere during this, Harry realized that several Aurors had also made their way in and were engaged with Macnair. Hermione was dueling with a man trying to come in from the bedroom. Harry cast expelliarmus and within a moment Draco had him under a full body bind.
The Aurors converged on Macnair . and with a final spell he was down. Harry stood, panting, looking around for the next target. Only Malfoy's hand on his arm brought him out of his battle haze. He shook his head, trying to clear it, and realized he was getting even fuzzier. Still confused, the world went black, and all he registered was a solid warmth keeping him from falling.
