The man behind Holly was trying to push her along. She wanted to obey and not be killed, but she couldn't. Her eyes were flooded with memories- she could see Cedric die almost as if it was real and happening right that moment! Eventually, the bartender picked Holly up off the ground.
"NO! LEAVE THEM ALONE!" She yelled as the thought of Ron and Hermione ending the same way Cedric had flashed through her mind.
"We won't do anything to your little friends as long as you don't make any trouble!" He said, wrestling Holly to the ground so she didn't run away. "And those odds aren't looking too good for you at the moment!"
The man walked ahead towards the castle- like house and pointed his wand at the door, it swung open to reveal a long table seated with hooded figures. As Holly started to get up from the ground, she noticed Ron and Hermione hiding their bags in the large hedge row so no one would find anything in them. Holly did the same.
Just as she was putting the heavy backpack in the bush, the locket Dumbledore had gifted her fell out of her t-shirt and hit her in the face.
I need you to take care of this until you can destroy it! This is a very important peice of magic that will, in the end destroy Voldemort!
Holly knew that if she had something that could destroy him, then he would most definitely take it. She whipped it off and hid it along with everything else. A small amount of pressure was immediately lifted from her. She felt a little more at ease! Then, all the tension built up as she had to approach the house. Her, Ron and Hermione all squeezed each others hands- trying their best to reassure the other two but it wasn't working. When they reached the door, Holly was grabbed by her shoulders and thrust into the room, the other two shut outside.
"No! Holly!" Ron whispered under his breath. But Holly was already inside.
There was some banging on the door but there was no chance they had of opening it! Holly saw a huge table, still full of hooded figures.
"Miss Potter!" Said a raspy voice from the head if the table. "How nice of you to join us! It was very handy that Draco slipped you that note in the broom cupboard!" Holly's eyes widened- that had been Draco? The Malfoy git had made her go to Godric's Hollow, made her want to kill the rat, got her captured.
"What do you want?" Holly practically whispered.
"I want to kill you! But not here! It should be where your dear friends can see you!" Voldemort announced, rising from the head if the table. He rested a hand on Holly's shoulder and breathed down her neck. Holly didn't move an inch.
"Imperio!" He whispered and the girl had no choice but to comply. Holly had no memory of getting to the graveyard, but she did somehow. When she snapped back into reality, she was locked up- in the exact same place she had been when Voldemort had been resurrected.
Holly looked around to see Ron, Hermione, Sirius, Remus and Tonks being held back by different death eaters.
"I told you to leave them alone!" Holly screamed. "Don't hurt them!"
"I have no intention of hurting them! But if you don't do what I ask then something could perhaps slip my memory and they might die!" Voldemort threatened. "Now I want you to remain very still! If you try to escape I will kill you slowly and painfully. However if you don't run then you shall die faster!" The raspy voice said as the clouds shifted in the night sky. It was the first time the moon had properly been visible. Holly was released from the tight grip that the stone statue had on her. She looked to the sky- she wanted her last memory to be somewhere where things were so much simpler. Then the round moon caught her attention. She shot a look to Lupin who's eyes had gone dark and Tonks and Sirius were struggling on either side of him. He began to grow even taller than he already was and his back hunched, ripping his distressed cardigan and revealing a light brown hairy body! The warewolf howled at the moon while everyone backed away. Out of fear, Voldemort and his death eaters apparated away to escape the wrath of the uncontrollable wolf! Sirius became Padfoot the moment he was let go and Tonks rounded up the three teenagers. She forced the three school kids to stay away from him and to let her and Sirius handle things. They didn't really have much choice since they still couldn't use magic outside of school and they were just three fifteen year olds!
"Do you still have that time turner Hermione?" Ron asked, wimpering slightly at the huge warewolf.
"Nope! It was taken away from me after the third year since the school didn't want to have the ministry on their back for the misuse if magical artifacts!
"Well how should we try to protect ourselves and two adults from a warewolf and from Voldemort?" Holly asked, ducking behind a bush so they couldn't be seen.
"I'm not quite sure! But we'll figure something out." Hermione said, rumaging through her bag to find something potentially useful. Holly and Ron were doing the same thing. A shimmering cloak was pulled from Holly's bag and she put it on her lap so she didn't lose it! The three continued searching for something helpful when Hermione came across something.
"Got something! Might work, might not!" She grabbed the invisibility cloak from Holly's lap and put it on. Before she did, Ron and Holly noticed a small vile of a blueish black potion in her hand.
"Hermione! What are you doing?" Ron hissed, not knowing where she was at all!
"Saving your asses!" She whispered but they still couldn't tell where she was.
They could just about hear the footsteps go around the hedge row and into the graveyard but then the howl of Moony filled the air and the girl's whereabouts was lost!
Hermione ran over to Padfoot, Moony and Tonks. She haf her little bottle of wolfsbane potion and she began to uncork it. She carefully got her wand out of her pocket.
"Stupefy!" She whispered and the wolf stood still. Without the need of a prompt, she ran up to the semi- unconscious beast and opened its mouth, tipping the whole vile of wolfsbane into his mouth. Moony was very big in warewolf form so Hermione could onky just reach. However, her plan had worked. He was slowly starting to show signs of Remus Lupin rather than Moony! As the wolf turned into a man, he fell unconscious from the stunning spell Hermione had hit him with. Sirius and Tonks rushed over to him, pushing Hermione out of the way.
Holly and Ron approached her and congratulated her on knowing what to do at all times.
"How come you have everything for any situation?" Ron asked.
"Because I plan ahead!" Hermione responded, finally getting her breathing back in order.
"But how did you know we would be at this graveyard and it would be a full moon and Lupin would be here?" Holly enquired, turning to look at Hermione.
"I didn't! I just thought it would be important so I stole some ingredients from Snape's store then I went into the girls bathroom and made a bunch of useful potions!" She responded, letting out a small relieved laugh. Once Lupin had been sorted out, Sirius and Tonks woke him up and helped him steady himself.
"What did you do Hermione?" Tonks asked, walking over to the fifteen year olds.
"I got some wolfsbane potion, stunned Remus and then made him drink it while he was semi- unconscious." Explained Hermione as if it were the simplest thing in the world!
"And you knew that would work?" She asked, impressed at Hermione's knowledge.
"I had a good feeling about it." She replied, smiling at her small victory.
"We need to get you out of here! You've just used magic out of school and you still have the trace!" Sirius said, still supporting the much taller Remus who now had the other man's coat on.
"Could we get the trace off them? Is that even possible?" Tonks asked as they all made their way out of the graveyard which still made Holly feel sick.
"I've never really thought about it! I suppose they could use aging potions?" Sirius suggested as he took Holly's hand, with Remus drowsy on his right shoulder. Tonks took Ron and Hermione's hand and apparated away, Sirius doing the same.
When the six reached Number 12 Grimmauld Place, Sirius and Tonks helped Remus into the living room and lay him down on the sofa. They, along with the trio of teenagers, collected in the kitchen.
"Ok. First things first, what were you doing in that graveyard?" Sirius said, rather intimidating as he never told anyone off!
"We had to do something!" Holly said, nit wanting to tell her Godfather that they had run away from Hogwarts.
"What is something?" He interrogated, folding his arms and leaning on the back of one of the many chairs.
"Dumbledore asked me to do it before he died!" Holly whispered.
"What's he got three fifteen year olds who, apart from Hermione, seem to have little common sense!" Ron looked slightly offened but quickly agreed with what Sirius had said. Holly reached inside her bag and pulled out the locket she had ripped off before going to meet Voldemort. Sirius went as pale as a sheet of fresh parchment! He snached the locket from Holly's hand and inspected it thoroughly.
"Who gave you this?" He hissed.
"Dumbledore did!" Holly replied, subtlety backing away.
"Where did he find it?" He said, raising his voice a little.
"I don't know! He just told me to destroy it!" Holly replied, getting a bit scared.
"He died trying to get rid of this!" He shouted, throwing the locket to the floor.
"SIRIUS!" Tonks yelled and a but of colour resumed it's place in his face.
"Sorry! Tonks can you explain? I'm going to check on Remus." He whispered before leaving the room.
"What happened to him?" Hermione asked as soon as the door was shut.
"His brother Regulus, you might have heard of him. He died when Sirius was 20 trying to destroy this locket." Tonks explained, going over to pick the locket up off the floor. "It won't be destroyed by magic, it needs to be with something stronger than that!" She added when she saw Holly reach for her wand.
"What will destroy it?" Ron asked.
"I have no clue! I just know what others have told me when I joined the order." Tonks said. "Now all of you need to go to bed then fully explain why your not at school in the morning!" She added before walking out of the kitchen.
That night, Sirius didn't say a word to Holly, Ron and Hermione. He just went straight to his room without checking on any of them. Holly couldn't sleep- she had put the locket back on after it had been left on the table and after being back in the graveyard, the nightmares were back, stronger than ever!
The next morning, all three teenagers were woken up by an equally as tired Remus. He looked rough but no one mentioned anything as they didn't want to stress him out any more than he would be.
"So what are you three doing out of Hogwarts?" He asked, alot more gently than Sirius had done.
"Dumbledore sent me to destroy Vol..."
"Don't say his name!" Sirius interrupted- alot calmer than the previous night. "I heard something about a taboo being put on his name when we were kidnapped!"
"Well Dumbledore sent me to destroy you- know- who's horcruxes!" Holly said sheepishly.
"Why has he made you do it? And why now?" Remus asked, rather flustered that his ex- employer had made three teenagers go on a dangerous mission to destroy peices of dark magic!
"I don't know! I guess he just knew that if he didn't tell me when he did then I would never find out!" Holly replied, looking down to the ground nervously.
"So is that why you were in the graveyard last night? You were looking for horcruxes?" Sirius asked.
"Yeah. We were in Godric's Hollow and the rat was there so we got someone to kill it but then he apparated us to the graveyard!" Holly blurted as if it was all one word.
"You were in Godric's Hollow?" Remus said, the small spark in his eye burning out.
"Yeah! We went to my old house!" Holly whispered, remembering the huge whole in the wall and the faint memory of her mother dying while she was just a defenceless baby sat in her crib!
"We would have gone if it weren't for you know who! I hope you know that!" Remus said, looking sad because his best friend's kid had just visited his death place without any support from him!
"Yeah I know!" Holly said, looking down to the ground.
"Anyway what exactly do you have to do going horcrux hunting?" Tonks asked, her happy voice a little more serious than usual but still bringing some light to the room.
"Well we don't really know!" Hermione said after a long silence.
"But do know you where any of them are?" Tonks proceeded.
"No! And we don't know how to destroy them either." Ron muttered very awkwardly.
"I know how to!" Sirius piped up. Everyone turned to look at him, waiting for an answer. "Before he died, Regulus stole the sword of Griffindor and it would have worked if he hadn't been caught and killed!" He said, his voice shaking slightly at the mention of Regulus.
"So we have to find the sword of Griffindor?" Ron asked, raising his eyebrows in shock.
"Pretty much yeah! Unless someone can find it for you!" Sirius replied while cocking his head to the side so it was pointing at Kreacher. House elves have to do as it's master says! Would that work?
"Would Kreacher find it if we ordered him to?" Hermione asked, staring at the wrinkled house elf with a furrowed brow.
"I assume so. House elves must obey their masters until they are set free!" Sirius remarked as Kreacher made his way to the small group of people.
"Is there something you would like Kreacher to do Master Black?" Asked the house elf, putting the dustpan and brush down.
"Holly, Hermione, Ron and I would like you to find the sword of Gryffindor and bring it back for us!" He ordered.
"Kreacher will try his best to find it- even if it is the last thing he does!" The house elf clicked his boney fingers and dissappeared with a quiet crack.
"Now we wait!" Remus said, standing up from the chair he was sat in.
For the whole day people came in and out of Number 12 Grimmauld Place- most likely something to do with the order. The trio had to hide upstairs when Molly Weasley turned up so they wouldn't be killed for running away and Sirius, Remus and Tonks wouldn't be killed for helping them! As it neared 6am the next day, a loud bang was heard in the living room, waking up anyone who was still asleep.
"Kreacher has searched and searched but cannot fiund the sword you instructed Kreacher to get Master!" Said the house elf once everyone had made it downstairs. He was empty handed but even if he had managed to find the sword, it would have been impossible to hold it in his shaking hands. The elf had a large blood stain on his pillowcase tunic that most definitely hadn't been there before!
"Kreacher! Are you alright?" Hermione panicked.
"Kreacher is fine. He has suffered much worse from previous Masters!" The house elf claimed, backing away from Hermione.
"Do you think we'll be able to find the sword Kreacher?" Holly asked, diffusing some of the tension in the room.
"Kreacher could not find it anywhere. He searched and searched but it was nowhere to be found." He said nervously. "Kreacher shall now have to punish himself over the impossible task he was given."
"Filling us with confidence there!" Ron said, calming Hermione since the house elf had suffered so much pain in the past which went against all her S.P.E.W morals!
Luckily, it had just been the three teenagers and Sirius in the house at that point otherwise the secret that they had escaped school and their whereabouts would be known!
"What are you going to do now?" Sirius asked as Holly turned the locket over and over in her hand.
"Go on and find more horcruxes! Hopefully we'll manage to find the sword." She said, tucking the locket into her shirt.
"Please be careful! All of you!" He said, a knot forming between his eyebrows.
"Don't worry. We will be!" Holly said, giving her Godfather a goodbye hug. She wouldn't know when the next time she would see him would be. That's if she ever did see him again! If she died finding horcruxes then this would be her last memory of him. Comforting- she felt like she belonged there. Something she hadn't felt until she was twelve and she stayed with the Weasleys for the first time!
"I promise I'll come back!" Holly whispered, not entirely sure if this was true. Then she slipped under the invisibility cloak along with Ron and Hermione and set off into the busy street...