Chapter Ten:
Reunited
Immediately, Elizabeth snatched a piece of parchment and wrote quickly:
Hold tight, Harry. We'll get you out of there, one way or another.
She went to Hedwig, and had to practically force the owl out the window. She didn't seem that willing to leave, but she finally flew off and Elizabeth and Hermione turned, hurrying off down the stairs. In their rush, they forgot about being quiet in the entrance hall and the portrait of Mrs. Black began screaming as they passed. Elizabeth ignored it, however, and hurried into the kitchen. It seemed the news had already reached them, however. Mrs. Weasley was ranting about Mundungus—who apparently was slacking on his guard duty of Harry—and Sirius was sitting at the table nearby, looking furious. Ron looked up when he saw Elizabeth and Hermione, then hurried over.
"Harry was just—"
"Attacked by dementors," Elizabeth cut in, "We know. He just wrote."
"How could dementors get to Little Whinging?" Hermione asked, "It doesn't make any sense."
That was the question that hung over all of them for the next several days. Mrs. Weasley seemed determined to distract them with cleaning, but it didn't stop Elizabeth, Ron, and Hermione from worrying about Harry. Each day at breakfast, they'd ask when Harry would be coming, and each day they would get the answer 'not today'. They spent their evenings gathered in Ron's room, talking in hushed whispers, wondering what Harry had to be thinking since he was still there at his aunt and uncle's place. Elizabeth never received an answer back from her note to Harry, but she didn't know if that was a good thing or not.
The fourth day, they finally got answers. Ron had automatically asked about Harry at breakfast as he'd done the past three days, and today, Mr. Weasley gave them something different than 'not today'.
"Mad-Eye put together a group," he said, grabbing a piece of toast, "And Tonks has found a way to lure away the Muggles Harry lives with. They're going to get him tonight, before dinner."
"He will?" Elizabeth asked, straightening up. After the past two weeks here at Grimmauld Place, they were finally going to have Harry around as well?
"Yes," Mrs. Weasley said, "But this does not mean you will not be working today. The sitting room upstairs still has yet to be fully cleaned, so you will be working in there."
This was a task easier said than done. With the news that Harry would be finally rescued from the Dursleys, cleaning was a task that was hard to focus on. And in a home like Grimmauld Place, concentration was something sorely needed. There were plenty of little creatures that had gotten into all sorts of nooks and crannies of the house and getting them out was often quite difficult. Elizabeth found herself being bitten by an ordinary rat that was living under an armchair, and that was not something she wanted a repeat of.
Elizabeth found herself relieved when it grew dark and Mrs. Weasley shooed them all upstairs as plans were set to get Harry to Grimmauld Place. After washing up, Elizabeth was restless, though. Ron and Hermione were waiting in Ron's room, but Elizabeth couldn't sit still in there. She made her way back into the hallway, keeping out of sight when Mrs. Weasley came by. Then, Elizabeth perched herself on the stairs, watching the front door.
"What're you doing out here?"
Elizabeth glanced up over her shoulder. Ginny had been heading down the hallway, but she'd stopped when she saw Elizabeth and came over to her. Elizabeth gave her a weak grin.
"Hermione's pacing and going on about that hearing," Elizabeth whispered, "She was making me edgy."
"She does that," Ginny said, coming over and sitting next to Elizabeth, "She thinks out loud, Hermione."
"It can be endearing," Elizabeth said, "But sometimes it's also rather irritating."
"Especially when she's voicing things you're already worrying about."
"Yeah..." Elizabeth sighed, staring down into the darkness of the entryway below, "How did dementors end up there anyway?"
"I don't know," Ginny said, "They're still guarding Azkaban, aren't they? Why would some of them suddenly leave and go after Harry?"
Elizabeth pursed her lips as she thought, brushing back some of her hair.
"Do you think V-V-Voldemort's behind it?" she asked, stumbling over the name. She tensed a little as she forced herself to say it, and she noticed Ginny flinch.
"I wouldn't be surprised," Ginny said, "But it would be a change. He's keeping himself out of sight so far, isn't he?"
"Well, sending dementors does keep him out of sight," Elizabeth pointed out, "I bet they'll say they were just a couple of rogue dementors or something, that there's no connection behind it."
"Yeah, true..." Ginny gave a sigh, her red hair falling in her face, "It still can't believe all this is happening..."
"I know what you mean...I miss Cedric. I miss getting along with my family. I miss things being easy and simple."
"When has anything ever been simple?"
Elizabeth couldn't help but give a soft laugh at that. Ginny did have a point. Things had never been simple for Elizabeth and her friends. Everything was always complicated, wrapped up in events that made Elizabeth's head hurt thinking about it too much. Not even something 'Harry has a godfather' was simple, and this house that Sirius was hiding out was proof of it.
"I'd settle for pretending things are normal," Elizabeth said, shaking her head.
"Maybe one we get to Hogwarts?" Ginny asked.
"Knowing our luck, that'll just be worse."
Ginny laughed this time, grinning a little. The two fell silent, just sitting there on the stairs together, and Elizabeth reached up, playing with her hair. She couldn't help but wonder how the group going to get Harry was doing. Had they made it to Surrey yet? How were they going to just take Harry away from the Dursleys? Elizabeth knew his aunt and uncle wouldn't be happy with a dozen witches and wizards just showing up to pick Harry up with no notice.
"I do miss being at Hogwarts, though," Elizabeth added, "And my friends there."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Ginny said, "I just hope they aren't buying into the Daily Prophet's stories."
"Ernie and Hannah aren't," Elizabeth said, "A couple of my friends from Hufflepuff. I saw them during Cedric's funeral. They believe Harry."
"I think Sarah does," Ginny said, mentioning one of her Gryffindor friends in her year, "At least, it seems that way from her letters."
"The more who believe Harry, the better," Elizabeth said, "I don't know how we can fight against the entire Ministry, though. How do we deal with them and the Daily Prophet covering everything up?"
Ginny frowned, obviously unable to come up with an answer. The two fell into silence again. Though silence meant that Elizabeth's mind started to go back to Harry, on how he was doing. Did the Guard sent to get him run into any trouble? What if they were followed on the way back to Grimmauld Place?
"Snape showed up for the meeting this time," Ginny said, and Elizabeth looked over at her.
"I didn't see him come in," she said.
"It's while you were washing up," Ginny said, "I bet Fred and George will want to get the Extendable Ears out, but Mum might have Imperturbed the door."
"Any idea how we can find out?"
"Tonks told me if you chuck things at the door, if it bounces off, it's Imperturbed. Hold on, I have a bag of Dungbombs..."
Ginny got up and headed for her room, coming back soon after. She took a couple and, one by one, tossed them towards the door. The first few missed, but one finally went straight for the door and bounced off before reading it.
"Well, damn," Ginny said, "Looks like we won't find out what's going on."
Elizabeth sighed.
"It was worth a shot," she said, "You might want to go wash up your hands so Mrs. Weasley doesn't suspect anything."
"Yeah, good idea," Ginny said, turning and heading off down the hall. She came back soon after, and Elizabeth and Ginny spent a little time chatting, but mostly sitting in silence. Half an hour later, the front door opened downstairs and Elizabeth straightened up where she was sitting. Ginny glanced at her for a moment, then said she was going to let Ron and Hermione know and got up to leave. Elizabeth barely noticed as she got to her feet, looking down to the landing below. They were whispering—trying to not to wake the portrait of Mrs. Black—and Elizabeth noticed Moody tap something in the air, and slowly a familiar boy came into sight in the darkness below.
Elizabeth grinned brightly at that, gripping the railing tighter. Harry was here! Elizabeth watched as Mrs. Weasley came into the entryway, rushing over to Harry and hugging him. They talked for a bit, and Mrs. Weasley started to usher him to the stairs. When she spotted Elizabeth waiting at the top, she said something to Harry and hurried off. Harry started up the stairs, and when he reached the top, Elizabeth threw her arms around him in a hug. Harry stumbled backwards a bit.
"Nice to see you again too, Elizabeth," Harry said as Elizabeth pulled back, grinning at him.
"We were so worried when we heard about the dementors," she said softly, "Dumbledore was furious. I'd never seen him so angry—"
"Dumbledore was here?"
"Just the once," Elizabeth said, "I didn't get to talk to him. Mrs. Weasley keeps us away from the Order meetings—"
"But at least you're here," Harry snapped. Elizabeth flinched a little.
"And we've been wanting you here every single day of that," Elizabeth shot back, "Harry, we're on your side, in case you forgot."
Harry frowned and Elizabeth shook her head.
"Come on, Ron and Hermione are just in here. We'll explain everything."
Elizabeth led Harry into the room Harry would be sharing with Ron. Hermione was sitting on one bed, while Ron was on the other. Hermione leapt to her feet when she saw Harry, but seeing Elizabeth, she didn't run forward.
"Harry! How are you?" Hermione asked quickly, "Are you all right? Have you been furious with us? I bet you have, I know our letters were useless—at least Elizabeth got a chance to tell you what was happening—But the dementors! When we heard—and that Ministry hearing—it's just outrageous, I've looked it all up, they can't expel you, they just can't, there's provision in the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Sorcery for the use of magic in life-threatening situations—"
"Hermione, settle down," Ron said with a smirk. Hermione flushed and sat back down on the bed.
"I told you about the Order Dumbledore was forming?" Elizabeth asked, looking to Harry, "Well, this is the headquarters. The Order of the Phoenix. We can't get into the meetings, but we learned a bit from Fred and George's Extendable Ears before Mrs. Weasley found out—"
"Extendable—?"
"Ears, yeah," Ron said, "Only we've had to stop using them lately because Mum found out and went berserk. Fred and George had to hide them all to stop Mum from binning them. But we got a good bit of use out of them before Mum realized what was going on. We know some of the Order are following known Death Eaters, keeping tabs on them, you know—"
"—some of them are working on recruiting more people to the Order," Hermione added.
"And there's talk of guard duty all the time," Elizabeth finished.
"Couldn't have been me, could it?" Harry asked sarcastically. Elizabeth shook her head.
"No, it's something else," Elizabeth said, "They always talked about news on you separately from whatever it is they're guarding."
Harry frowned, beginning to pace the room. He was quiet for a moment before he spoke again.
"So what have you been doing, if you're not allowed in the meetings?" he asked sharply, "You said you'd been busy."
"We have," Hermione said quickly, "We've been decontaminating this house, it's been empty for ages and stuff's been breeding in here. We've managed to clean out the kitchen, most of the bedrooms, and I think we're doing the drawing room tomo—"
There was a loud crack as Fred and George Apparated into the room, and Hermione gave a shout. Once she saw who was responsible for the noise, she glared at the twins.
"Stop doing that!" Hermione snapped.
"Hello, Harry," George said, ignoring Hermione, "Ginny said you were here."
"You two passed your Apparation tests, then?" Harry asked, and Elizabeth could tell he was still in a sour mood. She hoped it passed soon.
"With distinction," Fred said, and Elizabeth noticed he was holding an Extendable Ear.
"Why do you keep Apparating?" Elizabeth asked, "What's wrong with using the stairs?"
Fred and George ignored her, and Fred just held up the Extendable Ear.
"We figured you'd want to join in," he said, "We figured it'd be worth the risk getting caught, that's a major meeting they're having."
"The door's been Imperturbed," Elizabeth said, "Ginny threw some Dungbombs to test it, and they bounced off."
As she said that, Ginny came on in the door. She grinned at Harry in greeting before sitting down next to Hermione.
"Shame," Fred said with a sigh, "I really fancied finding out what old Snape's been up to."
"Snape? Is he here?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Yeah, giving a report," George said as he sat down, "Top secret."
"Git," Fred added.
"He's on our side now," Hermione said sharply.
"Doesn't stop him from being a git," Ron said with a snort, "The way he looks at us when he sees us..."
"Bill doesn't like him either," Ginny said simply.
"Is Bill here?" Harry asked, looking around, "I thought he was working in Egypt."
"He applied for a desk job so he could come home and work for the Order," Fred said, "He misses the tombs, but there are compensations..."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. She'd heard already about Bill's budding relationship with Fleur Delacour, and honestly, she didn't see what the big deal was.
"Charlie's in the Order too," George said once he and Fred were done making fun of Bill's love life, "But he's still in Romania, Dumbledore wants as many foreign wizards brought in as possible, so Charlie's trying to make contacts on his days off."
"And Alain's mother is trying to make connections where she can at the Department of International Magical Cooperation, but she can't be that open about it."
"Couldn't Percy help?" Harry asked. Elizabeth pursed her lips at the mention of Ron's git of a brother.
"Whatever you do, don't mention Percy in front of Mum and Dad," Ron said tensely.
"Why not?"
"Because every time Percy's name is mentioned," Fred said, "Dad breaks whatever he's holding and Mum starts crying."
"It's been awful," Ginny said softly.
"Remember me telling you about my Mum and brother?" Elizabeth looked at Harry, "Percy's the same way. Turned his back on the rest of the family."
"He's living here in London," Ron said bitterly, "Mum's been in a right state. You know—crying and stuff. She came up to London to try to talk to Percy but he slammed the door in her face. I dunno what he does if he meets Dad at work—ignores him, I s'pose."
They heard footsteps coming up the stairs and Fred and George snatched up their Extendable Ears and Apparated out of the room. A moment later, Mrs. Weasley leaned in.
"The meeting's over, you can come down and have dinner now," she said, "Everyone's dying to see you, Harry. And who's left all those Dungbombs outside the kitchen door?"
"Crookshanks," Ginny said simply, "He loves playing with them."
"Oh, I thought it might have been Kreacher, he keeps doing odd things like that," Mrs. Weasley said, "Now don't forget to keep your voices down in the hall."
"Who's Kreacher?" Harry asked softly as they left the room.
"The house elf who lives here," Ron answered, "Nutter. Never met one like him."
"He's not a nutter, Ron—"
"No, he is," Elizabeth cut Hermione off, "He's always talking to himself, and wants nothing more than to join that." She paused to nod to the line of house elf heads on the wall above the stairs.
"Well—well, if he is a bit strange, it's not his fault—"
Ron rolled his eyes.
"Hermione still hasn't given up on spew—"
"It's not 'spew'!" Hermione snapped, "IT's the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, and it's not just me, Dumbledore says we should be kind to Kreacher too—"
"Yeah, yeah," Ron waved Hermione off, "C'mon, I'm starving."
They headed on to the stairs, but stopped at the head of them. There were still members of the Order down in the entryway, and Elizabeth glanced at the others. Maybe they could hear something after all...
Elizabeth leaned against the banister to stare down at the group of witches and wizards. Elizabeth could see her aunt and uncle among the group, as well as Alain and his parents. Elizabeth saw Xavier started to look up and she ducked away, not particularly wanting to get caught trying to eavesdrop after last week. Xavier and Ginger hadn't said anything to Grace about where Elizabeth was, but she wasn't about to push it.
"Snape never eats here," Ron said after a moment and Elizabeth moved back to see that the crowd was clearing out, "Thank God. C'mon."
"We're eating down in the kitchen," Mrs. Weasley said quietly when they reached the bottom of the stairs, "Harry, dear, if you'll just tiptoe across the hall, it's through this door here—"
There was a loud crash and everyone spun around as Tonks cursed, pushing herself to her feet after tripping over an umbrella stand nearby. No sooner as she got to her feet, Elizabeth clamped her hands down over her ears as the portrait of Mrs. Black woke up and began screaming, the curtains flying away from where they were covering her.
"FILTH! SCUM! BY-PRODUCTS OF DIRT AND VILENESS! HALF-BREEDS, MUTANTS, FREAKS, BEGONE FROM THIS PLACE! HOW DARE YOU BEFOUL THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS—"
"Shut up, you horrible old hag!" Sirius came running into the room, and ignoring the shouts and insults of his mother, yanked the curtain closed. Elizabeth sighed in relief, glad the screaming was gone. Though Tonks was apologizing repetitively nearby. Elizabeth, exchanging a glance with the others as Sirius moved forward to Harry, slipped on into the kitchen, eager for a warm meal.