Hello all, this is part 1 to chapter nine as you can see from the title. It was simply too long so it will come in two parts.
Enjoy!
*BTW any underline spells are non-spoken ones*
I stumbled out of the stone fireplace into the small living room belonging to the Malfoy's groundkeeper. It took me half a second to realize that there was someone else in the room. I whipped out my wand and turned it towards them but I needn't have worried, I stood face to face with my brother. Scorpius stared at me with momentary shock before giving me a weak smile. Well at least he knew he was in trouble.
"Where's Albus?" I asked as the fireplace behind me turned green and Lilly stepped out.
"Outside looking around. He should be back any second."
James came next and upon seeing Scorpius a scowl settled on his face but he said nothing. Rose was the last to come through and she looked relieved to see Scorp. But before she could go to him she seemed to remember why we were here and she glared at him instead, crossing her arms.
"What the hell is going on? And where is my idiot brother?" Lilly had her arms crossed as well and actually looked somewhat amused.
As if in answer to her question Albus bounded into the room at that moment looking excited. At least he did until he saw who was in the room. He skidded to a halt and actually tried to make a run for it. I felt sorry for him as James' leg-locker curse hit him from behind then I remembered all the worry he caused me. The little bugger deserved to have his head bounce off the doorframe.
"You've got some explaining to do." James growled.
"I think there are death eaters inside Malfoy Manor."
Whatever we were expecting it wasn't what had come out of Al's mouth. Even Scorpius looked shocked.
"I'm sorry I think I'm going deaf but I thought you said that there are death eaters in my house." I said.
If it weren't for the fact Al was on the floor with his head faced away from us, he'd probably be glaring at me.
"That's exactly what I said." He replied rather grumpily too I might add.
"Well then we should probably leave." Rose said suddenly very nervous.
"We can't." Scorpius and I said. We glanced at each other before I continued.
"The grounds have probably been locked down by now. Which means no apparating and no access to the floo network from anywhere on the grounds."
"I don't understand." Lilly said.
I sighed before sitting down on an empty chair.
"Back when Voldermort was still using this place as a base he had special security measures placed in and around the Malfoy grounds. If anyone without a dark mark passed through the barriers an alarm would sound inside the house and alert the occupants that there was an intruder. After the war dad couldn't get rid of the spells completely. He was able to put them to sleep if you will so that it wouldn't go off every time we had a visitor. They can however be easily reenacted."
"If there are death eaters inside the house," Scorpius continued, "you can guarantee that they know about the security system. That's why I was so surprised when you came through the floo. I had figured they closed up the network right after we got here."
I jumped up as Scorpius finished talking and smacked him upside the head.
"You remembered about the security system and you still came here. You knew that there was a chance of not being able to get back to school."
Scorpius shrugged.
"I honestly didn't think that there would be death eaters here. Otherwise we wouldn't have come."
I opened my mouth to remind him about the file I had found earlier that evening then remembered that Albus and Scorpius knew nothing about it. They hadn't known that Draco had been monitoring death eater activity. I sighed again. Things just keep getting worse.
"Well that doesn't matter at the moment. Rose try to see if the floo network closed up. If it did we need to move and move soon."
"Why?" James asked. I blinked at him in surprise. I had nearly forgotten he was there, being so quiet. Some girlfriend I make huh?
"They'll know where we flooed in from. They'll be surrounding this place shortly."
Rose came back from the fireplace shaking her head. The network had already been blocked off. I paused suddenly thinking it odd that the network hadn't been closed off after Al and Scorp arrived which was hours ago. But I didn't have time to think of that right now.
"Let's go. There are plenty of places to hide on the grounds."
I pulled my wand out again and led them from the house. Malfoy manor lay in the distance but I turned away from it. That was the last place any of us wanted to be right now. Instead I led my friends closer to the forest that took up about a quarter of the grounds. We walked about a quarter mile into the forest until I stopped at the edge of a clearing. The clearing was rather large and if you looked real close you could see that it seemed somewhat strange in the moonlight.
"What's wrong with that clearing?" Rose whispered from some where behind me. I smirked. Of course the genius would notice it right away.
"Egressus." I said pointing my wand at the clearing.
(Egressus is Latin for come forth)
The clearing shimmered for a second and then a small cottage appeared in the center. Lilly squealed in excitement. I glanced back at Scorpius and saw him nod. He would put the protection spell back up.
I led the Gryffindors and Albus into the cottage. No one was there but I would have been very surprised if someone had been there.
"What is this place?"
"Our secret hideout."
Albus snorted. James had scrunched up his face clearly trying not to laugh. I didn't even bother rolling my eyes at them.
"I'm serious. Me and Scorp had played here as children. After I started going to Hogwarts I began strengthening and personalizing the protection spells our dad put around the place. Scorpius and I are the only ones who can access this place."
My friends looked impressed. I smirked, unable to keep my pride from showing on my face. Lilly rolled her eyes.
"Well now what?"
I frowned. As safe as this place was it probably wouldn't be safe for long especially if we were being looked for. James seemed to think along these same lines because he looked at me saying,
"We need to get off these grounds as soon as possible."
"Unfortunately the only way out is through the main gates." I said in response to his silent question.
"And that means we need to go past the Manor." Scorpius had finally come back inside. What the hell had taken him so long?
"Bellina someone has been here." There was a slight note of panic in his voice even though he looked calm. No one knew about this place, no one other than Draco and after all the changes I made even Draco wouldn't have been able to get in.
"That's impossible." I snapped. There was nothing wrong with my spells. Scorp shook his head.
"They tried to break the barrier from the inside." I blinked at him. What the hell? How could they be on the inside without breaking the barrier in the first place? Unless…..
I turned away from everyone and left the room for a smaller storage room at the back of the cottage. In the back corner on the floor was a trap door. Cliché isn't it? Beneath the door is a tunnel that led all the way to the gardens behind the Manor. This was usually how me and Scorpius snuck off to our hideaway without getting caught. I gave the door a once over and noted in dismay that there wasn't much of a door left to go over. Like the clearing the trap door had been spelled although not as strongly. Someone had blasted through the trap door from inside the tunnel. That means they had found the entranceway in the gardens which unfortunately hadn't been spelled.
"Damn." I said quietly.
"What is that?" I whipped around to see that James had followed me from the front room, his wand lit and a frown on his face.
"This is how the intruder got in." I said with a sigh, "And it's also our way out. Although I can't tell you how safe it is anymore."
James stared at the hole in the floor before reaching over and taking my hand in his.
"We'll have to risk it."
"Am I interrupting something?" Neither of us turned at Lilly's voice. I had forgotten that no one really knew about our new status. Lilly squealed.
"Are you two dating?"
I sighed and James glared at his little sister.
"We don't have time for this." Albus said from the doorway, "Although I must admit it's about time."
James growled and gripped his wand more tightly. If I didn't do something quick I was gonna have to drag an unconscious Albus through the tunnel….by his leg so that his head hit every bump in the floor. Damn little bugger.
"We need to move. Wands out." I said irritably. I let go of James' hand and began my way down the ladder, wand between my teeth.
"Lumos." I said at the bottom. My wand dimly lit the darkened tunnel which showed no signs of intrusion besides the wood splinters from the trap door.
"Does this go only one way?" James now stood next to me trying to peer into the darkness.
"For the most part. There is one other tunnel that branches off closer to where the Manor is but I've never explored it and it goes in the opposite direction of the gates. So I doubt it'll be useful."
James nodded then stepped in front of me quietly insisting on taking the lead. I let him. He was the brave Gryffindor not me. Yet I hovered by his shoulder tightly gripping my wand. I didn't want him getting hurt and if I could prevent it I would. We walked slowly listening for any strange sounds, James in front with me right behind him, then Lilly, Rose, Albus and lastly Scorpius.
"We should be there soon." I said after about ten minutes. James suddenly stopped cursing. I rubbed my nose where it had hit his shoulder deciding I had been a bit too close and then glanced up to see why he had stopped. The tunnel had collapsed and now we were stuck.
"What the bloody hell?" I whispered going closer. I noticed to my left was the unexplored tunnel I had mentioned earlier.
"Do you think they collapsed the tunnel after discovering where it led?" Lilly asked from behind me. Rose made her way around us and stopped in front of the pile of rocks. As she muttered some spells under her breath I looked at the entrance of the other tunnel. It was giving me an ominous feeling.
'We don't want to go that way if we don't have to." James murmured in my ear. I nodded before looking at Rose. She was frowning.
"Well I can tell you that this was done recently, real recent." She finally said, "And there is some kind of spell on it which I bet will prevent us from digging our way out with magic or by hand."
"So that means this was done after we tripped the alarm system." Albus said angrily.
'But why?' I wondered. I glanced again at the opening of the other tunnel.
"Well then let's go back." Lilly said. She was starting to get impatient and annoyed. Not a good combo for the youngest Potter. Rose shook her head.
"That way is probably blocked by now. They probably set up a trigger to collapse the tunnel after we went though."
"Wouldn't we have heard something?"
"Not necessarily." Scorpius said thoughtfully, "These grounds have belonged to the Malfoys for generations. Who knows what kinds of spells are still left over?"
"But why trap us down here?" Lilly asked in frustration. I shook my head. It was too obvious.
"Albus how sure were you that there are death eaters in the Manor."
Albus blinked at my question.
"I knew there were people in the house. Who they were I really can't say but I had an ominous feeling. The presences inside the house gave me the chills."
I snorted. Not at Albus' words but at the death eaters' very obvious attempt to get a hold of us.
"Bellina?"
James was frowning at me. He glanced at the tunnel opening then back at me. He knew what I was thinking.
"Well we can try to go back but I personally have no reason to doubt Rose's prediction. That means the only way for us to go is through here."
James sighed. Apparently that had been the last thing he wanted to do.
"We were set up." He said.
"But why?" Lilly asked glaring at the tunnel.
Scorpius sighed before gripping his wand and heading for the tunnel entrance.
"Where are you going?" Rose asked slightly panicky.
"I am not sitting here and waiting for them to come get us. This is the only way out so lets go."
I hate it when he's right. I hate it even more when he acts like a Gryffindor.
"What kind of Slytherin are you?" Albus grumbled as he followed clearing agreeing with me. James growled after them.
"Save it." I said pecking him on the cheek, "He's right after all."
I followed after the boys, Lilly and Rose right behind me, leaving James to bring up the rear. About 20ft down the tunnel it branched into 4 new tunnels and that was were Scorpius and Albus stood waiting.
"You think we should split up?" Al asked.
"No." James responded.
I held up my lit wand to stare at the floor. Not a single speck of dust in any tunnel. I couldn't tell if any were used recently.
James and Albus suddenly swore. My head shot up to see death eaters standing at the entrance of 2 tunnels and the way we had come. Well at least now we know Albus had been right. Three possible exits were also suddenly blocked off. None of the death eaters moved, but then again neither did we. You could have cut a slice out of the tension in the air. As I looked around I noticed Lilly mumbling under her breath, her wand concealed from view by her brother's back. I instantly knew what she was doing.
For those of you don't know the bat-bogey hex is a spell that was used quite often by Ginny Potter while she was still in school. She was near famous for it and it only made sense that she would teach it to her daughter. The tunnel erupted with 'bats' that began to fiercely attack the death eaters. I briefly wondered how the spell could have worked with their masks on their faces before grabbing Lilly and Rose and shoving them down the closest tunnel.
"Run." I snarled at them when they stared at me in confusion. We took off running down the tunnel which, thankfully, was lit by some unseen light source. A glance behind me told me that the boys hadn't followed us down this tunnel. So much for not splitting up. Though that may have been the reason for the sudden appearance of those death eaters anyway. That thought slowed me down until I stopped altogether, realizing that I was alone.
"What the hell?" I whirled around thinking maybe I had missed some turnoff that the girls had gone down but I didn't move. I had been running but I was nearly positive there had been no other tunnels and I wasn't about to go check. Not when death eaters were in that direction.
"Point me." I laid my wand flat on my palm allowing it to spin and point me north. North was where the manor was, which hopefully everybody knew but probably didn't. Damn. My wand spun and didn't stop. Something was messing with it. Double damn. I miss the month of January. Everything was going right in January. I continued down the tunnel hoping to bump into-well anyone really. Unless of course they were a death eater. And I prefer to bump into Rose and Lilly first. James might kill me for losing them, girlfriend or no girlfriend.
As I continued I noticed the tunnel walls change from packed dirt to some sort of dark stone. It seems something was built beneath the Malfoy grounds. I also noticed all of a sudden branch offs along either side of me. I was gonna get lost I knew it. I'm horrible with directions in case anyone wanted to know. I sighed. What the hell am I gonna do? Keep running obviously.
I slowed down as the tunnel no longer ran straight, peeking my head around corners and carefully listening for any sounds other then my own footsteps. And that is how I found Lilly. I stuck my head around another corner to spot a death eater struggling to carry a screaming Lilly down the tunnel. Or at least it looked like she was screaming, whatever spell was on her kept anyone from hearing her.
"Stupefy!" I shouted while flinging myself around the corner. The death eater's back was toward me and so he barely registered my yell before a shot of red hit him square in the back. He collapsed where he stood dragging Lilly down to the floor with him.
"Lilly are you ok?" she glared at me before saying something, something I couldn't hear. Oops, I forgot.
"Finite Incantatem." I pointed my wand at her throat.
"Thank Merlin." She gushed, "That was annoying."
I raised my eyebrow at her, but she didn't seem to notice. Since when are life or death situations annoying? Lilly had picked up both her and the death eater's wand and was now staring at the death eater. He was dressed all in black a silver mask adorning his face.
"What happened to you?" Lilly asked suddenly looking away from the death eater.
"Levicorpus." I hung the death eater up by his ankle before answering, "I'm not really sure. I glanced behind me at one point and when I looked back you were both gone."
Lilly nodded.
"We kept going until we bumped into death eaters. Then we split up. That idiot caught me by surprise."
I nodded then looked down the corridor where the death eater had been dragging Lilly.
"What should we do?"
I sighed. This whole thing was starting to seem surreal. It didn't even make sense anymore.
"I really don't know Lilly."
"Well then let's go this way. That guy was babbling about other prisoners. Somebody else must have gotten caught."
Great. So our evade and escape plan just turned into a search and rescue. What the hell is going on? And yet I nodded and followed Lilly down the corridor, noticing that this one was wider and sloping down somewhat. We weren't walking long before coming to a giant set of ornamental doors. When closed, as they were now, the dark mark glared menacingly at you. Lilly stepped back into me as she realized what exactly adorned the doors. I on the other hand was noticing something different about this dark mark. Where the right eye of the skull should have been there was a crest, but before I could get a good look at it the doors swung open on their own.
"I think were being invited in." Lilly mumbled.
"Really? What gave you that idea?" I clenched my wand in my hand and took a step forward only for Lilly to grab my arm. I shook my head, then shook her off. I was taking the invitation whether it be good or bad. This was the cliché moment were everything is revealed to the hero/heroine and all because they walked unknowingly into a trap. Fortunately I knew this was a trap so the chances of things not going badly were high. Yeah right. I must be dreaming.
Lilly and I stepped into a semi-dark room and the doors swung closed behind us. I felt Lilly clutch my arm before the room, a throne room, lit up in blazing light.
White marble columns, or what was left of some, stood at intervals all across the room. Giant fire lit chandeliers hung from a vaulted ceiling lighting up the tapestries and paintings adorning the walls. A deep red carpet led the way to a raised platform where an ancient gold throne stood. Death eaters lined the walls almost completely but my eyes were on the group by the platform. Three death eaters stood there each holding a wand to the neck of Rose, Albus or Scorpius.
"Welcome Ladies."
My eyes focused on the speaker. A death eater standing in front of the throne, the only one wearing expensive dress robes and no mask. I suddenly felt the need to bolt from the room. Rodolphus Lestrange, my grandmother's husband, stood looking down at us, grinning like a maniac.