Chapter 10: Not What We Signed Up For

House thrust a fist into the ground, his chest still shaking. Using his cane, he forced himself off of the floor, his eyes fixed on Lupin's body.

"He's dead," he told the room quietly. Foreman got down on one knee, wiping his bleeding lip with a sleeve of his sports jacket. He moved a hand forward and gently shut Lupin's eyelids, exhaling as he did. He looked up at House.

"Now what?" Foreman asked. House looked around the room. Wilson's burned form immediately caught his eye. A bolt of worry shot through him, propelling him forward. He took several long steps and before Foreman even had a chance to move, he was at Wilson's side, turning him over.

He had a large gash at the top of his forehead, which blood was oozing from. His shirt was charred on the left side, near his shoulder, and most of his left arm was singed or burned. His fingers found his wrist, and breathed a huge sigh of relief when he felt Wilson's pulse, slow and steady. He lifted his friend into a sitting position against the blackened wall.

He slapped Wilson across the face. His best friend let out a low groan, his eyes peeling back to reveal his brown eyes. He blinked several times before looking at House. His hand lifted slowly to his forehead, and he winced.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice lower than normal. He pushed himself forward, sitting cross legged on the floor. He looked around, his eyes widening. "They weren't knocked out fast enough." Wilson surmised as his memory slowly returned to him. House nodded.

"The lead one and Greyback, they'll be down for a while thanks to the Propofol. The tall one won't be out for long, I knocked him out with my cane." He paused, his eyes glancing at Thirteen, who was still standing over the short Death Eater. The blood from the scalpel was now dribbling onto her arm. "I think the short one is dead." House continued, averting his eyes from the trembling doctor. Wilson nodded, scratching the back of his neck as he examined his left arm. House stood up. Wilson was alright for the moment.

Everyone in the room seemed frozen. Kutner hovered by the lab table, standing like a statue. Foreman was several feet behind him, looking for instruction. Thirteen was still paralyzed with the scalpel.

They were strong, and they could operate on their own, but when things went bad, they still looked to him for guidance.

"Kutner, Foreman," House barked. Kutner's head snapped up, his large brown eyes out of focus. Foreman took several steps forward. "Wake up the kids. We need to have a wizard awake to get out of here, and we need one in case Biggie wakes up soon." They nodded dutifully, heading towards the pile of unconscious teenagers in the corner.

House moved to the left, and before he really knew what he was doing he found himself slipping his hands under Cameron's limp form. He didn't want to just leave her on the floor. He lifted her up, ignoring his protesting leg, and carried her over to the MRI table. He ejected the bed and placed her on the cold surface, deciding that was a better place to rest than on the ground. He looked at her for a long moment, wishing she was awake. In spite of himself, he squeezed her small hand.

He turned away from the MRI. Foreman and Kutner were imitating House, slapping the crap out of Hermione and the Weasley kids. Thirteen stood nearby, still frozen. He let out a sharp breath through his nose, moving towards his youngest employee. He clamped a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump. She didn't turn to look at him, as he expected.

He reached his arms around her shoulders, one hand grabbing the handle of the scalpel, the other peeling her fingers off of it. He pulled the scalpel from her hand and let it drop on Harry's nightstand. Thirteen's arms fell to the side. House then grabbed her shoulders and steered her away from the dead Death Eater and into the middle of the mostly empty ward. He turned her then so she was facing him. Her blue-green eyes were practically glowing with horror. House snapped his fingers in front of her face.

"Thirteen," he called her name, but she didn't respond. "Thirteen!" Still nothing. "REMY HADLEY!" he yelled, shoving his face into hers. She blinked in surprise, jumping back. Her mouth still hung open slightly, but she seemed slightly more coherent.

"I... he..."

"You did what you had to do. Now get a hold of yourself," he said roughly, brushing past her. "Come on." He made his way towards Tonks, who was near the tall Death Eater at the threshold of the door. He limped slowly, and he was satisfied when he heard Thirteen's footsteps behind him.

Tonks' hair was still flaming red. She was facedown on the floor, her limbs spread eagle beneath her. House went to get on his knees, a process that was really starting to pain his leg, when Thirteen put a light hand on his arm to stop him. She bent down, turning Tonks onto her side. Other than a nasty bruise on the side of her head, she looked fine. Thirteen shook her.

"Tonks," she said. She was shaking her harder now, a determined expression on her face. "Tonks!" she shouted. Tonks eyelids fluttered, her eyes bleary and distant. Thirteen released her as she began to come back. She pushed herself up, offering Tonks a hand. Tonks considered it for a moment and took it. She looked confused.

"Remus," was the first word she spoke, and when her eyes found his form on the floor, she threw herself onto the ground next to him. "REMUS!"

She grabbed the dead wizard's hand in hers as tears poured down her face. "No, it wasn't supposed to end like this... it can't..." A sob racked her, and her words were lost. Thirteen walked towards the young woman, letting a hand fall on her shoulder.

"Tonks, I'm sorry... we have to get out of here, I think," she told her in a soft voice. Tonks looked up at Thirteen. The color had drained from her hair, her locks were now a lifeless brown. Tonks looked, open mouthed, at Lupin.

"But... we can't..." She gulped, releasing Lupin's hand.

"We need to go," House insisted. He saw that Foreman and Kutner had succeeded in waking Fred, who was now standing shakily and staring at Lupin's body across the room, his eyes bright and scared under his red bangs.

Tonks stood, pulling her wand from her pocket. "You're right," she said, her voice small. "We have to leave. St. Mungo's isn't safe anymore, we need to go somewhere else..."

"We can't stay at Grimmauld Place for long," House said, before she could offer the idea up. "There's not enough room for the equipment we need, not to mention it's too damn dirty to keep a sick kid there."

"Where can we go, then?" Fred asked, finding his voice. House closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Are there any other wizard hospitals?" he asked.

"Not on this continent. There's another in America and one in Australia, but we wouldn't be able to hide Harry properly there. The Death Eaters would catch up with us in a matter of days," Tonks responded, her voice weak with emotion still.

"House," Wilson called from the other side of the room. House opened his eyes at the sound of his best friend's voice. Wilson had managed to stand, but he was leaning heavily on the wall. "We could take him to Princeton. Admit him under a fake name." House thought about it for a moment.

"We'd be getting the kid out of London... all the equipment we need is there..." He eyed the MRI rather sheepishly. "Well, almost all of it." He turned his gaze to Tonks.

"You think the Order would be okay with that?" he asked. She shook her head.

"I don't know. It's dangerous. We only have a few Order members who don't have day jobs, and of that few only a few we trust. We'd have to send at least three guards with you to Princeton, and the only person I can think of who's really available is Mad-Eye, since he's in retirement-" Tonks began dubiously.

"We'll go!" Fred and George declared in unison. He now saw that Fred was assisting George to his feet.

"Your mother would never allow it," Tonks said, waving them off.

"We're of age! We can-" House cut George off with a hand.

"We'll have to talk about it later. Right now, we have to get the hell out of here. Harry will be alright at Grimmauld Place for a day or two, but we need to get him somewhere sterile that has medical equipment as soon as possible. We'll discuss it when we're out of dodge," House said. He pointed at Foreman. "You carry Harry." He moved his finger to Kutner. "You carry Cameron." He limped towards Wilson. "Can you walk?" he asked. Wilson pushed himself off of the wall, his face contorting in pain.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Although House saw straight through his friend's lie, he hoped that he could move quickly enough that he wouldn't hold them up. His eyes darted to Ron and Hermione. Hermione was awake now, but still on the floor, rubbing her eyes. Ron was still out of it. He motioned at the twins.

"One of you carry your brother." He swung his around to look at Tonks, who was staring forlornly at Lupin's body, tears still spilling from her eyes. "Can you get us out of here?"

Tonks sniffed before meeting his eyes. "Fred, George and I can all Apparate to Grimmauld Place now that night has fallen, but we'll have to take trips."

"Okay, let's get the hell out of here then," House said, trudging towards the door. Fred threw Ron over his shoulder, Foreman scooped up Harry, and Kutner slowly lifted Cameron off of the MRI bed and into his arms. They moved single file, House leading up the front, Wilson behind him, followed by Tonks, Fred, George, Hermione, Kutner, and Foreman. "Wait," House said, holding up a hand. "Get the MRI."

"I've got it," Hermione said, her voice still muffled by the after effects of the stunning spell. She pointed her wand at the MRI, muttered an incantation, and it shrank back to pocket size. She did the same with the computers. Hermione scooped up the Muggle technology and placed it in her pocket.

"One moment," Tonks said. She flourished her wand, and House felt as though a light sheet had been placed over top of him. "Invisibility spell," Tonks explained. "Should last about five minutes. It's weak, though. Don't bump into anything." House nodded and plodded forward, unsure why he was leading when of all of them when he was the weakest physically.

Let the cripple lead the able bodied, yeah, that makes a whole bunch of sense.

They headed down the stairs, their makeshift line held tight together, making sure they didn't bump into any passing patients or Healers. When they made it downstairs, Tonks whispered to him from behind Wilson, "Night's fallen, but when we get outside the barrier will end my spell, and we'll need to get to the alley across the street as fast as possible."

"Alright," House whispered back. "Make sure everyone knows."

They moved carefully through the reception area, which thankfully was significantly emptier than it had been when they had arrived that morning.

They reached the exit barrier, and stepped through. House was hit by both the feeling of the sheet being lifted off of him and cool water splashing down his front.

They were out on the street now, and their line dissolved. Each of them raced to the alley. Tonks surged ahead of House, Foreman and Kutner behind her with Harry and Cameron in tow. Fred trotted behind them with Ron on his shoulder and George at his side. House, Wilson, Thirteen and Hermione brought up the rear.

Streetlights illuminated the dank London street, but there was only a few pedestrians on the side walk. They received odd looks from a rather scruffy looking man near the store front, but aside from that their procession went unnoticed. Soon, they were safe in the confines of the alley, their group crammed in the six by eight area behind the dumpster.

"Alright..." Tonks breathed, her eyes darting around. "We need to decide-"

"The twins take Cameron and Harry, you take Wilson," House said immediately.

"House, I-" Wilson started, but House cut him off.

"You're about to pass out. We get ambushed now you might as well slit your own throat," he said roughly. Wilson pursed his lips before looking to Tonks, who nodded.

"Okay, quickly then." She grabbed hold of Wilson's arm. Fred let Ron down on the ground, instead taking Cameron from Kutner. Foreman handed Harry to George. "We'll need to Apparate directly onto the top step, in case they have people watching the house," she instructed. Fred and George nodded stiffly.

"Aye, aye, Captain," George said, closing his eyes.

"Go!" Tonks whisper-shouted. With a CRACK the three of them disappeared, and House glanced nervously over his shoulder. Hermione held her wand tightly in her hand, brown eyes darting everywhere at once.

They waited for what seemed like an agonizingly long time before Tonks, Fred, and George returned.

They were all out of breath, and Tonks steadied herself on the wall.

"They're watching the house. When we were on the front step, I heard one of them shout," she explained.

"What did they say?" Hermione asked.

"'There's someone on the steps,'" Tonks quoted. House furrowed his brow.

"They know where the house is, why haven't they gone in to attack the Order?" he asked. Tonks sighed.

"You know that note you read yesterday before entering Grimmauld Place?" she asked. House nodded. "The only way to get into Headquarters is if the Secret Keeper tells you where it is, otherwise it's impossible for you to get inside. That note you read was written by Dumbledore, and he's the Order's Secret Keeper." She breathed out, clenching her fists. "But never mind that now, we need to hurry. Who's next?"

"Ron, Thirteen, Hermione," House answered. Hermione looked at him.

"It's not wise to leave you here without a wizard," she said. He gave her a withering look.

"If more of those guys show up, it won't matter whether you're with us or not, we'll still all be killed," House said irritably. Fred looped his arm through Hermione's and brought her close to him. George picked his brother up off of the ground, and Tonks offered her hand to Thirteen, who took it and held it tightly.

Another crack, and they were gone. Only House, Foreman, and Kutner remained. House gripped his cane, a slight thrill of panic coursing through him. They were defenseless now.

His heart skipped a beat when his eyes focused on the disguised entrance to St. Mungo's across the street. The huge Death Eater just stepped out of it, congealed blood built up at his nostrils, swinging his head around like an angry bull.

"Crap," House muttered, grabbing Kutner and Foreman by their collars and dragging them down behind the dumpster. Foreman shot him a questioning glance.

"What is it?" he asked, his voice hushed.

"Biggie's back," House said. Kutner's eyes widened, and Foreman chanced a glance over the top of the dumpster. House gripped the edge of his shoulder and forced him back down. "Shut up and stay still."

Foreman seemed like he was going to protest, but instead held his silence. Kutner seemed to be barely breathing next to him, his lip trembling. House closed his eyes, gripping his cane in both of his hands, hoping desperately that the Death Eater wouldn't find them.

He heard large, heavy footfalls closing in.

Oh no.

"Ho ho, what do we have here?" House froze, his eyes falling to his feet.

One of his shoes was out too far. It was visible from the street.