A/N: So sorry for the wait! I am afraid that I have been stricken with the curse of August in a town that revolves around its college... whether you are preparing to go back to school, preparing to go back to work, or simply dealing with the elevated traffic levels, spare time is a lot harder to come by. Sadly, from this time forward, my updates will probably be less frequent.
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Disclaimer: Amazingly enough, my diabolical plots to take over the rights to Harry Potter have not yet worked! Curses, foiled again!
Chapter 11: The Other Dumbledore
After a tense moment of blackness, Hermione opened her eyes to see the darkened streets of Hogsmeade. A wave of memories hit her, hard, but she pushed them away. She had no time for them, she had to think of a plan –
Before she could finish her thought, a terrible scream echoed through the streets, shrill and inhuman. She heard Malfoy curse fiercely a ways off, and even as she glanced at Harry, the door to The Three Broomsticks burst open, allowing about a dozen masked Death Eaters into the streets. One raised his wand, stopping the terrible screams.
"Accio Cloak!" one roared. Hermione felt Harry next to her shift, grabbing a hold of the Invisibility Cloak, though it did not move. The Summoning Charm had failed?
"Not under your wrapper, then, Potter?" yelled the Death Eater, before turning to his fellows. "Spread out. He's here."
The Death Eaters scattered, several coming toward Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The three backed into a nearby alleyway.
This is lunacy, staying here! Hermione thought. "Let's just leave!" She pleaded quietly to Harry. "Disapperate now!"
"What about Malfoy?" Ron whispered back.
Before anyone could respond, a Death Eater barked, "We know you're here, Potter, and there's no getting away! We'll find you!"
"They were ready for us," Harry whispered to them. "They set up that spell to tell them we'd come. I reckon they've done something to keep us here, trap us – "
"What about dementors?" they heard another Death Eater call. "Let'em have free rein, they'd find him quick enough!"
"The Dark Lord wants Potter dead by no hand but his – "
" – an' dementors won't kill him! The Dark Lord wants Potter's life, not his soul. He'll be easier to kill if he's been Kissed first!"
Several Death Eaters voiced agreement. Hermione bit her lip, looking around the alley, trying to find somewhere to duck, some way out...
"We're going to have to try to disapperate, Harry!" she whispered, biting her lip, hoping that Malfoy had already escaped, made it out... Even as the words left her lips, a chill came over her and the little light that was left on the streets went dim. The three of them turned on the spot, trying desperately to disapperate, but nothing happened... the Death Eaters had cast a spell preventing their exit.
They instead fled deeper into the alley. Hermione nervously cast a muffling charm on their feet, in a feeble attempt to slip away undetected.
The chill intensified. Hermione felt her hands grow stiff with cold. She knew without looking that the dementors were in the alley with them; she could hear their breaths rattling behind her. She turned to Harry, who was raising his wand, preparing to cast a Patronus. She wanted to stop him, wanted to cast the charm herself, (knowing that her Patronus was less recognizable than his,) but before she could move, he whispered, "Expecto Patronum!" The silver stag that had become his symbol burst from his wand, charging down the street. The line of dementors melted, fleeing the alley.
A yell of triumph sounded. "It's him, down there, down there, I saw his Patronus, it was a stag!"
Hermione drew in a breath, backing into the wall behind her. Suddenly, a door opened, pouring light into the alley. "Potter, in here, quick!" ordered a rough voice. The three obeyed without question, slipping into the seedy room. "Upstairs, keep the Cloak on, keep quiet!" A tall figure pushed out to the streets, slamming the door behind him.
Heart racing, Harry, Ron and Hermione ran through what Hermione now recognized as the bar of the Hog's Head Inn, slipping behind the counter and through a second doorway, which led to a rickety stairway. They climbed up madly, ducking into the sitting room that lay beyond, a shabby room with a large oil painting of a young girl. Hearing shouts from the street below, they moved over to the window.
"Do you think Malfoy's still out there?" Hermione whispered.
"Shh!" A familiar voice hissed from behind them. "I'm here!" She turned around sharply, seeing his faint outline, still under the Disillusion Charm.
She smiled in relief. "How'd you follow us?" she asked, as softly as possible.
"Feet. Be quiet!"
She looked down at their uncovered, still visible feet, smiling before turning back to argument outside. The tall man who had saved them, who she now recognized as the bartender for the Inn below them, was bellowing at the Death Eaters. "So what? You send dementors down my street, I'll send a Patronus back at 'em! I'll not be having 'em near me, I've told you that, I'm not having it!"
"That wasn't your Patronus!" the Death Eater shot back. "That was a stag, it was Potter's!"
"Stag!" The barman huffed, pulling out his wand. "Stag! You idiot – Expecto Patronum!" A large horned creature – a goat – flew from his wand.
The Death Eaters snapped back a response, the barman roared his reply. Back and forth, back and forth. Before too long, though, the Death Eaters retreated, believing the barman had triggered the alarm in the streets and had cast a Patronus to scatter the dementors. With a few harsh words of warning, they strode away from the bar, back toward the main street.
Seeing them leave, Hermione let out the breath that she hadn't known she had been holding, moaning. She pushed her way out from the Cloak, away from her friends, collapsing onto a chair. Behind her, Harry pulled the Cloak off and closed the curtains... but she was hardly paying attention. She was recounting the past few minutes, marvelling at yet another close escape, wondering why the barman had chosen to help them...
Even as she wondered this, the man came into the room, glaring. "You cursed fools," he muttered. "What were you thinking, coming here?"
"Thank you!" Harry said. "We can't thank you enough. You saved our lives."
He grunted in reply.
Hermione heard Malfoy, nearby, mutter some incantation under his breath. Glancing toward his voice, she watched as he slowly solidified, came into sight.
The barman reached for a wand, but Harry quickly said, "He's with us, he's been helping us."
"Ah," the barman grunted. He squinted his piercing blue eyes, examining. "You're that Malfoy kid?" Malfoy nodded, looking at the ground. "Ah... I knew something was up with you," he stroked his wiry beard.
"Oh?" Malfoy flatly asked, looking at the man, face hard. They were about the same height, but Malfoy, slumped, had to look up to meet his eyes.
"Well, when a kid disappears from Hogwarts, I hear about it, and the idiot Death Eaters don't talk about the Malfoys anymore."
He turned back to Harry, who was gazing at the barman in wonder. "It's your eye that I've been seeing in the mirror!" Harry declared. He was looking from the barman's eyes to something under the portrait... a small mirror. A silence fell over the group. "You sent Dobby." Harry continued.
The barman nodded stiffly. "Thought he'd be with you. Where've you left him?"
"He's with Ron's brother," Harry said. After another pause, he spoke again. "You're Aberforth."
The barman said nothing, instead turning to light the lamps in the room.
Harry walked across the room, picking up the small mirror. "How did you get this?" he pressed.
"Bought it from Dung 'bout a year ago," said the barman... Aberforth. "Albus told me what it was. Been trying to keep an eye out for you."
From nearby her, Hermione heard Ron give a gasp. "The silver doe!" He exclaimed. "Was that you too?"
"What are you talking about?" Aberforth asked.
"Someone sent a doe Patronus to us!"
"Brains like that, you could be a Death Eater, son." Malfoy scoffed. "Haven't I just proved my Patronus is a goat?"
Hermione watched as Ron's face fell, ears reddening. "Oh," he muttered, before looking up, glaring defensively. "Yeah... well, I'm hungry!"
"I got food," Aberforth said, leaving the room briefly. When he returned, his carried a tray of dishes, filled with bread and cheese. He set it on a small table, placing a large jug nearby. Before he could back away, Ron, Harry, and Hermione rushed in, eating ravenously. Hermione had not even noticed how hungry she was until she held a piece of bread in her hand. Suddenly, the breakfast that they had eaten at Shell Cottage, just that morning, seemed so distant, an age ago... she scarfed food down, almost as quickly as Ron did beside her.
It wasn't until she was finished, her stomach aching slightly, that she realized Malfoy was still across the room, staring at Aberforth oddly. She swallowed her last bit of bread. "Malfoy?" She called to him. He blinked, shook his head quickly, and turned toward her. "Yeah?" he asked.
"Aren't you going to eat anything?"
He looked down. "No... I'm not really hungry." Quickly, he glanced at Aberforth. "Can I – can I leave here?"
Aberforth shook his head. "You'll all have to leave, but wait until tomorrow. Can't be done by night, you heard what happens if anyone moves outdoors during darkness. Wait for daybreak when curfew lifts, then you can put your Cloak back on and set out on foot. Get right out of Hogsmeade, up into the mountains, and you'll be able to disapperate there. Might see Hagrid. He's been hiding in a cave up there with Grawp ever since they tried to arrest him."
"So I can't dissaperate from here?" Malfoy asked looking down.
"That's what I said."
"We're not leaving," Harry said firmly. "We need to get into Hogwarts."
"We?" Malfoy snapped suddenly, standing up. "I don't really need that, you know." Hermione looked at him, confused. "You know what I need? I need to get back to – to the manor, I need to..." He tightened his jaw.
"You, at least, aren't stupid." Aberforth nodded, blue eyes narrowed. Malfoy didn't meet them.
"Malfoy..." Hermione said quietly.
He ignored her. "Sir? Could I please... could I please just wait outside the room? I have nothing to discuss." He glared at the floor, face set.
"Of course." Aberforth said gruffly. Malfoy stood up, walking toward the door stiffly, determinately.
Hermione,worried, got to her feet. "I'll be back in a minute," she said quickly, running to catch up with Malfoy. He had stopped, turning around to give her an odd look, but didn't argue, following her as she opened the door and sat down on the wooden stairs.
He settled himself a few steps below her, knees drawn up to his chest. In the dim light of the narrow stairway, his face seemed particularly wan. After a pause, he asked, "Did you need anything?"
"Do you need anything?" She questioned back. "What's wrong? You were fine just a short while ago, I mean, as fine as could be expected..." She trailed off, the words that she was usually so familiar with failing her. "Why did you even come here with us if you just wanted to go back to Malfoy Manor?"
There was a pause before he answered. "It was just so... quick, with the – " he hesitated a moment before spitting, "the Horcruxes, and the dragon, and the Dark Lord and all... I just got caught up in it, I guess." He fell silent. "Besides, I wasn't even sure I wanted to go to the Manor..." he looked up at her, smirking feebly. "I wasn't sure that I wanted to meet this 'real' Draco Malfoy."
"But you do now."
"I guess..." But he didn't sound at all firm. "It certainly sounds better than Potter's plan."
"You didn't have problems with this plan before, really..."
"Well, I hadn't though through it yet!" he spat, suddenly quite loud. "Well, I have now! And it's sheer, pure, lunacy! He doesn't even know what idiotic thing we're looking for!" He sneered. "It's not thought out, it can only end poorly."
"Yes... but I thought you understood that before." Hermione pressed.
"Well, I suppose... but it hadn't hit me yet..." His voice lowered again. He sighed, fingering his hair.
After a pause, Hermione asked carefully, "Is something wrong Mr. Dumbledore?"
Malfoy stiffened, turning to look at her anxiously. "Dumbledore?"
"Yes... the bartender. Aberforth Dumbledore."
"He's... he's related to – "
"His brother, yes." Hermione nodded.
"Ah." he sniffed. "That makes sense. Well... he makes me nervous. Something about his eyes... or the beard. Well, something about him..." He leaned back, seeming to be at a loss for words. "It's like that word 'Horcrux,'" he finally continued, wincing. "It just makes me feel ill."
"Ah," Hermione said. She shifted slightly on the step, which creaked precariously. "So... because of that, you're going back?"
"What?" Malfoy asked, glaring up at her. "Who said it was because of that? I just said that he unnerves me. That's all. I'm going back because this plan is stupid and will get us all..." He trailed off, smiling grimly. Hermione noted that, oddly, he now seemed far more in tune than he had before he admitted to disliking Aberforth. Though he still glared at her, it was heated... unlike the lukewarm demeanor that he had so recently been using.
"Well, either way, we won't be seeing too much more of him. No need to worry." She stood up, having nothing else to say, and walked back to the door. To her surprise, Malfoy rose as well.
"I'll accompany you in, if you don't mind," he said. "Don't want to miss any more of Potter's brilliant plan." He tried for a smirk. "It should make for good entertainment."
As she touched the doorknob, though, she became aware of the elevated yells from within the room. She retracted her hand quickly. Malfoy raised his eyebrows. "Maybe we should wait a bit," Hermione said, shaking her head. "I think that now would be a rather awkward time to go in, don't you?"
"Yeah," Malfoy said, shifting his weight. "Potter does have quite the set of lungs, doesn't he?"
Hermione gave a rather flat chuckle.
There was something of a silence... not really an uncomfortable one, but certainly not a pleasant one. Hermione listened to the yells behind the door, unable to make out the words, but attempting nonetheless. Malfoy studied the floor... rough, but clean. Finally, he broke the silence, asking, "Do you... want me to go to Hogwarts with you ridiculous, courageous idiots?"
Hermione smiled. "You don't need to put yourself into any danger that you don't want to, Malfoy."
"Of course not!" Malfoy huffed. "But still. Do you want me to?"
The question made her feel a little... dizzy. Ill. The honest answer was 'yes', naturally. They could use all the help they could get. But she wasn't sure how he would take the answer. What was he implying with the question?
"Well, I'd be terribly sorry to lose your spectacular company." She finally said with false cheerfulness, even going as far as to curtsy to him.
"Oh, that goes without saying," Malfoy smirked. "Who else could hold up any sort of intelligent conversation? Weasley?"
"Hey, be nice to Ron. Really," she said, grinning. "Don't make me mock Parkinson."
He chuckled at the words, the mirror of what he had said to her the day before. "Touché." He fell silent, then went back to studying the floor, seeming almost... disappointed.
In the silence that followed, Hermione heard the voices inside the room drop. "I think we can go in now," she whispered, turning the knob. Quietly, she slipped inside, holding the door open for Malfoy. She glanced up... and promptly froze in wonder.
The portrait of the little girl had swung open, revealing a doorway of sorts, from which Neville Longbottom stepped out, crying, "I knew you'd come! I knew it!" He jumped down from the mantle, wrapping Harry in a great hug. He looked both terrible and great at the same time: though his face was marred with cuts and bruises and his robed ripped, he glowed with happiness and confidence. Hermione, watching as he turned to embrace Ron, realized just how much she had missed all of her other friends that year.
Neville turned to her, and she readied herself for a hug. However, as he stepped closer, his eyes drifted to the doorway, just next to her.
"Malfoy!" He cried, whipping out his wand.
"Neville, wait!" she shrieked, as red light flashed across the room. Neville looked at her, eyes wide, but the spell at left his wand already. There was a crash... as the spell hit the wall behind Malfoy, who stood, perhaps a bit shaken, but otherwise fine.
"Granger, I didn't know you cared." he said quietly, almost smiling as Hermione's face flushed. "No need to worry, Neville couldn't hit me if I were standing right next to him." His lip twitched upward.
Neville frowned. Just looking at him, Hermione got the feeling that he didn't miss the target much anymore. "So," he said, tuning to Harry. "What is he doing here?"
"He's been helping us, Neville," Harry said quickly. "But what's happened to you?" He looked concerned, examining his friend's battered face.
"What? This?" Neville fingered a large cut, before dismissing his injuries with a quick head shake. "This is nothing. Seamus is worse. You'll see. Wait, what's happened to you?" he gestured to Harry's burns, from the Gringotts vault.
"Oh!" Hermione cried, reaching for her bag. Quickly, as Harry tried to answer Neville's question as shortly as possible, she sorted through it, pulling out the essence of dittany. "Here!" she said, rushing to Harry and handing him the bottle.
"Oh, thanks," he absently replied, spreading some over his hands and face. He handed her the bottle back, which she stowed away again.
"Well, shall we go, then?" Neville asked, walking back toward the portrait.
"Go where?" Hermione asked.
"Hogwarts, of course!" Neville said. "This is the only way in and out anymore... they've blocked off all of the other secret entrances and tunnels."
"Oh..."
She looked back at Malfoy, smiled wryly, and stepped up to the mantel. Neville held out a hand to her, helping her climb up and through the hole behind the portrait.
From behind her, she heard, "No, no, I'll get myself up, thank you." She turned, grinning as she saw Malfoy working his way on top of the mantle.
"So you are coming!" She called to him.
"Yeah," he grunted, pulling himself up and brushing off his robes. "After all, it'd be a shame for you to miss out on my – what was it? – 'spectacular' company."
After him, Ron climbed up, followed by Neville, who still glanced uneasily at Malfoy. After a moment of talking to Aberforth, Harry clambered up as well.
The hole behind the portrait led to a smooth stone passageway lit with brass lamps. After a brief pause to share glances with each other, the group set off down the tunnel, toward Hogwarts. Though they didn't know exactly where it was, they were certainly walking toward the last of Voldemort's Horcruxes. That, at least, was sure.
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ThisBirdTooHasFlown speaking: This chapter was not very fun to write. I had to stick pretty much to what Rowling wrote... and it made it rather boring. That is why I skipped the Dumbledores' story. I enjoyed reading it in the book, but I couldn't do anything with it here. I hope no one minds.
Have anything to say? Please review, it does do good! In the last chapter, after having blatantly brought up the taboo earlier in story, I forgot all about it. I had Hermione say Voldemort's name. Oops! Luckily, because of a review from MyMagicalExistencex14, I was able to fix it, thus slightly improving my story. See? Reviews help!
Speaking of reviews, I got my 50th last chapter! So, yellow 14, if you are so inclined, feel free to send me a message with a prompt for either a drawing or a one shot, and I will write/sketch something up for you! (Harry Potter related, please, and PG rated or lower.)
Thank you all!