Breakfast at the Manor was normally just the immediate family but the morning after the breakout from Azkaban Voldemort, Bella and Severus were present for the meal.
When Draco and Hermione arrived in the dining room with Scorpius, Severus was already sitting at the table with Lucius and Narcissa. Bellatrix and Voldemort entered the room a few minutes after Draco and Hermione.
When he entered the room Voldemort looked at Draco asking him a silent question. Draco nodded once letting The Dark Lord know that him and Hermione were staying put. Voldemort smiled slightly and took his seat at the table next to Bella.
Breakfast was eaten in silence and when the meal was finished Narcissa excused herself from the room, taking Scorpius with her. Once Narcissa and Scorpius had left everyone turned to Voldemort waiting for what he was about to say.
"First of all I want to keep what happened yesterday quiet." Voldemort said. "Hopefully we can stop this rebellion quickly before it becomes public knowledge."
Everyone nodded in agreement, they all knew that things could quickly escalate into a full blown war if not handled correctly.
"Lucius and Bella I want you both to head to Azkaban. I want the Dementors back in full force and top security wards on each cell and around the entire building." Voldemort said to his lover and her brother-in-law. Ideally he would have liked either Draco or Hermione to handle the security but he had other plans for them today, hopefully one of them would have time another day to visit Azkaban and make sure the security was top notch.
Lucius and Bella both stood up and left the room, eager to make a start on what would be a long job. After they had left the room Voldemort turned to face Hermione.
"Sometime today I want you to visit the people from the muggle world who didn't re-join the Order. I want to know if they weren't offered the chance to re-join or if they refused. I also need to know if they have their memories or magic back."
"How do you want me to do that?" Hermione asked.
"You're supposed to be the smartest witch of your age, I'm sure you can think of something." Voldemort said to Hermione. "I'll leave you and Severus to sort out the best time for you to leave as I know you'll both be busy at the school today." Voldemort said.
"Is there anything else you need me to do?" Severus asked.
"No, not yet." Voldemort shook his head. "I know you've got stuff to sort at Hogwarts since you're now a Herbology Professor down."
"In that case, I'll be off. I can hopefully make a start on things." Severus said, rising from his seat. "Come and see me when you arrive at school." He added to Hermione before he left the room.
"Draco you and I will pay a visit to Miguel today. It's time to find out what he knows about the potion antidote." Voldemort said. "I'll meet you in the hallway in ten minutes."
Voldemort moved towards the door but before he left the room he turned to face the couple who were still sitting at the table. "Thank you both for staying." He said quietly before he hurriedly left the room.
"Do you have any idea how you're going to get the information from Longbottom and the Weasley's?" Draco asked, once they were alone.
"No, I'll think about it." Hermione said as they stood up. "I should go and see Severus."
Draco walked the few steps to where Hermione was standing and wrapped her in his arms. "Be careful, you don't know if the Order are watching them." He said.
"I'm always careful." Hermione said, pecking Draco on the lips. "I'll see you tonight."
Draco kissed Hermione properly before he released her from his embrace. Together they left the dining room and went their separate ways at the bottom of the staircase. Hermione headed upstairs to get her bag and say goodbye to Scorpius while Draco stayed in the hallway waiting for Voldemort to reappear from wherever he disappeared to.
Tonks awoke late to the sound of screaming and shouting. Groggily she sat up and looked around the room, trying to work out where the noise was coming from. She eventually decided the shouting was coming from downstairs as it was too faint for her to make out what was being said.
Tonks got out of bed and stretched before heading over to Teddy's small bed in the corner of the room. Tonks was initially worried when she spotted the empty bed until she spotted the folded bit of parchment with her name neatly written on the front. She recognised her mother's neat writing as she opened the short note and read the contents.
I've taken Teddy to get breakfast, I thought I'd let you sleep in as we had a long night. Love Mum.
Tonks put the note to one side and began to get dressed. The previous night she had been up to the early hours talking with Andromeda and filling her in on Teddy and what she had missed of his young life.
By the time Tonks was fully dressed she could still hear the arguing going on downstairs. Tonks was curious about what was happening but she couldn't make out enough of what was being said to understand what had caused the furious arguments that were taking place.
Tonks left her room and the shouting became even louder. Heading down stairs she carefully listened to the arguments but she was still none the wiser as to what people were arguing about. From what she could hear it was just people hurling insults at each other. Tonks entered the front room to find most of the younger members of the Order in the room while insults were being thrown back and forth.
"What on earth is going on?" Tonks said loudly. Everyone stopped and turned to look at the witch standing in the doorway. "Well?" She prompted when nobody spoke.
Tonks was starting to get worried as there were a few people throwing her dirty looks. Tonks looked around the room as she waited for someone to answer her question. Eventually Cho stepped forward with a crumpled piece of parchment in her hand.
"This is the cause of all the problems." Cho said, thrusting the parchment at Tonks. "Seamus and Dean found it this morning."
Tonks looked at the parchment, her eyes widening in shock as she read the scribbled words on the page.
I'm sorry but I can't do this. I won't fight in a war I don't believe in. I should never have gotten involved and I'm sorry if my presence had given anyone false hope. I'm sorry I wasn't brave enough to leave earlier when I first started experiencing doubts but I've finally done the right thing and abandoned this quest for revenge. I'm sorry for the way I have left but it was for the best. I hope things work out for you all.
Harry.
Tonks re-read the letter several times as she tried to understand why Harry would suddenly leave. She knew he had been unsure the previous day about breaking into Azkaban but she never thought he would abandon them.
"Now do you get the problem?" Seamus called from the other side of the room. "Without Harry we're doomed. You've led us all to our deaths."
There was several voices that shouted agreement and backed up what Seamus just said.
"We can still win without Harry. He was just a bonus in our plans." Tonks said, still reeling from Harry's abandonment.
"Of course we can't win without Harry." Cho insisted. "He was the reason I re-joined the Order. I can't speak for anyone else but without Harry I never would have signed up for this."
"Does anyone else feel this way?" Tonks asked. She was shocked when the majority of the room either nodded their heads or raised their hands.
"I say we abandon this crazy idea of a revolt now." Terry said. Once again there were several people who voiced their support for Terry's idea.
Before Tonks had a chance to respond Molly Weasley had entered the room and stood in front of her and was facing the mainly unsatisfied group.
"That's impossible." Molly said, speaking forcefully. "By now Voldemort and his followers will know about the breakout. Try and go back to your old lives if you wish but I guarantee you that you will be killed or captured. You don't have a choice but to stay."
"We could run." Terry said.
"Go on run." Molly sneered, unhappy with the group's attitude. "But how far will you get with no money, nowhere to go and no one to turn to for help."
There was grumblings among the group as they contemplated the fact they seemed to be stuck. Tonks watched the group with disgust before she turned and left the room. Molly followed her and they headed into the kitchen where the older members of the Order were sitting talking quietly amongst themselves.
"Where's Teddy?" Tonks asked Andromeda. She had assumed her son was still with her mother but there was no sign of the little boy.
"Fred and George took him outside to get away from the shouting." Andromeda said.
"What's your opinions on the argument?" Tonks asked as she sat down at the kitchen table. "Do you regret us rescuing you?"
The group, apart from Molly, looked at each other for a few minutes before Minerva McGonagall cleared her throat to speak.
"We don't regret you breaking us out of Azkaban." McGonagall said gently. "But we do feel they're right in some respects. Without Harry our chances of defeating Voldemort are slim."
"So you think we should give up?" Tonks asked.
"Of course not." Molly said as she glared at the other people around the table. She wasn't happy that they were questioning whether they could defeat Voldemort.
"We have no choice but to continue." Kingsley Shackelbolt said and the rest of the group nodded in agreement.
"I'm going to check on Teddy." Tonks said, abruptly standing up and exiting the kitchen.
As she headed into the garden where Teddy was playing happily with Fred and George she contemplated the fact that very few people seemed happy with how things were going. Tonks knew that having such divisions on the group would make it easier for Voldemort to pull them apart and once again squash any resistance against him. Tonks silently cursed Harry and the problems he had created by abandoning them.
Harry walked along the streets of Hogsmeade trying not to look suspicious. Despite the many glamour charms he had on his appearance he was still wary about being out in public. He wouldn't have been out in public at all but Harry wanted to speak with Hermione one final time before he ran.
Harry had spent hours the previous night going over his plans. He wrote two notes, one to leave behind to explain his absence and another on to Hermione that he was currently carrying in his pocket.
Harry had snuck out of the house once everyone had gone to sleep and apparated to the caves beside Hogwarts. After spending most of the morning casting glamour charms over himself Harry ventured down to Hogsmeade to visit the post office.
Harry entered the post office and asked to hire an owl. The woman behind the desk barely looked at Harry, she merely took his money and pointed him to the back of the store where the owls were sitting on ledges. Harry picked up a tawny owl and tied his short note onto the owl's leg before he carried it outside.
Harry checked there was no-one listening before he bent his head to speak to the owl. "Take this to Hermione Malfoy at Hogwarts."
Harry released the owl and watched as it soared into the sky and headed towards the school. After the owl was out of sight Harry headed back towards the caves, he had sent his letter now all he could do was wait and see if Hermione showed up. Harry hoped his friend would show up as he was planning on leaving the country tonight whether he had spoken to Hermione or not.