For four days, the heavy rain convinced Harry to stay inside. Electra and Regulus visited once briefly, but mostly Harry was left to his own devices. He browsed the library he had inherited and enjoyed Cedar's cooking. He would be the first to admit that he was hungry far more often lately than he could ever remember being while away from the Dursleys.
On Thursday, late at night, the rain finally stopped. The very next day, Harry put on Quidditch gear and shouldered his broom. He took the crate with the Snitch and Quaffle he had been given for Christmas and left his house for the Quidditch pitch in Brocksett. He was eager to do something besides sit around the house.
As Harry crossed his front lawn and began walking down his street, he generally forgot to feel out of place or ill at ease. He forgot, that is, until he saw familiar red hair on the head of the man walking up the lane towards him. For a moment, Harry debated going back to his house and avoiding whichever Weasley this was but he stopped himself. That he was here suggested that this Weasley could be trusted with Harry's position.
Harry continued along the lane until he stopped in front of the gate to his neighbor's house. The Weasley had recognized him. The redhead neared and Harry was astonished to see not Percy, but Charlie. Harry could see the same indecision he had felt a moment ago. Just as Harry had, Charlie chose to stay. He tentatively approached Harry, obviously confused by the Boy Who Lived's presence in that town.
"Harry? What are you doing here?" Charlie asked.
"Hogwarts has a spring vacation this year. Everyone was sent home" Harry said, knowing that didn't answer Charlie's real question but hoping if he sounded casual about it, Charlie would see that he was alright.
Charlie looked at Harry confusedly and said nothing.
"I live here under a Fidelia," Harry said, gesturing towards the end of the lane where his house stood invisible to Charlie.
"Here? Why? How?" Charlie asked.
"Because I like it here. I inherited that house over the summer and I've lived here since."
"But, you haven't met your neighbors, have you?" Charlie asked, still trying to understand how the Boy Who Lived could be so comfortable in this town, of all places.
"No. I've met a lot of people. I've played Quidditch with the Eyrie's Edge team. Rudella Moore, she lives there," he said pointing to the house across the street, "she's their team captain. I've also had Midwinter supper at the Black house and been to the Midwinter Festival where I met Ayr Greengrass and a lot of other people... even Narcissa Malfoy," Harry said, hoping to convince Charlie that he did actually know what he was doing.
"Oh," Charlie said. "Are you really Harry Potter or is this some sort of test?"
"It's really me Charlie."
"You're not with the Order anymore?"
"I've decided not to take sides," Harry said.
"But you're here..."
"I know, Charlie," Harry said and left it at that. "So what brings you here?" Harry asked pleasantly.
"Err, I'm just visiting someone," Charlie replied.
"Ahh. Well, do you live here?" Harry asked, pointing to the Prewett house.
"No," Charlie said without elaboration.
The identity of the unnamed mystery person Charlie was visiting was clear a moment later when the door of that house opened and Percy Weasley emerged.
"There you are, Charlie. I thought you'd gotten lost again," he called.
When Percy neared his brother and Harry, he looked Harry over critically before saying, "Good morning, neighbor."
"Morning, Percy," Harry said not very cheerfully.
"I do hope that Ron passed along my apologies," Percy said.
"Yeah," Harry said.
"I did mean them," Percy told Harry. "It is obvious now that I misjudged you and for that I am deeply and humbly sorry."
"Fine," Harry said. He wasn't pleased with Percy but the most pompous of the Weasleys did seem sincere. He supposed Percy deserved another chance.
"Thank you," Percy said. "Would you care to join us inside?"
"Sure," Harry said.
The three of them walked towards Percy's home and waited while Percy let them in. Harry left his Quidditch things just inside the door and followed the Weasley brothers into a painfully tidy sitting room.
"Come in, Harry, and have a seat," Percy said, gesturing towards his sitting room.
As Harry sat on the somewhat shabby sofa, Charlie and Percy excused themselves to get a tea service from the next room. Though they tried to keep their voices down, Harry could hear what they were saying and could mostly see them as well.
"Perce," Charlie said. "You got one of these, right?"
Percy took the letter Charlie handed him and glanced briefly at its contents. "Yes, several. Why do you ask?"
Charlie glanced at Harry before looking back at his brother and saying. "Does he know?"
"About me or about you?" Percy asked.
"Well, both?" Charlie said.
"I supplied enough hints about my own politics for the average person to read between the lines, but you know Ron's always been a bit thick. Did you tell him about yourself?"
"No. I'm thinking maybe I should though."
Percy picked up the tea service and led his brother back into the sitting room. They took seats and Percy served the tea.
"Ron doesn't trust Dumbledore anymore. He really listened to what the both of you said," Harry interrupted.
"Harry, I'm not a Death Eater," Charlie said, still concerned with what Harry thought of him.
"But I am," Percy said firmly. In support, he unbuttoned his cuff and rolled up his sleeve to show his Dark Mark.
"Ok," Harry said to both of them.
"What do you mean?" Charlie asked.
"I guess it means that I'm trying to look beyond people's politics."
"Harry, I can understand if you're just sick of the war but it's serious business. There isn't that much besides politics these days. Everything is about where you stand and what you do about it," Charlie said.
Harry shook his head. "We don't have to talk about that though. There's a lot besides war: family, school, work, Quidditch... What about dragons?"
"There're why I'm here, on this side of things," Charlie said, deliberately emphasizing that even dragons had to do with war. "Muggles nearly hunted them to extinction and their only just recovering."
Harry shook his head again. "Not that. I'm sure its important to you but tell me about your research. Hermione said it was really interesting."
"Is Hermione still your friend? She wouldn't support this, you being here, you know," Percy said.
"She is and she does. Now, please, stop talking politics," Harry said, wondering why this conversation wasn't like any of the casual chats he'd had with Weasleys in the past when pranks and the Cannons were the most serious matters in consideration.
"Well, alright. I'm studying dragon bloodlines and breeding. With so many preserves, it's hard to have any natural variation because the populations are so contained. We keepers try to help by rotating the males among the different preserves but it hasn't worked like we hoped so a group of us are devoting ourselves to full-time study of the problem..."
For the rest of the morning, Harry, Percy, and Charlie managed to have a mostly non-politic discussion that was actually quite pleasant. Afterwards, Harry told the brothers the Secret of his house and then returned home to eat before going to play Quidditch. Though Harry didn't realize that it wasn't only he that ate better and slept better the rest of vacation, the pleasant conversation had gone a great way towards easing the tension of wartime life for all three of them. Still, it didn't escape Harry's notice that he felt better and he rightly attributed it to the friendly conversations and healthy exercise. It was a lesson he intended to remember and share with Ron and Hermione.
//-//-//-//-//-
When Electra apparated Harry back to Little Whinging early Sunday morning and Harry walked back to Number 4 Privet Drive alone, he was surprised to find the Dursleys home and mostly content. That there wasn't an Order member in sight, however, was not surprising. He had figured the Dursleys wouldn't actually tell Dumbledore anything because for all they knew, the Order wouldn't pay anymore if they knew Harry wasn't staying at Number 4 anymore.
Not expecting to have to wait more than an hour or so for the Order to come and pick him up, Harry sat in Petunia's garden and waited.
No sooner had the Dursleys seen him than Dudley stuck his big, stupid head out the window and taunted, "Ha, ha, those freaks aren't coming for you."
At that point, Petunia came to the door and stalked across the yard to drag Harry inside. "You thieving little sneak! How dare you leave us to wait in London! You'd best be thankful you're Headmaster is too stupid to check in on you! 5000 pounds; we asked for 8000 but the old coot wouldn't give us more!"
"You owe us, boy!" Vernon grunted from the sitting room. "Dudley..."
Vernon didn't have to finish his sentence before Dudley was waddling over to Harry. Petunia relinquished her nephew to her son's 'care' and joined her husband in the sitting room. Meanwhile, Dudley was laying ham-sized fists into Harry's body. Harry dodged and fought back fairly well, all things considered. He tried to get his wand from his bag without success. As Dudley dealt a painful blow to his wand arm that definitely cracked bone, Harry rolled and dodged for the door. It cost him four more painful blows to get the door open and then he was stumbling dizzily out into the yard. Where was the Order? Harry ran as fast as he could away from Dudley. The tub of lard could not keep up and soon turned and waddled back to his house. Harry made his way cautiously towards Mrs. Figg's house. Surely she would know where the Order was and could summon a healer for Harry.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Figg was not home. Her house stood empty even of her cats and Harry sighed and cradled his broken arm closer to his chest. He sat on her stoop and wondered where the Order was. Checking his wristwatch, Harry realized that he had already missed the Hogwarts Express. Where was the Order? With the ache in his arm throbbing and bruises forming all over his body, Harry stood and carefully opened his bag. He dug through the mess of his school things piled haphazardly in there on top of his nearly empty trunk and found his money pouch and his wand. Using his wand arm only as much as was absolutely necessary, he summoned the Knight Bus which appeared with a bang in all its purpleness directly in front of him.
The doors opened and a petite witch stuck her head out.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transit for the stranded witch or wizard. My name is Elphrida Rees. Can I help you with your bags?" she said in a monotone, bored voice.
"You're not Ernie," Harry said, sounding dumb in his surprise.
"Right you are," Elphrida said, "Stan and Ernie work Fridays, Saturdays, and Sunday mornings. You just missed them."
"Oh," Harry said. "How much to Hogwarts?"
"11 sickles. If you want..."
"11 sickles it is," Harry said, not needing to hear his other options. He struggled with his money pouch for a moment before he managed to get it open and count out the coins without jarring his broken arm.
"It'll be thirty minutes to Hogwarts," Elphrida said once he had handed her the money, she stepped aside and sighed glumly, allowing Harry to climb up and past her. The first level had only three empty armchairs on it. Harry took one not far from the door and tried to relax as best he could given the pain in his arm and the jerking of the bus as it jumped all over Britain.
Forty-five minutes later, Harry started from a daze when he heard the same bored, monotone voice saying, "Hogwarts... Hogwarts... Hogwarts..."
The bus had dropped Harry off at the school's gates. Harry had to walk up the hill to the school. The front door stood open, waiting for the other students to arrive so Harry walked in and headed directly to the Hospital Wing. Though Madam Pomfrey wasn't there, only moments after Harry had crossed the threshold, the healer arrived looking confused.
"Mr. Potter!" she gasped when she saw him. "Sit on that bed."
Harry obeyed as she quickly moved to his side and began casting diagnostic spells.
"Take off your bag," she ordered.
Madam Pomfrey tutted and muttered to herself while she healed Harry's arm. When she finished, she ordered Harry to stay put and then left the Hospital Wing, walking quickly, still muttering to herself.
Harry heard her returning before he saw her.
"I can't understand how one boy can get into so much trouble. Here I was hoping he would stay mostly fit for just one year..."
"He's alright, isn't he?" McGonagall asked.
"Yes, of course. I mended his arm already. But my point was..." she trailed off as they entered the Ward.
"I'm sure he hasn't been in another fight," McGonagall whispered to Pomfrey as they approached Harry.
"What seems to be the problem, Mr. Potter," McGonagall asked Harry.
"I'm fine, Professor, except that no one came to the Dursleys to pick me up today," Harry replied.
"How did you get these injuries?" McGonagall asked gas gently as she could manage with her face set in a tense frown.
"My cousin, ma'am," Harry replied.
It was Madam Pomfrey's turn to frown.
"I will have a word with Professor Dumbledore about this, Harry," McGonagall said quietly. To Madam Pomfrey, she said, "Can't you give him some Bruise Balm and a Pepper-Up? The poor boy looks dreadful."
Madam Pomfrey nodded. As Professor McGonagall left to find the Headmaster, Madam Pomfrey healed Harry's bruises and then gave him a Pepper-Up potion followed shortly by a very light sleeping potion to improve the effectiveness of the healing.
Some time later, Harry woke up to see Dumbledore seated beside his bed reading a book. When Harry sat up, Dumbledore noticed and set his book aside.
"Harry, my boy, how are you feeling?" Dumbledore said.
"Fine," Harry said with a yawn.
"Wonderful. Now then, let's get right down to business. I am disappointed that you did not wait for Bill and Fleur to pick you up however, given that your arrival was much less spectacular than the last time you arranged your own transportation, I'm willing to call it youthful indiscretion. However, I must remind you that we are at war and my security precautions are important to your safety. You will have to follow them in the future.
"Enough of that. I received quite a peculiar letter from your aunt over vacation and that is what I truly wished to talk with you about."
Harry bit his lip to keep his face from betraying the worry that he felt. He also prepared to deny everything and/or portkey himself home.
"I don't know if you realize but they have been demanding money for your care for some time. I am aware of how highly muggles value money, rather like we value magical power... quite an ingenious system muggles have, as money can be earned whereas magical power is inherent and inalterable... but I digress. I have decided that we won't pay them anymore. I expect they won't be pleased and you will likely get far fewer gifts and pleasantries from them but I believe it is for the best."
"Professor, I don't think you understand. The Dursleys will try to get what they want from me. It won't be safe to go back..."
"Harry, my boy, you and I have paid them more than 7000 galleons over the years. It is enough. You are a talented, resourceful, lucky young man and I am sure you will be able to work something out with your relatives. Until Voldemort is gone, you will have to remain in their care."
Dumbledore stood to leave and Harry had to decide if he wanted to fight Dumbledore's ruling. If he did and Dumbledore gave in, it could mean a change of residence. Harry could end up at Order Headquarters where there would be no chance of getting away without being missed. Harry decided to let Dumbledore leave. He wanted to be able to go home to Eyrie's Edge and bribing the Dursleys himself was the price he had to pay for his disappearance to go unnoticed.
//-//-//-//-//-
Over the next couple of weeks, the students of Hogwarts were given so much homework that they had little time for anything else in an effort to make up for the missed days of school the Governors' plan had caused. It was a great relief for the older children to have the Hogsmeade weekend to look forward.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione left as early as possible on that Saturday, as did most of the other students. By noon however, the crowds seemed to have thinned a bit and the three decided some food at the Three Broomsticks was in order.
"It's been too long since I've had a butterbeer," Ron announced.
But Harry wasn't listening to them anymore. He had seen Hannah, Michael, and Daphne stop in the alley next to the Three Broomsticks to talk to two women in healers' robes. He took a closer look. One of the women was Electra.
"Umm, you guys go on ahead. I'll just be a minute," he said.
"Harry, where are you...?" Hermione asked before Ron grabbed her hand and stopped her.
"Let him go. I'm sure he can take care of himself."
Hermione resisted for a moment but Ron led her into the Three Broomsticks, right past Electra. Once they were gone, Harry walked over to Electra.
"Hello, Harry," she said. "Would you like to join us for tea?"
"Ok," Harry said with a shrug.
"There's a wonderful place just outside town: The Crimson Clarsach." She and her friend began walking and the teens followed. Harry was a bit leery of leaving town but not enough to decline the offer.
They left town, walking west, cresting a hill and descending it, before a large, rundown building became visible at the edge of a copse of trees. Though the old, rambling business seemed to have seen better days, it had a brightly painted sign over the door with a large red harp and smaller pictures of food, drink, and a bed. Though the windows were too dirty to make anything out inside, there was plenty of light streaming through the small windows in the door.
Electra approached the door and knocked smartly.
A wrinkled face appeared in the door's window for a moment, then disappeared again. The door opened and a coarse voice said, "Come in, ladies."
Electra went inside first, then the teens, followed by Electra's friend. The interior was not at all what Harry had been expecting from the outside. This was more like the Leaky Cauldron than the Hog's Head, though decidedly less busy than Harry had seen either of those places. The old man that had answered the door led them all to a large table in the back corner. Electra requested tea and the old man shuffled away to get it.
"Now, how is everyone?" Electra said
A chorus of alrights came from the teens. The women smiled.
"Good. I expect you know why we're here. Remember that you are not to admit to coming to this place. You are to say you were in the dungeons of the castle if anyone questions your whereabouts," Electra's companion told them.
"Harry, I think you're the only one who doesn't know my sister Aurelia," Electra said, gesturing to the other woman.
Harry recognized the name and mentally kicked himself. It suddenly occurred to him that other than the teens beside him and Ron, he hadn't seen anyone in town with Death Eaters or sympathizers in the family in over an hour. Snape's wife, Aurelia, had written about an attack and he had planned to figure it out in advance but had done nothing.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Harry," Aurelia said.
She seemed nice, nicer than Harry had expected from Snape's wife, but he had more important things on his mind.
"The attack's now, isn't it?" he asked.
Both women nodded solemnly.
"You deceived me," Hannah accused Michael.
"Your mother asked me to," he replied, his hands up defensively. "She knew you wouldn't stay out of harm's way if you thought people needed protecting."
"Hannah, I really must ask that you stay here," Electra said sternly. "This charade is delicate and everything needs to go as planned or our people could be placed in much more danger. If the plan works, your friends will be safe throughout."
There was another knock on the door just then, sharp and urgent. The bearded old man that had invited Electra and Aurelia in went to the door and opened it. In stalked Severus Snape in billowing black Death Eater robes, his mask clutched in his left hand, his wand in his right. He quickly surveyed the scene and scowled at Hannah and Harry who were still standing awkwardly, wondering if they should return to the village.
"Battle is no place for divided loyalties," Snape said. "Ms. Abbott, Mr. Potter, sit down."
Snape's classroom voice got immediate results from the indecisive students. He came to stand beside his wife and rested a hand comfortably on her shoulder.
"What is their story?" he asked the women.
"They're to have been in the castle," Electra replied.
"Are we sure they weren't in the hills outside town on an amorous outing?" Snape asked.
His wife snorted and Electra smiled. The students looked at one another, surprised to have heard what must have been a joke from Snape. Aurelia put her hand in Snape's and stood. They walked away from the table and talked quietly while Electra tried to distract the teens from everything that was going on.
Suddenly, there was a gust of wind in the room and a crash as two masked Death Eaters landed on the floor, a crumpled felt hat clutched between them. Electra and Aurelia were at their sides immediately.
When the masks came off, Harry recognized Lucius Malfoy and Augustus Rookwood. Both were wounded, bleeding from various places with a limb each obviously broken.
"We're retreating but things went our way," Rookwood told Snape through gritted teeth.
As the two healers went to work on the injuries, Snape gathered his students together with some difficulty as they watched the scene before them and led them out of the bar and into the valley.
Snape led the teens to the northeastern end of the valley. After picking their way carefully through the dense forest there, they came upon a well-concealed standing stone roughly a meter high. There were markings engraved on it but the moss that had grown over the stone made then impossible to decipher.
"Mr. Potter, say something in parseltoungue, quickly," Snape said.
"I need a snake," Harry tried to explain.
Snape growled in frustration and glared but it had no effect on Harry. Meanwhile, Daphne was examining the stone. She knelt and peeled the moss away from a section of engravings that was only partially covered. Her work revealed a picture of a snake.
Harry looked crookedly at the snake picture and managed to hiss, "Now what?"
The stone reacted to the parseltongue by seeming to grow, pulling the ground with it. Everyone moved back out of the way as the mound grew larger and larger until a door appeared. Snape reached out and opened it, holding it and shooing the teens through one by one.
Once they were all inside, he said, "Keep walking until you find another door, then open it and hurry inside. Make sure you close the door behind you. Once you're back in the castle, Daphne, take them all straight to the old Arithmancy classroom and stay there for at least twenty minutes. After that, go together to the Entrance Hall and pretend you have been in the castle for the last hour."
Daphne and Michael nodded immediately. Snape did not wait for Hannah and Harry to do so. He closed the door and the teens were left in the dark for a moment before Michael cast Lumos. The others followed suit and began walking down the long, dark, stone passage towards the castle.
"What is this place, and why didn't Snape come too?" Harry asked.
"Shh," Daphne said. "He had to go back to Hogsmeade and pretend he couldn't find you."
"And this is an old siege tunnel," Michael added. "It had to be long enough to get a messenger beyond the camps of any enemy that laid siege to the castle and the end had to be hidden so they could get out without being caught and no one who didn't know about it would be able to find it and sneak into the castle."
"Then how did Snape know about it?" Harry asked.
"The Head of Slytherin always knows the dungeons better than anyone else. There are a lot of places down there that only appear to Slytherins," Daphne explained. "The map room we all used on Samhain is one of them."
"Does all of Slytherin know about this tunnel?" Hannah asked.
"No. There was a rumor back in our third year that this place existed but no one knew anything more about it than that."
By the time they reached the end of the tunnel, they were quite relieved to see the doorway to the dungeons. Daphne opened it and led them in. Once everyone was inside, Harry closed the door and it disappeared into the stone of the wall. They had entered a deserted, grimy corridor deep in the bowels of the castle.
"Come on," Daphne said.
They all followed her along the corridor and quickly realized that it was a good thing they had a guide. There were so many turns on their path that only Daphne knew where they were. A few minutes later, they found their way onto a corridor that was familiar to Harry as one near the Slytherin Common Room's entrance. There wasn't anyone around and the portraits all seemed too busy to notice them; some were expertly feigning sleep while others read or painted, one groomed his dog, and still more frames stood empty. Soon, Daphne stopped and opened a door to reveal an empty classroom.
"Everybody in," she said.
For twenty minutes, they paced nervously, examined their surroundings, or sat and fidgeted. When their patience finally wore out, they left together to rejoin the student body and find out what had happened. They met a few Slytherins on their way, all headed from their Common Room to the Great Hall. As they approached the Ground Level, the noise rose to a steady roar. The whole school was assembled and there hadn't been near so much chaos since the Weasley twins had made their escape the previous year.