Prophecy Repeated, chapter twenty-five.
Disclaimer:-
Harry Potter belongs to J.K.Rowling, her various publishers and Warner Brothers. This story and any new characters belong to me.
RECAP.
Gail and Lucius have decided to run away from Hogwarts.
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The sun was setting as the two youngsters slipped out of hogwarts towards the gates on the track which led to Hogsmead. By the time they reached the station, it was almost completely dark. Soon a bright light appeared in the distance and slowly grew closer and even brighter.
Finally they could see sparks from the funnel and the glow from the fire in the cab. As the locomotive passed where they were crouched down, the lights from the carriages blazed at them.
"It really looks something, doesn't it?" Gail commented. "A lot bigger than when it's at the platform."
From their hiding place they couldn't see the students disembarking, but they could hear the chatter, which luckily hid the noise the owl they had borrowed from the owlery was beginning to make.
The chatter gradually faded as some left in the boats and others took the carriages to the castle. As soon as everything seemed quiet, they climbed up onto the train from the other side. It was harder than it looked, especially carrying an owl. Just as the train left the station they were plunged into blackness as someone turned out the lights on the train. Whoever had done that had also turned off the heating, so it began to get colder.
A little later, giving the owl the package they had prepared, they let it go. In the almost complete darkness they lost sight of the owl almost immediately.
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The feast was well under way when a solitary owl flew into the great hall and headed straight for Harry Potter. It dropped the red envelope on the table in front of him and flew away.
Students close enough to see gasped. Who would send Harry Potter a howler?
Puzzled, Harry opened it.
"HEADMASTER," it began loudly, in a voice easily recognisable as Lucius, "AND STAFF AND STUDENTS OF HOGWARTS. WE WILL NO LONGER PUT YOU IN DANGER BY STAYING AT HOGWARTS, SO WE HAVE LEFT. YOU WILL SEE US AGAIN WHEN WE ARE READY."
The voice changed to that of Gail. "DON'T WORRY. WE WILL BE SAFE. AND WITHOUT US, SO WILL YOU."
"DO NOT TRY TO FIND US" added Lucius.
"WE'LL MISS YOU ALL" finished Gail, her voice breaking slightly.
As the howler rolled itself up and tore itself into small pieces there was a stunned silence throughout the great hall. Ginny got up and ran out, with Hermione and Harry following her.
The rest of the meal was conducted in near silence with just a lot of whispering amongst the tables. Even Ron didn't want to eat much more and soon got up to go.
Later that evening, Harry came down the stairs from their quarters to find a small, somewhat agitated group facing him.
"We want to know what's going on," said the head girl, a Ravenclaw.
"I'm afraid that's private. I can't tell you," Harry replied.
"If it put us at risk, don't we have a right to know?" asked one of the boys, a Hufflepuff.
"Well, if it did, they aren't here now, are they?" Harry pointed out.
The head boy, also a Hufflepuff, glared at the one who had just spoken about their risk and right to know. "Look, we know someone's been trying to kill them. The way we look at it, they're safer here. We want to help."
Harry looked stunned. "I thought you hated all Slytherins."
The head girl looked embarrassed. "We figured that we need to come together on this. If we stand together, not even the Ministry can beat us. Not only that, but if so many are trying to kill those two, we're guessing it was like it was with you."
"What do you mean?"
"There's some kind of prophecy about them, isn't there? It's the only thing that makes sense."
Harry's face dropped. "I can't tell you."
"We'll take that as a yes then. But sir. Obviously the one who wants to kill them knows, so why the secrecy?"
"I can't say anything," he said, turning and walking back to his quarters.
Half an hour later he was talking with Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Luna. "What do I do?" he asked.
Luna smiled. "Trust a Ravenclaw to figure it all out. And I think she's right. The Minister knows, his death eaters know, so what's to lose?"
"We could even publicise it," suggested Hermione, "so others can choose to help them wherever they are. After all, the Minister's minions will know and be looking for them. If others who can help them, know to try to help them..."
"How?"
Luna smiled. "How else? You are looking at the publisher of the second most popular newspaper in wizarding Britain."
Hermione cracked a smile at the description of the Quibbler as a newspaper, but stayed silent.
But Luna hadn't finished. "And you should announce it tomorrow night as well."
"What?" cried Ron. "Have Harry stand up and say the Minister's a dark lord trying to kill Lucius and Gail and they should all fight him?"
"Exactly," said Luna.
Ron groaned.
But Harry commented, "I think it might work."
"It might get you sacked."
"I'm tired of always reacting to what he does. It's time we took a stand."
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When the empty Hogwarts express arrived back at platform 9 and 3/4, Harry and Ron were there, and quickly searched the train. As they'd expected, Lucius and Gail were not aboard.
Far north of London, Lucius and Gail, had jumped from the train as it went slowly round a bend, their landing made soft by a quickly cast cushioning charm, which they had grown adept at casting in their duelling practice. By the time Harry and Ron were looking for them, they were several miles for the line, hiding in a barn.
Gail had been shivering until Lucius hugged her close to him. "We'll be okay," he tried to assure her.
Gail, knowing that it would be her meagre knowledge of the muggle world they would be relying on, wasn't so sure. But she'd make it work somehow, she just had to.
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Harry had planned to make his announcement the following night at dinner. It was the meal which everybody attended, as lunch was staggered during the week and quite a lot of students missed breakfast favouring a lie-in instead.
All the staff were sitting at the top table. This was unusual as on most nights some would have been home with their families. But before Harry could sit down he was approached by the head boy and girl and the senior prefect from each of the other houses.
"Sir," said the Ravenclaw head girl. "Can we have a word?"
He nodded and walked to the side of the hall, away from everyone else. "Yes?"
"The announcement you were going to make tonight. Don't make it."
"How did you know...?" Harry began. He chuckled, "It's Hogwarts. It's a secret, so naturally everybody knows."
"Yes, sir. But it's important that you don't make that announcement tonight."
"Why?"
"This is direct rebellion against the Ministry. It could get you sacked or sent to Askaban. Let us organise the rebellion, just like you did."
"Well, it wasn't exactly a rebellion..." Harry argued.
"I don't think Umbridge would have agreed with that statement, sir. As I was saying, let us do it. Keep it underground. Unlike last time, everyone will know about it, but nobody will know who is involved and what we are doing. We have it planned out."
"And what are you doing?"
"Probably best you don't know sir."
Harry thought hard.
"Well, sir?"
"On one condition. You run into problems, you tell one of us, straight away, no second thoughts."
"Agreed, sir."
If any of the staff who had come to dinner that night to hear Harry's announcement were surprised by the fact that he said nothing, none of them let him know.
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The next day, deep within the Ministry, in the Minister private offices, Minister Collins was furious, tossing out cruciatus curses at anyone who even mildly offended him. "He ran away with the mudblood before I could kill them," he ranted to some of his closest assistants.
"But sir," said one of his braver aides, "this could be good."
"How?"
"They are away from the protection of Potter..."
"Don't say that name."
If his aide was amused that he was treating Potter as He Who Must Not Be Named, he was wise enough to keep his amusement to himself. "It should be easy, with the entire force of the Ministry behind you, to find two runaway kids. And away from... Hogwarts, you can just kill them easily."
"True. But doing it at Hogwarts would have hurt him more, and discredited him forever."
"If you kill them, he has lost anyway. The only reason he went there was to protect the new Chosen One. He will have failed totally."
"Hmm," mused the Minister. "I want him dead, but to see him know he has failed first, especially to lose that thing he calls a daughter..." He smiled. "Get me the editor of the prophet."
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"CRAZED RUNAWAYS FLEE HOGWARTS" blared the headline. Photos of both Lucius and Gail featured prominently above an article explaining that two emotionally disturbed students had run away from Hogwarts on the first night of term. A photo of Harry looking worried headed a paragraph asking that anyone spotting the runaway students should alert the Ministry at once, and be careful not to go too near to them, so that headmaster Potter could be notified to collect them safely. A final paragraph mentioned that "some students believe that headmaster Potter's obsession with training against the dark arts may have driven these unbalanced students over the edge."
When Hermione read out aloud about headmaster Potter being notified to collect them safely, Ron snorted. "Yeah, like they're interested in their safety or letting Harry know."
Harry noticed that Ginny had gone white. "From what I hear, you faced everything here without turning a hair while Hermione, Ron and I were camping. Don't worry."
"She's my little girl, Harry," Ginny sobbed.
"I know," he replied, hugging her tightly. "I worry too. But they're well trained. They'll be okay."
"Against the whole ministry, not to mention death-eaters?"
"I'd worry about the death-eaters if Gail gets hold of them if they try to hurt Lucius."
Ginny almost cracked a smile. Almost.
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The "unbalanced" runaways were oblivious of their sudden fame. They had avoided wizarding areas, stealing food as they could, which made Gail feel a little guilty, but she knew it was necessary. At least they weren't going as hungry as Harry, Hermione and Ron had, so many years ago.
But after a week of having to sleep anywhere they could find, desperately trying not to be spotted, and living off whatever scraps they could steal, both were becoming irritable with each other.
"I've had an idea," said Gail. "Let's go to a big city. They have places where they give out food to the homeless. Some even have showers and beds."
Lucius looked uncertain.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"What do you think?"
"If we get a hot meal, I'll chance it."
"That's all you think of. Food."
"Wouldn't you like a hot meal?"
"Well, yes. But I'd like a hot bath or shower first."
It took them two days to make their way to Manchester. They'd chosen it as there was no major wizarding community near there. They asked around and quickly found a place where they gave out hot soup and bread to the homeless. Joining the queue, they took their soup and drank it down eagerly.
They'd finished their soup when a man walked over to them. "You two look like you need some more." He handed them some more bread and refilled their mugs with soup.
"So what are you two youngsters doing out so late? You're not from around here, are you?"
"Er, no. We were going to visit an uncle, and we got stranded," said Gail, desperate to sound convincing.
"Really? And that's why you've gulped down the soup like you haven't eaten properly in days.
"We're okay."
"There are places for runaway children, you know."
"We're not runaways."
"Of course not. How about we find you both a bed for the night, then talk about it in the morning? You can even get your clothes washed."
Gail looked at Lucius uncertainly. He made a decision. "Okay. Thanks."
The man turned around and called to a woman in the serving line. "Mary. Two for you, I think?"
She nodded. "I thought as much. Take them to the van."
The man took Lucius and Gail outside and led them into the back of a van. "Your carriage awaits," he said, but the moment they had got into the back of the van and sat down, he slammed the doors and they heard the lock click into place.
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Author's note...
I finally found a little time to write, though the house is still chaos and I still have to finish the fencing for the refuge. A lot of this chapter was written in quiet times at work! I hope it's okay. Please review.