Bleeding Red and Gold REDUX Chapter 25
This update is a day late because I received the new Brotherband book yesterday. I had to finish that before I did anything else.
Enjoy Chapter 25
oOo
Daphne and Harry left the minor branch of the Ministry in New York. They were plagued by a serious problem though. They were both well aware that although Tracey had intended to go to Metropolitan, nobody knew if she made it there or not. Daphne had asked Harry if museums in the Muggle world generally kept records of who came and went, to which Harry replied that they didn't. After all, on an average day, the Metropolitan Museum would be visited by thousands of people. There was no way to keep track of everybody.
Thankfully, there were magical ways of tracking someone, or at least their wand. When Tracey arrived in the United States, since she was a foreigner, the United States Ministry placed a small Tracking Charm on her person in order to make sure that she left the country when she was supposed to. It solved the problem of illegal immigration, which even wizards were prone to do.
Still, there were disadvantages to the tracking charm. The charm didn't tell the trackers anything other than location. Harry and Daphne had no idea what situation Tracey was in. If she was dead, the charm wouldn't know that. They would only be able to find the burial site. The tracking charm would only be destroyed if the body was completely disintegrated.
Currently, the charm was directing them towards a poorer part of New York, by the looks of it. The houses were looking older and older, and the people began looking more and more shady. Harry saw quite a few disturbing things, and Daphne huddled slightly closer to him instinctively. Finally, they reached a dilapidated house with overgrown shrubbery outside, and boarded up windows. It looked like the epitome of a haunted house, and there was a chill emanating from the house.
Harry and Daphne looked at each other, before checking their surroundings. After making sure that they weren't being watched, they both drew their wands simultaneously, before cautiously approaching the property.
It seemed that the property had no protection wards, as they were able to reach the door without a hitch, which was surprising. Evidently, it wasn't a permanent safe house.
They approached carefully, and Harry waved his wand, banishing the door open.
Both Daphne and Harry were ready, prepared for what could possibly be behind the door.
There was nothing there except darkness.
The boarded up windows allowed no light inside the house, so Harry murmured "Lumos."
Daphne went first, warily, while Harry shined the light from his wand over her shoulder to illuminate the way. It appeared that the hallway had several doors breaching off.
Daphne, wanting to determine just who was waiting in the house, waved her wand, and whispered, "Homenum Revelio".
Below them, two humanoid figures were immediately outlined clearly. There were two people below them. Daphne knew that one of them had to Tracey, especially considering how one of the two people looked to be chained to the floor if the figure's outline was anything to go by.
Carefully, Harry swung his wand from side to side, as they walked down the hallway slowly, looking for the entrance to stairs that would lead to…whatever was below them. They found steps leading downwards, and both Harry and Daphne knew that this was it. Either they would find Tracey captive, or they would find Tracey dead.
Harry didn't want to even consider the latter option, despite his dream. He had a lot of explaining to do, and he really was not looking forward to his choice between Daphne and Tracey.
He wasn't sure if he could even annul Daphne's contract, but he'd throw his name and weight around, and hopefully get his way. He'd scheduled that appointment with Gringotts before he'd left. He only hoped that it had gotten to the goblins…
Still, he needed to focus on the present. Daphne had reached the bottom of the stairs. The two humanoid figures were right around the corner, and Harry had already dimmed his light a great deal.
Making sure that he kept his wand at the ready, he stepped forward to draw alongside Daphne, who was pressed against the wall.
She turned to face him, and nodded once to signal she was ready.
Almost on impulse, Harry swooped down and captured her lips for a very brief kiss.
"For good luck." He whispered, before turning.
Daphne, head still spinning that Harry had actually initiated a kiss with her, took a moment to compose herself, before she squeezed Harry's hand.
Together, they quickly made their way around the corner, and blasted through the door that, evidently, led the way to a prison of some sort, especially given that the door was about five inches thick, and quite sturdy.
Looking back on it, Harry realized that it was quite strange that they were able to blast open such a sturdy door, magic or not, but at the time, he was way too preoccupied.
Tracey was tied up, struggling against her chains on the floor. She was gagged as well, but the look in her eyes was clear as soon as she saw Harry and Daphne burst through the door.
It was not the look of relief of a prisoner realizing that she was about to be rescued. It screamed of a trap, and Harry was immediately wary, turning to face the captor.
The captor, who'd up until this point remained quite calm, had her wand prepared and ready. Then, the captor slowly pulled her hood back.
Daphne nearly screamed in shock as she recognized the face of Samantha Zabini.
"You!" she cried.
Samantha Zabini smiled. The two impulsive teenagers had played straight into her hands. They hadn't noticed that Death was at their shoulder, quite literally. Although, Death seemed perfectly content to let the situation play out until his intervention was needed.
In fact, she'd been quite surprised and rattled when the middle-aged man who'd been paying her had finally revealed herself as Death. She'd never believed in the old tales of the Three Brothers by Beedle the Bard, but with the undeniable proof that Death provided, she had no more doubts.
Now, she could indulge in the enjoyment of toying with her captives. After all, it was the famous Harry Potter that Lord Voldemort himself had failed to capture.
"Yes, indeed, it is me." She said with amusement, shaking her head to get rid of the hood.
Harry was slightly confused, but he didn't take his eyes off the mysterious woman who had captured his girlfriend.
"Who are you?"
Samantha smiled at him.
"Samantha Zabini, at your service. " She said with a little bow.
Daphne snarled, "Was it you? Did you kill your own son?"
Samantha saw no harm in telling them, so she responded.
"Why yes. He betrayed my secrets to you. He was useless to me, and a thorn in my side, preventing my completion of my final contract."
Daphne's normally cool exterior, which was already crumbling, completely shattered, and she howled, "How could you do that to your own son? You evil monster."
Harry raised his wand. Screaming what not get him anymore.
"Stup-"
Before he could get a single spell off, his wand flew out of his hand, as well as Daphne's. They hadn't even seen Samantha move, nor did she so much as twitch her wand, indicating that she had not cast a spell.
What had hit them?
The answer appeared next to them in the form of a middle-aged man. The very same person who had once attempted to kill Harry in his sleep, and had haunted his dreams ever since.
"Oh my fucking god. My luck can NOT be that bad." Harry cursed, as he saw the man.
oOo
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, evening had just set in, and students were asking all around about where Harry Potter could possibly be. The fact that the Slytherin Ice Queen had apparently followed him on another one of his hare-brained adventures just further spurred rumors across the school.
Many thought that Potter was taking revenge on Daphne because she was a Slytherin. Others who knew that they had become friends, believed that Harry had proposed to Daphne over the Break and they were on a runaway honeymoon or something like that. It seemed that the stories just got wilder and wilder.
Only Ron, Neville, and Hermione knew that Daphne and Harry had gone to rescue Tracey.
Ron was not particularly pleased that his betrothed was going with Harry on what could very well be an incredibly dangerous mission. He and the rest of his friends were even more disgruntled that they hadn't been chosen to go with the two, but they understood Harry's reasons. Tracey wasn't as close to the rest of them, and Harry didn't want to bring any more friends into danger than was absolutely necessary. Daphne was only going because she was Tracey's best friend, and she absolutely insisted that she would be going. Harry had no choice, especially when Daphne had pointed a wand threateningly at him.
Now, Ron, Neville, and Hermione were left to stew and worry about their missing friends.
They really didn't know whether or not the mission was a success, but they were quite impatient for news.
They were all rather subdued and quite worried throughout their first day back, and their anxiety was not at all lessened by the rather heavy workload that they were assigned, despite the fact that it was their first day back.
As they set to working on their homework, an owl arrived, and began tapping on the window. Thinking it to be news of their friends, for it was an unfamiliar owl, Ron quickly unlatched the window and untied the letter attached to the owl.
To his dismay, it was NOT news about his friends.
Instead, it was an official summons to Gringotts.
Mr. Ronald Weasley,
Recently, the Betrothal Contract between the Houses of Weasley and Greengrass was activated by magic. House Greengrass, the other party in this contract, has requested a meeting to be held on the 12th of January at 0900 hours. Please arrive promptly, so that the details of the meeting can be revealed, and both parties can discuss the terms and ramifications of said details.
May your gold ever flow,
Rippleclaw
Gringotts Senior Contract Manager
Neville and Hermione had crowded around, and had read the letter over Ron's shoulder. While disappointed that it wasn't news about their friends, it was nonetheless extremely important.
Hermione, mystified by how Daphne had managed to set up this meeting before they left for the States, voiced her questions aloud.
Neville shrugged. He was more interested in what she had to say that couldn't be said at school.
Ron asked, "What exactly does this entail? Why do I have to go to this meeting? What does it mean by "details?"
Neville looked surprised that Ron didn't know.
"Evidently, they might have found a way to break off the contract, or they want to change some terms inside the contract."
Ron looked shocked. The contact could be broken off?
"Will there be a penalty if the Greengrasses break it off?"
"Only if they violate the contract." Neville said simply, rubbing his leg where he'd fell while walking back from Hagrid's hut a day ago.
Hermione, who had only limited knowledge of Wizarding marriage contracts , merely listened. She wasn't too interested in the contract. Ever since she'd gotten together with Neville, she'd put it to the back of her mind. Ron and Daphne definitely wouldn't get together. She'd known that ever since the first meeting between the two back in Florean's son's shop.
"I wonder if Harry's doing alright." She said, changing the topic.
"He'll be fine. He always seems to emerge from a dangerous situation fine, you know?" Ron said, absolutely convinced by Harry's ability to seemingly emerge alive out of even the most hopeless of situations.
Neville wasn't so sure, and voiced his own worries.
"They don't even know what happened. They're literally rushing in blind…"
As it turned out, Neville was right to worry.
oOo
Death smiled in triumph. He'd finally cornered his master.
"Hello, Master." He said with confidence. It would finally be over. Nobody controlled Death.
Daphne was looking both bewildered and fearful. Who was this man? How did he manage to disarm both of them without a weapon or uttering a single incantation?
"Is this what you have been reduced to, Death? Hiring a mere mortal to kill me?"
Death smirked at him. "Well, obviously, due to some ancient laws, I am not allowed to kill my own master. So I hired Samantha here to do it for me."
Samantha raised her wand, but Harry cried, "Wait!"
Samantha, curious as to what the boy wanted to say, slowly lowered her wand. Death looked furious that she'd waited, but there wasn't much he could do.
"Let the others go. The only one to die today is myself. Isn't that right, Death? You have the ability to change the Fate of only ONE soul, and you chose me. So let the others go."
Death grudgingly accepted this. It was true, if he killed the two girls now, Fate would be bitching to him about it for millennia, and get her revenge sometime in the future. That in itself was going to give him quite a headache.
"Very well, Master." He said spitefully, before waving his hand carelessly.
The ropes and chains binding Tracey fell away, and she slowly sat up, rubbing her arms to get the circulation running, before turning to Harry and looking at him desperately.
"NO Harry. You can't do this. I'll die with you, or we're all getting out of this together."
Daphne voiced practically the same thing, and Harry sighed.
"It has to be me. Daphne, take Tracey and get out of here." Harry said, and then, almost as an afterthought, he leaned over and pressed a piece of parchment into Daphne's hands.
"Here. I promised that I'd try to find a way to get you out of the Marriage Contract. Take this with you and go. I need to face this myself."
Daphne, pocketing the piece of parchment, wrapped her arms around Harry in a hug. Tracey joined the two, and Harry felt that even if he died today, he'd die knowing that there were people he loved and cared about. He'd saved them. He'd die with no regrets.
After they broke apart, Harry turned to their two captors and said, "Give them back their wands."
Death, shrugging, tossed the wands that he had at Daphne, while Samantha slowly removed Tracey's wand from a bag in the corner and gave it back. While she was by no means regretting her decision, it was quite touching, their farewell. It reminded her of her very first husband, whom she had once loved.
Samantha banished that thought from her head. Now was not the time to become weak.
Meanwhile, Harry knew that Daphne and Tracey might do something stupid like try to cast a spell and rescue him, so he gave them a meaningful look and gestured to the door.
His message was pretty clear. Go while you still can.
With tears in their eyes, they left reluctantly, disappearing through the door. Harry watched them go, and then turned to meet his fate.
Death smiled. This was it. He'd finally be free.
oOo
Credit to my IRL friend: Sera (PENNAME: winchesetr) for providing me with inspiration for both this chapter and on how to end the story.
Yes folks, this story is drawing to a close. Don't worry, there's still a few chapters left. I thank you all for your support so far. You guys are all awesome!
EDIT: (7-26-2014 2:46 P.M. EST) Chapter 26 IS UP! If you did not receive an update, that's because I posted it so quickly that Fanfiction didn't alert you guys again that it is up. Although, you probably can tell, since it is at the bottom of the page.
Thank you for reading. Please review.