Chapter 28
The Interesting Affair At Wand Street
GRIMMAULD PLACE
"How did you know I was here?" Harry inquired.
"I grew up here Mr. Potter, when the wards are tampered with, I know." Harry nodded and looked at all of them.
"This is clearly a family meeting. I don't know how Professor Snape became a Black but I'm listening."
"Bellatrix is gone. Neville Longbottom is gone. They are both gone without a trace. Rodolphus and Rabastan took charge of their abduction and they cannot be found because they believe there is an informant who reports back to the Order," Snape said in his silky voice. "They have tried to find the perpetrator but to no avail because Mr. Potter, Narcissa and I have been handling Astoria Greengrass and at the same time, preventing those men from discovering her true intentions. I am here because, I am an interested party." Harry nodded and Sirius snorted in amusement at Snape's speech.
"You are probably here because, Bella and Neville thought it wise to sacrifice themselves so you could rescue them. There is no telling what would happen if you were captured and I understand their decision."
"She gave me eighteen days to find her and it is sixteen days now to Christmas."
"What were you doing all this while?" Snape asked with a smirk on his face
"I was dodging Death Eaters. I couldn't risk leaving a trail of bodies right up to Grimmauld Place. They had fucking owls in the air looking out for me," Harry responded bluntly.
"Mr. Potter?"
"Yes. I need to find Tracey Davies. She drew Dobby out looking for Neville that day. Dobby said she was afraid from the way she spoke to him. Clearly she knew or she knows something."
"How do you propose to find her"? Nymphadora asked.
"The elves are on the case as we speak."
"I have put all those I can deploy to find Draco ever since but I cannot find him," Narcissa said quietly. "I used to have a very strong connection with him when he was younger but growing up that connection has weakened. I cannot tell if he's in danger anymore," she continued in frustration.
"In my defense, he tried to kill me."
"That is beside the point Potter," Snape barked. "You cut him with a Sectumsempra and life went on!"
"Do not make me turn you to a worm Severus," Sirius growled and drew his wand. Snape shot him a filthy look and drew his robes about him. Nymphadora chuckled in amusement and Narcissa waited patiently for them to calm down.
"We haven't much time. Voldemort kills people on Christmas day. Severus and I will work from our end of the divide, Sirius and Nymphadora will not rest too." Harry nodded firmly.
"Look for Pansy Parkinson. Draco might be hiding there waiting for everything to blow over. In school, he had that habit of laying low when things didn't go as he planned."
Sirius stroked his beard wisely and snapped his fingers in excitement, his eyes widening upon the realization of something nobody had thought of. "He would have to bring a trophy to appease Voldemort. Failure from the attack at Diagon Alley warrants his immediate death and we all know that Voldemort is not forgiving." Snape nodded in agreement.
"You need to stop him from doing anything that will ruin this fight then cousin," Nymphadora said and touched Narcissa's shoulder affectionately. "We will get through this together."
"Everything will be fine Mrs. Malfoy," Harry said gently. "I can assure you."
"I hear you are a man of your word Mr. Potter, I would have to take you on it," she responded and stared deeply at him. She turned around on her heel and apparated out of the building, her company doing the same.
"Merlin come down please," Harry muttered and held his head as he prepared to face Daphne Greengrass.
GREENGRASS MANSION
Harry arrived outside the gates of Daphne's house and tried to blast it with a Stunner to create attention. After a while, an elf made its way towards him and opened it.
"Take me to your mistress," he said quietly and took the elf's outstretched palm. They appeared outside a great black door that had the Greengrass family crest carved into the wood. The elf bowed and walked away as Harry took his time to examine the impressive door.
"I've got to get me one of these things," he muttered and opened the door gently and stole inside the room that appeared to be a study. Daphne was sitting on a rug by the fireplace just across the room and didn't seem to take notice of the intrusion. He could see trays of food on her table that were untouched and the burning smell of herbs he couldn't identify. He looked at the wall to his left and could see what looked like depressions from when someone hit the wall with impact.
"What the fuck happened here?" he muttered and drew his eyes into slits as he walked gingerly towards her. Harry could hear her wheezing and gasping painfully as she sat there oblivious of his presence. She took a sip from a goblet and hissed in pain after ingesting the contents.
"Cinnamon and dried roots of whatever plant," Harry said in a deep low voice and caught a poker she banished at him deftly. "What did you get yourself into?" She turned her head in anger and relaxed when she saw him.
"Mr. Potter. I wasn't expecting you. Pardon my attack," she said in a clear voice and turned to face the fire.
"Sit," she said in a bored voice and waved at chair. Harry took a seat and carefully examined the young woman before him. Her eyes looked tired, her hair though in the trademark bun was untidy and coarse looking. All Harry could read from her was danger and death. He caught a glimpse of a bruise on her shoulder but she covered it with a shawl and took a seat behind her desk.
"Lovely day isn't it?" she said cheerily, pointing outside at the snow. Harry ignored her and fiddled with his wand inside his pocket.
"What did you get yourself into? You're drinking a concoction for soothing body pains."
"Some nasty business happened training with my elves. I let them give me all they've got."
"I see, Harry responded and tried to perform Legilimency on her thinking that the brew she was taking had dulled some part of her but he was mistaken, for Daphne Greengrass was accomplished in Occlumency and could hide her true thoughts in any circumstance. She looked blankly at Harry who averted his gaze from her and scratched his chin. A thick silence filled the room and the only sound came from the gentle crackling of the wood in the fire.
"You sent me a note warning me to get out from my house which I found later in my coat pocket. Minutes before that brave Dobby came crashing through the window with news of Death Eaters in my perimeter." She took another sip and closed eyes to overcome the pain.
"Enough of the lies and half-truths. What deal do you have with Voldemort?"
"I have no deal. I already explained to you the nature of the business I do for him."
"How did you know they were coming?"
"Blaise Zabini was captured far from this building and he managed to get word to me by way of a sparrow that he was going to aid in capturing you. Tracey got the message and told me, I then sent you that note but it is rather unfortunate that Miss Black and Mr. Longbottom were captured." Daphne rubbed her neck and held it to ease some apparent discomfort before taking another sip from her goblet.
Harry scratched his head and took a deep breath. "Nobody knows where they are and I do not have much time. I need to find them before it is too late."
"Are you asking for my help?"
"I am asking you to activate whatever minions you have and find my friends for me."
I will get back to you in five days at least."
"I don't have five days!" Harry hissed in anger. She blinked her eyes at him in boredom and relaxed in her chair.
"I need time to find the right people and ask the right questions without raising an alarm. This is't something I can do within a day or two," she responded calmly. "Besides," she continued, "it won't be Christmas by then."
"That makes it eleven days to Christmas," Harry added.
"Precisely Mr. Potter, you would be able to rescue your friends, minimize whatever damage the Death Eaters would have caused and recuperate before Christmas day."
"Your plan sounds all wrapped up and neat."
"It is all wrapped up and neat," she responded in amusement but a smile didn't follow. "Where are you lodging at?"
Harry looked at her for a while as if pondering over the fact that she could be setting a trap for him.
"Mr. Potter?"
"Twelve Grimmauld Place," he responded and buttoned his coat before walking out of the room.
TEN DAYS TO CHRISTMAS
The snow was falling gently from the grey skies and without a watch it was difficult to tell the time of the day. Harry was warming himself by a fire in the corner of a street together with some homeless elves. They had identified him the instant he appeared behind them and had graciously welcomed him to share their fire. The warmth of the fire reached into his bones, making him warm inside and he didn't want to leave anytime soon.
Anytime a troop of Death Eaters marched past them Harry drew his hood more tightly on his head and avoided their gaze and muttered to himself to further illustrate his state of homelessness.
"Fucking Greengrass bitch," he muttered to himself and focused his attention on the fire. After more than a week of silence, Daphne Greengrass finally delivered on her promise and had by way of an elf, informed him about a possible lead on the location of his friends. She had asked him to meet her but after waiting for close to an hour, Harry was getting impatient.
"Mr. Potter?" a familiar voice called out softly from behind me and Harry snapped into reality. He got on his feet and bowed in thanks to the elves who nodded in respect. Harry madae his way to Daphne and glared at her.
"Please understand time wasting I hate," he said coldly and ignored her chuckle.
"I had to make sure everything was in place and the one we seek had not failed to show up."
"Explain this meeting for me."
"After reaching out to all those I could, I found a member of the Lestrange's inner circle of cutthroats who frequents this purely Death Eater bar. If you should know, those select few who work under the brothers are held in high regard above ordinary Death Eaters."
"There are factions in Voldemort's camp?"
"Unfortunately there aren't," Daphne replied as they crossed the street and conversed in an alley. "I found a low ranking Death Eater who told me that there is a little spot here at Wand Street where such people gather about and that is where we are headed. Fenrir and his pack also frequent this place for fresh meat but as Merlin would have it, a full moon is close and their disgusting talents are required elsewhere so we can be assured of no lycan attack."
Harry took off his glasses and wiped his eyes in anxiety. He sniffed and then nodded his head in understanding.
"Mmm I see. Do tell me Miss Greengrass, what happened to said low ranking Death Eater you laid hands on?"
"I killed him," she replied flatly.
"Let's go then." They made their way out from the alley and crossed the street again before entering a great establishment whose doors opened at will. There were roughly hundreds of Death Eaters inside, all drinking and eating and shouting abuse at each other in the dimly lit space. Harry deflected a hex someone sent his way to a wall and stepped over a pool of blood some elves were trying to mop up.
"This was formerly a deposit point. People used to send and receive their Galleons without the hustle of going to Gringotts in Diagon Alley. Now it is a den of madness," Daphne told him as they tried to find a quiet place to sit. She took his hand and led him to a table in the far right corner of the bar and they sat down, getting a good view of everything going on. Harry could see a large image of him carved into the wall which was used as a target practice by the Death Eaters. He could see similar images of Dumbledore, Sirius, Professor McGonagall and other notary members of the Order being used in the same fashion.
"Where is our man," Harry said loudly above the awful din.
"Over there by the gramophone. Don't look at him right away," she replied and pointed at his direction with her head. She took out her wand and cast a hex at Harry's face and widened her eyes at him as he prepared to retaliate. Harry felt a slap on his back and a three Death Eaters surrounded their table.
"How does on ugly fella like you score such a nice lady," he asked and his companions laughed in support.
"I'm afraid my friend is unable to speak. Birth defect and all," Daphne responded coolly. Their apparent captain snickered and moved towards her.
"You're such a lovely bird ain't you?" he drawled and reached for her face. Daphne drew back, slashed his hand off with a cutting hex and drove a blade right down his throat. Harry quickly gutted the nearest Death Eater in a flash resulting in his guts spilling from under his coat and wasted no time in ending the last one.
"Sorry about that Mr. Potter you are easy to identify," she explained and pointed at his face.
"It fucking stings," he hissed and wiped the blood from his hands on a napkin as Daphne made the bodies disappear.
"Fortunately enough, nobody saw us," she started. "I think it's time to have a talk with the fellow."
"Do not be stupid. You will draw attention if you move towards him."
"That is the idea. I have a plan."
"Walk me through it."
"No time to explain. You'll know what to do. The minute I get to his table, turn off the music."
"Wait a minute – "
Daphne was up and gone before Harry could finish his sentence. As she made her way towards him, every head turned around to watch the dark haired witch who seemed to slow down time with every step she took.
Harry held his head in annoyance and took a deep breath before waving a hand at the gramophone, bringing to a screeching stop. The room grew silent and the only sound came from Daphne's boots as it made rhythmic taps on the floor boards as she circled around him and finally came to a stop as she dragged a chair back and took a seat.
"Mr. Harrison," she said in a bored tone.
"Miss Greengrass, funny to see you here," he replied softly and waved everyone's attention away. The room resumed its original state but the noise was more hushed this time.
"How may I help you?" he asked.
"You can tell me where your overlords took those two people you captured from Potter's mansion or you can sit down and wait for me to make you tell me," she said without a slightest bit of amusement and drummed her fingers on the table.
"Go fuck yourself Greengrass. Don't let me ruin you before Christmas," he responded curtly. From where he sat, Harry could see the Death Eaters in the room tightening their grip on their wands. He could notice the elves slowly retreating into the shadows and the noise in the room minimizing rapidly.
"Don't say I didn't warn you," she whispered and got on her feet, looking around the bar.
"It's got an upper floor," she muttered under her breath and shook her head sadly. "Three billion Galleons for the man or woman to kill Harry Potter," she said calmly and immediately there were hushed whispers around them. Harry growled from where he sat and lowered his hood. "I guess the snake finally revealed her true self," he muttered in boredom. "Fucking Trelawney and her fucking ambiguous prophecies." He could feel that his face had stopped stinging and gradually, the truth of what was about to happen dawned on him.
"Let's do this for Bella and Neville and Sirius and Amelia and the Order and Hogwarts," he counted and patiently waited for the right time to strike.
Harrison banged his fist on the table and the section of Death Eaters that worked directly under the Lestrange brothers gathered unto him. "You think you can walk in here and fuck around innit? You filthy uptight bitch!" he hissed.
"Four billion Galleons for the man or woman to kill Harry Potter," Daphne said again without a trace of fear and worked the room into a frenzy again.
"I'm up for it!" a voice called out from above her and there were similar shouts to accept the offer. One of the Death Eaters on Harrison's side made an attempt to silence Daphne but she conjured ropes with her wand and strangled him to a painful death.
"I will tell you where to find him to make the Dark Lord's Christmas memorable," she continued and looked with pity at the interest that formed on Harrison's face. "He's right there," she pointed at Harry.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Harry chanted and a weak jet of green light from his wand hit a Death Eater standing across him in the chest.
"GET HIM!" Daphne jinxed Harrison to the chair and turned into a jet of black smog and flew to the first floor. In one graceful swoop, she brought down ten Death Eaters before proceeding to empty the entire floor. She jumped from the railing and drove a cursed dagger into the skull of a Death Eater she landed on and banished her body into the pile of bodies above her.
Harry was cutting and hexing his away about the room and was doing a very good job of it. He ducked behind a pillar that was gradually losing its integrity from the wave of attacks it was receiving. Daphne felled another enemy in another swoop and chuckled when she saw Harry behind the pillar. Harry banished the furniture in front of him towards them and took advantage of the distraction and moved away from his position.
"INCIDIA!" he chanted and shielded his eyes as his enemies were scorched and screamed in pain. Daphne saw a group of Death Eaters attempting to apparate and cast a hex at them in mid-flight and killed them before they could spread the word. Harry using a dead body as a human shield blocked a rain of attacks from a team of Death Eaters and in a flick of his wand, brought them to their knees. He set off slitting their throats in rapid succession before roaring in anger.
"WHO IS NEXT?!" he bellowed and managed to dodge a curse that came rushing at him but didn't see the stunning hex and flew into the wall and stayed down. The Death Eaters prowled around him and before they could test to see if he was dead, he snapped his eyes open and speared the nearest one to the floor, killing the rest with a severing hex and pounding the face of his prey.
"WHERE ARE THEY?!" he roared and punched his face.
"ANSWER ME!" he roared again and this time used a broken chair leg as his instrument and kept on pounding at his face till all he could hear was squishy noises and the sound of wood hitting wood. He had pounded his face through till all that was left was face and brain and matter on the floor, a faceless corpse was Harry's final gift that day to the members of the dead Death Eaters on the other side and he was completely soaked with the blood of all his victims. He took off his glasses and wiped the blood on some dead person's shirt and limped towards Harrison and growled gently.
"I won't do any asking or you will die and days of work would go down the drain. Greengrass here will ask you the questions and you will answer accordingly," he said in a dead voice.
"Calm down Mr. Potter," Daphne said gently as she took notice of his blood soaked body.
"You think I'm afraid of you?" he hissed and spat at her which she caught in a bubble charm and discarded elsewhere.
"That is why you are a member of the so called Death Squad or whatever it is you people call yourselves. I wasn't expecting you to give me their location dear Mr. Harrison," she said in a seductive voice and straddled his thighs. Their prisoner looked at the hundreds of dead bodies around him and then at Harry and now Daphne who was on his laps.
"What are you doing?"
"Getting the information I need Mr. Harrison," she responded and run a finger through his thick hair before planting her lips on his. Harry watched in boredom as he struggled and kicked in the chair and Daphne's intense body response as she kissed him. Harry thought she was enjoying the kiss. After a few seconds, she drew back and got off his lifeless body, taking a moment to digest whatever information she had acquired.
"What the fuck are you?" Harry asked. "That was some Dementor's kiss shit you did and only person I have seen do that is Bellatrix back in our sixth year."
"Just complex magic made simple by practicing Mr. Potter," she answered and buttoned her coat.
"I know where your friends are. I think it is best if we had a hot shower and something to eat." Harry stood up and spat bone from his mouth. He took a look at the mass of bodies they had left behind in their wake and looked at his reflection in a pool of blood on the floor.
You have never been this violent before my dear boy
I just realized that Snakey. Something was very wrong with the way I fought today
Daphne Greengrass has an interesting effect on you. I can tell that you also have an interesting effect on her.
Harry averted his gaze from his bloody reflection and caught Daphne standing with a faraway look in her eyes as she adjusted to the number of deaths in the building. There was blood everywhere. She heard a painful cough behind her and ended the Death Eater's life with a Killing Curse.
"If we leave, the Death Eaters would assume it was the Order and innocent people will die as a result," Harry said quietly.
"We need to leave a message behind to show that the Order wasn't part of this then," she added. Harry nodded and took the wand of one of the fallen and waved it in the air. He took a step back when he was done and chuckled in amusement. "That ought to make them busy for a while," he muttered. Daphne looked at him curiously and read the sentence in the air:
This work of art was proudly brought to you by Berry Goosemonk
"Berry Goosemonk?" Daphne quizzed as she muttered incantations over the writing to make it untraceable.
"Long story you don't need to know," Harry replied and walked out of the door and unto the street.
