29
Return and Departure
It was after nine by the time Lupin walked into the private waiting room at St. Mungo's with a solemn Harry following behind him. As soon as she saw him, Mrs. Weasley jumped up and ran to Harry, wrapping her arms around him tightly.
"Oh, thank God you're all right, Harry," Molly said as she kissed his forehead and pulled his head onto her shoulder. "You had us all worried sick."
"I'm sorry," Harry said. "I didn't mean to make everyone mad at me. I wasn't thinking right."
"No one here is mad at you, Harry," Arthur said as he stepped closer. "We understand. No one here has been in their right mind lately."
"It's good to see you back, mate," Ron said as he came over and gave Harry an uncustomary hug as well. "I was just about ready to set out looking for you myself."
"He wouldn't have been alone either," Bill said as he stepped close and shook Harry's hand. "Charlie, Fred, George, Percy, Ron and I were conspiring to drag you back here."
"I am 'appy you 'ave returned as well, 'arry," Fleur said as she placed a light kiss on his cheek.
"It's good to see all of you again," Harry said trying to be as cheerful about it as possible, even though his emotions were still a bit raw. "When did you get here?"
"Shortly after you left," Charlie said. "Everyone was in quite a state when we first arrived. Things calmed down a bit after McGonagal sent word that Lupin had you."
"I guess I'm lucky he found me when he did," Harry said.
"Still," Hermione said, "we were getting worried when you didn't come back."
"I wanted to," Harry assured them. "I just had to take some time to realize exactly where I fit in this war."
"Did you?" Charlie asked.
"I think it was a beginning," Harry replied. "I still have some growing to do yet though. Did Neville and Luna leave?"
"Kingsley and Tonks took them back to Hogwarts a while ago," Ron said.
"Neville didn't want to go though, Harry," Hermione said as she pulled Harry's wand out and handed it back to him. "He wanted you to know that he only took your wand out of your pocket to keep it from breaking. He was so upset by it they nearly had to stun him to make him leave."
"I'll have to get a message to him to let him know that I appreciate what he did," Harry said. "Things might have been worse if I had it with me"
"What happened?" Ron asked before he realized he shouldn't have.
Harry looked at all of the people listening and he said, "I'm kind of thirsty. I think I'm going to go and find something to drink. Ron, would you and Hermione come with me? I'd like to know anything else the healers might have said about Ginny."
"Sure, Harry," Ron said as he looked to Hermione for confirmation. "We'll walk with you."
Once back out in the hallway, Harry walked toward the place the thought he remembered there being a small cafeteria. Ron and Hermione fell in step with him, but remained silent, waiting for Harry to speak.
"The Prophet knows about what happened," Harry said. "There are reporters all over the lobby. They were all asking me about the attack. How can I tell them? I can hardly make sense of it myself."
"Don't worry about the Prophet, Harry," Hermione advised. "Let the Ministry explain to them how this could have taken place."
"It just makes me sick to think about it," Harry said sadly. "Voldemort didn't care who he hurt. He was just trying to get to me, and it worked."
"Why did he have to pick Ginny?" Ron asked.
"If he hadn't it would have been Hermione," Harry said, "or you. He wanted to do this to someone he knew I cared about."
"We're not going to let you pull away from us because of this, Harry," Hermione said. "We won't let you shut us out just because you think it puts us in danger."
"I don't want to," Harry said. "I just feel so helpless right now. I need you to help me find something I can do to help Ginny."
"Just being here is all we can do, Harry," Hermione said as she spotted the door to a small chapel and stopped in front of it. "And we can pray."
Voldemort looked up from his chair to see Lucius walk into the room and bow before him as he said, "My master, I have a report you will be interested to hear."
"Speak, Lucius," Voldemort said guessing what the report may be about.
"The death eaters watching the-boy-who-must-not-be-named's house report that he was seen there this evening," Lucius said with a smile. "According to their report, he looked and sounded as if he had been driven mad. He stood in front of his house calling to them to come and take him. Flint said he could have captured him if the Order hadn't arrived and taken him away."
"It would have meant death for him if he had," Voldemort said with an almost happy expression on his face. "They were told to watch the house and report. Make sure he remembers that. Harry is not to be touched. Especially not now that he is hurting so deeply. In a couple of weeks, the potion will rise to it's full potential, and there will be nothing the healers can do to stop her anguish. I want Harry to watch her final days of pain as she squirms in her bed. It will weaken him more in the long run than anything else I could have done to him."
"You are wise, my Lord," Lucius said with another bow.
"Unleash the dementors, Lucius," Voldemort ordered. "Let them feed. Soon, we'll break the spirit of the Ministry and the Order just as we have with Harry."
One week later, Mrs. Weasley walked into the waiting room they had all come to know so well to find Ron and Hermione huddled together on the sofa.
"Where's Harry?" Molly asked with a touch of alarm.
"He's in the chapel again," Ron said. "He's spending more and more time there lately. He's getting desperate for some good news."
"I think we all are," Molly said as she fought to control her tears. "The attacks during the last week have pushed the Order and the Ministry to their limits trying to control it. It's tearing your father and I apart to have to spend so much time away from Ginny. Our only saving grace is knowing that you three are here to watch after her."
"It's hard enough for us to watch," Ron admitted, "but I don't know how much more Harry can take. The healers let us go in and see her again. While we were there, she had another spasm of pain. The healers had to increase the painkiller again. Harry was in tears when he ran out of there and straight to the chapel."
"We all just feel so helpless," Hermione said. "There has to be some way to break though the spell on that potion."
"The healers are trying," Molly assured them. "Professor Slughorn and Professor Lupin have been working on it as well. They haven't had any luck so far either. I think we could all do with a small miracle jut about now."
Just then, there was a commotion in the hallway as the aurors posted outside the doors stopped someone from entering. They were not at all surprised. Since they had been there, several people had tried to slip past the aurors for one reason or another. Molly pulled the door open slightly to look to see whom it was this time.
"Mrs. Malfoy?" Molly asked as she opened the door wider. "What are you doing here?"
"Mrs. Weasley, I'm so sorry about your daughter," Narcissa said. "I had to come to tell you that, and I wanted to see Harry. I don't have much time."
"Harry is in the chapel down the hall," Hermione said anxiously as she walked next to Mrs. Weasley. "I can show you where it is if you would like."
"Oh, thank you," Narcissa said. "I would appreciate it."
Hermione walked out of the room followed closely by Ron, who walked just behind the two women as they made their way to the chapel at a quick pace. They came to the open door and paused at the doorway seeing Harry sitting in the front pew with his head in his hands.
"Harry," Hermione said softly making Harry look up and turn around, "there's someone here to see you."
Narcissa stepped into the small room and Harry shot out of his seat to walk over to her urgently as he said, "You shouldn't be here. The hospital isn't protected. Voldemort can find you here."
"I had to come," Narcissa said, "no matter the danger to me."
"I have to get you out of here," Harry said as he reached out and took hold of her hand and turned to Hermione. "I'll take her to my house for now. I'll come back as soon as I can."
With that, Harry and Narcissa disapparated. Narcissa was surprised when her body seemed to lighten momentarily just as the view before her eyes shifted instantly to the entry hall of Harry's house.
"How did you…" Narcissa began in amazement.
"What were you thinking?" Harry asked as he turned and walked into his living area. "You know it isn't safe for you to be away from a protected area. I can guarantee you that Voldemort is still looking for you."
"I couldn't stand it any longer," Narcissa confessed. "I was sitting in number twelve for a week after I found out what happened to Ginny Weasley. I knew how much you must have been hurting. You did so much to help me when I needed it, I just had to come and tell you how sorry I was."
"I appreciate that," Harry said. "I really do, but…"
"I know I was taking a chance," Narcissa said as her eyes moistened. "That was the only thing that kept me from coming to you as soon as I read what happened. I just couldn't stop thinking about Draco, and how I would feel if he were the one in that hospital bed. I thought that if I made my visit short, I could be in and out before Voldemort had a chance to find me, or worse, take control of me and use me for something awful."
"But you could have…" Harry began before what she had said caught up to him. "Wait. What do you mean, take control of you?"
"He has the power to connect with his death eaters through their dark mark," Narcissa explained thinking Harry already knew. "He can control their mind and, therefore, their actions."
Harry slapped his hand to his forehead as the pieces suddenly slipped into place in his mind and he said, "Please excuse me for a minute."
Harry ran out of his living room and up the stairs two at a time as he thought about what he needed. Narcissa walked back to the entry and watched as, he frantically opened a door she had never noticed at the top of the stairs.
Fred and George looked up from the table they were staring at as they heard the insistent banging on the front door of their shop.
George instantly pointed his wand at the table and said, "I didn't do it, I swear."
Fred made sure all was secure in the back room before he peered out at the front of the shop and said, "It's Harry. He has bloody scary timing sometimes, George. If I didn't know better I would say he's reading our minds."
"I feel sorry for him then," George said with a grin as they walked to the door and unlocked it.
"Come in, Harry," Fred said as his brother opened the door.
"Why was the door locked?" Harry asked. "It's the middle of the day. Why isn't anyone on the street?"
"Dementors," George said as he closed and locked the door again. "They've been swarming over the street periodically. People are trying to lay low for a while."
"We don't mind," Fred said. "It gave us a bit of time to work."
"The map?" Harry asked as Fred and George looked at one another and grinned.
"We just finished it this morning," George said. "We had just tested it when you started banging on the door."
"Good," Harry said. "I need to use it right away."
"I'll get it," Fred said as he shot his brother a quizzical look.
"We changed the words to erase the parchment to 'I didn't do it, I swear', Harry," George said as Fred was off getting the map. "Everything else seems to work just like you asked for."
"So, what are you going to do with it first, Harry," Fred asked as he walked back in and handed Harry the new map.
"I'm going to find a cure for Ginny," Harry said looking more serious than either of them had seen him in recent years.
"How are you going to do that?" George asked as Harry's likely path flowed into his mind and disturbed him slightly.
"However I have to," Harry replied.
"We're going with you, Harry," George stated.
"If it's a cure for Ginny we want to help," Fred argued.
"Not this time," Harry said as he back up a step. "I have to do this on my own."
"What are you planning to do?" Fred asked with concern, sensing that Harry was planning something crazy.
"Make a deal with a devil," Harry said just before he disapparated, and left them both with wide eyes knowing that they needed to tell someone right away.
