Chapter Forty-Eight: Zombies.
Another mother's breakin',
Heart is taking over.
When the vi'lence causes silence,
We must be mistaken.
"Zombies" - The Cranberries.
Harry simply stared for several moments, thoughts swirling and different beliefs and views trying to break through to the clarity. It was a question of faith, really, and credibility and who he could entrust these to. Could Dumbledore really have kept something so pivotal from him for so many years? There had been so many opportunities for the old wizard to tell him this, and it was hardly forgettable. Dumbledore had always been there for him, why would he purposely not clue him in on a piece of information like this, especially one so related to him? Especially one that was essentially him.
The fact that Draco had no reason to lie or deceive him pounded into his skull also, making the reasons to believe him more credible. The only way Draco would want to lie to him was if he really was on the dark side, and the whole kidnapping and escaping had simply been a ploy.
Harry glanced at the boy. He seemed sincere, and he hadn't gotten any indications that anything was wrong lately - Harry was usually in tune to those type of things. His instinct was second to none. The reasons for him being a horcrux were both convincing and entirely plausible, in fact, they made a lot of sense and cleared up a lot of issues and concerns he had.
"Potter? Look, I've no reason to lie. I'm nearly one hundred percent that you are the horcrux."
"But.. But, I couldn't be.. I mean, I'm - I'm me. Not him."
Draco was struck by how vulnerable the Golden Boy seemed, and though thoroughly disgusted by it, he also felt a little sympathy and attempted to empathise. "It doesn't mean you're him, it means there's a piece of him in you. It's obviously not controlling or overpowering you; the only problem would be that unless that part dies, he never can."
There was another pregnant pause. Harry frowned and stared at the blond across from him, getting his head around the idea. Debating and theorising. He couldn't fully believe it, and yet, he couldn't dismiss it either.
"Give me a few days to think it over. I don't know whether you're lying or are just wrong.. Or if you're right, but I need to think about. Talk abo-"
"-I don't think it would be wise to involve anyone else." Draco rushed out before he could stop himself, before he could smack his hand over his mouth or cast a spell to stop him talking. Before his brain could communicate a "stop!" to his mouth.
Harry stopped. "What?"
"Do you really want to tell Luna, Neville, Weasley and Hermione that you'll have to find a way to rid the soul from you? Do you want Neville and Weasley to begin looking at you differently? Because that's what'll happen. And Luna and Granger..no one needs another added pressure. I think we should keep it between ourselves."
Only part of what he said stuck with Harry, and he stuttered it out, "R-rid the soul.."
"Well, yeah, obviously we'll have to find a way to kill it?"
"By killing me." Harry suddenly realised, his tone flat yet clearly portraying his revelation.
"That's a last resort, if we can find anyth-"
"We've to kill the snake, the logical answer would be to kill me, too." His eyes flashed and he pulled at his hair in frustration. "This is so.. so… unfair! All my life, it was all leading up to this? All the fighting, paranoia, circles, lies and stress was not for relief in the future, but simply an end? My purpose is a pawn, and nothing more in life. I'm destined to die, and have been since birth, I was never meant to have a happy life or a peaceful one, was I? And Dumbledore fucking knew I would never get anything he spoke about, none of the love he was so fond of harping on about." He roared a little, picking up a vase on the nearby table and throwing it violently into the wall. His breath heaved and his hands shook, tremors of violence and inconsolable pain running through him simultaneously. Draco stood in shock, words lost on him as he saw the Boy-Who-Lived break down. He was fighting an internal battle of handling this himself, walking away or calling Hermione/Luna.
The lights began flickering then as Harry smashed and roared; Draco blinked astonishingly. He had never been aware that Harry was this powerful, never comprehended or even gave a thought that he would have such a range of magic inside of him - such that would rival the heirs had they not got their elemental powers.
"Harry.." he spoke cautiously, trying to draw the boy back to reality and the present.
He glanced up, startled. He locked eyes with Draco, and then walked backwards until he hit the wall, sliding down it when he did. Shoulders began to shake and hands went up to cover his face, sobs racking his entire form though without a sound emitting.
"Get…get.. Someone." It was a command from someone who had just had a complete breakdown, and the blond found himself oddly obligated to comply. He had no idea why, but didn't have time to ponder it. If he were to include someone, he would either have to tell them a lie or swear them to secrecy.
"Who? Do you want me to tell them everything?"
Harry stilled for a minute. "No. Get Hermione. Luna can't see me like this."
Draco was powerless to argue, and fetched the girl, feeding her a story of burdens and stress.
Four Weeks On
Hermione's face was ashen as the read the Daily Prophet, attempting studiously to ignore and take away the propaganda and bias that was littered throughout and knitted into the article. The reports were devastating, and each day she read them they seemed to get progressively worse, or it could be things just mounting and accumulating in her mind. Action needed to be taken she realised, as she read the heading on the paper again.
"Round them up and Kill them off"
The new law which entitled people to report muggle-borns they knew and prosecute them - or rather, have them arrested on the spot, wands snapped and sent to a newly modified Azkaban. The rumours about it were hideous enough - 'the screams are said to be heard from the Ministry," Molly Weasley had whispered to them, as if someone were to jump out at them.
The world for them had changed drastically, everything was checking your back and watching your surroundings. They were nomadic at this point; the heirs, that is. Moving from location to location as to keep their whereabouts constantly shrouded in mystery. For the most part, their friends were kept with them, but there were instances where they had been split up in high alert times. Grimmauld had been deemed unfit as a safehouse since no one truly trusted Snape, despite Lucius' claims. It had been but a little over five weeks since the battle at Hogwarts, and yet everything had changed as it could over the space of the decade.
Hermione's eyes strayed back to the front page and she felt enraged; this had to be stopped.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs and Hermione glanced at the clock: seven AM. That was probably Pansy then, who was surprisingly the earliest riser second to Hermione. They had developed a routine of having breakfast together, sometimes chatting, sometimes finding comfort in the amicable silence.
Pansy gave her a small smile, "Morning."
Hermione returned the greeting, but then turned back to her tea and awaited Pansy's seating. She took to gazing at the paper's photograph again, trying to gage as much as she could and charge enough emotion to get her brain thinking and developing a plan; she couldn't go on like this, and action had to be taken soon. There had been too much talk lately and not enough action. She had made her resolve and that was that.
"What's new?" Pansy asked, gesturing to the paper as she took her seat across from the Ravenclaw heir.
"Laws. Muggle-borns being thrown into Azkaban and their wands snapped.. Either killed in there or tortured. Apparently some are taken in by the hierarchy of the ministry.."
"Which means some low-life Death Eater takes the pretty girls and decides to keep them as pets.." Pansy replied, disgusted.
Hermione nodded tautly, not trusting herself to speak as a string of profanities may be the only thing to come out. She waited several moments for her temper to settle a little, and then broke the quiet, "It's not right, Pansy. We can't just sit around and hope that the right opportunity presents itself to us.. We have to strike while surprise is on our side, and we have to stop this- this… genocide that will occur from happening. This mirrors World War II in so many ways."
The girls then discussed what they could possibly do, talking at length with each option and each obstacle to said option. And god, there were so many obstacles. Hermione was now beginning to remember why they hadn't struck yet - it was so hard to find a good plan, a good strategy. She supposed though, that no matter how much they planned, no matter how fine their details were, they couldn't predict what would happen accurately and the plan would never go off flawlessly.
But one always hopes.
One by one, people began to filter into the kitchen, some useless before breakfast, others chirping on about the weather as they boiled the kettle. Pansy and Hermione both agreed to hold their conversation until everyone was present, hoping to tell everyone their idea's and that they'd agree.
At the moment, there were quite a few in the house where they were residing the past few days; Hermione, Luna, Neville, Draco, Harry, Pansy, Blaise, Ginny, Remus and Lucius.
They were just the right group the start off with, to form a steady plan before presenting it to Kingsley, McGonagall, and pretty much the hierarchy of the Order.
As soon as everyone was in the kitchen - Harry entering last - Hermione cleared her throat. Over the low hum of chatter, she went unheard. Pansy rolled her eyes after several clearings of the throat and put her hands in her mouth and whistled loudly.
"Listen up!" They were now the centre of attention, and Pansy nodded towards Hermione with a smirk, "the floor is now yours, Granger."
"Show off." Hermione grumbled under her breath. She raised her voice then, "This morning, when I woke up I was met with another round of horrors in the paper. It's daily now, the killings and murders, and its daily that we sit around and do nothing but talk and speculate. We say we try and help, try and protect, but do we really?
"We've done nothing of the sort so far. Perhaps we defended one or two classmates or family friends from the dark, but that's the extent of it. We should be doing more. We keep talking about how we will defeat them - but when? When are we really going to get up and do it?
"It's needed now more than ever. People are dying everyday, and we are powerless unless we strike. Let's not let another mother, father, daughter, son, cousin, grandparent die because of this. We need to formulate a plan because as of this morning, all muggle-borns are being thrown into Azkaban. And you know what Molly says about that place these days." Hermione finished, her gaze forlorn as she finished, a clear sadness emanating as she thought again of what the woman said.
Pansy took it up then, "We've been discussing it, and have concluded that we need to make a plan and go through with it. Soon. We talk of striking when they least expect it - but the perfect opportune moment is never going to present itself. We need to do this and get it over with."
"No matter how scared we may be." Hermione added softly.
It was one of those speeches that had followed with a dead silence, like many others they had endured. Every person in the room was thinking deeply on what the two girls had just said and the implications of what exactly they had just proposed if they were to go through with it.
"This Azkaban lark, it's a new law?" Lucius questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Pansy nodded, "Yeah, no one's safe really. Muggle-borns are just the first on the list, I'm sure there'll be more."
"Blood Traitors next." Ginny sighed.
Remus; "Werewolves."
"The beautiful people." Blaise announced sadly.
Hermione looked at him oddly, "Voldemort has never expressed a-"
"We needed some comic relief, and why wouldn't he resent us? He used to be one and now he's ugly as hell... And I felt obliged to add something as everyone else had been covered. I mean, heirs and Potter are pretty much covered. Ginny, Pansy, Lucius and Neville are blood traitors. Remus a werewolf. Twas just me left."
"Why aren't you a blood traitor?" Ginny asked, her expression quizzical.
Blaise shot her a glance, looking as if he were going to respond, but then came out with: "Ssh, Weasley, listen to the girls."
"We're straying too far now." Draco shot Blaise an exasperated look, and then turned to the girls at the top of the room. "What have you come up with then?"
"Well, we haven't-"
Pansy cut her off, looking sheepish, "I actually have thought of something that I didn't bring up." Hermione looked surprised, along with a little embarrassed and a smidgen of hurt. "I didn't mean not to tell you, I just needed to think it over first. But I have got an idea.."
"An idea?" Harry repeated.
"A proposition. Surely, there's an even higher price on Hermione's head now? Not only is she an heir, Potters friend, but she's also a muggle-born and, ludicrously, it is now illegal for them to be in possession of a wand…"
It seemed to take everyone longer to catch on, but Hermione and Draco both said in perfect unison, "You want to use me/her as bait?"
"Bait is a harsh term to use. But, essentially, yes. Think about it. She would be taken into the Ministry easily and once presented to Voldemort for him to snap her wand - because he'll relish that kind of power with her - she could send some sort of signal..?"
"The Dark Lord will personally want to break Granger's wand.. And I could bring her in quite easily in the name of becoming his servant again and under the pretence of breaking Draco free being simply me trying to capture Granger for him. However, the signal is what will need to be determined. It will be tricky.." Lucius trailed off, lost in his train of thought.
"Malfoy could indeed bring her in, without seeming too out of place. And he could be viewed as a spy, rather than a traitor. Provided they allow him to explain before killing him." Remus added with a wry smile.
"That is not of importance," Lucius waved him off, "Most of them are afraid of me."
"Nobody seems to be worried that she would be walking into the dragon's lair?" Harry questioned, seeking support from those around the table. "Ginny? She was your best friend for many years and helped you so much. Luna? That one is spoken for, isn't it? Your best friend. Neville? She's been your friend since you boarded the express way back in first year and has not stopped supporting you since then. Remus? Your brightest student who looked up to you as if you were gods gift to defence against the dark arts. Lucius? Well, I suppose you won't care. Blaise? You two have become close friends, and you were infatuated with her sister. And Draco, need I start there either? The first girl you've ever truly cared about?"
Draco glowered slightly at that statement, but managed to retain it before he said anything rash. "Yes, Potter, we all clearly hold a candle for Granger, but it may be our last option.." His eyes strayed from Harry's to meet Hermione, who had yet to comment on the whole idea.
"Yes, its not ideal, and Hermione is my best friend and I love her, but if there was anyone who could do this it would be Hermione. Who brought us all together and formed our alliance, who performed the promise between us and has a unique tie to all of us. But, more importantly pertaining to this, the smartest witch of our generation and one of the most powerful. I have to trust that she is the best for the job, and that she will be okay." Luna stared at her best friend in the eyes as she said all of this, conveying the affection she had for the brunette but the conviction she had in her words. She felt Hermione was the right person to do it.
It seemed that everyone turned to Hermione then, all figuring that the ball was now in her court and given everyone's opinions, it was now up to her to decide what to do. It was a lot of pressure, and she hated falling from people's expectations. How could she say no? She had done so many things in the past that had put her in danger - mostly due to being Harry Potter's best friend - but this would by far surpass any of that. She glanced at the newspaper that was still in her hand and her expression twisted - no one besides she and Pansy had seen it yet.
With a disgusted glance, she threw the paper onto the table. "I'll do anything to stop that." And she walked out of the room.
Draco looked after her briefly, and then picked up the paper. It was a photograph of a young girl, their age, lying on her side, alternating between screaming hysterically and crying quietly. There were blood stains on her forehead and all over her body, bruises littering her skin and blood matting her hair. Her wand lay snapped at her side.
The broken, destroyed and tortured expression on her face would stay with him forever.
It had to be stopped.
A/N: Thank you so much for all of your reviews, they truly, genuinely, reallly keep my writing :) It was pointed out to me that some of you have now been reading this two years, which is both shocking and depressing to me. I never even realised it! What a ridiculous amount of time for this.. However, you will be happy to know, that it will DEFINITELY be finished before 2011. Three/Four chapters left, depending on whether I choose to do a concluding chapter.
So, the end is finally in sight! Hopefully you've enjoyed the ride, and will stay for the end :) Now, the last thing I have to address is my latest predicament: I need someone's help to decide something minorly pivotal in the story. It's pivotal in that moment, but won't quite matter in the long run. It will spoil a little for this person, but I would truly appreciate someone's opinion on it as I can't decide. I have a few options, and just need help on picking one. So, anyone interested, please just leave a message in your review :) Or PM, either way is great.
Oh, and before I leave off, new poll on my page if you're interested and fancy taking part ;) My last one concluded that Draco/Hermoine canon or H/Hr is the next thing to be written. Anyway, bientot :)
xCNx
