Harry entered the kitchen of Grimauld place with Ron, Hermione, and Dobby following directly behind him. He had expected to see the same overwhelming number of Order members that had been present when he had first arrived to still be there, they were not, however. In fact, the only ones who remained were Lupin, Professor McGonagall, Mrs. Weasley and two others Harry had never met before and had only seen around from time to time.
Almost immediately Mrs. Weasley caught sight of the three and hurried up to them. Once she was within arm's reach she took hold of Harry drawing him into a tight hug and Harry noticed that her eyes were red and her cheeks had only recently dried tears.
"I'm so glad to see that you are all okay, dears, Ron told me you were of course, but I needed to see for myself." Mrs. Weasley said, releasing Harry and redirecting her attention to Hermione "Oh and Hermione, dear, you're safe as well, I'm so pleased." Mrs. Weasley then brought Hermione into a tight hug
"Thank you Mrs. Weasley, I'm happy to see you again too." Hermione said, allowing Mrs. Weasley to hold her as long as she wished
After some time Mrs. Weasley let go of Hermione, took a couple steps back and looked at them while putting on a false smile for their benefit, though they knew that she did not really mean it.
"Well, Remus has filled me in and I think I'd better go tend to Ginny and the others upstairs, I'm sure they could use some comforting too." Mrs. Weasley said attempting to broaden her smile but not being able to and stepping to the side and heading out of the kitchen
"Mum," Ron said as he turned around before Mrs. Weasley could make it fully out the door. "Do you know where Dad's gone?"
"I'm afraid Minerva had something most urgent that she needed him to do." Mrs. Weasley said faintly, abandoning her false smile and exiting the room.
Harry sighed heavily at the thought of the state Mrs. Weasley was in. He knew for a fact that her greatest fear was losing her family and in one night her youngest child had been put in tremendous danger and then her husband was sent on some sort of arrant that she did not seem to like what so ever. All in all it had been a very rough night, or morning; however you cared looked at it, for Mrs. Weasley and, indeed, everyone.
After a brief pause, Harry took a deep breath then made his way to the table and sat down a few chairs away from the end where Professor McGonagall was seated, across from Lupin and the two others, and with Ron and Hermione on either side of him. Harry put on what he was confident was a calm and resolute expression, something he thought might give him a better chance of getting the information he wanted to know easier than his normal demands while in a huff.
"Listen, we need to talk to you." Harry said not addressing anyone in particular, unsure of where to begin but realizing as he said the words that it was pretty obvious why they were there. "I need to talk to you, really. I need to know what the Order is planning on doing about Hogwarts."
"I take it from their brass that these are the three you've told me about Remus?" The man sitting closest to Lupin spoke up and Harry was paying him so little attention that he didn't even register his accent.
"Yes, they are." Lupin said "Harry, Hermione, Ron, this is Patrick Holcomb. He's a Werewolf from America who has been assisting us on a few matters, and the woman sitting next to him Ursula Snippet, you may recognize her from the Bristol Banshees." Both Snippet and Holcomb nodded to Harry, Ron, and Hermione in acknowledgement of being introduced.
"Now Mr. Potter, what preciously do you mean by what are we planning to do?" Professor McGonagall said, raising an eyebrow
"You know perfectly well what I mean, unless of course you intend to leave Voldemort in control of Hogwarts." Harry said "And as I'm fairly certain that you're not going to let him I'm just asking what and when you're planning on doing something about it."
"Dobby, why don't you sit down?" Hermione asked him, taking advantage of the small stint of silence and motioning to the chair next to her as he was still standing behind Harry.
"No thank you mi – sit down Dobby – " Dobby was saying when Harry interrupted him and he sat down as instructed
"Well Mr. Potter I would not ordinarily divulge such information to you for reasons I'm sure you are aware of. However, I think the present situation is worthy enough to deem placing those reasons aside for the time being." McGonagall said and continued, understanding Harry's agreement without him having to say anything, it was clear "We are presently assembling every member of the Order that can possibly be spared, then we will be contacting several trustworthy magical families who are not members; in addition, those families will be finding individuals who they think will be willing to help. We do not as of yet know when we will be prepared to enact our plan, though we are hoping that it will not be too long."
"We need you not to…" Harry stopped mid-sentence at the sound of the front door being flung open into the wall with a loud crash and then being slammed shut.
"Filth!... Scum!... Blood traitors!... Mudbloods!... Disgraces to the noble name of Black!... Leave this house!..." The Portrait in the hall screamed and Harry wondered if he would ever be able to come to this house without having to deal with the horrid thing.
"Shut up you old HAG!" Bellowed a deep, angry, voice that Harry had never heard before, yet sounded oddly familiar, and the screaming stopped; whoever it was must have forced the curtains closed.
As soon as the noise of the portrait had gone the sound of pounding footsteps could be heard making their way to the kitchen. The footsteps were coming quickly and seemed to be hitting the floor much harder than was normal, though as to whether this was by accident or on purpose could not be told.
"Scrimgeour's a cowardly rat!" Wulfric announced loudly in the same unusually deep voice that he spoke with in the hall as he entered the kitchen "Honestly, can't we just once have a Minister with a consistent amount of backbone!"
Wulfric's tone and the manner in which he spoke, especially about Scrimgeour, was more than enough to thoroughly surprise Harry. After all, the only times they had ever seen each other Wulfric had always been very soft toned and polite without the smallest hint of anger or temper. What was more, he was Dumbledore's son, and Dumbledore was known for not having a temper and not raising his voice on any given occasion, but then, Wulfric was not Dumbledore, only his son. So there were bound to be differences when concerning such things.
"Not go well did it, Wulfric?" Snippet said shaking her head, clearly knowing the answer already.
"Putting it that way would be one of the biggest understatements I've ever heard in my life!" Wulfric said, walking up behind a chair and putting his hands on the back "It was more or less a total waste of time for everyone involved!"
"Calm down Wulfric," McGonagall said, giving him a curious look "We need to know what happened. We do not, on the other hand, need to hear you rant about your displeasure at what has happened."
"You are correct, I do apologize." Wulfric said, returning to his normal soft tone after taking a quick deep breath. "As planned I went to Scrimgeour's residence to inform him of what had transpired as well as to discuss with him the matter of the Order assisting in the solution. However, it immediately came to my attention when I arrived that he was already aware of the knowledge I had been intent on giving him. Naturally I moved on to the secondary issue and merely mentioned that he might want to consider letting me contact the Order of the Phoenix about assisting the Auror Office and the rest of the Ministry in fixing the present problem, but he would hear nothing of it. It did not matter what I said he wouldn't listen to me and said that it would be a foolish move for the Ministry to enlist the help of the Order as it would demonstrate to the public that we support the Order and that might not be true in every sense. Also, the man then proceeded to say that such an act would make the British Ministry appear week in the eyes of the wizarding world. Make us look as if we could not do even so much as protect, or recover, our own prestigious magical school without the help of others who are in affect criminals for taking the law into their own hands."
"What an ignorant arse, he's worrying about politics at a time like this?" Hermione said, outraged "Does he not realize that there wouldn't be a Ministry right now if it weren't for the Order?"
"Oh I quite agree with you Ms. Granger, the man is an ignorant arse and I've never liked him in the position he's in." Said Wulfric
"Well with this news we better get going." Holcomb said as stood along with Snippet and nodded his head towards Professor McGonagall
"This is all very fascinating, but I do believe that Harry was trying to say something before he was interrupted by Wulfric and this flurry of Minister bashing." Ron said quickly before anyone else could start talking again "Harry,"
"Oh, umm, thanks Ron," Harry began, trying to remember what he was saying "As I was going to say. Whenever it is that you will have everybody ready and are going to attack the school we need you to let us know and… and we need you not to do anything until we take care of something and let you know it's okay to proceed."
"I beg your pardon Mr. Potter but I'm afraid that it completely out of the question." McGonagall said vehemently, her lips pursing tightly "And I resent you informing us of what you require of us in such a manner as if you were the one running the Order and not myself."
"I must agree with McGonagall, Harry, what you have asked is not only out of the question it is out of line." Lupin said, looking even more shocked by what Harry had said than McGonagall "Firstly, you didn't even ask, you commanded. Secondly, you are not a Member of the Order meaning you have no right to tell us what you need us to do to make whatever you three are doing successful. That is your responsibility and we have our own to take care of and can not afford to be bothered by yours, I'm sorry; however that is the truth of it. And if I might say, we have offered before to help and you have turned us down."
"I'm not telling you this because it will help us do what we're trying to." Harry said, feeling the familiar sense of annoyance when dealing with the Order and Lupin and McGonagall in particular, something that never used to be the case and he did not like it in the slightest. "I told you what I did because it's better for you, me, and everyone if you do what I asked."
"We understand that this is a lot to ask when you don't know why we're asking or what we're doing or how it will help and that we didn't approach you in the best way." Hermione paused and glanced at Wulfric hoping to get some support but knew once she saw him that it was not coming, at least not yet, he looked more than happy to stand where he was and not get involved. "Though, it really would be best for everyone if we can corporate on this and agree to take action together rather than apart when the other side does not feel it the right time to do so."
"And ya' know you guys haven't been all that helpful so far." Ron said, shrugging and giving McGonagall and Lupin a look
"Ron! You… oh… never mind." Hermione said with a roll of her eyes and a shake of her head
"Yes, Ms. Granger, I'm sure that what you said would indeed be in the best interests for every individual involved, and if we did do that we would, at the very least, need to have some semblance of a reason as to why we should do it on your terms as apposed to our own." Said McGonagall
"And as we've already been down this road on many an occasion, and as we've already promised not to ask you about what you're doing again, I think we have reached a dead end in this discussion." Lupin said with a certain amount of frustration in his voice
After Lupin spoke the seven sat in total silence. None had anything to say and all knew that Lupin was right and that they had reached an undeniable end for their talks that there seemed to be no way of getting out of.
"Well, I do believe that should be good." Wulfric said knowingly, shattering the silence that had been growing and drawing wondering looks from the others "McGonagall, Remus, you would both do well not to disregard what these three have to say so easily. As I'm sure you are about to ask me, I can not tell you why you would do well to do so, only that you would. Further more; you would also do well not to execute the Order's plans until they have told you it is the appropriate time."
"You wait until now to speak up?" Ron said, rolling his eyes as if to say that his interjection would have been appreciated much sooner
"I thought now was the best time I could have entered into this conversation." Said Wulfric
McGonagall stared Wulfric in his eye and gave him very quizzical look then opened her mouth to say something when somebody else spoke instead.
"I hope all of you were having fun talking about whatever it is that you were talking about but I'm afraid I have to break it up now." A drawl voice said from the door
Instantly everyone at the table turned to see Malfoy and his mother standing at the door with their wands pointed out at them; they had all been so focused on Wulfric that none of them had noticed the Malfoys come in.
"Malfoy, you…" Harry was cut across by Malfoy
"Ought, ought Potter, I would keep my mouth shut and stay put if I were you." Malfoy said, motioning his wand downward a few times as Harry was about to stand before he said anything "I assure you, anyone so much as twitches toward their wands my mother and I will use the killing curse on whomever our wands happen to end up pointing at."
Harry wasn't sure whether or not to believe Malfoy when he said that if they went for their wands that he would kill one of them. He wasn't, after all, able to carry out killing Dumbledore last year and only stalled until he could get some back up, though this time he looked far different than he had on the top of the tower. He looked calm and prepared to actually have to kill someone if need be and this time there was no chance of getting help from other Death Eaters, they wouldn't be able to enter the house or even find it. He would have to do it himself if there was killing to do. Harry was sure, on the other hand, that Mrs. Malfoy was more than capable of carrying out the threat her son had made. So, until he knew one way or another Malfoy's state Harry decided he would sit there and not give the Malfoys any reason to kill anyone, and he hoped the others would do the same.
"How the bloody hell did you two get out of that room?" Ron said keeping his eye on their wands and Harry wished he would've just kept his mouth shut.
"I lets'd them outs." Kreacher said happily, poking his head out from behind Malfoy with a twisted smile
"I didn't tell you to do that!" Harry said angrily, hating Kreacher more every time he saw him
"Masters did not tells me not to lets out the masters Malfoys either." Kreacher said, his smile growing wider
"Kreacher you traitorous little…" Harry stopped himself before finishing his sentence
"Do watch that temper of yours Potter." Said Malfoy, reminding Harry terribly of how Voldemort often spoke to him "Your wretched little house elf was most helpful to my mother and me. He gave us all sorts of very interesting information and helped us get more done than we ever could have hoped, and, he gave us back our wands. So perhaps you should treat him a bit nicer."
"Kreacher has been a very bads house elf, he shoulds nots do things his master doesn'ts likes." Dobby said as he jumped down from his chair and started advancing on Malfoy's position
"No Dobby, stop." Harry ordered him and he stopped dead in his tracts, glaring at Kreacher "I'm ordering you and Kreacher to go back to Hogwarts right now, and don't tell anyone anything about what's going on here or anything else. And no fighting, are we clear?"
Kreacher merely muttered something under his breath, glared at Harry and Dobby and disappeared. Dobby, nodded, turned around to face Harry, bowed to him and then disappeared as well.
"Trying to protect the ickle house elves are you, very admiral Mr. Potter." Mrs. Malfoy spoke for the first time
"Hmph, it will do you no good, I'll just send word to my father about those two. I think I might even have him stuff our good ol' Dobby, he'd make a very nice decoration, don't you think Mother."
"You vile little ferret!" Hermione yelled and Malfoy sneered at her, but Harry was more concerned about Malfoy's reference to his father
"Shut up Hermione. What are you talking about Malfoy? Your father's dead, I saw it happen. That's why you followed me and asked for help, because you were afraid Voldemort would kill you and your mother." Harry said, realizing that there had to be more to what was happening than he knew, otherwise the Malfoys wouldn't be standing there with their wands primed for attack.
"Honestly Potter, I never would have thought you would've been as big a fool as you are if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes." Malfoy said, scoffing arrogantly at Harry "What you saw was only what the Dark Lord wanted you to see, wasn't it, nothing more. I saw my father the day I went to find you lot and he was very much alive when I did. In fact, the Dark Lord chose him to lead the attack on your dear Hogwarts. As for me, my mission was to get as much information as I could on the Order of the Phoenix and lead the Death Eaters straight here."
"If I may ask but one question my good sir, who's body was it that my office found washed up on the shores of the Thames River? Since it was obviously not Lucius Malfoy and really some other poor soul's body transfigured to look like him." Wulfric questioned Malfoy very calmly; astonishing Harry even in their present state that such a thing could be possible.
"How am I supposed to know who it was, it doesn't really matter, does it? It just matters that the Dark Lord was able to do it and that it fooled all of you." Said Malfoy, looking as if he were getting impatient
"Very well then, I have one more question for you if you would permit me." Wulfric said unfalteringly
"No, I would not permit! I'd really like you all to just shut up!"
"Very well then, I beg your pardon." Wulfric said and both the Malfoys wrinkled their faces in giving him odd looks.
"It won't work you know Draco." Lupin spoke up after the brief silence that ensued from Malfoy's command "Even if the Death Eaters do find their way to just outside this house's door it will do them no good, they will not be able to get in."
"Could you just once try thinking above the limits of your minuscule Werewolf brain?" Malfoy scoffed and Harry wanted to jump from his seat and knock Malfoy senseless, and he was sure Ron and Hermione wanted to do the same "They don't have to be able to find this place and get in it. They just have to wait outside of where they've been taken so that they can ambush anybody who cares to come or go, and since everyone who does will all be killed no one will know that anything's going on for some time; meaning that by the time they do figure it out the Dark Lord will have finally crippled this pesky little peasant convention."
"Surely you must know, Mr. Malfoy, that we have other ways of entering and exiting this house." Professor McGonagall said
"Of course you do, but I've been watching whenever I can. Practically everyone comes in the front door and if you can't tell anyone to use those other ways so they don't get killed it doesn't do you much good does it? Besides, that's why I'm here, to make sure if anyone does decide to use the Floo Network that I can take care of them. Now all of you shut up!"
It was when Malfoy was saying this last bit that Harry saw something in his eyes and on his face. It was only a flicker of something for less than an instant but Harry was sure he had seen it and he was sure of what it was. Malfoy hadn't changed one bit since seven and a half months ago when all he could do was threaten to kill Dumbledore and not do it. He still lacked the courage to kill somebody no matter what the situation. And it was in the moment that Harry made up his mind.
"Draco dear, how much longer must we be subjected to guarding the likes of these people?" Mrs. Malfoy asked her son after another short silence "I really would like to see your father again soon."
"It won't be too much longer mother, I promise. We just have to stay here until I receive the signal from the Dark Lord and then we can – sit back down Potter! – "
"I don't think I will." Harry said defiantly taking two steps forward despite Malfoy directing his wand straight at his chest "You see, I've figured something out, you haven't changed one bit."
"Harry, sit back down!" Hermione pleaded and Harry ignored her
"Whatever the hell that means, Potter; you should really listen to Granger though. Now sit back down before you force me to kill you!" Malfoy threatened as Harry took a further step forward, Mrs. Malfoy pointing her wand at Harry as well.
"Why don't we stop with the idol threats Malfoy? You're not going to kill anyone, I know that and you know that, you don't have it in you." Harry said, causing Malfoy to look very irritated and Lupin to say Harry's name in warning.
Harry stopped six feet from the Malfoys after taking two final steps closer to them, crossed his arms and stared Malfoy straight in the eyes. At Harry's appearance of absolute lack of nervousness or fear for his life what so ever Malfoy's breathing became heavier, though he tried to hide it, and more sweat began to cover his brow.
"I'm warning you Potter." Malfoy said a bit halfheartedly, motioning his wand menacingly
"Don't warn me, Malfoy, not unless you're really going to kill me," Said Harry resolutely drawing faint worried gasps "And we both know you're not going to."
"Yes I am!" Malfoy screamed raising his wand
"No you're not!" Harry screamed back, uncrossing his arms with his wand in hand and swinging it upward before Malfoy could curse him and sending both his would be attackers off their feet into the air.
Even before the Malfoys could reach the floor, robes flew from somewhere behind Harry and wrapped themselves tightly around them. The Malfoys hit the floor hard with a thud and immediately started struggling feebly against their restraints.
"You got farther than I thought would have Malfoy, I'll give you that. But even still I knew you weren't going to go through with it. I know better, I was there when you were trying to kill Dumbledore and you couldn't do it then." Harry said, stepping up beside Malfoy who glared up at him
"I'll get you for this, Potter, the Dark Lord isn't going to fail this time and once he succeeds you'll get yours! I'm sure of it!" Malfoy said, infuriated
"Oh, eat slugs Malfoy!" Ron said, drawing his wand and pointing it at Malfoy who instantly had slugs spilling out his mouth.
"I'm glad to see you're getting some use out of my gift, Harry." Lupin said as he patted him on the back and stepped over Malfoy
"Yes, Remus, I'm sure it is, but I do believe we have some business to attend to out front." Wulfric said, also stepping over Malfoy and following Lupin out of the kitchen as he was leading the way.
