Chapter 27

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The kitchen was dead silent as the occupants in it were all sitting in a daze from what they had just been through. Each of them was caked with mud and blood from their own cuts and dust from rubble. Each one of them except for Ginny who was also sitting there, biting on her tongue to stop herself from asking exactly what had happened.

Her heart had been in her throat the entire time they'd been gone, and plummeted to her stomach when they started arriving back in the state they were in.

It was still before nine in the morning, but every last one of them had a shot of Scotch in front of them that they were nursing. Fred kept covering one of his ears with his hand and opening his jaw as wide as it could go repeatedly as though he was trying to get his eardrum to pop. Tonks was rolling her one shoulder over and over again. Sirius just looked upset. All around the table it was some variation of that with each of the occupants.

"So, that didn't go quite as planned I take it," Ginny couldn't hold herself back anymore. They had all been sitting there in veritable silence for a full ten minutes. She had kept it in for well longer than they should have expected her to!

Never before had she had so many tired and disgruntled eyes on her. The attention caused her face to heat up, but she wanted to know what happened and was determined to get the answer from one of them.

"It. Blew. Up." Sirius deadpanned to her. "We went in thinking we had the upper hand, and then," he couldn't even get the words out.

Considering she had been completely wracked with nerves the entire time they had been gone, this was kind of a relief to hear. There hadn't been any battle that occurred, their move had simply been anticipated and Riddle relocated himself and his people elsewhere, leaving a trail of destruction behind him.

Ginny simply held Harry's hand under the table and tried to stifle her inappropriate bubble of laughter that was fighting its way to the surface.

Everyone had come back, that was the important thing. They were all looking worse for the wear, and a few of them probably had concussions and would be bruised for a bit, but they were all alive.

Fleur was the first to stand up. "I am going to use ze shower," she said tiredly. "Beel, we need to get to ze Bank." She finished her drink and slammed the empty glass back on the table before walking out.

"Wha do ya think tipped 'em off?" asked Mundungus. He didn't look too different from his usual self like this, he generally gave off the impression of being filthy.

No one answered him, instead there was a collective sigh that went around the table and they continued sitting in silence.

It was making Ginny jittery. She wanted to know exactly what happened; How close had they got before the Manor exploded? Had there been anyone inside it that they could tell? Did it actually explode and they had to dodge flying cinder blocks or something or had it imploded causing a wave of dust to cast out and cover them all?

From the way Fred was trying to pop his ears there was undoubtedly a very loud noise.

"Right then," her mum stood up. "That's enough of this. Everyone get cleaned up. Kingsley, Arthur, Tonks, you need to get to the Ministry. Boys," she turned to the twins, "your shop opens in an hour and a half. Those five, showers first, everyone else can queue up to get cleaned up after." She herself was filthy as well, but she went to the kitchen sink and scrubbed up her hands and splashed water on her face as the others began to rise from the table.

Ginny got up and went to help her mum assemble a second breakfast for everyone as everyone else made their way from the table and headed out.

"What a waste," her mum was muttering under her breath. "Gone, no idea where too. Could have killed one of us. Stupid plan. Dangerous. Four of my sons. Five really." Pots and pans were clanging so much that Kreacher came out of his cupboard looking like he wanted to tell her to keep it down, but she snarled at him before he had the chance to say anything.

Ginny was pretty sure that Dobby would have tried to take over the cooking as well, but no doubt he was working on ridding the entryway of all the dirt that the others had tracked in.

It was an hour later before Ginny was back at the table, seated between Harry and Ron, with Hermione relaying what had happened, and it was as she'd pieced together. They had all approached from different sides, timing their opening of the secret passageways and gated entrances at the exact same moment, lest one or more of the groups triggered an alarm, hoping that if a few of them alert someone inside the Manor it would confuse the Death Eaters in the Manor.

They did trigger something, but it wasn't simply an alarm. At exactly five in the morning, when the teams took their first step onto the property, the Manor was destroyed. The ground shook and the building imploded before the rubble then ricochet outwards and flew at them. Six of the secret entrances had been tunnels and they had simply collapsed. The whole of the grounds seemed to have a shock wave go through it before it turned into a veritable sinkhole, leaving nothing but debris and a crater.

Tonks and Fred's team was the closest to the Manor itself and they were all nearly buried in the flying rubble. Kingsley and Ron's team had fallen into the sinkhole that had suddenly been where they'd been standing and fell down ten feet, each landing awkwardly and getting banged up in the process. The crew that Hermione was with were the least injured and had rushed to the aid of everyone else.

Harry had been with Remus and they had immediately stood behind a few wide pillars at the gates to block themselves from the flying debris, but then the pillars fell backwards into the sinkhole, taking the two of them with it.

Patronus' had been sent out by the leader of each party and they managed to all get to solid ground and regroup, the basic first aid being given to those who needed it. Sturgis Podmore had been the only with a life threatening injury, but Fleur had managed to stabilize him before getting him to St. Mungo's.

Then the Muggle police showed up.

Ginny's dad and Kingsley managed to convince the police that it had been a gas explosion and the ground around them had once been a swamp, thus liquefaction had caused the sinkhole.

In all the rubble that they had seen though, they claimed there wasn't any sign that anyone had been in the Manor when it exploded.

They all managed to get back to Grimmauld just as the media helicopters were showing up.

"So, he assumed he would get attacked then," Ginny summed up with a sigh. "And it was his final 'fuck you' to the Malfoy's for betraying him."

"Now we have no idea where he could have gone," Ron said wearily, running a hand over his face. "And he could be going around trying to find out if we got his other Horcruxes too. What if he found out that they all had been taken and set's up the same traps at those places?"

"He probably will," Harry nodded. "I wouldn't be surprised if we find out Little Hangleton was burned to the ground and that cave on the seaside had a sudden landslide or something."

"The Goblin's should probably reinforce Gringotts," Hermione said in worry. "Do you think Bill will mention anything to them?"

"What about Hogwarts?" Ginny asked. "He could try and get in there to check as well, and that is entirely dangerous for everyone there."

"I believe he will need to take quite a bit of time to regroup," Dumbledore told them from across the table.

The four of them gave a start, not having realized that he was at the table, let alone that he had been listening in on their conversation.

Remus and Sirius were back from getting cleaned up as well and had sat down.

"We will keep an eye out for word of disturbances by the two vacated area's he had kept his vessels, however breaking into Gringotts or Hogwarts will take much time and planning," Dumbledore said, trying to be reassuring.

"Really?" Harry asked spitefully. "How much time and planning went into our little attempt today? Why wouldn't he just walk into Gringotts with all of his Death Eaters, or Hogwarts? It isn't like he care's whether he loses a few of them. Not much of a sacrifice for him, is it?"

Ginny exchanged a look with Ron and Hermione at Harry's tone. She had thought that even after all Dumbledore's poor decisions over the years, Harry respected the man and she couldn't understand the venom behind his tone. From the looks on Ron and Hermione's face's though they were as surprised by it as she was.

Dumbledore had a pained look about his eyes as he regarded Harry then, but made no comment of Harry's behavior towards him. "With the number of us that have other obligations at the moment, perhaps we should hold off on discussing anything further in terms of our next moves." He was telling this more to Sirius and Remus, who also looked like they didn't have a clue what was going on between Harry and Dumbledore either.

Harry backed his chair away from the table and headed out of the kitchen. Ginny, Ron and Hermione rose to follow him, Ginny exchanging a look with Sirius. His expression was asking her to update him on what was causing Harry's hostility, she gave him a nod in response.

"Mate?" Ron asked when they found him in the study, Harry was sitting on the sofa, Ginny could see his jaw twitching as he ground his teeth. "What's going on?"

"Just… disappointed, that's all," Harry told them, but refused to meet any of their eyes.

"Harry, we know you were hoping this would be the end of it," Hermione told him sympathetically, "but we'll all think of something. Find another way to track him down."

Ginny took up on the cushion beside him, making sure to let him be the one to reach for her hand if he wanted it. He was brooding again, but there was something different about his mood this time. He wasn't just angry about the way things went today, he was sad too and she couldn't piece together what this was really about. He'd been off last night. He'd barely kissed her at all, just hugged her close and lay quietly beside her as they fell asleep.

It had been nice and comfortable, and she had thought it had something to do with the fact that he was nervous about going on a dangerous mission in the morning, but she had also kind of expected him to be a little more handsy with her considering that; seizing the day and the opportunity and all that.

"I know we will. And if we can't then I'm sure he'll find us eventually," he said miserably. He gave a sigh, then reached out and took Ginny's hand.

She felt her nerves relax as she saw Harry start to physically relax as well from her touch. She moved a little closer to him and he put his arm around her and they settled in.

The four of them stayed mostly silent, just sitting in each other's company. Ron and Hermione were snuggled up on the other sofa and they all just sat there, intermittently staring into the fire, or their partners eyes, simply taking comfort in their company. Hermione had told her parents that she was visiting a friends place for two nights, now she and Ron would be spending the night at Grimmauld Place, and Ginny was glad that they were free to spend the day doing nothing with she and Harry.

()()()

"And more training, he should be learning things beyond his NEWTS," Tonks said.

"I can give him a few books on different curses and such as well," Bill added.

"Really, what it boils down to is that he shouldn't be left alone," Sirius pointed out. "He isn't going to be able to learn everything he's learning in school and all that you lot have decided and managed to get a decent nights sleep."

It was the same day as the failed mission, several of the Order members had returned to Headquarters after tea time and an impromptu meeting was taking place. Harry just sat there beside Ginny, holding onto her hand that was slowly clenching tighter around his own as the people around him were making all his future plans as though he wasn't sitting right there. Like he didn't have any say in his own future. From the expression on Ginny's face she wasn't to happy with how everyone was deciding his life like this without including him in the conversation.

"Perhaps he shouldn't return to Hogwarts?" Mrs. Weasley suggested.

Harry's eyebrows jumped up at that idea.

He hadn't even thought that option was on the table.

It would sort of make sense now though, that he not go back. No doubt that Voldemort would be furious once he started to learn that all of his accessible Horcruxes were destroyed, that might make him a little reckless and decide go after his one at Hogwarts, and then try and take out Harry at the same time because he was convinced he was a threat.

That could make it a dangerous situation for everyone at Hogwarts.

Not going back would also mean more time with Ginny and Sirius.

Sirius was across the table from him, looking like he didn't want to be the one to make this call, having an unbiased opinion. Ginny though, she had this slight blush on her cheeks and a sparkle of hope in her eye.

"But he would still be protected at Hogwarts," Ron said. "Aren't you the only person You-Know-Who is really afraid of?" he asked Dumbledore

Dumbledore considered that option. "While I do believe that he will not be attacking the school any time soon, perhaps it isn't such a bad idea."

"Are you trying to hide me away or protect me?" Harry couldn't help asking. He didn't know why he was fighting this at all, it could be great. His education would be more to the point at least. And Remus was a stellar professor.

"Both," Dumbledore told him directly. "You not coming back would leave people asking questions about your whereabouts however, and you are still underage."

"That hardly matters," Sirius pointed out. "What is the Ministry going to do? Barge into the Dursley's new home and demand they tell him where he is?"

Harry almost snorted at that image.

"He needs an education!" Hermione protested.

"And he'll get one," Ginny told her. "Remus has been teaching me for over a year and I've already passed all my OWL practice tests." Remus looked quite pleased to receive that praise.

"Yes, but you had somewhat of an advantage," Hermione started then stopped talking immediately when she realized what she'd just eluded to. "I didn't meant that," she said by way of apology.

What Hermione meant was that Ginny had been trapped down in the Chamber with texts that had been up to a fifth year level, her theoretical studies hadn't been the focus of Remus' teachings because she already knew that portion.

Normally Hermione had more tact than that.

Ginny didn't look impressed but didn't say anything else. "Harry's education here would involve less distractions than Hogwarts has."

Now the twins snorted and gave Ginny a cheeky wink, she blushed prettily before scowling at them.

"It would get out that Harry hadn't returned to Hogwarts for the remainder of his schooling, but that could stir things up," Tonks said thoughtfully. "And Ginny hasn't been going too crazy here, nor Sirius. He could be more involved with the Order, since he should be anyway, you know, considering," she shrugged.

"How would my not going back 'stir things up'?" Harry asked.

"There would be people asking questions," Kingsley said, seeming to think the idea had merit. "People who probably shouldn't be so interested. It might be a story in the Daily Prophet and a piece of gossip, but for those that are loyal to him, they might get a little desperate to find out where you are. It could have them showing their true colors a bit wanting to be the one's to take the news to their Master. If they come snooping around the Auror office to try and find out what we know."

"So then, Harry would be safe and he would still be getting his education," Mrs. Weasley said. "I think means we all think this is a good idea, yes?"

There was a consensus.

"Harry?" Sirius asked. "Are you okay with that?"

Harry was a little surprised to be asked point blank if he didn't want to go back; like it was ultimately up to him or something. He turned to look at his friends. Hermione seemed about to cry at the idea of going back with out him. Ron was just giving him a look like he knew what his decision was going to be, and he was okay with it.

"You'll be Quidditch Captain then?" Harry asked Ron.

Ron's eyes sparkled with excitement then. "Yeah!" he grinned.

"Then it looks like I'm staying," he said resolutely.

"Then that is settled. However, I wondered if I might invite the two of you," Dumbledore said to Tonks and Bill, "to come to the school once a week to assist with the Defense NEWT students?"

Tonks and Bill looked surprised by the offer but agreed none the less.

"Who is going to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?" Ginny asked Dumbledore.

"I will be filling in that role for the remainder of the year, along with any of the other professors that have the time available to lend assistance," he told her. "It was my subject before I was Headmaster."

"Now then," Sirius clapped his hands together once, indicating a change in topic. "We know that Voldemort is no longer camped out at Malfoy Manor, his whereabouts may be unknown right now, but that doesn't mean we are at a stand still. We know from Narcissa and Dobby who a few of the Death Eaters are and some of those in the Ministry under the Imperious we need to keep an eye out on."

He got up and went over to one of the blackboards, flipping it over and revealing a list of those with the Mark, those with-out but that were still supporters, and those that were under the Imperious.

The two top ranking Death Eaters were unfortunately the ones that were still at large, and they happened to be the most dangerous; Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback. Harry's eyes grew wide when he took in the sheer number of people that were on the list of unmarked Death Eaters, and the list of Ministry officials that were under the Imperious Curse.

"Delores Umbridge isn't up there," Harry said in surprise.

"She isn't a Voldemort supporter," Remus told him curiously.

"You mean to tell me she's just naturally that evil?" he asked.

"Yeah, that bint is crazy," Fred stated. "How is it she can get away with all that she does with-out having backing from You-Know-Who letting her keep her job?"

"Cruel and evil people have been around since before Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore told them. "They will be around after his downfall as well."

"Death Eater or not, if I get the opportunity, I'm turning her into a toad," George muttered to his twin. They shared a mutual dark look.

In Harry's opinion Umbridge was just as bad as Voldemort. It was amazing to him that she had managed to hold her position at the Ministry after all the terrible things she had done to the children at Hogwarts while she was posted there. It was a shining example of how the Ministry needed to be reformed, and soon.

"Considering the number of Imperiused that are currently at the Ministry, we will be needing everyone to stick to their coded greetings. Alastor may no longer be around to bark it at us, but we must all remember to keep constant vigilance," Dumbledore told them.

"We need to come to an agreement on what to do about these Death Eaters," Sirius pointed to the board. "Rounding them up one by one and reporting that they have gone 'mysteriously missing' sounds like a good plan to me."

Sounded like a good plan to Harry too.

"Perhaps the Imperioused should be captured and detained somewhere as well," Ginny suggested. "Does the Imperious wear off after a time? Is there some way to free them of their curse?"

"Zere es not," Fleur told her. "Et es up to ze castor to remove et, ze Imperioused to break et, or if ze castor es keeled, et breaks on ets own."

There went that idea.

"Did Mrs. Malfoy tell you who it was that cast the Imperious Curses on them?" Harry asked.

"She didn't, and we asked," Sirius told him, indicating to himself and Mrs. Weasley. "Now, where would we keep the captured Death Eaters?" he asked, moving on.

"Do we really want to sink to their level?" Hermione asked.

"We're hardly allowed to walk up to them, pull up their sleeves and immediately toss them in Azkaban," Tonks told her point blank. "Working around the system is really the only way to try and reduce the amount of damage that they are about to do. He watched as Snape destroyed one of his Horcruxes, how long do you think it's going to be before he goes and checks on his other ones and then simply tells his Death Eaters to to go nuts with their torturing and killing like the last war?"

Harry's hand tightened in Ginny's again at that. He was not keen to feel Voldemort's reaction to finding out that each and every one of his Horcruxes had been destroyed. The pain that he had experienced two nights had been more than enough and he knew the next time was imminent.

"Any way you could rig up some kind of holding cells in the basement here?" Bill asked.

"I don't fancy the idea of my daughter being trapped in a house full of Death Eaters, thank you very much," Mum told him. "And you shouldn't either."

"Maybe there's a potion that would make them slip into a coma or something," Harry suggested. "Then you could stick them basically anywhere and just revive them when it's all over. Just hook them up to an I.V. and cast a cleaning spell at them every other day."

There were a few confused looks at his choice of Muggle medical terminology, but they moved past it.

"Does the Black family have any other property?" Remus asked Sirius.

"None in my name, but the Potter family does," he said looking at Harry.

"What, that cottage in Godric's Hollow?" Harry asked. It was the only property he'd ever heard about.

"No, the Potter Manor house in Lilstock," Sirius told him.

He had no idea what Sirius was talking about.

"That would certainly have enough rooms that we could convert into holding cells of a sort. Or just in the stable house at the back of the property," Remus said approvingly. "Would you mind us using that?" He was asking Harry as though Harry had any clue where the stable house was.

"Why're you asking me?" Harry questioned. "I don't know where this place is or what it looks like. You and Sirius seem to. If you think it'll work, go ahead."

He watched as Sirius and Remus exchanged a look, then the both of them cast their eyes over to Dumbledore briefly. Their look to the old man wasn't one to ask his permission, there was accusation behind their eyes.

"That settles that then," Sirius said, flipping the blackboard over again and writing out 'Potter Manor' and 'Stable House Cells'. "Before I go any further, anyone here against this idea."

There were no other alternatives given.

"Right then," Sirius started on how they were going to set this plan into motion, and it started with a group of them heading to Potter Manor tomorrow to get the Stable House ready to receive its first semi-permanent visitors.

()()()

Ginny looked over at Harry to see how he was taking this.

They had gotten the abridged version of what Dumbledore believed had happened with Snape, and now Riddle believing that Harry was going to be the one that would be his downfall was the last hurdle they would have to overcome before the man was killed. It was essentially the Order and Harry's call as to when 'The Dark Lord' would fall.

If they somehow let it slip where Harry was going to be then they could be ready for him when it happened.

But that meant that now it all rested on Harry's shoulders essentially. He can't have been okay with that. And unfortunately she couldn't get a read on his feelings about from the expression he was currently sporting. He could be holding himself back from running through the door, clearing out his Gringotts vault and vanishing into the night, or he could be determined to step up bear this burden nobly.

She didn't want him to bear this burden though. She wanted the prophesy to be crap that was only made to stand as fact because of morons like Riddle and Malfoy having small minds. Harry was still only sixteen, he didn't need to be standing up to Riddle alone.

And he wouldn't be alone, she wouldn't let him be alone.

He was staying here with she and Sirius now. They would be getting unlimited access to each other. She could be there to push him, pull him out of his moods, be his distraction. And perhaps he would help convince a few of the Order members that she could be more involved as well.

It had only been a few days since a lot of the people in this room found out she was alive, no one outside this room would be keeping their eye out for her, or if they did see her they certainly wouldn't be thinking she was the long dead Weasley girl. She also had an untraceable wand and had been taught to wield it.

The meeting carried on around them and Ginny simply kept her hand clasped in Harry's. Whatever happened, at least they could get through it together now.

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