Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns all rights to Harry Potter
Authors Note: Special thanks once again to everyone who has read, favourited or is following my story and an even bigger thanks to everyone thus far who has kindly spent their time reviewing it.
Hope you all enjoy the latest chapter.
Chapter Forty One:
The first month of the summer holidays had passed by in blissful enjoyment for Harry. As with every summer, he had made sure to get his homework done within the first few days of being home which meant that the rest of the time was his own.
It was now the first of August and Harry was sat out in a lawn chair in the back garden of Potter Cottage engrossed in one of his favourite books The Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien.
A twig snapped nearby and Harry, with honed reflexes, recognised his cousins footsteps "hey Lauren, what's up?".
"Mum and Dad want you in the house" she informed her cousin. Harry looked up at her.
"What for?" he asked.
"Padfoot's here with Uncle Moony. Apparently it's important" she told him.
Harry sighed. Put the bookmark in his book, stood up and, carrying the book, he followed Lauren back into the house.
They found Jacob, Mandy, Sirius and Remus all sat around the kitchen table engrossed in conversation.
As soon as Sirius and Remus saw Harry, they both stood up. Harry went over to his uncles and hugged them both along with Jacob and Mandy. He then sat down at the table with the others and said to his godfather and Remus "it's great to see you guys but why are you here?".
Sirius nodded at Remus who was the better of the two at explaining things. "We feel and your uncle agrees with us, that you and Lauren need training in order to be able to fend off Death Eaters" Remus explained.
"Training like the Aurors?" Harry was smiling now.
"Not quite as advanced" Sirius cut in "but certainly good enough to deal with any Death Eaters that cause a problem".
"Can the others join us for it?" Harry asked excitably.
Sirius and Remus both chuckled and Sirius said "I don't see why not".
"But only if their parents agree to it" Remus added. Sirius nodded agreement with this.
"Awesome!" said Harry and then added "thanks guys, I really appreciate you doing this!".
He and Lauren ran from the room as they both went to their owls. "You send letters to Hermione, Millicent and Neville" Harry said "and I'll send ones to Ron, Ginny, Daphne and Astoria". Lauren readily agreed, nodding enthusiastically as they ran up the stairs.
Once in his room, Harry immediately wrote out letters to Ron, Ginny, Daphne and her sister Astoria, sealed them and waked over to Hedwig.
His fluffy white owl was sat on her open perch near the window, basking in the sun. She had her eyes closed and seemed to be relaxing.
Loath as he was to disturb his friend while she was so happy, he knew the news he had to send could not wait and he also knew that Hedwig would be annoyed if he sent it with another owl. "Hey girl" Harry said softly as he crossed the room to her perch.
Hedwig opened her eyes at once and made her usual happy noise whenever he was nearby. He stroked her feathers and said "sorry to disturb you girl, but I've got some letters I need delivering, you up to it?".
Hedwig puffed out her feathers and stood up straighter to clearly indicate that she was the one for the job. Harry smiled and stroked her feathers some more before attaching the letters to her legs "thanks girl" he fed her some owl treats and added "love you Hedwig".
She nipped his finger affectionately as she often did, before taking off from her perch and soaring off through the window into the bright blue August sky.
A few days went by and Harry and Lauren heard back from their friends. Every single one of them was able to drop by for the training sessions including Hermione who had just come back from a holiday in Switzerland and by her letter seemed eager to be with her friends again.
The lessons began on Thursday the third of August.
The living room, where the group would practice, had been proofed before hand to keep all furniture and objects safe and the walls and floor had been padded out so that if any of the students hit them then they would be unharmed.
In the corner of the room where the television had been, there were practise dummy's mocked up wearing black robes and masks to imitate Death Eaters. Harry had to admit they were very life like.
Several days went by with Harry, Lauren and their friends practising striking the dummy's and each other with spells, though they only practised safe ones on each other.
Working together, the group of students had perfected many of the spells they already knew as well as learning a number of new spells such as ones to throw their voice. In addition to this, each of Harry's friends and his cousin were taught by Harry, Sirius and Remus how to cast a Patronus as Harry had learned to do in third year.
Everything seemed to be going well until, on Monday afternoon, Arthur Weasley, Ron and Ginny's father fire called the Potters.
Harry had no idea at the time what was discussed but shortly after he heard the fireplace flare up his uncle ran into the living room and informed everyone hurriedly "we all need to leave, right now!".
"What's the crisis?" Sirius joked.
"Death Eaters are on their way here!" Jacob informed them all seriously "Arthur warned me that the wards near The Burrow were tripped and he's certain they're about to assault both The Burrow and Potter Cottage".
Harry felt both anger at the Death Eaters and a wave of trepidation for he didn't yet feel ready to face a dark wizard.
"So what's the problem?" Sirius replied "me, you, Mandy and Moony can handle a few Death Eaters".
Jacob shook his head in agitation. "If it were only a few Death Eaters I wouldn't be so worried!" he snapped "they have dementors on their side!".
"Fuck!" Sirius swore and then apologised to the students "sorry kids".
"We need to get the kids away first" Remus said taking charge. He turned to the students who were all looking worried "Harry, Lauren, gather together some clothes and a few other personal belongings, nothing that can't be carried by hand though, quickly now! Daphne, Astoria, Millicent, Neville, Hermione, please help them".
Most of the group rushed from the room and up the stairs while Remus turned to Ron and Ginny "Ron, Ginny, your parents said to stay here. They'll pack some of your things and take them to where we are headed".
"Where is that Remus?" Ron asked.
"I can't tell you yet Ron" Remus answered and then turned to Jacob who, in the chaos had slipped away into the kitchen.
"What did Arthur say?" Remus asked.
"He's got authorisation for two emergency portkeys, one for us, one for himself, Molly and those at The Burrow".
Remus nodded in satisfaction. "Then when Harry, Lauren and the others get down here, I'll create us a portkey large enough to take us to..." he stopped himself remembering that Ron and Ginny were still there "to a safe location".
Sirius and Jacob nodded gravely as Mandy entered the living room looking as calm as she could under the circumstances and carrying only a small bag with her. "Ready" she said simply.
"What about our family?!" Ron was really agitated now, understandably and Ginny was forced to put a hand on his arm and say "Ron, they'll be alright. I'm worried too but we need to think about ourselves right now".
Ron calmed slightly.
Upstairs in his bedroom, with help from Neville, Daphne and Hermione, Harry was busy selecting what he needed to take with him.
He sorted out all of his school equipment and books for the new term, his wand and holster, his alarm clock, several good books and comics, his wizard cd player and several cd's, three changes of normal clothes plus his school clothes, all of Hedwigs owl food and treats, his favourite action figure of the Incredible Hulk, his Queen, The Beatles and Johnny Cash posters and the signed photo of his favourite seeker.
Once Harry had everything he was sure he'd need, at least short term, he grabbed Hedwigs cage and with the help of the others he managed to get his bags and cage downstairs and into the living room.
A few moments after Harry, Daphne, Neville and Hermione entered, so too did Lauren with Millicent and Astoria. Everyone looked rather flushed and flustered.
"Come on!" urged Jacob "all you put one hand on this". He held up a large old boot which Harry recognised as one of his old wellies. Without hesitation, the students touched the boot along with Sirius who would escort them.
Harry felt his feet touch solid ground. Tarmac. He looked around and found that he and the others had been transported to a very dismal and run down looking street. Behind them was a small park and ahead of them across the road, stood a terrace of houses all three stories high. He could see lights on in many windows as the residents went about their day without a care.
"Follow me" whispered Sirius as he led the group, with their belongings, across the road, keeping a watch out for traffic or other pedestrians, and led them to a blank section of wall that connected two houses.
"Err...Sirius?" Harry said uncertainly "what are you doing?".
"Just wait Harry" Sirius replied confidently.
His godfather took out his wand and a piece of parchment, studied the parchment and murmured "the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix can be found at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place".
Harry had never heard of this address before nor did he really know much about the Order of the Phoenix, save what his uncle had informed him of, that they were formed to fight Voldemort and his Death Eaters.
To Harry's great astonishment, upon Sirius saying the words, the two sections of wall began to move apart with the occupants of the buildings either side being none the wiser of it. Soon, there appeared another house in between the two that had been there previously.
This house was three stories high like the surrounding buildings, had large rectangular windows that looked smoke blackened and grimy and at the top of a set of steps stood a front door all painted in black and bearing a gold number plate that read "12" upon it.
Harry may have grown up as a wizard and with other wizards and witches but it did not stop him being amazed whenever a new type of magic presented itself. He had seen rooms increase in size before but had never seen anything like this.
Not for the first time in his life Harry murmured "I love magic". Next to him, Sirius grinned and said "everyone read this parchment. It'll gain you entrance to the house".
Harry and the other children duly read the parchment and a bright light swirled around the house for a moment "it's recognised your right to enter" Sirius informed them "lets get out of the street, we don't want to attract attention.
As Harry walked up the steps to the house, his mind turned to the situation at Potter Cottage. He hoped desperately that his remaining family were alright.
Just behind him, Harry could hear Ron muttering "please let them be alive". His heart went out to his best friend and Ginny who must be feeling as anxious as he was right now. He hoped against hope that Mr and Mrs Weasley would make it too as well as Fred and George.
Back at the cottage, the situation was just as bad as Harry had feared. Remus and Jacob had managed to get Mandy away with her bag of essentials and Jacob could relax a bit more knowing that his wife was safe but even so the group of Death Eaters had infiltrated the house and at the moment he and Remus were exchanging wand fire with eight masked and robed Death Eaters.
They were holding their own and at just at that particular moment Jacob sent one flying with a knockback jinx knocking them out cold. But there were still more than they could handle.
Remus took down two more. But just as it seemed that they were gaining the upper hand on their enemy, one of the Death Eaters shouted "now!" and Jacob came over all cold. A cold so freezing that it chilled his bones even on this, the hottest day of the summer.
He saw them swooping into the living room towards he and Remus. Remus fired off one more spell and shouted "get to safety now!".
"What about you?" Jacob shouted retaliating against a Death Eater with a stinging hex.
"I'll be fine" Remus assured him "you need to get out of here and let the others know what's happened. Harry, Lauren and Mandy will be worried about you".
"But...".
"Go, now!" Remus said "quickly!".
Feeling like a coward, Jacob thought about where he needed to get to, turned on the spot and disappeared with a pop.
Remus, now all on his own, continued to fire spells at the encroaching Death Eaters for a short time longer but as the dementors swirled around him sapping his strength and bringing horrible memories to the surface, Remus could stand it no longer.
He dropped his wand and fell to the floor, lost in his pain and suffering.
Just before he blacked out, he heard a cultured voice say "take him. The Dark Lord wishes a prisoner brought back alive".
Back at Grimmauld Place Harry was both intrigued by the large old house and disgusted by the state it had been left in. "I'm sorry about this" said Sirius as he led them into ground floor sitting room as quietly as possible. He'd already warned them to tiptoe past his mothers portrait which lay behind heavy curtains. "The only one that's been here since my mother died was Kreacher my parents house elf, my house elf now I suppose. He's never liked me and was devoted to my parents and their ideals".
Sirius shook his head "I suppose he's been mourning my mother too much to bother with cleaning. His voice contained a warning as he said "if you come across him, don't stick around, he's not a nice elf at all".
Harry had an idea. Wanting to feel useful in the current situation, he called out "Dobby!". The house elf appeared in front of Harry.
"What can Dobby do for Master Harry?" the elf asked reverently.
Harry still had not got used to this but he brushed it aside and said "Dobby, can you start to clean this house up for us? just the bedrooms and kitchen for now. We'll do the rest ourselves".
"It is an honour for Dobby to do so!" the elf bowed and disappeared with a pop. A short time later Harry and the others could hear noises on the first floor of the house and Harry had to smile at the elf's dedication.
Just then, the front door banged open setting off the portrait. "Oh bloody hell!" Sirius swore as he rushed out of the room and to the portrait.
Harry was relieved when he heard Sirius say "Mandy, thank god".
"Aunt Mandy!" Harry shouted just as Lauren shouted "Mum!". The two of them leapt up from the chairs they had just sat down in and rushed out into the hallway.
They ran over to Mandy and pulled her by the arms into the living room before pulling her into a tight hug. Harry couldn't begin to describe the relief he felt at knowing his aunt was alright and he knew that Lauren couldn't either.
None of the three spoke as Harry and Lauren continued to hug Mandy.
Eventually, they pulled away and Sirius said "I'll just go and make everyone some tea". He disappeared down the hallway and Harry asked his aunt "what's happened? where are Uncle Remus and Uncle Jacob?".
Mandy sighed and Harry could tell his aunt was very worried. "I don't know for sure" she said sadly "the last I saw was when I apparated from the living room of the cottage. The Death Eaters were already moving in then. I wanted to stay but Jacob and Remus insisted I leave".
Before Harry or Lauren could ask anything else, the front door banged open again and several pairs of footsteps could be heard in the hallway as the portrait started up it's cacophony of noise once again "mudbloods! half breeds! blood traitors! leave my house!" the portrait shrieked and Harry heard someone wrestling with the hangings before silence reigned.
Two heads with red hair appeared in the doorway and two very familiar voices said in unison "anybody miss us?".
"Fred! George!" Ron and Ginny shouted at once and the two Weasleys jumped from their seats, ran across the living room and embraced their brothers who, for possibly the first time Harry knew them, were devoid of jokes as they hugged their siblings back.
"Oh thank goodness we made it" muttered another familiar voice.
"Arthur, don't dawdle, lets go in here" chided another, familiar and rather shaken voice.
Arthur and Molly Weasley appeared in the doorway with their bags which they soon set down in a corner.
"Mr and Mrs Weasley" Harry shook hands with Mr Weasley and initiated a hug with Mrs Weasley.
"Thank god you're both alright and Fred and George too" he said seriously "what happened to The Burrow?".
"Last we saw they were ransacking the place" Mrs Weasley said in distress.
"But we got away safely and no one was hurt, that's the main thing" Mr Weasley said soothingly to his wife. He then turned to Harry "where are Sirius, Remus and Jacob?".
Harry sighed "Sirius is here but we haven't heard anything from Uncle Remus or Uncle Jacob yet".
Eventually, Sirius reappeared with a tray bearing a large numbers of mugs. He handed them round them shook Mr Weasleys hand warmly before Mrs Weasley pulled him into a bone crushing hug.
Sirius smiled at the newcomers and nodded hello's to Fred and George before disappearing to make more tea for everyone. It seemed that Grimmauld Place would be rather full up for the foreseeable future.
Just as those already at Grimmauld Place were busy making the new arrivals welcome, the front door opened again and Jacob stumbled into the living room. He had cuts and bruises on his face, no doubt from duelling the Death Eaters.
Harry pulled away from Daphne who he'd been hugging and walked over to his uncle. He pulled Jacob into a fierce hug which he maintained for some considerable time before letting his uncle go and asking concernedly "where's Remus Uncle Jacob?".
Jacob sighed heavily and shook his head. "The last time I saw Remus, he was battling several Death Eaters".
He shut his eyes for a moment and then reopened them. "He said I had to leave. Said I needed to let you all know what was happening and to show that I was alright".
Sirius entered the room with a tray containing more mugs. He was smiling until he saw the look on Jacobs face. "What's wrong?" he asked "where's Moony? he should be here with you".
Harry saw the pained look on his uncles face and was about to say something when Sirius tore from the living room and they heard the front door slam. The portrait started up again and several people went to silence it while Harry looked pleadingly up at his uncle for some sign that Remus would be alright.
Jacob just shook his head, sighed and pulled his nephew into another hug, unable to give him the reassurance he needed.
There followed a tense hour before the front door opened and closed again. Harry who had been sat with Daphne and felt very despondent, was the first to see Sirius as he appeared in the doorway. "Sirius" he said "any...".
Sirius was already shaking his head as Harry spoke and so Harry stopped midsentence.
His blood ran cold as Sirius held up a wand. "It's Moony's" he said sadly "I recognise it. He's had the same one since he was eleven".
There was only explanation and it made Harry feel sick. Quite clearly Remus had been capture by the Death Eaters.
All sorts of horrible scenarios conjured themselves up in Harry's mind from Remus having his soul sucked out by Dementors, to being tortured for information, to being held as a hostage to lure in Remus' family. And the worst one of all, Remus being killed immediately.
Despite his sadness, Sirius was quick to reassure everyone, especially Harry and Lauren, that had Remus been killed immediately then he would have just been left in the cottage. "The fact that he hasn't means they want him for something" Sirius concluded.
Jacob crossed the room to his friend and placed a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "The Auror Squads will do all we can to find him Sirius, I promise".
"I'll speak to Albus tomorrow morning" Mr Weasley said. "I'm sure we'll be able to get the Order working on this too. There's due to be a meeting here tomorrow night in any case".
"I want to sit in on it and I think Lauren should be able to as well" said Harry speaking up.
All of the adults stared at him. His aunt began to speak "Harry love, I don't think that's a good idea. There are things that will be discussed that aren't for the ears of children".
"I'm not a child I'm fifteen!" Harry shouted. He almost never shouted at his aunt or uncle but he was so upset at this moment that he couldn't help it "I was old enough to face Voldemort several times so I'm old enough to attend this meeting about Remus".
"But Lauren didn't. She wouldn't be able to handle it" Mrs Weasley argued.
"Who says I wouldn't?" Lauren sounded furious. "Me and Harry have more right than anyone to be there. Remus is our uncle and he's MY godfather. I don't care about sitting in on other meetings but I want to be there when this is discussed".
"Well we'll see" Jacob said "I'll speak to Albus tomorrow and see what he says. He's the leader after all".
Privately, Harry decided that he'd attend the meeting no matter what the others said and if they kicked him out of the meeting then he'd simply come up with a plan to rescue Remus on his own.
Very early the next morning, as Harry lay in the bedroom he was sharing with Ron and Neville, he couldn't sleep. He'd tried to do so all night. He tossed and turned as he heard them snoring loudly. He didn't understand how they could find sleep so easily when poor old Remus was goodness knows where having goodness knows what done to him simply because he was friends with the Potters.
Harry looked at the digital alarm clock on his bedside table. It read "four forty five am". He sighed heavily. Yawned, rolled silently out of bed so as not to wake up his friends, slipped on his slippers, grabbed his wand, glass and the book he'd been reading and headed from the bedroom.
As he walked down through the house to the ground floor, he encountered a very wrinkled looking house elf that was muttering to itself darkly. The elf was wearing an old pillow case by way of clothing and had white hair sprouting from its ears.
Harry was rather disturbed as he made out the words the elf was muttering. "Blood traitors, Master is a traitor, he broke his mothers heart". The elf shook its head "and there are mudbloods and half breeds staying here too. My poor Mistress".
The elf turned around and its blueish eyes fixed on him. The stare was cold. "And who is this Kreacher wonders?" the elf looked up at Harry's forehead and must have seen the scar for he said "ah so it is the boy who defeated the Dark Lord. Mistress would not like HIM being here".
"I can hear you you know" Harry said sharply. He knew Sirius had said to just ignore the elf but he wasn't going to let Kreacher get away with his nasty remarks "I've done nothing to you and neither has any of the other people staying here so leave us alone".
Harry brushed past the elf and reached the ground floor. He saw a door open across the hallway and walked over to it. Upon entering the room, he found that there was a giant tapestry covering the entire length of the walls from floor to ceiling.
It seemed to depict each generation of the Black family from its very beginnings right up to the present day.
Harry had just started to examine it when he heard footsteps behind him. Turning around he found himself face to face with his godfather.
Sirius looked to be in as rough shape as Harry himself was. He chuckled humourlessly and said "couldn't sleep either eh?".
"Yeah" Harry said quietly "I just couldn't stop thinking about poor Uncle Remus".
Sirius pulled him into a hug and murmured "me too kid. Me too".
After Sirius relinquished the hug he said "I see you've found the Black family tapestry". He snorted "you'll notice that I'm not on here of course". He tapped a section upon which there was a noticeable burn mark.
"My mother did that after I ran away from home when I was sixteen" he told Harry.
"You went to my dad and uncle's place didn't you?" Harry asked.
Sirius smiled. "That's right. Your dad and uncle always said that if I needed a place to stay then I was more than welcome and your grandparents treated me like family. I was treated like a son by more than as a son by my own parents".
Sirius snorted again. "Not that it surprised me. My parents were great supporters of Voldemort you see. They didn't join him or anything but they thought he had the 'right ideas'" he said using air quotes "and they were really please when my younger brother Regulus joined the Death Eaters".
Sirius looked back at the tapestry. "They were all either extremely cruel or snobbish and I hated them, still do as a matter of fact".
Harry felt really sorry for his godfather and was going to say so until he spotted three familiar names on the tapestry. "You're related to Draco Malfoy?" he said in disbelief. He couldn't imagine anyone less likely to be related to the arrogant prat, save for himself.
"Yeah" Sirius confirmed "I'm his mothers cousin. You've met her before haven't you?".
"Once or twice" Harry said "she seemed just as snobbish and cruel as her husband".
Sirius nodded "she is. That's why their marriage has last so long, made for each other you see". He sighed and turned to Harry "since we can't sleep, how about a nice hot cup of tea and some toast for breakfast and then we can have a few games of wizards chess or draughts".
Harry grinned feeling somewhat better than he had before. "You're on" he said.
"Race you to the kitchen then!" Sirius said happily and tore off from the room and down hallway.
"Hey hang on!". Harry was laughing as he followed him. As he ran he marvelled at the ability of his godfather to always cheer him up no matter how sad he was.
Remus woke up to a splitting headache and found himself in a dark, windowless room that smelt of damp and mould. He coughed a little and began to look around. He wondered where the hell he was.
He tried to stand up only to find that his ankles had been secured with some sort of chain. 'So I'm a prisoner then' he thought. He sighed.
He heard footsteps from close by and looked towards where the sound was coming from. As the light was non-existent where he was chained, he had no idea who the person was.
He heard keys jangle in a lock and heard a door clang open. The footsteps came closer and closer, crossing the length of the room. Wand light shone on Remus' face and he stared at the person.
When he saw who was standing before him his mouth formed into a scowl and he spat out "what are you doing here you traitor?".
"Re...Re...Remus" Peter Pettigrew smirked "I'm here to take you to My Lord".
Remus sneered at him. "Do you think that frightens me Pettigrew?" he said coldly "lead the way".
As Pettigrew set about unchaining him and then cast a spell to keep him bound up and unable to fight, Remus could only think about how much his words were a lie, for he was afraid. He was VERY afraid knowing who he was about to come face to face with.
Once he was bound up, Pettigrew dragged him across the cell, to the door and up the stairs. Remus found himself in a brightly lit dining room. It was as large as the Great Hall of Hogwarts.
Remus saw directly in front of him, that a throne had been erected and there was a wizard sitting upon said throne looking gleeful at the appearance of Remus and Pettigrew.
Pettigrew threw Remus down in front of the throne and bowed low "here is the prisoner My Lord" he said reverently before stepping back.
The bald headed wizard opened his eyes and Remus gulped hard at the glaring red that he saw there. "Well done Wormtail" the wizard said congratulating the traitor.
The wizard smiled coldly at Remus "hello Remus Lupin, we meet at last. I am Lord Voldemort. I expect you want to know why you are here".