-------------------------------------------

~Harry Potter and the Battle of Heirs~

~Rachie.V.~ Chapter XII

"Dou you know what happened?"

"No. I wonder if You-Know-Who attacked?"

"Doubt it."

"May I have your attention, please?" Dumbledore's voice echoed through the Great Hall where the whole school had assembled. The low, hushed conversations that were rippling through the hall were quickly cut short. Every head turned towards Dumbledore.

"Thank you. I apologize for alarming you in such a manner, but there has been an incident. Peter Pettigrew, Voldemort's assistant, has captured Miss Hermione Granger and Miss Rachel Hay –" Dumbledore was interrupted by a sob from Ron and the whispers that erupted and spread like wildfire through the hall. Dumbledore continued: "Your attention again, please. Although we have said many times that Hogwarts is an extremely safe place, it seems that it shall no longer be as safe, considering Voldemort has fought his fear of me and –" Dumbledore was interrupted yet again, but this time by gasps and exclamations.

"Please! Allow me to finish or we shall be here all night. As I was saying, Voldemort has fought his fear of me and Hogwarts is no longer safe. This explains the reason for having giants and trolls at our gates and entrances. Rubeus Hagrid, our Keeper of the Keys and Madame Maxine, the Headmistress of Beauxbatons School of Magic, are among them. We apologize for Hogwarts looking like a prison, but we have no alternative choice.

"You shall all spend the evening here in the Great Hall, and it shall be guarded by our Head Boy and Prefects. Our Head Girl is Hermione Granger, but since she has been captured, I will make Ron Weasley the assistant of Mr Potter tonight. If any of you hear a strange noise or have a problem, go to Mr Potter, Mr Weasley or a Prefect. Thank you and goodnight!" Dumbledore concluded and waved his wand, clearing the Great Hall of the tables and chairs. He waved it again and hundreds of purple sleeping bags appeared – just like the ones Harry had slept in in his third year.

   "It isn't fair!" sobbed Ron as their Headmaster walked out with the teachers to put stronger enchantments on the castle and to form a plan to rescue the girls. No one went to sleep, but whispered and gossiped about the kidnap.

 "Ron, be quiet! It's alright, I have a plan," Harry whispered to his friend. Ron hiccupped and looked at Harry.

"What is it?" he whispered back.

"I'll tell you in a minute," Harry replied, then, raising his voice, told the Prefects to take charge and if anyone misbehaved, they would get three detentions each. Then he pulled Ron out of the Hall and into an empty classroom.

"Listen. We can't just stay here and guard the Hall. We have to save Hermione and Rachel! But first, we have to know where they went. I have an idea, but I thought I'd ask you first if you knew of any place Voldemort might be," Harry said to Ron, fiddling with a quill that was on the desk he was sat on.

"Harry! Don't say the name! And we'll get into trouble for leaving the castle and the hall, and we'll be expelled for sure, and –" Ron started to lecture.

"Don't you realize? If Voldemort kills Hermione, I won't be able to live with the shame of having her killed just because I cared for her! Plus I love her, and I know you don't want to lose Rachel. So why hesitate? Your loved one has been kidnapped, and you're sitting here, saying that we'll be expelled!" Harry hissed at him. Ron blushed and opened his mouth furiously to argue, then thought better of it. He swallowed and replied meekly, "You're right. I'm sorry. No, I don't have a clue where they are. Where do you think he's taken them?"

"His old home, that's where," Harry snarled. Ron had never seen him so angry.

"So let's go, already!" Ron said, jumping up off the chair he was sat on.

"We're not prepared, but." Harry said, standing up, cracking his knuckles.

"What do you mean? What do we need?" Ron queried as he followed a hyped-up Harry through the castle and into their dorm.

"This, for starters." Harry pulled out his invisibility cloak from his trunk. "And this, and this and this!" he continued, pulling out his cloak, his broom (a Streak5000) and a purple picture frame without a stand at the back of it or a photo inside, but a black television screen where the photo should be. It was the size of Harry's palm.

"What's that?" Ron asked, pointing to the purple object.

"It's called a Revealer. When I say a charm and tap it, the Revealer will show me anything I want. The future, the past, who someone is, where someone is, what something is, a map and if there's any danger nearby," Harry told him, putting it, his cloak, Ron's cloak, a camera, a quill, an ink bottle, Hedwig (who he summoned from the Owlery), ten rolls of parchment and a large box into his backpack.

"Why do we need all this stuff?" Ron asked.

"We'll be gone for quite awhile," Harry replied, folding up his Streak5000 (which could fold up and be stored anywhere, even in your pocket) and putting that in is backpack. He closed it and said to Ron, "Are you ready for a wild and extremely dangerous adventure?"

"You bet!" Ron replied happily.

"Good. But first, we need to stock up on food," Harry declared, putting on his backpack, putting on the invisibility cloak and beckoning Ron to come under it with him. The two walked slowly down the steps, but stopped dead. Filch was in the corridor with Mrs Norris and was walking towards them. Ron gulped as Mrs Norris's lamp-like eyes turned towards them. She meowed to Filch. He looked down at her.

"What's that, my sweet? You smell someone? Ooh, tell me more. They'll be in for it!" Filch cried, delighted.

"C'mere," Harry breathed to Ron, and pulled him into a classroom just behind them. He tried to close the door, but it creaked. He groaned silently as Filch looked towards the door and grinned.

"We've got 'em now!" he bellowed and sprung into the room, just missing Harry and Ron who were still in the doorway.

"This way!" Harry whispered to Ron, and pulled him out into the corridor again. The two crept down it, and as soon as they rounded the corner, Ron gave a sigh of relief, soon to be muffled by Harry's hand that covered his mouth as Peeves bobbed around the corner, merely missing them.

"Who's there?" he said suddenly, sensing their presence. Harry rubbed his nose. It was itching like crazy.

"Hmm…maybe you'll show yourself if I…TICKLE YOU!" Peeves yelled, pulling out a feather from behind his back and waving it around in the air. It just touched Harry's nose – which was enough as well as the itch to make him sneeze.

"AH…AH…AHHHHHHH…CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Harry gave an almighty sneeze that knocked Peeves off his feet.

"HURRY!" Ron yelled and Harry pulled off the invisibility cloak so they could run. They skidded round corners and hurtled down corridor after corridor, but they needn't have bothered wasting their energy. Peeves was still in the corridor where Harry had sneezed. He was yelping for help and trying to pull off the sheet of sticky snot that Harry had sneezed out. It was binding Peeves's body to the floor.

   Harry pulled out his invisibility cloak as soon as he and Ron had caught their breath.

"This isn't safe. Why don't we just go back to the hall?" Ron whined.

"I thought you cared for Rachel!" Harry shot back.

"I do!" Ron cried indignantly.

"So why just sit around when she could be being tortured?!" Harry was hysterical.

"I didn't mean that!"

"BUT-"

"ALRIGHT! Calm down! You're acting like a wounded rhino!"

"Sorry, Ron. I just need to get her back."

"You really care for Hermione, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Awwww, how sweet."

"Shut it, you! You pine for Rachel, too!"

"SHUT UP!"

"Ah, there, you see?"

"Ah, close it."

"We need to get to the kitchens," Harry said, changing the subject. Harry slid under his invisibility cloak and Ron joined him. The trip to the kitchens went flawlessly. Harry tickled the pear and entered with Ron behind him.

"Ah, sir! You has returned to Dobby!" a squealing voice sounded. Dobby came racing up to Harry and hugged him so tightly, he nearly suffocated.

"Yes, Dobby," Harry wheezed, "but I've come for a reason."

"Oh, but Dobby is still pleased to see sir. How can Dobby and friends help, sir?" the helpless house-elf squeaked.

"Well…" Harry began to give out orders and pretty soon, the box he had brought was full with food.

"Dobby, Ron and I have to go. We hope to see you again, but we're about to do is very dangerous. I don't know if we'll come back," Harry told Dobby.

"Sir! Sir might not come back? Harry Potter must not put his life in danger! Sir, Dobby will tell Pro–"

"Arrrrgh, Dobby! Please don't worry! And don't tell anyone! Please?"

"A-alright. Dobby obeys," Dobby said, bowing to Harry.

"Thanks, you're a perfect house-elf," Harry complimented, then steered Ron away from the pile of chocolate éclairs he had been working his way through.

~*~

Author's Note: Yup, that was the end of this chapter!! Sorry it was so short, but I'm working my way really fast now! I've worked it out that this fic is coming to an end, soon! It should be about 15 chapters long, but I can't be sure. Please review! No flames, please. Click here to e-mail me. Thanks, everyone!