Chapter 11: The Great Escape Part I

No one had seen Draco Malfoy this happy since the Quidditch Tournament. He had nearly all the villagers, one of the most wanted criminals in the magical world and his fiancée back. He was ecstatic when the guards, witches and wizards had arrived with everyone. He was slightly disappointed that no one had managed to capture Harry Potter himself but the villagers would co-operate when they were given some Veritaserum. As soon as they had been captured, he had sent a letter to the Daily Prophet and an hour later, the reporters arrived. Within minutes, millions of copies of the Daily Prophet had been made and Harry was slightly startled when Hedwig swooped down on him with the paper. She sat, perched on his head, awaiting her treat for the delivery.

"Sorry Hedwig. I can't give you any treats for today. Look at the place," Harry said. Hedwig seemed slightly annoyed but nipped his ear affectionately and flew away for some breakfast and sleep. He opened the paper.

"SHIT NO!" he yelled out eyes wide as he read the headline. Ron came stumbling out of his house he had been clearing.

"What? What?" he said slightly stupidly and looked at Harry. Harry seemed to have paled as he continued to read it. Ron ran over and read the title.

"MALFOY! THAT BASTARD!" Ron yelled out just as angrily and read the article.

' KILLER FOR A KISS!'

'This morning, Mr Draco Malfoy informed us that almost all the villagers of Godric's Hollow had been captured. Amongst these are the Weasley family and Friar Hagrid. Miss Hermione Granger was also returned in safe hands and Mr Malfoy informs us that the wedding shall take place on the correct date as usual, tomorrow. Unfortunately, Mr Harry Potter was not captured; however, Mr Sirius Black has been caught. Knowing, that he is the viscous murderer of thirteen muggles, Peter Pettigrew and he gave away the information to the Dark Lord of the Potter's where abouts. Mr Malfoy has given the order for the Dementor's Kiss on him, at dawn tomorrow morning. Finally, justice will be served. As for the villagers, selected ones shall be given Veritaserum, hopefully they will clues as to where Mr Potter will be hiding.'

"This is bullshit! Justice served my ass!" Ron cursed and kicked at a nearby stone. Harry had silent rage running through him. His knuckles were white from holding the paper so tightly. His green eyes had turned so cold from reading it.

"What're we going to do Harry?" Ron asked, seriously pissed.

"We have to rescue them. Otherwise, we're busted, Hermione's married to a bastard, and Sirius will be worse than dead at dawn. Jailbreak, tonight at Malfoy Manor." Harry said, looking really angry that Ron had shivers up his spine.

"Right. But one more question, how?" Ron asked.

"That's what we have to work out." Harry replied.

In Malfoy Manor, Draco Malfoy held a great feast for all those who had helped capture the villagers. His Dining Room was full of witches, wizards and guards who chatted about the latest events. And how the were going to get paid. Draco strolled in looking smug. He had a wineglass in his hand and he chatted idly with people. He looked really confident and boasted to his closest guards about capturing Harry Potter. Extra guards would be put on duty that night, and all were to capture Harry Potter. Meanwhile, upstairs in the highest tower of the manor, loud and angry shouts could be heard from the top tower.

"MALFOY! LET ME OUT! THIS WEDDING IS SO OFF! YOU CAN'T KEEP ME LOCKED UP HERE!" Hermione bawled at the top of her lungs. They had taken away her wand so that she couldn't use magic, and charmed the window so that no one could enter, and she couldn't escape. It was barred and Hermione felt like a prisoner.

"MALFOY! YOU BASTARD! LET ME OUT!" Hermione yelled out again. She banged herself on the door, hoping she might break the door.

"Woah there sweetcheeks! Don't want you to be all bruised on your wedding now." Said a guard who snickered.

"Shut up you prick! Piss off!" she shouted angrily through the door.

"Sorry doll, can't do that, we have our orders," said another guard snickering along.

"Fuck your orders!" she shouted back, rage seething through her. Not caring about her manners. They kept silent, with the occasional snickering at Hermione's attempts to escape.

Meanwhile, down at the dungeons of the manor, every villager sat, with manacles bounded either around their necks, arms or legs. They felt like they were in line for slavery. It was cold and damp and musty. The Weasley's kept their hopes up. They knew that Harry and Ron were still out there and that they would not rest until all the villagers were free. They kept telling all the villagers and some hope dawned on them. Both Fred and George had taken off their cloaks and placed them over their nephews and nieces, while Percy warmed up both his wife and mother. Mrs Weasley had now reached an old age, and she was gradually feeling more ill, with her conditions. 'Please Harry, Ron, come soon,' they all thought. Sirius had been placed in a small dungeon next to all the villagers; he was chained to one side of the cold wall with his hands tied above his head. He shivered under his thin robes. There was a tiny window, which was Sirius' only passage to the other villagers. Remus had had his feet manacled, and he balanced on his tiptoes. His hand slipped through the barred window and held onto Sirius' hand, offering him some comfort, even though Sirius couldn't see him, he held on. Remus knew that Sirius was terrified of the dementors, and now that he was receiving a dementor's kiss, he was slowly losing hope.

"Don't worry Padfoot old friend. Harry's going to come and rescue all of us. You'll see," Remus whispered. Sirius didn't say anything; he just squeezed Remus' hand in acknowledgement. Some of the villagers started to hum a song together, just to bring them closer together and bringing hope to the others and the children.

***

That night, the clock struck midnight. The moon was gibbous and the star started to twinkle all the more brighter. On the grounds of Malfoy Manor, guards could be seen walking up and down the manor, walking on the balconies. Guarding all the entrances, and standing like statues in the garden. Not one place was left unguarded. The few villagers that were awake peered out the window, searching for any hope. Searching the skies for a broomstick, listening to every sound outside and jumping at the slightest movement. Up in the tallest tower, Hermione gazed out the window, looking at the shimmers of the loch. She hated the solitude in the room. She would have preferred to be in the dungeons with the rest of her friends. All her escape attempts had failed, and she was running out of insults to throw at the guards. 'I'm not getting married to him!' she kept thinking, 'And if I do end up married tomorrow, I'm filing in for a divorce!' she thought heatedly. She ran a hand through her long brown hair, which flew down her back and ended at her waist. It was messy and had some tangles lingering about. She was still in her night-clothes from the attack on Tir-nan-Og. She shivered under the thing white night dress, and wrapped her arms around her.

"Harry, help us, save us," she whispered as the wind caught her voice.

Ron was having difficulty keeping himself, Harry and the Firebolt under the invisibility cloak. They flew slowly and silently. Within a half hour, they saw the manor looming in the distance. All the lights were out and it looked gloomy and haunted.

"You sure you have it Ron?" Harry whispered questionally at Ron.

"For the 276th time, yes I have it! How could I forget it?" Ron whispered exasperatedly.

"Knowing you, many ways," Harry joked.

"Do you want me to hand you over to Malfoy?" Ron asked, slightly annoyed. Harry chuckled at his annoyance, but quickly silenced and lowered into the canopy of the wood. They dodged any branches and leave, trying their hardest not to make any rustling sounds and alerting the guards of their presence. There was a guard at every wall surrounding the manor, but they seemed half-asleep. Harry flew silently over the garden and onto a ledge that jutted out of the manor. He and Ron stepped off the Firebolt and Harry silently charmed it so that it would shrink. He stepped out of the Invisibility Cloak and turned to face Ron.

"Right, the dungeons are underground, on the south side of this manor. Try to get them out as quickly as possible." Harry told him.

"Wait a minute, where are you going?" Ron asked, raised eyebrows, while removing the hood of the cloak.

"I have to find Hermione. Malfoy wouldn't keep her in the dungeons, plus, I have to find their wands and other stuff," Harry replied. Ron nodded, he was going to try and find the will.

"Fine, but be careful!" Ron said and disappeared totally under the cloak. He climbed over the wall and walked down the open balcony, which lead to the half-open door. Ron tapped the door so that it opened wider, and caught the bucket of water that had been placed above it. He smirked, 'Oldest trick in the book. Glad I didn't fall for it!' he thought and placed the bucket of water someplace else. He walked down the corridor silently, making faces at the un-knowing guards that stood as still as a statue. Ron headed down the stairs and slipped passed to guards at the bottom, un-tying both their shoelaces and knotting them together. He held in his laughter and headed towards the kitchens, avoiding the house elves that had been serving the guards some coffee and biscuits. Ron halted at the kitchen, there was only one door, and that led to the gardens. He frowned under the cloak. 'Where the hell are the dungeons?' he thought. He was startled slightly as he heard a large creak at the other side of the kitchen counter. Walking cautiously, he peered at it, and saw another house elf walking up from it. A house elf walking up from a trap door. 'At least I'm getting closer.' Ron thought. He waited a while, until the house elf left and then searched for the knob or handle that would open it. He felt the dusty ground and ran his fingers through the grooves. Finally, he felt a handle and pulled slowly at it. It creaked slightly, so he quickly ushered himself inside, hoping that no one had heard him.

Harry did the thing he was used to doing until he had the invisibility cloak; he stuck to the shadows. It was at times like this he had actually listened to Professor Flitwick when he had taught them the invisibility charm in their 7th year. He walked through different corridors; 'I've got to find Hermione, where could she be?' Harry thought to himself as he walked down a spiralling staircase. He saw two guards at the bottom of the staircase and brought out his wand. Harry muttered some words under his breath and two red sparks shot from his wand. One hitting one guard. The guards closed their eyes and leaned against the staircase railings. They slid down and in a heap, fell asleep on the floor. Harry cautiously stepped over the two and walked quickly and silently down the corridor. Harry reached the main hallway, and wondered where Hermione might be. 'I seriously hope she's not with Malfoy,' Harry thought and grimaced at the thought. Harry brought out his wand and closed his eyes, 'Find Hermione, please find Hermione,' Harry thought. His wand started to vibrate under him fingertips, and swivelled to Harry's left. Harry turned and walked down that corridor, in the shadows and avoiding any guards. His wand then turned sharply upwards. He had to get up another set of stairs. Harry looked around for another staircase that may lead him to where Hermione was. He searched for 10 minutes, behind every closed door. Harry sighed and started leaning on a wall. 'Where's a bloody staircase when you need one?' He then felt the wall behind him shift, he turned around, and saw a secret passageway. And at the end, was none other than a staircase.

Ron closed the trap door above him as quietly as possible. His head brushed the top of the trap door and made some of his hair static. He looked and ahead of him and saw that there was a large tunnel, with fire-lit torches to keep out the dark. Ron sauntered across the length of the tunnel as quickly as he could whilst still under the invisibility cloak. The tunnel wasn't very long but it went lower underground. As he tiptoed down the steps, he saw a door at the end. He tried to open it but it was locked. "Alohomora," Ron whispered, and pushed at the door. It opened with ease. Ron closed the door behind him and entered a chamber, which was stacked up with food. Ron looked around, crates of food everywhere, enough food to last until next winter. He walked around the chamber, and without warning fell down a hole in the floor. 'Shit!' he thought as he fell. He tried not to shout out loud. 'Knowing my luck, I'll end up in a chamber full of spiders,' Ron thought worriedly. After a few seconds, he felt the floor below him and fell with a thud. It echoed around the corridor he was in. I was dark, and damp. Ron stood up, brushed himself off and walked up the corridor. After two minutes of walking, he reached a locked metal door. "Alohomora." Ron whispered again. The door opened and Ron walked in, stumbling over something on the ground. The cloak flew off him.

"Ron!" came a startled gasp. He had tripped over Lavender Brown's leg.

"Lavender!" Ron gasped and rushed to her. He embraced her and pulled her into a long yet sweet kiss. Both of them were longing for the other and they felt that they had parted way too soon.

"I knew a miracle would come," she whispered, as Ron cast a spell in the chains that held her. Ron just grinned at her.

"I'm no miracle, I'm just Ron." He said and helped her up.

"Yeah, but you're my Ron," she said and kissed him again. Ron was definitely blushing when they parted again.

"Help me wake everybody up, we're busting out of here!" Ron told her. They immediately set out to work.

Harry stepped into the hidden passageway cautiously. The wall behind him closed as he stepped on the first step of the staircase. His wand kept pointing upwards, showing he was in the right direction for finding Hermione. He continued up the staircase, until his wand started to point to the right. Harry walked through the door to his right and walked up the tower staircase. It spiralled many times, that Harry was quite frankly starting to get fed up and slightly dizzy. Harry then stopped as he heard voices at the top of the staircase.

"Heard that the reception was really good. And that Friar Hagrid person's doing the ceremony." Said one voice.

"Aye, getting a drunkard, half-giant, fat friar doing the ceremonies. What could anyone possibly want?" said another sneering voice. Anger raged through Harry as he heard that.

"He's the only one around for miles. At least Malfoy's not getting married via a dead fat friar, like the Hufflepuff ghost!" said the first voice. They continued to chat. Harry saw that they guarded a door behind them, and his wand vibrated violently towards that door. 'Hermione's definitely I there.' Harry thought, his heart fluttering slightly at the thought of seeing her again. Harry then started to mutter some magical words under his breath continuously. Wisps of reddish light shot from his wand to the guards so quickly, Harry was nearly startled when they fell to the ground in a deep sleep. They snored loudly, so he put a silencing charm on them to drone out the sound.

"Hello? What's happened to you guys?" came Hermione's unsure voice. Harry grinned to himself.

"You don't have me fooled! You're deliberately trying to scare me, You first taunt me about the wedding and now you try to scare me, but it's definitely not working!" Hermione snapped through the door.

"Hermione! I'm hurt! I would definitely not taunt you about your wedding with his majesty! Scaring you maybe, but not taunting!" Harry said in mock shock.

"Harry?" came Hermione's hopeful voice.

"Alohomora," Harry said and the bolts on the door unlocked and opened. Harry saw Hermione standing right by the door, in her white night-dress she had been wearing the previous night. He long wavy brown hair cascaded down her bake in smooth waves down to her waist. He mesmerising hazel eyes looked at him curiously at first, but then turning warm and merry.

"Harry!" Hermione gasped and rushed over to him. She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight.

"Nice to see you to Herms," he chuckled and pulled her closer to him, by wrapping his strong arms around her waist. Hermione kissed him hungrily and passionately, nearly knocking him right over. Harry responded willingly. They parted for breath, and Harry grinned down at her, his green eyes sparkling. He was in dark brown robes, and his hair was still as scruffy as ever. His face seemed a lot more cheerier, and Hermione also noticed a slight bruise on his face.

"What happened here?" she asked, gently brushing her fingers across the bruise.

"A little present from Ron." Harry replied. Hermione raised an eyebrow but didn't question him any further. She placed a light kiss on it.

"There, I hope it feels better," she smiled up at him. Harry nodded, showing his appreciation. They stood there for a while just gazing at each other and holding the other, to make sure they were real and not dreaming. After sharing one last kiss, Harry grabbed Hermione's hand and held it gently.

"Come on, we've got a long night ahead of us," he said.

A/N: Firstly, I'd like to apologise to all those people who have been waiting for this part of the fic! Believe me, I wanted to get this part up a long time ago, but a little thing called school got in the way. Lots of tests you see. Isn't that life? Well anyways, I'm really sorry and I tried to make this chapter longer! Unfortunately, this'll be the last post until another weekend, lots of tests next week, and they all finally end on Friday! Plus, I'm using my dad's laptop and he's being shipped off to Cairo for the week, and he needs the laptop. I'm really sorry! Hopefully the next chapter will make up for it! I'm planning a lot of action in the next one!