Chapter 14: Realization
"Voldemort has been sighted, he's still alive"
Mcgonagall whispered, bowing her head. Harry went rigid, but didn't reply. His bright green eyes seemed to flicker with fear and anger, though Mcgonagall couldn't see.
"Who saw him, and where, could they have been mistaken?"
Harry asked quickly, waving his wand and locking the door. He lowered his hood and gazed hard and Mcgonagall
"It was him, Harry"
She said in a choked voice. There was something she wasn't tell him
"Minerva..."
He said calmly. She looked up at him. Tears were glistening in her eyes and she was clutching her desk hard. He walked to the other side of the desk and knelt down beside her
"Who?"
"It was in Hogsmead"
She said, the tears beginning to fall
"Severus, they've got Severus....they killed about eight people, and left a note saying they've got the spy...Voldemort, he signed it. Rosmerta saw it all...she saw them take Severus"
Harry's mouth went dry. He knew Mcgonagall was close to Snape, they had worked together for many years, she would have reacted this way to any of the staffs disappearance. Harry knew what Voldemort would do to Snape, and he knew that he was the only one who could save him. He leapt up and vaulted over the desk. Then blasted open the door and sped through the empty halls
"Dammit, dammit dammit"
He kept mumbling. He reached the stag and touched it gingerly, it moved aside. Harry went up the steps two at a time and burst through the door. Dumbledore was there with the majority of the Order, barring Mcgonagall and Snape. They all looked up
"Harry, please sit down"
Dumbledore said. Harry sat quickly, hoping Dumbledore had a plan
"Voldemort left directions to his castle...he wants us to go after Severus, we're not sure why...though I can guess his reasons."
His soft blue eyes flicked toward Harry
"We'll go after him, right Albus?"
Arthur Weasley asked. Dumbledore sighed
"Severus is one of the best teachers I have ever seen at Hogwarts, he's also a very close friend of mine. I will be going after him, along with anyone else who will volunteer to follow. I will leave a few of you at the school, just in case...who will go with me?"
Dumbledore pulled out his wand and waited.
"I will"
It was Mcgonagall, she had just entered. Harry stood up
"So will I"
He said
"Me too"
Arabella Figg stated, rising and standing beside Dumbledore
"We will"
Harry's head snapped up. Sirius and Remus were standing up and walking over. There was shocked silence. In the end, there were eight of them. Dumbledore, Mcgonagall, Harry, Arabella, Sirius, Remus, Arthur Weasley, and Mundungus Fletcher. The rest of the Order spanned out around the school, ready to protect it in case Voldemort found it fit to return. Dumbledore led the others out of the Hogwarts gates and into Hogsmead. They stopped in the center of the street.
"Voldemort gave an exact location, but I had some Aurors figure out where it was, and we're apparating about a mile out...we don't want to apparate into a trap, lets go"
Dumbledore placed his hand on Harry's shoulder and they both apparated. They landed in a dense forest, surrounded soon by the other members
"Where are we Albus?"
Mcgonagall hissed
"Forest of death. It surrounds Voldemort's castle, I assume you all are animagus?"
He asked. Everyone nodded but Remus
"Good, getting through a forest like this will be much easier as animals...Remus...you'll have to ride someone"
Everyone raised their eyebrows
"Albus, none of us turn into anything big enough to carry him"
Sirius said
"Ah, that's why we have our trusty transfiguration teacher with us....Minerva, please transfigure one of our number into a larger animal..."
Everyone turned to Mcgonagall. She looked panicked, obviously she had no clue who to change
"Me Minerva"
Mr. Weasley said. Damn Harry thought, he really wanted to see what Mr. Weasley's form was...Mcgonagall nodded and with a flick of her wand Mr. Weasley was a large black horse. Remus clambered onto his back, wand in hand. Everyone else changed. It was quite a group, any muggle would have thought they were crazy if they were spotted. In the lead a large black horse with a human on top. Flying above them, a beautiful Phoenix. Following closely was a large black dog, a small tabby cat, a doe (dear), a tiny sparrow, and bringing up the rear, a small, fluffy black puppy with a white spot in the center of it's forehead. They sped through the forest, Remus blasting away tree's as they moved. Harry had it tough, being a puppy he couldn't move that fast and had a hard time leaping over fallen trees. Sirius took the liberty of picking him up by the neck and carrying him. Harry reminded himself to murder Sirius when they returned. Finally, after about 45 minutes of non stop running, or hanging in Harry's case, they found themselves on the grounds of a tall dark castle. Immediately everyone turned back. Mcgonagall changed Arthur back. They all drew their wands and slipped quietly through the shadows, finally coming to a small side door. They all just stood there for a moment, different thoughts running through everyone's head. Harry was thinking about their situation The fun never stops does it Was his only sarcastic comment. Finally, Dumbledore unlocked the door and they entered. They were in the dungeons.
"All right, we need to check every cell, go in two's. Minerva come with me. We'll check these"
He pointed down a corridor to his left
"Arabella, you and Mundungus check those"
He pointed ahead of them
"Arthur, Remus, there"
He pointed to his right
"And Harry, you and Sirius check there"
He pointed to the only remaining corridor. Everyone nodded
"If you don't find him in 1 hour, meet back here. If you do find him, or come into trouble, you know what to do"
Once again they all nodded and branched off. Harry and Sirius were looking into every cell, opening each one slowly. They were all empty.
"I saw the spider incident this morning"
Sirius whispered, peeking into a cell, Harry behind him
"Oh really?"
Harry asked, popping his head in behind Sirius, nothing.
"Yeah, that was pretty smooth, don't think me, James, or Moony could have done better"
Harry chuckled and opened the next cell. Again nothing. Then voices started to echo down the corrdor, coming from a turn up ahead. Harry and Sirius swung into opposite empty cells, leaving both door's open slightly. The voice's were coming closer, it was a man and woman. Whoever was speaking, was speaking were to quiet to understand what they were saying, but they picked up random wordes like 'Snape', 'Dark lord', and 'Murder'. Harry and Sirius looked at each other. Whoever they were, they were onyl about two cells away. Harry put up his hand
"One"
He mouthed
"Two"
He readied his wand, as did Sirius
"THREE!"
He roared. They swung out of the cells and knocked the man and woman to the floor
"STUPI- Wha?"
Sirius said. Arabella and Mundungus were lying on the floor, shocked. Harry and Sirius lowered their wands
"What the HELL are you two doing?"
Arabella snapped
"Attacking death eaters"
Sirius said, helping her up
"Well, you're doing a crappy job of it"
Mundungus said, brushing himself off
"Ha ha ha"
Harry muttered sarcastically
"He's not in any of those cells"
Sirius said. Arabella and Mundungus nodded
"Right"
The both whispered
"See you"
And with that they headed back around the bend in which they came. Harry and Sirius looked at each other and shook their heads. Slowly they continued on, opening each cell door quietly. As they were nearing the end, they found a cell with a body, lying face down in the corner. Harry approached it and slowly flipped it over. He stumbled back in horror, gripping the wall for support
"Holy shit Sirius"
He choked, staring at the body in shock. It was the body of Lucius Malfoy. He was bruised and bleeding, his white blonde hair was red with his own blood. His chest was rising and falling oh so slightly. The skin on the right half of his face was burnt off. It was surprising he was alive. Sirius studied him
"It seems old Voldie lost his temper"
He whispered, Harry glared at him
"Stop with the sick humor...what do we do?"
Sirius glanced at Harry
"We leave him here, we can't afford to take him with us"
Sirius said, in a low voice. He turned and started towards the door. Harry wanted to argue, but knew it was no use. He followed Sirius out obediently. They had been gone forty five minutes, and finally finished the corridor. Just as they were turning there was a tingling on Harry's wrist. He glanced down and saw that a golden star was now glowing brightly where skin had been just before. Harry pressed his finger to it and immediately and projection of Dumbledore appeared in his hand. He was running (in place on Harry's palm), firing curses behind him. Mcgonagall would appear and disappear every few seconds, dragging with her the limp form of Snape.
"Professor!"
Harry cried. A look of relief crossed Dumbledore's face
"Get out of the castle, we have Severus. Voldemort knows your here, go!"
And with that Dumbledore disappeared. Harry and Sirius looked at each other and took off in a sprint. As they passed Malfoy's cell, Harry stopped. He burst into the room and grabbed Lucius, throwing him over his shoulder
"What are you doing!? If he wakes up, he'll kill you!"
Sirius spat, jogging beside Harry who was now running slower, due to the extra weight
"No one deserves to die in there, we -Ouch!"
A spell suddenly shot by Harry's head, gently skimming his ear. Sirius looked back. About 7 death eaters were charging after them, firing curses furiously. Sirius began to shoot back at them over his shoulder.
"He's slowing us down!"
Sirius cried as they curved towards the exit, it was only about 50 feet away. They could see Remus, Arabella, Mundungus and Arthur were already there. Remus was holding Arabella limply in his arms and Mundungus was helping Arthur keep back death eaters coming from two corridors. A curse blasted rock from the wall beside Harry' showering him in large pieces of stone. Luckily it missed Sirius. Harry stumbled slightly, but kept running. 30 feet. Dumbledore, Mcgonagall, and Snape, who was only half awake, arrived. They began to fight off the death eaters coming closer.
"Go!"
Harry roared. They all looked at him. 20 feet. Remus glanced around him, probably checking the distance of the death eaters. Arthur shunned the group out, leaving only him and Mundungus to fight off the death eaters. 10 feet. Mundungus was hit. He fell into Arthur who caught him. Harry and Sirius arrived there and followed Arthur, who was now dragging Mundungus, out. Sirius cursed the door what seemed like hundreds of time's before apparating away, Harry and Mr. Weasley at his side.
~*~
Harry landed at the gates of Hogwarts, falling to the ground and dropping Malfoy at his side. The group was there, waiting. Sirius pulled Harry to his feet. Harry gave him a weak smile and lifted Malfoy once again over his shoulder. Mr. Weasley glared at the man in Harry's arms.
"Why did you bring him?"
He hissed. Harry sighed
"We found him in a cell like this...no one deserves to die the way he would have, plus, he's one of Voldemort's high ranking death eaters, he'll be able to give us some good information once he's healed."
Dumbledore grinned and pushed open the gates, leading the group across the darkening grounds. When they reached the great hall, Bill Weasley was standing outside, wand ready. When he saw them he rushed forward
"Is everyone all right?"
He asked, looking over the group. His eyes lingered on Malfoy, a look of disgust on his face, but he didn't say anything
"Everyone is fine Bill. Arabella and Mundungus are just knocked out, Professor Snape is suffering from one to many cruciatus curses, and Mr. Malfoy here, well, we don't know what happened to him, but Harry wouldn't leave him to die"
Arthur said, patting his son on the shoulder.
"Dinner is going on now, are you sure you should just go waltzing in there?"
Bill asked uneasily
"The students need to see"
Dumbledore said. Harry raised his hood, suddenly realizing it had been down since Mcgonagall's office. Nobody had seen him, luckily. Dumbledore pushed open the door and the group trudged in. All the students gasped, but didn't scream, Someone must have mentioned Sirius's innocence. In seconds about four people were surrounding them. Ginny was first, then Ron, Hermionie and Draco. Ron began to talk to his father in a scared tone, under his breath. Ginny was listening, though she kept sending worried glances at Harry. Hermionie went to relieve Remus of Arabella, putting her, Mundungus and Snape on stretchers. She didn't touch Malfoy. Draco went straight to Harry
"What happened?"
He rasped
"I found him like this in a cell, I couldn't leave him there to die"
Harry said, conjuring up his own stretcher with his free arm and levitation Malfoy onto it. Draco gazed down at his father
"You should have left him there to die"
He hissed
"No one deserves to die like he would have"
Harry said
"He wouldn't have cared if it were you or me...he killed my mother in the same way, just to prove to that monster he was loyal"
Harry realized then why Draco hated Voldemort and his father so much. Harry sighed
"We aren't going to let him go Draco, we're going to interrogate him, then lock him up...who knows, maybe someday in the future he'll suffer a worse fate than you mother"
Harry couldn't believe what was pouring from his mouth, any time before he never would have said anything comforting to Draco Malfoy...but now, he really was trying to help. Draco smiled slightly, a smile that didn't hold evil or scorn, a genuine smile that rarely appeared on his face.
"Right Harry"
He whispered. Harry rolled his eyes and started walking through the hall, the stretcher in front of him. The group followed, along with Ginny, Ron, Hermionie and Draco. When they reached the hospital wing Harry lowerd his hood and put Malfoy in a bed. He put a green bubble around the bed that would keep him in there until they needed to treat him. When he turned around Ginny jumped into his arms and kissed him. Harry grinned stupidly and hugged her tightly
"I'm fine"
He said before she could ask. Ginny giggled and turned to the group. They were staring at them in shock. Ginny turned bright red, as did Harry.
"I knew it!"
Ron cried
"I knew you were in love with her! My little sister Harry!"
Ginny glared at Ron
"Oh sut up"
She snapped. Nothing else was spoken on the subject. Madamn Pomphrey began to heal everyone who was injured, and shooed everyone else out, except Bill, who was left to watch Malfoy. The adults headed back to Dumbledore's office. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco started back towards the great hall. Ron was watching Draco, a confused look on his face, but he didn't say anything. Harry stopped half way
"Guys, you know how I wanted to talk to you ealier, before, er, Collin's little incident?"
Ron and Ginny nodded. Draco and Hermionie looked confused
"Well, I wanna talk now, come on...you can come if you want, Malfo- Draco"
Harry walked into a empty classroom, the other four following closely. Harry's mind was running over the event's of the day. First his parents, then Sirius freed, then those damn spiders, then Snape. He sighed and turned to the group
"I saw my parent's this morning"
He said. If he wouldn't have been serious, the reactions of the four would have been hilarious. Hermionie went very pale and glanced at Ron, obviously thinking Harry had lost his mind. Ron's mouth was hanging open, he also seemed to think Harry was crazy. Ginny began to fiddle with her hair, staring at the ground. Draco just raised an eyebrow
"I'm not crazy"
He said, rolling his eyes
"They appeared in the lake. Dumbledore said it happened to him when he was young to..just their reflections...Dumbledore suggested I tell you about it, though since it seems like an atternity ago, I don't understand why"
Ron and Hermionie let out a sigh of relief, obviously happy that their freind wasn't losing his mind. Draco's expression hadn't changed. Ginny stopped fiddiling with her hair and was now looking at him kind of like Draco was. Harry sighed
"Yeah, alright....did anyone say anything about Sirius?"
He asked.
"Yes, Flitwick made the announcemnt at the beggining of dinner, it was actually quite funny"
Hermionie said, giggling. Harry smiled
"Good. Well, i'm going to bed, I haven't had sleep for a good while, and I need it, good night"
He smiled at his friends then left the room, returning to his, and falling asleep immidiatley, without even changing.
(And that's that chapter! Thanks to all my reviewers! Tell how you liked it! I'll have another chapter up soon! ~ Kay)
"Voldemort has been sighted, he's still alive"
Mcgonagall whispered, bowing her head. Harry went rigid, but didn't reply. His bright green eyes seemed to flicker with fear and anger, though Mcgonagall couldn't see.
"Who saw him, and where, could they have been mistaken?"
Harry asked quickly, waving his wand and locking the door. He lowered his hood and gazed hard and Mcgonagall
"It was him, Harry"
She said in a choked voice. There was something she wasn't tell him
"Minerva..."
He said calmly. She looked up at him. Tears were glistening in her eyes and she was clutching her desk hard. He walked to the other side of the desk and knelt down beside her
"Who?"
"It was in Hogsmead"
She said, the tears beginning to fall
"Severus, they've got Severus....they killed about eight people, and left a note saying they've got the spy...Voldemort, he signed it. Rosmerta saw it all...she saw them take Severus"
Harry's mouth went dry. He knew Mcgonagall was close to Snape, they had worked together for many years, she would have reacted this way to any of the staffs disappearance. Harry knew what Voldemort would do to Snape, and he knew that he was the only one who could save him. He leapt up and vaulted over the desk. Then blasted open the door and sped through the empty halls
"Dammit, dammit dammit"
He kept mumbling. He reached the stag and touched it gingerly, it moved aside. Harry went up the steps two at a time and burst through the door. Dumbledore was there with the majority of the Order, barring Mcgonagall and Snape. They all looked up
"Harry, please sit down"
Dumbledore said. Harry sat quickly, hoping Dumbledore had a plan
"Voldemort left directions to his castle...he wants us to go after Severus, we're not sure why...though I can guess his reasons."
His soft blue eyes flicked toward Harry
"We'll go after him, right Albus?"
Arthur Weasley asked. Dumbledore sighed
"Severus is one of the best teachers I have ever seen at Hogwarts, he's also a very close friend of mine. I will be going after him, along with anyone else who will volunteer to follow. I will leave a few of you at the school, just in case...who will go with me?"
Dumbledore pulled out his wand and waited.
"I will"
It was Mcgonagall, she had just entered. Harry stood up
"So will I"
He said
"Me too"
Arabella Figg stated, rising and standing beside Dumbledore
"We will"
Harry's head snapped up. Sirius and Remus were standing up and walking over. There was shocked silence. In the end, there were eight of them. Dumbledore, Mcgonagall, Harry, Arabella, Sirius, Remus, Arthur Weasley, and Mundungus Fletcher. The rest of the Order spanned out around the school, ready to protect it in case Voldemort found it fit to return. Dumbledore led the others out of the Hogwarts gates and into Hogsmead. They stopped in the center of the street.
"Voldemort gave an exact location, but I had some Aurors figure out where it was, and we're apparating about a mile out...we don't want to apparate into a trap, lets go"
Dumbledore placed his hand on Harry's shoulder and they both apparated. They landed in a dense forest, surrounded soon by the other members
"Where are we Albus?"
Mcgonagall hissed
"Forest of death. It surrounds Voldemort's castle, I assume you all are animagus?"
He asked. Everyone nodded but Remus
"Good, getting through a forest like this will be much easier as animals...Remus...you'll have to ride someone"
Everyone raised their eyebrows
"Albus, none of us turn into anything big enough to carry him"
Sirius said
"Ah, that's why we have our trusty transfiguration teacher with us....Minerva, please transfigure one of our number into a larger animal..."
Everyone turned to Mcgonagall. She looked panicked, obviously she had no clue who to change
"Me Minerva"
Mr. Weasley said. Damn Harry thought, he really wanted to see what Mr. Weasley's form was...Mcgonagall nodded and with a flick of her wand Mr. Weasley was a large black horse. Remus clambered onto his back, wand in hand. Everyone else changed. It was quite a group, any muggle would have thought they were crazy if they were spotted. In the lead a large black horse with a human on top. Flying above them, a beautiful Phoenix. Following closely was a large black dog, a small tabby cat, a doe (dear), a tiny sparrow, and bringing up the rear, a small, fluffy black puppy with a white spot in the center of it's forehead. They sped through the forest, Remus blasting away tree's as they moved. Harry had it tough, being a puppy he couldn't move that fast and had a hard time leaping over fallen trees. Sirius took the liberty of picking him up by the neck and carrying him. Harry reminded himself to murder Sirius when they returned. Finally, after about 45 minutes of non stop running, or hanging in Harry's case, they found themselves on the grounds of a tall dark castle. Immediately everyone turned back. Mcgonagall changed Arthur back. They all drew their wands and slipped quietly through the shadows, finally coming to a small side door. They all just stood there for a moment, different thoughts running through everyone's head. Harry was thinking about their situation The fun never stops does it Was his only sarcastic comment. Finally, Dumbledore unlocked the door and they entered. They were in the dungeons.
"All right, we need to check every cell, go in two's. Minerva come with me. We'll check these"
He pointed down a corridor to his left
"Arabella, you and Mundungus check those"
He pointed ahead of them
"Arthur, Remus, there"
He pointed to his right
"And Harry, you and Sirius check there"
He pointed to the only remaining corridor. Everyone nodded
"If you don't find him in 1 hour, meet back here. If you do find him, or come into trouble, you know what to do"
Once again they all nodded and branched off. Harry and Sirius were looking into every cell, opening each one slowly. They were all empty.
"I saw the spider incident this morning"
Sirius whispered, peeking into a cell, Harry behind him
"Oh really?"
Harry asked, popping his head in behind Sirius, nothing.
"Yeah, that was pretty smooth, don't think me, James, or Moony could have done better"
Harry chuckled and opened the next cell. Again nothing. Then voices started to echo down the corrdor, coming from a turn up ahead. Harry and Sirius swung into opposite empty cells, leaving both door's open slightly. The voice's were coming closer, it was a man and woman. Whoever was speaking, was speaking were to quiet to understand what they were saying, but they picked up random wordes like 'Snape', 'Dark lord', and 'Murder'. Harry and Sirius looked at each other. Whoever they were, they were onyl about two cells away. Harry put up his hand
"One"
He mouthed
"Two"
He readied his wand, as did Sirius
"THREE!"
He roared. They swung out of the cells and knocked the man and woman to the floor
"STUPI- Wha?"
Sirius said. Arabella and Mundungus were lying on the floor, shocked. Harry and Sirius lowered their wands
"What the HELL are you two doing?"
Arabella snapped
"Attacking death eaters"
Sirius said, helping her up
"Well, you're doing a crappy job of it"
Mundungus said, brushing himself off
"Ha ha ha"
Harry muttered sarcastically
"He's not in any of those cells"
Sirius said. Arabella and Mundungus nodded
"Right"
The both whispered
"See you"
And with that they headed back around the bend in which they came. Harry and Sirius looked at each other and shook their heads. Slowly they continued on, opening each cell door quietly. As they were nearing the end, they found a cell with a body, lying face down in the corner. Harry approached it and slowly flipped it over. He stumbled back in horror, gripping the wall for support
"Holy shit Sirius"
He choked, staring at the body in shock. It was the body of Lucius Malfoy. He was bruised and bleeding, his white blonde hair was red with his own blood. His chest was rising and falling oh so slightly. The skin on the right half of his face was burnt off. It was surprising he was alive. Sirius studied him
"It seems old Voldie lost his temper"
He whispered, Harry glared at him
"Stop with the sick humor...what do we do?"
Sirius glanced at Harry
"We leave him here, we can't afford to take him with us"
Sirius said, in a low voice. He turned and started towards the door. Harry wanted to argue, but knew it was no use. He followed Sirius out obediently. They had been gone forty five minutes, and finally finished the corridor. Just as they were turning there was a tingling on Harry's wrist. He glanced down and saw that a golden star was now glowing brightly where skin had been just before. Harry pressed his finger to it and immediately and projection of Dumbledore appeared in his hand. He was running (in place on Harry's palm), firing curses behind him. Mcgonagall would appear and disappear every few seconds, dragging with her the limp form of Snape.
"Professor!"
Harry cried. A look of relief crossed Dumbledore's face
"Get out of the castle, we have Severus. Voldemort knows your here, go!"
And with that Dumbledore disappeared. Harry and Sirius looked at each other and took off in a sprint. As they passed Malfoy's cell, Harry stopped. He burst into the room and grabbed Lucius, throwing him over his shoulder
"What are you doing!? If he wakes up, he'll kill you!"
Sirius spat, jogging beside Harry who was now running slower, due to the extra weight
"No one deserves to die in there, we -Ouch!"
A spell suddenly shot by Harry's head, gently skimming his ear. Sirius looked back. About 7 death eaters were charging after them, firing curses furiously. Sirius began to shoot back at them over his shoulder.
"He's slowing us down!"
Sirius cried as they curved towards the exit, it was only about 50 feet away. They could see Remus, Arabella, Mundungus and Arthur were already there. Remus was holding Arabella limply in his arms and Mundungus was helping Arthur keep back death eaters coming from two corridors. A curse blasted rock from the wall beside Harry' showering him in large pieces of stone. Luckily it missed Sirius. Harry stumbled slightly, but kept running. 30 feet. Dumbledore, Mcgonagall, and Snape, who was only half awake, arrived. They began to fight off the death eaters coming closer.
"Go!"
Harry roared. They all looked at him. 20 feet. Remus glanced around him, probably checking the distance of the death eaters. Arthur shunned the group out, leaving only him and Mundungus to fight off the death eaters. 10 feet. Mundungus was hit. He fell into Arthur who caught him. Harry and Sirius arrived there and followed Arthur, who was now dragging Mundungus, out. Sirius cursed the door what seemed like hundreds of time's before apparating away, Harry and Mr. Weasley at his side.
~*~
Harry landed at the gates of Hogwarts, falling to the ground and dropping Malfoy at his side. The group was there, waiting. Sirius pulled Harry to his feet. Harry gave him a weak smile and lifted Malfoy once again over his shoulder. Mr. Weasley glared at the man in Harry's arms.
"Why did you bring him?"
He hissed. Harry sighed
"We found him in a cell like this...no one deserves to die the way he would have, plus, he's one of Voldemort's high ranking death eaters, he'll be able to give us some good information once he's healed."
Dumbledore grinned and pushed open the gates, leading the group across the darkening grounds. When they reached the great hall, Bill Weasley was standing outside, wand ready. When he saw them he rushed forward
"Is everyone all right?"
He asked, looking over the group. His eyes lingered on Malfoy, a look of disgust on his face, but he didn't say anything
"Everyone is fine Bill. Arabella and Mundungus are just knocked out, Professor Snape is suffering from one to many cruciatus curses, and Mr. Malfoy here, well, we don't know what happened to him, but Harry wouldn't leave him to die"
Arthur said, patting his son on the shoulder.
"Dinner is going on now, are you sure you should just go waltzing in there?"
Bill asked uneasily
"The students need to see"
Dumbledore said. Harry raised his hood, suddenly realizing it had been down since Mcgonagall's office. Nobody had seen him, luckily. Dumbledore pushed open the door and the group trudged in. All the students gasped, but didn't scream, Someone must have mentioned Sirius's innocence. In seconds about four people were surrounding them. Ginny was first, then Ron, Hermionie and Draco. Ron began to talk to his father in a scared tone, under his breath. Ginny was listening, though she kept sending worried glances at Harry. Hermionie went to relieve Remus of Arabella, putting her, Mundungus and Snape on stretchers. She didn't touch Malfoy. Draco went straight to Harry
"What happened?"
He rasped
"I found him like this in a cell, I couldn't leave him there to die"
Harry said, conjuring up his own stretcher with his free arm and levitation Malfoy onto it. Draco gazed down at his father
"You should have left him there to die"
He hissed
"No one deserves to die like he would have"
Harry said
"He wouldn't have cared if it were you or me...he killed my mother in the same way, just to prove to that monster he was loyal"
Harry realized then why Draco hated Voldemort and his father so much. Harry sighed
"We aren't going to let him go Draco, we're going to interrogate him, then lock him up...who knows, maybe someday in the future he'll suffer a worse fate than you mother"
Harry couldn't believe what was pouring from his mouth, any time before he never would have said anything comforting to Draco Malfoy...but now, he really was trying to help. Draco smiled slightly, a smile that didn't hold evil or scorn, a genuine smile that rarely appeared on his face.
"Right Harry"
He whispered. Harry rolled his eyes and started walking through the hall, the stretcher in front of him. The group followed, along with Ginny, Ron, Hermionie and Draco. When they reached the hospital wing Harry lowerd his hood and put Malfoy in a bed. He put a green bubble around the bed that would keep him in there until they needed to treat him. When he turned around Ginny jumped into his arms and kissed him. Harry grinned stupidly and hugged her tightly
"I'm fine"
He said before she could ask. Ginny giggled and turned to the group. They were staring at them in shock. Ginny turned bright red, as did Harry.
"I knew it!"
Ron cried
"I knew you were in love with her! My little sister Harry!"
Ginny glared at Ron
"Oh sut up"
She snapped. Nothing else was spoken on the subject. Madamn Pomphrey began to heal everyone who was injured, and shooed everyone else out, except Bill, who was left to watch Malfoy. The adults headed back to Dumbledore's office. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco started back towards the great hall. Ron was watching Draco, a confused look on his face, but he didn't say anything. Harry stopped half way
"Guys, you know how I wanted to talk to you ealier, before, er, Collin's little incident?"
Ron and Ginny nodded. Draco and Hermionie looked confused
"Well, I wanna talk now, come on...you can come if you want, Malfo- Draco"
Harry walked into a empty classroom, the other four following closely. Harry's mind was running over the event's of the day. First his parents, then Sirius freed, then those damn spiders, then Snape. He sighed and turned to the group
"I saw my parent's this morning"
He said. If he wouldn't have been serious, the reactions of the four would have been hilarious. Hermionie went very pale and glanced at Ron, obviously thinking Harry had lost his mind. Ron's mouth was hanging open, he also seemed to think Harry was crazy. Ginny began to fiddle with her hair, staring at the ground. Draco just raised an eyebrow
"I'm not crazy"
He said, rolling his eyes
"They appeared in the lake. Dumbledore said it happened to him when he was young to..just their reflections...Dumbledore suggested I tell you about it, though since it seems like an atternity ago, I don't understand why"
Ron and Hermionie let out a sigh of relief, obviously happy that their freind wasn't losing his mind. Draco's expression hadn't changed. Ginny stopped fiddiling with her hair and was now looking at him kind of like Draco was. Harry sighed
"Yeah, alright....did anyone say anything about Sirius?"
He asked.
"Yes, Flitwick made the announcemnt at the beggining of dinner, it was actually quite funny"
Hermionie said, giggling. Harry smiled
"Good. Well, i'm going to bed, I haven't had sleep for a good while, and I need it, good night"
He smiled at his friends then left the room, returning to his, and falling asleep immidiatley, without even changing.
(And that's that chapter! Thanks to all my reviewers! Tell how you liked it! I'll have another chapter up soon! ~ Kay)