A/N: The large portion of this chapter that is in italics, is Draco's memory of a particular night while he is speaking to Harry. I don't actually have him speaking though. Well, just read and find out what I mean. The rest of the italics later in the chapter are self-explanatory I think. But anywho, I got this out sooner than expected! I wrote it in about four hours. That's much quicker than the rest. I just hope I didn't make any mistakes. If I see them after I've posted, I'll fix them and then upload the chapter again. I'm pretty sure I've got all the bugs worked out of this chapter! I'm really excited about this one! A couple lines that I have Harry say I thought were just perfect for the situation. My friends loved them as well. Enjoy!
Harry stood up immediately and walked out of the room with Ron.
"What happened?"
"I didn't get all the details, but apparently there was some sort of Death Eater attack at the Ministry."
"Ron? Why should I be surprised that that happened?"
"That's not the part you should be surprised about. Draco Malfoy has been arrested for killing three people." Harry stopped in his tracks and stared at his friend.
"What?" he asked quietly.
"Yeah, apparently the team of aurors that got there saw him kill his third victim. I know it's a shock, Harry. Especially since he seemed to be all right...but we need to go down there." Harry started walking towards the anti-Apparition barrier again, his mind doing somersaults with all the thoughts swarming through it. Before they Apparated, he turned to Ron again with sudden realisation.
"You don't think..."
"What?"
"He's been the one who have been giving the Death Eaters information on me?"
"It looks that way. I don't know who else it could possibly be. I mean, Malfoy was one of the first people to find out who you really were and then the Death Eaters found out before any of us...Seems kind of suspicious." Harry Apparated without another word. He was afraid that if he dwelled on that thought anymore, he'd be too angry to Apparate and he'd splinch himself. Ron appeared by his side and looked at his profile with concern.
"Are you sure that you can handle this? This case has so many personal..."
"Ron, I am doing this because of my personal relationship with everything. I'll be fine." The two hurried into the Ministry and flashed their badges when the guards were about to stop them. The three upper floors had taken the main blow, so that was where they were headed. When they arrived at the third to the last floor, complete disaster met their eyes.
There was a large hole in the ceiling, desks were blown apart, papers were everywhere, windows and walls were blown out and there were bodies everywhere. Harry swallowed back nausea and walked underneath the hole in the ceiling and looked up. The two floors above were clearly visible from where he stood and people were moving about up there. A warm drop of liquid dropped onto Harry's cheek and when he wiped it away, he found that it was blood.
Looking up again, he found the source of the blood. A woman on the floor right above him was dangling dangerously over the edge with her arm severed off. Harry began to wonder where her arm went when he almost stepped on it. Again, a wave of nausea swept over him and he fought furiously to fight it off. An auror above walked into Harry's vision and so he yelled to him.
"Could you get this woman away from the edge of this hole? She's going to fall down!" He saw the auror grimace slightly but then he levitated her out of danger. Harry shook his head.
"The woman is dead for Merlin's sake. The least he could do is show some respect and pick her up," he muttered under his breath so only Ron could hear.
"He doesn't know better. Only came on a couple weeks ago. He's not quite used to the bloodshed yet."
"And you are? I sure as hell am not."
"I'm not either. I don't think anybody can become used to it...but after a while, you just, I don't know, become sort of immune to it all."
"I still have yet to become immune to it. And you would think I would have already. Honestly, I don't want to become immune or used to it. I'd have no emotions then."
"I have emotions," said Ron indignantly. Harry clapped him on the shoulder.
"You, my friend, are a rare case." Harry turned and saw the large form of his boss, Paul Rembers enter the floor.
"Potter! I've been looking for you. The Minister of Magic has been injured, luckily, nothing too serious. But I do need somebody to go downstairs a floor and question him a bit on what he witnessed. Could you do that? I've got all the new aurors cleaning up this mess and a medical staff from St. Mungo's taking care of the bodies. I need an authority figure to question people. Start with the Minister, then go to the captured Death Eaters. They are being held in the holding chambers in the basement. Weasley, you come with me. Oh, and Potter, record all conversations. We'll need them as evidence."
"Yes, sir." Harry walked out of the blood bath, only too happy to be getting out of it for the time being. He went to the magical lift and went down a floor to find the Minister of Magic. The Minister was currently sitting atop a desk, being tended to by a nurse from St. Mungo's.
"Minister Curring, I'm glad you fared well through this," he said upon approaching him. The man looked up wearily and eyed Harry with a confused expression.
"I'm sorry, I can't recall your name at the moment."
"Harry Potter." The older mans eyes lit up and he stuck out his hand, which Harry took.
"You'll have to excuse me. I took a blow to the head during this fiasco."
"You'll be fine now, Minister. I'll be back in a while to check on you," said the nurse and walked away. Curring leaned in to Harry with a small smile on his face.
"I did take a blow to the head, I just didn't know which name to use with you." Harry laughed a little.
"That's perfectly understandable. The lines are beginning to get a little blurry with myself as well."
"I hear from Rembers that you came back as an auror. And I see that it's true now that you're here in auror's robes."
"Yes, I just came back today actually. I didn't expect anything of this calibre to happen already."
"They did take us by surprise. I'm just happy that I didn't have Virginia working today. They killed everybody in their path to get to my office." Harry breathed out a long breath.
"I had never even thought of that."
"Oh, yes, she's your fiancee, isn't she?"
"Yes, she is...And carrying my baby." Curring's eyes lit up and he shook Harry's hand.
"That's great news." He winced a little as he got up off of the desk and sat in a chair.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes, my head is just smarting a little. I assume you've been sent down here to question me on what exactly happened?"
"I have. Are you feeling up to it right now? Because if not, I can always go down to the Death Eaters and question them first."
"No, no. That won't be necessary. The nurse said I still have all my wits about me. Should I just tell from the beginning?"
"Yeah, hold on. I need to record this." He pulled his wand out and muttered some Latin words under his breath that made the tip of his wand turn red. "Okay, fire away."
"All right. Well, it was about an hour and a half ago, I was sitting in my office doing the normal paperwork that never ceases to stop coming to me. The room outside my office was quite busy at the time, my newly appointed body guards were outside my door, and a group of about ten witches and wizards running about, doing research for me. I was just about to get up to go and get some coffee when I heard a woman scream outside and then a large explosion.
"Of course, I ran out to see what was the matter, and just managed to see a large hole in the floor before my guards pushed me back into my office and closed the door so I couldn't see what was going on. There....there were a lot more screams when the Death Eaters placed the Cruciatus on people and Avada Kedevra. My door was banged open and I saw one of my guards, on the ground dead. The other one was still fighting but he fell as well. I tried to hold them off of me for as long as I could. But one of them got the Cruciatus on me and I fell back and hit my head on my desk.
"I think that's when the aurors came in, but I banged my head pretty good. Everything was pretty fuzzy until just about ten minutes ago."
"Do you remember seeing any faces of the Death Eaters?"
"Yes...There were three I think. If there were more, I didn't see them. I'm not sure who two of them were though."
"And the one you did know?"
"What's his name? He's on the Chudley Cannons. You should know him. Malfoy?"
"Draco Malfoy?"
"Yes. That's him. There's really no mistaking that blonde hair, is there? Got it from his retchid father."
"Were all three Death Eaters you saw, caught?"
"I'm sure that Malfoy was. I'm guessing that the other two were as well."
"Okay...Do you have any idea why they attacked here today?" Curring looked at Harry with a funny expression on his face.
"Don't you remember? It's the exact five year anniversary since You-Know-Who was killed." Harry dropped his wand in shock and the red light went out. "I'm sorry. I thought you of all people would have remembered that."
"No. I...I never remembered the date. My mind has started to shut out that day. I have been thinking the entire time that it was during the fall. Not February. That's how my mind is remembering it." Curring looked at him with something close to pity in his eyes.
"Maybe you should go home, Harry. There are other people here who are able to interview the Death Eaters now."
"No, I'm fine. I just didn't realise that they would plan an attack on the five year anniversary. I think I've got everything I'll be needing from you now. I'll go down to the holding chambers now." He summoned his wand to him and looked at the Minister dazedly.
"I'm glad you're well, Minister. Feel better, sir." He shook his hand once again and turned to go but Curring stopped him by placing a hand on Harry's elbow.
"Were you close to Malfoy?"
"Well, ever since I came back last year, I have been. Before that, we were always enemies. But I never thought he would do this."
"Turn your wand back on." Harry looked at the Minister funny but complied and made his wand glow red again.
"I just thought you should know. And I hope that there is something to this. Malfoy...he didn't seem to be acting of his own free will. It looked as though he were just going through the steps like an obedient house elf." Harry swallowed.
"What exactly do you mean, Minister?"
"I mean that there could be a chance that he was under Imperious. I'm not saying that that is what happened, but it's very probable. Either he has no emotion or he has been under the Imperious." Harry nodded his head.
"We'll take that into consideration. Thank you. Finite Incantatem." The wand went out and he pocketed it. "I can only hope that you're correct on that assumption, Minister. I won't lie and say that Draco has been a very good friend. The shock of this hasn't really set all the way in yet."
"It's understandable. There were Death Eaters that were killed tonight and if Malfoy really is under the curse and the caster is still alive...He may still be under it right now. Perhaps you should go down to the holding chambers and see him right now."
"I'll do that. Thanks again." Harry walked to the lift and went all the way down to the bottom floor. He showed his badge to the guard there and was let through immediately. The guard brought him to a small room.
"Have a seat. Which one would you like to see first?"
"Draco Malfoy. How many were caught?"
"Six. Five were killed and the rest got away."
"Thank you."
"I'll be back in a moment." The guard left the room and shut the door. Harry leaned forward, took off his glasses and tiredly rubbed his eyes. The door opened and a person was thrown down by Harry's feet.
"Not so rough!" he admonished the guard.
"Death Eater," he grunted and left the room. Harry made no effort to help Draco back to his feet or even to sit in a chair. He merely leaned back and put his glasses back on his face. To say the least, Draco was not looking well at all. The last time he had seen him was only that afternoon but it looked to be at least days since then. His hair was quite dishevelled and dirty. His face had blood smeared across it and there were dark circles under his eyes that may have been there before but Harry hadn't really noticed. His eyes also looked red rimmed and puffy, almost as if he had been crying.
Draco looked up and met Harry's cold gaze. Harry reached into his pocket and touched his wand. He again muttered the incantation under his breath and felt a warm glow against his leg, indicating that it was recording.
"Harry," he said quietly.
"Malfoy," Harry replied, having a hard time keeping his anger down. A dry sob escaped Draco's throat and he looked desperately at Harry.
"Please, don't go back to that. Please. You've got to believe me, Harry. I didn't mean to do this. They made me do it."
"Why should I believe you?"
"I'm your friend; that's why."
"Or so I thought. But you have been passing information to them all this time, haven't you?"
"I had to! I had to do it for Rebecca, Harry."
"Your Muggle girlfriend? I don't understand. Why would you have to give the Death Eaters information, when your father, who was a Death Eater, killed her?"
"I didn't tell you the whole story that day. I couldn't. If they would have found out, they would have killed her."
"You're not making any sense. I think you may be a bit hysterical right now. I'll call for the guard and I'll come question you later."
"No! Please, I'm not hysterical. I know what I'm talking about, Harry. Please don't go yet. Let me explain." Harry sighed and leaned back in his chair. He thought he was doing this against his better judgement. But seeing Draco like this was disturbing him. It just wasn't him to be so desperate. Of course, his situation was desperate. He was looking at a lifetime in Azkaban.
"Fine. Explain."
"I told you that we were planning on getting married after I put my father in Azkaban for all the things he did because I knew it wouldn't be safe to with him out in the open. And I told you that he found out about us and put a tracking charm on me and followed me to her flat and killed her. But the thing is, he didn't come alone. He came with Vincent Crabbe. Crabbe put the Cruciatus on Rebecca with my wand and my father and I did duel, like I said.
"But he never did kill her that night. Crabbe convinced him that it would be a lot more fun to take her hostage and torture her. At first, I actually thought that he was helping me out. But he wasn't. He's a sick sadistic bastard. I would have fought, but my father held the Cruciatus curse on me while Crabbe took Rebecca from her flat. Lucius threw down my wand and then Apparated to who knows where. That's the last night I saw him."
"Is she still alive?"
"Yes...hardly. They've kept her this entire time. I just saw her a couple weeks ago. She still knows who she is and who I am. I told her I'd be getting her out as soon as possible but I haven't known how to. I've tried everything but last night, it sort of backfired on me. That's why I couldn't go to your bon fire. I was trying to get Rebecca. But Crabbe caught me and put the Imperious on me. He said I was to help with the attack tonight. I was trying with everything I had to fight the curse off, but it really wasn't any good. But then by the time I saw you this afternoon, I was fighting it off and I could think for myself a little. If I would have been able to throw it off completely, I could have asked you for help. But I just had to run out of there."
"Why haven't you asked for help before this?"
"They had people watching me, listening in on me. That's why they knew who you were. And it's how they knew when you first saw the entire Weasley family again."
"But you weren't there."
"I know. I put a charm on you so that they could listen in on you all the time. They heard."
"Why were you doing these things?"
"Crabbe said that if I did everything they asked of me, they would release Rebecca after the attack tonight."
"So, what happened after you saw me today?"
"Goyle found me and brought me to Crabbe. He put the Imperious on me again just to be safe and then a couple hours later, we came here and attacked everybody." Another dry sob escaped him and he buried his face in his hands. "Please believe me Harry. I wasn't doing it because I wanted to. I need Rebecca back. Please say you believe me." Harry let out a breath and bowed his head and spoke to his shoes.
"I want to. I really want to. But I just can't do anything about it until we have more proof. We would need Rebecca to testify and to get her, we need to know where she is and what kind of security is around her."
"She's at Malfoy Manor in the holding cells."
"Don't you live in Malfoy Manor?"
"No. The Death Eaters made it their 'official headquarters' during the war and never gave it up. That's why my mum is living with me. She knows about Rebecca as well."
"What kind of security is up around the Manor and the holding cells?"
"The security around the Manor is down because only a person of pure Malfoy blood can keep them up. And since there are no Malfoy's living there anymore, they're down. The only obstacles you would run into in the Manor are the Death Eaters."
"I don't get it, Draco. When they kidnapped me, they had me in a small house out in Wales. Why didn't they bring me to the Manor?"
"I don't know. I never understood that either. Harry...do you know how you got back to Ron and Hermione's?"
"No."
"I brought you." Harry blinked.
"What?"
"That week, I had to go and see Crabbe...."
Draco sat at his kitchen table with his mother, Narcissa Malfoy. They had just fallen into a tense silence after yet another fight about what to do about their situation with Rebecca. Draco wanted more than anything to just go in there and get her out. He knew the Manor better than anybody there; and with the wards down, it would be easy. Narcissa, however, felt that they should just play it safe and do what the Death Eaters wanted. Draco clenched and unclenched his jaw and finally sighed and sat back in his chair.
"Mum, how can you just expect me to sit back and wait for them to give her to me? It's been almost five years. How am I supposed to know that they ever will give her back?"
"Draco...I know it's hard for you. But you must understand that if you were to be caught trying to break her out, the consequences could possibly mean yours or her death. It wouldn't help Becca any for you to die." Draco hung his head in defeat. The last thing he wanted to happen was for her to be free but unhappy because he was dead. Dead because of having stupid Gryffindor bravery.
"Just go and speak with Crabbe tonight. Maybe you can work something out."
"I suppose I better. He wanted to speak with me tonight and maybe I can get him to give up Harry. I just hope they haven't killed him yet."
"Don't think that way. He's still alive. Now get going. I don't want you moping around here all night." Draco got up and kissed his mother on the cheek and went outside to Apparate to the little house in Wales.
When he appeared outside, Crabbe, Goyle and one other man that Draco didn't recognise ran out of the house. Explosions were heard from inside and an emerald light was flashing.
"Malfoy, I advise you to get the hell out of here. Our prisoner has just gone off his cob! He's killing everybody in sight," Goyle yelled before Apparating with the other two men. Draco looked at the house and wondered who their prisoner was. Whoever it was, was putting the Death Eaters through a lot of pain. The screams were piercing Draco's ears. The light almost looked like the light from Avada Kedavra but...it wasn't. It piqued his interest, so against his better judgement, he walked slowly towards the house.
Just as he got to the open door, the light stopped and so did all the screaming. Cautiously, he stepped inside and walked into the kitchen and living room, where the smell of blood and death was overwhelmingly strong. All candles had been extinguished and the room was completely dark except for a faint glowing, green light.
Draco used extra caution so as not to step on the mangled bodies, no matter how much they deserved it, and moved closer to the light. A man standing in the middle of the blood bath, staring at the wall as if paralysed came into focus and Draco gasped as he saw where the light was coming from.
It was coming from his eyes.
Draco stood paralysed in his position, staring at the man. The man was very obviously injured, as his eyes were almost swollen shut, but open just enough to emit the bright light. Other than that, Draco couldn't see the extent of his injuries from the light. He shook himself out of his trance and moved slowly around to the front of the man and gasped once again.
"Harry. Oh, Merlin. What the hell happened?" Even as he looked upon Harry, the light was beginning to fade and it seemed as though he were coming out of his trance like state. He blinked and for the first time, noticed Draco.
"I get my eyes from my mother, Draco. Did you know that?" Draco just managed to catch the other man as he fell to the ground. All sorts of thoughts swarmed through his mind on what to do, but only one seemed to be a good choice. He'd have to bring Harry to Ron and Hermione's. Without another word or glance around, Draco disappeared with Harry. Draco sighed with relief when he ended up in the correct place. He had only been to their house once before and didn't know if he was imagining it right.
"Harry, wake up. You need to walk into Ron and Hermione's by yourself." The eyes fluttered open and looked at the house. Harry pushed himself off of Draco and started stumbling to the house. Draco glanced up at the kitchen window and saw Hermione staring out at them. Hopefully, she wouldn't be able to recognise him. Without waiting for her to come out, he Disapparated with a pop.
Harry was silent for almost five minutes after Draco had told him the story. It was so unbelievable..but yet, it was.
"You brought me back?" Draco nodded his head.
"Why didn't you tell anybody that it was you? I've been going out of my mind trying to piece it all together."
"I couldn't. The story wouldn't have added up if I had lied and I certainly couldn't tell the truth. I'm probably risking Becca's life right now by telling you all this."
"She'll be fine. I'm sure that the Death Eaters aren't paying attention to you anymore. But...thank you for bringing me back. I probably wouldn't have been well enough to do so myself. Draco... are you still under the Imperius?"
"No. I felt it lift off of me after I was brought down here. I think Crabbe may be dead." Harry sighed again and ran a hand through his dishevelled hair.
"For what it's worth... I do believe you." Draco let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you. All I needed was for you to believe me. If nobody else believes it, it won't matter. I know you do."
"Draco, it won't help you stay out of Azkaban if I'm the only one."
"I know that. But I'm saying that if I do end up there, I know that one person believes me. I honestly couldn't think of a better person to have believe me. Believe it or not, I've always wanted your approval." Harry smiled.
"I don't but I'll take your word for it. I'll do everything I can to get you out of here. They won't bring any of you to Azkaban until after you've had a trial." Draco laughed bitterly.
"They won't give us a trial. As far as they're concerned, we're guilty; which the rest of them are, I suppose."
"Not so long as I'm around, you'll get a trial. When that time comes, I'll have Rebecca out and she'll be able to testify for you." Draco drew in a shaky breath and nodded his head while looking at the floor. Harry stood up and pulled him off the floor and looked him in the eyes.
"I'm sorry that you've had to go through all this alone."
"You and me both, huh? We've been alone for the past five years."
"I've been lucky for the past months though. Your luck is still to come. Don't worry about any of this. Let Ron and I take care of it and you just think of the future you have with Rebecca." Draco smiled hopefully and then surprised Harry by hugging him tightly.
"I know you said never to hug you again, but I can't get across in words how grateful I am to you."
"Don't worry. I'll let it go this time," Harry said smiling. "I have to question the Death Eaters now. You'll have to go back to your cell." Harry sent a silver light to the guard and within a minute, the burly man was in the room again, ready to take Draco away. He handled him very roughly.
"Hey! Enough with the man-handling already!" Draco looked back at Harry before he was dragged out the door.
"Do you really think Ron will help?"
"I'm sure of it." Draco then disappeared from view and Harry was left only for a few more minutes before the next person was brought in. He just hoped that Draco wasn't lying to him. Oh, how he would pay if he was.
***
Harry went up to the aurors office just as it was going on two in the morning. The only thought going through his mind was: coffee, and lots of it. The Death Eaters had refused to tell him anything and he had spent the better part of an hour with each one of them, getting absolutely no where. His headache had gone from dull pain to mind numbing pain. Just as he was pouring himself a cup of coffee, Ron came up behind him.
"How'd it go?"
"Either don't talk so loud or give me a bloody headache cure."
"That good, huh?" he asked as he pulled out his wand and placed it at Harry's temple. Harry's eyes fluttered closed as the pain left his head and he smiled a little.
"You're a life saviour, Ronald Weasley." Ron smirked.
"I try. So...did you speak with Malfoy?" Harry dropped unceremoniously into a chair and sighed heavily.
"I asked for him first. He's the only one who would tell me anything."
"So how deep in this was he?"
"I suggest we take this in my office," came a deep voice behind them. They turned around to find Rembers. "You can play back what you recorded of your meeting with him. I'm curious to find this out as well. Weasley filled me on the situation with him." Harry stood up and followed the two other men into Rember's office.
"Have a seat, boys. Potter, get that wand out." Harry sat and pulled out his wand and muttered some words that made the tip of his wand turn blue. Draco's quiet voice filled the room.
"Harry."
"Malfoy." A loud sob was heard and then Draco's voice came again. "Please, don't go back to that. Please. You've got to believe me, Harry. I didn't mean to do this. They made me do it...."
The three men sat and listened in silence as the conversation progressed. Ron sat with his mouth hanging slightly open when it came to the part about Rebecca. He had no idea about her, except that she had been Draco's girlfriend. Finally, after almost an hour, the conversation started to come to a close.
I'm sure he will."
Harry turned to face Ron who was still sitting as if stunned.
"Will you help, Ron?" He looked up at Harry and bit his lip. Ron was silent for almost two minutes and Harry started to fear that he wouldn't be getting the help that he would so desperately need with this case.
"I'll help."
"Potter, do you have any more evidence besides Malfoy's word that he was under the Imperious?"
"Yes. The Minister said that he saw Malfoy and that it seemed like he was just going through the steps like an obedient house elf. I have it recorded."
"Okay. I want every interview transferred over to my wand and Weasley's wand so that more people can get to them if asked. Only us three will have access to them.
"Now, the only reason I'm going along with this is because Malfoy said that his manor is the headquarters for the Death Eaters. The only thing I am concerned about is getting every last one of them. This Muggle...Rebecca, I'll put that on your list of things to do, Potter. But don't forget the real reason you're there. To get the Dark wizards and witches. Now the next thing we need to plan for is some sort of ambush on the Manor. Since it's after three now, we'll leave it for tomorrow.
"You two should go home; I need to put an ad in the Daily Prophet for more aurors. It's sad that it has come to this. This department has never needed to advertise for people. Potter, do you mind if I drop your name? It might attract more people." Harry groaned inwardly at the thought. He didn't need people working for him that were only there because of who he was. But...if it got people in to help. The more the merrier.
"Go ahead. We need the people. I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early."
"No, you get a good nights rest. We'll need you to be extra sharp. Same goes for you, Weasley."
"Goodnight, sir," the two men chorused and left the office.
"Harry...do you reckon Malfoy is really telling the truth?"
"I don't know. I hope so. There's only way to find out. And she's sitting in the dungeons of Malfoy Manor."
Harry trudged up his stairs to his bedroom. He smiled faintly when he saw Ginny's sleeping form in his bed. He undressed down to his boxers and climbed in bed with her and wrapped his arms around her. She moaned in her sleep and snuggled in to his chest. Harry sighed contentedly and closed his eyes to let sleep come. As tired as he was, he just couldn't fall asleep. Draco's desperate words kept going through his head.
I need Rebecca back.
Harry looked down at Ginny and thanked every god out there that he still had her. If she had been taken from him for five years....He shuddered at the thought. He wouldn't be able to go on. Draco Malfoy was stronger than he gave himself credit for. Harry had been through quite a bit in his life, but at least he had had a reprieve from it all for the past five years. Draco hadn't. He had lived with the fact that the girl that he loved more than anybody else in the world was being kept prisoner and there was nothing he could do but wait. The Death Eaters may have tortured Harry physically, but he thought that there was nothing worse than when they hit you where it really hurt. When they took the people you loved.
Sirius. When they took Sirius from him.
Draco's situation wasn't all that much different from Harry's. Harry clenched his jaw in anger towards all the Dark wizards. They had no right to do this to people.
I'll get Rebecca back for you, Draco. Mark my words. I'll get her back.
~*~*~
Harry awoke a couple hours later at seven to Ginny sobbing in his arms. He looked down at her and gently shook her shoulder.
"Ginny? What's wrong?"
"No...please, don't make Harry go. Harry! Please! Don't go! Stay here with me; you'll be hurt if you go!" She again dissolved into tears and buried her face in Harry's chest.
"Gin, wake up. It's just a dream. I'm not leaving you. I never will." He gently shook her shoulder and then hugged her tightly and kissed her head. "Wake up." Ginny looked up into Harry's face and gave a sob of relief.
"Harry! Oh, thank goodness. It was just a dream. I...I dreamt that you..." Her bottom lip began to quiver and more tears rolled down her face.
"Don't think about it anymore, Gin. It was just a dream." He wiped away her tears and kissed her face all over. He then pulled her even closer to him and laid back down with her in his arms.
"What time did you get in, Harry?" she asked.
"I think it was about half past three."
"I'm sorry I woke you. You should go back to sleep." Harry turned her over so that he was looking down on her and pushed hair away from her face. He leaned down and kissed her slowly and passionately. Ginny sighed when he pulled away and ran a hand through his hair.
"What was that for?"
"Do you have any idea how glad I am to know that you're here?" Ginny raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm just glad you're here with me." He rolled back over, closed his eyes and yawned loudly. "Maybe I will go back to sleep." He opened up his arms wide. "But you have to stay right here until I fall asleep." Ginny giggled and crawled into his arms.
"That can be done." Within seconds, Harry had once again fallen back to sleep, with Ginny's gentle weight on his chest.
***
"Harry! Wake up! Ron called, you need to get into work."
"Ginny? What time is it?"
"Almost eleven."
"Shit. I didn't mean to sleep this long. Did he say something if happened?" he asked as he rushed to his closet to grab his extra pair or auror's robes.
"He didn't say. He just got up himself when Rembers called him." Harry didn't answer but ran into the shower. After grabbing a couple pieces of toast from Ginny, Harry ran out the door to Apparate to the Ministry. Ron was already there, surrounded by a hoard of at least forty people.
"Ron! What the hell is going on? Who are these people?" Ron fought his way through the crowd and pulled Harry into Harry's office.
"New aurors," he said as he jabbed his thumb in the direction of the door.
"Ex...excuse me? New aurors? Where did they all come from?"
"They are replying to Rembers' ad this morning. Most of them were the people who quit after you disappeared. They had wanted you as their boss. So...your name appears in the paper as a Lieutenant and they came swarming in this morning. They've already filled out the paperwork and Veritaserum has been given to all of them. They just need to go and get their robes and some direction to go in today." Harry stared, dumbfounded at the closed door.
"Wow," he muttered after a few moments. "How many do we have now?"
"Fifty-two. We're thirty-seven up from yesterday."
"Have they all been aurors before this?"
"No. Some of them went through the training but never came in. We better get back out there so you can introduce yourself. Not that they don't know who you are already anyway. Rembers has introduced himself already and has gone for the day. He was here for over twenty-four hours. You're in charge for the day."
"Ron...I don't know if I can do this. I've never directed this many people before."
"You'll be great. And if you need any help, I'm here."
"Thank you. Well, let's go." Harry opened up the door to find the entire crowd, waiting silently for the two to come out. "Good crowd we've got here, Ron. They're completely quiet."
"For you, yeah. They've been like a wild herd of hippogriffs since I got here an hour ago." Harry laughed and shook his head. He stood up on a chair and smiled out at their expectant faces.
"Tell me the truth...How many of you are here because of your love of being an auror?" A couple people raised their hands tentatively. Ron gave a cough that suspiciously sounded like, 'liars!'
"Well," Harry continued with a laugh. "As you may or may not know, my name is Harry Potter, but it's Lieutenant or Lieutenant Potter to all of you. I have to admit, that I am new to this position. I've only been given it yesterday."
"But you should have had it five years ago! And you should have been the Head of the Department already!" yelled out one of the larger men.
"Yes, that was my fault though. And I wouldn't have been ready for this position back then. Right now, as much as I don't really want to say anything, I feel like I must tell all of you the truth." He continued to tell them the shortened version of him being James Newark. "I have told you all of this confidentially, and not one word of it will be breathed outside of this room. I tell you all this because we are to work as a group and the leader of a group can't have secrets of this magnitude. We are here to fight against the same thing. We are here to rid Britain of Death Eaters. To do this, we need to be united. I now have every faith that we will be able to do this. The Death Eaters are leaderless, we are not. The Death Eater numbers are down. Ours are going up. We now outnumber them. They will get what is coming to them." The crowd started clapping and cheering. When it finally died down, Harry continued.
"I hear that you all still need to go and get your robes. So, I ask you to go and pick those out. But afterward, we'll need you back here to discuss the latest happenings. Last night we apprehended a man by the name of Draco Malfoy. Officer Weasley and I, both believe in his innocence. Yes, he did kill three people last night...but we believe he was under the Imperious curse. Malfoy is willing to help us out in any way possible. He has confirmed where the headquarters are for the Death Eaters and that they do have at least one hostage there.
"Mr. Malfoy is to be protected from Azkaban at all costs. Unless of course, evidence comes against him that makes him undoubtedly guilty. He is very valuable to us right now. He will aid us in our plan to get inside the headquarters. Now...enough said for now. Go get your robes." Harry stepped down from his chair and stood next to Ron.
"So, do you have an idea of how we're going to do this?" asked Ron.
"A fuzzy plan, yes. I'll just run with it now. The details will work themselves out." After a few minutes, the group started to make their way back in with their new robes on. Harry and Ron had gone to a large table near the window that had a magical map underneath the glass, showing all of England. There were black spots blinking where there was dark magic going on.
Harry studied the map and wondered where exactly Malfoy Manor was. Hopefully it wasn't unplottable like most things were in the magical world. He leaned in and whispered to Ron.
"I need Draco up here."
"I'll go call down to the guards."
"Thanks." Ron walked away and Harry turned to the assembled crowd of aurors that were gathered around the table. "Sorry for the wait. We'll be starting in a couple minutes once one more person comes." Ron came back and smiled at Harry reassuringly.
"They're bringing him now." Harry nodded his head and tapped his fingers on the glass impatiently. Within the next minute, the door outside was heard opening and everybody turned to see the newcomer. Some people gasped and still some more people glared. Draco didn't meet anybody's eyes and looked down at the floor. The guard led him over to Harry and stopped.
"I'll stay," said the guard as he gave Draco a contemptuous look.
"No, I think we'll be all right here. I don't think he would try something even if he wanted to. He's outnumbered fifty-four to one." The guard didn't look happy to be leaving but he left anyway. Draco looked at Harry gratefully and Harry smiled reassuringly at him.
"Let's get that binding charm off your hands now," said Harry softly and moved around the back of his friend and took the charm off.
"Lieutenant, do you really think that that is safe? I know you believe in his innocence, but he is still a prisoner of the Ministry of Magic and there is always a chance that he is guilty," said one tall, built witch with long brown hair. Harry looked at Draco who was flexing his wrists and looking down at the floor sadly, then he looked back to the witch.
"What's your name?"
"Er - Williams, Leah Williams." Harry smiled kindly at her.
"Well, Officer Williams, I think it to be perfectly safe. He is not armed as his wand was confiscated by this Department and there have only been three people to register this century with the ability of wandless magic. If you recall, Voldemort was one of them. I'm sure Mr. Malfoy here, is not Voldemort. The second was Albus Dumbledore. The third..." Harry waved his hand and conjured up two large plates of rolls. "Help yourself. They're quite good," he said grabbing one and taking a bite out of it. He then handed one to Draco.
"They can't be feeding you that well down there. And for another, everybody...as I told the guard, there are fifty-four of us in the room right now. Malfoy wouldn't be stupid enough to do anything. I'm sorry if any of you have doubts about this; you'll just have to take my word on this one." Draco tapped Harry on the shoulder timidly.
"Harry, what am I doing here?" he asked quietly.
"You need to help us." Harry turned to the crowd and started speaking to everybody.
"We have to form a plan for when we ambush the headquarters of the Death Eaters, a.k.a. Malfoy Manor. To do this, we need Draco. He knows everything there is to know about it, as it was his childhood home. Draco...we need you to tell us everything you know. Starting with if the Manor is plottable. Can you point it out on this map of England?" Draco furrowed his brow and looked all around. An auror raised his hand to ask a question.
"Say your name and then ask from now on. I need to get to know everybody."
"Ross Daniels. Why don't we just Apparate there or Floo there or something? Why do we need to know where it is?"
"Because if my assumptions are correct, we can't just Apparate or Floo there without permission. They will know that they have an intruder and will be ready for us. If we come in by a Muggle car, for instance, they'll be none the wiser."
"But what if they have sentries around the land?"
"That's what we need to find out. Draco, do you know?"
"I'm trying to think. Lucius told me where it was when I was about ten years old when he had had too much to drink. Otherwise, I never would have known. I'm pretty sure that it is about ten kilometres north west of the Muggle town, Kingston upon Hull. It's pretty much cut off from everything but if you did take a car up there, there is a road that runs along the edge of it. You can't see anything from the road though. You've just got to know that it's there."
"Have you ever been on that road?"
"Yeah, plenty of times."
"Okay, we may need to take you out of here in a couple days so that we know the boundaries of the land surrounding the manor. I need ten volunteers to go out to the manor to scope out everything. A raise of hands, please. When I point to you say your name, Ron, write it down." Hands started to raise and one by one, names were called out.
"Brian Salmi."
"Kevin Novis."
"Anna Regro."
"Gina Christensen."
"Joshua Walker."
"Teri Pinkett."
"Carrie Snap."
"Natasha Kettle."
"Shawn O'Brian."
"John Tennor."
"Okay, that'll do. Did you get all that, Ron?"
"Yes."
"All right. Now what you ten will be doing...you'll be going out to the Malfoy Manor with me and possibly Draco, here. If I can pull it off, it would be best since we have no idea where it is. We will be testing the area for any traps, security walls, etc. Draco has told me that any security measures that used to be up when he lived there are now down. They need to be held up by somebody of pure Malfoy blood. And since nobody of Malfoy blood is living there, they are down. And we presume that they haven't been able to put up anything too serious.
"While we are there, we will set up areas around the perimeter so that we can watch. Repellent charms will be put up and masking spells. Your safety while acting as sentry will be guaranteed, unless of course, you give yourself away. I will give out more details to this tomorrow. Be prepared for this tomorrow night. This is when I want to be able to do this.
"Now, this is the hard part for me. I want to get somebody inside. I only need one person for this. If I sent two or three in, it would seem suspicious. The most logical kind of person to send in, is a person who's family has been into the Dark Arts before this. Were any of your parents involved with the Dark Lord?" Everybody started looking around as a person started pushing their way through the crowd.
"Mine were." Draco gasped audibly.
"Pansy?"
"Hello, Draco. It said in the paper that you were arrested for taking part in that attack last night. I didn't believe it for a second, of course. I'll be interested to hear this story later." Harry turned to Ron who had a very confused look on his face. He leaned into Harry and whispered into his ear.
"Did you have any idea that she was here?"
"No, I didn't see her. She has a French accent now. And why is Draco so surprised to see her?"
"She disappeared a couple months before the final battle, remember?"
"No, not really. But okay." Harry turned his attention back to Pansy.
"Miss Parkinson, I presume it's still Parkinson?"
"Yes, it is."
"I wasn't aware that you have had auror training."
"I've been in France these past years. I was an auror for the French Ministry of Magic."
"And what brings you back to London?"
"I decided to come back and see a few people. Namely, Draco. And to get a job as an auror here. Then the ad ran this morning and the article about the attack, and Draco's arrest. So, I came in right away. I'll be willing to go in as an operative for you." Harry considered her for a few moments before speaking.
"The thing that I'm worrying about is: does anybody know where you were and what you were doing with your time away from England?"
"No. I haven't run into anybody from England ever since I left and I had a very useful disguise. So if I had, the person probably wouldn't have known who I was."
"You do realise how dangerous this is? If something were to go wrong, they will probably not hesitate to kill you?"
"I do realise it. I'm willing to do anything to help out. I've already taken Veritaserum and they asked me this. You can look in the records."
"It's not that I don't believe you. I just want to be assured that you know the consequences of going in. I hate doing this to anybody, but we've got to know what goes on in there."
"I'll do it," she said firmly.
"Okay, Pansy, you're my operative for this. Draco and I will fill you in on details in a bit."
"Pansy, don't do this," Draco pleaded. Pansy looked at him through stony eyes, her face set.
"You are not going to change my mind, Draco."
"Oh, Merlin. Harry, there's been another attack," said Ron urgently. Harry spun around and looked where he was pointing.
"Diagon Alley. Haven't they hit there enough? Okay, I want everybody here to respond. Ron, I need to put you in charge for right now. I need to speak with Pansy and Draco privately. If you need me, call me." Ron nodded his head curtly and turned to everybody.
"Okay, everybody! You heard the man! Diagon Alley, now!" Almost all at once, the aurors Disapparated. Draco slumped down into a chair with a huge sigh.
"I hate that. They're all looking at me like I'm guilty." Harry sat down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry about this, Draco. I know how it is to be innocent but to have everybody think you're guilty. I'll get you through this." Pansy was looking between them with a confused look.
"When did you two become friends?" she asked suddenly. "Have I died?" Harry and Draco looked at each other and started laughing hysterically.
"No, Pans, you haven't died. We really are friends," said Draco through his laughter.
"We've been friends since I came back last year. He figured me out when I was talking to myself after my first professional Quidditch game. Damn bastard had me all pissed off at him last night. I thought he had been passing information on me to the Death Eaters by choice." Pansy sat down on the other side of Draco and tried to fix his hair.
"I never believed it for a second. Even when we were in school, I knew that you would never become a Death Eater. I saw how your face would become red and you'd bite your lip when people would make fun of Muggles and Muggle-borns. I've always wondered what made you change your mind though. You never told me."
"Rebecca."
"Rebec...Oh, didn't you say something about a girlfriend named Rebecca who lived in France or something? She went to Beauxbatons?"
"She isn't a witch. She's a Muggle. I lied when Blaise Zabini borrowed one of my books and saw a picture of us two together. I said that she went to Beauxbatons to cover up and she believed me. Then the Slytherin Gossip Queen that she was, she told everybody that I had a girlfriend from Beauxbatons."
"Well...I have to say, I'm surprised. I never thought you of all people would have a Muggle girlfriend. So, what has happened to her?" Draco bit his lip and looked down.
"This is the reason Draco was involved with the Death Eaters. They have been holding her prisoner since only a couple days after the final battle. Lucius and Crabbe took her and Draco has had to do whatever they say. Of course, yesterday, he was under Imperious."
"Oh, Draco. I'm so sorry." Pansy folded her old friend into a hug and kissed his cheek. "She's being held at the manor?" Draco nodded his head dumbly.
"I'll get her out."
"Pansy, it would be best if we waited until we ambush them. We don't want to risk you being caught. Now, you'll have to find a Death Eater contact and get in right away. Do you know of any?"
"Of course. I'm a Slytherin. Most of my old friends are Death Eaters." At that moment, a loud beeping noise filled the room and the torches on the walls turned red.
"Shit, shit, shit. Somebody has breached the building security again." Harry hurried over to the map to see a large blinking black dot covering the Ministry building. Diagon Alley was no longer blinking.
"Pansy, you need to get the hell out of here. If these are Death Eaters coming, we can't risk them seeing you here. Please put on whatever disguise you can and go to Ron in Diagon Alley. I need them here, right now." Pansy Disapparated without a word. It was now only Harry and Draco. Harry looked at him, debating whether or not to give Draco, his own wand. Harry had wandless magic to use.
The door to the large room burst open, revealing five cloaked and hooded figures. Harry tossed his wand to Draco and advanced on the Dark wizards with a sadistic smile on his face.
"If you're sure you want to go through with this boys. Be my guest. It's your funeral."
A/N: Don't forget to review! The line that gave my friends goosebumps was when Harry said, "I get my eyes from my mother, Draco. Did you know that?" Well, I was quite proud of that. I gave somebody goosebumps! :grins: I'm just about to run off and start Chapter thirteen! Ginny's dream: a premonition? The results from the newest attack from the Death Eaters. The plan to go to the Malfoy manor and set up sites for sentries will be put into action. And I'm thinking of putting in Wormtail's trial in this one. If not this one, it will be in fourteen. Nearing the home stretch here!