With Darkness There'll Be Light
Six - Ready or Not
The eight companions all arrived in Romania in one piece exactly five minutes after Apparating.
Apparation of a long distance (like a different country) can really exhaust even the best of wizards. George and Fred collapsed on the ground after walking only an inch. Gemma clutched her heart, breathing slowly; she was not used to Apparating at all. Justin and Seamus both sank to the ground, yawning; they were used to Apparating, but had never gone further than the next town over.
Harry, Ron and Draco continued walking, unknowingly leaving some of their team behind. They were used to Apparating long distances, as they traveled four or five countries in just a day.
"Er…Harry?" Ron said, glancing back at his team mates, "I think we've lost some of the team."
Harry shot a look back and put his hand out to stop Draco from walking any further. Ron had already turned around and walked back to the others.
"It's going to be dark in a couple hours. We should get to Sirius' before nightfall." Harry sighed, looking at his yawning team. "We could leave you here and come back later if you like."
Gemma jumped to her feet, not to keen on being separated from the Captain. Fred and George, looking like old men, slowly got up. Justin and Seamus helped each other and stood on tired feet.
Yawning and dragging, the Fellowship trekked across the mild terrain before entering a mountainous valley.
"We're in the Carpathian Mountains," stated Draco as the team slowed to a stop to catch their breath.
"Which is where exactly?" Fred asked, gulping down some water and handing the bottle out to his twin.
"They enclose Romania on the North and East. We're in the East near the border to Moldova," answered Draco.
"Sirius' cave is just over this one right here," said Ron, pointing up the nearest mountain. The eight shielded their eyes to look up. The sun was partially hidden behind this huge piece of topography, but it still shown down enough to blind them slightly.
Harry sighed, "Okay. We've got a long climb ahead of us. So rest now for ten minutes and then we'll go."
All eight members fell to the ground gratefully. They began to gulp down water ferociously.
"Exactly what is on the other side of this mountain?" Gemma asked Draco, her breath steadying.
He looked at her, perhaps seeing her for the first time. He hadn't paid much attention to the other members of his team since he'd been so lost in thought. "Romania is made up of mountains, hills, valleys, slopes, plateaus, swamps and rivers, even. It's extremely varied. The Southeast is on the Black Sea." He swigged some water.
"Where'd you learn all that?" She asked, awed.
He shrugged, "Even though my Father didn't approve of Muggle Studies, I was quite keen to learn about the land. I took some Geography lessons during the summer. Plus, I studied Romania before we came here. Father made me do SOME studies pertaining to…well…things that he felt were important."
Gemma nodded, sensing an end of discussion.
"I'm impressed," said George Weasley from Draco's right side.
Draco shrugged, "It's nothing really. I don't know how much I have to remind you people but: I'm not my Father."
"Obviously," agreed Fred.
"Do you speak Romanian?" Ron asked Draco, pulling a map out of his bag. "My brother, Charlie does."
"He would, wouldn't he. He works here." Draco pointed out. "I speak five languages but Romanian is not one of them."
"Where does Charlie work?" Seamus asked. "Which part of the country?"
"South," answered Ron vaguely. Either he didn't know the exact location, or he didn't want to divulge. From the look on his face, it seemed he wasn't told the exact location. Probably it was a security measure put forth by The Department of the Care of Highly Dangerous Magical Creatures, of which Charlie was a member.
"What languages do you speak?" Gemma asked Draco. He turned his attention back to her.
"You really want to know?" He chuckled slightly and shrugged. "English, obviously. French, German, Hungarian, and Austrian. Father, Mother and I spent quite a lot of time around here when I was a child. I was forced to learn the native languages. We had a summer home in France. A chalet in Austria, a castle in Hungary and a small home in Germany. The manor is in Britain." He looked around, "I haven't visited any of those places in two years. I kind of miss it, actually." Draco looked at Harry, wanting him to say something. He was tired of discussing his past.
"Let's go," said Harry, cutting off any more questions. The remaining seven all stood and followed him up the mountain's rocky side.
"I (pant)…really (pant)…need (pant)…to (pant)…rest, (pant)…Harry." Justin sank to the ground, almost rolling down the entire length they had climbed so far. They were at the top of the mountain now and the sun was setting in the distance.
"We can't, Justin," said Harry, leaning down, "We have to make it to Sirius' by nightfall. It's not safe out here." He pulled Justin to his feet and led the team over the side of the mountain.
"So you were Hermione's partner at the Ministry?" Draco asked Gemma conversationally.
"Uh-huh, still am as far as I know." She looked down at her maroon robes and brushed off some invisible dirt.
"Right," nodded Draco. "Of course." He cleared his throat, pushing a branch aside so she could step past. He let it swing back after he'd passed it as well.
"OW! Shit! Draco!" Seamus was covering a bloody cut on the side of his face. Ron came up behind him, brandishing a bandage and scowling at Draco.
Draco shrugged, "Sorry. Didn't realize he was that close behind me."
Seamus let out a low growl under his breath and let Ron put the bandage on his cheek.
"Not even in battle yet and already bloodied up," teased Draco. "Too bad, Finnigan."
Gemma giggled a little. Both Ron and Justin gave Draco angry glares. Fred and George held back snickers. Harry was too far ahead to notice the tension filling the cool evening air. He, as usual, was lost in his own Harry Potter world and very rarely let anyone in it with him.
"TROOPS!" Harry yelled up to them. He was standing on a small level area about 5 feet down, waiting for them. "GET A MOVE ON!"
Fred and George groaned, but picked up the pace and passed Gemma with two large jumps ahead.
Seamus, rubbing his injured cheek, grumbled and followed. Ron tugged on Draco's elbow and pulled him down. Gemma held up the rear, walking as lady-like as she could even though it was hardly possible. Because of the trees and huge rocks blocking a clear, straight path, they had to zig-zag back and forth, winding in and out. It took double the time it would if it were an even line.
By the time the first stars were out, the Fellowship had reached the bottom of the mountain. But there was no cave in sight. They were in a valley with mountains close in on either side, with no visible break in the land that showed anything that could be a cave.
"Damn it," muttered Ron, sitting on a boulder and studying his magically altered map. "Are we in the wrong spot?"
"You know, little brother," said George, leaning casually next to Ron's dangling legs, "I am sure that good old Sirius Black isn't staying in a normal bear cave. I mean, he is a wizard. One of the best, and used to being hidden. I highly doubt his cave would be visible to the naked eye."
"Yes," agreed Ron. "Which is why I have this MAP." He stuck the map in his brother's face. George took hold of the map, skimming over it, his nose almost touching the crinkled paper. The map, very nearly like the Marauder's Map in idea, was a Muggle map of Romania's topography.
"I do believe it needs to be turned on," said George after a moment's pause. "It just looks ordinary right now."
Fred took it, ran his hand along it and muttered some incomprehensible words. He smiled as he pulled it away from his face, "There!"
Ron took the map from his older brother and stuffed it in his belt as Fred went over to the edge of the mountain and tapped his wand against it.
"Opeana," he said quietly. A large slab of rock slid to the side. It was larger than the average door and almost big enough to fit a bus through. Fred looked very pleased with himself as he led the other members into the dimly lit cavern.
A large figure appeared out of nowhere in front of them a few seconds later. "Welcome to my grotto!" Sirius Black's booming voice welcomed them with open arms. Harry, of course, hugged him. As did Ron. The others waited nervously…yawning sporadically.
While Ron, Harry and Sirius caught up, Draco took time to examine the cave. It was huge, with lanterns admitting a small beam of light every 3 feet. He could see a long winding walk up ahead and looked forward to seeing what kind of space this wizard lived in. Draco had become very interested with Sirius Black ever since he'd been cleared. He almost, sort of, maybe looked up to him, even. Not that he'd ever admit it.
Sirius smiled at them all, "Well, let's get you settled. You must be beat after that long hike."
Fred and George looked so happy they probably could have kissed Sirius, but they held back and opted to follow him deeper into the cave instead.
Draco was in awe of this magically altered cave. It's ceilings held sparkly sterling silver candelabras while the walls were mostly blank stone. They passed a room that looked a lot like a huge (fully furnished) den complete with Muggle television. Sirius' bedroom had a window that looked out the front door. How Sirius did this, Draco wasn't sure. But he figured it might have been a Watcher Spell. You cast the spell on anything (wall, window, picture, cup) and it shows you what's happening at the front door (or back door in some cases). The Malfoy Manor had several of inanimate objects holding the Watcher Spell all over the place. Malfoys weren't much for the element of surprise.
Also included in the cavern's layout were a very generous kitchen, bathroom and living room. Way in the back of the cave held eight separate bedrooms that were all furnished the same. Draco figured Sirius had magically put them there earlier, he doubted the cave had held eight guest rooms beforehand.
After a quick snack (on the Weasley twins insistence) the fellowship tucked into bed and all fell asleep the second their eyelids drifted shut.
The next morning, Draco awoke to the smell of bacon. His mouth was practically salivating at just the thought. As he coasted into the kitchen, he saw that the rest of his team were already assembled there and digging in to heaping portions of eggs, pancakes, waffles, French toast, home fries, white toast and of course, bacon.
He took the remaining seat next to Harry and dished up liberal amounts of scrambled eggs onto his plate. Harry, being the nice wizard he is, poured him some coffee and Ron, on his other side, poured orange juice.
Talk turned to the days activities as soon as Draco took the first bite of his massive breakfast.
"Where do we start?" Gemma asked, nibbling on toast.
"We know where Voldemort is…" began Harry. "But we don't know how to get there without being detected in the hundred mile radius."
"Can't we just Apparate outside the hundred mile radius?" Justin suggested, gobbling down orange juice.
"No," Ron shook his head, "They have detectors for Apparation…"
"They can detect us no matter how we get there, then?" Seamus asked, looking pale.
"There's no way for surprise," nodded Draco. "And we're not even certain Hermione and Ginny are there."
"So this is a complete bust?" Fred asked, looking angry.
"No," said Harry calmly, "We just need to get in there without being noticed."
"How do we get in there without being noticed?" Gemma voiced the question that was on everyone else's tongue.
"We become invisible," said Draco.
"Easier said than done," scoffed Seamus who was still quite mad with Draco about the branch incident.
"Not really," said Harry, stretching his arms above his head. "They have Apparation detectors and a hundred mile radius alarm…and guards every 400 feet around that radius…Draco."
"Hmm?" Draco asked, looking up from his plate. "Oh right." He wiped his mouth free of crumbs, "To fool the Apparation detectors (so to speak) we'll have to walk there and make camp along the way. It's a four day walk. Then, once at the line, we'll over take the guards. There are only four and they switch every 24 hours. There are eight of us. Four of them. Two on one. THIS is the simple part." He took a breath, "After that, we'll sneak in at the 24 hour mark. Unnoticed. Two to a uniform. The alarm only goes off OUTSIDE of those 5 minutes within the switching hour. We've got 5 minutes to get inside…once inside, we pretend to be and become the guards. No one will notice. It'll be a cinch."
"Who…or what are the guards?" George Weasley asked, a hint of a grin on his lips.
Harry cleared his throat, looked to Draco to dish out the bad news. "Dementors."
Groans erupted around the table. The loudest came from Fred, "Oy! There is nothing to worry about! It's only some really, really tall creatures who suck the souls out of the living and feast on despair!"
Many people told Fred to shut up. George hit his brother in the back of the head. "You are NOT helping."
Sirius, who had been quiet up to now, stood up. "Come on, you lot. It's doable. You all know the spell to keep them back. I know you all learned it in the Dark Prevention class among your other Auror classes. Expecto Patronum won't be hard for you. Fred and George, you didn't take that class…so you'll have to learn it."
Fred gulped, "Er…actually---" He looked at his brother, for Fred seemed to have lost the use of his voice. This was unfortunate, as it happened every time he was nervous.
George took over, "Harry taught us in our seventh year how to do it." He shrugged, "We're just not that good at it. I don't know as if we could keep a butterfly away."
Sirius sighed, "Well, you'll just do your best. If you concentrate on a happy memory, they won't have any affect on you."
Everyone, but Harry, looked very apprehensive; it was his job to keep the fellowship's spirits high so they were in good condition to fight.
"We leave here tomorrow morning, crack of dawn," stated Harry firmly. "Ready or not."