Chapter 56
Sirius and Ginny were sitting next to Harry's bed talking quietly when he first began to stir, and when they heard a slight moan, their conversation stopped and they both turned to the bed with hopeful expressions on their faces.
"Harry" said Sirius gently as he looked to his godson
"Harry, come on, wake up" urged Ginny, and another moan was her answer
"Come on Harry, open your eyes" prompted Sirius and a few moments later he managed to painfully pry his eyes open and lay squinting at his godfather and girlfriend who were both smiling kindly at him.
"Morning, sleeping beauty, how are you feeling?" asked Ginny
"Like I was run over by a heard of hippogriffs pulling the Hogwarts Express" he answered hoarsely with a groan.
"Well, that's to be expected" said Sirius with a small smile as he gave him a glass of water, noting with concern that he could barley hold the glass for his shaking hands, but he knew Harry would refuse any help that he offered out of stubborn pride.
"How long have I been out?" asked Harry once he had managed to drink the water
"Almost four days, it's Christmas Eve, just after dinner" answered Ginny
"Geeze, it felt like longer than that" muttered Harry, earning concerned glances from the other two.
"Why do you say that? You were unconscious" said Sirius
"Sort of, but the entire time all I had to look at and talk to was my wonderful grandfather who was enjoying himself trying to make me miserable" said Harry "So, what has happened since I took that bloody potion?" he asked
At this, Ginny and Sirius looked to each other before Sirius spoke up "Not much, after you took the potion, we heard you screaming and went in, and Snape told us that you were being cursed at the same time, and a few minutes later, you blacked out. We brought you up here and you haven't moved since" he answered with a shrug of his shoulders "Other than that, it has been pretty much the same thing around here, other than the fact that the infamous marauders have struck again" he added with a mischievous smile on his face
"Oh Merlin, what have they done?" he asked, dreading the answer he would receive
"Well" said Ginny hesitantly, but before she could continue, the headmaster spoke up
"I believe that they managed to turn the potions classroom red and gold, and signed your name to their project, but don't worry, Severus shouldn't see it until tomorrow night at the earliest" he said with a twinkle in his eyes "How are you feeling?" he asked
"I've been worse, but I've also been better" answered Harry truthfully
"I would imagine so, Harry, but I'm afraid that we can't give you anything for the after effects of that curse until after the spell has been performed" he said reluctantly, and Harry nodded his head in acknowledgement just as Madame Pomfrey entered and her face broke into a smile as well when she saw him awake.
"Ah, Mr. Potter, I see you have decided to join the world of the living once again" she said as she began to examine him, noting with concern that he flinched every time he was forced to move any part of his body and that his muscles were still shaky from the curse "Let me see your hands so I can heal them" she said once she was done looking him over thoroughly
"Why? What happened to my hands?" he asked as he turned his palms up and examined the bandages covering them with his brow furrowed. Without saying a word, the mediwitch waved her wand and the bandages fell away to reveal the deep cuts that were clearly from his own fingernails "Oh" he said quietly as he turned away and let the mediwitch heal the cuts, and when he turned back, the red marks had been replaced by light pink scars.
The next couple of hours, he just sat and talked to his godfather, girlfriend, and headmaster, joking lightly and just enjoying being in their presence. The marauders and Lily came by for a few minutes as well as Remus, Ron, Hermione, and Draco, but none of them stayed long, claiming that they still had things to prepare for Christmas morning. At ten, Madame Pomfrey came back to check him over again and gave him another goblet of water.
"I hate to do this, but I'm really tired, I think I'm just going to go back to sleep" he said once she had left and Dumbledore had returned to his office.
"Ok, well, can we come up here in the morning to open our gifts? That way we can give you yours too" said Ginny before she stood up
Harry smiled broadly "I'd love that, why doesn't everyone come here in the morning, can you ask Ron and Hermione and Draco, Gin, and Sirius, do you think Remus will come?" he asked hopefully
At his anxious expression, Sirius and Ginny smiled "I'm sure they would all be happy to come, Harry" said Sirius "Why don't we meet here at, say ten? That way you can have a bit of a lie in" he said
"Sounds good to me" said Harry happily
"Well, night Harry" said Ginny as she leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss "Happy Christmas Eve" she said with a smile
"Night, Gin, love you and see you in the morning" he said as he returned the kiss and she left the room in search of her brother and Hermione and Draco.
"Night Harry" said Sirius as he too left the room "I'll see you in the morning"
"Night Sirius" said Harry and once his godfather had left, he burrowed deeper into his blankets and fell fast asleep.
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Christmas morning dawned bright and quiet, with the sun being reflected off of the fresh blanket of snow that had fallen on the grounds the night before. Harry was awoken by Madame Pomfrey coming in to check on him and bring him a plate of food for breakfast.
"Merry Christmas, Harry" she said with a smile as she set the plate of food on the table next to his bed
"Good morning, Madame, and Merry Christmas to you as well" he replied with a smile and reached over to the table to pick up the plate, gripping it tightly in both hands to try and prevent spilling anything on his bed. Once he had placed the plate on his lap, he turned back to the mediwitch who had been watching him in concern as he struggled, but once seeing his eyes on her, she put her mask back up and smiled once again.
"So, how are you feeling this morning?" she asked as she settled in the chair next to his bed
"Better than yesterday" he admitted as he loaded his fork with eggs
"Good, now, I should tell you, you will probably be pretty weak, both physically and magically, for a few days at least, so I would like you to stay up here until after the spell has been cast to make sure nothing happens" she said, and to her utter amazement, he nodded his head instead of protesting.
'He must feel pretty terrible' she thought silently since he was always fighting tooth and nail to leave the hospital wing.
Harry finished his breakfast quickly and carefully set the plate back down on the table "Have Ginny or Sirius been up here yet?" he asked with his brow furrowed as he looked out the window next to him and saw that the sun was already high in the sky.
"Not that I've seen, no one has come up here yet, in fact, the entire castle has been strangely quiet" said the mediwitch after a few moments of thought
"What time is it?" asked Harry once he heard her words
Madame Pomfrey stood and walked out to the main area of the hospital wing where the large grandfather clock was located and returned a moment later "Half past eleven, everyone should be at lunch by now" she said, thinking that this pronouncement would ease his worry.
"Are you sure no one has come up here?" he asked again as his eyes surveyed his small private room, looking for any sign that he had had visitors before he woke up.
"Yes, I have been cleaning all morning and I would have seen them come in" she answered "What's the matter?" she asked in concern
"Well, Ginny and Sirius and everyone were supposed to be here at ten so we could exchange gifts and it's not like them to not show up" answered Harry distractedly as he continued to look around the room until his eyes feel on a small black box hidden behind the door "What's that?" he asked as he pointed to it. Madame Pomfrey turned around and looked to where he was pointing
"I've never seen it before" she replied as she began to move toward it, but before she had taken a step, Harry had summoned it to himself and it was sitting on his outstretched hands and he was carefully examining it. The box was made of the darkest black wood and was perfectly square, only about a foot wide on all sides with a pair of silver latches on the front of it.
Harry hesitantly set the box on his lap and carefully opened the latches, causing the lid to fall backward and revealing the contents to his eyes. Upon seeing what the box held, his forehead creased even more "What is this about?" he muttered quietly as he began to remove items from the box.
The first thing he pulled out was a thin gold chain with a heart shaped pendant on it. After a moment of looking at the necklace, he remembered where he had seen it before, it was the necklace Ron had given Hermione for Christmas last year, she had worn it every day since. He gently set the necklace beside him and reached back into the box and pulled out a gold pocket watch. He ran his hands over the face of the watch several times before opening it to reveal the face, and engraved on the inside was Happy Birthday, Little Brother, Love Aberforth, March 5, 1948. Harry looked at the watch for several more minutes before he realized that it belonged to Dumbledore. He had been told once that the headmaster had a brother named Aberforth.
His confusion mounting, he removed the next item from the box, a Chudley Cannons ticket stub that he knew immediately belonged to none other than Ron. Adding the slip of parchment to the pile beside him, he removed a slim book from the box with his name written on it, and on the inside cover was written the inscription 'To Harry, Merry Christmas! From Remus and Sirius'. It was a journal of sorts that he was apparently supposed to receive this morning.
Setting it beside him as well, he removed the next item from the box that was a silver cloak clasp in the shape of a snake that was a common sight on the cloaks of the Slytherin students, and he figured that it must have come from Draco. The next items he removed were a pair of wands that he recognized all to well since he had older versions of them sitting on his dresser in his room, they were James and Lily's wands, and this caused him to become slightly worried and even more confused.
He then reached in and removed the last item from the box, a folded up piece of parchment. He carefully unfolded it, and when he did so, something fell from it and landed on his lap, something that caused his heart to stop. It was a gold ring with diamonds and emeralds encircling the band. The promise ring he had given Ginny exactly one year ago that she never removed, no matter what.
He gripped the ring tightly in his hand and looked back into the box to see a blood red skull with a snake coming from its mouth painted on the bottom of the box and his breath caught in his throat as he quickly threw the box to the floor, causing it to splinter into several pieces before he finished unfolding the parchment, recognizing it as the Marauders map. He instantly and desperately touched the corner and muttered out the words to activate it, and after what felt like an eternity later, the map had finished forming and he frantically searched its words.
All the students and professors other than himself and Pomfrey were still in their dormitories or bedrooms, apparently still asleep, but there were several names missing from the map. He first looked to the rooms he shared with Sirius to find them completely empty, as well as Remus' room, Hermione's, Ron's and Draco's. The headmasters office and quarters were empty as well, and when he looked to Gryffindor tower, his blood went cold to see that Lily, James, and Ginny were gone as well, and he knew what had happened, the death eaters had taken them in order to lure him out of the castle.
He immediately jumped from the bed and with a wave of his hand, his pajamas changes into his robes and he was wearing his scarlet cloak. He quickly grabbed all the items on the bed and shoved them roughly into his pocket before summoning his staff to his outstretched hand.
"What's wrong, Harry, what is all of that?" asked the nurse, finally able to speak again
"The death eaters took them, I have to go to them" he said shortly as he began to walk from the room, but he stopped at the door "I think they cast a sleeping spell on the other professors and students, but otherwise, they're fine, I'll be back, but get the professors to help you set up defenses around the school and lock all of the doors and windows to make sure none of the death eaters can get back in" he added before he continued on his way
"Wait! Who did they take?" she asked as she chased after him
Without stopping his quick pace, he answered her "The headmaster, Sirius, Remus, Ron, Hermione, Draco, my parents, and Ginny" he said and by now they had reached the entrance hall and he summoned his sword and dagger from his room.
As he summoned them though, he became dizzy and stumbled slightly, gripping his staff to keep from falling "Harry, you are in no condition to go fight death eaters, there is no way you will be able to defend yourself" she said in an attempt to keep him from going into what she feared was a hopeless battle.
"I have to go, if I don't they will hurt them" he said stubbornly as he tucked his sword and dagger into his belt
"Harry, think this over, you just woke up yesterday after being asleep for four days, you are still physically exhausted and your magic levels are no where near what they were before you took that potion. If you go, you could loose" she pleaded
"If I don't go, they have already won, we can't cast the spell without James and Lily, and I will not let them hurt my friends or family" he said resolutely as he opened the door and began to walk down the stairs without looking back, but before he had reached the bottom step, he heard a voice whisper from behind him.
"Please be careful, Harry, and please come back to us" before he heard the doors close with a loud bang.
Harry walked quickly toward the forest, going in the direction that the death eater camp was when he had last seen it. When he crossed into the dark forest, he stopped, planning on transforming to make his trip easier, but before he could do so, a movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Turning quickly, he found himself face to face with none other than Edward Shaw.
"Well, Potter, it certainly took you long enough to realize that we had taken them" he said mockingly
"Where are they, Shaw?" Harry growled with his eyes narrowed
"Patience, Potter, and I would advise you not to try anything, because if you do, then you will never find them" he warned "Now, if I am going to take you to your friends, there are a few conditions that must be set" he lectured "First, you give me that staff, your sword, and my dagger. That was a gift from the dark lord for my service and I would like it back" he said as he moved forward to take the things he wanted, but Harry stopped his advance when he placed the staff between them in perfect position to strike.
"I will never give you any of these things, and I'm warning you now, either release them or face the consequences" he said
"I think not, Potter, but if you would prefer to go about this the hard way, then so be it, catch" he said as he pulled something from his pocket and threw it at Harry. Out of instinct, Harry reached up with his free hand and caught the item and took it in both hands before he looked at it in confusion, it was just a thin twig, but just as that thought was crossing his mind, Shaw said something and the twig turned into a pair of heavy metal shackles that were joined by a short chain. Before he could drop the binds on the floor of the forest, they wound around his wrists and joined them together causing him to drop his staff.
His mind immediately felt as though it were filled with cotton and his legs felt as though they could barley support his weight, but his pride kept him on his feet and he looked murderously at Shaw who was laughing like a mad man.
"Well, now you are really in it deep, aren't you Potter, surely you know what those are, after all, you were kept in something similar while you were being tortured by my master, were you not?" he asked with a laugh, and Harry looked down at his hands and saw a faint red glow coming from the black metal and realization dawned on his foggy mind "That's right, those were specifically designed for you, they not only will make it impossible for you to do magic, they also have a curse on them to limit your physical energy as well. You are undoubtedly feeling quite tired right now, are you not?" he asked mockingly
"You see, we have been searching for quite some time now for the place where you, the dark lord, and the rest of the death eaters were kept in hopes of finding a way to beat you, and we finally found it. We found the shackles that were surely yours, given the amount of blood on them, and when we began to look at them, we discovered an ancient spell on them that made it impossible for you to do magic, so we copied it and added one of our own.
We also found several other interesting things in that cavern, like the remains of the rest of the death eaters, and one wall and area of the ground that were absolutely stained with blood. Tell me, Potter, did it hurt?" he asked with an evil smirk on his face, but it disappeared when he didn't answer "Well, then, if you are so insistent, perhaps we should be going" he said and he approached Harry who by now could barely remain standing. Shaw boldly reached toward him and removed the dagger and sword from his belt.
After looking at the sword admiringly, he turning his smiling face back to Harry "Impressive weapon, Potter, a shame it will be your undoing" he said as he lifted the sword and swung the broad side right at the side of Harry's head, hitting him hard and knocking him to the ground, unconscious with a stream of blood running down the side of his face where the blade had struck his head.
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Ginny and the others had gone to bed early the night before in anticipation of Christmas morning, all planning on meeting in the hospital wing at ten in the morning to celebrate with Harry and exchange gifts. They were even planning on eating the Christmas feast there instead of going to the great hall with the rest of the school, not wanting Harry to have to be alone for the holiday.
Sirius was the first to awake in the morning, but instead of feeling happy and relaxed, like he should after having a good nights sleep uninterrupted by nightmares of Azkaban or the time that Harry was missing, he woke up with a feeling of unease in his bones, and a feeling of dread clamping over his heart. He awoke slowly, aware of the sounds around him, none of them familiar, causing him to not want to open his eyes quite yet.
He heard the sounds of several other people breathing deeply very close to himself, and he heard the distant sound of water dripping and a fire crackling, but that sound was so far away that the fire provided him with no warmth, instead, he was quite cold he realized when he awoke further and noticed that he was shivering. When these realizations reached his foggy brain, he became fully awake and his eyes snapped opened, but he remained on the floor where he was lying and continued to breath deeply, just incase he was being watched so that those watching would not know he had awakened unless they were directly in front of him.
Not more than a few inches in front of him was a head he recognized all too well, the light brown hair flecked with gray, and he became even more worried that whoever had brought him here had managed to capture Remus as well. Shifting his gaze away from his friend after making sure he was indeed alive and breathing, he surveyed the rest of their surroundings. They were in a cave it looked like, with a high domed ceiling. The walls were made of stone, and the floor was thick, hard dirt.
He knew that he wasn't able to see the entirety of their prison, they were in what appeared to bee a small room off the main chamber judging from the flickering of firelight that came through the only window that was located at the top of the door, only about a foot wide at the most and only half that tall, not anywhere large enough for escape, even for someone as thin as Harry.
'Harry!' he thought frantically as he threw all caution to the wind and sat up abruptly and looked around the small room that he was in for the familiar head of long raven black hair, but to his relief and horror, Harry wasn't there. He recognized the sleeping forms of not only Remus, but Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Draco, James, Lily, as well as the headmaster.
Upon realizing who all was with him, he sighed heavily and leaned on the wall behind him, debating what to do now. His wand was no longer in his pocket, and he was willing to bet that no one else had been left with theirs either, making escape impossible. He could think of only one reason why they had all been brought to this place, to lure Harry out of the castle, and he was willing to bet that just outside the door were scores of death eaters. He sat there for several moments before the headmaster began to stir. He quickly got to his feet and went over to the older man.
"Albus, are you ok?" he asked in concern as he helped him to his feet. The headmaster looked around the room in confusion for a moment before he turned to Sirius.
"Sirius, what happened?" he asked as he surveyed the others who were still sleeping
"I'm not sure, I remember going to sleep in my room last night after I left the hospital wing, and then I woke up here. I think the death eaters captured us in hopes of luring Harry out of the castle" he said gravely
"I fear that you are right, Sirius" said the headmaster heavily as he gazed around the room "Let's see if we can wake the others up" he suggested, and Sirius nodded his head and began to walk among the sleeping forms. About twenty minutes later, they had succeeded in waking the rest of the group and verifying that no one had a wand. Hermione was the first to discover that her necklace was missing, and hearing this, the others tried to figure out if they were missing anything themselves, only to find out that Ginny was missing her ring and Dumbledore was missing his pocket watch. They searched the room for nearly an hour, looking desperately for any means of escape, but none was found and they were forced to settle themselves on the dirt floor and wait.
They didn't have to wait long though, not twenty minutes after they sat down the door opened up and three death eaters entered, their faces hidden by their masks.
"Well, it's about time you woke up" grumbled the one in the center "Get up, you are wanted" he said, and knowing not what else they could do, they obediently stood and made their way out the door. Their first sight of the main chamber was an intimidating one to say the least. Nearly two hundred death eaters were gathered in the center of the room, their backs to a huge bonfire. Once they had fully entered the large chamber, they heard a sharp intake of breath from Ron and they all turned to see what had happened to him. His face was deathly pale and his eyes were wide as he looked around, but before they could ask what was the matter, they were ordered to continue walking, and they had little choice but to obey. They were led to the far wall and were surrounded by the death eaters on three sides with the wall behind them.
"Welcome, friends" said one death eater mockingly as he strode forward and faced Dumbledore and the others, and even through his mask, they knew he had a smirk on his face "I can imagine that you are curious as to why and how we brought you here, and where here is, are you not?" he asked, but when he received no answer he continued "Well, it was quite difficult to enter the castle undetected, but once we did, it was very easy to sneak into the kitchens and put some sleeping potion into the dinner that would not act until later that night, and once everyone had fallen asleep, we simply cast a sleeping spell just in case someone missed dinner and took those who we wanted. The only ones who were not charmed to sleep were those in the hospital wing, since we didn't want to risk Potter knowing what we were doing" he explained
"Now, we brought you here in order to get Potter out of the castle so that we may once and for all return our master to his rightful place at our head, and once that is done, he will destroy you all. As for where you are, I think that mister Weasley can tell you that, but I believe you can guess that for yourselves if you take a look at the wall behind you" he said with a malicious smile as he waved a hand at the wall. Hesitantly, they all turned and looked at the wall and what they saw caused them all to become sick.
The wall was stained with old blood, as was the ground, and hanging from the wall was a heavy chain with blood stained shackles attached to the end of it
"As you have probably guessed already, this is the place where your precious Potter brought the master and the rest of the followers, and this is also the place where he was almost defeated, and the place where he will meet his doom" he said in a chilling voice "Take them back, I'm going to go meet our guest" he said and the stunned group was herded back into the room they had just left.
Once they had been left by the death eaters, and after what they had seen had sunk in, Ginny began to speak "How did they find this place? The ministry looked for three months for it and never got close, how did they?" she asked no one in particular
"I don't know, Ginny" said Ron quietly
"How did you know where we were?" asked James as he turned to Ron
"I got pulled into one of Harry's nightmares about the time he was in this place and I recognized it" he answered
"Was all of that blood from Harry?" asked Lily quietly
"More than likely" said Dumbledore heavily as he settled against the wall, looking every bit his extreme age
"Do you think Harry would actually leave the castle to look for us?" asked James hesitantly
"Definitely, I'm surprised that he hasn't gotten here already, actually" said Sirius "I only hope he is strong enough to get out again" he added quietly
The next couple hours were spent in complete silence as they all waited tensely for Harry to show up. After what felt like an eternity, they heard the sound of approaching footsteps that stopped outside their door. They all jumped to their feet and watched the door in apprehension as it was swung opened and a body was thrown onto the floor before it slammed shut again and laughing was heard as the death eater walked away again. The group looked down at the body and recognized it at once, from the scarlet cloak to the head of long black hair that was beginning to slip from its previous restraint.
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A/N: Here you go, hope you enjoy it and please review, next chapter should be up later this week, hopefully by Wed.
Sirius and Ginny were sitting next to Harry's bed talking quietly when he first began to stir, and when they heard a slight moan, their conversation stopped and they both turned to the bed with hopeful expressions on their faces.
"Harry" said Sirius gently as he looked to his godson
"Harry, come on, wake up" urged Ginny, and another moan was her answer
"Come on Harry, open your eyes" prompted Sirius and a few moments later he managed to painfully pry his eyes open and lay squinting at his godfather and girlfriend who were both smiling kindly at him.
"Morning, sleeping beauty, how are you feeling?" asked Ginny
"Like I was run over by a heard of hippogriffs pulling the Hogwarts Express" he answered hoarsely with a groan.
"Well, that's to be expected" said Sirius with a small smile as he gave him a glass of water, noting with concern that he could barley hold the glass for his shaking hands, but he knew Harry would refuse any help that he offered out of stubborn pride.
"How long have I been out?" asked Harry once he had managed to drink the water
"Almost four days, it's Christmas Eve, just after dinner" answered Ginny
"Geeze, it felt like longer than that" muttered Harry, earning concerned glances from the other two.
"Why do you say that? You were unconscious" said Sirius
"Sort of, but the entire time all I had to look at and talk to was my wonderful grandfather who was enjoying himself trying to make me miserable" said Harry "So, what has happened since I took that bloody potion?" he asked
At this, Ginny and Sirius looked to each other before Sirius spoke up "Not much, after you took the potion, we heard you screaming and went in, and Snape told us that you were being cursed at the same time, and a few minutes later, you blacked out. We brought you up here and you haven't moved since" he answered with a shrug of his shoulders "Other than that, it has been pretty much the same thing around here, other than the fact that the infamous marauders have struck again" he added with a mischievous smile on his face
"Oh Merlin, what have they done?" he asked, dreading the answer he would receive
"Well" said Ginny hesitantly, but before she could continue, the headmaster spoke up
"I believe that they managed to turn the potions classroom red and gold, and signed your name to their project, but don't worry, Severus shouldn't see it until tomorrow night at the earliest" he said with a twinkle in his eyes "How are you feeling?" he asked
"I've been worse, but I've also been better" answered Harry truthfully
"I would imagine so, Harry, but I'm afraid that we can't give you anything for the after effects of that curse until after the spell has been performed" he said reluctantly, and Harry nodded his head in acknowledgement just as Madame Pomfrey entered and her face broke into a smile as well when she saw him awake.
"Ah, Mr. Potter, I see you have decided to join the world of the living once again" she said as she began to examine him, noting with concern that he flinched every time he was forced to move any part of his body and that his muscles were still shaky from the curse "Let me see your hands so I can heal them" she said once she was done looking him over thoroughly
"Why? What happened to my hands?" he asked as he turned his palms up and examined the bandages covering them with his brow furrowed. Without saying a word, the mediwitch waved her wand and the bandages fell away to reveal the deep cuts that were clearly from his own fingernails "Oh" he said quietly as he turned away and let the mediwitch heal the cuts, and when he turned back, the red marks had been replaced by light pink scars.
The next couple of hours, he just sat and talked to his godfather, girlfriend, and headmaster, joking lightly and just enjoying being in their presence. The marauders and Lily came by for a few minutes as well as Remus, Ron, Hermione, and Draco, but none of them stayed long, claiming that they still had things to prepare for Christmas morning. At ten, Madame Pomfrey came back to check him over again and gave him another goblet of water.
"I hate to do this, but I'm really tired, I think I'm just going to go back to sleep" he said once she had left and Dumbledore had returned to his office.
"Ok, well, can we come up here in the morning to open our gifts? That way we can give you yours too" said Ginny before she stood up
Harry smiled broadly "I'd love that, why doesn't everyone come here in the morning, can you ask Ron and Hermione and Draco, Gin, and Sirius, do you think Remus will come?" he asked hopefully
At his anxious expression, Sirius and Ginny smiled "I'm sure they would all be happy to come, Harry" said Sirius "Why don't we meet here at, say ten? That way you can have a bit of a lie in" he said
"Sounds good to me" said Harry happily
"Well, night Harry" said Ginny as she leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss "Happy Christmas Eve" she said with a smile
"Night, Gin, love you and see you in the morning" he said as he returned the kiss and she left the room in search of her brother and Hermione and Draco.
"Night Harry" said Sirius as he too left the room "I'll see you in the morning"
"Night Sirius" said Harry and once his godfather had left, he burrowed deeper into his blankets and fell fast asleep.
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Christmas morning dawned bright and quiet, with the sun being reflected off of the fresh blanket of snow that had fallen on the grounds the night before. Harry was awoken by Madame Pomfrey coming in to check on him and bring him a plate of food for breakfast.
"Merry Christmas, Harry" she said with a smile as she set the plate of food on the table next to his bed
"Good morning, Madame, and Merry Christmas to you as well" he replied with a smile and reached over to the table to pick up the plate, gripping it tightly in both hands to try and prevent spilling anything on his bed. Once he had placed the plate on his lap, he turned back to the mediwitch who had been watching him in concern as he struggled, but once seeing his eyes on her, she put her mask back up and smiled once again.
"So, how are you feeling this morning?" she asked as she settled in the chair next to his bed
"Better than yesterday" he admitted as he loaded his fork with eggs
"Good, now, I should tell you, you will probably be pretty weak, both physically and magically, for a few days at least, so I would like you to stay up here until after the spell has been cast to make sure nothing happens" she said, and to her utter amazement, he nodded his head instead of protesting.
'He must feel pretty terrible' she thought silently since he was always fighting tooth and nail to leave the hospital wing.
Harry finished his breakfast quickly and carefully set the plate back down on the table "Have Ginny or Sirius been up here yet?" he asked with his brow furrowed as he looked out the window next to him and saw that the sun was already high in the sky.
"Not that I've seen, no one has come up here yet, in fact, the entire castle has been strangely quiet" said the mediwitch after a few moments of thought
"What time is it?" asked Harry once he heard her words
Madame Pomfrey stood and walked out to the main area of the hospital wing where the large grandfather clock was located and returned a moment later "Half past eleven, everyone should be at lunch by now" she said, thinking that this pronouncement would ease his worry.
"Are you sure no one has come up here?" he asked again as his eyes surveyed his small private room, looking for any sign that he had had visitors before he woke up.
"Yes, I have been cleaning all morning and I would have seen them come in" she answered "What's the matter?" she asked in concern
"Well, Ginny and Sirius and everyone were supposed to be here at ten so we could exchange gifts and it's not like them to not show up" answered Harry distractedly as he continued to look around the room until his eyes feel on a small black box hidden behind the door "What's that?" he asked as he pointed to it. Madame Pomfrey turned around and looked to where he was pointing
"I've never seen it before" she replied as she began to move toward it, but before she had taken a step, Harry had summoned it to himself and it was sitting on his outstretched hands and he was carefully examining it. The box was made of the darkest black wood and was perfectly square, only about a foot wide on all sides with a pair of silver latches on the front of it.
Harry hesitantly set the box on his lap and carefully opened the latches, causing the lid to fall backward and revealing the contents to his eyes. Upon seeing what the box held, his forehead creased even more "What is this about?" he muttered quietly as he began to remove items from the box.
The first thing he pulled out was a thin gold chain with a heart shaped pendant on it. After a moment of looking at the necklace, he remembered where he had seen it before, it was the necklace Ron had given Hermione for Christmas last year, she had worn it every day since. He gently set the necklace beside him and reached back into the box and pulled out a gold pocket watch. He ran his hands over the face of the watch several times before opening it to reveal the face, and engraved on the inside was Happy Birthday, Little Brother, Love Aberforth, March 5, 1948. Harry looked at the watch for several more minutes before he realized that it belonged to Dumbledore. He had been told once that the headmaster had a brother named Aberforth.
His confusion mounting, he removed the next item from the box, a Chudley Cannons ticket stub that he knew immediately belonged to none other than Ron. Adding the slip of parchment to the pile beside him, he removed a slim book from the box with his name written on it, and on the inside cover was written the inscription 'To Harry, Merry Christmas! From Remus and Sirius'. It was a journal of sorts that he was apparently supposed to receive this morning.
Setting it beside him as well, he removed the next item from the box that was a silver cloak clasp in the shape of a snake that was a common sight on the cloaks of the Slytherin students, and he figured that it must have come from Draco. The next items he removed were a pair of wands that he recognized all to well since he had older versions of them sitting on his dresser in his room, they were James and Lily's wands, and this caused him to become slightly worried and even more confused.
He then reached in and removed the last item from the box, a folded up piece of parchment. He carefully unfolded it, and when he did so, something fell from it and landed on his lap, something that caused his heart to stop. It was a gold ring with diamonds and emeralds encircling the band. The promise ring he had given Ginny exactly one year ago that she never removed, no matter what.
He gripped the ring tightly in his hand and looked back into the box to see a blood red skull with a snake coming from its mouth painted on the bottom of the box and his breath caught in his throat as he quickly threw the box to the floor, causing it to splinter into several pieces before he finished unfolding the parchment, recognizing it as the Marauders map. He instantly and desperately touched the corner and muttered out the words to activate it, and after what felt like an eternity later, the map had finished forming and he frantically searched its words.
All the students and professors other than himself and Pomfrey were still in their dormitories or bedrooms, apparently still asleep, but there were several names missing from the map. He first looked to the rooms he shared with Sirius to find them completely empty, as well as Remus' room, Hermione's, Ron's and Draco's. The headmasters office and quarters were empty as well, and when he looked to Gryffindor tower, his blood went cold to see that Lily, James, and Ginny were gone as well, and he knew what had happened, the death eaters had taken them in order to lure him out of the castle.
He immediately jumped from the bed and with a wave of his hand, his pajamas changes into his robes and he was wearing his scarlet cloak. He quickly grabbed all the items on the bed and shoved them roughly into his pocket before summoning his staff to his outstretched hand.
"What's wrong, Harry, what is all of that?" asked the nurse, finally able to speak again
"The death eaters took them, I have to go to them" he said shortly as he began to walk from the room, but he stopped at the door "I think they cast a sleeping spell on the other professors and students, but otherwise, they're fine, I'll be back, but get the professors to help you set up defenses around the school and lock all of the doors and windows to make sure none of the death eaters can get back in" he added before he continued on his way
"Wait! Who did they take?" she asked as she chased after him
Without stopping his quick pace, he answered her "The headmaster, Sirius, Remus, Ron, Hermione, Draco, my parents, and Ginny" he said and by now they had reached the entrance hall and he summoned his sword and dagger from his room.
As he summoned them though, he became dizzy and stumbled slightly, gripping his staff to keep from falling "Harry, you are in no condition to go fight death eaters, there is no way you will be able to defend yourself" she said in an attempt to keep him from going into what she feared was a hopeless battle.
"I have to go, if I don't they will hurt them" he said stubbornly as he tucked his sword and dagger into his belt
"Harry, think this over, you just woke up yesterday after being asleep for four days, you are still physically exhausted and your magic levels are no where near what they were before you took that potion. If you go, you could loose" she pleaded
"If I don't go, they have already won, we can't cast the spell without James and Lily, and I will not let them hurt my friends or family" he said resolutely as he opened the door and began to walk down the stairs without looking back, but before he had reached the bottom step, he heard a voice whisper from behind him.
"Please be careful, Harry, and please come back to us" before he heard the doors close with a loud bang.
Harry walked quickly toward the forest, going in the direction that the death eater camp was when he had last seen it. When he crossed into the dark forest, he stopped, planning on transforming to make his trip easier, but before he could do so, a movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Turning quickly, he found himself face to face with none other than Edward Shaw.
"Well, Potter, it certainly took you long enough to realize that we had taken them" he said mockingly
"Where are they, Shaw?" Harry growled with his eyes narrowed
"Patience, Potter, and I would advise you not to try anything, because if you do, then you will never find them" he warned "Now, if I am going to take you to your friends, there are a few conditions that must be set" he lectured "First, you give me that staff, your sword, and my dagger. That was a gift from the dark lord for my service and I would like it back" he said as he moved forward to take the things he wanted, but Harry stopped his advance when he placed the staff between them in perfect position to strike.
"I will never give you any of these things, and I'm warning you now, either release them or face the consequences" he said
"I think not, Potter, but if you would prefer to go about this the hard way, then so be it, catch" he said as he pulled something from his pocket and threw it at Harry. Out of instinct, Harry reached up with his free hand and caught the item and took it in both hands before he looked at it in confusion, it was just a thin twig, but just as that thought was crossing his mind, Shaw said something and the twig turned into a pair of heavy metal shackles that were joined by a short chain. Before he could drop the binds on the floor of the forest, they wound around his wrists and joined them together causing him to drop his staff.
His mind immediately felt as though it were filled with cotton and his legs felt as though they could barley support his weight, but his pride kept him on his feet and he looked murderously at Shaw who was laughing like a mad man.
"Well, now you are really in it deep, aren't you Potter, surely you know what those are, after all, you were kept in something similar while you were being tortured by my master, were you not?" he asked with a laugh, and Harry looked down at his hands and saw a faint red glow coming from the black metal and realization dawned on his foggy mind "That's right, those were specifically designed for you, they not only will make it impossible for you to do magic, they also have a curse on them to limit your physical energy as well. You are undoubtedly feeling quite tired right now, are you not?" he asked mockingly
"You see, we have been searching for quite some time now for the place where you, the dark lord, and the rest of the death eaters were kept in hopes of finding a way to beat you, and we finally found it. We found the shackles that were surely yours, given the amount of blood on them, and when we began to look at them, we discovered an ancient spell on them that made it impossible for you to do magic, so we copied it and added one of our own.
We also found several other interesting things in that cavern, like the remains of the rest of the death eaters, and one wall and area of the ground that were absolutely stained with blood. Tell me, Potter, did it hurt?" he asked with an evil smirk on his face, but it disappeared when he didn't answer "Well, then, if you are so insistent, perhaps we should be going" he said and he approached Harry who by now could barely remain standing. Shaw boldly reached toward him and removed the dagger and sword from his belt.
After looking at the sword admiringly, he turning his smiling face back to Harry "Impressive weapon, Potter, a shame it will be your undoing" he said as he lifted the sword and swung the broad side right at the side of Harry's head, hitting him hard and knocking him to the ground, unconscious with a stream of blood running down the side of his face where the blade had struck his head.
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Ginny and the others had gone to bed early the night before in anticipation of Christmas morning, all planning on meeting in the hospital wing at ten in the morning to celebrate with Harry and exchange gifts. They were even planning on eating the Christmas feast there instead of going to the great hall with the rest of the school, not wanting Harry to have to be alone for the holiday.
Sirius was the first to awake in the morning, but instead of feeling happy and relaxed, like he should after having a good nights sleep uninterrupted by nightmares of Azkaban or the time that Harry was missing, he woke up with a feeling of unease in his bones, and a feeling of dread clamping over his heart. He awoke slowly, aware of the sounds around him, none of them familiar, causing him to not want to open his eyes quite yet.
He heard the sounds of several other people breathing deeply very close to himself, and he heard the distant sound of water dripping and a fire crackling, but that sound was so far away that the fire provided him with no warmth, instead, he was quite cold he realized when he awoke further and noticed that he was shivering. When these realizations reached his foggy brain, he became fully awake and his eyes snapped opened, but he remained on the floor where he was lying and continued to breath deeply, just incase he was being watched so that those watching would not know he had awakened unless they were directly in front of him.
Not more than a few inches in front of him was a head he recognized all too well, the light brown hair flecked with gray, and he became even more worried that whoever had brought him here had managed to capture Remus as well. Shifting his gaze away from his friend after making sure he was indeed alive and breathing, he surveyed the rest of their surroundings. They were in a cave it looked like, with a high domed ceiling. The walls were made of stone, and the floor was thick, hard dirt.
He knew that he wasn't able to see the entirety of their prison, they were in what appeared to bee a small room off the main chamber judging from the flickering of firelight that came through the only window that was located at the top of the door, only about a foot wide at the most and only half that tall, not anywhere large enough for escape, even for someone as thin as Harry.
'Harry!' he thought frantically as he threw all caution to the wind and sat up abruptly and looked around the small room that he was in for the familiar head of long raven black hair, but to his relief and horror, Harry wasn't there. He recognized the sleeping forms of not only Remus, but Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Draco, James, Lily, as well as the headmaster.
Upon realizing who all was with him, he sighed heavily and leaned on the wall behind him, debating what to do now. His wand was no longer in his pocket, and he was willing to bet that no one else had been left with theirs either, making escape impossible. He could think of only one reason why they had all been brought to this place, to lure Harry out of the castle, and he was willing to bet that just outside the door were scores of death eaters. He sat there for several moments before the headmaster began to stir. He quickly got to his feet and went over to the older man.
"Albus, are you ok?" he asked in concern as he helped him to his feet. The headmaster looked around the room in confusion for a moment before he turned to Sirius.
"Sirius, what happened?" he asked as he surveyed the others who were still sleeping
"I'm not sure, I remember going to sleep in my room last night after I left the hospital wing, and then I woke up here. I think the death eaters captured us in hopes of luring Harry out of the castle" he said gravely
"I fear that you are right, Sirius" said the headmaster heavily as he gazed around the room "Let's see if we can wake the others up" he suggested, and Sirius nodded his head and began to walk among the sleeping forms. About twenty minutes later, they had succeeded in waking the rest of the group and verifying that no one had a wand. Hermione was the first to discover that her necklace was missing, and hearing this, the others tried to figure out if they were missing anything themselves, only to find out that Ginny was missing her ring and Dumbledore was missing his pocket watch. They searched the room for nearly an hour, looking desperately for any means of escape, but none was found and they were forced to settle themselves on the dirt floor and wait.
They didn't have to wait long though, not twenty minutes after they sat down the door opened up and three death eaters entered, their faces hidden by their masks.
"Well, it's about time you woke up" grumbled the one in the center "Get up, you are wanted" he said, and knowing not what else they could do, they obediently stood and made their way out the door. Their first sight of the main chamber was an intimidating one to say the least. Nearly two hundred death eaters were gathered in the center of the room, their backs to a huge bonfire. Once they had fully entered the large chamber, they heard a sharp intake of breath from Ron and they all turned to see what had happened to him. His face was deathly pale and his eyes were wide as he looked around, but before they could ask what was the matter, they were ordered to continue walking, and they had little choice but to obey. They were led to the far wall and were surrounded by the death eaters on three sides with the wall behind them.
"Welcome, friends" said one death eater mockingly as he strode forward and faced Dumbledore and the others, and even through his mask, they knew he had a smirk on his face "I can imagine that you are curious as to why and how we brought you here, and where here is, are you not?" he asked, but when he received no answer he continued "Well, it was quite difficult to enter the castle undetected, but once we did, it was very easy to sneak into the kitchens and put some sleeping potion into the dinner that would not act until later that night, and once everyone had fallen asleep, we simply cast a sleeping spell just in case someone missed dinner and took those who we wanted. The only ones who were not charmed to sleep were those in the hospital wing, since we didn't want to risk Potter knowing what we were doing" he explained
"Now, we brought you here in order to get Potter out of the castle so that we may once and for all return our master to his rightful place at our head, and once that is done, he will destroy you all. As for where you are, I think that mister Weasley can tell you that, but I believe you can guess that for yourselves if you take a look at the wall behind you" he said with a malicious smile as he waved a hand at the wall. Hesitantly, they all turned and looked at the wall and what they saw caused them all to become sick.
The wall was stained with old blood, as was the ground, and hanging from the wall was a heavy chain with blood stained shackles attached to the end of it
"As you have probably guessed already, this is the place where your precious Potter brought the master and the rest of the followers, and this is also the place where he was almost defeated, and the place where he will meet his doom" he said in a chilling voice "Take them back, I'm going to go meet our guest" he said and the stunned group was herded back into the room they had just left.
Once they had been left by the death eaters, and after what they had seen had sunk in, Ginny began to speak "How did they find this place? The ministry looked for three months for it and never got close, how did they?" she asked no one in particular
"I don't know, Ginny" said Ron quietly
"How did you know where we were?" asked James as he turned to Ron
"I got pulled into one of Harry's nightmares about the time he was in this place and I recognized it" he answered
"Was all of that blood from Harry?" asked Lily quietly
"More than likely" said Dumbledore heavily as he settled against the wall, looking every bit his extreme age
"Do you think Harry would actually leave the castle to look for us?" asked James hesitantly
"Definitely, I'm surprised that he hasn't gotten here already, actually" said Sirius "I only hope he is strong enough to get out again" he added quietly
The next couple hours were spent in complete silence as they all waited tensely for Harry to show up. After what felt like an eternity, they heard the sound of approaching footsteps that stopped outside their door. They all jumped to their feet and watched the door in apprehension as it was swung opened and a body was thrown onto the floor before it slammed shut again and laughing was heard as the death eater walked away again. The group looked down at the body and recognized it at once, from the scarlet cloak to the head of long black hair that was beginning to slip from its previous restraint.
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A/N: Here you go, hope you enjoy it and please review, next chapter should be up later this week, hopefully by Wed.