A/N – Okay, I completely apologise. I really am sorry. It was by no means intentional! I am now officially in the last stages of moving house… i.e. actually
packing everything into boxes… Which will include my computer
*sob* and I've been spending all
my free time saying tearful goodbyes to my mates! But hey! Normal service
should be resumed once I'm moved in and unpacked… er, who knows how long that
will take! Sorry again!
Er, and here it is… Short, but it's here at least!
Okay, scratch that! You see, this chapter WAS finished before I moved, but then I couldn't upload it before I moved… So once again sorry and rest assured that now I HAVE moved I should pootle along a few more chapters at record speed!
Snape pushed through the undergrowth, his heart sinking
further with every step he took. He
wished yet again, that he hadn't offered to do what he was doing.
The night sky was melting to warmer colours as the sun
announced it's impending arrival, but the stars were still visible, stigmata
against the watercolour sky.
Snape took one last look at the sky before it disappeared
behind the trees.
He was searching the Forbidden Forest, and he knew he
wouldn't like what he found.
The boarhound trailing at his heels was whimpering
mournfully, Snape felt sorry for the beast. Fang had been found in a pitiful heap outside Hagrid's cabin by
Professor Sinistra who had been looking for Hagrid.
Snape clutched his wand tightly muttering 'Lumos'.
He had to fight to keep himself looking when all he wanted
to do was turn and run back to the castle.
But it wasn't long before he found what he was looking for.
Beside him the boarhound let out a low chilling howl of
grief to which the whole forest seemed to tremor in response. It was all Snape could do not to
shudder. There before him lay the
enormous bulk of Rubeus Hagrid.
~~~*~~~*~~~
Harry gazed into to clear blue eyes of the old man.
"Harry, could you tell me what you understand of your
situation." He asked gently.
Harry frowned and pondered this for a moment.
"I'm not entirely sure how I got here, but I'm in some sort
of hospital, and my back hurts a lot. I
feel as though I ought to recognise all of the people around me, but I don't
know who any of you are."
"Except Ginny." Prompted the man quietly
"Oh yes! Ginny, I
know her, she's a friend." He added
Harry glanced across the room at where Ginny was sitting
spoon-feeding the very tired looking woman. She didn't seem to have noticed the reference to her name.
"Harry, do you know who you are? Or, do you know who I am?"
"Um, Apparently I'm called Harry, and you are… You
are…" But Harry could feel something
oppressing his mind and he just couldn't think.
"I'm sorry." He
whispered.
"It's by no means your fault Harry." Said the man kindly.
"Why? What's caused
this?" He asked.
"A spell Harry, a spell cast on you by an evil wizard
called Voldemort." Said the man
watching him closely.
"A spell? You mean,
like magic?"
The old man tried to mask his shock, but Harry knew that
he'd said something wrong.
"Harry. You are a
wizard." He said maintaining his steady
blue stare.
"A wizard? So I can
do magic? I can… can… do spells?"
The man had obviously heard the catch in Harry's voice as
he'd said 'spells' because he was quick to speak again.
"Not all spells do horrible things Harry. You have been using your magic to try and
stop Voldemort. Ever since you were a
child."
Harry relaxed a little on being told this. He hoped suddenly that he might remember
something more, but instead he just felt tired, as though it were draining his
strength trying to remember what he was being told.
"Rest a while Harry. You need to recuperate." Said
the old man.
Harry nodded and was asleep again before his head hit the
pillow.
Dumbledore sighed and removed Harry's glasses placing them
gently on the table.
He allowed himself the shiver he'd been suppressing at
hearing the extent of Harry's memory loss. This was going to be a long haul, if they were going to help him this
way. He shut his eyes to think a while
and by the time Sirius and Remus had found their way back to the Hospital Wing
Dumbledore had decided what they would do.
~~~*~~~*~~~
Wormtail scurried after Mundungus for what felt like an
eternity until they reached the place where Death Eaters could
disapparate. Realising that he had no
clue where Fletcher planned to apparate to, Peter hurriedly managed to scramble
into the other Death Eater's pocket.
When they had arrived at their destination Wormtail
emerged, he realised with a squeak of surprise that they were at the ministry.
Thoughts of Harry's request ran through Wormtail's mind,
'Set my godfather free'
But he decided that he had to find out what it was
Mundungus was up to first.
From his vantage point in the pocket Wormtail watched the dismal
interior of the ministry building flash past. All of the Ministry officials looked very harassed and there was a
general air of panic on the place.
They finally stopped in front of a door and Wormtail felt
even more confused than normal.
They were entering the department for magical sports.
Looking around, Peter couldn't see anyone that he
recognised. Then Fletcher approached a
man who looked vaguely familiar to the rat.
"We need to talk." Mundungus muttered to the man.
"Okay, come to my office." Said the man nervously.
They went into an office festooned with broomsticks,
trophies and paperwork. It had a dusty
smell of a room which isn't used that much.
"Listen here. Did
you finish your task?" Asked Fletcher
with an urgency that made Wormtail feel tense.
"N-No, I… She… That werewolf came, took her away before I
could f-finish it." Stuttered the short
man, not daring to look Fletcher in the eye.
"Good. Now listen,
the other task I gave you to do. You
must not complete it. Things have
changed. No matter what happens you
must not do what I asked you to. Got
that?"
The man looked slightly confused but mainly relieved.
"Okay." He replied.
"Take care friend, if they trace you to me, you know what
to do. Good luck." Said Mundungus turning to leave.
"Good luck to you too." Muttered the man as the door swung shut between them.
~~~*~~~*~~~
Lucius Malfoy couldn't believe what he'd seen, that scrawny
little boy had defeated his Lord in a duel. And the master had lost his wand! Malfoy crept along the passageways of Azkaban feeling apprehensive. The dark lord would no doubt be furious and
his pride wounded. And the Death Eaters
would be his easiest targets.
"Lucius! What kept
you?" Asked Voldemort from his throne
his eyes glittering dangerously.
"I apologise my lord." Drawled Malfoy bowing low to the ground.
"Apologies are not accepted." Growled Voldemort. "Join
the others!"
Malfoy crept to the line of quivering cloaked figures and
stood on the end.
He was wondering how in hell's name he had escaped the
cruciatus curse when he remembered. The
master doesn't have a wand!
Feeling suddenly emboldened Lucius spoke up.
"Master, what is our next move?"
He immediately regretted the move.
"Silence! Crucio!" Yelled Voldemort, and
to his unique horror Lucius felt the tumultuous pain hit him with more force
than ever before.
After a few moments he was released and lay on the floor
shivering and whimpering from the exquisite pain that had left his body aching
terribly.
"We are missing two of our number. Those two cowards will be sought out and
removed. I will not be betrayed!" Screeched Voldemort looking just as angry as
Lucius had imagined.
"Wormtail and Fletcher will regret their decision."
The Death Eaters were still waiting in slightly stunned
silence.
"Lucius! You will
stay here. The rest of you, get out of
my sight!"
Malfoy shuddered and received several pitying glances as
the Death Eaters filed out of the room.
Slowly he got to his feet, swaying slightly.
"I assume you found your punishment suitably painful
Lucius." Hissed the dark lord.
"Yes my lord."
Voldemort's mouth curled into the parody of a smile.
"That Potter boy's blood has served to do more than weaken
his defences."
Lucius shuddered at the memory of the power of the
cruciatus curse.
"Malfoy, you have a son at Hogwarts."
Lucius nodded surprised.
"Potter is weak, it is the perfect time to strike. Your son shall have the honour of working
for me. He will ensure that the boy
does not recover before I have a chance to finish what I started. I will have the boy."
Lucius' mouth hung open in surprise.
"Y-yes my lord."
"Your son will not fail me Lucius."
"Of c-course not my lord."
"Leave my sight Lucius. Now!" He yelled.
Not needing any more persuasion Lucius almost ran from the
room.
~~~*~~~*~~~
Dumbledore watched the two men exchange worried glances.
"Are you sure it will work?" Asked Remus rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"It's the best chance we have." Dumbledore said.
"And it's totally safe for Harry?" Asked Sirius glancing towards the sleeping
boy.
"As far as we can tell there are no risks." Said Dumbledore.
"In that case I think we should go ahead and get the order
together as soon as possible." Said
Sirius.
"I already have. Said Dumbledore smiling. "The
meeting begins in ten minutes."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N - *hit's self over head with keyboard* I'm sorry! I can't help it! I have
cliffhanger disease. I don't know what
it is that causes me to loose control of my story at the end of each chapter,
but the cliffies just sprout out of nowhere and spring onto the page… *grins at
what she is typing* It's the honest
truth!
Anywasy, I hope you guys bear with me whilst I plod slowly
towards the conclusion of this fic, which is on the horizon. But still quite far off, and then followed
by a sequel if I get asked for one which might I have in mind but I might leave
for a little while after this one ends to give myself time to develop my other
stories… I dunno, you guys decide!
Here is the thanks section I promised… Beware! It's a long thing!..
Persephone Malfoy – Of
course! Harry will have to get better wont he.
vmr – Thanks!
Jewels –
Kelzery – Thanks, When will you have a chance to write???? *grins*
George and Fred – Er, I
thought it was pretty clear that I'm going for Hermione/Ron & Harry/Ginny,
although as I definitely mentioned before this is not about romance, it's more
of an action/adventure/drama kinda fic, soz!
Harry's girl 3 – Don't
worry! Harry is safe and has people
around him who care for him… He'll pull through!
Person – thanks
Katrina Skyfrost – I think
Harry needs a break from 'action', but Voldie certainly won't be taking a
break…
Kit Cloudkicker – Sure, I'm
afraid it's not even Christmas in ficcie-land yet me dearies, The date is
sometime in Early December, kay?
Sandrine Black – Thankyou! Yes, Harry does have a lot of problems, but
at least he's free!
Ron Weasley – here it er…
was!
Lena – enough Voldie? Or do you need more? *grins*
Alisha – I apologise, but
hey! That's how the cookie crumbled!
sweets – Thanks. It was
sunny today!!!! *does a happy dance*
Shadow – Yup, I reckon
Harry should have his own private Hospital Wing bed reserved.
Nagh – Harry at the time
DID know Dumbledore, he was hit with A E whilst he duelled…
Creamy Mimi – Thankyou!
Lucky Woods – I didn't mean
for them to be so short! 39 and 40 were
meant to be 1 chapter originally!
Jedi Cosmos – you poor
thing!
Raven of Death – Thankyou
for reviewing!
Errol – Nice face!
Ady - *scratches back of
head with frown* Gee, I can't believe
what I go through in getting these chapters out, I can't stand the stress
anymore!!!! Aaaargh! The only thing
that will keep me sane is… More of your writing!!! Get writing girl! I want
more Harrylegs / Azar And I need it
now!
herm – Thanks for
reviewing!
Em – Sirius eh? Well, what do you think???
Noura – No problem… and
Thankyou.
Desert Hacker – Pleased to
oblige!
Darth Yoda – Not really, I
just write the guff that's in my head onto the computer and post it!
Miss Drew – You're right,
Voldie deserves a lot worse then he's gotten so far.
Tinabedina – Thanks
Sandra Solaria Dees – Okay!
Naralina / Allison – Sorry
it's taken so long, *gulp* And thanks
for reviewing.
Arabella Figg – Okies!
am – I WILL get another chapter
out soon!
Jannah – I'm trying I
swear!
Abbey – Thankyou! *blushes*
Rachel – good!
~*Dumbledore's True Love*~ - *faints* Aaaargh! YOU have ME on author alert! *shakes head in disbelief* That is too cool! *grinning stupidly in a daze*
Princess – Thanks
Freda Potter – I shall!
Jorj Car'Das – er, thanks!
LeeJordan9986 – I try to
keep you on your toes!
aureus draconis - *blushes* Thankyou, and thanks for the offer, but I
just work best off in my own world and let the powers that be (i.e. my sister)
Help me out… But thanks again!
Annabel Taylor – Harry
definitely deserves a break…
Su Yi – I'm glad you're
happy!
rangerprincess – nope, I'm
one of a kind, No way near JKR's league and much nastier to her characters…
*grins* No higher praise… Thankyou!!!
harrypotterfanfiction – I
am very flattered. Thankyou.
magma – Yeah right,
Thankyou so much!
Andrea – Noooo! Don't even think such thoughts! If JK died I would kill myself! (Well, maybe not, but I'd be too depressed
to write!)
pokereader – I couldn't
find any problem… I'm glad you like the story though.
diana2megr – Thankyou, I'm
glad you're enjoying it!
rangerprincess – (Again!) Er
that was one heck of a review! I hope
that you've survived the wait!!!
Thanks to the riddles who have already given me adequate
feedback on this chapter, *grins* you're the lucky ones!
Love you all!
Jona
xxx