Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.
Into Hiding
Number Four Privet Drive looked as boring as usual. No Dementors, no wizards apparating nor disapparating, no one flying on broomsticks, not even flying owls. Harry was looking out of the window in his room, wondering how long it would be until he received news from the wizarding world. He missed Sirius terribly, and wondered if Dumbledore would have let him stay at Grimmauld Place during the Summer if Sirius hadn't... No, he couldn't think of that, not now.
He heard someone knocking on the house door. He wondered if the Dursleys were expecting someone for dinner, they hadn't mentioned it. Hopefully it wouldn't be Aunt Marge...
Harry left the window and walked slowly downstairs. The visitor knocked once more, it seemed nobody had opened yet. He went for the door, but Aunt Petunia just came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dishcloth. "Dinner is ready, go wash your hands!" She told him, surveying him with a revolted look, as if he was a slug.
Harry had already turned his back on the door, when he heard a familiar voice: "Good evening! My name is Remus Lupin, we met at King's Cross station."
"Professor Lupin!" Harry cried excited and went to the door.
Aunt Petunia didn't look as happy, though. "What do you want? We haven't done anything to the boy. Harry, tell him. Tell him we haven't hurt you." She said with a trembling voice, looking at Harry with trepidation.
Before Harry could speak, though, Remus Lupin rose his hands and said:
"I know, but something has happened, and there has been a change in plans. I'm here to take Harry away with me."
At this, both Petunia and Harry looked very happy. For once, they agreed on something.
"All right," Aunt Petunia said briskly, "you may come in and wait on the sitting-room while Harry gets his things."
Lupin followed Aunt Petunia inside the house and Harry run upstairs to get his trunk and Hedwig. He was back in a moment.
"Ready?" Lupin asked with a smile.
"Sure!" Harry replied, eager to go.
"Ok, let's go then."
The wizard offered Petunia his hand, which she took after some hesitation. At least this man looked perfectly normal, not like that decrepit wizard with an eye rolling in its socket.
Lupin opened the door and froze on the doorway. He looked around and took a deep breath. There was something amiss, he could smell it. He searched for the source of his uneasiness in the darkness, but there wasn't anything... And then he realised, the street lamps weren't working any more. They had been working when he had entered the house just a few minutes ago. There was something wrong, he knew it.
"What..." Harry started to ask, seeing Lupin didn't go on walking, but just then the telephone rang. Aunt Petunia gave a small shriek, the phone had scared her. She collected herself and went to pick it up.
"The Dursleys," she said. "Oh, hi... Right... Yes... Yes, he is still here, but... Yes... Yes... Ok, hold on, just a moment."
Aunt Petunia turned to Harry and Lupin, who were once more inside the house, the door closed.
"Mr. Lupin, it's for you," she said.
Harry let fall his trunk in surprise. Lupin looked very much astounded as well, but took the receiver anyway.
"Lupin," he said, "Mrs. Figg! Yes. Yes, I've noticed something. Can you see how many? All right, don't worry. That changes things a bit, though. Could you contact Arthur Weasley? Maybe he could connect the Dursley's fireplace to the Floo network. Ok. Thanks."
Lupin turned to face Harry and Petunia, they looked both worried. "I'm afraid we're gonna have to abuse your hospitality a little bit longer, Mrs. Dursley. We cannot get out of your house just yet."
"Why?" Harry asked.
Lupin swallowed. "Death Eaters. At least seven of them. Mrs. Figg has seen them from her house. There could be more, though, she isn't sure."
"What? But Dumbledore said I was safe at the Dursley's?"
"You are, Harry," Remus said, trying to calm his own breathing, "I guess they just came in case you went out of the house on your own. You know it wouldn't be the first time. If I hadn't come and you had decided to go for a walk, maybe this evening or tomorrow, they would have been waiting for you. I don't think they are planning on attacking the house, they know they cannot hurt you here."
"So what now?" Harry asked.
"Now we wait," Remus said calmly, "Mrs. Figg is trying to contact Arthur Weasley. He works at the Ministry, so he might be able to connect us to the Floo network. When he does that, we'll leave without the Death Eaters knowing it."
They were all silent for a moment. Petunia looked as if she was fighting an internal battle with herself. On the one hand, she didn't want to believe this was happening, she just wanted to ignore it all, but on the other hand, she wondered what would happen when Harry left. The Death Eaters would be still in Privet Drive, trying to get him. Wouldn't they try to get her son or her husband or even herself? She wanted to ask the wizard, but she didn't know where to begin. Fortunately for her, Remus Lupin seemed to read her mind, because after some thinking, he asked her:
"Mrs. Dursley, are your husband and your son at home?"
"Yes," she replied, "they are upstairs, my husband is helping my son to install the new computer we bought him as a welcome back present after the school finished."
The wizard nodded, and then added cautiously, "Mrs. Dursley, I don't want to scare you, but I'm afraid you could be in danger too. This people we are talking about are killers, if they don't see Harry in some days, they might try to get one of you to get information about his whereabouts."
Aunt Petunia started to shake and covered her face with her bony hands, sobbing. Harry felt sorry for her. It was his fault that they were in danger now. He didn't like the Dursleys, but that didn't mean he wished their death. He looked at Lupin, wishing there would be an easier solution to their current situation.
Lupin approached Petunia and patted her back awkwardly. "Mrs. Dursley, it's ok. I think I can help you."
She looked at him, a little bit of hope shining in her worried eyes.
"I know you don't like much wizards..." Lupin began to say. Harry thought that was the understatement of the year, but then turned his attention back to Remus' words. "You could come with us to a safe place, stay there for a couple of days, and then maybe go somewhere else, just travel around, fly to another country... The Death Eaters won't try to find you. Once they realise there's no one at home, they'll go back to their master. They'll realise you don't know where Harry is. They know Dumbledore is not silly and he is not going to share that information with muggles. When the school year begins again, you could come back home. Harry will be at Hogwarts then, they won't bother you."
Petunia pondered this information for a moment. "Will... will your kind take us in for some days? Won't they complain that they have to live with mu-mu-muggles?" She asked worried.
Lupin smiled reassuringly at her. "No, my friends won't mind. In fact, I'm sure some of them will be delighted." Remus said, thinking in Arthur Weasley.
Just then they heard footsteps thundering down the stairs and they all turned to the sitting-room door. Uncle Vernon and Dudley were heading for the kitchen, obviously thinking dinner would be ready by now, but froze mid-step when they saw the scene in the sitting-room. Uncle Vernon looked at Harry's trunk next to the boy, his wife with a tearstained face, and then one of the weirdoes he had seen at King's Cross station standing next to her. It was obvious to him that Harry must have complained to his 'friends' and now one of them had been torturing his wife while he was distracted upstairs. A loud grunt was starting to come to his throat, but before he could bellow some nonsense or attack Lupin, Petunia took some steps towards his husband and said, in a clear and commanding voice:
"Vernon, stop it!" Uncle Vernon looked surprised at her wife and tried to ask her what was going on, but she told him before he could ask. "We are in danger, Vernon. The followers of the dark wizard I told you about are surrounding our house. We must leave it now, with Harry and this man. If we don't, God knows what could happen to us."
"But..."
"Vernon! We have no time for your complains. We need to go NOW! So go and pack the things you might need for a very long holiday. We won't be back until September. Maybe it would be a good opportunity to go to Australia, as you always wanted to. And don't forget to call your firm and tell them you won't be able to go back until then. I'm sure they can survive without you. And you can call them now and then to give them instructions."
She then turned to her son and said, in a much sweeter voice:
"Dudley, go and pack your things too, darling. Don't worry, everything is gonna be ok. And don't forget to pack some clean underwear, dear, we might not be able to buy you some in the next few days."
Both Uncle Vernon and Dudley turned immediately, as if Aunt Petunia was controlling them with the Imperius curse. She then turned to Harry and Lupin, who were looking at each other with an amused expression.
"We might as well have some dinner," she said, "the kitchen is this way."
Lupin and Harry didn't dare object her orders and just followed her.
***
Just around the same time, a knock on her door broke Hermione's concentration.
"Come in," she called from her bed, where she had been sitting, reading a book.
His father opened the door. "Dinner is ready, dear."
"Ok!" The girl said, and followed her father to the kitchen.
The Grangers had barely started eating when they heard the doorbell. They all looked instinctively at the clock hanging on the wall, who could it be?
"I'll go," said Mrs. Granger.
A moment afterwards, she came back accompanied by a pink-haired girl.
"Tonks!" Hermione greeted her, surprised. "I didn't expect you so soon!" Tonks had told the Grangers at the station that she would pick up Hermione the first week of August to take her back to Grimmauld Place, so that she could be there with Ron and Harry, but Hermione had been home for only a couple of days now.
Tonks smiled. "Don't worry, everything is ok. I have good news," she said, and after a pause went on: "Sirius is alive!" she shrieked.
"What?" Hermione couldn't believe her ears. Suddenly, she stood and run to Tonks, throwing her arms around the girl's neck and starting to shout joyfully.
Her parents didn't know about Sirius' death yet -although they had heard of him, because Hermione had told them he was Harry's godfather-, so they didn't understand much what Tonks was saying, but they smiled all the same, because if their daughter was glad, it meant they were good news anyway.
"How?" Hermione finally managed to say.
"It's a long story," Tonks said smiling, "but I've seen him myself. He is at headquarters right now. Lupin has gone to tell Harry. We thought he'd probably want to see him himself, so Lupin is taking him back with him. Dumbledore said probably Ron and you would like to join Harry too."
"Oh!" Hermione said gleefully, but then checked herself and looked at her parents. "It's just that... well, I've just come home, you know..."
Mrs. Granger immediately put her daughter's worries at ease:
"Don't worry, dear, you can go now, and maybe you can come back in August and spend with us the rest of your holidays."
Mr. Granger smiled and nodded in confirmation, but it was obvious it was costing him a great effort. He missed Hermione a lot during the school year, and not having her at home during the holidays was always hard for him. But he knew her daughter belonged in another world, and he wanted her to be happy, so he didn't complain.
"Ok, then," Hermione said timidly.
"Why don't you join us for dinner, Ms. Tonks, I'm not a very good cooker, but I can at least defrost and heat some pre-cooked food. Then Hermione can pack her things while we have some coffee?"
"Oh, ok then," Tonks said, and sat herself at the table with the Grangers.
They where just finishing their desserts, when they heard a noise coming from the sitting-room. Something had fallen and broken. They all stopped talking, wondering what could have made the noise.
"It must have been Crookshanks," Hermione said, and stood to go and look for the cat, but then they heard another sound, as if someone had tripped over the rug in front of the fireplace, and then someone cursed, it was very low, but they could hear it nonetheless. Hermione stopped in her tracks and Tonks was at her side in a flash, her wand ready.
"My wand is upstairs," Hermione mouthed, pointing at the ceiling.
"Can you get it?" Tonks mouthed in reply.
"I'll try," Hermione said, nodding.
The Grangers were standing now too. The kitchen had two doors and they were both open, but they could only see part of the sitting-room from where they were. Luckily, the lights were on, because it was already dark outside.
Before Hermione had time to move, though, a red furry flash came running into the kitchen. Crookshanks threw himself at Hermione, her wand in his mouth.
"Thanks," she mouthed, patting him.
"Meow," Crookshanks replied, and then turned and started walking very slowly inside the sitting-room. When he reached the carpet, he sat himself royally, looking to the right, and started spitting angrily.
Tonks turned to Hermione's parents. "Stay here," she mouthed at them. And then prepared herself to follow the cat. Hermione did the same, ignoring the worried looks on her parents' faces.
Tonks looked left and then right very fast. Jumped to where the cat was and shouted a stunning spell. Then threw herself behind the sofa to her left just in time to avoid a red light. She stood again slowly and signalled for Hermione to join her. The girl run to her, her wand ready in front of her. There was a Death Eater lying unconscious a few feet in front of Crookshanks.
"Where is the one who attacked you?" She asked in a low voice.
"He was the one," Tonks said, "he had just time enough to say the curse before my stunning spell hit him."
Hermione nodded.
"They always attack in groups, not brave enough to work alone," Tonks said, still keeping her voice low. She looked around her. There were four open doors in the room. One was behind them, leading to the upper floor. Crookshanks had come from there, so probably there weren't any Death Eaters upstairs. Then there was the kitchen door, none there either. So that left the other two doors, one in front of them, leading to the entrance hall, the other to their left, leading to the garden. "I'll look in the garden," Tonks said. "Stay here."
Tonks moved slowly to the door leading to the garden. Before she could reach it, though, a voice called from outside the door in front of them: "Tarantallegra!" Tonks' legs started moving randomly, she was trying to hold on to something to avoid falling. Just then a Death Eater appeared in the door to the garden, his wand pointed at Tonks. "Avad..." He started to say, but Hermione was faster and stunned him. Two down. Tonks was still fighting the curse she had been hit with. Hermione went to the wall on her right and started walking alongside it, checking both doors as she went. She was now next to the door leading to the entrance hall, and the voice of Tonks' attacker had come from there. Crookshanks crossed the door before her, turned right and started spitting like mad. Hermione could see a green flash hit him before she crossed the door and faced the Death Eater. He was ready, though, and cursed her before she could attack. Hermione felt very dizzy. Everything started spinning around her. It was as if she was inside a whirlpool. And then it all stopped suddenly and she fell to the floor, panting. When she looked up, she saw the Death Eater lying unconscious on the floor. Her mother was standing just behind him, holding a heavy frying pan with her two hands. She had hit him from behind.
Mr. Granger came out through the same door Hermione had crossed a moment before, a very big knife in his right hand, Tonks holding to his left arm for support, although the curse had been lifted and she could control her legs again.
"Are you ok?" She asked Hermione. To her surprise, the three Grangers replied at the same time and even Crookshanks meowed his assent. She couldn't help smiling. "Ok, then, let's put an anti-disapparating spell on the house, so that these guys cannot run away before the aurors come." She had barely said the words, when they could hear lots of popping noises. Hermione and Tonks raised their wands, the Grangers raised their improvised weapons too.
"What's going on here?" A familiar voice croaked from the sitting-room.
"Moody!" Tonks and Hermione cried at the same time. They had never been so happy in their lives to see the old wizard.
Moody limped into the entrance hall, and surveyed the scene in front of him. "Who got him?" He asked.
"I did," Mrs. Granger said, not feeling very sure if she had done the right thing or not.
"Voldemort definitely underestimates muggles," Moody said, laughing as if he was barking.
"We've inspected the house, there are no more Death Eaters, Moody," Shacklebolt said from behind the old wizard.
"Ok, take this one, will you?" Moody told him, pointing at the wizard lying on the floor next to Mrs. Granger.
Shackelbolt looked at the fallen Death Eater and then at Mrs. Granger, still holding the pan, and smiled at her. "Good one," he told her.
"Thanks," she said, smiling shyly.
"Did you take the other two, Tonks?" Moody asked.
"No," she said, "I just took the one in the sitting-room, Hermione took care of the one in the garden."
Moody looked thoughtfully at Hermione. "Hmmm," he said, "you'd do well as an auror, did you know that?"
Hermione was tempted to tell him that the impostor Moody had told her that too, but checked herself in time. Mad-Eye didn't like talking about Crouch Jr., so she only said "Thanks."
"Aren't you underage?" A woman asked from the doorway.
Hermione paled.
"Well, yes... but it was an emergency, really." She didn't want to be expelled from Hogwarts. Oh, no, please no.
"That's ok," the woman said, and offered her her hand. "My name is Amelia Bones. I'm trying to convince the Minister that with Voldemort back we have to allow some exceptions to the Underage Use Of Magic Legislation. What has happened today just proves my point. Would you mind writing a signed report of what has happened and how you had to use magic to defend yourself and your family? I'll present it to the Minister myself together with some other documents. I don't think he will object much to my petition."
"So I'm not gonna be expelled?" Hermione asked hopefully.
"No," Amelia Bones answered with a smile, "at least not because of what happened today, but don't think you can use magic freely now, ok? Just in critical situations."
Hermione nodded to show she understood. "I'll give my report to Tonks when I finish it, if that's ok with you."
"Fine. I must be going now. Moody, I'll see you in the Ministry, right?"
"Yeah... I'll be there in a moment."
"Ok, see you there then. Bye!" Amelia Bones said to the rest of them, and then disapparated.
"Well, I think we should have a small chat, if you don't mind," Moody said, looking at them all.
"The kitchen is this way," Hermione said, and leaded the way. Her parents, Tonks and Moody followed her.
***
The Weasley boys had gone upstairs. Fred and George were showing Ron some of their new products. They always kept samples at home. Bill and Charlie, who had finally come back home to stay, had joined them too. Mr. Weasley was having a shower. Ginny was in the kitchen, helping Mrs. Weasley prepare dinner and telling her about Dean Thomas. Mrs. Weasley wasn't too happy, she had hoped Ginny and Harry would end up together, she already loved the boy as a son, but she understood Ginny had to choose for herself.
Ginny was using her mother's wand -so that no one could detect it had been her- to levitate to the table a pot filled to bursting with tomato soup when they heard the first ward on their house go down. Someone was trying to enter their home, and it wasn't a friend. She lost her concentration and the pot fell to the floor with a clatter, soup flying in every direction.
Mrs. Weasley was already by the kitchen window, and Ginny didn't need to join her to know what was going on.
"Death Eaters!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked. In a moment, the boys were by her side, their wands ready. Ginny gave her mother her wand back and ran upstairs to find hers. She met her father when she was going back to the kitchen. Mr. Weasley was wearing only a towel and his hair was all wet. His glasses kept slipping down his nose.
"How many?" He asked once in the kitchen.
"I've counted twenty so far!" Bill shouted.
"Molly, the Floo network, NOW! Take the children." Mr. Weasley shouted.
Mrs. Weasley run to the fireplace and threw some Floo powder into the grate. The flames turned a stormy blue, and a monotone voice echoed inside the kitchen: "Sorry, the Floo network is out of order right now. Please try to use it again in a few minutes. Sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for using this service."
The Weasleys looked at each other with dismay. Mrs. Weasley tried to activate the Floo network again and again, but the same voice kept on telling them to try once more.
"They must be attacking many wizarding homes at the same time," Mr. Weasley said, partly unable to believe it himself. "We are trapped."
The second ward went down, now only one magical barrier separated them from the Death Eaters. Mrs. Weasley looked at the grandfather clock in the corner, Percy's hand pointed at 'work', the rest of them were at 'mortal peril'. She looked at her husband, and he nodded in understanding.
"Fred, George, Bill, Charlie," he said, "go now."
"What?" They all asked, astounded.
"We can't win this fight, they are just too many. Ron and Ginny cannot apparate. We'll stay and try to defend them. There's no reason for us all to die. Save yourselves. Maybe, if we are lucky, you'll be able to get some help."
"No!" Fred and George shouted at the same time.
"We're not leaving," Bill said, deadly serious.
"We are eight, Dad, it's not that bad, we might defeat them," Charlie tried to reason with his father.
The last ward fell down, now only the house walls separated them from the Death Eaters. There was no time for discussion. Mr. Weasley run to the closest window and started casting spells like mad. He was so nervous, though, that he failed miserably. Bill joined his father and took down two Death Eaters at once. Charlie and Ron went to the window left from the door, where their mother was already standing. Fred and George went to each of the back windows.
"There are more coming from behind, we are surrounded!" They shouted.
"Dad, go and help Fred, I'll stay here," Bill said.
Mr. Weasley obeyed numbly. He couldn't even see, tears were clouding his eyes. His kids were going to die and he wouldn't be able to protect them. Maybe they should just surrender, that way it would be faster.
Mrs. Weasley had taken three Death Eaters already, but she wasn't used to use attacking spells, so the Death Eaters recovered promptly from her curses and joined the fright again. The problem was that the Death Eaters didn't mind using the Unforgivables, but the Weasleys were above that, they wouldn't resort to dark magic.
Charlie took his time to curse the enemies, but when he did, he always hit at least one of them.
Ron left her mother and Charlie, seeing that they could do pretty well on their own, and went to see how George was doing.
"Ron, get the fireworks," George told him, "it might distract them."
Ron run upstairs and got as many fireworks as he could carry, then joined George once more and they both started lighting them an throwing them out of the window. One of George's fireworks hit a Death Eater in the face and he fell dead to the ground. George took a deep breath. It was the first time he had killed someone. He was paralysed with shock for a moment, but then recovered, he had to defend his family, he had to do it, he had to kill.
Ron took advantage of the distraction created by the fireworks and stunned two Death Eaters. He was feeling such hate as he hadn't ever felt before. If Voldemort, yes, VOL-DE-MORT, forget about You-Know-Who and other silly names. If Voldemort had thought the Weasleys would be an easy target, then he was very mistaken, oh yeah, he was.
Ginny was kneeling by the fireplace, trying to get the Floo network working, but then a Death Eater hit Bill and he cried before falling to the ground. Ginny was by him in a second. "Bill! Bill, don't be dead! Bill!" She shook her brother's body, but he didn't move. A red light came through the unguarded window, crossed the kitchen and hit Ron's back. He fell stunned to the floor. Ginny stood, looking at the window where Bill had stood, she was crying, but through the tears she could see a Death Eater just outside the window, pointing his wand at her chest. Before the man could curse her, Ginny raised her wand and roared "STUPEFY!" The window glass shattered, Ginny's spell hit the Death Eater and sent him flying backwards. She approached what was left of the window without even trying to protect herself and pointed her wand at a place between two Death Eaters. "STUPEFY!" She shouted once more, and not only both of them fell, but also two more who had been lurking behind them.
Fred had crawled to where George was and enervated Ron. "Are you ok?" He asked his younger brother.
"Yeah..." Ron answered, still a bit dizzy.
"Don't exert yourself now, wait until you recover completely." Fred told him, before patting George's back and going back to his father.
Ron was still surprised, he hadn't seen the curse coming. He looked around, and then he saw Bill's body lying sprawled on the floor. His eyes rounded with disbelief. Oh, no, he couldn't be dead, he couldn't! Ron crawled to his brother's side and tried to enervate him, but Bill didn't respond. He wasn't breathing. He was dead. Ron lifted his head, tears streaming down his cheeks. The fireplace! He crawled once more, got some Floo powder and concentrated very hard. 'Please, this has to work. Please let it work,' he thought and threw the powder into the flames. They turned emerald green this time. "IT'S WORKING!" He shouted. "The Floo network is working!"
"Go!" Mr. Weasley said, but he had made the mistake of turning, and a curse hit him from behind. He fell unconscious to the floor. His glasses shattered.
"Dad!" Fred shouted, and paid for his lack of concentration too, because a curse shattered the window and some glass pieces reached his throat, blood started streaming from his body.
At the same time, another curse hit Mrs. Weasley. She fell down, too.
Ron went to her mother and started carrying her to the fireplace. It wasn't easy though, she was very heavy. Finally she was seated on the grate. Ron hoped it would be enough and her mother wouldn't end up splinched. He neared the grate and shouted as clearly as he could: "Grimmauld Place!" Her mother disappeared. Ron went to his father next and started carrying him over to the fireplace.
"We're lost!" Charlie shouted. "They are already at the door!" Just then the door of the house fell to the ground with a loud crash. A Death Eater stepped on it. "Stupefy!" Ginny shouted from the window to the right. The man fell, but from his position in the middle of the kitchen floor, Ron could see there were lots of them coming. He let go of his father's body and pointed his wand at the Death Eaters. He hit the first one, and then, to his surprise, the others started to fall too.
"Someone has come to help us!" Charlie shouted. "Someone is attacking the Death Eaters from behind!" And so it was, because the Death Eaters looked extremely confused. They didn't know which way to turn. They were caught in a crossfire. Ginny and Charlie went on cursing as many as they could. Ron went back to carrying his father's body.
George threw the last fireworks through the window he had been covering and went to the one where his father and Fred had fallen. Three Death Eaters were almost at the window, they would get through in a second. He raised his wand and pointed it at the first one. The Death Eaters had thought that window wasn't protected any more, and so they weren't ready for George's curse. When George stunned the first one, he fell, but the other two reacted very fast. They both raised their wands, the one on the right pointed it straight at George's heart, but the other one pointed it at his companion. "Avada Kedavra!" He shouted, and the Death Eater on the right fell dead to the ground. George just stood there, paralysed by what he had just seen. A Death Eater had killed another one! The Death Eater who had killed his companion made a sign in the direction of the window George had been guarding. The boy went there. The fireworks had extinguished. It seemed they had reached some human targets, but there were still a couple of Death Eaters standing. One of them was already climbing inside the house. George stunned him from where he was, and then heard again the Avada Kedavra curse being uttered from outside the house and the last Death Eater fell dead to the ground. He went to the window and looked outside. The Death Eater who had helped him took off his mask for a moment before running to the front of the house. George couldn't believe his eyes. He never thought someday he would be so glad to see Professor Snape.
Ron had finally managed to send his father to Grimmauld Place through the Floo network, and was trying to carry Bill's body. George joined him and helped him lift their brother. Between the two of them, it was much easier. "What about the rear windows?" Ron asked.
"It's ok," George assured him, "there are no Death Eaters left there. Let's get Bill and Fred out of here, then Ginny and you, and Charlie and I can disapparate.
"They are gone!" Ginny shouted from their right. "We've won, they're gone!"
"Yes, they've disapparated!" Charlie confirmed from the left.
Ron and George looked incredulously at each other, both of them still carrying Bill to the fireplace. They let their brother on the floor with the utmost care and went to join Charlie and Ginny at the windows. Nobody.
Then some bushes a few feet from the windows moved. "We are coming out now! Don't curse us!" A familiar voice shouted, and then they could see four hands up in the air, holding two wands. Charlie, Ron, George and Ginny were absolutely nonplussed. These two people had helped them fight the Death Eaters, they were alive because of them. Two familiar faces and then bodies followed their respective hands: Percy Weasley and his girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater.
***
Remus and Harry were alone at the Dursley's kitchen. Aunt Petunia had opened a bottle of the red wine her husband reserved for very important customers and filled Lupin's glass to the rim. She even offered some to Harry, to the boy's bewilderment. She had put some chips and olives on the table in front of them, and then had excused herself because she had to go and pack too. Lupin didn't think it twice, he had to tell Harry now about Sirius or he wouldn't have another chance to talk to him in private. He had thought that he would tell Harry on their way to Grimmauld Place, but now the Dursleys were going back with them, and if they were going to use the Floo network, they would reach headquarters in a moment.
Harry was helping himself to some more wine. When his glass was full, he raised it looking at Lupin and said: "To Voldemort's death." Lupin raised his glass too and they both took a good draught. The wine was delicious. Remus raised again his glass, took a deep sigh, and looking Harry in the eye, said: "To Sirius' resurrection." Harry blanched. If this was a joke, he didn't think it funny in the least.
Remus emptied his glass in one gulp, left the glass on the table and put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Harry," he said, "I know this is gonna sound very weird. I couldn't believe it myself when Dumbledore told me, but it's true, I've seen him myself, Sirius is alive."
Harry didn't react, he just stared at the werewolf as if hypnotised, so Lupin went on: "That's why I've come so soon to take you to Grimmauld Place, Harry, Sirius is there. He is waiting for us. Well, he doesn't know I've come here, he would have wanted to come too, and I thought the shock would be too much for you. I wanted to deliver the news first, so that you had time to assimilate them." He pressed Harry's shoulder, but the boy still didn't react. Finally, with a great effort, Harry managed to ask "How...". Remus smiled. "That's what we all have asked at knowing. Well, not that everybody knows yet, only Tonks, Moody, Dumbledore, McGonagall and myself. And now you." Lupin paused. "Harry, have you ever heard of the ashanriis?" Harry shook his head, so Remus told him everything Dumbledore had told him. Harry just couldn't believe his ears. Was it true? Could it really be true?
The ringing of the telephone took Harry out of his stupor. Aunt Petunia's light steps could be heard coming downstairs. She answered the phone and then came to the kitchen. "It's Mrs. Figg again," she said.
Remus went to the phone, Harry could hear him from the kitchen. "What! Merlin! What now? Ok... Well, right now, I can't think of a better option... Yes, yes... we'll wait. The Dursleys are coming with us too, I don't dare leave them alone in the house... Mrs. Figg... Now, now, there's no need to be nasty... Ok, ok... No, of course you know better... No, that's not what I... Sorry... Sorry... I said 'sorry'... Right... Ok... B..."
"Would you believe it? She hang the telephone before I could even say 'bye'!" Remus said indignantly, he didn't look too happy after his conversation with Mrs. Figg.
"What's going on?" Harry asked. Aunt Petunia was listening intently, biting her nails.
"It seems Arabella couldn't contact Arthur Weasley," Lupin said looking at the floor. Harry had the sensation the werewolf wasn't telling him all the truth. Remus went on saying: "She talked to Moody instead, he is coming with some other aurors to help us get out. She'll call us again when they are here."
"You mean we're going to leave the house through the main door and face those monsters waiting for us outside?" Aunt Petunia asked terrified.
Lupin swallowed, and then nodded. "I'm sorry, there's no other way out."
Harry thought for a moment. "Professor Lupin," he said, "I've got my Firebolt upstairs. Maybe we could try to fly it?"
"Harry, I doubt very much your Firebolt and my old broom are gonna be enough to carry you, your trunk, your family and myself."
Harry thought the word 'family' was too bold to describe the Dursleys, but didn't correct Lupin, there were more important matters at the moment. "Maybe you could... transfigure them or something, Professor?" Harry asked very low, but Aunt Petunia heard him all the same, and turned quickly to Lupin, to see what he would say. She didn't like much Harry's idea. Luckily for her, neither did Lupin.
"No, Harry, that would only lessen my powers. If I have to concentrate on keeping them in their altered form, then I won't be able to defend ourselves properly from the Death Eaters. I think we've got a better chance if we just fight. They won't be expecting us to come out with our wands. I'm not even sure they know who I am. They might have thought I was just a friend of the Dursleys, as I'm wearing muggle clothes. And then Moody and the others will be outside, waiting to give us some cover."
Harry wasn't too happy with the idea, but nodded all the same. Professor Lupin had to know best. Just then Uncle Vernon and Dudley came downstairs, carrying heavy suitcases.
"I can transfigure those, though, I won't need as much concentration for that," Lupin said, and in a moment the heavy suitcases were small black buttons. He took them and put them in his jeans pocket. The Dursleys looked at him thunderstruck, but didn't comment.
"Let's eat something," Aunt Petunia said, "it must be almost cold."
They all took sits around the table, but none of them seemed very hungry, only Dudley and Professor Lupin finished their portions. Aunt Petunia and Harry pushed their food around the dishes, but didn't eat much. Uncle Vernon didn't even try the food, he seemed to be thinking about something. Finally, with a great effort, he addressed Lupin:
"I have a shotgun upstairs. I bought it just in case someone would break into the house. Do you think I should take it?"
Lupin shook his head. "Muggle weapons won't hurt those people. It could serve as a distraction, as I don't think they would be expecting you to attack them, but they would probably recover very fast from the initial surprise, and you would loose too much time. When we go out, I'll go first and try to give you some time while you run to Mrs. Figg's house. We'll blow her cover, but at least we'll be able to use her fireplace. Harry, you will have to help the Dursleys use the Floo network."
"Ok," Harry said. The Dursleys looked worriedly at him. They weren't sure if the boy would be willing to help them. They hadn't been the best of relatives. Harry just stared at the tablecloth.
Once more, the telephone broke the silence. They all tensed. Aunt Petunia went to answer, followed closely by Lupin. The others remained sited, their stomachs in their throats.
Lupin returned to the kitchen. "It's time," he announced, and took his wand. "Harry, I'll take care of your trunk too. When I open the door, I'll jump in front of it and try to give you as much time as I can. Just run. You follow him." Lupin added looking at the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon and Dudley looked at Aunt Petunia. She was crying silently, caressing Dudley's big head, but nodded with determination.
"What about you, Professor?" Harry asked.
Lupin smiled sadly. "I'll be fine, Harry. I won't be alone. You have to think in your relatives and Mrs. Figg. They will all need your help to escape. I'll look after myself."
Harry's green eyes filled with tears. He knew there was a big probability that Professor Lupin wouldn't make it to Mrs. Figg's. He went to his father's friend and hugged him fiercely. Remus just patted his back for a moment, and then made him lift his face.
"Harry, I'll be fine." Harry couldn't answer. He took a deep breath and dried his tears with the back of his left hand while his right hand held his wand firmly.
"Ready?" Lupin asked, his left hand on Harry's right shoulder. The boy nodded. Remus looked at the Dursleys. "Ok, let's go then."
They went to the door. Lupin put a spell on it so that he could see through it without being seen from the outside. He could only spot five Death Eaters. At least they weren't very good at hiding, thank Merlin. No aurors were to be seen, but Lupin knew they were there. They had to. Without a second thought, he blasted the Dursley's door and went out. The Death Eaters weren't expecting something like that, and he stunned two of them before they had time to blink.
Harry started sprinting, the Dursleys running behind him. He could see flashes of light out of the corner oh his eye, but didn't turn to look, just kept on running. He reached Mrs. Figg's door and then turned for the first time. Aunt Petunia was some feet away, holding Dudley's hand, half carrying him, Uncle Vernon was behind them. The boy and his father were so fat that they couldn't run very fast. Three Death Eaters were following them, but they were very far. Harry took aim and stunned the one closer to his relatives. Meanwhile, Mrs. Figg had come to open the door. Harry stepped aside so that his aunt and his cousin could get in, and then threw himself behind a bush so that he could attack the other two Death Eaters and give his uncle some time. He took one of the black figures running in his direction, but missed the second time. It didn't matter, though, his uncle was already there. Harry followed him inside and closed the door.
"Here!" Mrs. Figg shouted from the further end of the room. She was standing next to the fireplace, where a splendid fire was roaring, and had a pot in her trembling hands. Harry went to her, took some of the powder inside the pot and threw it into the flames, which turned green.
"Come on! You first, Mrs. Figg, so that they see what they have to do," Harry said. Mrs. Figg didn't complain and stepped inside the grate to the bewilderment of the Dursleys.
"Grimmauld Place!" Harry shouted, and Mrs. Figg disappeared.
"You next, Aunt Petunia!"
"No, Dudley first!" Aunt Petunia said.
"Ok," Harry didn't want to loose time.
Dudley looked apprehensively at the flames.
"Come on!" Harry said.
"We'll go together!" Aunt Petunia said, and taking Dudley's hand, stepped into the fire. It was lucky she was so thin. Harry uttered their destination once more, and the next moment they were gone.
"Come on, Uncle Vernon!" Harry shouted. His uncle had already one foot in the grate when the house door was blasted by the third Death Eater that had been following them. Both had to dive to avoid being hit by wood pieces. Harry rolled on the floor and pointed his wand at the Death Eater, who was ready, but before he could utter a spell, a very heavy book hit the Death Eater in the head and he fell to the ground. Harry looked astounded at his uncle. "Don't look at me like that, I was shot-putting school champion in my days, boy," the man said.
They didn't loose much time in conversation, though. Once Uncle Vernon had disappeared through the Floo network, Harry stepped into the fire. He paused for a moment, wondering if Professor Lupin was ok. Maybe he should go back to the Dursleys' and help him, but he knew Professor Lupin would want him to go, and by staying he could endanger both of them, so he took a deep breath and then uttered his destination for the fourth time: "Grimmauld Place!" Everything around him started to spin, and then stopped again. From inside the fireplace at Grimmauld's Place, he could hear people shouting. He stepped out, his wand ready, and looked around. Sirius' mother was screaming from her portrait, apparently terrified by something. Harry looked at that something: it was Aunt Petunia, screaming likewise like mad, with her eyes almost popping out of her face. Apparently, they had both scared each other. Harry covered his ears and went over to try and calm Aunt Petunia. Just then, someone came running from a side door and pushed closed the curtains hiding Mrs. Black's portrait. Harry stared at the man with long black hair who had turned to look at him.
"Welcome back home, Harry," Sirius Black said with a wide smile on his handsome face.
*****
Thanks for the reviews!
Thanks all for reading and reviewing!
Well, that was certainly long for my standards. I finally decided not to split this chapter in two, I didn't want to make you suffer ;-), and Chapter 10 is going to be almost as long anyway. I have the weird feeling that the characters are taking control over my story, and I'm not very sure if that's good or not. You tell me...
This was the first time I had to write scenes with a lot of action because of the attacks by the Death Eaters, I hope you liked them. In Chapter 10 some of 'my characters' will be back, and we'll meet some ashanriis we haven't seen before.
Oh, yes, and I just wanted to tell you that I decided to classify this story under the category 'Sirius Black'. He is not really the main character, because as you can see, Harry and many other familiar characters are going to appear in this story, but as he was the first... I think the story will be easier to find now. Do you think I should choose a second category too? I've thought about it, but I don't know which one to choose. Any suggestions?
Kady Rilla Wholi: Thanks for your review! Well, now you know what Tonks and Moony were supposed to do: they were going to pick up Hermione and Harry, which turned out to be quite good for them. ;-)
K-Black: Thanks! Yes, my McGonagall was a little peculiar, she run out of my control, I couldn't stop her. ;-) I hope you liked this chapter too.
Ann: Thanks! Here it is, I hope you liked it. :-)
Kabeebalers: That's ok, I understand that people don't always have the time to review, but I'm certainly glad to hear from you again. :-)
