A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! Okay, sorry, I know I use too many ellipses! I'll try to use less from now on! Thanks for pointing that out : )
Chapter 59:
Harry exchanged horrified looks with Ginny. Lenore's wand was halfway out and she was breathing slowly. "Come, Potter. Drop the wand," sneered Rookwood, "Unless you'd like to see your little cousin screaming on the ground before we kill her." Harry suddenly panicked. They knew.
"She's not my cousin!" said Harry in a falsely confident voice. "What are you on about?" Harry thought quickly. Fred, George, Ginny, and Harry's wands were all trained on Rookwood. They needed to take care of him before more death eaters arrived. Rookwood chuckled sinisterly.
"What was that, Potter? You mean they never told you? That American is the only living relative you have besides the Muggles. Pity, she'll be dead before you get any reunion time with her… Well done, Draco. Trapped them all in a corridor while pretending to be their 'friends'? Your father will be proud. As will Master; I daresay you will be heavily rewarded." Harry spun around to look at Malfoy. His face looked smug.
"Yes, sir, it was quite easy, actually," said Draco with a smirk. "Americans are too easy to manipulate; almost as easy as Gryffindors." Lenore's face fell.
Rookwood laughed as suddenly two more death eaters appeared behind him; Bellatrix and Avery. A surge of hate spread through Harry's veins.
"Rookwood," said Bellatrix, cackling, "I didn't think you were capable of capturing them so easily. Pleasant surprise." Her eyes fell upon Lenore. "So that's it, is it? The so-called heir of Slytherin? Master will not be pleased with her. And Potter. Your race is run… and you've lost," she hissed, eyes filled with hatred. "Crucio!" Pain enveloped Harry, and he sunk to his knees, forcing himself not to scream… not to scream…" The curse was lifted off of Harry. He looked up to see, though Rookwood's wand was still on Lenore, he was looking at Harry. Some others must have been thinking this at the same moment, for Lenore, Draco, Ginny, Fred, George, and Harry shouted at the same moment.
"STUPEFY!" All three Death Eaters fell to the ground. "Well done," panted Harry. "Lenore, are you all right?" Lenore nodded slowly.
"Yeah… that was terrifying. Are you okay, Harry?" Harry nodded.
"That was nothing new." Suddenly everyone turned to Draco.
"You dolts, did you honestly think I was on their side? They would kill me first; I'm pretending to be on their side! They might have left me alone with you and I'd be able to save you all. Merlin, you're stupid…" Draco then walked over to Lenore and hugged her.
"Are you all right? God, I am going to kill Rookwood." Lenore nodded and fell into his embrace for a moment. Then Harry cleared his throat.
"Let's get going before they wake up," he suggested, looking disdainfully at the Death Eaters.
"Wait a moment," said George cheerfully. He walked over and took a package of Skiving snackboxes out of his cloak. He carefully inserted the purple end of three different candies into each mouth and then scourgified his hands.
"What was that?" asked Draco. Fred smiled with satisfaction.
"Fainting Fancies," he said. "They'll stay passed out until someone thinks to get them the other end of this; not even Enervate will work."
"Good idea," said Ginny, looking at the Death Eaters. "Come on; I wonder if anybody's here yet…"
Harry and the others crept out of the corridor and through another one.
"So where exactly are we going?" asked Lenore finally.
"We need to go down there," said Harry. "None of you have to come. It'll be really dangerous, and I'll understand if-"
"We want to come," said Ginny. "We're not letting you down there alone."
"Ginny," sighed Harry, "You and Lenore should stay here."
"What?" she asked sharply, looking into Harry's eyes.
"It'll be a lot safer; you could do stuff up here, and-"
"No, Harry," said Ginny heatedly. "I'm not some little girl that needs to be rescued! When will you understand that?"
"Ginny," began Fred, "He's right; you shouldn't—"
"No, Fred," said Harry suddenly, thinking about how much Ginny's words had stung. "She's right. I'm sorry, Gin. You can come. You, too, Lenore." Ginny smiled widely and hugged Harry.
"We'll be fine, Harry. Thanks. We're all in this together."
"Yeah, Harry," said a voice from behind them. "But please keep a couple of inches between you and my sister…" Harry turned around. There stood Ron, taking off his invisibility suit. Hermione stood next to him, and Neville, Parvati, Colin, and Lavender stood by Hermione.
"We're here," said Lavender cheerfully. "And did I ever mention how much I hate bloody thestrals?" Hermione shot a glare at Lavender.
"Only a couple million times…" she said, rolling her eyes.
"Now isn't the time to be fighting!" said Harry angrily. "Come on. We didn't need this many people here!"
"Did I mention that Tara and Alex are here somewhere, too?" asked Parvati unhelpfully.
"Are you bloody serious? Where are they?"
Lavender shrugged. Ron spoke up. "They were with us when we arrived…"
"Tabby's gone, too," said Lenore angrily. "She went downstairs, where Voldemort is…"
"What?" asked Ron incredulously.
"She didn't!" said Hermione fearfully. Harry nodded.
"She did."
"So what are we doing now?" asked Parvati.
"Are the Aurors inside yet?" asked Harry, ignoring Parvati's question.
"Not yet," said Hermione. "At least, we didn't see any. But they could be down there already." Harry nodded.
"Okay, Parvati, Colin, Lavender, and Neville… will you four take your Thestrals and go to the Ministry to alert them of an attack on Gringotts?"
"Yeah," said Lavender. She turned to Parvati, Colin, and Neville.
"Come on." Parvati and Colin turned to follow, but Neville shook his head.
"I'm not going," he whispered.
"Neville!" protested Parvati. "Come on!"
"You can stay," sighed Harry. "But Lavender, Parvati, and Colin, please go!"
Parvati and Colin nodded, and the three pulled on their suits and hurried from the building. Harry looked around.
"Let's go. I'm going down…you're all with me?" Everyone nodded bravely. Harry took in a deep intake of air before trying to smile and heading for the carts. Goblins were all around, and Harry decided it would be quite harmful to try to steal a cart. He cautiously walked up to one of the goblins.
"Er… Sir?" The goblin turned to Harry.
"Yes?" he asked briskly with a somewhat ominous smile.
"Did a Tom Riddle recently go down?"
"Yes, sir," said the goblin, "I believe he did."
"D'you… do you think that you could take us down to where he went?"
"Why, Sir, would Pirinok have a reason to do such a thing?"
Harry suddenly remembered that Goblins were greedy negotiators. "I'll give you," he began before another goblin rushed over. Harry recognized this one; it was Griphook, a goblin that had helped Harry several times before.
He said something angrily to Pirinok, the other Goblin, in another language. Harry looked at Hermione, whose eyes were wide. He suddenly wondered if she had learned any languages in Ancient runes. She nudged Harry.
"Harry! Griphook is talking about you!" The two Goblins suddenly turned back to everyone.
"I will take you down," said Griphook, bowing. "I do not believe in servitude to humans, but I also do not want to return to the Dark times. Harry Potter, you must defeat the Dark Lord. I will bring you to the place he has gone, free of charge. But only myself and six people fit in the cart."
Harry looked around, already knowing who he would choose. "Sorry, Neville; Fred; George. But I have to… do you think you three could tell the Aurors that we're down there?"
"'S'okay, Harry; I understand," said Neville, nodding.
"We'll find a way down," said Fred, winking. "See you in a few!" He grinned, and Harry, Lenore, Ginny, Draco, Ron, and Hermione climbed into the cart. Without so much as a warning, it jolted forward.
"I hate these things," said Ron from next to Harry.
"Me, too," said Harry, holding his stomach.
"Harry," began Lenore, "Won't the Ministry already know? Why did you send Lavender and Colin and Parvati there?"
"As a precaution," said Harry. "Also, I don't want them hurt." Harry closed his eyes as he began feeling nervous. The feeling was only added to as they hurtled down deeper and deeper into the earth. Harry began to worry. How did Voldemort find out that Lenore was at Hogwarts? There was really a traitor in the Order, then. It was so awful, that somebody Harry knew was probably working for Voldemort. Most people's first guesses would have been Malfoy, but Harry somehow didn't think so. He was so honest. There just wasn't any way.
Suddenly, Ginny, who was sitting behind Harry, gasped loudly. Harry opened his eyes and his mouth dropped open.. He had always heard rumors of there being dragons inside Gringotts, but he, truthfully, had never believed it. Until now. There they were. There were dragons of every shape and size guarding the vaults. They must have been very far below the ground. It was in front of one of these vaults that the cart stopped.
"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is less than a mile from here. If you follow this pathway, and take the first left and then the third passage from the right on the next turn, the battle will be after the first bend in that tunnel. Good Luck. I cannot take you any further than this." Indeed, the cart tracks actually stopped here. Harry exchanged terrified looks with Ron and Hermione. He then proceeded to hop out of the cart. When everyone was out, Griphook sped back up the track and was out of sight in the blink of an eye.
"This is lovely," said Draco sarcastically. "How the hell are we supposed to get passed all these goddamn dragons?" Harry looked up and could see what he meant.
"I know!" came a cheerful voice to Harry's left. He spun around, but nobody was there.
"Who was that?" asked Hermione apprehensively.
"That would be Tabby," said Lenore faintly. She held Draco's shoulder for support. "I don't feel too well after that…" and she suddenly spun around and threw up on the side of the track.
"Lovely," said Ron sardonically. Lenore turned around and shot him a look.
"Thanks!" she snapped before conjuring a glass of water. "I feel much better. Tabby, where the hell are you?"
"I'm here, I'm here," said Tabby, taking off an invisibility suit. "I got lost before; sorr-yyy!"
"Well, you're here now!" snapped Hermione. "Now what was your clever idea for getting past all these dragons?" Tabby glared at Hermione with her amber eyes.
"Well! Now, my idea was to give them Skiving Snackboxes! Tell Fred and George that they're now tested on animals…"
"What?" asked Ron.
"That's ridiculous!" said Ginny disapprovingly.
"Watch," said Tabby, sighing. You Levitate it; make it go in through their noses so they don't burn it; and don't do the Puking Pastilles; rather nasty, or the Fever Fudges, because those make their fires even worse. The Fainting Fancies work the best. Now watch- and learn."
She picked out a piece of the Fainting Fancies and held it in front of her. "Wingardium Leviosa!" she said loudly, swishing her wand and directing a candy straight into a dragon's nose. It paused for a moment and suddenly dropped to the floor. Ginny screamed and jumped to the side as the tail almost hit her.
"Whoa," said Ron. "I gotta tell Charlie about that one…"
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Several minutes later, Harry was nursing a severe burn on his hand, and all of the dragons were knocked out. Part of Hermione's hair had been singed, Ginny's arm was burnt, Tabby's robe had caught fire, Draco's hair had been turned dark and sooty, a sharp contrast from its normal shade, and Ron remained the only one completely intact.
"Let's go," said Harry decisively. "We need to hurry. They had made the first left and were approaching the many branches of the tunnel when Harry's scar suddenly seared with pain.
"What is it?" asked Ron, alarmed.
"Scar…" grunted Harry. "I'm fine." Hermione and Ginny looked at him dubiously. "We need to hurry. I'll be… fine, 'Mione."
Harry struggled to keep walking and tried to think of Occlumency. Block everything from your mind… rid yourself of emotion. After a moment, Harry felt a little bit better. He then decided to try something else. He combed through his memories for a memory of love. It just might work…
He settled on the day Mr. Weasley returned from the hospital, with Sirius happy and all of the Weasleys happy- and everything good. He focused on the memory, willing Voldemort to be hurt from it. There was suddenly a sharp pain from his scar and then all pain receded. Harry grinned with triumph.
It was then that they came to many branches of the tunnel. "What was it again?" asked Ron, looking vacantly.
"The third from the right," said Hermione and Tabby at the same time. They glared at each other.
"Right," said Draco loudly. There were seven tunnels total. Harry counted from the right.
"It's this one," he said. "It'll be after the first bend in the tunnel." Harry could already see the bend, and his stomach turned. He kept the good memory in his mind.
They walked at a nervous pace and after less than a minute reached the bend, where they suddenly saw none other than Tara and Alex!
"What are you doing here?" asked Harry angrily. Tara turned around, startled, and then smiled.
"Harry!"
"Er… hello, Harry," said Alex quietly. He then put a finger to his mouth, warning the newcomers to be quiet. Harry listened and could hear Voldemort and some Death Eaters talking.
"Which is it?" came the cool, snake-like voice of Voldemort.
"I think it's—Malfoy, which is the Paramariban?" came the stupid voice of Goyle. Hermione gasped next to Harry.
"But- Mango's the only- and she's at Hogwarts," she whispered urgently.
"It's the blue one, I think- what does it matter; they're all dead; just take a scale from each."
"It matters, Malfoy," said Voldemort dangerously. Harry's heart was pounding. The dragon. They needed its scale for the Potion! But where were the Order members? "Potter is here. Good thing he came anyway; Bellatrix, Avery, and Rookwood seem to have failed the miniscule job I gave them. Ah, well… Wormtail, get the boy and his cousin." Harry turned helplessly to the others.
"Go!" he whispered. "I've got this!" Everyone shook their heads.
"Go, Lenore! You and Draco can't be caught, and You-Know-Who knows Harry's here! Go get help!" Tabby whispered. "I'll hex you both if you don't go!"
Lenore shook her head bravely. "I'm staying," she whispered. Harry sighed.
"Stupefy! Stupefy!" he whispered loudly, hexing Lenore and Malfoy. He then proceeded to disillusion and cover both with invisibility suits. Ginny glared at Harry. "You told her she could fight!" Harry sighed.
"I can't let Voldemort get her! And I'm actually afraid Malfoy might… I don't know, Gin… But if He knows the Prophesy, he'll think I can't fight him because the others aren't here! But they are here!" Ginny nodded slowly and sighed.
"Just don't hex me!" Harry was about to nod, but Wormtail walked into the passage.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Tabby all disarmed him at the same time. Just as what had happened with Snape in third year, Pettigrew was knocked against the stone wall of the tunnel. Hermione caught the wand and pocketed it. It might have been Harry's imagination, but it looked as if she grinned smugly at Tabby, who, in turn, stuck her tongue out.
Voldemort then spoke again. "Malfoy! Get him, now!"
Before Harry could retaliate, Malfoy and Rudolphus Lestrange were both in the hallway and were holding their wands to Hermione, whose eyes were widened. Tara and Alex looked to Harry for instruction.
"Come, Potter, and I won't kill the Mudblood!" growled Malfoy.
"Agito Adiuro," whispered Harry before looking at the others. The spell was for keeping promises, something he'd learned in Auror training.
"All right. I'm coming." He stared pointedly at Tabby, Ron, and Ginny. They all nodded and followed. Lucius Malfoy eyed both Hermione and Ginny suggestively.
"The Mudblood and Weaslette have grown," he sneered, causing Harry to feel hatred that matched only his hatred for Voldemort and Bellatrix. He reached for Ginny's hand and held it for a moment.
"Expelliarmus!" shouted a Death Eater in the corner immediately, but Harry was too fast.
"Protego!" he shouted, the spell bouncing off of him. The Death Eater's wand shot across the room and hit the opposite wall.
Voldemort turned to face Harry, and Harry looked him straight in the eye, trying desperately to think of his Occlumency. His scar was on fire… no… don't think. Clear your mind.
"I see you've been trained in Occlumency, Potter? Not horrible. Pity it's not going to save you.
"Avada Ked-"
Harry jumped out of the way at the same time. Voldemort hissed hatefully.
"Potter! What did the Prophesy say?" Harry tried to do some very fast thinking.
"I don't know- it broke!" he panted.
"Liar!" hissed Voldemort. "Perhaps if I kill your girlfriend, your tongue shall be loosened? Wait, I think I'll have some fun first. Crucio!" he shouted at Ginny. She fell to the ground, screaming. Harry couldn't see her tortured like this. She was writhing on the ground helplessly. Harry fought a battle inside his head. Finally-
"I'll tell!" he gasped. "Just leave her alone!" he said, remembering what Hermione had done for him last year.
Voldemort took the Cruciatus off of Ginny and Harry whispered the promise spell. The spell required a bit of Dark magic, but Harry was sure it could save lives. Voldemort nodded. "What did it say?"
Harry thought very quickly. "It said that- it said that you couldn't live without me, and that I couldn't live without you. The connection." Voldemort's eyes narrowed and he tried to penetrate Harry's mind. Love, love, love, love…
"Ah!" hissed Voldemort, his eyes burning with malice. "Where's the girl?"
"What girl?" asked Harry.
"Your Heir of Slytherin bastard COUSIN!"
"Me," said Tara, in a dreadful attempt of an accent, stepping out of the shadows.
"You cannot fool Lord Voldemort," he hissed. "Avada Kedavra!" he yelled, but Tara dodged the curse.
"Expelliarmus!" she yelled, sounding scared. Voldemort just laughed maniacally.
"You stupid girl, you think Lord Voldemort cannot do magic without his wand? Think again. Crucio!" This time the spell hit Tara. She fell to the ground, screaming, but after only a moment, Voldemort lifted his wand. Tabby then laughed from the other side.
"Do you always refer to yourself in third person?" she asked in her painfully mocking way. One of the Death Eaters gasped and threw a Cruciatus curse at Tabby, but she dodged it.
Voldemort turned, seething, to Tabby. "I've had enough of you, you idiot American. Avada Kedavra!" he shouted. But Tabby, again, managed to roll away. Voldemort screamed with rage. He turned to his snake, and, in Parsletongue, demanded it to attack and kill her.
Harry, without thinking, muttered the spell to make a large snake come out of his wand. "Protect her!" he hissed to it before turning to Voldemort.
Voldemort turned to Hermione. "Crucio!" He didn't take the spell off of her. He turned to Harry. "I've had enough of you, Potter! Join me, or the Mudblood dies! If we can't die without each other, I won't have you fighting me! Potter, imagine the possibilities. I could give you anything! Power, beyond your wildest dreams. Do you want to see your parents again, Potter? What about that Godfather? I know the secret behind the veil, Potter. What do you want? Just join me, and it's yours!" Harry took a step backwards. "No?" he asked, with malice. He turned to Hermione. "Avada Ked-" he began, but he suddenly stopped as one of the dragons behind him suddenly leapt up and breathed fire at him.
"I thought you killed all of them, Malfoy!" said Voldemort threateningly. Malfoy took a step back.
"Master, I-"
"CRUCIO! Kill that dragon!" The dragon swooped over to Harry and the others, breathing fire at Voldemort still, who deflected it with rage.
"I- I think it wants us to get on!" exclaimed Ginny. Harry nodded but suddenly blacked out as a curse was thrown at him. The last thing he remembered seeing was at least a hundred Aurors swarming into the tunnel.
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A/N: Review please!