Author's Note: Thank you all for reading my story. By the way, I would
like to address the common comment regarding Harry's ability to apparate.
Harry or any other strong wizard (like Moody) can apparate to Hogwarts due
to the weakened anti-apparition barriers (weakened only, not totally gone)
after the massive attack of death-eaters there. Also, since the enemies
are arrogant enough to assume that their victims will not return, they have
not inspected the place...yet...so the occupants are still safe...as of
now. Some DA members will develop their powers more and will be able to
pass through the anti-apparition barriers later.
If any reader is still unconvinced, please just let it pass. After all, this is just a story and I am just enjoying myself. Happy reading and I hope you won't forget to review :-)
Chapter 13 - Another Mission for Dumbledore's Army
"Smooth....very smooth..." commented Hermione sarcastically.
"I just did what I had to do." said Harry simply and quickly left the room, not wanting to talk to anybody at that particular moment. Contrary to what the others must have thought, he was not that insensitive. After Cho's attempt to kiss him at the Quibbler's office, he had a sneaking suspicion on what might have possibly triggered her peculiar behaviour. Cho wanted him back. Unfortunately, Harry did not share that feeling anymore. He now realized that dating her had been a mistake. He only liked her, not loved. He liked her because she was very pretty and really talented in his favorite sport but he now knew that all of it just amounted to a mere adolescent crush and nothing more.
He thought that Cho realized that mistake too after she started dating Michael Corner but he was wrong. It seemed that she had decided that he was still a better catch and would stop at nothing to get him back. That scared him out of his wits. Seeing her eyes glow with anger like that and her attempt at cursing someone who didn't even do anything to her made him think that he cannot be trusted. She had a dangerous streak and might even betray them all if given a chance...just out of spite....and he cannot allow that...For his and her sanity and the safety of their friends, she should not be allowed to learn advanced curses...yet, maybe later after she developed some sense of collective responsibility. But now, she had to find peace in herself first. 'Sometimes, it's really kinder to be cruel.' thought Harry before he fell into a deep and uneventful sleep.
Before the sun was up, Harry found himself being dragged to the breakfast table by an overeager Ron. He didn't really want to wake up that early. He figured that a nice long slumber could clear his mind of any worries but Ron seemed too excited to be ignored. Gradually, he ate his breakfast, slightly wondering why they had to rise that early. Even the professors were still napping with the exception of Professor McGonagall who seemed to be 'on-duty.'
"Why?" he asked Ron who was currently trying to gobble down his plateful of food with a single swallow. "Hey, what's the hurry?"
"Dunno" was the reply he got.
"What?!? Are you crazy? You woke me up for nothing!" said Harry in a hushed voice, not wanting to disturb the others.
"Well -- actually Hermione told me that Moody wants all the team leaders in the training room now. So hurry, it must be something important." said Ron.
With that, the two quickly finished their meal and hurried to the training room where they found Professor Moody, Hermione, Lee and Tonks seriously pacing the room and four cloaked figures bound in one corner. Harry noticed that the four were shooting dangerous glances at their captors. They were already back to normal.
"So, what have you found out?" asked Harry, assuming that they were all there to discuss the information they got from the young death-eaters.
Tonks grimly beckoned them all to sit on the small round table while Professor Moody conjured a transparent sheet that enclosed the captives, barring them from hearing anything they were going to talk about. Hermione was looking perplexed and even Lee seemed not his real self. Harry immediately braced himself for the bad news while Ron sat beside Hermione.
As soon as they were all comfortably seated, Professor Moody sighed heavily and started the impromptu meeting. "I trust you know what the veritaserum is. Through that powerful potion, we found some very interesting informations from the captives. According to them, Voldemort had discovered that Snape is a spy and sent his most powerful servants to kill him. They also told us that Dumbledore is still alive although very weak and that Voldemort himself is the one administering the torture. However, what concerned us most is Ginny's condition." Harry felt Ron tense at his last sentence.
"Dumbledore and Snape can handle the torture. After all, this is not their first encounter with the atrocities of war but it may be traumatic for the youngest Weasley......" He paused for what seemed like an eternity before he continued, "She is now the personal slave of Lucius' son and they are now at the Grimmauld Place." he finished matter-of-factly, staring directly into Ron's horrified expression.
"What exactly does a personal slave do, Professor?" asked Hermione, articulating Ron's thoughts exactly.
"You wouldn't wish to know, Miss Granger and I, for one, am not really sure of what's happening with Miss Weasley. The captives did not really know much about how Draco treat her...but I'm afraid it might entail....physical contact." said Tonks, hesitating at the last words which alarmed his listeners even more. Hermione nearly fainted at his reply and Ron went white as a ghost. Harry, on the other hand, seemed beyond shock at this point. He stared hard at the professor before asking curtly, "Then why are we still here?"
"Ah, I wondered when you'd come around to asking that. Took you long enough." replied Moody, twitching his lips on what might have been a smile if his face was not crooked enough to make it unrecognizable. "Here's the plan...."
The four were silent as Moody finished telling them the plan to get Ginny out of the Grimmauld Place. It was quite ingenious. Simple but very effective if executed properly. Even Hermione did not complain for once. They would just go to the place disguised as the four captives with the aid of the polyjuice potion that the Potions Master had prepared for the Order several months ago, Immobilize Draco with a few spells of their choice and bring Ginny back. Thinking that the meeting was adjourned, they all started to leave the room but Tonks stopped them with a silent shake of her head.
"Now, to our next agenda...Cho." They all turned to Harry at once who made a big deal of polishing his wand, pretending not to notice their stares.
"What about her?" he grudgingly asked when no one spoke for a while.
"I trust you to smooth things out with her as soon as possible. Heavens, we have enough problems on our hands without having to deal with adolescent squabbles." growled Moody, seemingly back to his old menacing self. "But between the two of us, I think Luna is a better choice." he whispered to a suddenly blushing Harry.
"Fine...fine..." said Harry sullenly to end the embarrassing situation.
"All right. Let's meet here again tonight after dinner and let's curse some fools." concluded Tonks, stifling a giggle at the sight of the young man's expression of disgust.
========================================================
"So, Harry, are you and Luna really ....you-know-what?" asked Hermione cautiously, ignoring her friends' discomfort. They were seated at their now favorite sofa near Professor McGonagall's table but discreetly hidden from other's view. Ron was still pondering about his sister's predicament but turned one ear to their direction, also curious about his bestfriend's reply.
"Nothing. We are not a couple if that's what you mean. We are not even dating for God's sake...We just wrote a few letter to each other before we arrived here, that's all." replied Harry honestly. He thought it best to just answer their questions and be done with it. After all, they were his bestfriends and would never blab it to anybody who would care to listen.
"You what!" exclaimed Hermione which caused Ron to raise one eyebrow.
"It's just simple friendly letters...not love letters...okay?" he replied exasperatedly. Luna and I were just friends..Why couldn't they just accept it?
"Okay, fine. Whatever you say.." said Hermione but still looked unconvinced. "You better talk to Cho now." Harry nodded gratefully and went to find Cho.
He walked around the room to find her but she was nowhere to be found. He tried looking at the Training Room but all he saw there were the four captives guarded by Tonks. He asked the other DA members if they had seen Cho anywhere but unfortunately, they did not. He finally approached Professor McGonagall but was met by a similar response followed by a stern lecture about his tactlessness. His apprehension increased when one of the female DA members commented that Cho did not sleep on their bed last night. He hurried to Professor Moody who was now eating his breakfast peacefully.
"Professor, I can't find Cho anywhere!" he told him worriedly.
The professor's eyes narrowed in concern. "I was afraid of this. Where's your map?" Harry silently cursed himself for not having thought of that. He summoned the map from one of his cloaks and they both stared at it for a few minutes.
"She's left Hogwarts!"
"That's quite obvious, son. I should have watched her more closely last night after what happened but I was too preoccupied." said Professor Moody with unmistakable remorse.
"No, it's all my fault. If I had not lashed out on her like that, she wouldn't have left." he slumped on the chair, suddenly feeling drained of energy.
"You did what you have to do but I must admit you could have handled it a lot better. Don't blame yourself too much. You're still young. You're not that adept at dealing with feelings yet."
"What do we do now? She could be captured or ....something...." he stopped. He didn't really want to think about what that 'something' might be.
"Why do you care? You certainly made it clear last night that you didn't want her around." asked Moody, trying to discern his feelings on the matter.
"She's still my friend!" cried Harry. "I may be annoyed at her right now but I don't want anything bad to happen to her."
"We can not do anything right now short of launching a very dangerous man hunt. And you know very well that we don't have any available Order members to cover that. I advise you to rest for now and concentrate on our mission tonight." said the professor, closing his eyes to stop the pressure from clouding his mind.
"No, I can't do that. Dobby!" called Harry to his friend who suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Yes, Mr. Harry Potter, sir. What can Dobby do for him?" asked Dobby eagerly, excited to be called upon for help by the one who helped him to be free.
"You know Cho Chang, right?" the elf nodded. "I want you to find her now. She left Hogwarts and it may be dangerous for her if enemies find her."
"Don't worry, Mr. Harry Potter. Me and my friends are going to help you find her." said the house elf before disapparating somewhere.
"You'd really make a fine auror someday, Potter. Good luck tonight!"
"Thank you, professor." With that Harry left to find someone who could make him forget the increasing weight of responsibility on his shoulders...someone he could talk to without feeling any pressure...someone he could laugh with and relax for a while before embarking another dangerous mission that night...someone like.................Luna.
If any reader is still unconvinced, please just let it pass. After all, this is just a story and I am just enjoying myself. Happy reading and I hope you won't forget to review :-)
Chapter 13 - Another Mission for Dumbledore's Army
"Smooth....very smooth..." commented Hermione sarcastically.
"I just did what I had to do." said Harry simply and quickly left the room, not wanting to talk to anybody at that particular moment. Contrary to what the others must have thought, he was not that insensitive. After Cho's attempt to kiss him at the Quibbler's office, he had a sneaking suspicion on what might have possibly triggered her peculiar behaviour. Cho wanted him back. Unfortunately, Harry did not share that feeling anymore. He now realized that dating her had been a mistake. He only liked her, not loved. He liked her because she was very pretty and really talented in his favorite sport but he now knew that all of it just amounted to a mere adolescent crush and nothing more.
He thought that Cho realized that mistake too after she started dating Michael Corner but he was wrong. It seemed that she had decided that he was still a better catch and would stop at nothing to get him back. That scared him out of his wits. Seeing her eyes glow with anger like that and her attempt at cursing someone who didn't even do anything to her made him think that he cannot be trusted. She had a dangerous streak and might even betray them all if given a chance...just out of spite....and he cannot allow that...For his and her sanity and the safety of their friends, she should not be allowed to learn advanced curses...yet, maybe later after she developed some sense of collective responsibility. But now, she had to find peace in herself first. 'Sometimes, it's really kinder to be cruel.' thought Harry before he fell into a deep and uneventful sleep.
Before the sun was up, Harry found himself being dragged to the breakfast table by an overeager Ron. He didn't really want to wake up that early. He figured that a nice long slumber could clear his mind of any worries but Ron seemed too excited to be ignored. Gradually, he ate his breakfast, slightly wondering why they had to rise that early. Even the professors were still napping with the exception of Professor McGonagall who seemed to be 'on-duty.'
"Why?" he asked Ron who was currently trying to gobble down his plateful of food with a single swallow. "Hey, what's the hurry?"
"Dunno" was the reply he got.
"What?!? Are you crazy? You woke me up for nothing!" said Harry in a hushed voice, not wanting to disturb the others.
"Well -- actually Hermione told me that Moody wants all the team leaders in the training room now. So hurry, it must be something important." said Ron.
With that, the two quickly finished their meal and hurried to the training room where they found Professor Moody, Hermione, Lee and Tonks seriously pacing the room and four cloaked figures bound in one corner. Harry noticed that the four were shooting dangerous glances at their captors. They were already back to normal.
"So, what have you found out?" asked Harry, assuming that they were all there to discuss the information they got from the young death-eaters.
Tonks grimly beckoned them all to sit on the small round table while Professor Moody conjured a transparent sheet that enclosed the captives, barring them from hearing anything they were going to talk about. Hermione was looking perplexed and even Lee seemed not his real self. Harry immediately braced himself for the bad news while Ron sat beside Hermione.
As soon as they were all comfortably seated, Professor Moody sighed heavily and started the impromptu meeting. "I trust you know what the veritaserum is. Through that powerful potion, we found some very interesting informations from the captives. According to them, Voldemort had discovered that Snape is a spy and sent his most powerful servants to kill him. They also told us that Dumbledore is still alive although very weak and that Voldemort himself is the one administering the torture. However, what concerned us most is Ginny's condition." Harry felt Ron tense at his last sentence.
"Dumbledore and Snape can handle the torture. After all, this is not their first encounter with the atrocities of war but it may be traumatic for the youngest Weasley......" He paused for what seemed like an eternity before he continued, "She is now the personal slave of Lucius' son and they are now at the Grimmauld Place." he finished matter-of-factly, staring directly into Ron's horrified expression.
"What exactly does a personal slave do, Professor?" asked Hermione, articulating Ron's thoughts exactly.
"You wouldn't wish to know, Miss Granger and I, for one, am not really sure of what's happening with Miss Weasley. The captives did not really know much about how Draco treat her...but I'm afraid it might entail....physical contact." said Tonks, hesitating at the last words which alarmed his listeners even more. Hermione nearly fainted at his reply and Ron went white as a ghost. Harry, on the other hand, seemed beyond shock at this point. He stared hard at the professor before asking curtly, "Then why are we still here?"
"Ah, I wondered when you'd come around to asking that. Took you long enough." replied Moody, twitching his lips on what might have been a smile if his face was not crooked enough to make it unrecognizable. "Here's the plan...."
The four were silent as Moody finished telling them the plan to get Ginny out of the Grimmauld Place. It was quite ingenious. Simple but very effective if executed properly. Even Hermione did not complain for once. They would just go to the place disguised as the four captives with the aid of the polyjuice potion that the Potions Master had prepared for the Order several months ago, Immobilize Draco with a few spells of their choice and bring Ginny back. Thinking that the meeting was adjourned, they all started to leave the room but Tonks stopped them with a silent shake of her head.
"Now, to our next agenda...Cho." They all turned to Harry at once who made a big deal of polishing his wand, pretending not to notice their stares.
"What about her?" he grudgingly asked when no one spoke for a while.
"I trust you to smooth things out with her as soon as possible. Heavens, we have enough problems on our hands without having to deal with adolescent squabbles." growled Moody, seemingly back to his old menacing self. "But between the two of us, I think Luna is a better choice." he whispered to a suddenly blushing Harry.
"Fine...fine..." said Harry sullenly to end the embarrassing situation.
"All right. Let's meet here again tonight after dinner and let's curse some fools." concluded Tonks, stifling a giggle at the sight of the young man's expression of disgust.
========================================================
"So, Harry, are you and Luna really ....you-know-what?" asked Hermione cautiously, ignoring her friends' discomfort. They were seated at their now favorite sofa near Professor McGonagall's table but discreetly hidden from other's view. Ron was still pondering about his sister's predicament but turned one ear to their direction, also curious about his bestfriend's reply.
"Nothing. We are not a couple if that's what you mean. We are not even dating for God's sake...We just wrote a few letter to each other before we arrived here, that's all." replied Harry honestly. He thought it best to just answer their questions and be done with it. After all, they were his bestfriends and would never blab it to anybody who would care to listen.
"You what!" exclaimed Hermione which caused Ron to raise one eyebrow.
"It's just simple friendly letters...not love letters...okay?" he replied exasperatedly. Luna and I were just friends..Why couldn't they just accept it?
"Okay, fine. Whatever you say.." said Hermione but still looked unconvinced. "You better talk to Cho now." Harry nodded gratefully and went to find Cho.
He walked around the room to find her but she was nowhere to be found. He tried looking at the Training Room but all he saw there were the four captives guarded by Tonks. He asked the other DA members if they had seen Cho anywhere but unfortunately, they did not. He finally approached Professor McGonagall but was met by a similar response followed by a stern lecture about his tactlessness. His apprehension increased when one of the female DA members commented that Cho did not sleep on their bed last night. He hurried to Professor Moody who was now eating his breakfast peacefully.
"Professor, I can't find Cho anywhere!" he told him worriedly.
The professor's eyes narrowed in concern. "I was afraid of this. Where's your map?" Harry silently cursed himself for not having thought of that. He summoned the map from one of his cloaks and they both stared at it for a few minutes.
"She's left Hogwarts!"
"That's quite obvious, son. I should have watched her more closely last night after what happened but I was too preoccupied." said Professor Moody with unmistakable remorse.
"No, it's all my fault. If I had not lashed out on her like that, she wouldn't have left." he slumped on the chair, suddenly feeling drained of energy.
"You did what you have to do but I must admit you could have handled it a lot better. Don't blame yourself too much. You're still young. You're not that adept at dealing with feelings yet."
"What do we do now? She could be captured or ....something...." he stopped. He didn't really want to think about what that 'something' might be.
"Why do you care? You certainly made it clear last night that you didn't want her around." asked Moody, trying to discern his feelings on the matter.
"She's still my friend!" cried Harry. "I may be annoyed at her right now but I don't want anything bad to happen to her."
"We can not do anything right now short of launching a very dangerous man hunt. And you know very well that we don't have any available Order members to cover that. I advise you to rest for now and concentrate on our mission tonight." said the professor, closing his eyes to stop the pressure from clouding his mind.
"No, I can't do that. Dobby!" called Harry to his friend who suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Yes, Mr. Harry Potter, sir. What can Dobby do for him?" asked Dobby eagerly, excited to be called upon for help by the one who helped him to be free.
"You know Cho Chang, right?" the elf nodded. "I want you to find her now. She left Hogwarts and it may be dangerous for her if enemies find her."
"Don't worry, Mr. Harry Potter. Me and my friends are going to help you find her." said the house elf before disapparating somewhere.
"You'd really make a fine auror someday, Potter. Good luck tonight!"
"Thank you, professor." With that Harry left to find someone who could make him forget the increasing weight of responsibility on his shoulders...someone he could talk to without feeling any pressure...someone he could laugh with and relax for a while before embarking another dangerous mission that night...someone like.................Luna.