A/N: Got the idea for the beginning of this chapter at 11 p.m. hehe, you'll
know what it's about as soon as you read the title. . .
Chapter 42: The Arrival of Voldemort
Draco woke up and immediately felt something was wrong, something was. . . missing. He kept his eyes closed, trying to think of what it could be, before realizing the comforting warmth against his side was gone and when he opened his eyes and snapped his head to the right, cricking his neck, his worst fear had happened: Nora wasn't there anymore. Draco jumped up and searched the room, which was already filled with sunlight pouring through the window. The others, awoken by his sudden movement, got up as well and rubbed their eyes sleepily, ready for another day of fear.
"What's wrong, Draco?" asked Hermione as she yawned and stretched her arms in the air.
"She's gone. . . not here. . . taken," panted Draco, frantically looking around, as if she were hiding somewhere in this room.
"What!?" exclaimed Harry, Ron and Hermione.
"Do you think Death Eaters took her?" asked Ron frightened. Hermione shook her head.
"No, they'd have taken us, or at least Harry, as well. She must've left on her own, but how could she be so thoughtless!? Not even telling us, the nerve," she huffed. Harry automatically glanced out the window, checking if there was any sight of Voldemort yet, indicating the start of the Second War.
"Erm. . ." he said, a little unsure. The others rushed towards the window in fear, but they did not see Voldemort outside, as dreaded, instead they saw Nora, walking slowly over the meadow, head tilted towards the sky, eyes closed, arms spread out, feeling the wind rush passed.
"That stupid wench!" shrieked Hermione. The others said nothing. Draco turned completely pale.
"She's an easy target, now, and it's too dangerous for us to go out there as well," whispered Harry. Draco became even paler.
"We can risk it, can't we?" he asked weakly. "We've got to get her away from there." He Disapparated out onto the meadow, followed by Harry, Ron and Hermione, but Nora took no notice and continued to slowly make her way over the meadow, eyes still closed, head still tilted upwards, arms still spread out, as if ready to fly away. The wind that rushed past rippled her hair that hung lose and she smiled, smelling the scent of the forest.
"Nora?" whispered Draco, walking beside her, watching her. Nora still took no notice of him. She wished he'd leave her alone. It was much easier when he did. How was she supposed to say goodbye to this world when they were here, watching her, wondering what on earth she was doing? But her friends had never really realized how close she was with nature. They never wondered why she loved lying out in the open, gazing longingly at the stars, or why she loved getting caught up in the rain, or feeling the soft wind rush by. They had always thought it was weird, just a strange nuisance of hers, but never had they wondered why she really did it. How people could take things for granted.
"Nora?" Draco's voice was becoming more anxious, more scared. Nora opened her eyes, just to show him she had heard, but did nothing else. Why wasn't she allowed to spend her last time before the Second War, which she might not survive, doing what she had always loved doing?
"Nora?" Draco's voice was completely desperate now, trembling and full of fright. She stopped, taking them all by surprise, gazing at them with sorrow filled eyes and shrugged. She would not explain. They would not understand. They never did. They never tried.
"You'll get us killed," stated Hermione crossly, arms folded, foot tapping. Nora shrugged once more and instead focused her attention on Draco again. After having only really met him, realizing only shortly he was the one she wanted to be with forever, they may be parted again, perhaps eternally. Life had been unfair to her on many occasions, but, really, this was pushing it. She looked into his eyes, the beautiful grayness mixed with blue, seeing his concern for her and her sanity. Nora looked up again, her arms remaining by her side this time, and heaved a large sigh before looking sorrowfully at the ground, in shame. Hermione was right. Her selfishness of wanting to say her last goodbyes would get them all killed if Voldemort decided to show up then and there. As was bound to have happened sooner or later, tears slowly slid down Nora's cheeks and dropped onto the ground.
Hermione unfolded her arms and sighed, a bit embarrassed by being so harsh on her friend. After all, wasn't this burden tormenting them every single one of them? Draco wrapped his girlfriend tightly in his arms, wondering how on earth this all could have happened, and, most importantly, why.
"We should make a plan," whispered Ron, looking away from Nora and Draco, feeling for some reason glad Lavender wasn't here with him, to watch him and his friends suffer.
"What do you mean?" inquired Hermione interestedly.
"A plan, for when Voldemort finally does arrive. I mean, we can't just walk up to him and say 'Hey, Voldie, mate. Glad you could make it. Shall we begin then?' can we?" Ron told his friends, looking rather skeptically.
"No, no, we can't do that. But we can. . ." Hermione trailed off and looked suspiciously around her. "It'd be even stupider to discuss this out here than trying to make small talk with Voldemort. Let's go back into the Living Room and talk about it there, shall we?" The others shrugged and nodded before they all Apparated into their Living Room.
"All right, so we can't talk with him, but we can just walk up to him, or at least try to," said Hermione, when they were all seated.
"What?" exclaimed Ron. "Hermione, he'll blast us away before we even take one step!"
"No, he won't. He'll think it's a trap," she replied.
"But, wouldn't it just be easier to Apparate in front of him and immediately shoot some curses, to take him by surprise?" suggested Draco.
"Well, that would work, but it'd be better to let him think we don't know anything. I mean, when we Apparate in front of his nose, he'll know we've had training, but if we walk out on the meadow when he's there and pretend to be talking happily or something, he'll think Dumbledore hasn't even informed us about anything, and we'll show what we've learned somewhere during the battle, so he doesn't know what hit him."
"I like that idea," said Nora, her throat a bit gruff. She cleared it and went on, "We hide our strength until we can really catch him by surprise with it. I think that'll work."
"So when Voldemort is standing there, just waiting for us, we walk out onto the meadow, chatting happily, and be surprised to see him? Are you sure that'll have him fooled?" asked Harry skeptically.
"Well, it's better than immediately showing him what we've got in store," said Hermione. Harry shrugged.
"I guess."
"And I suppose we'll be able to get closer to him, because Voldemort will probably want to talk a bit, blab about what he's been planning and stuff, like he does every time," said Draco. Harry nodded.
"Yeah, so we'll be about a few feet away while he has a lovely chat with us and when the Dementors or Death Eaters appear the Order and foreign people will Apparate in as well," he added.
"And then me, Hermione and Nora go battle some Death Eaters while you and Draco go defeat Voldemort," Ron said.
"Is it just me or does this all sound way too easy?" said Nora, looking around.
"Well, Death Eaters are stupid, so they'll be a piece of cake," replied Ron. Hermione and Nora rolled their eyes.
"Not everyone has your low level of intelligence, Ron," retorted Hermione. Ron glared at her. "So the beginning we've got planned. What happens when the Death Eaters and Dementors arrive, what do we do then?"
"Well, maybe we three," Nora pointed to Ron, Hermione and herself, "could pretend to be scared and run off to the side while Harry and Draco stay with Voldemort, but also looking confused and frightened. This'll still have him thinking Dumbledore never told us a thing." The others seemed to think this over for a while.
"Good one," said Hermione, but Ron frowned.
"I don't like it. That'll just make me look like a coward."
"Ron, don't be so stupid and just go with it," said Hermione irritably. No one could get on her nerves as much, or as fast, as him. Ron folded his arms and glared at her.
"We could all get rid of the Dementors by producing Patronus' which will just run around and get rid of the monsters and then you three turn to the Death Eaters," said Draco. Nora gave him a peck on the cheek.
"Aw, you're so smart," she said. Draco smiled.
"I am, aren't I?"
"No," grumbled a still humiliated Ron. Draco looked at him for a few seconds, his expression unclear, before shrugging.
"She thinks so," he said plainly and gave Nora a kiss, completely forgetting that they were supposed to stay away from each other because the others might feel lonely.
"Yeah, well, she's not smart either," retorted Ron childishly. Nora raised an eyebrow.
"Excuse me?" she said. "I believe I received 3 more OWL's this summer than you."
"No you didn't," replied Ron, completely in denial.
"I can show you if you want," said Nora, folding her arms. Ron said nothing, and instead pretended not to hear her. "Moron," she muttered.
"Right, so, after we cast the Patronus' me and Draco will battle Voldemort and Ron, Hermione, Nora and, hopefully, the Order and foreign people will keep themselves busy with the Death Eaters, and when it's necessary, we use what we learned the last few weeks while staying in this castle," verified Harry. The others nodded, though Ron merely gave a grunt.
"Ron, will you quit acting so stupid? You're not making this any easier," pleaded Hermione. Even though they were always bickering about one thing or another, that didn't mean she enjoyed it.
"But everyone will think I'm a coward if I run away from Voldemort!" whined Ron.
"No one will think you're chicken, they'll all think you're trying to protect us, all right? Now, please, act more cooperative," lied Hermione. Ron seemed to be thinking this over.
"All right," he said excitedly after a few seconds; it never could hurt if everyone thought he was being all brave and trying to protect his weaker friends, could it? The others couldn't believe how easy it was to fool Ron at times.
"Ok. So, what happens if someone from our side is injured, what do we do then?" asked Nora, looking around the group.
"Well, they can probably Apparate back into the castle to heal themselves or something, and if not," added Hermione, seeing Nora open her mouth to ask just that," then one of us Apparates them inside and comes back immediately."
"What if one of them dies?" asked Draco.
"We leave them," replied Hermione sorrowfully. The others were about to protest when she cut in. "There's nothing we can do if they've died and it's better to just leave them alone than to try and bring them somewhere more peaceful, risking our own lives in the process." There was a moment of silence, which Harry broke by asking the question that was now running through all of their minds.
"What if one of us dies?" Hermione seemed hesitant to answer, but she resolutely said:
"We leave him, or her, too. It's safest." The others nodded slightly.
"Besides, the dead ones won't care what happens to their body's, they won't need them anymore, will they?" said Ron, trying to sound reassuring. The others shrugged slightly.
"Say, does the Shield Charm work against the Cruciatus Curse?" asked Nora thoughtfully, breaking the second uncomfortable silence that had settled.
"I certainly hope so," said Ron. "And otherwise you just wait until it's passed and then shoot it at the person who sent it to you, give them a taste of what it's like," he rambled, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"You can't. Only those who mean the Unforgivable Curses, who really want to cause pain and enjoy it, can use them," said Harry dully, reciting Bellatrix' words from almost a year ago.
"How do you know?" asked Ron, frowning. Harry, only just realizing his mistake, mentally slapped himself. He had never told his friends he'd used an unforgivable.
"Bellatrix Lestrange told me in the Ministry of Magic," he replied hesitantly.
"And why did she t-" began Nora slowly, but Hermione, catching on, interrupted her.
"I've never used an Unforgivable," she said, folding her arms and looking sternly at Harry, who gave her a weakened innocent smile before raising his hand.
"Harry!" said Nora incredulously. "You could go to Azkaban for using an Unforgivable, you know that!"
"Well, it didn't work did it?" Harry replied a bit miserably. "It just knocked her off her feet, that's all. Besides, she'd just killed Sirius, if anyone should go to Azkaban it's her."
"So that's why Dumbledore never began teaching us the Avada Kedavra curse," said Draco thoughtfully. "It'd take too long, because we first have to learn to enjoy casting it."
"Only someone as messed up as Voldemort could come up with such useless curses," said Ron, shaking his head.
"Yeah," agreed Nora, sighing.
"Well, they're not actually useless. I, for one, think," began Hermione, but she immediately stopped at the looks her friends were giving her.
"Please don't finish that sentence," said Nora, her eyebrows raised. Hermione remained silent, but she still did think that creating such curses, one to kill people instantly, one to cause severe and unbearable pain and one to control someone, even over a large distance, was rather an accomplishment, even if the evilest wizard to this day made it, just to help him become more powerful. "Good," said Nora, when Hermione stayed quiet. Harry rubbed his prickling scar, something it hadn't done for quite a while, while Draco frowned and rubbed his right arm. Of course, if this happened at the same time, Voldemort was definitely feeling something, so Ron asked:
"What's wrong? Is he happy again?" Harry and Draco nodded, Draco still feeling it was weird that he could now read Voldemort's mood.
"I think he's found us," said Harry.
"We should go to Dumbledore, then," Hermione said. "Tell him we should expect Voldemort to arrive soon. They all nodded and Apparated into Dumbledore's office, which was still enlarged and still filled with all of those who were battling in the Second War. Harry wondered if they ever left this room.
"Voldemort's happy, sir," he said. "I think he's going to be here soon." Dumbledore got up from his desk and walked around it, to the middle of his office.
"Very well, now a few words before we will all wait patiently or impatiently for him to arrive. First of all, Voldemort is not only here to fight the Second War, but he is also here for the Amulet of Era's, so extra attention must be paid to Hermione, if she dies, the Amulet is less bound to our side and if all of the five die it is not bound at all, allowing Voldemort to be able to seize it. This is the most important thing to watch out for. Second of all, I want one group to focus on the Dementors and another group to keep themselves to the Death Eaters and third of all: all of you must pay attention to Voldemort at all times," said Dumbledore. Everyone in the room nodded their understanding. "Good, now, the five will all touch the Amulet right before entering the Second War. Yes, Cleopatra?" he asked when an Egyptian witch had raised her hand gracefully into the air. Harry thought her name was rather fitting. He may never have seen any pictures of what Cleopatra may have looked like but if someone asked him to describe her he'd just point at the witch currently speaking. Hermione leaned over to her friends and whispered:
"I have another thing for our plan. We must try to not touch the Amulet in the beginning, so Voldemort, if he has recognized it for what it is, thinks we don't know what it does and will try to seize it and as soon as he does, his hand will be scorched."
"How do you know?" whispered Nora.
"Dumbledore told us earlier, remember?" Nora shrugged before frowning, clearly thinking hard, and saying: "Oh, right," when realization had dawned on her face.
"But Albus," said a man from the right, arguing against whatever Dumbledore had just told the Egyptian witch. "Would it not be better to have the Metamorhpmagus' turn into Death Eaters and still fight for our side?"
"I believe Voldemort would notice to quickly and will try to kill them, even if it is under the danger that he murders his real Death Eaters by mistake," began Dumbledore.
"And what if the Metamorhpmagus' turn into you, Albus?" said a rather strong looking witch on the other side of the room. There was an interested murmur, during which Dumbledore thought it over.
"Yes, Albus. They all fear you, and will not try to fight," agreed Cleopatra, the Egyptian witch, without the slightest hint of an accent. "That is the best solution."
"I agree, this is a highly interesting idea, and I'm flattered," added Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling as he smiled around the room. There was an appreciative chuckle. "But, is it really the best solution?" Many of them answered 'yes' and a few even shouted 'of course it is!' but Dumbledore was still not sure. "But would it not be noticeable if five of me were walking around, Death Eaters would know it is not really me and their fear would be considerably less. No, the Metamorphmagus' will not try to fool the other side; it is impossible. It is best. . . unless. . ." Dumbledore now said thoughtfully, gazing upwards, thinking hard.
"What is it, Albus?" asked many of the now very intrigued people gathered in his office.
"Dementors," said Dumbledore. "They can change into Dementors and cast, hopefully unnoticeably, spells on the other side." Everyone erupted into loud muttering, all discussing this new idea. It sounded as if it would work, for no one would cast curses at Dementors, only Patronus', but since the silvery animals go after the real Dementors, the fake ones would be left quite unharmed.
"Excellent!" boomed a fat Arabian king, smiling. "Simply superb, Albus! Your amazing mind astounds us all, once again."
"Why, thank you, Obesa," said Dumbledore, smiling modestly. Everyone was now clapping so loudly, chattering relieved, that it went quite unnoticed when Harry slapped a hand over his scar and Draco over his dark mark, both boys wincing in pain, even though there was a happy, giddy feeling in their stomachs, which of course did not belong to them, since they were both full of fear. Ron, Hermione and Nora did notice, though, and they looked at the two boys questioningly.
"He's here," whispered Harry, slowly letting go of his scar.
"Then we should go," said Hermione. Nora glanced at Dumbledore and back at her friend. As if reading her mind, Hermione added, "We don't tell them, or we won't be able to stick to the plan we've formed. We apparate into the Entrance Hall and from there we'll do as we prepared." With a nod at each other the five students Disapparated, going completely unnoticed by everyone except Dumbledore, who smiled to himself. He always seemed to know and noticed everything.
"Oh, wait," Harry told his friends and he Disapparated again, reappearing in the Entrance Hall only seconds later, holding his invisibility cloak.
"What's that for?" asked Ron.
"You'll see," replied Harry before throwing the cloak over the five of them. This may have been an easy thing to do 6 years ago, in first year, but now it was almost impossible, especially with the length they've all reached. The five of them huddled close together, trying to fit, and, with the butterflies, that seemed to have made a home of their stomachs, fluttering around like mad, they opened the double doors and walked out into the sunlight.
Voldemort, a pitch-black figure, standing amidst green and blue, was positioned in the middle of the meadow.
"What exactly is your plan, Harry?" asked Ron impatiently. If they were going to do something suicidal, he wanted to know in advance.
"You'll see."
"Not if he keeps looking at his feet, he won't."
"Drop dead, Malfoy."
"Don't be so impatient, I will soon enough."
"Oh, no you will not. I decide when you die and it's not until a couple of decades when we're both old and wrinkly."
"Do I have to?"
"Yes."
"Stuff it, Weasley."
"Both of you, shut up, you're driving me crazy!"
"Yes, Almighty Granger."
"Oh my god! You two are enough to drive anyone insane!"
"Draco, quit teasing her, we still need her to win the Second War, remember?"
"Fine, but you didn't say anything to Ron! He's in on it, too."
"Oh, you are such a – Ron! Stop making faces!"
"How did you-?"
"Oh, please, as if I need to see you to know you're making faces."
"Ok, now here's my plan," said Harry, reluctantly interrupting the bickering that was now going on between the four friends; he thought it was actually quite funny. His friends looked at him, or, well, in his direction, since they were all still invisible.
Voldemort stood still in the center of the meadow, calmly watching the castle. He knew someone was there, walking towards him, he had seen the doors open and close, and the person was coming closer. It might be Harry Potter, the snot-nosed little brat, but he must not make any rash decisions, for it could as well be the old fool Albus Dumbledore. Either way, the invisible being was nearing him by the second; he could smell it.
A couple of meters away from Voldemort, Harry threw the invisibility cloak off of him and his friends and looked back at the castle.
"I still can't understand why Dumbledore wouldn't let us outside, but I'm glad I brought my father's cloak, I really need the fresh air," he said loudly. He let the cloak drop on the ground but froze instantly, seeing the maliciously smiling man standing in front of him. Draco froze as well, his glare as cold as ice. Hermione and Nora gasped, gave a few whimpers and automatically took a step backward. Ron gave a yelp, tripped over Harry's invisibility cloak and fell over backwards. Until the day he died he said he was just an incredibly good actor and that it was all part of it. Of course, no one believed him.
"Well, well, well," said Voldemort softly. His terrible snakelike face, which was white and gaunt, was smiling and his scarlet, slit-pupilled eyes were examining the five students in front of him. "The famous Harry Potter and his friends, the poverty-stricken and insult to all wizards Ronald Weasly, the mudblood Hermione Granger, the other mudblood Nora Glassyd and of course, her loving 'boyfriend' as you children call it, and my heir Draco Malfoy. Yes, I took the liberty of looking up your names," Draco had the large urge to cough and say 'loser', but he did not think it was very smart to get himself killed even before the Death Eaters had arrived. "This way I know who are so foolish as to fight me. And now I'll know what to write on your tombstones," Voldemort added, following it with a hissing laughter. None of the five had had such a feared feeling of fright before as they stood in front of the cruelest wizard in the world. Would he be offended if they wet themselves?
A/N: Ah, well you all know what chapter comes next, don't you? The Second War, that's right. Now I'm going to be taking my time writing that, since it's rather important and since my end of term exams are coming up again and I really need to get good grades in order to pass. Hope you guys don't mind.
We so totally have the worst weather here: There was no, or hardly any, snow in December and now, in February, it's won't stop! And. . . Well, it's just really weird, but I won't bore you with all the details. =D
Hmmm. . . no review from Skins Thunderbomb this time?. . . =( Well, I can't expect you guys to review every chapter.
Dumbeldave – Yeah, colds suck. They always stay for soooo long and prevent you from breathing properly, hmpf. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing. =)
Athenakitty – well, I don't think Nagini is going to die and get skinned, that doesn't sound too tasteful. Thank you for reading and reviewing.
Chapter 42: The Arrival of Voldemort
Draco woke up and immediately felt something was wrong, something was. . . missing. He kept his eyes closed, trying to think of what it could be, before realizing the comforting warmth against his side was gone and when he opened his eyes and snapped his head to the right, cricking his neck, his worst fear had happened: Nora wasn't there anymore. Draco jumped up and searched the room, which was already filled with sunlight pouring through the window. The others, awoken by his sudden movement, got up as well and rubbed their eyes sleepily, ready for another day of fear.
"What's wrong, Draco?" asked Hermione as she yawned and stretched her arms in the air.
"She's gone. . . not here. . . taken," panted Draco, frantically looking around, as if she were hiding somewhere in this room.
"What!?" exclaimed Harry, Ron and Hermione.
"Do you think Death Eaters took her?" asked Ron frightened. Hermione shook her head.
"No, they'd have taken us, or at least Harry, as well. She must've left on her own, but how could she be so thoughtless!? Not even telling us, the nerve," she huffed. Harry automatically glanced out the window, checking if there was any sight of Voldemort yet, indicating the start of the Second War.
"Erm. . ." he said, a little unsure. The others rushed towards the window in fear, but they did not see Voldemort outside, as dreaded, instead they saw Nora, walking slowly over the meadow, head tilted towards the sky, eyes closed, arms spread out, feeling the wind rush passed.
"That stupid wench!" shrieked Hermione. The others said nothing. Draco turned completely pale.
"She's an easy target, now, and it's too dangerous for us to go out there as well," whispered Harry. Draco became even paler.
"We can risk it, can't we?" he asked weakly. "We've got to get her away from there." He Disapparated out onto the meadow, followed by Harry, Ron and Hermione, but Nora took no notice and continued to slowly make her way over the meadow, eyes still closed, head still tilted upwards, arms still spread out, as if ready to fly away. The wind that rushed past rippled her hair that hung lose and she smiled, smelling the scent of the forest.
"Nora?" whispered Draco, walking beside her, watching her. Nora still took no notice of him. She wished he'd leave her alone. It was much easier when he did. How was she supposed to say goodbye to this world when they were here, watching her, wondering what on earth she was doing? But her friends had never really realized how close she was with nature. They never wondered why she loved lying out in the open, gazing longingly at the stars, or why she loved getting caught up in the rain, or feeling the soft wind rush by. They had always thought it was weird, just a strange nuisance of hers, but never had they wondered why she really did it. How people could take things for granted.
"Nora?" Draco's voice was becoming more anxious, more scared. Nora opened her eyes, just to show him she had heard, but did nothing else. Why wasn't she allowed to spend her last time before the Second War, which she might not survive, doing what she had always loved doing?
"Nora?" Draco's voice was completely desperate now, trembling and full of fright. She stopped, taking them all by surprise, gazing at them with sorrow filled eyes and shrugged. She would not explain. They would not understand. They never did. They never tried.
"You'll get us killed," stated Hermione crossly, arms folded, foot tapping. Nora shrugged once more and instead focused her attention on Draco again. After having only really met him, realizing only shortly he was the one she wanted to be with forever, they may be parted again, perhaps eternally. Life had been unfair to her on many occasions, but, really, this was pushing it. She looked into his eyes, the beautiful grayness mixed with blue, seeing his concern for her and her sanity. Nora looked up again, her arms remaining by her side this time, and heaved a large sigh before looking sorrowfully at the ground, in shame. Hermione was right. Her selfishness of wanting to say her last goodbyes would get them all killed if Voldemort decided to show up then and there. As was bound to have happened sooner or later, tears slowly slid down Nora's cheeks and dropped onto the ground.
Hermione unfolded her arms and sighed, a bit embarrassed by being so harsh on her friend. After all, wasn't this burden tormenting them every single one of them? Draco wrapped his girlfriend tightly in his arms, wondering how on earth this all could have happened, and, most importantly, why.
"We should make a plan," whispered Ron, looking away from Nora and Draco, feeling for some reason glad Lavender wasn't here with him, to watch him and his friends suffer.
"What do you mean?" inquired Hermione interestedly.
"A plan, for when Voldemort finally does arrive. I mean, we can't just walk up to him and say 'Hey, Voldie, mate. Glad you could make it. Shall we begin then?' can we?" Ron told his friends, looking rather skeptically.
"No, no, we can't do that. But we can. . ." Hermione trailed off and looked suspiciously around her. "It'd be even stupider to discuss this out here than trying to make small talk with Voldemort. Let's go back into the Living Room and talk about it there, shall we?" The others shrugged and nodded before they all Apparated into their Living Room.
"All right, so we can't talk with him, but we can just walk up to him, or at least try to," said Hermione, when they were all seated.
"What?" exclaimed Ron. "Hermione, he'll blast us away before we even take one step!"
"No, he won't. He'll think it's a trap," she replied.
"But, wouldn't it just be easier to Apparate in front of him and immediately shoot some curses, to take him by surprise?" suggested Draco.
"Well, that would work, but it'd be better to let him think we don't know anything. I mean, when we Apparate in front of his nose, he'll know we've had training, but if we walk out on the meadow when he's there and pretend to be talking happily or something, he'll think Dumbledore hasn't even informed us about anything, and we'll show what we've learned somewhere during the battle, so he doesn't know what hit him."
"I like that idea," said Nora, her throat a bit gruff. She cleared it and went on, "We hide our strength until we can really catch him by surprise with it. I think that'll work."
"So when Voldemort is standing there, just waiting for us, we walk out onto the meadow, chatting happily, and be surprised to see him? Are you sure that'll have him fooled?" asked Harry skeptically.
"Well, it's better than immediately showing him what we've got in store," said Hermione. Harry shrugged.
"I guess."
"And I suppose we'll be able to get closer to him, because Voldemort will probably want to talk a bit, blab about what he's been planning and stuff, like he does every time," said Draco. Harry nodded.
"Yeah, so we'll be about a few feet away while he has a lovely chat with us and when the Dementors or Death Eaters appear the Order and foreign people will Apparate in as well," he added.
"And then me, Hermione and Nora go battle some Death Eaters while you and Draco go defeat Voldemort," Ron said.
"Is it just me or does this all sound way too easy?" said Nora, looking around.
"Well, Death Eaters are stupid, so they'll be a piece of cake," replied Ron. Hermione and Nora rolled their eyes.
"Not everyone has your low level of intelligence, Ron," retorted Hermione. Ron glared at her. "So the beginning we've got planned. What happens when the Death Eaters and Dementors arrive, what do we do then?"
"Well, maybe we three," Nora pointed to Ron, Hermione and herself, "could pretend to be scared and run off to the side while Harry and Draco stay with Voldemort, but also looking confused and frightened. This'll still have him thinking Dumbledore never told us a thing." The others seemed to think this over for a while.
"Good one," said Hermione, but Ron frowned.
"I don't like it. That'll just make me look like a coward."
"Ron, don't be so stupid and just go with it," said Hermione irritably. No one could get on her nerves as much, or as fast, as him. Ron folded his arms and glared at her.
"We could all get rid of the Dementors by producing Patronus' which will just run around and get rid of the monsters and then you three turn to the Death Eaters," said Draco. Nora gave him a peck on the cheek.
"Aw, you're so smart," she said. Draco smiled.
"I am, aren't I?"
"No," grumbled a still humiliated Ron. Draco looked at him for a few seconds, his expression unclear, before shrugging.
"She thinks so," he said plainly and gave Nora a kiss, completely forgetting that they were supposed to stay away from each other because the others might feel lonely.
"Yeah, well, she's not smart either," retorted Ron childishly. Nora raised an eyebrow.
"Excuse me?" she said. "I believe I received 3 more OWL's this summer than you."
"No you didn't," replied Ron, completely in denial.
"I can show you if you want," said Nora, folding her arms. Ron said nothing, and instead pretended not to hear her. "Moron," she muttered.
"Right, so, after we cast the Patronus' me and Draco will battle Voldemort and Ron, Hermione, Nora and, hopefully, the Order and foreign people will keep themselves busy with the Death Eaters, and when it's necessary, we use what we learned the last few weeks while staying in this castle," verified Harry. The others nodded, though Ron merely gave a grunt.
"Ron, will you quit acting so stupid? You're not making this any easier," pleaded Hermione. Even though they were always bickering about one thing or another, that didn't mean she enjoyed it.
"But everyone will think I'm a coward if I run away from Voldemort!" whined Ron.
"No one will think you're chicken, they'll all think you're trying to protect us, all right? Now, please, act more cooperative," lied Hermione. Ron seemed to be thinking this over.
"All right," he said excitedly after a few seconds; it never could hurt if everyone thought he was being all brave and trying to protect his weaker friends, could it? The others couldn't believe how easy it was to fool Ron at times.
"Ok. So, what happens if someone from our side is injured, what do we do then?" asked Nora, looking around the group.
"Well, they can probably Apparate back into the castle to heal themselves or something, and if not," added Hermione, seeing Nora open her mouth to ask just that," then one of us Apparates them inside and comes back immediately."
"What if one of them dies?" asked Draco.
"We leave them," replied Hermione sorrowfully. The others were about to protest when she cut in. "There's nothing we can do if they've died and it's better to just leave them alone than to try and bring them somewhere more peaceful, risking our own lives in the process." There was a moment of silence, which Harry broke by asking the question that was now running through all of their minds.
"What if one of us dies?" Hermione seemed hesitant to answer, but she resolutely said:
"We leave him, or her, too. It's safest." The others nodded slightly.
"Besides, the dead ones won't care what happens to their body's, they won't need them anymore, will they?" said Ron, trying to sound reassuring. The others shrugged slightly.
"Say, does the Shield Charm work against the Cruciatus Curse?" asked Nora thoughtfully, breaking the second uncomfortable silence that had settled.
"I certainly hope so," said Ron. "And otherwise you just wait until it's passed and then shoot it at the person who sent it to you, give them a taste of what it's like," he rambled, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"You can't. Only those who mean the Unforgivable Curses, who really want to cause pain and enjoy it, can use them," said Harry dully, reciting Bellatrix' words from almost a year ago.
"How do you know?" asked Ron, frowning. Harry, only just realizing his mistake, mentally slapped himself. He had never told his friends he'd used an unforgivable.
"Bellatrix Lestrange told me in the Ministry of Magic," he replied hesitantly.
"And why did she t-" began Nora slowly, but Hermione, catching on, interrupted her.
"I've never used an Unforgivable," she said, folding her arms and looking sternly at Harry, who gave her a weakened innocent smile before raising his hand.
"Harry!" said Nora incredulously. "You could go to Azkaban for using an Unforgivable, you know that!"
"Well, it didn't work did it?" Harry replied a bit miserably. "It just knocked her off her feet, that's all. Besides, she'd just killed Sirius, if anyone should go to Azkaban it's her."
"So that's why Dumbledore never began teaching us the Avada Kedavra curse," said Draco thoughtfully. "It'd take too long, because we first have to learn to enjoy casting it."
"Only someone as messed up as Voldemort could come up with such useless curses," said Ron, shaking his head.
"Yeah," agreed Nora, sighing.
"Well, they're not actually useless. I, for one, think," began Hermione, but she immediately stopped at the looks her friends were giving her.
"Please don't finish that sentence," said Nora, her eyebrows raised. Hermione remained silent, but she still did think that creating such curses, one to kill people instantly, one to cause severe and unbearable pain and one to control someone, even over a large distance, was rather an accomplishment, even if the evilest wizard to this day made it, just to help him become more powerful. "Good," said Nora, when Hermione stayed quiet. Harry rubbed his prickling scar, something it hadn't done for quite a while, while Draco frowned and rubbed his right arm. Of course, if this happened at the same time, Voldemort was definitely feeling something, so Ron asked:
"What's wrong? Is he happy again?" Harry and Draco nodded, Draco still feeling it was weird that he could now read Voldemort's mood.
"I think he's found us," said Harry.
"We should go to Dumbledore, then," Hermione said. "Tell him we should expect Voldemort to arrive soon. They all nodded and Apparated into Dumbledore's office, which was still enlarged and still filled with all of those who were battling in the Second War. Harry wondered if they ever left this room.
"Voldemort's happy, sir," he said. "I think he's going to be here soon." Dumbledore got up from his desk and walked around it, to the middle of his office.
"Very well, now a few words before we will all wait patiently or impatiently for him to arrive. First of all, Voldemort is not only here to fight the Second War, but he is also here for the Amulet of Era's, so extra attention must be paid to Hermione, if she dies, the Amulet is less bound to our side and if all of the five die it is not bound at all, allowing Voldemort to be able to seize it. This is the most important thing to watch out for. Second of all, I want one group to focus on the Dementors and another group to keep themselves to the Death Eaters and third of all: all of you must pay attention to Voldemort at all times," said Dumbledore. Everyone in the room nodded their understanding. "Good, now, the five will all touch the Amulet right before entering the Second War. Yes, Cleopatra?" he asked when an Egyptian witch had raised her hand gracefully into the air. Harry thought her name was rather fitting. He may never have seen any pictures of what Cleopatra may have looked like but if someone asked him to describe her he'd just point at the witch currently speaking. Hermione leaned over to her friends and whispered:
"I have another thing for our plan. We must try to not touch the Amulet in the beginning, so Voldemort, if he has recognized it for what it is, thinks we don't know what it does and will try to seize it and as soon as he does, his hand will be scorched."
"How do you know?" whispered Nora.
"Dumbledore told us earlier, remember?" Nora shrugged before frowning, clearly thinking hard, and saying: "Oh, right," when realization had dawned on her face.
"But Albus," said a man from the right, arguing against whatever Dumbledore had just told the Egyptian witch. "Would it not be better to have the Metamorhpmagus' turn into Death Eaters and still fight for our side?"
"I believe Voldemort would notice to quickly and will try to kill them, even if it is under the danger that he murders his real Death Eaters by mistake," began Dumbledore.
"And what if the Metamorhpmagus' turn into you, Albus?" said a rather strong looking witch on the other side of the room. There was an interested murmur, during which Dumbledore thought it over.
"Yes, Albus. They all fear you, and will not try to fight," agreed Cleopatra, the Egyptian witch, without the slightest hint of an accent. "That is the best solution."
"I agree, this is a highly interesting idea, and I'm flattered," added Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling as he smiled around the room. There was an appreciative chuckle. "But, is it really the best solution?" Many of them answered 'yes' and a few even shouted 'of course it is!' but Dumbledore was still not sure. "But would it not be noticeable if five of me were walking around, Death Eaters would know it is not really me and their fear would be considerably less. No, the Metamorphmagus' will not try to fool the other side; it is impossible. It is best. . . unless. . ." Dumbledore now said thoughtfully, gazing upwards, thinking hard.
"What is it, Albus?" asked many of the now very intrigued people gathered in his office.
"Dementors," said Dumbledore. "They can change into Dementors and cast, hopefully unnoticeably, spells on the other side." Everyone erupted into loud muttering, all discussing this new idea. It sounded as if it would work, for no one would cast curses at Dementors, only Patronus', but since the silvery animals go after the real Dementors, the fake ones would be left quite unharmed.
"Excellent!" boomed a fat Arabian king, smiling. "Simply superb, Albus! Your amazing mind astounds us all, once again."
"Why, thank you, Obesa," said Dumbledore, smiling modestly. Everyone was now clapping so loudly, chattering relieved, that it went quite unnoticed when Harry slapped a hand over his scar and Draco over his dark mark, both boys wincing in pain, even though there was a happy, giddy feeling in their stomachs, which of course did not belong to them, since they were both full of fear. Ron, Hermione and Nora did notice, though, and they looked at the two boys questioningly.
"He's here," whispered Harry, slowly letting go of his scar.
"Then we should go," said Hermione. Nora glanced at Dumbledore and back at her friend. As if reading her mind, Hermione added, "We don't tell them, or we won't be able to stick to the plan we've formed. We apparate into the Entrance Hall and from there we'll do as we prepared." With a nod at each other the five students Disapparated, going completely unnoticed by everyone except Dumbledore, who smiled to himself. He always seemed to know and noticed everything.
"Oh, wait," Harry told his friends and he Disapparated again, reappearing in the Entrance Hall only seconds later, holding his invisibility cloak.
"What's that for?" asked Ron.
"You'll see," replied Harry before throwing the cloak over the five of them. This may have been an easy thing to do 6 years ago, in first year, but now it was almost impossible, especially with the length they've all reached. The five of them huddled close together, trying to fit, and, with the butterflies, that seemed to have made a home of their stomachs, fluttering around like mad, they opened the double doors and walked out into the sunlight.
Voldemort, a pitch-black figure, standing amidst green and blue, was positioned in the middle of the meadow.
"What exactly is your plan, Harry?" asked Ron impatiently. If they were going to do something suicidal, he wanted to know in advance.
"You'll see."
"Not if he keeps looking at his feet, he won't."
"Drop dead, Malfoy."
"Don't be so impatient, I will soon enough."
"Oh, no you will not. I decide when you die and it's not until a couple of decades when we're both old and wrinkly."
"Do I have to?"
"Yes."
"Stuff it, Weasley."
"Both of you, shut up, you're driving me crazy!"
"Yes, Almighty Granger."
"Oh my god! You two are enough to drive anyone insane!"
"Draco, quit teasing her, we still need her to win the Second War, remember?"
"Fine, but you didn't say anything to Ron! He's in on it, too."
"Oh, you are such a – Ron! Stop making faces!"
"How did you-?"
"Oh, please, as if I need to see you to know you're making faces."
"Ok, now here's my plan," said Harry, reluctantly interrupting the bickering that was now going on between the four friends; he thought it was actually quite funny. His friends looked at him, or, well, in his direction, since they were all still invisible.
Voldemort stood still in the center of the meadow, calmly watching the castle. He knew someone was there, walking towards him, he had seen the doors open and close, and the person was coming closer. It might be Harry Potter, the snot-nosed little brat, but he must not make any rash decisions, for it could as well be the old fool Albus Dumbledore. Either way, the invisible being was nearing him by the second; he could smell it.
A couple of meters away from Voldemort, Harry threw the invisibility cloak off of him and his friends and looked back at the castle.
"I still can't understand why Dumbledore wouldn't let us outside, but I'm glad I brought my father's cloak, I really need the fresh air," he said loudly. He let the cloak drop on the ground but froze instantly, seeing the maliciously smiling man standing in front of him. Draco froze as well, his glare as cold as ice. Hermione and Nora gasped, gave a few whimpers and automatically took a step backward. Ron gave a yelp, tripped over Harry's invisibility cloak and fell over backwards. Until the day he died he said he was just an incredibly good actor and that it was all part of it. Of course, no one believed him.
"Well, well, well," said Voldemort softly. His terrible snakelike face, which was white and gaunt, was smiling and his scarlet, slit-pupilled eyes were examining the five students in front of him. "The famous Harry Potter and his friends, the poverty-stricken and insult to all wizards Ronald Weasly, the mudblood Hermione Granger, the other mudblood Nora Glassyd and of course, her loving 'boyfriend' as you children call it, and my heir Draco Malfoy. Yes, I took the liberty of looking up your names," Draco had the large urge to cough and say 'loser', but he did not think it was very smart to get himself killed even before the Death Eaters had arrived. "This way I know who are so foolish as to fight me. And now I'll know what to write on your tombstones," Voldemort added, following it with a hissing laughter. None of the five had had such a feared feeling of fright before as they stood in front of the cruelest wizard in the world. Would he be offended if they wet themselves?
A/N: Ah, well you all know what chapter comes next, don't you? The Second War, that's right. Now I'm going to be taking my time writing that, since it's rather important and since my end of term exams are coming up again and I really need to get good grades in order to pass. Hope you guys don't mind.
We so totally have the worst weather here: There was no, or hardly any, snow in December and now, in February, it's won't stop! And. . . Well, it's just really weird, but I won't bore you with all the details. =D
Hmmm. . . no review from Skins Thunderbomb this time?. . . =( Well, I can't expect you guys to review every chapter.
Dumbeldave – Yeah, colds suck. They always stay for soooo long and prevent you from breathing properly, hmpf. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing. =)
Athenakitty – well, I don't think Nagini is going to die and get skinned, that doesn't sound too tasteful. Thank you for reading and reviewing.