A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews! They are VERY appreciated! :-D Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 5:
Harry came to a quick and sudden jolt, falling forward onto the ground, as the portkey stopped abruptly. He thought wryly that he had been on one too many unknown Portkeys. Then he panicked for a moment. Where were they? What if there were Death Eaters? He opened his eyes and looked beside himself quickly to be sure that Lenore and Mr. Perkins were both there as well. They were. Mr. Perkins was standing up, muttering under his breath, annoyed, and Lenore was looking around anxiously as she twirled a lock of her hair.
Harry then took in his surroundings. They were in a narrow hallway that was composed of ancient blocks of stone. The hallway was dark, and Harry would have been quite uneasy if Mr. Perkins did not look so calm; annoyed, yes, but not at all panicked.
"Mr. Perkins?" asked Lenore after everyone got their bearings, "Where are we?" But before Mr. Perkins got the chance to answer, a door opened on the end of the long corridor.
"Harry?" asked a familiar voice that Harry knew right away, before even turning around. He spun around to be sure, and was surprised beyond words. It was the very last person he'd have expected!
"Hermione?" he asked incredulously. Hermione grinned and ran towards the trio of newcomers.
"Oh, Harry! Lenore! Wow; Professor Lupin said that you two wouldn't be coming here! Oh, hi Mr. Perkins! Anyway, I just heard that a Portkey arrived and one wasn't scheduled, and- oh, no- did something bad happen? Why are you two here? Was it another attack? I thought that Grimmauld Place would still be safer, but maybe not- and—" Hermione paused, catching her breath.
"Calm down, 'Mione!" said Lenore, laughing. Hermione grinned sheepishly and then threw her arms around each of her friends.
"Hey, Hermione," said Harry, laughing, as she hugged him. He noticed that her hair was even less bushy than last year and she had become quite a bit prettier as well. She smiled happily as she stepped back from Harry.
"Hermione- what exactly are you doing here?" asked Harry finally. "I heard that you were trapped in that pyramid thing, and we've all been worried sick-"
Hermione frowned. "What?" she asked, confused. "Don't you know? Didn't Remus tell you?"
"Tell us what?" asked Lenore.
"Umm…" said Mr. Perkins, clearing his throat. "Perhaps I could answer that- but wait. I need to get in touch with someone. You two don't mind staying here for a few hours while I settle things, do you?" he asked to Harry and Lenore. Harry frowned, but shook his head no.
"We'll wait," offered Lenore. "It might be kind of… fun here." Mr. Perkins laughed uneasily.
"Right. Well, I'll be back in a few hours or less. Talk to you later," he said, starting towards the door through which Hermione entered.
"Bye," called Lenore. The door shut loudly.
"What was that all about?" asked Harry questioningly. Hermione shrugged, but had a slight frown on her lips.
"I would like to know the same thing…" She then looked at Lenore. "You mean you didn't know where you were coming? What on earth happened? Was there an attack?"
Lenore and Harry exchanged glances. "It's a long story," said Harry.
"Well, apparently, we have time," said Hermione in her business-like way. "Now let's go somewhere a bit more comfortable. The pyramid is rather nice, actually. All these secret rooms. Come on."
"We're in the pyramid?" asked Harry, as he and Lenore followed Hermione down the hallway and out the door. Harry noticed a spider scuttle by on the stone floor.
"Of course we are," said Hermione. "How did you not know? I want to find out what happened!" They were now in a circular room with about ten doors in it. It reminded Harry of another place… it had been over a year since Sirius died. He stopped for a moment, looking for an exit; any exit. This was too familiar…
"Harry?" asked Lenore, concerned. Harry had a feeling that it wasn't the first time she'd called him. "Harry, can you hear me? You're zoning out a bit. Is something the matter?"
Harry opened his eyes but the room was beginning to black out. He heard Hermione gasp. "Oh, no," she muttered.
"What?" asked Lenore. Harry had the feeling that Hermione mouthed 'later,' or something, because Lenore didn't say anything else. Harry took a deep breath. Fight it, he told himself. Don't be weak… fight this! Use Occlumency- anything… happy memory, happy memory- clear your mind…Suddenly, the room came back into focus. Harry found that Hermione and Lenore both were very pale, and were gripping him as if he might fall and never get up if they were to let go. He shook his head slowly.
"I'm okay," he said in a voice more bright than his own. "I'm fine," he repeated. "Just zoned out, I suppose. Where are we going?"
"You're sure you're quite all right?" asked Hermione tentatively.
"I said I'm fine," said Harry, more sharply than he had meant to. Hermione and Lenore both took a small step backwards. He took a deep breath. "Let's go. Which door, 'Mione?"
"The one with the duck engraved in the handle," she said without missing a beat. "It goes to the Atrium, or so we call it… that's the main place people hang out, though it's rather boring, I think. There are a few hallways off of it with rooms that are pretty much empty- and then the living quarters are off the hallway behind the door with the blue stripe at the bottom." She pointed to a thin line that looked as if it had almost been bleached or something. Harry nodded.
"How many people live here?" he ventured as Hermione opened the "duck" door after muttering a password (We hate Umbridge and live in a Pyramid). This door led to another small, dimly lit, very wide hallway with five doors. Hermione walked over to a door that had a crack through the middle and said yet another password. "I am for The Promotion of Elvish Welfare and Inter-House relationships." Lenore laughed as the door swung open.
"Does everyone have to say that?" she asked. Hermione grinned sheepishly.
"Well, I was one of the first here, and Tonks let me pick some of the passwords. I admit, they are rather long, some of them, but that will help make sure that the Pyramid is still well-protected." Harry just laughed. Hermione eased a little to see that Harry's foul mood didn't stick.
"Now," said Hermione, as they stepped into a large room that looked like anything but the inside of a pyramid. Hermione laughed at Harry and Lenore's awestruck faces. "Surprised? Well, we fixed up the Pyramid a bit. Fake windows and everything." 'Fixed it up a bit' was a drastic understatement. The pyramid looked as if it had had an interior decorator or something. The walls were painted in various contemporary colors, and fake sunlight poured through the windows on the slanted, high ceiling. There were big bean bags and cushions littering the fuzzy orange carpet, and there were about twenty circular tables that each had about eight swirly stools placed around them. Lenore laughed with delight.
"This looks like a mixture of a café and a little… comfortable, bean-baggy… place… yeah." She laughed again. Harry noticed then that WWN was playing somewhere and looked over at a group of girls who were sitting on cushions and giggling. Harry did a double-take.
"That's Lavender!" he exclaimed. Hermione tutted.
"It's pathetic- they're all I have for company. "
Harry suddenly remembered something. "Did that paper say that all of the Creeveys were alive?" he asked. Hermione sighed.
"None of the families that died before are alive- the Ministry is just feeding the Muggles excuses for their deaths," she said sadly. "Lavender's family is still dead, also."
Lenore sighed sadly. "That must be hard for them." Suddenly Hermione's eyes lit up.
"Lenore! I just remembered- some people are here that know you!" she began excitedly. Harry looked at Lenore and saw her eyes light up with a spark of hope.
"Asher?" she breathed slowly. Hermione grinned uncontrollably.
"He's here! Were you two ever dating or something? He's really anxious to see you- "
"What about Bree and Aidan?" asked Lenore hopefully. "They were on the list-"
Hermione shook her head sadly. "No-" she began, "I don't think anyone by those names are here…"
"Oh," said Lenore disappointedly. She then looked excited once more and looked around the Atrium with anticipation. "So where's Asher?" she asked.
"I'm not sure," said Hermione, frowning. "He's been hanging out with Lavender a lot, and Parvati and Padma. They're here too. So are Dennis and Colin Creevey."
"Well let's go ask Lavender," said Lenore happily.
"Wait!" said Hermione, frustrated. "What happened? How are you here?"
"We accidentally pressed a portkey," said Lenore, brushing the Death Eater attack completely aside. Lenore then started across the Atrium towards Lavender.
"What?" asked Hermione, turning to Harry as they hurried after Lenore. "What happened?"
"Wait, 'Mione," cut in Harry. "Are only wizards and witches here?"
"A few half-blood families, no purebloods, two or three Muggle families who weren't supposed to be here, and then just Muggle-borns and their families. There are tons of people her from other countries; you wouldn't believe it! There's an International Magical Confederation meeting this week- the Wards are made so select people can Apparate or Portkey in and out- it's like a mega Headquarters, only with not all Order members. Most of the people here are adults, and there are three hundred total right now; about fifty of those are students and another twenty-five are other children. Some students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons are here, too! And someone's here from an Egyptian school, and there's a Muggle our age from Kent! It's so exciting, really- and It's an amazing learning experience; I am so glad that-"
"Hermione!" said Harry. "I never knew you liked to talk this much- anyway, there was a death Eater attack at my relatives' house; we Apparated to Hogsmeade, and Perkins found us and we accidentally Portkeyed here. That's all there is to it, really…" Hermione gasped.
"Death Eaters? How? Isn't there some type of protection?" Harry shrugged.
"It's gone now that I'm of age…" He grinned for a moment and Hermione gasped.
"Oh my goodness- I'm so sorry; I lost track of time! Happy birthday, Harry! I would have a present, but we can't go shopping, and-" Harry grinned.
"It's fine, 'Mione…" By this time they had reached Lenore, who was already mid-conversation with Lavender, Parvati, Padma, Colin for some reason, and a boy about Harry's age that he had never seen.
"So you know Asher?" asked Lenore impatiently. Parvati squealed.
"I can't believe you're best friends with him! He is so hot…" Lenore grinned.
"I don't like him like him! We're just best friends; him, Tabby, and I- so where is he?" Parvati shrugged, as did Lavender and Padma.
"I zink zat 'e is in 'is room vith 'is brothers and sisters…" Lenore smiled, laughing.
"They're so annoying!" she laughed. She turned to Harry and Hermione. "They're Quints. They're only five, and it's so cute! Well, I suppose they're six or seven now, actually…" She then jumped with excitement. "Okay, so where do they live? I'm so excited! Do you all like, NOT understand or something? I thought he was DEAD for a year! And he's here! I'm going to go crazy… stupid British people.. no one understands…" She went on muttering for a moment. Harry patted her on the back cautiously, lest she compulsively bite him or something.
"So, what are you doing here?" began Lavender to Harry, grinning.
"Honestly, I'm not quite sure yet…" Lavender laughed. She turned around. "You know Parvati, Padma, and Colin, of course… This is Jacques." She grinned. "Isn't that such a cool name? He just graduated from Beauxbatons, and joined that international magic-thing. Isn't that so cool?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at the boy. Harry chuckled under his breath. Parvati was staring at him as well, Padma was reading a book, Hermione was glaring at lavender, Lenore looked possessed, Colin was staring at something in the distance, and the French boy was just grinning at Lavender. He had wavy brown hair and dark brown eyes and was much muscled. Harry was glad that his name wasn't Jacques. A moment later, everyone was caught by surprise as someone snuck up behind Lenore and covered up her eyes. He had blonde-golden hair that fell over his eyes, a dark complexion, and dark blue eyes.
"Guess who?" he whispered close to Lenore's ear. She screamed in happiness and spun around in the boy's arms.
"Asher!" she yelled. He laughed and picked her up, spinning her around. Lenore began crying. "I can't believe you're here! I thought you were dead!"
"They told me you were dead, too!" said Asher sadly, putting her down gently. "I can't believe I'm seeing you again, Lenore…" She laughed with glee.
"I know…" she said hysterically. "You too! Did you get a chance to see Tabby?" she asked, through happy tears. The little bit of make-up she had been wearing was starting to come off because of Lenore's waterworks and her freckles slowly began showing up.
"Hey, 'Nore!" came a cheerful yet cynical, all too familiar voice. Harry turned around in disbelief.
"Didn't you go back to the States?" he asked incredulously. Lenore spuun around once more, and hurled herself at Tabitha.
"I thought you went home!" she accused.
"They wouldn't let me," scoffed Tabby. "Mom's gone back with Gwen and then I get to go at the end of the summer. So you're still stuck with me." She grinned.
And as if this wasn't enough chaos, suddenly Tonks came running across the hall. Harry supposed that she must've Portkeyed. "You guys!" she yelled excitedly. Her hair was bright pink and was a little bit longer than normal. "Evelyn's in labor!"
A/N: yay! Another chapter finished! :-D Lol! Okay, please review because it's really important to me, and I read all of my reviews. And guess what. MY BIRTHDAY IS THURSDAY! I can drive! (kind of.) Anyways, I am really getting into the habit of leaving cliffies, huh? ;) Now, if EVERYONE reviews and I get… twenty (I know it's high, but I KNOW you can do it!!) I will update before the weekend, and the chapter will be TWICE as long as this. Yes, you heard me correctly TWICE as long. Now, let's all remember to review! :-D And, to answer a review, YES, Harry has matured greatly from fifth year, and it was intentional because teenagers usually don't spend more than a year or two of angriness/immaturity. At least most of the teenagers I know don't… I think it's probably just a stage. Well… that is all.
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