Author's Note: Hey everyone! Not much to say really this time around. collective gasp from audience. PK went to the interview with JK, which you can find more about on my yahoo group in her message entitled "Edinburgh." Thanks to my beta Senri who caught a lot of mistakes in this chapter. Senri, you rock. And please review! Right, so, on with the chapter!
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Harry looked around in shock.
"No," Harry whispered.
"Death Eaters kidnapped Ron?" Sirius asked, horrified. "But why?"
"Oh my God, it's because of me!" Harry gasped. He felt so dizzy with shock he felt as if he might collapse.
"Don't be ridiculous," Sirius said shakily.
"Don't you see? I was too well guarded. They couldn't get to me so they took Ron."
"Harry, sit down," Dumbledore said gently.
"No, I've got to go find him!"
"Harry, it's not your job to go find Ron," Dumbledore said firmly.
"It's my fault he was taken!" Harry yelled.
"This is a trap for you, Harry. They want you to go looking for him. You'll walk right into their hands," Dumbledore said regretfully.
"Well, if they want me to come to them, they'll have to lead me to Ron. It's the only chance we have! I already know the Order has no clue where the Death Eaters are hidden. It's the only way!"
"And what do you think they'll do to you when you get there? They will kill you and they will kill Ron too," Dumbledore said grimly.
At this, Mr. Weasley paled and Mrs. Weasley let out another sob.
"At least we'll have a chance! What are you going to do? Keep searching for their hideout and hope you'll find it this time? You've been doing that for over a month without any luck!" Harry yelled.
"For now, that's all we can do," the headmaster said sadly.
Harry shook his head. "I'm going to go look for him," he said angrily, stalking to the door determinedly. Sirius quickly called for him to stop, but Harry flung open the door and made to step outside.
But he couldn't. He was pushed back by some force. He tried again and was still pushed back. He whirled around and looked furiously at Dumbledore.
"I've put wards around the Burrow, the Lighthouse and Snape Manor and the Floo system will only allow you between the three. You can't leave, Harry. I'm sorry."
Harry slammed the door angrily. "You can't do that! You can't just lock me up while Ron's out there!"
"I'm sorry, Harry. I hope you will eventually understand."
"So what if Death Eaters attack here, or there's some other emergency? Am I just going to be trapped inside?" he asked bitterly.
"If there is an emergency like that the wards will let you out, but nothing like that is going to happen. This is for your own good, Harry," Dumbledore said sternly.
"Albus, let's stop arguing about this," said Mr. Weasley. "We need to get started looking for Ron. We need to call the Order together and..."
"Arthur," Dumbledore interrupted, "for now at least, the wards include your family as well. And Sirius, I hope you don't mind Miss Granger staying with you for a while as I'm including her in them as well."
"WHAT?" Mr. Weasley bellowed.
"You are all too emotionally involved. It would interfere with the search."
"The search hasn't done anything yet!" Harry yelled. "Sirius, please, tell him to let me go!" he pleaded.
"No Harry. There's no way you're going to go get yourself killed," Sirius said firmly.
"Sirius please!"
"NO, Harry. I've already lost you once and I am NOT losing you again," Sirius said sternly.
"Maybe we should listen to Harry. If he can get Ron back..." Mr. Weasley started cautiously.
"Arthur, what are you doing?" Sirius yelled furiously.
"I want my son back!" Mr. Weasley shouted back at him. "And if Harry's our only chance..."
"No. We are NOT sending Harry to the bloody SLAUGHTER! He's already DIED playing hero. What are you THINKING?" Sirius yelled, enraged. "Hasn't he been through enough?"
"Lucius Malfoy hates me! What do you think he's going to do to my son! We've got to get him out of there! Besides, Harry defeated the Dark Lord, he can handle some Death Eaters!" Mr. Weasley yelled, sounding slightly crazed.
"Dad, please don't," Fred said weakly.
"Arthur, stop it!" Mrs. Weasley yelled.
"Albus, let Harry go. He can find Ron! I'll go with him! I NEED MY SON BACK!!" Mr. Weasley bellowed.
"Dad, no! This isn't the way!" Ginny yelled.
"Mr. Weasley's right! I need to go for Ron to stand a chance! I've done this sort of thing before!" Harry insisted.
"Damn you Arthur! Stop this!" Sirius yelled.
"ENOUGH!" Dumbledore bellowed. Everyone went silent. "Harry is not going. Sirius, get Harry out of here. I'll come by later with Miss Granger and update you on the situation. Arthur, calm down. You are going to regret things you are saying later so we're ending this conversation. I am going to go talk with Severus and Draco to see if they know anything helpful and I'm going to start the search. Meanwhile, everybody needs to calm down."
Mr. Weasley slumped into a chair and put his face in his hands. Harry could tell he was crying. Harry looked toward the ceiling and blinked away his own tears.
Sirius led him away. Harry had no energy left in him to fight his case.
When they arrived back at the Burrow, Harry was feeling very numb.
"Harry, you have to understand. You'd be killed," Sirius said quietly.
"I'd deserve it," Harry said numbly.
"Don't ever say that, Harry. You know that's not true," Sirius said, putting his hands on his godson's shoulders and looking into his eyes.
"He's such a good friend to me. He took care of me when I was sick, and I only put him in danger. I just ruin people's lives. I destroy everything."
"That's not true, Harry."
"No, it is. Draco lost his father because he couldn't curse me. Snape lost his spy position because of me. I put people in danger all the time. I almost got Draco killed by convincing him to go back for his stuff with me. Cedric died just because he was near me. All the people in Hogwarts could have died just because Voldemort wanted me."
"Listen to me," Sirius interrupted, "you've made my life a thousand times better," Sirius insisted.
"No," Harry said bitterly. "You had to eat rats and put yourself in danger because of me. You had to give up your life to take care of me. Everyone I care about is always put in danger because of me."
"Harry..." Sirius started, but Harry quickly pulled away from him.
"Don't, you'll curse yourself even more. I already ruined your life. I'm such a freak."
"Harry, no..."
"I just...I just need to be alone," Harry said, backing away before belting up the stairs.
Sirius heard the bedroom door slam. He didn't know what to do, but eventually decided to let Harry have his space.
...
Half an hour later, Draco arrived, giving a curt nod to Sirius before rushing up to Harry's room.
Draco knocked and entered Harry's room without waiting for a response. Harry was pacing his room like a caged animal.
"It's not your fault you know," Draco said.
"Ha!" Harry said bitterly.
"If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. I'm the one who always told my dad what good friends you two were. I'm sorry."
"Don't be stupid, it's not your fault. It wasn't exactly top secret information."
"Well, Dumbledore's made it so the wards will recognize me as well. Don't know why he'd think I'd go looking for Weasley..."
"Draco, please," Harry said pleadingly.
"Sorry."
Hermione burst into the room in tears. She ran over to Harry and threw her arms around his neck and he hugged her tightly.
"Harry, we have to get him back," she said tearfully.
"I know. First we need to get past these stupid wards..."
"Wait, you're planning on going after him?" Draco asked incredulously. "Are you bloody mad?"
"Of course I'm going after him. He's my friend."
"But the wards..."
"I think I've figured out how to get passed them," Harry said. "It was actually what Lucius did to your room that gave me the idea. Fire. Dumbledore said that if we were in danger, where the only way out would be to get outside, then the wards would let us out."
"Oh brilliant," Draco said sarcastically. "So whose house are we going to burn down?"
"The Burrow. Ron once told me that they've covered their house with spells so that the walls and floors won't burn since they had so many close calls with Fred and George's experiments exploding. If we lit a fire in one room, it wouldn't spread to the others."
"Oh Merlin, I can't believe I'm going to be going on a rescue mission for Weasley," Draco groaned.
"You aren't coming," Harry said quickly.
"Harry, don't even start that," Hermione said menacingly. "I'm coming. You can't do this alone and I am getting Ron back."
"And I'm coming too," Draco said firmly. Harry and Hermione looked at him incredulously. "What? I'm just going to make sure my only friend doesn't get killed because then I'd just be too pathetic to return to school. Besides, you need my help. Who knows Death Eaters more than me? Neither of you that's for sure."
Harry sighed in defeat. He wasn't going to waste time arguing.
"All right, then. Let's start brainstorming."
"But we don't even know where he is," Hermione protested.
"Don't worry. Give it a few hours and they'll tell us, or Harry at least. They're using Ron as bait for you, Harry, so they'll let you worry for a bit and then tell you where he is. You might want to leave your window open for awhile."
"Just like that? I don't know, I mean, if they did that, Harry could just tell the Order to go there," Hermione pointed out.
"They're not that idiotic. There will be a catch," Draco said knowingly.
"So, what do we do now?" Harry asked.
"We wait," Draco said calmly. "And then, we figure out how the hell we're going to pull this off."
.....
A few hours later, a large black bird flew in through Harry's window and dropped a letter on his lap. The Dark Mark was pressed into the wax seal.
"This is it," Draco said nervously. "Go on, open it."
Harry took a deep breath and broke the seal, unfolding the letter. He began to read, as Draco and Hermione read over his shoulder.
Potter,
As you are probably aware by now, I have taken something I am sure you want back. Of course, everything comes with a price. I propose a simple trade: you for your friend. I will kill your friend at midnight after the seventh day unless you've accepted my offer before then. If you decide to meet my demands, a Portkey is waiting for you on the steps to the guesthouse at my manor, which I'm sure my obliging son will tell you how to find. This Portkey can only be activated by you and if you try to bring anyone with you, we will know and will kill your friend immediately. You will come alone if you want your friend alive.
Hope to see you soon, Potter. Your friend screams for you.
-L.M.
Once he was done reading, the letter burst into green flames, leaving no trace of it.
"Well, here we go. We've got our way in," Draco said with a gulp. "Sorry my dad's such a bastard, by the way."
"Wait, but now this is sounding like a suicide mission if they'll know if we come," Hermione said nervously.
"Well, I'll have to go alone," Harry said.
"Oh don't worry about that. It's a bit of a bluff, well sort of. You see, he'd be able to detect Dumbledore and the people in the Order, or at least most of them, but not Granger and me. See, this isn't the first time Dumbledore's had his little anti-evil club all rounded up together. The Order was around fighting the Dark Lord during his last reign, before you brought him down the first time, Harry. Anyways, the Death Eaters, or at least the top ones like my father, suspected or knew who most of them were, just as they basically know who a lot of the top Death Eaters are. Both sides have ways of tracking these people. There's one on you, Harry, though it's blocked most of the time. You see, each side has its way to block against the tracking most of the time, but there are certain kinds of wards that'll make blocks against them impossible. That means they can't find you now, with all the wards around the Lighthouse, but as soon as you step onto their territory, the wards they've no doubt put up will make it so they'll be able to track you as long as you're inside of them."
"Well, what about you two then? Wouldn't they be able to track you two inside as well?" Harry asked dejectedly. This was sounding hopeless.
"No. Granger's just a Mudbl...er...Muggleborn, sorry there. She's not significant enough to track. They actually have to do complicated spells to track somebody, and she's not worth the effort, no offense, Granger. As for me, well, my father made the mistake awhile ago to put a spell on me so I couldn't be tracked with the spells that they know, as he was head of that department at the time. If there's one type of person a Death Eater trusts less than the enemy, it's another Death Eater, so my father wanted to make sure they couldn't find me in case they turned on him for some reason," Draco explained.
"Well, there's only one thing we can do then. They're using bait, we will too," Harry said determinedly.
"You," Hermione said quietly. It was the only thing they could do.
"Well, it looks like we have a lot of planning to do then and we're going to have to keep it a secret. There's no way the adults would let us do this, and they can't go instead. They're all tracked," Draco said.
"We'll have to do it ourselves," Hermione said.
"This might take a few days to get everything worked out," Draco said.
"Well, let's start figuring this out then," said Harry. "If Professor Snape starts to get suspicious of you coming over here all the time, just tell him I'm very distraught and I need you for moral support. I'll make sure Sirius thinks I'm upset too so the stories don't clash. Hermione, you're staying here, so that won't be a problem."
"We're really going to do this," Hermione said taking a deep breath. "We're really going to get him back."
"Yeah, we're going to get him back," Harry said determinedly.
.....
The first thing they were going to need was an escape plan. It would do them no good to get Ron and then be stuck there. A Portkey was their best option. Hermione immediately began doing research, with Draco bringing her piles of books he was sneaking from the massive library at Snape manor.
She, being Hermione, quickly found a way to make a Portkey with a password to activate it, though they really only had one shot to try to make it. If the ministry caught Harry doing magic again, he would be expelled and if either boy did it, their godfathers would be notified and they would suspect what was going on. Hermione, on the other hand, could use her one warning to try to make it and then send a letter home telling her parents her wand accidentally went off.
She tried to make one out of Harry's shoe, so they could be sure the Death Eaters wouldn't take it away, but it glowed purple instead of blue, indicating it had been made incorrectly and would take them in the direction of their destination but would land them somewhere short of it. How short of it, they had no idea. But they needed a Portkey that would get them safely to the Burrow, especially if Ron was injured. There was only one option, and that was asking an adult. Harry knew precisely who to go to.
....
Harry flooed to the Burrow under the guise of needing to be with the Weasley kids at this time of distress. Yet Harry didn't go upstairs where the three were huddled together in the twins' room, or to Ron's room where Mrs. Weasley hadn't left since the day before when it had happened. Instead, he went into the kitchen where from speaking to Ginny through owl post, he knew he'd find Mr. Weasley, watching the Weasley clock with a numb expression, just waiting for Ron's hand to switch to something other than "Mortal Peril."
Mr. Weasley looked up at him with bloodshot eyes and Harry was certain he had not slept a wink the night before.
"Mr. Weasley," he said softly, "I need a Portkey without a fixed starting destination, only a fixed ending one."
"I already tried Portkeying out of here. The wards won't allow them if it's one of us that's trying to leave," he said tiredly.
"I figured that. I don't need one that's going to leave though," he said quietly.
Mr. Weasley stared at him momentarily.
"What's the ending destination you're thinking of?" he asked.
"The Burrow. Hermione's done a bit of research and she thinks the wards will only prevent us from leaving, but not from coming back in so it should work."
Mr. Weasley looked at him as though studying him.
"I can't make one like that, but I can get one."
"How soon?"
"Either tonight or tomorrow I think. I can talk to a few people and pull some strings," Mr. Weasley said, looking more alive now that he had a purpose, and hope.
"Okay, just owl it to me the second you get it. Obviously, word of this can't get back to certain people," Harry said quietly.
Mr. Weasley nodded and Harry got up to leave.
"Harry," Mr. Weasley called quietly. Harry turned around. Mr. Weasley was looking at him with a desperate expression.
"I'll bring him back or die trying," Harry assured him.
Mr. Weasley looked down guiltily and nodded.
....
"Okay, here's the prisoner drill," Draco said. "No matter what type of prisoner, Lucius..." Harry noticed Draco had been much having a much easier time disassociating himself from his father lately, "...will not be present at the capture unless absolutely necessary. His ideal situation will be just like the Dark Lord's was with this. He'll want a few Death Eater guards to capture you, take your wand and such, lock you in the dungeon while they go present your wand to him. This demonstrates their loyalty to him and also is used as a fear tactic with prisoners. They'll leave a couple to guard the door, but since those dungeons are impossible to get out of from the inside once you're locked in, they won't necessarily be the brightest blokes either. All they need to do is rough you up a bit and let you know that you'll eventually be given to their leader, then leave you for a while to get you good and scared. There's something about being locked in a concrete cell without any way of knowing when you'll be brought out or what will happen when you are, that tends to terrify people, making them a lot easier to deal with. Fear is a powerful weapon, after all. Oh, and they'll definitely put you in the same cell as Weasley. Fear also brings people subject to that fear closer together, making it easier to manipulate them by using the other one. Perfect for them and perfect for us."
....
"Malfoy, are you even paying attention?" Hermione asked sternly.
"Yes, ma'am," Draco said mockingly.
"Well you'd better because one of these charms I'm trying to teach you might save your arse in there. Now, when you say the Silencing Charm it's Silencio with a sharp jab of the wand. Yes like that."
The three were practicing with each of their toothbrushes so they wouldn't use any real magic and alert anyone before it was time.
"I feel stupid," Draco whispered to Harry, jabbing his toothbrush in the air.
"You'd feel more stupid if you couldn't do it later," Harry pointed out. "Besides, we look just as ridiculous."
Hermione cleared her throat and the boys snapped to attention.
"Okay, now here's one to open doors from a distance..."
.....
"Not quite, 'Mione. Swish it all the way through Expelli and flick it on the arm and say keep it pointed during the us. Expelliarmus, good. That's perfect. Oh and Draco, it's a jab on the ment. Impedimenta. Good. Now we're going to work on shields and defensive spells. I learned some really good ones last year when the professors were training me up. We're going to start with..."
"Shh..." Draco hushed him suddenly. The three strained their ears and sure enough, there were footsteps coming toward Harry's room. They all quickly kicked their sticks under Harry's bed.
Draco quickly sat down in Harry's desk chair while Harry and Hermione quickly climbed onto his bed and leaned back against the wall.
"What if the Order doesn't find him?" Hermione asked, putting on a sad voice.
"Well, I know during the last war the Order found prisoners a few times when the ministry never did. That's why they're so much more afraid of the Order," Draco adlibbed. "If anyone can find Weasley it's them."
"I just wish they'd let me help," Harry put in. "I mean, it's me they want. I should be out there..."
There was the predicted knock at the door. Sirius opened it and entered giving them a sad smile.
"How are you all holding up?"
Harry looked away. Hermione took a shuddering breath and blinked a lot. Draco shrugged.
"Right, bad question. I brought you all up some sandwiches," he said, placing a platter on Harry's nightstand. "It'll all turn out all right."
Harry was beginning to feel bad. Sirius had been so nice about the whole thing, and Harry knew he would be very disappointed when Harry disobeyed him again. After this, Sirius would really hate him.
"Thanks Siri," Harry said quietly. His godfather nodded at him sadly before leaving the room.
The three waited until the footsteps faded away and they could hear bustling around in the kitchen before each grabbing a sandwich half in one hand and their stick in their other.
"Okay, so here's how you do your basic shield..."
....
Errol arrived with the Portkey from Mr. Weasley on the third day since Ron's kidnapping in the guise of a small key.
The three agreed that they would do it that night. The day was mostly spent practicing spells, charms, shields, etc. Draco went home for dinner with Professor Snape and Harry and Hermione went downstairs for dinner for the first night since it had happened. Harry figured he owed Sirius that much.
Neither Harry nor Hermione could eat much as nervousness made their stomachs churn, but luckily Sirius took their loss of appetite as part of their grief. Harry couldn't even bring himself to look at Sirius, since each time he did, either images of the good times they had had that summer cropped up, or the night after he and Draco had broken the rules the first time, when Sirius had yelled at him. Harry wasn't sure which made him feel worse.
....
That night, Hermione sent an owl to her parents right before Draco flooed back over. Harry told Sirius they were going to go over to the Weasleys to see how they were doing.
The three flooed to the Burrow. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were now both in the kitchen staring at the clock obsessively, just waiting for a change. They didn't even register the arrival of three guests as the teens slipped upstairs.
They had to get one more thing, so they knocked on the twins' bedroom door, hoping they wouldn't get suspicious.
"What are you all doing here?" Fred asked weakly when he opened the door. He wasn't that surprised to see Harry and Hermione, but Draco was a bit odd to see hanging around the Burrow at times like this.
"We just wanted to see how you all were holding up, and to hear if you had any news," Hermione lied. Fred motioned them inside.
"Well, Mum's doing terrible, so is Dad," Fred said sadly. "They've just been staring at that clock forever. At least Mum's come out of Ron's room though. At least in the kitchen, Dad can manage to get her to drink tea, even if she won't eat anything."
"And how are you guys?" Harry asked.
"We're...well, we're holding in there," George said tiredly. "We're just so mad that they're not letting us help. We're of age and everything, and Bill, Charlie, and Percy are all helping on the search, but we can't."
"Well, it's for the best really," Harry said. "I mean, you're parents are so distraught now, I'd hate to think what it would do to them to have to worry about another one of you. No matter what happens, you two and Ginny really need to be here for your parents right now," he said significantly, hoping the twins would remember it later.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. It's just so horrible feeling so helpless," Fred said miserably.
"Well, hopefully, Ron'll be back soon," Harry said. "We're going to go check on Ginny, all right?"
The twins nodded as the three left.
"Got 'em?" Harry asked Draco quietly.
Draco nodded and held out the three fake wands he'd stolen from the twins' room. He stuck one in his pocket and handed the two others to Harry and Hermione.
The three continued up the stairs, slipping quietly passed Ginny's room. Harry reached up and pulled the cord to let down the staircase into the attic. A plume of dust came out and the three muffled their coughing against their sleeves.
"I guess they don't go up here very often," Harry mused.
"There's dust on my robes," Draco whined. Harry and Hermione rolled their eyes and climbed the stairs.
"All right, lets take this stuff down to Ron's room, or at least put it out in the hall," Harry said, eyeing the several boxes, trunks, and such full of old things. The ghoul was staring at them in surprise, not having had guests to the attic in a very long time.
"Ohhhhhh..." it moaned in an unearthly way, creeping toward them menacingly.
"Oh don't even start," Hermione scolded. The ghoul huffed and went back to clanging things against the pipes.
The three began moving the things quietly out of the attic and into Ron's room, Draco complaining the entire time.
When moving one of the last chests into Ron's room, the three found Ginny standing in her brother's doorway, arms crossed over her chest.
"What are you doing?" she asked suspiciously.
"Looking for something?" Harry tried.
"You're going after him, aren't you? You've found a way passed the wards."
The three exchanged a look.
"Ginny, you can't tell anyone until we're gone. If anyone stops us, there's no chance to save him," Hermione said seriously.
"I'm coming with you," she said firmly.
"Er...I'm going to go get those last few boxes," Draco said quickly.
"I'll help you," Hermione said, following him out.
"Ginny, I'm sorry. You can't come," Harry said apologetically.
"I can help! He's my brother! You have to let me come. You can't leave me around here doing nothing while you three go risk your lives to save him!" Ginny protested.
"Ginny, please listen. We have a plan and it's pretty detailed. It only will work with three people and Draco, Hermione, and I have been going over it for the past few days so it has to be us," Harry said quietly.
"I am not staying behind like some damn damsel in distress while you go out there and risk your life for the thousandth time!" Ginny hissed furiously.
"You're not a damsel in distress, Gin. I know you're brave, but think of your parents. They're already so upset over Ron, if they had to worry about you or Fred or George, they'd crack! I love your parents and I couldn't do that to them," Harry insisted.
"I've already seen you die, Harry!" Ginny protested angrily. "What do you think it's going to be like for me to be here just waiting to know if I've lost you again?"
Harry blinked. He didn't know what to say. "Ginny, I'm sorry. It's the only way. I won't die again. We've got it planned out perfectly. Everything will be fine. Ron and the rest of us will be back here in a few hours, and though I'll be grounded until the end of the century, I'll be back as well and hopefully that will be the end of all the excitement for a while."
"Harry?" Hermione said quietly from the door. "We're ready. We'll wait for you upstairs."
"Ginny, if you can, please get your mum out of the kitchen for a while. It would be best if she didn't watch my hand on the clock until we're good and gone," Harry said sympathetically.
Ginny nodded, looking away angrily.
"Well," Harry said quietly after Hermione left, "I'm off then. Don't worry, we'll bring Ron back," he said, turning to leave.
Ginny grabbed his shoulder and turned him back around. She seized the back of his head with one of her hands and pressed her lips to his in a kiss. Before Harry could even register what was happening, she pulled away and looked him straight in the eye.
"Bring yourself back as well, or I swear I will bring you back from the grave and kill you myself," she said firmly, before marching passed him and going down the stairs.
Harry stood there for a moment, stunned. He touched his fingers to his lips, unsure of what had just happened. After a moment, he shook himself and quickly went up into the attic, shutting the trap door behind him.
"Ready?" Harry asked after locking the door. The other two nodded nervously.
"Oh God, I hope this works," Hermione said anxiously.
"All I can say is if I end up getting disfigured, somebody's going to die," Draco warned.
He pulled open the window and pressed his hand against the invisible barrier that kept them all trapped.
Harry pulled out a box of matches and a bunch of paper and alcohol-covered rags from Draco's bottomless bag. He also pulled out Draco's two brooms and set them near the window. He spread out the flammable materials all over the floor and finally struck a match against the box. He held up the small flame. The other two gave a nervous nod of assent and Harry threw the match to the corner farthest away from the window. The rags and papers immediately lit and the fire began to spread.
Harry struck another match and tossed it into another corner. He backed up to the window where Draco still had his hand pressed against the invisible barrier. All they could do was wait.
The ghoul scowled at them and howled indignantly.
"Oh shut it," Hermione said in annoyance, "it's not like it can hurt you. You'll have your little haunting grounds back to normal in no time."
The ghoul pouted and clanged the pipes half-heartedly.
The room began to fill with smoke, the small window not being enough to drain it from the room.
Just as the three began to cough, Draco stumbled forward, his hand out the window. He grinned back at them. They had bypassed the wards.
Draco swung his legs out the window and Harry handed him his broom, which he hopped onto and hovered right outside.
Hermione was the next through. Draco pulled her onto the back of his broom and she reluctantly wrapped her arms around his waist to keep from falling off.
Harry squeezed through with the bag, coughing loudly, and awkwardly maneuvered himself onto his broom. He turned back to the window and pointed his wand inside. With a quick spell, the flames disappeared along with the burnt remains of the rags and papers. Now there would be no evidence of what they had done, and no way for the adults to figure out how they had gotten passed the wards. Sirius would be informed of his expulsion from Hogwarts soon.
As Harry swung the bottomless rucksack onto his back and the three of them swiveled their brooms around and set off into the night in the direction of Malfoy Manor.
....
Meanwhile, downstairs, Ginny had pulled her mum from the kitchen into the living room telling her she had just gotten word that somebody was onto something in regards to rescuing Ron.
Mrs. Weasley had desperately begged her daughter for more information, but Ginny just kept saying that she couldn't say anything but that Mrs. Weasley would find out soon.
In the kitchen, Mr. Weasley watched with bated breath as he watched Harry's hand switch to 'Mortal Peril' and then to 'Traveling.'
..............................................................................
Wiccan PussyKat: Harry going on a risky heroic rescue-mission? Never!! Looks back at chapter Oh wait...maybe. Lol, hmm..who'd a thunk it? Yup, poor Draco interrupted at a bad time, but we love him anyways. I'm completely with you. What is more fun than sick Harry? I can't think of any, except for maybe some other ways of Harry torture, but sickness is definitely a fun one. Delirious Harry's always fun because then you never know what he might say. evil grin lol, don't worry, the Harry pain isn't over yet. I'm glad you're seeing how Harry's pulling people together, and he doesn't even realize it. We should just keep making Harry sick...maybe it's the answer to world peace!! Maybe not. Lol. The version and the yahoo one aren't two different stories, the uncut/yahoo version's just longer. As you'll see now, the yahoo version's just gotten to Harry's bout of sickness. It's just moving slower because it has more stuff in it. "Harry in the and blushes Well, er, I don't think it's necessary for me to comment on that..."
Hahaha, that made me laugh so hard. I'm so glad you like the uncut version with the Harry and Ron fight. He definitely picked the worst things he could have said, but when you're mad, I guess that's sort of what you try to do if you're really that furious.
Stahchild, Savoy Truffle (lol, I'm glad you liked delusional Harry. He's kind of like a little kid, which always makes him seem sweet. No, Harry's not becoming gay, though he does have very close friendships with his two guy friends, especially Ron, which, if you consider what they've been through, isn't all that surprising. But their love is a brotherly one. Thanks for the interesting laugh imitation, lol.), XxGoddessOfImaginaryLightxX (I'm glad you're liking the angst and the alternate ending. Hahaha, yeah, you would think that red hair would have given Ron away. Thanks for coming to the chat! Lol, yes, sure we did talk about avocados, but that's alright because I love avocados! Hahaha. I'll see about setting up the next chat!), Dana (MP) (I'm working on the deleted scenes and will probably post a few later this week, but I'm holding off on some of them that come nearer to the end so you all don't get hints at what's going to happen. I'm coming along well with the alternate ending to Recnac, though it might be a little longer until I post that.), bast4 (lol, obviously I can't tell you a lot of the stuff you asked for, but I can tell you that yes, Lucius is in charge of the Death Eaters, as Draco told Harry earlier in the fic. And by all means, feel free to ramble), saz, jess, angel74 (I'm glad the twist came as a surprise. I'm just keeping you all on your toes! Now update!!), Musicstarlover, Marci018 (I'm glad you liked the Harry/Ron talk. It was fun to write. I'm so glad you like the angst as I'm getting a few complaints. As long as I know somebody likes it, it's easier to keep writing and posting, so thanks!), yellowpages (Really? Ron's one of my fave characters! And it really wasn't his fault he got kidnapped. Nothing that has happened to Harry is Ron's fault really. Well, if you don't like Ron, you might like the alternate version on my yahoo group with Harry and Ron's fight.), Lia Tween (Lol, that would be quite interesting to have you watching me type every letter. locks doors haha), Lupin123, Whispyraven (I'm sorry you don't really like this story. I just have to stay true to what I want to do with it, though. I'm glad you're finding scenes you like, but if this story isn't what you're looking for, you should look through my favorites to see if you find anything you'd like to read more and move on.), ThreeToedSloth (Lol, I'm glad I seem to have caught you by surprise with this little turn of events. I can't answer your question about Laura, but good observation. Keep up the sleuthing), MissLilyStar, torifire126, jo0609, jilleah black (lol, well, you'll just have to wait and see what happens to our dear Ron...), LupinAndSiriusLover, Thunder's Shadow (lol, ah yes, poor Ron's gone, but hey, now you get some cool action!), kneh13, Jenn the Freak (Thanks for reviewing! Lol, I have the chapter ready now...hopefully you're still not repeating the word, but if you are, you've finally hit the one! Yeah, I doubt Harry would react well to be putting into any kind of therapy, but especially group therapy, as he's really too private for that. I just like prolonging the agony, so I keep putting off the talk), Dea Puella, angelsleeping , sou85a (yeah, they say emotional abuse can be far more damaging than physical abuse, and the two coupled is what Harry got. Poor baby. I like Ron too!), gina87, Lourdes, ChildOfDarkness (Never fear, Harry pain isn't over. I'm just like you in whackoness in that arena, so don't worry), Ariana Dumbledore, HaRrYrOxMuHsOx, Lorie1101 (Thank you! I'm glad you liked both versions of the fic. It's always good to be suspicious so keep on sleuthing!), Hp-Azn (lol, thanks! I'm glad you like the angst!), anonymous, Magnolia Lane (Thanks! I'm so glad you liked the chapter so much!), moonfyre (really? I've never read a fic before where Ron gets kidnapped! I guess I got in at the right time.), Padawan Jan-AQ, DreamersDisease (No, not two different stories, the uncut/yahoo version's just longer. As you'll see now, the yahoo version's just gotten to Harry's bout of sickness. It's just moving slower because it has more stuff in it.), EriEka127, lost angel92, Necara (no, they aren't two different fics, the uncut/yahoo version's just longer. As you'll see now, the yahoo version's just gotten to Harry's bout of sickness. It's just moving slower because it has more stuff in it.), monica85, Ohana, fantagal, Von (lol, sorry! Review responses are back. I'll keep the idea of review responses being on the yahoo group for future fics, though.), hessian (lol, thanks!), Siri Kat, shadowsfriend (unfortunately, this is the last of this particular series if you'd call it that. After this I'll be moving on to different ideas. But I'm so glad you're liking the fic!), Nation El-Diablo (there's more stuff on my yahoo group, but it's a little behind this fic because of all the uncut scenes in it), Autumn Breeze (no, Harry doesn't have aids, but you'll find out what's been going on in a little while. wink ), Shikatanai (yeah, Harry's got a lot to deal with and thank God he hasn't started cutting because of it. Lol, don't worry, I won't tell Harry you like torturing him if you don't tell him I like it...though that might be a bit obvious by now, lol.), Tessa (Thank you! I'm glad you started reading them and even happier that you like them!), Wynjara, shadow-phoenix1502, Amy Da Great, lalaluu, Viskii, ginnygal189, acciodanrad9 (thanks! I'm glad you like Drama/Angst, since that's the categories of this story. Yeah, Draco had some bad timing, but we love him anyways. I'm glad you liked delirious Harry. He was fun to write.), Annay, rukrifurpaw, Tmctflyboy, Erin, littletoaster (Thank you so much!), M, GhostMagic19 (lol, I'm so glad you like my fics!), parts-of-a-fish-girl, chip, Annapuma, venus4280, Bluerain22 (Lol, I'm so glad you like the story! Don't worry, I update about once a week and am not abandoning this story. Thank you for reading! I'm so glad you've found and enjoy my fics)