Author's Note: Hey all! Not much to say for once. I'm really really hungry so I'm going to post this in a hurry. I hope you enjoy!
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Harry blinked and started. The cell had been replaced with the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts. It appeared to be nighttime.
"Doesn't seem so bad so far," Harry said nervously. Ron didn't look so sure.
The door opened and Dumbledore came through and walked sadly up to Ron.
"Mr. Weasley, do you know why you're here?" he asked sadly.
Ron closed his eyes. "It's not real," he whispered firmly.
"It's not real," Harry said with a confirming nod.
"Mr. Weasley, you've had a very hard few months and your family and friends have expressed their concern for you. We want to help you."
"Help me with what?" Ron asked shakily.
"Ron, it's not real!" Harry reminded him. Ron looked over at him and nodded, looking as though he'd temporarily forgotten.
"Who are you looking at, Mr. Weasley...Ron?" Dumbledore asked kindly.
Ron looked back at him warily. "Harry. He's right here."
Dumbledore sighed sadly. "Ron, Harry died at the end of last term. I know you've been suffering these delusions that he's still alive and speaking to you, but they're not real. The reality of the situation is that Harry's gone. He's dead. You have to come to terms with that."
Harry was stunned. This was Ron's worst nightmare? That he, Harry, was dead?
Ron looked at Dumbledore in horror and shook his head. "No. No, this is not real. It's not and I can see Harry, he's right here." Ron turned to him anxiously. "Harry, tell him it's not true."
"Ron, it's not real. Believe me, I'm alive. I never completely died. Remember where we really are. It's a torture chamber and this is just a nightmare," Harry said firmly.
"Right, yeah. This is just a nightmare. It's not real," Ron said as if trying to convince myself.
Dumbledore looked at him sadly. "Ron, come here," he said, walking over to one of the hospital beds that had the curtains drawn around them.
Ron followed him as if in a trance. It took him a lot of effort to walk over there, and he moved very slowly, but Ron didn't even seem to notice his shaky legs.
Dumbledore pulled back the curtains and on the bed lay Harry's dead body, looking just the way it had the day he had, for lack of a better description of it, died. Ron choked out a sob and looked desperately back at Harry.
"It's not real," Harry shouted at his friend desperately. Why wasn't Ron remembering that?
"Harry," Ron said breathlessly, "you're fading. You look like a ghost."
Dumbledore motioned for Ron to come forward to the fake Harry's side and the redhead weakly stepped up to him.
"Feel his hand," Dumbledore instructed.
Ron reluctantly felt the fake Harry's hand and burst into tears, sitting down on the floor next to him as his tired legs could no longer support his bodyweight. "Oh gods, oh gods, it's true," he said, taking the dead Harry's hand in his. "It can't be true. Please."
The real Harry ran over to Ron and made to grasp his shoulder, but his hand passed through Ron as if he were a ghost. Ron, unfortunately, saw this and began rocking back and forth in despair.
"No. Gods no. Please no. No. It can't be," he chanted desperately.
"Ron!" Harry shouted firmly, causing his best friend to look up at him, his expression was one of pure misery. "Ron, listen to me. This isn't real, but it's seeming more and more real because you're believing it, okay?"
"Ron," Dumbledore said sharply, "don't listen to him. He's just a dream and you must start to face..."
"Ron!" Harry shouted to get back the redhead's attention. "Don't listen to him. He's not real. He's even slipping; he's not supposed to see or hear me right?" Harry knelt by his friend.
"Harry, I don't want you to be dead," Ron whimpered through his tears.
Harry nodded. "Then believe me and listen to me, okay?" he coaxed. "Let go of his hand. That's not me."
Ron nodded and put down the hand of the fake Harry.
"Ron, don't listen to that apparition," Dumbledore said warningly, his eyes flashing dangerously as the real Dumbledore's would never.
"Don't listen to him, Ron," Harry said. "You know the real Dumbledore would never talk like that."
Ron nodded. "You're becoming more solid-looking again," he said in relief.
Harry cautiously touched Ron's arm. It was solid again.
He grinned in relief and stood, helping Ron to his feet.
"Mister Weasley," Dumbledore shouted angrily, but Ron ignored him.
"It's not real," he said with conviction.
And suddenly, they were back in the chamber.
"Oops," Ron said sheepishly, "I guess I let it suck me in."
"Your nightmare is me dying?" Harry asked, still in disbelief.
Ron looked at him gravely. "You don't know what your death did to me, Harry," Ron said, looking away sadly.
"Ron...I...thank you," he said sincerely.
The words around them glowed a deep red again and they were surrounded by faint screams and louder whispers that swirled around them before the glow and the noises extinguished.
Ron looked at Harry sympathetically. "Time for yours I guess. Don't worry, it'll all be over soon," he said as the room began to dissolve around them.
When Harry looked around he realized he was in his room at the Lighthouse, which came as a bit of a surprise. He had expected to be at the Dursleys. But then again, a lot of his more recent dreams involved Uncle Vernon coming to the Lighthouse.
Suddenly, Sirius burst through the door looking furious. Harry recognized the dream. He knew it as his worst and he'd had it repeatedly, but for some reason, as he rapidly tried to remember it, the details were slipping away from his memory and he could remember what was going to happen. His mind began to feel strangely numb and he felt very wrapped up in the scene, as if he were actually there.
"It's not real," Harry reminded himself, but he could now tell why Ron had started losing grip of reality. There seemed to be something about the spell that warped your sense of what was real and what was not.
"Do you know who I just got finished talking to?" Sirius sneered.
"Wh-who?" Harry found himself asking, caught up in the moment.
"Harry! It's not real," Ron said from beside him. Harry quickly looked over at his friend and nodded.
"Arthur Weasley. And do you want to know what he said?" Sirius asked dangerously.
"It's not real. It's not real," Harry chanted to himself.
"You wish this wasn't real. He said that you're no longer allowed over there. He said you've been nothing but an annoyance. Ron finally asked his parents to keep you away so he didn't have to tell you himself that he doesn't like you. Did you really think they wanted you over there all the time, leeching off their family? Well, think again," Sirius ranted. "You just put everyone in danger and just face it Harry, everyone just puts up with you. I mean, Merlin, I called the Dursleys and offered to pay them to take you back and they still refused so now I have to be the one stuck with you."
"Harry," Ron said quietly, looking at Harry sympathetically, not knowing what to say.
Harry felt his face grow hot with embarrassment and avoided Ron's eyes.
"Your uncle warned me this would happen. I always thought you were going to be like James, but obviously I was wrong," he spat. "You're destroying my life! You're pathetic. You're worthless. You only ruin lives. As your uncle put it, how could anybody love a piece of trash like you? They were right, you're just a freak, I finally see that," he said viciously, echoing Uncle Vernon's words from the kitchen at the Stensons.
Sirius advanced on Harry, who involuntarily stepped back. He quickly told himself that Sirius couldn't hurt him because he wasn't real.
"But Ron could feel people in his nightmare," he remembered.
He tried to calm himself, but the knowledge that the more afraid he got, the more Sirius would be able to actually touch him did nothing but frighten him more. He started to look for Ron, but was interrupted when Sirius backhanded him and Harry went sprawling to the floor. He scrambled back up as his godfather came closer.
"Harry! Harry!" he heard Ron call from what sounded like far away. Harry looked up and Ron was partially see-through, like a ghost. "It's not real!"
But the pain in the side of his face felt very real as he backed away from Sirius whose expression looked much like the one his uncle often wore when Harry was really in trouble.
Sirius picked up a picture frame from Harry's nightstand and hurled it at Harry's head. He ducked just in time and the frame crashed into the wall behind him.
"Sirius, don't. Please, I'm sorry," Harry pleaded as his godfather strode toward him angrily.
Harry dodged by him and ran to the door, turning the handle and pulled at the door desperately, but it wouldn't budge. He suddenly felt himself being yanked away from the door by his hair. Sirius shoved him to the floor and kicked him solidly in the stomach. The animagus then hauled him up by the front of his shirt.
Harry looked behind him, confused to see the Dursley's glass table there, the one his uncle had thrown him through. He looked in horror at Sirius realizing what he was going to do.
"No, Sirius. Please," he begged in a panic as Sirius pushed him back.
"Harry! There's no table there!"
Harry glanced in surprise over at Ron, suddenly remembering the redhead being there.
That moment of distraction was all he need and instead of hitting the table, he landed flat on his back, the glass table still in one piece above him. He had gone right through it.
But then, through the glass, he could see Sirius holding out Harry's cauldron over the glass, a cold expression on his face.
Harry quickly turned over and threw his arms over the back of his head as Sirius dropped the cauldron, shattering the glass. The heavy cauldron struck Harry in the side and shards of glass sprayed over him. He felt several cuts, but the damage was nowhere near as bad as it would have been if he'd been thrown through the table and fallen onto the broken glass.
After chancing a glance and seeing Sirius begin to move, he scrambled out from under the table, getting several slices on his hands and knees.
He had to beat this. "It's not real," he told himself. "It's not..."
Sirius pressed him up against the wall, hands around his neck. Harry couldn't breathe. He clawed at the hands cutting off his oxygen supply but couldn't. He could distantly hear someone calling his name.
Suddenly, the ghost-like Ron was in front of him, looking absolutely terrified. Harry looked in amazement as Sirius's arms went right through him.
"Ron," he choked out before Sirius tightened his grip painfully.
"Harry, damnit listen to me now! Harry look at me!" Ron screamed. Harry complied weakly as his head began to swim. "Harry, I'm your best friend and you've got to trust me. Sirius can't hurt you if you don't let him. Sirius loves you; he would never do this. This is a very bad nightmare. It's not real."
Harry's vision began to darken around the edges
"Harry, for Merlin's sake if this was real and I was standing here, I would not let this happen to you! Do you understand that? Harry please! This can't be real because I would never stand aside and let it just happen to you," Ron screamed desperately. "It's not real! You have to believe me!"
"It's not real," Harry told himself firmly, forcing himself to remember where he was as he fought unconsciousness.
Suddenly, the hands were gone and Harry felt his legs give out. The room turned back into a cell. Ron grabbed him before he could hit the ground and shakily lowered him to a sitting position on the ground before Ron's own weak legs could give out. He held Harry upright as the raven-haired boy gasped for air. After his breathing got back to normal, Harry let out a small sob before pushing back any tears. Ron held him tight as Harry clutched the back of his shirt shakily.
"Harry, was that what it was like at the Dursleys?" Ron asked quietly.
Harry nodded numbly.
The door clicked loudly and Harry pulled away from Ron, wiping his bloody hands on his trousers. There was no trace of glass on him, but his mind had let the nightmare take its physical effect. He knew he'd soon have vivid bruises on his face and neck.
Hermione and Draco yanked open the door.
"I hate to be insensitive or anything, but we really need to get out of here," Draco said anxiously.
Harry nodded and got control of his emotions, helping Ron to his feet and slinging the redhead's arm over his shoulder once again. When they got to the door, Hermione supported Ron on his other side, frowning as she took in Harry's appearance, and the clear tear tracks on Ron's grimy face.
"Are you guys alright?" she asked gently as they followed Draco.
"I just want to get out of here," Ron said in a weary tone. "Then, we'll all have a talk," he said, giving Harry a significant look.
"Now remember you're in the dungeons and it's full of cells and torture chambers, so don't go in any of them, okay?" Draco said exasperatedly. "Just so you know, the ones with the black doors are cells, so if you need to hide, choose one of those, not one of the red door ones."
"Thanks for telling us that now," Ron grumbled as the trio followed Draco's lead.
"Draco," Hermione hissed to get the blonde's attention without attracting any unwanted attention as they walked through the eerie halls of the dungeon, "how much longer until we can use the Portkey."
Draco pointed to a staircase up ahead.
"Once we're up there and down the hall, we can use it," he said quietly. The blonde went ahead to make sure the coast was clear before motioning them forward.
The three took only a few steps when suddenly, incredible pain shot through Harry's head. He fell to his knees, letting go of Ron's wrist to clutch his forehead. This time the pain felt much sharper, much more concentrated and direct. This time, it was clear that the pain he was feeling was originating from his scar.
Without Harry's support, Ron fell as well, dragging Hermione down with them. To their horror, footsteps could be heard in the distance, moving rapidly toward them.
"Harry!" Ron and Hermione whispered frantically, trying to shake him out of it.
Harry clenched his teeth and got to his feet. Draco was at his side instantly, shouting that they had to go now. He no longer bothered with hushed tones as it was obvious that they had been discovered.
Hermione attempted to tug Ron to his feet, looking panicked. Yet another wave of pain brought Harry down to his hands and knees, crying out in agony.
"Go! Just go!" he yelled at his friends desperately. He felt something warm drip down from his nose and several drops of blood splashed to the floor. His head swam dangerously and his hearing kept coming and going. Draco desperately tried to pull him to his feet, but it was hopeless.
"Oh no. It was a trap," Ron gasped shakily, falling back to his knees. "It was something with his scar all along!"
"Draco, please!" Harry gasped in a hiss of pain. "Get them out of here! Get yourself out of here! Your dad'll kill you!"
Draco looked torn, looking searchingly into Harry's eyes as if looking for an indication of what he should do. With an apologetic look, he reluctantly nodded. He dropped Harry's arm and raced over to Ron and Hermione as the Death Eaters rounded the corner.
"We've got to go!" he yelled at them, hauling Ron to his feet.
"What?!" Hermione shrieked. "We can't leave Harry!"
"What are you doing? Let me go! We have to help him!" Ron screamed.
"Granger! Please, they're coming. If we stay here right now, we're all going to die. They'll kill you two instantly. Harry's going to be taken somewhere else first. They're not going to kill him right away. Do you understand? Help me get Weasley out of here!" he yelled. "If we stay here, none of us will stand a chance. Weasley will be the first they'll kill and he won't stand a chance without a wand or even being able to stand. Harry stands a chance."
Hermione shook her head tearfully before grabbing Ron's other arm and flinging it around her shoulders as the Death Eaters got closer.
"Hermione, what are you doing? We have to help him!" Ron shouted in disbelief.
"Ron, they'll kill you. You're defenseless. We have to get you out of here," Hermione said through her tears. She and Draco began dragging the screaming redhead up the stairs.
"No! We can't leave him!!" Ron shouted feverishly, watching as his best friend was hit by a bunch of Cruciatus curses in conjunction to whatever the first pain was.
Harry screamed in agony and writhed around on the floor, clawing at his scar, but Draco forcibly hauled Ron up the stairs. Hermione was bawling next to Ron, but continued to pull him up the stairs, forcing herself not to look back.
"HARRY!! NO!! LEAVE HIM ALONE!!" Ron screamed hysterically, watching the sight below. The Death Eaters had surrounded Harry, obstructing Ron's view. Judging by the absence of further screams, he figured that they had stopped cursing Harry, but that he was in for a much worse fate.
The green-eyed boy was dragged from the crowd by two Death Eaters as many others followed, wands trained on him. His face contorted in pain as he pressed a hand to his scar. A few of the Death Eaters who weren't given the important task of getting Harry to their new leader for punishment, started after the three who were nearing the top of the stairs.
Draco and Hermione shot several curses over their shoulders, hitting a few and causing the others to find cover. Draco kicked open the door at the top of the stairs and the three ran through it, closing and locking it with several spells.
Draco slowly pushed Ron's weight off him and onto Hermione. He began rapidly searching his pockets.
"Here's the Portkey," he said, thrusting the key into Hermione's hand. "Get Ron to the end of this hall and turn right onto the carpeted area. As soon as you're on the carpet, activate the Portkey. And don't you dare even think about doing otherwise, because once I get Harry, I want to get us out of here immediately and not have to come looking for you two, got it?"
Ron opened his mouth to say something but Draco cut him off.
"No, you can't come. Weasley, you can't help him in this state and Granger, you need to get him out of here. If you want there to even be a chance of Harry getting out of here alive, you two will do as I said," Draco said firmly. "Don't argue with me, it'll only waste time and I need to catch up to them."
The two just nodded reluctantly.
Draco took off his amulet and placed the large chain around their necks as the Death Eaters began pounding loudly on the door.
"That'll only work once," Draco warned. "So watch it."
"Thank you, Draco. Good luck," Hermione said tearfully.
"Bring him back," Ron ordered shakily, still stunned at what was happening.
Draco nodded before covering himself with Harry's invisibility cloak. Ron and Hermione began hobbling down the hall.
Moments after Draco disappeared, the door burst open behind the two and several Death Eaters stormed through.
Hermione threw curses over her shoulder, skillfully taking down several of the cloaked figures. At first, several were cursed with spells Hermione knew she hadn't cast and suspected that Draco had helped them out a bit before slipping back through the open door.
"Can't duel as well when it's not a hundred on one, can you?" Hermione spat back at them as she and Ron slowly made their way down the hall.
They were almost at the carpet when one of the Death Eaters jumped up and furiously shouted, "Avada Kedavra!"
A flash of green light sped toward them before either could even scream, but suddenly, a streak of white light appeared, coming from the amulet. It collided with the Killing Curse a foot away from the two, causing a mini-firework.
Ron and Hermione stood frozen in shock momentarily, not daring to believe that they were still alive. They looked down at the amulet and saw that the glow that now appeared in the emerald eyes was slowly fading as the two tiny gems turned black. The flash of light caused from the collision of magic faded away, revealing a surprised Death Eater at the end of the hall. The two teenagers and the masked figures stared at each other momentarily before they each snapped out of it.
The Death Eater raised his wand as Hermione and Ron dived sideways onto the rug. Hermione wrapped her arms around Ron, gripping the key in her hand. She shouted "the Burrow!" which activated the Portkey.
The two disappeared just as the Death Eater rounded the corner.
They landed with a thump on the floor of the Burrow's living room.
Everyone had been sitting in silence around the living room on various couches and chairs.
It only took a second to register what was going on before everyone jumped up and started shouting for others to come.
"Oh Ron! My baby!" Mrs. Weasley cried, immediately kneeling by her son and sweeping him up into a desperate embrace. Mr. Weasley was there next, hugging both of them and sobbing. The twins and Ginny latched onto the group hug, all crying in relief to have their brother back alive. Ron lost it once again, and in the comfort of his family surrounding him, broke down into tears.
Hermione's parents were there as well and immediately descended on her, hugging her tightly as they wept, telling her never to do something like this to them again.
Sirius and Snape raced into the room from the kitchen, scanning it desperately. They darted forward as the families broke up their hugs to assess the physical condition of the two teenagers.
"Where are Harry and Draco?!" Snape shouted frantically.
The Weasleys looked around, noticing for the first time that only two had returned.
Ron and Hermione hung their heads slightly.
"Death Eaters got to Harry. They took him. Draco went after him," Ron said numbly, feeling so drained. It was as if he was trapped in some kind of horror story that wouldn't end. The guilt he was feeling was overwhelming.
"No," Ginny gasped in terror. Fred and George froze with identical looks of horror.
Snape picked up a nearby vase and threw it against the wall in a bout of fury.
"NO!" Sirius cried, sinking to the floor and putting his face in his hands. "No, not again. I just got him back!"
The rest of the room didn't know what to say to the two, and were rather distraught themselves.
Sirius looked up at Hermione with an odd look on his face. "How did you get that Portkey?" he asked. Everybody looked at him, now wondering that exact same thing. "Harry didn't know how to make one and I'm sure Draco didn't either," he said coldly.
Hermione looked away. "I, um...I don't know," she lied, but Sirius knew anyway. He took one look at Mr. Weasley's guilty face and knew.
"You bastard!" he growled before lunging at Ron's father. Before he could reach him, Snape tackled him from behind. Sirius struggled to get out of Snape's grasp, to get to Mr. Weasley. "You bastard! You knew! You helped send him on a suicide mission! He's barely sixteen! He never got a birthday party!" he cried, looking crazed.
"Black! Stop this you idiot!" Snape yelled. "We'll deal with this later after we figure out exactly what's going on!"
Sirius finally calmed down, getting to his feet rigidly, glaring with nothing short of loathing at Mr. Weasley. Snape began walking him back into the kitchen, but Sirius spun around coldly, not making another attack on the eldest Weasley, but just to get in his last bit.
"Harry thought of you as a father and you sent him to the slaughter like he was nothing. And now he's going to die thinking he was nothing more than a tool we use when we're in trouble..."
"THAT'S ENOUGH, BLACK," Snape snapped, dragging Sirius into the kitchen and giving him firm orders to stay there.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley checked over their son, who was obviously not in great shape. Mr. Weasley scooped Ron up into his arms. Ron put his arms around his dad's neck and buried his tired, dirty, and tear-stained face into his shoulder.
Snape came back into the room, with a deadened expression.
"I'm taking Ron to St. Mungo's," Mr. Weasley announced. The Weasley children stood solemnly to follow as Mrs. Weasley stood at her husband's side, brushing back Ron's hair with her fingers and murmuring words of comfort to him.
"Wait! I need to know exactly what happened! What the boys planned for, what they have," Snape said frantically, looking to Hermione.
"I-I have to go with Ron," she said apologetically.
Ginny stepped forward. "I'm going to go with them to the hospital, but once we make sure Ron's okay, Hermione will tell me everything and I'll come back to tell you," she said shakily.
Snape nodded as the Weasleys and the Grangers all flooed to St. Mungo's.
......
The pain in Harry's head finally ceased as he was pushed to the hard floor. The room continued to spin and the ringing remained in his head for a few minutes.
Finally, he was able to look up and take in his surroundings. He was in a large, room without anything special about it. It looked as if it might have once been a large dining hall, but was now bare and cold. The torches lining the four walls made everything look even more eerie. Each torch had two crossed swords hanging on the wall underneath them, promising that this room would bring pain. He remembered Draco telling him how his father loved swords, which was why he'd started Draco in fencing in the first place, hoping to one day teach him how to do it with real swords. The decoration of the room proved who was in charge.
Death Eaters stood behind him and on either side. Directly in front of him sat Lucius Malfoy in a large, ornate chair on a raised strip of the room, looking very much as if he were sitting on a throne.
A Death Eater was handing him a wand. Harry frantically dug his hands into his pockets, but to his horror, realized that the wand Lucius Malfoy was now twirling around in his fingers was indeed Harry's. Now it didn't matter that there were much less Death Eaters than at Voldemort's final duel with Harry. At that moment, he would have given anything for his wandless magic back. He slowly got to his feet.
"I'm not taking my chances with you, Potter," Lucius drawled, twirling the wand around. "I'll be keeping this."
He shoved the wand into the pocket of his robes and stood up, walking forward toward Harry, who tried to force the nervousness of his face, and stood his ground.
"You want to see a fun little trick, Potter?" he asked evilly.
He took out his wand and touched it to his Dark Mark and looked at Harry, waiting for something.
Suddenly, Harry's scar erupted in pain once more. He fell to his knees clutching his forehead and trying with all his might not to scream.
With a sadistic laugh, Lucius removed his wand and the pain immediately ceased.
"How interesting. I was told you didn't feel it in your scar when we did it. I guess it's the close proximity," he said, clearly entertained.
Lucius walked confidently up to Harry, who quickly scrambled to his feet and backed up a few steps.
"Potter, Potter. It's not time to leave. Take a seat," Lucius said with a malicious smirk. He flicked his wand and Harry's ankles sprung together momentarily and he fell back onto his bum. The Death Eaters all laughed at him.
"You're pathetic, you know!" Harry growled at Lucius with more confidence than he actually possessed. "You think you're going to be the next Dark Lord, but you won't even give me my wand and try to beat me in a duel. You can play your little games with me, but even if you kill me, someone else will kill you, leaving the next in line to try and take power, until you're all defeated down to the very last sniveling little rat!"
Lucius quickly walked up to him, his expression full of fury. He grabbed Harry's hair and yanked it back so Harry was looking up at him.
"I will not be defeated, Potter. But I assure you that you will. You will pay for what you did to our old master and you will not get in my way," he sneered before throwing Harry's head away. "You will also pay," he said in a louder voice, "for corrupting my son. He was on his way to being great before you messed around with his head."
"Yeah, he was on his way to following in your footsteps and becoming a sniveling little servant. Luckily, he's made out of stronger stuff than any of you cowards," Harry sneered.
"Draco is a little traitor and has been a waste of my time for fifteen years," Lucius spat.
"Draco is better than you'll ever be. You have people who fear you, but Draco has people who respect him, and that's something you'll never be able to have," Harry said angrily.
"Crucio!" Lucius yelled furiously.
Pain engulfed Harry's body once again and he had to bite his lip to keep from crying out as he curled into a ball on the floor.
When the pain ended, Harry shakily put his hands on the floor and started to push himself up with much effort. Yet all of a sudden, he felt a cloak being thrown over him and heard the sounds of several gasps. He looked up to see Draco's face as the blonde hauled Harry to his feet. They were both under the invisibility cloak. Draco quickly pulled Harry away from the spot where he had just lain.
"Did he Disapparate?" one Death Eater asked.
"No, you idiot. You can't Apparate in or out of this part of the manor," Lucius snapped, looking around anxiously. "Cover the doors."
Under the cloak, the two boys ran toward the nearest door, but jerked to a halt as two Death Eaters beat them to it. The others began to sweep the room, arms feeling out in front of them.
Draco thought quickly and began stunning Death Eaters at each door, effectively confusing them. He used a charm Hermione had taught him to make one of the doors on the opposite side of the room burst open, causing most of the cloaked figures to run that way, including the two guarding the door nearest to the two.
A look of comprehension dawned over Lucius's face.
"Accio invisibility cloak!" he bellowed. The two boys desperately tried to hold onto the material around them but the cloak was ripped away. Harry started to dart forward after it, not wanting to lose his father's cloak, but Draco yanked him back, giving him a look that clearly asked if he was insane.
Lucius's gaze connected with Draco's and white-hot fury melted over his face. Draco froze under the loathing gaze of his father. Harry grabbed Draco's wrist and pulled him out the door as spells barely missed them. One hit Draco's arm, slicing it sharply, before they slammed the door and began racing down the halls.
"Where are we?" Harry asked frantically.
Draco looked around, biting his bottom lip. "Um, um, I think it's this way," he said, sounding very unsure of himself. As they heard steps coming from down the passage behind them, Harry had no choice but to blindly follow Draco.
The two turned a corner and nearly collided with someone. Draco jutted his wand toward the figure who was standing in the unlit hallway and began to shout a curse.
"Whoa, whoa," said the man, putting his hands up passively. "Harry? Oh thank Merlin," the man said in relief. He stepped into the light and Harry let out the breath he had been holding.
"Hr. Callahan?" he asked incredulously. "What? How..."
The three froze as they heard footsteps in the distance coming toward them.
"In here boys," the healer said, pulling the two into a small, dark room.
The three held their breaths and waited. Draco and Harry were shaking, one with fright, the other with the after-effects of the Cruciatus Curse.
Thankfully, the footsteps ran passed the room.
"All right," Harry whispered after a long enough period of silence had passed, "we need to get out of here."
"Wait a sec there, Harry," Hr. Callahan said, eyeing his shaking body disapprovingly, pulling out a small vial.
"Now?!" Harry asked incredulously.
"It'll do us no good if you collapse on the way out of here," he explained. "I'm a healer, Harry. Humor me, okay?"
Harry sighed and quickly downed the potion.
"Happy?" he asked, slightly annoyed.
"Very," Hr. Callahan said with a pleased grin.
"How did you find us?" Harry asked.
"Your godfather and Professor Snape have gotten everyone they know out searching," Hr. Callahan said quickly, walking toward the door.
"Yeah, but how did you think to come here?" Draco asked in amazement. "I mean it's in the middle of nowhere, isn't it?"
"I'll explain later. We need to go. I'll lead you out the way I came in," he said quietly, listening at the door to make sure the coast was really clear. "All right boys, it's now or never. Stay close," he said before leading them out into the dark hall.
The three walked silently down the halls, listening for any sound, but there was none. In fact, it made Harry uneasy, feeling like he should be hearing something of the Death Eaters' search for them.
Suddenly, Hr. Callahan froze. "Did you hear that?" he whispered.
"Hear what? I didn't hear anything," Draco said nervously, squinting into the darkness.
"Me neither," Harry agreed.
"Go through there," Hr. Callahan whispered, pointing to a large door to the side of them as he held the tip of his wand out to the dark hall. "Now," he hissed urgently.
Thinking the healer may have seen something, Draco and Harry jumped into action, wrenching open the doors and beginning to dart through them until they froze in horror.
It was the large room that Harry had originally been taken to. All the Death Eaters were back, wands steadied on the boys. They quickly disarmed the two.
Harry and Draco stepped back but were simultaneously pushed forward to the floor.
Harry looked back to find Hr. Callahan calmly closing the large doors and entering the room. It took several moments before Harry realized what this meant before the sickening realization poured over him like a bucket of ice water.
"Good job, Callahan," Lucius said with an evil smirk.
..............................................................................................
ParanoiaIn2005: Yeah, too bad the boys couldn't see how badly their godfathers are freaking out. Hmm...good question about the letter being sent to Sirius. I would just assume that the guardian would be informed as well. I'll go with the magical-guardian argument or play the AU card. Lol. I think right now, everyone's panicked and they aren't thinking very clearly. Snape's extremely worried about Draco. Sirius is too wrapped up in his terror about Harry being in danger to give much thought to Hermione...probably because he knows that the way these things usually go, Hermione always comes out alright and it's Harry who the D.E.s want. If he was calmer, he'd be worried about Hermione too. Lol, someone pointed out the "er" in Harry's letter to me before I posted, saying it was strange, but maybe it's just me, but I write letters all the time and they're very stream of conscious for me (at least when they're to friends or family) so they're full of "um"s and "er"s, so I just shrugged it off and didn't take it out. I'm so happy you liked the "I love you" bit! I know, I know, I'm cruel and horrible, depriving Harry of his birthday. Lol, I'd hope the time frame's right. I have a whole calendar just made up for this fic to make sure everything works right. I had to make sure things happened at certain times, and it was hard, let me tell you. Yeah, I feel a bit bad for Mr. Weasley actually, even though most others are ready to pound him into minced meat. His son was taken right out from under his nose and as he was being kidnapped, he called out for his dad to help him and Mr. Weasley couldn't do anything but watch Death Eaters disappear with his son. Now, he knows the only chance Ron has is for Harry to go help him and he's going to have to live with the guilt of sending Harry and friends off to rescue his son, but he's so desperate to have Ron back that he'll do it. Plus, he'll always be seen as the guy that pushed Harry to risk his life, and he knows that. I don't know, maybe it's just me because I wrote him, but I do feel for the guy. He's not a bad person, but people do things they're not proud of when they're desperate. Also, Ron's been tortured and kept in a cell for 3 days, and it probably seems a hell of a lot longer to him. He had no idea if anyone would be able to find him or come rescue him and obviously thought he was going to die. He was going a little crazy there. And now we're really seeing how much Draco's turned around. Well, hope you liked the chapter!
Wiccan PussyKat: Lol, I'm glad to spread the warm fuzzies. Warm fuzzies and cliffies for all!! They sort of counteract each other, don't they? Oh well! Cider is awesome on adventures. Lol, yeah, Sirius needs to stop thinking...it leads to bad things lol. Don't worry, I'll make Arthur feel guilty, muahaha. Under the circumstances, I doubt anyone other than Sirius remembered it was Harry's birthday, and I think Sirius knew it wasn't the best time to go up and tell Harry "Happy Birthday." It would just make Harry even more upset. Yeah, they could be kick-ass aurors...they've had a lot of practice. You should definitely start an illegal organization at school. I think you should try to overthrow the administration and see how far you can get in having the students run the school! You could be the principal/headmaster and order that everyone's homework is to make a magic wand and come to school knowing at least one spell. Lol.
Myr Halcyon: I hope the Nightmare Chamber lived up to your expectation. I don't think all Death Eaters are stupid. I mean, there is the Crabbe and Goyle type, but we know that Snape and Lucius were both higher ranking and I see them as very intelligent. Even Voldemort was really smart. Their problem is that they can become very single minded and underestimate their enemies. Lol, I'm glade you like over analyzing characters, it brings me joy. My school's starting on Sept. 18...well, at least that's when I'm moving in. Actual instruction doesn't start for a few days after though.
EriEka127, musiclover (Good job on your AP test! I know how hard those can be. Good luck on your next one. Hope you liked the Nightmare Chamber!), AvengingKitty, venus4280 (I'm glad you like the plan. Isn't Dumbledore always sort of useless, save book 5 of course. Sigh. Makes you wonder if he does it on purpose or purposely leaves Harry to do all these crazy things by himself.), therese (elmephant) (lol, well it's my job to leave you dangling at the edge of some cliffie every once in awhile. Keeps you on your toes. The Death Eaters had no reason to think it was Hermione and Draco behind those masks. The Death Eaters doing that sort of work: guard work and messenger stuff, are probably newer/lower-rung people who don't know many other D.E.s, so they wouldn't know.), Altariel Eldalote, acciodanrad09 (Thanks! I'm glad you liked both chapters, especially chapter 21. I'm so glad you like the idea of the Nightmare Chamber and hope you liked how it turned out.), m, bluerain22 (well, they are in the dungeons with only cells and torture chambers, so it's not that crazy that they'd step into one), parts-of-a-fish-girl, lilynjamesAAF, littletoaster, fantagal, Augrey (well, I got it up within ten days! Hope you like!), Shikatanai (lol, you know, if I really wanted to shock everyone, I should have just let them rescue Ron without a hitch. I think people would be left gaping if I did that. Anyway, the dungeons don't allow Portkeys or Apparition, otherwise it would be too easy for prisoners to escape by sneaking Portkeys in. Does that clear things up? Hahahaha, I am a sneaky bitch, huh? Lol), mickeymoose, Aishwarya, curlybean (I'm so glad you like Flawed so much! Finally! Somebody who can see where Arthur's coming from. I feel bad for the poor guy. His kid was kidnapped right in front of him and he's desperate. He's not proud of what he's doing, but it's all he can do. I'm glad someone understands.), angelsleeping (I'm starting college soon, but not for a few weeks, so luckily I have some free time until then. That's why I'm rapidly trying to finish writing the fic in my spare time! I'm glad the ending took you by surprise!), Stahchild (lol, yup, I'm evil. I can't help it! It's a quirk I'm dealing with.), HaRrYrOxMuhSoX, Bu (lol, glad you liked it!! Yeah, those poor low-rung Death Eaters haven't yet learned how to be original. But they will in time –pats them on back- ), Firestar038, tati1 (oh you poor thing! 2 weeks at the beach? Did you suffer much? Lol, I'm glad to have you back! Anywho, on my yahoo group, just look under "files" and then under "Flawed Perfection" and voila. I've noted chapters that are different. Hope you enjoy them, the last chapter and this one!), texasjeanette (I'm so glad you like the idea of the Nightmare Chamber. Yes, when push comes to shove, Arthur does see Harry as the hero and truly believes he can go to the rescue and come out relatively unscathed as always. But at least now Harry has Sirius and Snape to see that that's not how it is and to worry to death about him), GhostMagic19, lyss33 (Portkeys don't work in the dungeons. Neither does Apparition. It would be too easy for prisoners to escape otherwise. Hope that clears things up!), Threetoedsloth (I'm glad you liked the action for a change. I guess the climax a bit of action and angst mixed in together. Hope you continue to enjoy.), Lia Tween (not just half of the giant cookie! –hands over chapter-), Babylon for Life (lol, yeah school can be harsh. Glad I can give you something to help you get through it.), Shadow Wolf2418 (well, they are in a dungeon that has nothing but cells and torture chambers. It's not the only psychological torture chamber down there, I'd imagine. It's not too far-fetched they'd step into one. How would you make one? That's what magic's for m'dear. Hope that clears it up. Remus is out searching and helping the Order look for them), Dragongirl16 (I think they'll be able to pass this off as emergency magic doing. Dumbledore will smooth it over with the ministry. Harry's on good terms with them after getting rid of Voldie.), tolerancelevels (hahaha, tell your dad I'm very sorry for his phone bills, but the money's being put to good use. I'm glad you think Arthur's realistic! That makes me happy!), lost angel92, torifire126 (well, as I hope it explains a little better in this chapter, they're still in the dungeon which is full of cells and torture chambers. They just happened to walk into one of the many that are down there.", DreamersDisease, ChildOfDarkness (hahaha! Lol, well, I could call my brother's room a nightmare chamber, but that's because it's such a disaster that it'll give you nightmares if you try wading your way into it.), Jenn the Freak (thanks for the cookie, sorry for the torture. On my yahoo group, go to the files section and look under "Flawed Perfection" the uncut chapters are marked. Enjoy!), autumn breeze (lol, ah, David. Boyfriend potential, yes, but we sort of have a Harry/Ginny relationship from my fic. I'm going off to college soon so we both know it's stupid to start something, but we both know we like each other so it's a bit awkward and sad. Oh well. lol, aren't you glad you asked?), hi-low, blulily07 (er...you're asking for a break for Harry NOW? Bad timing, lol. Sorry, it's part of the climax! I can't give him a break!), Istalksiriusonweekends, sami1010220, Ms Hobgoblin, angel74 (lol, if I'd let them get out easily, everyone would really be in shock.), hpfanchrissy1502, Earthmom, sou85a, ginnygal189, Shawn Pickett (well, of course they couldn't get out too easy. Something always goes wrong.), Lupin123 (well, you were right, Ron's nightmare definitely wasn't about spiders.), Luinlothana (welcome back! Lol, yes, I do try to leave the occasional vicious cliffhanger. It keeps you all on your toes.), Moo, yellowpages, monica85, Musicstarlover, tansy1354, Lourdes (lol, well, see I'm really a heart surgeon and have been lacking on patients lately, so I'm hoping to give you all enough stress to send you to me for some business), Wynjara, americanpie, XxGoddessOfImaginaryLightxX, Von (well, I hope you didn't hate the Nightmare Chamber part, and if you did, hopefully you liked the rest of the chapter a little better.), A-Brighter-Dawn (-evil grin- Lol, yeah, I'm being liberal with the cliffies lately.), Dana, Whispyraven (lol, well thank you very much!), Molly Morrison (true, the rescue didn't quite go as planned, but the intent was there. Lol, hope you enjoyed!), Lorie1101 (lol, that's a lot of OMGs. I'm very pleased. Wow! I can't believe you cried! That's awesome! Thanks!)