Esme and Percy trudged down the three flights of steps into the parlor, where Mrs. Weasley, Snape and Dumbledore were. Dumbledore sat nobly in a carved armchair, while both Severus and Molly stood against the fireplace. Albus gestured the two of them to sit on the couch: a pale green, stiff backed monstrosity that took up the better part of the wall. They sat; Esme quite fidgety, but Percy very relaxed. "We'd like you to each go through your attacks for us. Any information you could give us, no matter how insignificant you may think it is, could be helpful in deciphering their plans," Dumbledore asked, his fingers steepled over his lap. Esme nodded and took the initiative.
"I was getting off of work, it was about six in the evening. I locked up my office, checked out at the front desk, same as always. I left the building and headed out to my car- we work in a building with lots of other muggle companies so we can't get Floo connected. So I headed out to the parking lot- I was parked in the 4th row and I get about halfway over there when I hear the pop of someone Apparating. I turned around and there were three Death Eaters, pointing wands at me. I ran to the car... I got hit with... er... Cruciatus and something else I didn't recognize, but I kept running until I got to my car. One of them Accio'd my keys, and then two more of them showed up. They hit me with a laceration charm, I can't remember which one, and I dropped and then one of them kicked me in the ribs. I knew I couldn't fight back, I don't think they thought I was conscious, but I managed to grab a rock and make a portkey. I know it's illegal but I couldn't think of anything else to do except wait for them to nail me with a Killing Curse," Esme explained, her voice a slightly frantic.
"So you believe it was their intent to kill and not capture?" Dumbledore inquired. Esme thought about it a moment. "No... I was just to be subdued, I think. Although Teresa Avery had to be held back. She really wanted me dead, that bitch," Esme replied. "Teresa Avery? You knew who the attackers were?" Severus asked, his eyes dark. "Not all of them. Teresa Avery, her dad... Walden McNair I'm pretty sure... the two that came afterwards I didn't recognize. One was a woman who had a thick french accent- she's the one that hit me with the laceration charm. 5'4 maybe, thin-ish, didn't see her face. The last one was a man, but that's only because of the shoes. He didn't say a word throughout the entire thing, just watched." Snape's face broke into a sneer, hate dripping from his eyes before, surprisingly, Molly reached out to pat him on the shoulder.
"You didn't fight back?" "Of course not, I know the rules! I made the portkey and I went home. I heard a couple of thumps- the apparition wards kicking in. I grabbed the list, my passport, my glasses, tossed them in my bag. They kicked the front door in and came up stairs... I swung over the guard rail and dropped onto the first floor and ran. Two spells hit me... Full Body Bind, which tripped me up, but I shook it off, and then Imperius, which was just stupid, before I apparated. They saw the passport and I guessed they would think I apparated to the English Embassy in Sacramento. But I made it up to Canada- Charles Vernaise was on the list, English Embassy in Vancouver. So I found him... I think I scared a couple of people but... I told him to contact Mr. Weasley cause he was on the list too and they flooed me out here. I think I freaked them out with all of the blood- I just told them it wasn't mine." Esme looked down at her shirt, still stained in maroon stripes.
"What was the list of?" Dumbledore asked. Esme reached into her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. "Dad said that if anything ever happened to him... with You-Know-Who and all, that I could trust these people," Esme handed it to Dumbledore, there were 10 names on the list, most notably the Weasley adults, his and Remus Lupin's. Dumbledore raised his eyebrow when he saw Remus's name and looked up at Snape, who rolled his eyes in return.
He turned his attention to Percy. "Oh, there wasn't nearly as much involved in mine. I was reading a report on German attempts at decreasing the gnome population when the door creaked open. I thought it might be Minister Fudge, since that is who it usually is, but there was no one there. Then I heard this hiss behind me... this monstrous snake is in the room. It starts edging towards me and I back into the corner. I tried to dodge it and go for the door, but it blocked my path. I had my wand up and I was going to cast a Protego charm, but then Amelie Rosen, one of the other under secretaries, came in and blasted the life out of it. That was pretty much all there was to it," he answered. Dumbledore's steepled fingers unfolded to grip the sides of the chair. "Did you make a move to fight back?" Percy shook his head, his finger then resting against his lips. "Protego charm only. Any act of violence towards any living thing- I remember the rules," he trailed off, lost in some memory. Albus nodded.
"Private inquiries are being made as to the location of the rest of you three," Albus continued. "Percy, dear, is there any way that you could contact..." Molly began, her eyes tired but hopeful. "No," he replied quickly. "You'd have to rip off every protective device and every spell in order for us to locate them. Sorry," Esme apologized quietly. "No need, Esmerelda. We have names to go on and as I said, private inquiries are being made," Albus said comfortingly before raising to his feet. "I think I shall check up on them. Molly, Severus, Percy, Esmerelda, good day." He pushed himself out of the chair and swept from the parlor towards the front door. "Mum... you have names?" Percy asked, looking up at his mother. She looked over at Severus. "After you were found, every magical school on Earth had their records checked. They are the only complete recordings of wizards nowadays, especially in countries where the wizarding population is almost non-existant. Every name was tracked down until we cumulated a list of missing future students. Extensive tests were used to match those records with the found children: living and dead. Since we were never Obliviated, of course we remember the names of the living," Severus divulged, his voice low and somber. Esme looked up at him expectantly. "Hiroko Okinabe, Aidan Harris..." Severus replied looking over at Molly. "Evarin Alexander, Krisgios Iannis," Molly finished. At the last name, both Percy and Esme twitched, each taking deep breaths. It was one they recognized, and one that no longer existed.
"How did you know?" Harry jumped to his feet as Percy left and stalked over in front of Ron. "Oh, bloody hell! What is everyone's problem? You ALL keep secrets from me! Well, I'm keeping this one to myself, thank you!" Ron jumped up and slid out of Harry's way. "Well, none of us seem to have any secrets from you, do we Ronald," Hermione said, her voice low and scathing. Ron turned and glared at her. "You're all keeping secrets to protect me, to protect each other. Well, now I'm protecting you. Deal with it," Ron snapped. He turned back to leave, but immediately spun back around to face the three of them. "And don't you say it. I am NOT a Seer, I don't want to hear it!" Ron yelled, shaking his finger at them. He turned back around and walked through the doorframe, slamming to door behind him.
"Alright, what are you two hiding?" Ginny asked openly. Harry and Hermione looked over at her on the couch, her lips set into a thin line. She looked over at Hermione, who looked down at her feet. "I don't even have to ask you, Harry; you're always hiding something. I don't know why you two don't expect the same thing out of Ron. Honestly, I always thought friends didn't keep secrets from each other," Ginny spoke flippantly, before standing up. "Do you know that neither of you asked how Ron was doing? How he has managed over the summer? Let me give you a hint: he hasn't gotten more than 3 hours a sleep since the Department of Mysteries incident, his brother has just revealed himself to be a kidnaped-at-the-age-of-three former torture victim of Lord Voldemort's, his friends don't trust him and he's possibly going out of his mind with things he doesn't like to call visions. Do either of you care? Because you two were all that was on his mind all summer. Worrying about you two. I'd expect this out of Harry, but not out of you Hermione," Ginny argued, her brown eyes sharp and angry.
Hermione ran out of the room and shut the door. She looked down the corridor and made a decision to go down the stairs. Sure enough, Ron sat in the kitchen, watching sugar fall into his cup of tea. After the fourth spoonful, he gave the tea a spin and took a long sip. "You're going to rot out every last one of your teeth," Hermione pointed out from the doorway. A small smile crept on Ron's face and he took another sip. "I didn't like keeping secrets from you, Ron. I just thought the less people who knew, the safer my parents would be." Ron gave her a pointed look. "Unless... oh. You weren't talking about that, were you?" Hermione took a cup from the stack on the counter and poured herself some tea. She dumped some milk in and added half a teaspoon of sugar. She blew over the surface before taking a sip.
"I'm not going to be defenseless again, Ron," she said suddenly. Ron didn't look up. "Not only am I the brains behind Harry Potter, but I'm muggle-born. They sent threatening notes to my house, they killed my cat, Dolohov would have killed me if I hadn't silenced him. I can't... I won't be in that position again. And if I have to kill every last Death Eater to do it, then so be it." Hermione's face was carefully devoid of any emotion, her brown eyes hard. "You've stooped to their level... hey! I'm only joking!" Ron put his hands up as Hermione's look became murderous. "Fight fire with fire," she said simply. Ron gave her a searching look before shrugging. "I'm not going to argue with that. Plus, it'll be nice to see you kick a little more Malfoy arse," Ron smiled. Hermione gave him a half-smile in return and sipped her tea. "I don't suppose you're going to let me in now, are you?" Ron turned to face her, his smile falling. Hermione's eyelashes fluttered gently on her cheekbones and her eyes were warm and inviting. Ron closed his eyes. "They aren't visions. I don't know what they are. I'll tell you the same I told Ginny- I just don't know." Ron's tone of voice brooked no further discussion on the subject. Hermione, respecting the finality, reached over from her seat and hugged his shoulders, burying her head on top of the right one. "If you ever need to talk about them, you know I'll always listen. I just don't want them to consume you," she spoke into his arm. Ron flushed a brilliant red. "It's okay, Hermione. I'll... I'll try. They are hard to explain... but I'll try." Ron put his arm around her and rubbed her back in gentle circles.
Harry slumped on the couch. "Everything I do is wrong it seems," he said pointedly and Ginny plopped down next to him. "Well... yeah. Pissing off Neville, pissing off Hermione, now Ron. I'd hate to think you were doing this on purpose, one of those "I need to rid myself of friends, they might get hurt" things," Ginny replied dryly, giving him a cold glance before focusing her attention on the door. Harry's look turned sullen. "What would you have me do Ginny? Percy was right, I'm going to hell and I'm taking you all with me. Something's gotta give and I'd rather..." Harry stopped and looked at the window. "Sometimes you are the thickest person ever. Let's think this through. You drop all of your friends. Then you drop all social interaction period- wouldn't want to get any new friends, they'd be in danger. You live in your room, study more than Hermione and when the time comes, you've got nothing to fight for. No one to rely on, no one to share your burden with. You slowly go mad, become self-destructive. See where this is leading?"
Harry's ears turned red and his eyes narrowed. His fist trembled as murderous intentions began to surface at Ginny's glib commentary. "Oh, I dare you to hit me," Ginny leaned over and hissed. Harry's look turned shocked and he leaned back further in the couch. "Consider this your wake-up call, Harry. I know... I know you're the only one who can kill Voldemort, but for Merlin's sake, let us be there for you." Ginny got to her feet and kissed the side of Harry's head. "Do you want the last word?" Ginny asked him as she stood near the door. Harry looked at her carefully, trying to divine some meaning. He looked down at his hands and back up at her. "I just don't want to take you over the edge with me," he said timidly, and suddenly he was eleven again and under the thumb of the Durselys. Lost, lonely and sad. "One man taking 4 people over the edge? Last time I checked you didn't weight as much as your cousin Dudley," she replied sadly. "I guess I get the last word," she added and shut the door.
The door swung open and clicked tightly behind him as Harry swept into his bedroom. He collapsed on the bed, faced down and spread-eagle on the covers. Harry lay motionless on the quilt for several minutes, struggling to breath through the pillow, his glasses cutting into the corners of his eyes. Ginny's words echoed in his mind; Harry tried to clear his mind of them. Ginny was right. Harry, if he really thought about it, was probably more angry at the fact that he had been seen through so easily. At the present moment, however, he was trying his hardest not to think... and acting out the anger of the permanently misunderstood teen.
He cleared his mind of his thoughts, pitching himself into mental darkness. Shades of black and gray purveyed, swirling down the path Harry knew led to Voldemort. It was tempting to fall through it, to see how far the rabbit hole went. Overwhelming. Intoxicating. He had to be in control, he had to follow. He let himself be sucked through the dark wormhole into his mind, his scar being tugged from the inside. Pounding against the wall into His head. All he needed was a single gap, a small hole with which he could slither his way through. Punch through. Beating his head against the wall. And then, shady light.
"My Lord, I don't suggest release for Alexander. He's too unstable, we can't trust that he won't slaughter the first person he sees," a smooth voice explained carefully from under a black robe. "Dispose of him- a loose cannon is of no use to us," the words echoed from Harry's mouth. "My Lord, the Institute is impenetrable- there is no conceivable way..." "Conceive a way, or you will find yourself disposed of as well. You live only as long as you are of service!"
Harry slammed back into his body, sweat soaking the pillowcase. He jerked his head up, his glasses sliding down from the top of his nose. Ron sat beside him, a cup of tea steaming on the bed table. "You're getting better and better at this Occlumency thing. Learn anything interesting?" he asked, taking the tea cup off of the wood and handing it to him. Harry turned over and sat up against the headboard. He looked at Ron critically before taking the tea and sipping at it. Two sugars, milk- perfect. "Shall I call Dumbledore?" Ron asked, starting to stand up. Harry shook his head. "No... not just yet," Harry said. Ron sat back down. Harry grimaced and then began to recall his voyage into the Voldemort moment. At the end, Ron clapped him on the shoulder and gave him a comforting smile. "You stay here and drink your tea. I"ll go break the news," Ron said softly, getting out of the wooden chair.
"I know I don't say it enough, but thanks Ron." He gave Ron a bit of a grin. Ron looked a sight embarrassed. "I'm here for you anytime, you know that," Ron replied, turning towards the door. "That's what scares me. That you won't be," Harry remarked hoarsely. That spun Ron on his heels. "Harry, don't be daft! Of course I will," Ron responded, his brown eyes concerned. "But you might not be. It terrifies me that I'm going to be the death of you," Harry nearly yelled, his green eyes scared. Ron took a step back. "I am going to be the death of me, Harry, not you. You take on too much responsibility, and you've got enough of it to deal with if you hadn't noticed," Ron pointed out, the lopsided grin in full force. Harry glared back at Ron. Ron softened, looking a bit put off. "Look Harry, you have to do what you have to do; I understand that. In the end, I know it's going to be you and him. But I'll help get you there if you let me," Ron said honestly.
Harry looked down at his knees, pulling them up to his chest. He took a sip of the tea and stared into the depths of the cup, trying to garner some sort of guidance from it. "Do you think we have a destiny, or do you think we choose our path in life?" Harry asked, turning the cup in his hand. Ron frowned and bit his lip- in that moment, he looked so much like Percy, Harry had to smile. "I think the path we choose IS our destiny- we just don't know it yet," Ron answered after some time. Harry cocked his head at the answer, letting it soak in. "I never thought of it that way," he said finally, putting down the tea cup. "Stop getting so philosophical, Harry. Crikey, you're worse than Hermione sometimes," he joked before leaving. Harry rolled his eyes and picked up his tea cup. He downed the cup and decided to go downstairs.
When Ginny came downstairs to get some tea, she found Hermione, Ron, Percy and Esme laughing all over the table. "I know, I know! I couldn't help it, I was really, really drunk and your brother was very persuasive," Esme laughed and blushed. She looked up and caught Ginny's eye. "Hey... have a seat," she said and the rest of the group turned to look at the newcomers. Ginny slid over and took a seat between her and Percy. Esme lifted the top off of a bottle of Butterbeer and slid them down the counter top. "I mean, I was nothing compared to Bill. Ripped his shirt off in the middle of his song and got the strands tangled around his legs and he tripped and fell off the stage. Completely unconscious, it was hysterical!" Esme continued the story. Ron slid his chair back from the table and with a strange look on his face, poured a cup of tea from the stove in a tea cup and walked out of the kitched. "I can't believe you knew their brother," Hermione exclaimed, watching Ron leave with a strange look on her face. "After I graduated from NA Prep... er... North American Preparatory for Magic, a friend of mine got a job working in Egypt as a curse breaker for Gringotts and so we all went out to visit him and there was a bloke that worked there by the name of Bill Weasley. Lots of fun, that bloke," Esme explained, a reminiscent gaze to her. Ginny giggled.
Suddenly, Molly peered into the kitchen and sharply called out, "Percy!" Percy looked startled, but managed to get out of his seat and go over to his mum. She pulled him out of the room and into the hallway. Conversation died out as the five of them strained to listen to the conversation. After a few moments, a crash echoed down the hallway, causing the portrait of Mrs. Black to start up. Footsteps trunched down the hardwood away from them, in theory going to stop the incessant squealing of "blood traitor" and the like. But the door creaked open slowly and a very pale, very gaunt Percy stumbled into the room, collapsing against the wall. He slid down the wall deliberately, his head slumped on his chest. Esme was down in a flash with Ginny. "JJ?" Esme asked tenderly. He looked up into her eyes and there were tears in them. "My ex-girlfriend... Penny. They found the Death Eater sigil over her house. Her parents...she... everyone's dead. They left me a note," Percy answered tearfully. His hand unclenched around a slip of parchment. Esme plucked it from his open hand and she unfolded it. In loopy cursive it read:
"Oliver is next. Charles will follow. The longer you hide, the more people we will kill."
Author's Notes: I got a few cries of confusion about the last chapter, so I ask that if you were confused, please review and let me know so if I meant to say it and didn't, I can clarify. Thanks for the reviews Silver Mirror, DB. and vez! Sweet!