Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling, we all know this. I make no money from this story or any other story, so please don't sue.
Warning: All kinds of spoilers! There is a ton of violence and a little swearing. You have been warned.
Just thought I should mention, this story assumes you've read the other books so I don't go into long descriptions of characters that JKR has already described, to avoid being repetitive. Good idea? Bad idea? Let me know!
Thank you Azarius, for your review, and Society too of course! More reviews are always welcome!
In Fire Lies Redemption
By Marz
Chapter 2
Rest without Peace
As he ran into the kitchen he bumped into the table and three surprised people looked up as their drinks splashed over. He stopped as if just noticing them. His eyes were wide and his hands shook.
"Is something wrong Remus?" asked Molly Weasley, as she dabbed at the table with a napkin. Though usually the definition of organized, Remus looked as if had just woken up, after being thrown out of a window.
"I have to, its, its, I had a..." He could not seem to form a sentence. His mouth began to work soundlessly.
"Have a drink then." said Tonks offering up a tanker of mead.
"No I can't." He took a long deep breath before asking "Has Marcia Count reported anything strange today?"
The three other members of the Order of the Phoenix exchanged concerned looks. Marcia was one of the most recent additions to their group. She had been sent to watch over Harry Potter incase he left the protection of his house. Her shift had started two hours ago. Molly looked at the disheveled man for a moment, then stood up.
"Remus, dear why don't you sit down for a moment and tell us about it?"
"I've just got a very bad feeling. Does anyone have a linked mirror? I dropped mine in the hall." Remus said, still standing.
Another round of concerned looks were exchanged. He's coming apart, thought Tonks as she reached into her pocket. Poor bloke isn't himself anymore. "I'll check in with her. Marcia Count." she said clearly into the surface of the mirror. For a moment the vapor of her breath obscured it, then evaporated to reflect her own face. "Oh hell."
The other members all tried their mirrors to no effect.
"I'll get Dumbledore." said Dedalus Diggle. A moment later he disapparated from the kitchen of 12 Grimmauld Place.
The rest of the Order raised their wands in silent agreement and transported themselves to Number Four Privet Drive.
**********
"Mrs. Dursley I must speak with your son. The sooner I do that, the sooner we will leave." Remus had managed to calm himself in the twenty minutes it took to put memory charms on the police and send them on their way. Mrs. Dursley had been less then pleased with his arrival and gave a very brief synopsis of the incidents of that evening. She did not seem to know much. Her nephew had been shot and there was a mess in the kitchen. Her son had been threatened and attacked. An ambulance had taken Potter away. She did not know where, it had gone before she arrived. The boy was alive last she heard. Remus wanted to grab her shoulders and shake her.
Molly and Tonks were searching the neighborhood for Marcia. He was glad Molly had not come inside. His eyes strayed from Petunia Dursley's pinched angry face to the dark stains that crossed he floor and counter tops.
"You're not getting anywhere near my son. That. That old," she paused, recalling the reaction of other wizards to the defacement of Albus Dumbledore, "man promised we'd be safe here if I took that boy in. He promised your kind couldn't come near us. They were in my house! They attacked my son! That boy is never coming back here!"
"Mrs. Dursley if it were up to me Harry would never have to see you again, but that is not something I control. I can tell you, however that Harry will not return here until next summer at the earliest. I need to know which hospital he was sent to. If Harry dies in the time I've wasted here, trying to be civil, you will live to regret it"
Mrs. Dursley actually took the time to consider her options. Fear of magic did not cow her the way it did her husband. "You may speak to him for five minutes, and then you will leave or I will summon the police again."
Remus nodded and followed her into the living room where her husband and son were occupying the sofa. Vernon Dursley looked at him with equal parts fear and anger, but for once did not speak. He exchanged glances with his wife, who jerked her head sharply.
"Dudleykins," she said softly, "Which hospital did they send him too?"
Dudley Dursley seemed more confused then usual, and for once he was not trying to hide from Remus, despite the fact that he was dressed in wizards' robes, with his wand in hand.
"They didn't tell me." He said quietly. He continued before Remus could interrupt. "She said she would call when they got there."
"Who's she?" Vernon asked sharply.
"That crippled girl, the one that lives on Rosewood Lane. Don't know her name, she went in the ambulance. She didn't want him to go by himself."
"What was she doing here?" demanded Vernon. "Is she one of them?"
Dudley shrugged. "Don't think so. She and Potter hang around the park, with her dogs. He must have invited her over. She tackled the blond boy with the gun, I told you before dad."
Vernon muttered something about not hearing that part. Remus' mind whirled. Harry had not mentioned any new friend in the letters he sent, but it seemed unlikely that a muggle girl was in any way connected with Voldemort. But even if she is trying to help we can't afford to wait for her call.
"Do you have a listing of local hospitals?" Remus asked.
Petunia looked incredibly put upon, but went and fetched a phone book. She held it out to him with the very tips of her fingers, as if afraid of contamination. He flipped through it, quickly finding the section he needed. As she glared intensely, he tore the pages from the book, and tossed it back to her. "Thank you Mrs. Dursley. Hopefully we will not see each other again." He turned to leave.
"Wait!"
He turned slightly wary as Dudley stood and searched his pockets. The rotund teenager withdrew a long piece of slightly scared wood, and gave it to Remus.
"Thank you." said Remus with actual sincerity as he accepted Harry's wand.
As he walked through the kitchen and out the back door he cast a cleaning charm. Harry's blood was not something they could afford to leave lying around. Tonks and Molly were waiting outside with Harry's trunk and owl cage, as well as another small black box. He recognized the box, and knew what it would contain.
"She was in the side yard. They threw the invisibility cloak over her, but the blood soaked through, else we might not have found her," said Tonks quietly. She carefully put the box into her coat pocket, then shrunk Harry's luggage and put that away too.
"Where is Harry?" asked Molly her voice shaking with anger and anxiety.
"They don't know. There are four hospitals in the area. We need to dress as muggles, and find him as quickly and quietly as possible. Apparently there is a muggle girl with him; they referred to her as crippled. Molly, can you get Fred and George to help us search?"
"Of course, I'll be right back." With a flick of her wrist and a loud crack she was gone.
"Was it bad in there?" asked Tonks.
"There was so much blood I can hardly believe he's still alive, but he would have said something if…" Remus trailed off.
"Who would have said something?"
"Nothing. Never mind."
They waited the next few minutes in silence. Then the air was split with not three, but four resounding cracks. Molly, Fred, George, and Ron Weasley stumbled a bit as they landed. Molly looked more then a little furious and Ron was equally red in the face.
"Didn't know you were licensed to apparate Ron." said Tonks.
"He isn't and if he leaves an arm somewhere he is walking back to get it." said Molly. Ron just shrugged.
Remus handed out the pages from the phone book. Fred and George took the first, Molly and Ron the second and Tonks the third. With a final blast of noise the wizards abandoned Privet Drive.
********
Ron was trying very hard not to stare. The large room was absolutely horrifying. People hunched in uncomfortable orange plastic chairs, trying to fill out huge blocks of paper work. Some seemed barley able to write. Others held towels to bleeding wounds or attempted to protect injured limbs from the doctors and paramedics rushing dizzily about the crowded space. Everyone edged away from an old man whose cough sounded very contagious. A woman was wheeled through on a stretcher, moaning, and disappeared though a swinging double door. It was like some Dark Age torture chamber. Ron pulled on his mothers arm and they advanced a few steps towards the front desk. They had been in the line half an hour and it was a quarter more before they reached the secretary. The fat, worn looking woman handed them a clip board and forms and tried to wave them aside.
"No wait!" said Ron as a man with an obviously broken arm tried to get around them. "I'm looking for someone."
"I can't give out information about a patient unless you are a family member with written proof of kinship. Please step aside." said the woman in a toneless voice.
"His name is Harry Potter. He was shot. Please we just need to know if this is the right hospital. His fool cousin didn't ask where they were taking him." said Mrs. Weasley.
"I can't give you information about a patient, please step aside." said the woman with no more expression then before.
"Well he might not be a patient. Why don't check on your little computerizer and tell us if he's not a patient, then we can go look else where." Molly Weasley was growing steadily more red as she spoke. And though Ron knew a temperamental explosion would not help the situation, he also knew he would be shouting right along side his mother if this kept up.
"Please step aside or I will call security."
"You do that!" Mrs. Weasley began, when someone suddenly tugged on her elbow. She and Ron both turned to see a short teenage girl with disheveled brown hair and a bruised face. Her clothes were splattered with blood, completely soaked red at the knees. Ron gapped in ill concealed horror, as she pushed her hair behind her ear. All of her fingers were only an inch long, each ending in puckered scar, as if someone had just chopped them off right before the first joint. Only her thumbs were still in tacked. She did not seem to notice Ron's blatant discomfiture.
"Did you say you were looking for Harold?"
"Harry Potter?" Ron asked hopefully.
"He's in surgery right now." Both Weasleys blanched. Seeing their fear she tried to reassure them. "The doctors said he was going to be fine. He lost a lot of blood, that was the biggest danger, but they gave him an I.V. in the ambulance and he woke up for a bit, though he wasn't really lucid. He kept trying to talk to a dog that wasn't there. Sniffles I think he called it. They did a quick series of x-rays and ultrasounds. The bullet punched a hole in his stomach and nicked an artery. There was some other little stuff, but they should have him sewed up and cleaned out in a couple of hours."
They stared at her for a moment in confusion, so she attempted to clarify.
"They had to clean out his chest cavity, the space between the organs, because a bunch of stomach acid had leaked out in there. He can't eat anything solid for a few weeks but they said he'll be all right, if there's no infection that is, but they're very clean here, so that probably won't happen, and he'll be given anti-biotics anyway."
Ron interrupted. "Excuse me, but who are you?"
"Oh oops. I forgot. I'm Joan Madison." She held out her hand, and Ron took it very carefully. It was not even half the size of his own.
"I'm Ron Weasley and this is my mum. I go to school with Harry."
Mrs. Weasley seemed too shocked to speak, but shook the girl's hand.
"Mum why don't you call everyone, we'll wait here. Alright?" His mother nodded numbly and walked out the door.
"Why don't we sit down somewhere?" asked Ron.
"I was in the student observation room. They've got a camera hooked up to the operating room. There are some chairs and you can watch the doctors working."
Ron did not know if he really wanted to see, but he needed to sit. Apparating left him very dizzy. He nodded and followed her though a side door. She walked with strange wobbling steps and her legs emitted an unnerving creaking sound, as if they were in large part metal. A series of wide screen televisions lined the walls, but only one was turned on. The blue tinted light showed men in white suits and face masks all leaning over a red square of wet looking stuff in the middle of pale white, all surrounded by blue sheets. The men were stabbing and prodding the red area.
"See they're stitching up the front of his stomach now, they've done the hole in the back already. That's Doctor McAllen. He's the one who let me in here. He removed my appendix when I was twelve, and there's hardly any scar. See?"
She lifted up the edge of her shirt to show a thin white line. Ron stumbled to the waste basket in the corner as his dinner returned.
"Oh." Joan said guiltily, "I'll get you some paper towels." He heard her creaking away. She returned a moment later with paper towels, a glass of water, and the Order of the Phoenix.
Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Mad-eye Moody, Bill, Fred, George, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley, Hestia Jones and Kingsley Shacklebolt marched into the tiny room. It became very crowded.
"…not feeling well. Some people just don't do well in hospitals I guess." Joan was saying to Mrs. Weasley, as she handed the things to Ron.
The wizards and witches all looked at the television screen in shock.
"Good Merlin!" said Hestia, pressing a hand over her mouth.
"That's Harry?" Ginny moaned.
"For gods' sakes, some one scourgify that." growled Moody, pointing at the waste basket Ron was huddled by.
"There's a muggle here Mad-eye." muttered Kingsley.
"And there's a smell. We'll deal with her later." He flicked his wrist, muttering and the basket vanished.
Joan stumbled over what she was saying to Remus as the spell was cast, but continued talking.
"…and the door was just hanging open, so I walked up, and I was going to knock, but I heard someone talking, saying 'you're going to die,' and I thought it might have been the T.V., but I wanted to be sure so I went in. Then I heard the gun go off. I was going to call the police, but then my braces creaked and I hid because I heard them coming out of the kitchen. They went back and I followed them, and hid in the hall. That blond boy, he was making Harold crawl around on the floor, and there was blood every where. That boy said if Harold could stand up they wouldn't kill Dudley, and Harold did it, but then the boy said it didn't count and he walked right by me, and I didn't think there would be another chance so I jumped at him. It got a little confusing after that, and everyone was fighting, but I stabbed the blond boy with a piece of something off the floor and got the gun away from him. I ordered them all to stand in the corner, and Dudley went to call the ambulance, and..." she paused giving Moody an odd look from across the room. "The blonde boy grabbed something from his pocket and they all disappeared. Then the ambulance came and here we all are, so that's it I guess."
"Thank you for telling us. Thank you for helping Harry." Lupin said, shaking her hand, and giving Bill Weasley a little nod. Joan was about to say something else when Bill touched the end of his wand to her temple and she collapsed into his arms. Hestia conjured up a couch and they set her to the side.
"Thank Merlin," mumbled Ron. "Its great that she saved Harry but I don't think I could stand another minute of descriptions of muggle surgery. Doesn't know when to shut it, that one."
"She's probably nervous." said Ginny, whose eyes were glued to the glowing television.
"Never mind all that we have to get Harry out of there!" cried Mrs. Weasley. "He's being butchered!"
"Molly if we interrupt them it will only get worse." Remus said, though he too was struggling to keep still. "Muggles are always doing this sort of thing. The girl was telling us Harry would be fine in a couple of weeks."
"A wonder full expert on healing she is. Look at her Remus! She can barely walk. She's got no fingers! That could happen to Harry."
"We're letting them finish Molly." said Kingsley. "I'm half blood. My muggle mother had surgery to deliver me. She was fine after. It's primitive and leaves nasty scars, but Harry will be alright." Kingsley's voice calmed everyone in the room. "What we have to worry about is the fact that Harry is no longer under his family's protection or any magical protection at all. A few of the crueler dark tracking spells could find him easily. I've cast a muggle repelling charm on the door of this room so it will be our base within the hospital. Since Diggle has made no contact, we must assume Dumbledore has not been informed. I need every one who's trained for it to come out side with me right now, so we can cast and anti-apparation wards over the building. Moody, do you see any trouble yet?"
"No lad, but that doesn't mean there isn't any."
"Let's move people. Come along Molly."
The room cleared quickly, leaving Ron and Ginny with an unconscious muggle in an eerily quiet room.
"She said Harry thought he was seeing Snuffles." Ron said quietly. "Do you think maybe it was a real Grim?"
"Don't say things like that. Harry will be fine. If You-Know-Who couldn't kill him a little piece of metal won't."
"And a little baby couldn't possibly hurt You-Know-Who."
********
His eyes could not adjust to the light. No mater how much he squinted, his surroundings remained blurry shadows. The only thing he could definitely make out were the shiny reflections off the dogs eyes. It rested its head on his leg and stared at him. They sat together in the indistinct space, surrounded by silence. Every so often a point of light would appear off in the distance, and the dog would growl at it. The dog would not let Harry investigate.
"I can't just stay here forever Snuffles." Harry said as the light became visible, off to his left this time. "That could be a way out." The dog growled. The light blinked out.
Why didn't he turn back into Sirius? Harry wanted desperately to talk to him, to ask him how he got here, and if he knew how to get out, if he was angry that Harry had gotten him knocked through the veil. "Maybe that's not Sirius" whispered a little voice in the back of his mind. But it has to be. Harry though.
The light appeared again, directly ahead of him.
"I'm going to go look." He announced to the dog. It growled as he stood then whined as he got with in a few yards of it. It was a circle about a meter across. Close up it looked like a fogged up window and he could see something moving on the other side. The dog barked furiously as Harry put his hands in front of himself and pushed on it.
The darkness tore itself apart. Tiny scraps of shadow fluttered out of his vision as he landed in the living room of the cramped filthy apartment. With a resounding crack two robed figures appeared in the room. One moved to his right. The other took up her familiar place at his left. Though she was covered entirely from head to toe he could tell she had a look of intense anticipation on her face. The door knob rattled. He waved his hand and muttered a few words.
The battered door swung open and a short unkempt man slinked into the room. A strong stench of liquor accompanied him. He looked about warily with droopy blood shot eyes, but saw nothing. The man walked toward the stained couch but suddenly stopped short. He jammed his hand into his pocket. Before he could arm himself a blue light struck him in the chest and a high cheerful voice filled the room.
"Mundungus Fletcher, you have information for us." said Bellatrix Lestrange, as the invisibility spell was lifted.
To his credit the smuggler did not scream, or wet himself, or even flinch as the Dark Lord appeared before him. Perhaps he was too surprised.
"I've got nuthin' fer the likes a' you." Fletcher said in a steady voice.
Harry Potter watched, trapped inside the monster's head as his former guard uttered his last coherent sentence. Lestrange cast a curse, a strange muttered spells that caused smoke to pour from beneath Fletchers' cloths. He howled in agony. The skin on the right side of his face turned to powdery ash.
Harry had not paid much attention to his Occlumency lessons, so he did not have any idea how to get back to his own body. If he could warn someone maybe Mundungus could be saved, but then he saw the dog in the corner. Like a pitcher of ice water thrown in his face, his memories returned. I was shot in the stomach. I was lying on the floor of the kitchen. Then a thought more horrible then the memories surfaced. I could be dead and stuck here in the back of his mind. What if he notices me again? Harry flinched, and tried to think quietly, but he was not sure if that would help. Mundungus screamed again. I have to do something. Maybe I can… The screaming stopped.
Voldemort spoke. "There are three muggles coming to the apartment. Do not reveal yourselves until I command you."
The two Death Eaters nodded and vanished. Though Harry could not be certain from his perspective, he thought Voldemort had become invisible as well. A scratching sound came from the lock in the door, and a moment later it sprang open. The knob turned slowly and the door opened a sliver. A little mirror was held through, swiveling about to check the room. It was removed and three men entered, closing the door behind them. All three were wrapped up in long coats and hats, despite the summer heat. They all looked at Mundungus, lying still in the middle of the floor. The tallest of them had a scarf wrapped around his entire face and head. Only his eyes were left showing, with black paint smudged around them and over the lids. He spoke and Harry realized he was a she.
"Look carefully. Don't touch anything unless you have to," she said. The two others nodded, and went to search the kitchen and bed room. The woman knelt by Mundungus, and put a gloved hand to the side of neck. Skin and ashes crumbled off, and he jerked slightly. His eyes opened.
They stared at each other and Harry could feel Voldemort's eagerness. He was certain the dying man would reveal something.
The woman leaned forward and whispered into his decomposing ear. "Do you want this to end?"
"Mercy.." Mundungus gasped.
The woman's hand disappeared into her coat. So quickly Harry could barely follow the motions, the woman put a gun under his chin and squeezed the trigger. There was a flash of light and Harry screamed. Voldemort did not seem to notice the second voice in his mind. Drowning rage washed through him. The woman was blasted into the air by an unspoken curse and slammed into a book shelf, which toppled onto her. The two other men ran into the room. Both had guns, but they died in a flash of green light before they could even aim. Voldemort waved his wand and the woman rose into the air. Her feet kicked and her hands scrabbled at her throat, as if there were an invisible rope around her neck.
"Imperio." he hissed. "Tell me why you are here."
The steely expression in her eyes flickered for a moment. Then they were vacant. "I am looking for the stolen ones. I heard there was one of your kind here."
Harry could see Voldemort's red eyes reflected in the women's blood shot hazel ones.
"Pointless." he hissed. He raised his wand and suddenly the woman's clothes were a blaze. She kicked as she hung in the air burning. She did not scream. The rest of the apartment was catching too. Bellatrix cast the dark mark, and it hung glowing in the center of the living room. The two Death Eaters looked at him in terror, knowing his anger was not yet sated. They raised their wands and disapparated. Voldemort was about to do the same, but stopped suddenly.
"Potter." he hissed.
Harry tried to go back into the dark empty space, but could not find it. He buzzed about like fly trapped in a jar. The black hatred in Voldemort's mind closed in around him as he mentally scrambled for a way out. Sirius help! He thought as suffocating darkness fell upon him. Barking was the last thing he heard