Chapter 18
"Shite", whispered Hermione in a soft voice. Immediately she got on her feet and brushed the leaves off of her dragonhide pants. Looking over for the briefest second, the look on Tonk's face seemed to say, It could happen to anybody. A second later, everyone froze. The sound of the front door of the cottage being unlocked could be heard.
Harry and Susan were standing stone still thirty feet from the front door. They had a good angle and good sightline. Harry had his wand pointed at the door, Susan's at the window. Umbridge opened the door and took half a step out to get the owl. Just as she was reaching for the owl, she realized that it wasn't Fudge's. Harry's aim was true. As she was taking a step back to slam close the door, she was slammed backwards from Harry's spell.
Tonks and Hermione ran to the door, while Susan kept a watch on the window and Harry on the door. Tonks and Hermione got to the door. There was no movement. Hermione put the maniacals on Umbridge and was about to activate the port key. Tonks stunned her again for good measure.
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Inside the cottage in the bathroom having just turned off the shower, Bellatrix Lestrange heard Umbridge fall at the door. Quickly putting on a pair of slippers she grabbed a wand and took a look out the window. She saw the indistinct shapes of disillusioned forms run by and she apparated to the front yard as Hermione activated the portkey with Umbridge.
Remus saw the naked form apparate a step behind Harry. Bellatrix aimed her wand at Tonks. "Avada Kedavra." As the words were leaving her lips, Susan ran into her full force. Harry spun around, and in the same reflexive action that he had taken with Kreacher, Bella's head left her body.
Tonks seeing the jet of green light shoot towards her dropped to the ground, hitting the side of her face on a bowling ball sized rock. Blood was everywhere. They'd only brought one portkey this time. Harry ran to Tonks held her as tightly as he could and vanished. Remus ran up picking up the severed head, and vanished along with the others.
"POPPY!!!" yelled Harry appearing in the portkey. Blood was everywhere. He placed his palm over the gash to slow the flow as best he could but it wasn't working very well. Pop, Pop, POP, Pop the others appeared. "Ginny get Pomfrey, now!!!." She ran into the house as fast as she could.
There was a large pizza sized pool of blood on the garage floor when Pomfrey arrived. Immediately opening her bag, she opened four bottles of blood restorative potion and gave them to Susan to pour down Tonks' throat.
Taking Harry's hand off the wound, she was immediately sprayed with the young Auror's blood. She cast a spell to temporarily stop Tonks' heart and in seconds the spurting stopped. Poppy immediately repaired the artery that had been severed, and counted to ten to let it heal before it would accept pressure.
She cast another spell to restart her heart. Within as few seconds blood began oozing from the wound again, but at a much slower rate. Dumbledore apparated to St. Mungo's and gathered several more mediwitches and four more units of blood restorative potion. Within three minute he would be back.
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Meanwhile Susan had poured the last of the potions down Tonks' throat, but it was obvious that what Pomfrey had brought wasn't nearly enough. Tonks was beginning to convulse when they heard the POP, POP, Pop, Pop, pop of Dumbledore and the mediwitches.
"Hand Susan the potions," commanded Pomfrey imperiously. The Mediwitches who had all been students of Pomfrey were amazed to see her out of the castle, and complied immediately. Susan, poured the fifth unit down Tonks' throat.
One of the mediwitches saw the severed head, and immediately was violently ill. Another fainted. Susan poured the sixth unit down Tonks' throat. She would gag when she had been filled up. Poppy had never used more than four units at a time before.
Dumbledore looked at the scene and noticed that the pool of blood was nearly the size of a door. Susan began pouring the seventh unit of blood replenishing potion into Tonks. Dumbledore requested that one of the mediwitches go back to St. Mungo's and return with more.
As Susan was half way with the seventh unit, Tonks' heart stopped. Poppy knew the incredible risk of casting a second heart starting spell in such a short period of time. Hermione began a chest massage that her parents had shown her. She told Harry to begin mouth to mouth.
Twenty seconds turned into thirty seconds, which turned into forty seconds. Tonks convulsed, and Hermione felt her heart restart. Harry blew a last breath into her mouth and felt her cough.
Pop, POP, POP. Kingsley, Hestia, and Amelia had arrived. Seeing everyone there soaked in blood, Amelia was immediately light headed. Kingsley luckily caught her and gently set her down. Seeing Umbridge move slightly Hestia stunned her again.
Dumbledore gave Remus another portkey and asked that he and Hestia collect the rest of Bellatrix. POP, Pop, The mediwitch and another came back with four more units of blood restorative potion.
A minute later, four of the mediwitches took Tonks away to St. Mungo's. She was in a coma, and needed the facilities of the facility. They wouldn't know her fate for at least a few hours.
POP, POP. Dobby and Winky appeared. "Harry Potter sir, what are wrong with eaches of you? Is you hurts?" The little elf was hysterical.
"Dobby, calm down," said Harry. "Where are the Grangers and the Weasleys? We need to go in to get cleaned up, and I don't want them to see us like this."
The little elf was so relieved to see that Harry and the others were Ok, he'd have done anything for him. "I's will lead thems up to the study and seal the door. Yous all run in, and Winkys will clean things up. Gives us two minutes." POP, POP.
Kingsley took the portkey with Umbridge and Belatrix's head to the holding cell. He would be back in a few minutes.
Winky opened the back door and the teens ran into the house. Five minutes later, they were showered and changed into clean clothing. Dobby had collected their bloody things, and then Winky cleaned the tracks that had been made on the floor.
The teens ran back out to the car park. A minute later, Dobby unsealed the study door, and the four parents came out of the study muttering about the strange little elf.
Meanwhile Dumbledore had filled Amelia in on the basics of the operation. She immediately returned to her office to bring a group of Aurors over to the cottage in Yorkshire. She left telling Dumbledore that he hadn't heard the last of this.
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Remus and Hestia apparated to the cottage. Somewhat surprised that no one else was there, they took a look inside the cottage. Umbridge had clearly been living there for some time. There was a single spare change of clothing for Bellatrix. Hestia conjured a body bag, and they placed the remains in the bag and sealed it. Hestia had placed the wands that she'd found in a bag marked evidence, and they left.
Seconds later, they were back at the garage. Hestia thanked Lupin and she took the body bag back to the holding cells.
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At St. Mungo's things were not going well for Tonks. After an hour, her heart had stopped again. She had to be respelled to get it going again. She was still in a coma. The Healer in charge of her viewed her prognosis as grim.
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At noon, Delores Umbridge was finally revived. She had been searched, and found herself with her ankle chained to a wall in a holding cell. The attendant who'd searched her and placed her in her cell wouldn't sleep well that evening.
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Back at Grimmauld place, Molly and Arthur had been convinced to escort Dan and Emma to the construction site. Dan who had been getting a bit restless insisted that he drive, which was fine with Arthur who sat in the front seat asking an endless stream of questions.
While they were gone, Harry, Poppy, and the others went back to their rooms and cleaned up properly. A half hour later they met Dumbledore, and Amelia in the library. For a half hour the teens took turns telling their parts of the story. Initially Amelia was somewhat angry. Halfway through, the anger turned to admiration, which turned to absolute awe as she came to realize how well planned and executed that the capture was. She was amazed when Susan told of pushing Lestrange to have her curse go astray, saving the life of Tonks. When Harry told her how he'd double apparated Tonks to safety, she was amazed. Not more than one in several hundred witches or wizards could double apparate someone.
Amelia reminded them that they'd broken several laws during the day, including trespassing. Harry countered that they'd received written permission from the property owner. Amelia was about to argue with him, when Harry took out his bank draft book, and confessed to illegally apparating Tonks. "Director Bones, I fully admit that I double apparated one time today and I only have a single apparation license. What is the fine?"
"Mr. Potter in lieu of a fine, I will request that you go to St. Mungo's tomorrow, and spend the day with Auror Tonks. Miss Granger, for endangering the life of an Auror. I will request that you pay for dinner this evening. Susan, for administering blood replenishing potion without a permit, I will request that…" She couldn't keep a straight face any longer, and began laughing. "I am so utterly proud of each of you."
Dumbledore said, "Indeed, they have done well this summer. Director, I believe that my Apprentices have other responsibilities to look after and will leave the further capture of the Death Eaters this summer in your capable hands. As it is Friday, I think an evening out will definitely be in order. I believe that it is Miss Weasley's turn to select the venue. Minerva and Poppy both said that they could come this time. The Apprentices do have some last minute shopping to do tomorrow, and as soon as they are done, I'm certain that Mr. Potter will go to St. Mungo's and sit with Auror Tonks. I am requesting that they arrive at the castle no later than noon on Wednesday the 28th. I would like Harry to arrive a day earlier, as he also has other responsibilities to look after."
Dumbledore was ecstatic that Bellatrix had been defeated. In many ways he saw her as being nearly as big a threat to ordinary witches and wizards as Riddle himself. He pulled out a list that had the books and materials that they would need and handed it to Harry.
Amelia said, "It will be several days before the news of Umbridge's capture and LeStrange's defeat will be announced. I ask that you please do not tell anyone at this time. Please don't say anything about the cottage or Fudge either. Please tell Mr. Lupin the same thing. I need to assess Fudge's involvement and take appropriate action."
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Hermione was sitting on the floor when Harry found her several hours later. She'd been crying for at least an hour. Harry sat down next to her and held her hand. "What's wrong Mione?" he asked.
A flood of tears fell on Harry as Hermione buried her face into His neck. Harry put his arms around his friend, and held her for a minute. "There's nothing to be ashamed about. You lived. I lived. Ginny and Susan lived. I'm sure that Tonks is being well cared for. There was no way to have known for sure that Bellatrix was in the cottage with Umbridge. Mione, it could have been loads worse. She could have cursed you or me or any of us before we'd seen her. It was her bad luck that she never learned to apparate properly." He held her for a few minutes.
Finally Hermione looked up and said, "Thanks Harry. You always take good care of me. I really appreciate it but Harry can you leave now please?"
Confused, Harry asked, "Sure. What's up?"
"I want to get ready for dinner. Everyone's going."
Harry went back to his room and opened his dresser. He took eight small boxes out of his top dresser drawer, and placed them in his robes pocket. At ten minutes to six Susan came down to the entertainment room. Amelia, Molly, Arthur, Minerva, Poppy, Remus, Dan and Emma were already there. A minute later, Ginny and Hermione came down. The teens looked gorgeous.
Harry took the little boxes out and gave one to each of the women. "I had these made for each of you, and thought that this would be a great time to give them to you. The women opened the boxes. They contained the diamond stud earrings that Mundungus had made for Harry weeks before. They were undeniably beautiful. Harry received eight hugs as the women each excused themselves to put them on.
They took a portkey to The Pointed Hat in Kent. Dinner was kind of quiet. There were big secrets between the different people. Harry invited both Dan and Emma as well as Molly and Arthur to stay at his home as long as they liked. The Grangers' home would be done about the middle of October, whereas the Weasleys were just starting to consider what to do. After dinner they all walked around the area for a half hour. The weather had cleared, and it was a delightful evening.
After they got back, Molly and Arthur asked to speak with Harry in private. Harry was somewhat nervous, not knowing what they wanted to talk with him about. Stalling, Harry thought of Winky and the little elf appeared carrying a tray with a bottle of the Napoleon brandy, glasses, tea, and two butterbeers. After they had each found something, Arthur said, "Harry we would like you to have this back. Harry recognized the small case as the Gringotts key case that he'd given Ron. A moment later, Harry realized that they weren't just giving Harry the box, rather the contents of Ron's vault.
Before Harry could protest, Arthur continued, "Harry, Ron didn't make a Will, but we're certain that giving this to you would be consistent with his wishes." He forced the case into Harry's hand.
Harry came back, "Mr. And Mrs. Weasley please don't do this. I honestly don't need the money, and there are better things to do with it. Please consider doing one or all of the following instead. First, it might be good if there was a fund set up to create emergency portkeys that would transport witches or wizards to a safe place, like the Leaky Cauldron. At a galleon each, 5,000 Galleons could just about cover it, and make a great remembrance for Ron and Luna. Another idea would be a Quidditch fund for purchasing school brooms for all of the houses. I'm sure that Ron would like that. Last, please use most of the money to rebuild your home. Home meant so much to Ron. He talked about it all the time. Please do those things instead."
There were tears in Molly's eyes. "Harry, we love you so much. You've been so good to us." She pulled Harry into a smothering hug.
Harry hugged her back. "Mrs. Weasley, I could never repay the kindness that you've shown me over the years. Thank you." She accepted the box back from the man that she desperately hoped would become her son in law.
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Harry woke up at two the next morning. Susan and Hermione were both sleeping on the floor by the sofa. Ginny was curled up next to him. It felt comforting to have the three women near him where he knew they were safe. The rhythm of their breathing indicated that they were all sleeping restfully. Yet he felt like he was missing something.
An image of a nine year old Tonks flashed into his mind. Harry dismissed it as a cute thought. He worried about his big sis so much, hoping that she'd be OK. He dozed off. Suddenly his scar hurt as bad as it ever had. Riddle was at the cottage, and found Belatrix's things. He left the cottage and it exploded into flames. He apparated to the cottage next to it. A moment later it was in flames, and the next and the next. A car drove nearby, and he banished it into the sea. Villagers were running up to see what was going on. Soon they were screaming. Harry was screaming too.
"Harry, Harry, wake up." The three women were shaking him. Each was wrapped in a blanket. A moment later Mrs. Weasley was there asking what was wrong.
Susan said, "We heard him screaming and came in to see what had happened." Harry ran into his bathroom and was sick. A minute later the entire house was up. Harry was still in his bathroom sitting on the slate floor. He slowly got up and ran cold water on his face. How many people had he killed? Harry wasn't sure that he wanted to know.
Harry, may I come in? It was Arthur. He opened the door and helped Harry clean himself up. "Molly, could you get a set of clothes for Harry?" A moment later, the door opened, and Molly handed Arthur a set of boxers and a sweatshirt. He set it on the floor by the sink. "I'll let you get yourself changed Harry." We'll be outside if you need anything.
"Please ask Ginny to get my cell phone Mr. Weasley." Arthur left, and Harry removed his soiled pajamas. Ginny knocked on the door and handed Harry his phone. She squeezed his hand and closed the door.
Harry called Amelia and explained to he what he'd seen. Within minutes, six Aurors and twice as many Obliviators had been dispatched to Williston Road in Yorkshire. Harry opened the bathroom door and found his room empty. Hermione had quietly vanished the extra blankets.
Harry's mind thought back to his early summer conversation with Madam Pomfrey'
"I know this much Harry - We are at war. People die in battle…I am suggesting that you leave the blame for their deaths on the shoulders of their killers where it belongs"
The war was not over. It was still heating up. They could take away Riddle's followers, but he would find others, or do the killing himself. He had to be stopped.
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As the teens and the Weasleys were having a noisy breakfast the next morning, Emma came in carrying Hermione's dragon hide armor. "Hermione, what's this?" An uncomfortable silence fell over the table.
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