For the story to make a little more…sense…there will be asterisks (*) next to the places where one author finishes writing, and the other picks up the pen. Ah, the randomness of Round Robins…^.^
CHAPTER TWO
The Malfoy Manor loomed into view. Inside, Lucius Malfoy and Draco Malfoy were in their large dining room.
"You WILL join my Lord!" roared Lucius.
"Never!" Draco Malfoy stated proudly. * "Never will I think of NOT joining! The Dark Lord will stay in power forever!"
"Of course!" said Lucius, satisfied. "I knew you were always a clever boy!" He smiled, then cocked his head at the door. He led the way into the dungeons of the Malfoy Manor, where they housed prisoners. Draco caught his breath—he'd never been there before, and it was unlike anything he'd imagined. Small elves—not house elves, but genuine elves—guarded the cells. They never would have listened to Lucius, but he held them imprisoned by the iron collars on their necks. Not much to look at, but they were vicious little things when provoked. It was only the perky little thing about food—they were so picky!
As if reading his thoughts, Lucius said, "Yep, there they are, and they're pretty good as guards, too. Smarter than that idiot Fudge anyway—he would have had us use pixies! Pixies!"
Draco snorted. "My left shoe is smarter than Fudge," he said in disgust. But just then Lucius opened the door of the last iron-clad cell. Draco's breath caught, for inside was…
*Percy and Severus Snape sat back-to-back, gagged, and bound with iron and rope. Draco stared; he had never seen such a pair before.
"Sir! I mean…you…" Draco's eyes widened.
"Yes, boy. A bloody traitor, the coward!" Lucius Malfoy cackled evilly. "The Weasley boy will have his uses too, of course." He spat at their feet, and then pulled out his wand.
Draco fully supported his father, but doing anything to Severus Snape would hurt his chances of getting anywhere at Hogwarts. "Father, don't you think we should…I—I mean…" he faltered under Lucius's glowering stare.
"Draco, you will no longer be attending Hogwarts. I suggest that you leave. Supporting the Dark Lord requires more of you; your petty reputation will not interfere with the Dark Lord's plans, or my own. Is that clear?"
Draco smiled widely. This was what he had dreamed of since Lord Voldemort's return. He would no longer have to listen to that pathetic Headmaster. And, the next time he meets famous Harry Potter…
Draco grinned in malice. "Of course, Father." He left the dungeons, laughing as he thought of various ways to get back at Harry Potter for his last attack on the Hogwarts train.
Lucius Malfoy rolled his eyes and turned to Severus Snape. Poor Percy Weasley was left stunned; unconsciously, he drooled on Snape's right shoulder. Snape wrinkled his nose in disgust.
"Mmmph! Grgggmph!" growled Snape.
Lucius Malfoy laughed. He pointed his wand straight at Snape's heart. Lucius opened his mouth and…
*Whoosh…
A fluttering sound moved past Lucius, his wand still outstretched.
"What the—" said Lucius, confused. He turned around and yelped.
Draco was bound, with great dollops of red bruises patching his forehead.
"Do you have the fever, little boy?" crooned Lucius. He walked to Draco. "I don't understand though…"
"It's Fever Fudge mate!" called out a voice.
Lucius spun around. Fred and George, along with Percy and Snape, were all pointing their wands at him.
"Don't tell me you've never heard of our shop!" said Fred.
"Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes," continued George.
"Go tell the Dark Lord, Lucius," said Snape softly, "tattle on us…"
And with another whoosh, they all apparated in front of Grimmauld Place.
Moody, seeing them with his magical eye, swung open the door and the four visitors huddled inside.
"Thank God," said Dumbledore, "what happened?"
"Well, Lucius was about to kill me when Fred and George apparated in and caused a diversion."
Fred and George both produced evil grins.
Mrs. Weasley had run over to Percy and had given him a hug. Then she drew back and said, "Wait…"
"I'm a part of the Order now, Mum," said Percy, "I staged that whole thing with Dad because I knew you'd never let me join…"
Harry frowned, "But, that letter that you had sent Ron last year…"
"…was warning you of Umbridge's announcement," finished Percy. "Do you really think I could have warned you with…words of warning? With Umbridge reading the mail…"
Harry's conscience rose. Percy the spy, he hadn't seen that coming…
*At that moment, Minerva McGonagall and Ron entered the room.
"If Percy can be in the Order, can't I?" said Ron.
McGonagall shook her head. She turned to Dumbledore. "I forgot to give this note to you…It's from Lupin."
Everyone looked eagerly at Dumbledore as he uncovered the note and began to read it. As he read, his face showed signs of empathy, sadness, and disgust.
"What does the note say, Albus?"
*Dumbledore simply shook his head. "Apparently, Mr. Potter's young cousin has come to an early demise through overeating," he stated. He tried to make his voice terribly sad, but still sounded even more unconvincing.
Fred and George burst out laughing. "Oy, mate, Harry's gonna love that! Butt-ley ate too much and exploded!" They grinned at each other and continued to laugh.
"Fred! George!" cried Mrs. Weasley. "That is inappropriate behavior!" However, she wasn't nearly as intimidating as usual, due to the fact that her voice was trembling with badly-suppressed mirth.
"It's okay, mum," said George, "nobody's depressed about this news!"
But Dumbledore's eyes were now grave, missing his habitual twinkle. "On the contrary, Mr. Weasley, this means Harry will no longer be able to be protected and hidden away over the summer. The secret and magical protection was keyed to young Dudley, in the expectation that he would outlive his parents. As that is not the case, the Death Eaters will easily be able to find and harm Harry. He cannot go back to the Dursley's, but he cannot stay at Hogwarts over the summer either, because there are no professors there to supervise him. We must devise a new protection, and a new magical hiding place. He, like Ron and Hermione, can't stay at Grimmauld Place indefinitely either—the Order members will leave for their respective missions."
He paused, and everybody took the time to marvel at how he could talk for so long, seemingly without drawing a breath.
Suddenly, there was a noise coming from the ceiling, as if someone was pounding on the roof. Bewildered, as Grimmauld Place was unplottable and unfindable, everyone turned to each other with identical expressions of worry, *while Fred and George turned to each other with expressions of fear. They looked at the others and Fred quickly said, "Erm, we'll go and see to that."
A/N: If you actually read both the first two chapters, Chocolate Frogs for you! *showers candy* Now, review! Tell us…did the story even remotely make any sense? If it does, please tell us, we'll be more than happy to correct that.