Heather couldn't open her mouth.
"Your father?" Dumbledore asked quietly. "Kevin?"
Elyse nodded silently.
"Where did you find him?" Heather choked. "I thought he disappeared after you were born."
Elyse sighed as memories flooded to life in her eyes. "He did leave. I got word he was being held captive in the U.S.A. I went over there, of course. I so wanted to find him. He… he was indeed being held captive, but it was a trap. The… the people holding him had hoped I'd bring you and Katie so they could hold us as hostages on the British Ministry. I… I got so angry that it had all been a trap." She winced. "I killed them. I killed them all. I remember… one man pleaded with me to spare him, but I was so angry at them for holding my father for so long, for wanting to keep me and my friends as hostages…. The look on my father's face as he watched me murder them all…." She broke out in sobs.
"You got your father out of there," Dumbledore quietly helped her on.
"Yes," Elyse said through tears. "I put the bubble on him, but I was so flustered already at what I had done. He put that spell on me to calm me down, but it calmed too much. I lost thought of what I was doing, and the bubble disappeared. We… we were far above the clouds, to avoid being seen by muggles. I was so calm, I didn't react in time, and he was near the ground before I'd even remembered he couldn't stop himself…."
Heather put a comforting arm around her friend. "I'm sorry, Lyse."
Elyse just cried into her arm.
Dumbledore looked up, and Harry saw the merest trace of a tear. "You didn't say anything?"
"No," Elyse sobbed. "I didn't want anyone to worry about me. They already thought he was dead, after so long. I didn't want them to know… to be watching me every moment… because it was my fault he…."
"That's why," Heather said quietly when it was clear Elyse could say no more. "That's why you were especially worried at Katie being taken. You thought someone was just trying to reach you another way."
Elyse nodded through tears.
"I'm sorry, Lyse," Heather said again, putting her head on Elyse's shoulder.
"Sorry, Elyse," Harry whispered. "I know what it's like to lose a parent."
Elyse nodded to Harry.
"We're almost there!" Riles called, then caught the look on Elyse's face. She gave Harry an inquiring look, and he mouthed "later".
Elyse wiped her tears away. "C'mon. We've got a job to do."
Heather helped her up. They turned and watched ahead of them as the Bryth came into view.
Harry saw few differences between it and the Shrieking Shack. It was one-story, looked lifeless, and unmistakably haunted as a great howl came from somewhere inside. A piece of wood fell from the house as they landed, giving the unwelcome feeling that was sure to be expected.
The bubble disappeared around them as they hit the ground, leaving the students and few teachers free to move about as they pleased, though no one moved more than an inch. They all looked at Harry, waiting, it seemed, for him to tell them what to do.
Harry looked at the place, thinking. When Ron had spoke of it, he'd given Harry the impression of many stories. Now Harry was quite unsure of what to expect, despite the frequent illustrations Ron had put in Harry's mind.
"Well…" Bunny asked, "what are we waiting for?"
"For something to happen," Harry muttered. "It's too easy, to just walk right up."
"No it's not, silly!" Bunny exclaimed. "Watch me."
She walked past Harry and towards the front of the house. This seemed oddly familiar…. Bunny was nearing the beat-up door, when it clicked.
"Bunny, no--"
But she'd already knocked on the door, just like Katie had done at Malfoy Manor.
There was absolute silence so that you could hear the bartender's loud shoes as he neared the door, muttering to himself, an odd clank after every step. He opened it and Harry was strongly reminded of Alastor Moody, minus the blue eye. The man had scrapes and permanent lines from muggle surgery all along his face, where one of his ears was missing entirely. He had a wooden leg, similar to Moody's, but his was painted black. He was dressed in mostly brown, very scruffy clothes, like a well-worn cowboy outfit.
He looked at Bunny with a dirty look and gruffly asked, "What?"
Bunny smiled innocently. "Hi! Is Voldemort here?"
The man looked at her. "What?"
"Is… Vol… de… mort… here…?" Bunny asked slowly.
"J-just what are you…?" He looked around at the people behind her. "Oh, yes! You're expected! Come in, come in, he's been waiting…." He bowed her inside.
Bunny smiled knowingly at Harry again as she stepped aside, and Harry stepped up. "Er… thanks."
"Of course, of course…." the bartender said, moving over for the others to come in as well. "My name is Derrick. If you need anything, my precious Nundu will be sure to quench your problem…." He smirked. Neville shivered but walked on.
"Oh, Harry, we have to go," Vikki said oddly. "We'll be right back."
"O… kay…" Harry said, from inside the Bryth. He rather hoped they'd hurry.
All eight Secret Students sped off at a fast pace to Harry's left without an explanation to their abrupt decision to abandon them.
Finally, after the students had walked in, only the four teachers were left. They were about to enter, but Derrick stopped them. "No adults allowed!" He slammed the door in their faces with a look that suited a Death Eater.
Everyone grew wide eyes at this. They looked at Harry, and he gave them a 'we-can-do-it' nod of assurance as he felt butterflies in his stomach. What would they do without Dumbledore?
Harry looked bleakly around at their new surroundings. Something along the lines of the Hogs Head, Harry saw a set of stairs in the corner, and nudged Ron, pointing toward them.
"That's what I said back at the common room!" Ron said. "You probably didn't hear me, it was when I was ranting about waking up at five in the morning once, I said something about it. On the outside, it doesn't look it, but on the inside there's tons of stories!"
Harry was rather confused for the majority but understood the last sentence. A door slammed shut behind them and Derrick came into view. "Go on, make yourself at home… indeed…." He snapped his fingers.
All at once over two dozen people in black cloaks Apparated into the room. Derrick smiled and said something about galleons before hurrying behind the bar to watch the fight.
The D.A. had their wands out almost immediately as the Death Eaters, as Harry rightly assumed they were, had theirs out when they Apparated. No one moved for a moment. In a split second the Death Eaters had charged forward, firing spells at random in the hope of hitting someone. Voldemort had prepared for a lot of people, it seemed.
Harry ran after one, but five were already coming at him. He fired the Stunning Spell, then the Body Freezing, and then the Stunning Spell again. A random Impediment curse hit Harry and he was momentarily shocked, giving the Death Eaters the upper hand as he couldn't move.
A Death Eater grabbed Harry from behind and carried Harry up the stairs without notice from the others, who were deep in battle with the Death Eaters, and putting up extraordinarily good fights.
"HEY!" Ron shouted, racing after them as a crash came from downstairs--Harry vaguely saw Hagrid force open the door.
The Death Eater following Harry grabbed a flailing Ron and carried him up the stairs, too.
Harry was carried thrashing up the stairs, as he regained his mobility. The Death Eater set him down and put the Body Freezing spell on him, making Harry fall flat on his face. Ron was set down next to him and Harry vaguely heard the same spell put on Ron.
The Death Eaters moved something big as a loud scraping noise echoed around the room eerily, the sounds of the many battles still going on downstairs. The moving stopped just behind Harry and Ron. The two Death Eaters picked up Harry and Ron and said the counter curse, then shoved the two backward. Harry and Ron flew back, and were surprised to hit two chairs. One Death Eater muttered something incoherent and ropes flew around the two of them, tying them to the chairs.
"Well, Potter," said the Death Eater Harry recognized with anger as the hood was lowered. "we come bearing gifts."
"Indeed," said the second, lowering his hood. Again, Harry recognized him with fury.
"Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange," Harry said mockingly. "What are you doing here?"
"You know my name!" Bellatrix shrieked. "Lucius, I'll be so famous! The Harry Potter knows my name!"
Harry glared daggers at her.
"Potter," Lucius continued, smirking, "the Dark Lord has a message for you. He predicted you would come with friends, and has limited this down. You may bring one person--one other, willing-to-die-as-he-surely-will person--to come with you to the correct place where you will find your pathetic little friends."
Harry tried to kick Lucius for his comment on Hermione and Katie, but his feet were tied too.
Ron looked horrified. "H… Hermione and Katie aren't here?"
"You caught on!" Bellatrix said, looking delighted.
"I can assume you're taking this freak with you to the place you are to find them, correct?" Lucius drawled.
Harry glared daggers at the man, the only thing he could do. "What if I bring more?"
"Then the Dark Lord has made it clear that he will kill the two girls himself," Bellatrix said, smirking at just the idea.
Harry glared at both of them, then let out a small, "Yes."
"Oh, good, that makes life so much easier," Lucius said swiftly.
"You'll need to go to the caves," Bellatrix said, reeling off the information from memory. "In the mountains by that absurd school. There will be one with red paint in the top right-hand corner. That's the cave you'll find them in. You'll also find it rather… difficult to get through. I must say, the Dark Lord will be very disappointed to find if you've made it out alive…."
"Oh, that's just what I want to do!" Harry said mockingly. "Make the Dark Lord happy!"
"I certainly hope so," Bellatrix said softly. "I, personally, would be terrified to get on his bad side…."
Footsteps came from the stairs.
"Ta ta," Bellatrix said with a smirk before the two of them Disapparated.