The Cold Nights of Power
Chapter 1:
It was a cold evening and the chill was quickly seeping through my cloak, making Goosebumps breakout over the ill-warmed skin. Shivers were silkily rolling down my spine, though few had to do with the cold. This was the worst part –waiting for the excitement to start after days, even weeks of planning. But there was little I could do. I heard a quiet pop on my left as Harry apparated beside me. Moments later Ron joined us, clutching to his chest three invisibility cloaks. We stood in silence a moment, watching the sun settle beneath the horizon. The last of the day was disappearing.
It wasn't until night had completely fallen that Ron turned to the two of us and held out his hands, an invisibility cloak in each. "They've been modified to repel simple jinxes as well as hide us." He said. "Fred and George helped me with them. I thought they'd be useful, just in case. Especially after last time…"
Ah, yes. Last time. Like we needed to be reminded. Harry looked at Ron with empty eyes, hiding the emotions he truly felt. Ron looked back with nearly the same look; around the edges you could see how much sadness and pain they were feeling. It had been hard on all of us, these past few months. Everything was a struggle for our lives and the safety of the rest of our world. But Harry especially…Harry had seen it all.
The last time was a freezing night – the coldest of the whole of October, really. But we had found one. We had found a Horcrux. It was hidden, of all the obvious places, in the graveyard holding Voldemort's father's remains. Burried, if you can believe it, inside of Tom's coffin. When we apparated on the spot we had no idea we were walking into a nest of Death Eaters. It just so happened that the night we had chosen to raid the grave was the same night that Voldemort had chosen to meet around the grave of his father.
Ironic, don't you think? As soon as the Death Eaters realized what was going on, we were in an all out battle. Luckily, we had derived all sorts of back-up plans to make sure we could call for help. I took it upon myself and alerted the Order. None of them knew why we were there, only that we needed their help. Trust me, it was very difficult to cover up for it afterwards. Awkward questions all around. It took ages to make them accept that we weren't going to tell them what was up.
But Harry still felt guilty for it. We had walked, unaware, into our worst nightmare. There was almost no way to get to the Horcrux without Voldemort figuring out what we were after. And in the midst of it all, it was a few well-aimed yet simple curses that led to the capture and torture of Charlie Weasley. Somehow, he had managed to escape, but not without having withstood a great deal of pain. He came back physically battered and frighteningly close to a mental breakdown. He had lost a lot of the original spunk and character he used to have, and had almost completely stopped talking.
And now here I was looking at the two men before, realizing just how much they had changed in all this; just how much we had all changed. It seemed everyone had that look. Everyone had the empty eyes. Everyone was afraid. Tonight, however, was not a night for fear. Tonight was a night for action.
"It won't be the same tonight." Confidence filled my voice and comfort softened it slightly. "We may not even meet resistance."
Harry looked up at me with doubt in his eyes. He was almost certain Voldemort had figured out what we were up to. I was inclined to agree with him, but I was not going to show him my own fears. We didn't need that now.
The three of us put the cloaks around our shoulders, and took one last glance at each other before nodding and putting on our hoods. Swiftly, silently, and under the cover of a dark, cold night, we slipped onto the grounds of the Riddle House to take back the thick, golden locket of Slytherin.