Chapter Two

Back to Number Twelve

Only someone who has felt the Cruciatus Curse before can truly understand the pain that accompanies it. Two minutes under Crucio seems like an hour. Parts of your body feel like a white-hot iron is slowly burning them. It was an experience that Harry would have liked to forget. But now it was fresh in his mind and he was reliving the pain through the excruciating screams that echoed inh his mind. Immediately Harry began to question what he had just experienced. Why had he gone looking for her? What did he possibly think that he would accomplish? But when he really thought logically about it, Harry knew.

Neville had become increasingly more confident thanks to the help of the DA. He was really starting to show that he was a more than capable wizard and he had been right at Harry's side last year at the Department of Mysteries. Bellatrix Lestrange tortured Neville's parents to the point of insanity and there was no doubt in Harry's mind that Neville had been feeling the same thirst for revenge that Harry had been feeling all summer. The logic of a wizard Neville's age with his ability going after an accomplished and evil witch alone was not a concept that many people would be able to understand. But Harry could understand and he admired the courage of poor Neville. No one would ever doubt his place in Gryffindor House again. Harry new the rage that Neville was feeling, the problem, was that Neville acted on it too early. Harry quickly thought to himself that he would not make the same mistake.

The next thought in Harry's mind was to contact the Order. He was fairly sure that no one else would have the information that he now had so he looked for a piece of parchment and a quill so he could quickly fire off a letter to Dumbledore. However, before he could Hedwig pecked him in the leg and with a swish of her head aimed Harry's attention toward the clock on the wall. It was 5:30. Mr. Weasley would be here shortly and he would know who to contact. With that Harry took his trunk and Hedwig and began to maneuver everything down the stairs to await Mr. Weasley's arrival.

About 40 minutes later Harry was pacing around in his room trying to make sure that he left nothing behind when he heard the distinct sound of the doorbell ringing about fifty times in succession.

"What in the bloody hell is all this racket about?" Harry heard his uncle scream. "When I find out who disturbed me from nap I'm going to cut of their sodding finger". This last comment made Harry chuckle quietly to himself. He knew that the only person that would take such liberties with a doorbell would be Mr. Weasley because he was so fascinated by all Muggle things, and he also knew that Uncle Vernon was likely to swallow his tongue when he saw Mr. Weasley (especially after the debacle in his 4th year when Uncle Vernon's fireplace was destroyed).

"What is it?" Uncle Vernon yelled as he opened the door.

"Good Evening Mr. Dursley, it's nice to see you again," Mr. Weasley said as he extended his hand out. Mr. Weasley had obviously attempted to dress like a Muggle but would probably have stood out less in his wizarding robes. He had on a pair of jeans fully equipped with cowboy boots, a red vest, and a big ten-gallon hat. He had most likely come across an old American western movie on the telly and figured that this was a common fashion for Muggles.

The look on Uncle Vernon's face was priceless. His eyes rose in surprise as if he had just seen a ghost, and his mouth opened wide enough to accommodate a scream although no sound came out. He immediately closed the door in Mr. Weasley's face and turned toward the stairs.

"Why didn't you warn me that that freak family was coming here to pick you up?" Uncle Vernon demanded. The vein on the top of his head was now emerging and Harry could see that the best thing would be to just leave quietly.

Harry grabbed his trunk and started to pull it towards the front door hoping that he could leave without even acknowledging his uncle. However, Mr. Weasley had no intentions of letting such behavior go unrewarded. The next thing Harry knew the door was magically flung open and Mr. Weasley stood staring at Vernon with such fury in his eyes that you would have thought Vernon just killed his first born.

"You are not welco—," Uncle Vernon started to say before a very quick flick of the wrist took his voice away completely.

"There is no reason to be so rude Dursley." Mr. Weasley said in a soft tone that Harry would not have thought possible having seen the ferocity revealed in his face. "We'll take Harry's things and leave quietly, but remember that Harry is your family and one never knows when he will need his family."

Mr. Weasley grabbed an end of Harry's trunk and led him through the front door leaving Vernon still trying to scream his head off futilely. Harry thought he heard a shriek come from his aunt as the door closed behind them.

"Not to worry Harry, the spell will wear off in about an hour," Mr. Weasley exclaimed with a chuckle.

"Who's worried?" Harry responded lightheartedly.

Mr. Weasley quickly transfigured the trunk so that it would it was small enough to fit in his pocket and then he placed a cloaking charm and himself and Harry and explained that they would be flying to a forest about 10 miles away where they would be able to take a portkey to Grimmauld Place.

"You have your broom Harry?" he asked.

"Yea, right here" Harry responded

"Then let's be off," said Mr. Weasley with a hint of excitement in his voice.

It was actually a very nice end of July night. The air was a little cool as the two wizards ascended higher into the sky but it was not at all uncomfortable, as it had been flying to Grimmauld Place last year Harry thought to himself.

"It'll really be a quick flight," Mr. Weasley yelled to Harry in the air. "We just need to get away from protective charms that Dumbledore put up around Privet Drive."

Harry had not flown on his Firebolt in quite a while and it felt good to rush through the air with the wind flow quickly through his hair. Flying had always come very naturally to him and the weren't many things that relaxed him more.

"We're going to set down right past those trees up ahead," Mr. Weasley yelled so that Harry could hear him.

Harry nodded in acceptance but before he could even shift his eyes forward again his body went limp and pain rocketed through his scar. It seemed that with all the excitement of the interaction between Mr. Weasley and Uncle Vernon, Harry had completely forgotten about his first objective, Neville. But he would not forget again. This time he could see the face of Neville. His eyes were blood shot and his screams were enough to make the bravest of men fall to their knees. Harry knew he had to snap out of it but the pain was too great and he began to fall rapidly toward the ground. Luckily, Mr. Weasley had seen what was happening and was no slouch on a broom himself. He swept down quickly and positioned himself under Harry to grab him as he came in contact with the broom. The impact was more than Mr. Weasley had expected. Apparently he hadn't taken notice of Harry's more developed frame. The combined weight of the two jerked the broom down and almost caused Mr. Weasley to fall. Cautiously he directed the broom down to the ground and began to call to Harry hoping that he could snap him out of whatever trance he was under.

But, Harry could not see anything but the face of Neville writhing in pain. He could not hear anything but the screams and pleas of his housemate that begged for the pain to stop. Then in a swift moment the pain stopped and Harry looked up at Mr. Weasley who was starring at him with an appearance of concern and shock.

"It's Neville Mr. Weasley," Harry said with a look of intense concentration in his eyes. "Voldemort has him".

Mr. Weasley visibly cringed at the sound of that name, much like Ron usually did. But he quickly regained his composure and nodded solemnly to Harry. Many people refused to believe Harry when he had visions of Voldemort's activity, but Mr. Weasley would never doubt Harry for a moment. After all, Harry had seen a vision of Mr. Weasley being bitten by a snake at the Department of Mysteries last year and had saved his life by getting help there quickly.

"Grab your broom Harry, the portkeys just ahead." He finally replied. "We need to get to Grimmauld Place"

Harry noticed that his broom had come down about thirty yards away. He quickly jogged over to get it and noticed that the broom had handled the fall quite nicely. It still looked brand new without a twig out of place. He acknowledged to Mr. Weasley that he had it and quickly followed him into the forest. About twenty yards into the forest Harry saw an old rusted lunch bucket on the ground.

"This is it Harry, we'll grab it on the count of three" Mr. Weasley said with a sense of urgency in his voice.

"One, Two, Three." As Harry's hand touched the lunch bucket he felt the familiar feeling of something pulling at his navel and he felt as though he had been launched through space and was being pulled viciously toward a light up ahead. The next second his feet had slammed into the ground right in front of Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Harry quickly got his wits about him and followed Mr. Weasley through the front door.

Grimmauld Place had definitely gone through some significant changes since Harry had last stepped foot inside it. At the beginning of the summer Dumbledore had informed Harry that per Sirius' wishes, everything that he had (save some mementos which went to Remus Lupin) now belonged to Harry including Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Harry had then informed Dumbledore that Grimmauld Place should certainly still be used as the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix despite the change in ownership and assured him that any changes that he deemed necessary would be acceptable. And with one look inside, it was clear that changes had been made.

The place had been brightened up a bit for starters. The wallpaper that was once black and peeling had been redone in a golden color with red stripes. The carpeting was now a very deep red and the chandelier which was once in the shape of a serpent had been taken down and replaced by a new one that Harry felt reminded him of something he had seen at Hogwarts. Harry also noticed that many of the serpent shaped artifacts that had been around the house had been replaced with lions.

"Harry dear, we are all so grateful that Dumbledore allowed you to join us." Mrs. Weasley said happily as she grabbed Harry into a big bear hug. However, with an intuition that only a mother could have she pulled away from Harry and looked between he and her husband. "What is it?" was all she could say.

"Harry had a vision through his scar" Mr. Weasley explained. Harry was grateful that he had left out the part about falling off his broom, as he hated having people get carried away with worry at his expense.

"Oh my, what is it Harry?" Mrs. Weasley cried. She had a look of desperation in her eyes.

"I saw Neville, and I felt him going through a lot of pain" Harry said trying to stay as calm as he could. "I believe that Voldemort has him"

Mrs. Weasley gasped quickly and a look of anguish came over her face. It was difficult for a mother to hear that a child was in the hands of such evil people. "Don't worry Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley replied trying to sound as comforting as she could. "A meeting of the Order is just about to begin, we will tell everyone of your vision and I'm sure immediate action will be taken."

"No it won't." said a voice emerging from further down the hallway. "You also said that Voldemort had Black which led to his death and put many people in extreme danger."

Severus Snape gilded right between Harry and Mrs. Weasley and engaged Harry in a stare down that lasted about a minute before another word was said. Harry noticed that Snape looked more pale and sickly than ever. He had bags under has eyes which made him appear as though he had not slept in weeks and Harry noticed that he had marks on his neck that looked a lot like rope burns.

"We will inform the rest of the Order and then begin an investigation into this matter." Snape said with a cringe.

"He doesn't have that much time!" Harry screamed. This rise in tone visibly frightened Mrs. Weasley as Harry noticed that she jumped about two feet in the air. "Are you just going to let him die?"

"If you would ever think about anyone but yourself Potter, you would have learned Occlumency and thus would not be having these visions." Snape said in a very controlled but angry voice. "Now we do not know when you are seeing what is really there or when The Dark Lord is making you see what he wants you to. I would have thought that you would have learned your lesson by now." With that Snape stalked out of the hallway and into a door on the right, which Harry assumed, was now being used for meetings.

"Professor Snape has a point Harry." Mr. Weasley said with a look of trepidation. "We will discuss this with the Order and contact Dumbledore. Just sit tight for now, no one wants anything bad to happen to Neville."

"Why don't you go upstairs Harry?" Mrs. Weasley chimed in. "Ron and Hermione are eager to see you and we can all discuss this after the meeting."

Harry nodded and headed upstairs to find Ron and Hermione. He was still angry and as much as he wanted to hate Snape for what he had said, there was some validity to his statements. Harry had unnecessarily led a lot of people into the Department of Mysteries last year and had consequently helped contribute to Sirius' death. But Harry was tired of blaming himself for the actions of Voldemort. The one good thing that had come from his time at Privet Drive this summer was that he had a lot of time to think. Harry realized that it was Voldemort and not he who was responsible for Cedric's death, and it was Voldemort that was responsible for Sirius' death. If Harry was ever going to avenge the death of his godfather and countless numbers of people that Voldemort killed, he knew that he would have to stop feeling sorry for himself and start focusing on the task at hand. He would finish the job that he started when he was just an innocent baby.

As he neared the end of the hall, Harry heard voices that he knew to be his friends. He opened the last door on the right and found Ron, Hermione, and Ginny carrying on as usual. Ginny had apparently just hexed Ron because she and Hermione were pointing and laughing at him and Ron was shouting about how he would get her back. Harry could not help but laugh when he saw a horn growing out of the top of Ron's head.

"Oh quiet down Ron, quit being such a baby." Ginny said in a sarcastic tone that only served to fuel the fire that was obviously burning inside Ron. "Serves you right for grilling Hermione about my love life. Who I go out with is no concern of yours"

"I just wanted to make sure..." Ron tried to argue but was immediately cut off.

"Harry, you're here." Hermione yelled excitedly as she jolted across the room to embrace him in a hug.

"Hey mate." Ron turned and smiled at Harry and offered his hand for a shake.

"Uh hi Harry." Ginny said without making eye contact. She was turning a shade of red that was about the same color of her hair and was embarrassed about Harry stumbling upon a conversation about her love life. She hoped that he didn't notice.

"When did you arrive?" Hermione said. With a quick flick she had removed the horn from Ron's head and was trying to change the subject as quickly as possible to spare Ginny from any further embarrassment.

"There's not time for that right now" Harry spat out urgently. "I had a vision through my scar and I saw Neville. Voldemort has him and he is going to kill him if we don't act fast."

"Have you told the order Harry?" Hermione replied urgently as she rose to her feet.

"Yes but they said that they have to discuss and investigate it before they act because of what happened the last time with my vision of Sirius." Harry tried to explain.

"Well they really do have a point Harry." Hermione began. I told you that you should learn Occlumency so that you stop having these visions. We don't know whether it's real this time or if Voldemort is just trying to..."

But Harry didn't let her finish.

"I know that logically they are right Hermione, but I know that this is real." Harry responded. "It's not just a vision, I can feel Neville's pain and I have to do something about it." "If the Order does not act tonight, then I will"

This comment sent a shiver through the other three. Ron and Hermione exchanged a look of concern for their friend whose face showed nothing but pure determination. They both tried to find words that would explain to Harry what a dangerous proposition he was suggesting. But neither of them could speak and the room was silent until a voice spoke up from the corner.

"you can't go..."