Chapter 20: The Good Fight
It had been a couple of weeks since the assault on Malfoy Manor and it looked as if everything had calmed down. Harry was pleased with the results; he had expected Voldemort to launch a new attack as a form of retaliation. Now all that was left to do was focus on his studies and wait for more news. No one had gotten any word about the Order of Merlin; the group just assumed that the Ministry didn't see it fit to give it to them.
Before he knew it, the list of students staying behind for the winter holidays was circulating through Hogwarts.
"Hey Ron, are you doing anything this Christmas?" Harry asked when the list reached him during breakfast.
"Not that I know of," he said.
"Do you think you could come to Grimmauld Place?"
"No doubt! My mum loves it there!" Ron said.
"What about you, 'Mione?"
"I'd be delighted to go," she said.
"Hey, whatever happened to your parents? I mean, are they still living there, or what?" Ron asked.
"No, they found a new home for us, but they don't want me living there yet. At least not until the Aurors make it safe," she answered.
An owl carrying a large package landed in front of Harry. Harry knew what it was; it seemed like an eternity since he had sent the request to them in Hogsmeade.
"What's that?" Ron asked.
"Present," Harry said, glancing at Hermione. He quickly took the package and sent the owl on its way. There was a letter tied to the top; Harry opened it and read it under the table.
Mr. Potter,
Page 2980 is where we placed the article. I hope it suits what you had requested. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.
-Diane Fleming
"Jeez Harry, all this secrecy! What did you get her?" Ron asked. "Or maybe I don't want to know!" he joked.
Everyone was looking forward to the winter holidays, Harry in particular. Even though he was doing well in school, he was still exhausted from it. On the day the train would be taking the students home, Harry woke up bright and early. He, Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Hermione patiently waited in the Great Hall with the other students to go down to the platform to get on the train.
The Hogwarts Express gleamed magnificently in the morning sunlight; Harry quickly jumped on before all the compartments had filled up. They found one right near the front, and all piled in. They talked mostly about Quidditch, Voldemort, and school; the conversations remained optimistic. It was after the food trolley had rolled around when Malfoy decided to make an appearance.
"I heard that you were the one at my house!" he said, pointing at Harry. "I don't doubt that you both were there as well," looking at Ron and Hermione. "My mum said there were a lot of students at my house that night…I want those names, Potter. Who was there with you?" he snarled. Harry looked at him defiantly in the eye. "Tell me, Potter! Tell me, or I blast you with every hex I know," he shouted, taking out his wand. Harry pulled out his wand in a second; they were now in a standoff.
"Nobody else move," Harry ordered. "This is between me and him," Crabbe and Goyle fidgeted stupidly, not knowing what to do. Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny all reached into their robes, ready to take out their wands if they had to.
"Now, Potter; I want to know who went to my private home. I want to know now. You made a big mistake in going there, and I will be sure to make you and all your little friends pay for it," Malfoy threatened, wand still pointing at Harry.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Harry cried. Malfoy became rigid as a board and fell to the ground. "You listen to me, Malfoy, you chose the wrong side for this war. Soon enough, you will pay for that decision," he said. "I will do whatever it takes to win; you can't scare me," Malfoy could only stare up at him. "Now go," Harry took the spell off him. Malfoy quickly got up from the floor.
"The day we duel, I will win," he said, and then he left. Crabbe and Goyle slowly followed behind.
"That was interesting," Neville said.
"That was more than interesting; that was awesome!" Ron said. "Aw, we should've taken a picture…" he added. Hermione and Ginny giggled.
"Honestly though, you should take his threats seriously. He learned a lot of Dark Magic from his father before he got sent to Azkaban," Hermione said.
"He got sent to Azkaban because of us! How could we not take on his son?" Ron said.
"Hermione's right," Neville said. "The Malfoy's know even the darkest of magic, a force that shouldn't be reckoned with,"
"How bad can Dark Magic get?" Ginny asked.
"Bad," Neville said. "That type of magic consumes you, the power of it is addicting. Once someone uses it long enough, it's as if they lost their soul. That magic only deals with death, it could never be used for good," Harry remember Neville's parents; tortured to insanity.
"Your parents, they fought the good fight," Harry said cautiously. He was uncomfortable with bringing up the subject, as was everyone else. Neville looked up at him and smiled.
"Yeah, they really did," he said.
"I heard they were great," Ginny added, grabbing Neville's hand.
"They were. I've heard so many stories from Gran about them. She told me about all of the battles they went into and all the Death Eaters they caught," Neville said.
"Tell us some," Ron said.
"You want to hear them?" everyone nodded. "Okay then, if you really want to. Well, my parents were Aurors in the Order. They always worked together and one never went on a mission without the other. One day, they were sent to catch one of the most infamous Death Eaters known to the Ministry: Bellatrix Lestrange. She was You-Know-Who's right hand Death Eater, the one who did most of the dirty work. My Gran told me that it was a complex mission, that if my parents failed, others would be sent in their place. It was a massive operation, multiple teams of Aurors going in together from separate places; my parents were one team. They found Bellatrix in some huge mansion out in the middle of nowhere; they went in after they informed the other Aurors of their position. Gran says they fought through dozens of Death Eaters to get to her, but when they did, she captured them. She tortured them trying to find out more about the Order and the mission; my parents refused to say anything. The other Aurors stormed into the mansion, but it was too late; my parents had lost their minds," Neville choked. "Bellatrix was caught and sent to Azkaban…but then as you know, she got out. Now it's our job to put her back in there!" Neville finished with determination.
"We'll get her, Neville, don't you worry," Ron said. "I'm in for a little Death Eater catching, and I'm sure Harry wouldn't mind getting her!"
"Yeah, I have no doubt that somewhere along the line I'll run into her. I'll catch her then, but you'll have to come," Harry said to Neville. Neville looked thrilled at the opportunity to personally catch the woman who had ruined his parents' lives.
The rest of the ride was spent on Neville telling the marvelous tales of his parents and the day that they would once again meet Bellatrix Lestrange. As the trained slowed to a stop at platform 9 ¾, Harry saw Lupin and Mrs. Weasley waiting for them. As the students got off the train, many stopped to greet Lupin, their old Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Finally, after the students had cleared, it was time to go back to Grimmauld Place.
"Hello, dears," Mrs. Weasley said. "I hope you're all doing well since I last saw you!"
"Yeah, mum, we're fine," Ron said.
"I hope all of you are doing splendidly in Defense, I would hope so, after that little attack you all managed. I must say, I'm very proud of you all!" Lupin said. They all smiled at him. "Ah, Neville! How good it is to see you again! Are you spending some of the holidays with us?"
"Yes, professor," Neville said.
"You don't have to call me 'professor' anymore, Neville. Feel free to call me Lupin or Remus," Lupin said.
"Okay pro- um…Lupin," Neville said.
"That's the ticket! Well, off we go then," Lupin said.
The trip to Grimmauld Place was by Knight Bus; they had expected that. It now seemed routine for them to get on the bus and be greeted by the clueless Stan, and then get thrown from their seats as the bus took off. Before, it was a nuisance to be rolling about on the bus's floor, but now it was rather enjoyable. When the bus stopped, it took a moment for Mrs. Weasley to gather the teenagers off of the floor; then they were hurried into Grimmauld Place.
"I prepared it for Christmas, I hope you like it," Lupin said when they entered. The group gasped in unison, the house was fabulous. It looked much more radiant than it did the year before, mostly due to the fact that it was clean. Decorations hung from the walls and lights. The paintings now had Christmas theme to them. There was a Christmas tree in the sitting room; ornaments of every color were dangling from it. There was some much tinsel hung about that it was almost blinding.
"Did you do all this yourself?" Hermione asked, clearly impressed.
"Oh heavens no! Mrs. Weasley was so kind as to help me, once she got word that she would be spending Christmas with me," Lupin said.
"It really looks magnificent," Hermione complimented.
"Thank you, dear; now all of you go and unpack!" Mrs. Weasley said. The children went upstairs to their usual bedrooms and unpacked as Mrs. Weasley had ordered. Once they had finished, they returned downstairs to the kitchen.
"So how's Percy, mum?" Ginny asked as she sat down at the table.
"Oh, he's fine. He's still living in his apartment and he's recently become a member of the Order," Mrs. Weasley said proudly.
"Really? Wow, Percy a member of the Order…never thought I'd see the day," Ron said.
"Well, you can tell him that yourself, Ronald. He's coming for dinner tonight and spending Christmas with us," she replied.
"What about Bill and Charlie?" Ginny asked.
"They can't make it, their very busy these days," Mrs. Weasley said. "Speaking of busy, your father has been working very hard these past few weeks; when he gets here, don't give him a hard time!"
"We never give him a hard time, mum!" Ron said.
"Nevertheless, let him relax; he hasn't had a day off since the attack at the Ministry," she said.
"Okay mum, okay," Ron said. The group headed upstairs to Harry and Ron's room; they really couldn't think of much to do. After tiring of conversation, they wandered aimlessly around the house, pointing out some of the more interesting decorations. When they heard the familiar pop! of Mr. Weasley's arrival home, they rushed downstairs to greet him. They stopped when they saw the look on his face.
"Lucius Malfoy has escaped from Azkaban," he said.