by FIRE
Author's Note: This is the beta'd version of chapter one. Thanks to Bill for improving it loads.
Memory's Silence
Minerva McGonagall, former Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, strolled quickly along the gravel paths of the Brothers of Freedom headquarters compound. She was heading for the training annex, where new recruits were taught all the defensive and attacking spells they would need to know in order to survive in battle. Waiting for her when she arrived were six unfamiliar faces, who must have been discovered during the most recent rescue mission, and a group of ten youngsters, who, had they not been thrown unceremoniously out of Hogwarts, would have been in their seventh and final year. It was Minerva's job to impart to these sixteen all the knowledge they would need to survive and become a valuable part of the Brothers of Freedom movement.
"Right," she said briskly, as the trainees stood to face her. "Today we'll be working on hexes and jinxes, and I will be showing you those which we have found to be most effective in battle. There is one, in particular, which I feel I must show you first. It has a magnificent tendency to panic and disorient an opponent in order for to you to either capture them, or escape from them, and while I am not as skilled in the casting of this spell as some who I have taught, I feel confident that I can teach you how to cast it proficiently. This spell is known as the Curse of the Bogies, or more commonly, the Bat-Bogey-Hex."
"Ginny Weasley," one of the students muttered to her friend.
"Yes," said McGonagall, overhearing the stage whisper. "I have never seen anyone better with a Bat-Bogey-Hex than Miss Weasley. She certainly made it her own, however I will not be expecting the standard of Miss Weasley's legendary hexing of Draco Malfoy from you today."
A small smile was tugging at her lips.
"We shall see how you all progress over the coming weeks. Now let us begin."
Harry Potter was not in a good mood.
As he left his small bungalow, he stopped to speak with a young man standing outside the door. Maximillian was a good friend as well as a proficient bodyguard. As he had expected, Maximillian told him that his top commanders were waiting for him for the afternoon's meeting.
Harry tasted bile as he thought of the previous night's disastrous events. In one terrible night, the Free Knights had been decimated. There remained the urgent question of what could be done to stabilise the situation. 'I only wish I knew,' he thought with a twist of his mouth.
He walked quickly across the gravel paths of the compound to the main chamber. It was a rectangular, wooden building and inside it was decorated only with maps and plans of Alfred Riverstein's 'secure wizarding enclave'. The maps seemed to change each time Harry visited, as the Brothers learned more information about the dictator's domain.
"Commander Potter," Remus Lupin said as Harry entered.
"Good morning, my friend," said Harry, slapping Lupin on the back. "Minerva, Tonks," he added, nodding to the women.
"Good morning, Harry," said Tonks. "So, first business?"
"The raid on Liverpool, yesterday," said Harry. "We suffered serious losses and rescued only a few people."
"It was a disaster," said McGonagall.
"Our forces are too few," said Remus. "Riverstein's forces outnumber us by at least five to one, and the more men we lose, the worse it becomes. And we can't send any more than we are doing, in case our entire force of fighters are destroyed in one attack."
"I agree," said Harry. "But what do you suggest we do about it."
"We could try recruiting," said Remus.
"I don't see how that would work," said Tonks. "I think we already have everyone we could have got by recruiting."
"There's nowhere we can go, really, to find people to fight," said McGonagall. "At least, to find people who are well trained enough to fight. We don't have the time to train a new army, and I refuse to let the students go to fight. They're far too young."
"That's true," said Tonks. "I think we're going to have to manage with what we have."
"We need more men," Remus said, suddenly animated. "Otherwise we won't be able to fight Riverstein, and he will have won. We need people to fight."
"And where are we supposed to find them?" sighed Tonks. "All the muggleborns who aren't with us are either dead or imprisoned. The halfbloods won't fight for fear that Riverstein will turn on them and the purebloods hate us. Warriors do not grow on trees!"
"Then we must raid the prisons," countered Remus. "Riverstein is crippling our forces. Soon we won't have an army left!"
"How can we raid prisons that we don't even know exist?" asked Tonks.
"The Knights must have found some clues somewhere," said Remus. "What do you know, Harry?"
"There are several unsubstantiated reports of one, deep underneath Riverstein's enclave, but it was apparently walled up over a month ago, probably because his goons got wind that we knew where it was. Don't ask me how they found out, though," said Harry.
"We need to open it up, and take a look," said Remus.
Tonks shook her head in disbelief.
"You won't find anyone alive," said McGonagall. "They probably took all the living away so we couldn't free them."
"We have to try," said Remus.
"I'll alert the Knights," said Harry. "We'll go tonight. If there's anyone there, we'll find them."
Remus nodded, McGonagall sighed and Tonks shook her head.
"You'll have to be careful," said McGonagall. "Riverstein will have his goons watching it."
"We've pulled off complex raids before, haven't we?" said Harry. "Besides, the Knights can outrun the goons any day. It's only when his whole army's out that we need to worry."
Harry returned to his bungalow, where he sat on a dilapidated old armchair in the corner of the room. Those who knew him, mainly Knights, would tell you that he did this a lot, but they couldn't tell you what he thought about. It was at these times when Harry Potter was at his most vulnerable, when his emotions were running high, and he kept them close to his chest, secret and private. These were the moments when he remembered.
He often thought it strange what events he remembered and what he didn't. He wondered why his mind chose to recall certain moments, yet suppress images of places or people. He could remember quite clearly, for example, Hermione approaching himself and Ron in the Gryffindor common room with a box of badges in her hand, but he couldn't for the life of him recall what Rita Skeeter or Igor Karkaroff even looked like.
It was when he was alone in his bungalow that images of his friends flashed through his mind, not so much frogs on a lily pond as a Japanese Bullet train zooming along its track.
Ron and Hermione arguing after the Yule Ball.
Luna's radish earrings.
Ginny chasing the Hogwarts Express.
Ron holding Pigwidgeon in front of Crookshanks for the cat to sniff.
Ginny approaching him in the Gryffindor common room after the Gryffindor/Ravenclaw quidditch match in his sixth year.
Ron and himself making up a horoscope for Divination.
Himself and Hermione practising summoning charms in an empty classroom.
Fred and George giving him the Marauder's Map.
Sirius getting bitten by a snuffbox.
A club hitting a mountain troll on the head.
Ginny lying motionless on a cold stone floor.
Dumbledore announcing to the school, "Nitwit, Blubber, Oddment, Tweak."
Ron and Hermione telling him they'd follow him in his search for the Horcruxes.
Harry always felt that the images vanished far too quickly. He had no time to dwell on them, to remember. He longed for the days when these things happened, the days when the war did not hurt his friends, and did not bring death to those closest to him. He wished he could turn back the clock to when his life was good, when he was at his happiest, and stay there. What he wanted was a pensieve. Something that allowed him to dive into any memory he chose and relive it all over again, to remember what is was like to have his friends around him.
There was a simple reason for his longings. Harry Potter was lonely; lonelier than he had felt since he first discovered he was a wizard, and what Harry wanted most was for that feeling of emptiness and pain to vanish. He dreamed that one day all his friends would come back and they'd laugh and they'd party and Fred and George would pull one prank or another and Mrs Weasley would shout at them whilst the rest would snort into their puddings. But deep down, Harry knew it was useless. After all, Albus Dumbledore himself, had once told Harry that 'it does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live,'and Harry knew that he once again had a job to do, and to do it, he needed to live.
Sighing loudly, he stood up, and headed for the Knight's courtyard for a laugh and a drink with his only companions in the world: those who obeyed him.
Under the cover of darkness seven Free Knights and Harry arrived at Riverstein's enclave. They followed Justin Finch-Fletchley and Zacharias Smith, the Knights' main spies, through a secret entrance behind the palace and moved quickly and quietly against the wall. Using a spell they had uncovered to check for any followers, they scanned carefully around the perimeter to make sure no one was watching. When he was satisfied that the path was clear, Harry left two Knights behind to secure the exit and set off, with the rest behind him.
"How far is it?" Harry asked Justin.
"About a hundred metres," Justin whispered in reply.
Soon, they came across a hidden, bricked-up entrance. Harry drew his wand and painstakingly, so as not to make any noise, removed each brick in turn, placing them gently on the floor.
"Colin, Dennis, Anthony, wait outside," Harry ordered. "You know the signal if there is danger."
The three nodded. Harry led the other four Knights inside. The foul smell hit them immediately. Harry covered his nose with his hand.
"Death," said Justin as he passed Harry.
Harry nodded.
"We need to split up," said Horatio, another Knight.
"Yes," said Harry. "There's about ten rows, and five of us, so two rows each."
"Won't it be quicker to search down one and up the other?" suggested Zacharias.
"Well, I was going to try blasting my way through the cells," said Justin sarcastically. "But your way is much better."
Zacharias glared at him.
"See if there are any alive," Harry commanded.
He sent off down his first row and passed cell after cell. Each cell contained only bodies. There were bodies of children, both boys and girls, men and women, old men, old women, all dead. The floor was swimming in what appeared to be raw sewage. There were no beds in the cells only hard stone floors which were covered in the murky liquid. The stone walls appeared mouldy, covered in a green moss or fungus of some kind. Harry desperately fought back images of the place this prison most reminded him of. It had the same damp feel, the same mouldy walls, the same wet stone floors, it even held the same cold in the air: the sort of cold which seeps deep into your bones. Harry did not want to think about the other place; the place where his worst fear almost came to life. He did not want to remember the Chamber of Secrets.
There was an incredible silence amongst the Knights. It was an unacknowledged sign of respect. After a search of twenty minutes, Harry came across a Knight carrying a little girl in his arms.
"Is she alive, John?" Harry asked.
"Barely," replied John.
"Take her outside," said Harry. "Do all that you can."
"Yes, commander," John said, turning back towards the exit.
Harry continued on, alone. He passed more cells, more bodies, until, almost fifteen minutes later he saw some movement.
A young woman lay on the floor of a cell. She was pale and dirty and obviously very weak. It was unclear whether she was even conscious. With a quick 'Alohomora' and a heavy kick with his right foot, Harry had opened the cell. He stepped inside and brushed the woman's grimy hair away from her marble-white face to see who she was. A small gasp escaped his lips.
He scooped her up in his arms and carried her swiftly out of the prison. Harry found the other Knights waiting.
"How many?" Harry asked.
"Including yours," said Colin. "Nine."
Harry let his breath go in a soft hiss.
"And the dead?" asked Justin.
"There must be over two hundred," said Harry.
The men bowed their heads in sadness.
"What a waste of life," said Dennis bitterly.
"I know," said Harry.
Colin resealed the prison, in the hope that Riverstein would not discover their raid, before leading Harry along the wall. The others followed.
It took them well over two hours to make it back to the compound. Maximillian was there to greet them.
"The other Commanders wish to know the result of your raid, sir," he said.
"Not tonight, Maximillian," said Harry. "Tell them I will report in the morning."
"Yes, sir," said Maximillian.
On the way to his bungalow, Harry passed through the ranks of the First unit who had been waiting as back up. As he passed, he heard all around him quiet, hushed whispers of three incriminating words.
"She's a Weasley."
Harry laid the young woman down on the clinical white sheets of the bed in his bungalow. He summoned a glass of water from the kitchen and poured a drop into her mouth.
"Ginny," he said. "Ginny, can you hear me?"
Ginny's eyelids fluttered.
"Ginny," he repeated. "It's Harry. Can you hear me?"
Ginny's eyes flew open.
"Where am I?" she whispered.
"You're safe," said Harry, smiling gently at her.
"Safe?" she whispered, struggling into a sitting position, pulling away from him with a disbelieving look on her face. "I can't be safe with you."
"Why do you say that?" Harry asked sitting down on the bed.
"He knew," she said. "Riverstein. He knew about us, about our feelings for each other before…" She laid her head back, weary.
"You must be weak," said Harry, sympathetically. "Sleep."
Ginny slid back down to lie on the bed and within moments her breathing evened. Harry brushed a finger across her cheek.
"Sleep, Ginny," he whispered. "We'll talk in the morning."
He got up and left his bungalow, locking the door carefully behind him. He passed through the almost deserted compound and left via the main gates. He walked a little further, to the boundary of the anti-apparition wards and disappeared with a crack.
Almost instantaneously, he arrived in a churchyard many miles away and headed straight for a gravestone underneath a centuries-old oak. He passed several graves on the way, most of them less than three or four years old, but it was only one of them that caught his attention: a small pinkish headstone declaring FLEUR WEASLEY TRAGICALLY KILLED. Remembering the day all too well when Bill emerged from the ruins of the Burrow with the body of his wife in his arms, Harry passed the grave. He had not come to visit Fleur. There was someone else waiting for him just metres away. He reached a plain looking gravestone. It was not shiny or overstated like some of the others. In a way, it was how she was. It didn't look very special, but the words it carried, the knowledge it held were beyond that of many. He paused in front of the stone and laid a hand on it.
HERMIONE JANE GRANGER
1979-1999
Beloved Daughter and Adored Friend
May She Rest In Peace
"With the purest heart,
With every breath I fight,
So that your closed eyes
Might see what is right"
"I just thought I'd come and say hello," Harry said quietly, his voice shaking ever so slightly. "I haven't really had much chance lately. It's getting worse you know, Hermione."
He sighed. "Our army is dwindling. Riverstein is just so much stronger. He has so many more troops, and we still know too little about his enclave to launch a full-scale attack on it. I'm afraid that by the time we know enough, we won't have the manpower to execute an attack. You could say it's a lost cause.
"I wish you were still here. You always knew what to do. Ron's strategies would be useful too, but you know where he stands. I miss the both of you, and all the Weasleys. Life's been so hard since you died, but something good happened today. We raided one of the prisons. Most of its inhabitants are probably with you now, but I found Ginny. I never forgot how she helped me through everything with the fight against the Death Eaters and Voldemort, and she was my comfort. I've never felt as happy as I did when I was with her. It feels good to have…" he paused as though searching for the right word. "…an old friend close again. Maybe that's the inspiration I need to keep fighting. It's been so hard just to get out of bed in the mornings lately. Ginny was always good for me to talk to. She understood me, maybe even better than you or Ron did.
"I hope you're still rooting for us up there. I can't really see you wishing harm on muggles and muggle-borns. What confuses me is why most people are so blind to what he's doing. Can't they see that he's the same as Voldemort, only with a different name and a shiny new wrapper? I just don't know what else I can do."
He reached out to the side and plucked a daisy from the ground. He laid it in front of his friend's gravestone. "I know that wherever you are you'll be watching over me. It's just about the only comfort I have now. You were the sister I never had, Hermione, and I'll always love you as if you were my family. One day we will achieve peace amongst us, then maybe, you can have yours."
He lifted his hand from the gravestone and apparated away.
"Good morning," said Harry laying a tray down on Ginny's lap.
She was sitting up in bed, having awoken to find the covers pulled across her.
"I made you breakfast," Harry said. "You must be hungry."
"Thank you," said Ginny.
She grabbed the toast and ate it in only two bites.
"I searched around for some clothes to fit you," he continued. "I know they're not much but they'll be fine for now."
He pointed to a pair of jeans and a blue T-shirt which had been thrown onto the end of the bed.
"They'll be great," said Ginny, gulping down her orange juice. "Who changed me by the way?"
She looked down at the oversize T-shirt she was wearing.
"I got Tonks to do it," said Harry. "Your old clothes are over there."
He indicated a grubby pile of fabric in the corner of the one-roomed bungalow.
"The commanders wish to speak with you," said Harry. "But take as much time as you need before we go."
"The commanders?" asked Ginny.
"Yes," said Harry. "Commander Lupin is the leader of the First unit. That is the main army of the Brothers of Freedom. Commander Tonks leads the Second unit, Commander McGonagall heads the ground staff, and the Free Knights are under my command."
"Why do they… you want to talk to me?" she asked, looking as though she had only half followed Harry's explanation.
"Well, Miss Weasley, we find your situation very intriguing. Why would Riverstein leave a pureblood to die in a prison full of muggleborns? Why would he imprison a pureblood in the first place? Why would he harm a Weasley?"
Ginny stopped eating and looked at Harry.
"I wouldn't fight," she said.