Chapter Six
The Arcade
She had to admit, as she watched the whale of a boyfriend she had to have shoot the zombies in House of the Dead 2 from her spot at the table, 'River's Birthday' was a brilliant plan hatched by the Order to get Harry away from Privet Drive. She was royally pissed when the Order refused to tell her why and, to get back at them, she didn't tell the Order where they were going. Currently they had come to the Pizza Palace to celebrate 'her birthday'. At the moment, her 'father' (the robot was holding up quite well on this little outing) was standing next to Dudley, shooting the zombies as well. Harry was sipping his Coca Cola slowly, watching the action around the arcade. Observing was one of Harry's specialties but it was not what she wanted him to do.
They all had fun at the water park and earlier that day she had got them into a paintball and laser tag tournament. The paintball they had been on the same team (which had won because of her hunting skills) but at laser tag all three of them were on different teams (Jack and Harry on team red, Dudley on team yellow, and herself on team blue). Harry had been better than she expected at paintball and laser tag but, like Dudley, they both lost horribly to her.
He had a few moment of happiness while playing but Dudley quickly killed those moments by purposefully firing at Harry's head with the paintball gun claiming it went off by accident and then, at laser tag, going on 'Harry Hunting' trips. She wanted to get him to forget his pain for a little while.
Dudley had also found them on the first night in the hotel. She couldn't believe she had been that stupid to fall asleep when she invited him to her room. She had first, left out a tiny painting of her and Richard in the middle of one of their training games and he had seen it. She had looked at it after she woke up from Harry's nightmare. She had done something risky, something she didn't have much skill at: Dream Walking. She knew he was having a nightmare and tears were streaming from his closed eyes so she tried to protect him in his dreams.
The moment she got there she was shocked at what she found and immediately figured out that Voldemort was toying with Harry. She called him out on it and sent him back. She quickly built up the defenses in Harry's mind, making a sort of 'outside Occlumency wall.' Until Harry can create his own defense, it will be there for him or until she takes it down. He shouldn't have any more Voldemort induced nightmares.
On the other hand, as soon as Harry woke up and, strangely, got into the shower, she fell asleep herself and lived through her own horrors, Richard's death. She nearly woke up screaming and didn't even bother to check the mirror, assuming Harry was back in bed. She washed her face, grabbed her wallet and hurried out of the room. So when she ran into Harry at the elevator she was more than shocked. But oh boy, was that nothing compared to her stuttered explanation of why Harry was in her room.
Dudley had been fuming for most of the day and told her that the little league game was a stupid idea and that they should just go home early. As River, she burst into tears and it took them (Harry mainly) a whole hour to 'calm her down'. Dudley apologized but said that he was merely 'jealous' and currently homesick. So she reluctantly agreed to allow them to go home the next day, a few hours before they had originally planned.
She shifted nervously in the chair, glancing around. Earlier that day when they were driving in the rental car along the country side, going towards Waterworld they had been stopped at a light and she saw something that was out of place, a man in a black robe with tawny brown hair. She knew him immediately as the description of the husband to Bellatrix. She also knew that he had spotted Harry and immediately disappeared. She hadn't seen nor felt anything unusual for the entire day but that didn't mean anything.
She smiled at him. "Come on," she said finally. He looked at her sharply as she stood up, the residue of green, red, yellow, and bright blue paint in both their hair. "Come on, come on, come on." Harry stood up suspiciously as she walked over to Time Crisis 3 and plopped in a pound worth of coins. "Take the gun," she motioned to the blue gun.
"What?"
"We're going to shoot people, hope your aim is good." She said stepping into the sensor booth.
Harry followed her, picking up the gun. "Didn't you see enough of my aim at the paintball tournament and the laser tag tournament?"
She smirked. "Yeah but this is fun too, and you don't get dirty."
He smiled weakly. "So you want me to what?"
"Look, this is called a Sensor booth, what ever movements you do, ducking and shooting and so on, it goes into the game. You have to press the petal to shoot into action and release it when you want to duck and reload the gun. Or you can duck literally and it works as well," she instructed.
Harry slowly nodded. "All right, but don't expect me to be any good."
She smiled and pressed the start button. Harry was better at shooting things than he thought he was. "Now!" she pulled the trigger repeatedly, shooting the 'bad guys'. Harry wasn't half bad for a first timer; his shots were relatively on target. She expertly watched the screen, hitting whatever jumped into her screen.
She purposely chose a game she was good enough at the she didn't have to watch it carefully. All the practices at the shooting ranges with Richard, and playing this game over and over helped too of course. Harry's attention was completely focused on the screen. She knew she had gone out on a limb begging the Dursleys to let Harry come along but Vernon was so blind by her 'goodie-girl' routine he allowed it. Her only worry was that Harry would suspect something.
She ducked missile flying at her player. She jumped up and sent two virtual bullets into the person. Harry didn't seem to suspect her though. After the afternoon on the train, Harry seemed to like the idea of 'River' being his little sister and was much more relax (though Dudley trying to get him to drown in the Tsunami Wave Machine was rather annoying). She ducked again but Harry was too slow and one of his life points was taken away.
She knew kids were gathering around them, watching them move. "River?" said Dudley pushing through the crowd. She could feel the fat pig's eyes on her as she shot and moved about. That was the only disadvantage of the jobs she had. She normally had to pretend to like someone fat, ugly, or just down right disgusting. Dudley fit all three in her mind. The kiss that he had given her the first night was enough to make her brush her teeth four times and wash her face three.
She knew this job was going to be hard. But the constant visits from people from the order that didn't trust her caused her to go to her last straw. She spread a fine powder that only let people into her house that she invited. If someone attempted to break in they were be sent into her basement tied up hanging upside down. Once Minerva McGonagall had been hanging upside down for nearly two hours before she came home to find her.
She laughed softly to herself ducking another bomb. McGonagall had been so mad when she had finally gotten back and released McGonagall. The annoyed professor even threatened to get Dumbledore involved. Until you made her realize she was the one at fault. She did promise along with the rest of the Order not to bother me. Her thoughts consoled her.
"Duck Harry!" she exclaimed diving down as the tank exploded.
Harry ducked. He looked her grinning with concentration. She giggled getting up and shooting again. She knew Dudley was getting angry watching them play. Good, let him. Part of her said as she dogged a rocket launcher. She glanced at Harry's life and noticed he was only down to one.
She ducked down and twisted a dial on her watch. She got up but held the wrist with the watch down, aimed at the matrix of the machine. She was still shooting when she watched Harry's life points shoot up to five. She quickly turned the dial the opposite way, shutting the programmer in her watch off. She and Richard had created the watches themselves and then distribuated them to the groups at her training grounds. They were a mix of magic and Muggle machinery. They manipulated any machine that ran with some kind of hard-drive with the turn of a knob.
She had to keep Harry busy with the game. She knew someone, perhaps another Death Eater just one she didn't recognize, that didn't look too pleased at the sight of Harry had spotted them earlier at the Paintball Park and later followed them to laser tag. She had managed to loose them in the park but she wasn't positive that they were really lost. She felt a presence of magic enter the arcade and she ducked, glancing back. She cursed in her head, a man dressed poorly in Muggle clothes had just walked in, his eyes seeking them out. She turned back to the game. She didn't want Harry to know because it would blow her cover and she couldn't have that happen.
Four years on jobs and her cover had only been blown once. Emotions awoke in her sending her anger out. She had to stay calm things couldn't break around her. Every time she thought about 'It' lately something broke, whether it be a picture frame's glass, a glass cup, or even something as big as a car window.
She put her whole concentration into the game. More and more the presence of Magic hit her senses but she didn't look back, she didn't want Harry or Dudley to wonder. She swallowed hard, this was getting ridculas, perhaps if she died and they 'causually' left. No, she thought. It would never work. They had to out run them, loose them in a crowd again.
Then she heard it, "Spread out,". It was the order. She glanced back and closed her eyes. She didn't want to resort to the back up plan but it was her only hope to get out of there. She twisted a dial on her watch and a bomb exploded on the screen, killing both of them instantly.
"Damn." She muttered shooting Harry a smile.
His eyes were alight with fun and laughter. "Can we do that again?" he asked happily. He seemed to feel someone's eyes on her because he looked past her and took a step back. His eyes widened. "On second thought, lets go."
She cursed to herself silently. He had seen them. "All right. Dudley, Daddy, I want to go back to the park." She said as her 'dad' grabbed her backpack.
"Fine," Dudley shot a death glare at Harry that she pretended not to see. "I'll meet you outside," Dudley's whale form burrowed through the crowds and she saw Harry wince as he bumped into one of the surrounding Death Eaters and shove his way out.
"Lets get out of here, now." He said grabbing her arm. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that Harry's other hand had slipped into his pocket. She knew his fingers now were holding his wand. He started to pull her along as her 'father' disappeared outside with Dudley. "Come on."
"What's wrong?" she asked pulling her arm away. She knew she shouldn't distract him but she had to keep in character. He didn't answer and was looking around the room. She saw that the Death Eaters, some she recognized others she didn't, had formed a circle around the shop. "See something you don't like?" she asked as more of a rhetorical question at the look on his face.
He glanced at her sharply, as if he had forgotten she was there. He was inches from pulling his wand out. "Um…we, we might be in a little trouble, River." She studied him, how was he going to cover this up? "I've, I've made some rather bad enemies. Ones that want to…well, kill me."
She widened her eyes. Yeah, yeah. I am going to be so happy when I don't have to play this damn part anymore. She thought bitterly, careful to keep her annoyance hidden. "Oh my god," She looked around. "And you see them here now?"
She caught Dudley's face through the glass. He looked angry. "Yes."
She looked back at Harry. "What exactly did you do?" she couldn't help asking, she probably shouldn't gamble with their lives like this but she was haven't fun seeing Harry make up things on the spot.
"Too difficult to explain," he answered.
"Is that why they're all holding sticks?" she commented twisting the dial on her watch. Harry glanced at her and shook his head. "Too difficult to explain, right?" she observed twisting her dial once more.
Suddenly the change machines, games, and cash registers started spitting out cash and change at people. She waited till she made sure everyone saw it and started diving to catch it when she grabbed Harry's arm. She motioned towards the door, the 'people' he knew were getting shoved about with the rush to grab the money.
The moment the pathway to the door was clear of the 'people' that she knew were Death Eaters she yanked his hand. He stumbled. "Now!" she hissed taking a leap over a person huddled at the ground gathering the money.
Harry was jerked along with her before he ran along side her. They burst out the front door. "Come on, last one to the Family Wet Ride is a rotten egg!" she shouted racing towards the thick of the crowd.
She was surprised when Dudley joined them running after a moment. She glanced back and spotted a Death Eater who was searching for them. She whispered a spell so quietly in would have been impossible to hear. Immediately all of them, including Dudley, were running faster. She had to get them out of there before they were seen. They skidded into the line, Harry first, then herself, then (surprisingly enough Dudley), the last was her 'father' but only because of how slow she made him run.
"Ha-ha, slow poke." She said between breaths.
Her 'father' laughed. It was getting later in the day and the air was growing a little chilly as the sun sank a little bit more in the sky. "Fine. What will it cost me?"
"You have to—" she started but Dudley cut her off.
"Buy us all pizza tonight and we'll pig out while watching a movie." He said grinning.
She arched her brow and her 'father' shrugged. "All right. We'll head back to the hotel, watch a few movies and when we're hungry again we'll order in."
Dudley grinned and moved farther ahead in the line. She glanced at Harry. "Some enemies you made," she said shaking her head.
He laughed half heartedly. "Yup, I know."
"Those people back there looked like they were ready to kill you." She fell back into the part of River. "And anyone who got in their way."
"They probably were and would."
She made her eyes widen slightly. She knew he would be hearing from the Order soon and she had to keep her face as an innocent Muggle. "Harry, just what kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into? What did you do?"
"How many?" asked the attendant in the line.
"I was born," he muttered to himself, not thinking she heard him. "I—"
"Let me guess, it's hard to explain?" she scoffed as they climbed into the tube.
They had arrived back at the hotel two hours later (spending more time in the park). When she got back to the hotel she excused herself to the bathroom and contacted Dumbledore as Dudley began the first movie that the hotel offered. She was in shock when she discovered that Voldemort had attempted an attack on Privet Drive but ended up attacking the wrong house. The house was in ashes.
She had barely left the bathroom when the telephone rang. Her 'father' picked it up and she waited with batted breath for who it was. "All right, we'll take the call. Hello? Vernon, what's wrong?" She paled, Vernon would want the boys home immediately. "Slow down, what happened?" Dudley was staring at her 'father'. "Explosion," It was Harry's turn to pale. "All right. I'll bring them home. No, no. It's no problem. I would want the same thing." He said goodbye and hung up before looking at the others.
"There was a faulty gas line in one of the houses at Privet Drive and it burned down. Vernon and Petunia want the boys home immediately." He said standing up. "Do you mind, River?"
She shook her head as Dudley, surprisingly got up and immediately packed his things. The packing was quick and they, by a little magic coxing, got on the very first train to London. It was late at night when they arrived at Privet Drive and dropped the two off.
"Goodbye, Dudley, Harry. I'll see you soon." She said, not even bothering to pretend she wasn't tired.
"Goodbye." Dudley said waddling up the front steps and into the house, probably making sure that his possessions were all right.
"Goodbye River, sorry about your birthday downfall." Harry said with a half smile.
She giggled at his choice of words. "It's all right. I think we all had fun anyway." She said before waving and pulling towards her house. She had to talk to Dumbledore about what happened both at Waterworld and here but she, though she loathed to admit it, was exhausted.
They parked and her 'father' followed her into the house. She sat him on the couch and then switched him off. She didn't want to waste his battery. If she did he wouldn't be able to 'save' Harry in the nick of time like the night she was at the theatre. She flicked the image from the small mirror onto the larger one and then collapsed on the over stuffed arm chair, deciding she would contact Dumbledore later, right now she wanted to rest.