CHAPTER 10 – ME, MY FRIENDS, AND I
Harry opened his eyes. He was lying in a bed in the Weasley's home and sunlight shone through the window at his side. Curled up at the foot of the bed was the red haired form of Ginny Weasley, sleeping in the golden afternoon rays.
"Ginny," he whispered. She blinked her eyes slowly to see what woke her. Her eyes went wide when she saw Harry looking back.
"HARRY!" She exclaimed and threw her arms around him. It hurt him a little as he was still sore but he didn't care. He hugged her back, breathing in her smell and realizing that this was where he belonged. Breaking the embrace he took her by the arms and stared into her eyes.
"Ginny, I can't hold this in any longer," he told her. "I belong with you. I don't want to be apart from you longer than necessary. Will you be with me?"
"Oh Harry, yes!" She said as her eyes started to build up with tears.
"You do realize the consequences of this decision? Your life would be in danger all the time. You could be hurt or even killed."
"I know and I don't care. I will be with you Harry. I will stand with you and I will fight with you. And you should know that I was going to anyway, no matter what you said. I love you Harry Potter." She hugged him tight, as if she was afraid that if she let go he would slip away from her.
"I love you Ginny Weasley," he said. Then he kissed her like it was the last kiss he was ever going to have. Time slipped by and it was a while before there was a gentle cough at the door. Harry broke the kiss and looked up to see Hermione smiling, tears falling down her face. She ran over and practically jumped on Harry.
"Oh Harry, you're okay!" It seemed like weeks of frustration was released with this statement. She was laughing and crying at the same time, making a horrible noise.
"What the bloody hell is that ungodly racket?" Ron asked from the door as he walked to the bed. He had a huge smile on his face when he clapped Harry on the shoulder. "You gave us a right good scare mate," he said.
"I think I gave myself a scare," Harry replied.
"HARRY!" A voice exclaimed and the next thing anyone knew the entire lot was engulfed in a motherly hug. Mrs. Weasley was crying but smiling at the same time. "Dear we were so worried. How do you feel? Do you want me to bring up some food?" Harry smiled. This is my family now he thought as a warm feeling rippled through his body.
"I'm a little sore still and I don't feel very strong," he answered truthfully. "But I'll come down in a bit. I could use some food."
"Well I'll get started right away," she said as she hurried out of the room.
"Nobody knows what happened," Ron told him when Mrs. Weasley was finally down the stairs "We saw you get taken by the Death Eater. Next thing we knew you and Malfoy dropped in and he started throwing curses everywhere."
Harry told them all what happened, leaving out some of the things Voldemort had told him. The entire time Ginny was squeezing his hand for reassurance. When he had finished they sat in silence for several minutes. Hermione and Ginny had sympathetic tears stained on their cheeks and Ron just stared at the same spot on the wall.
"I'm going to do it," Harry said. "I'm going to kill him. I'm going to win." He was smiling and had a lot of confidence as he spoke.
"You know what the last horcrux is?" Hermione asked with an excited look on her face.
"No, not at all," Harry replied.
"How are you going to kill him?" Ron asked.
"No idea," Harry laughed.
"What are you so damn happy about then?" Ron wondered as he was convinced his friend was going crazy.
"Don't you see?" Harry said as his audience shook their heads. "He's scared. Otherwise he would have killed me straightaway. Voldemort knows the whole prophecy now and he doesn't know what to think of me." Looks of comprehension appeared on his friends faces.
"He's overconfident," said Hermione as Harry nodded his head. "He doesn't think he can be defeated, especially not by you."
"YES!" Harry cried getting very excited. "That's why I think I've been looking in the wrong place for the last horcrux."
"It'll be something so obvious that it's hidden!" Hermione exclaimed, she too was getting excited.
"YES!" Harry knew Hermione was intelligent but he didn't expect her to catch on this quickly. "It would perfect for him to have a part of his soul right under everyone's nose." Harry gingerly swam his way through his friends to get out of bed. He went to stand up but his right leg wouldn't let him. Ron quickly came to his side to help support his weight.
"Thanks," he said. "In a couple days when I recover we should get started on some of the research. How long have I been laid up?" He asked, not even knowing what day it was.
"A week," Ginny told him. "Harry, we should look into Hogwart's. He probably thought it would be a great idea to have something right in front of Dumbledore."
Harry didn't hear this last part. A week, he thought, they're going to come after everyone I love.
"We have to get out of here," he said, very much alert now. Ginny, Ron and Hermione just looked at him, not moving. "We have to leave now! Its not safe here. Quick, grab whatever you need and get it packed. NOW!" At this his friends sped out of the room to start packing.
Harry grabbed his firebolt and turned it upside down to use as a walking stick. He hobbled down the stairs as fast as his body could carry him. When he got to the kitchen he saw Mrs. Weasley fixing something to eat and Lupin was talking to her. He stopped talking as Harry walked weakly into the room.
"Mrs. Weasley," he started, "we have to get your family out of here. Death Eaters are coming." Mrs. Weasley stared at him in bewilderment while Lupin had stood up looking very concerned.
"Molly," Lupin turned to face her, "get whatever you can packed up and get the kids down here." Mrs. Weasley hesitated and then left the room quickly.
"Harry, what is this about?" Lupin asked him.
"They're coming here. I need you to get some Order members. We're going to need some at the back and at the front." Lupin looked at him confused. "We're going to Grimmwauld Place."
"What do you mean the back and the front?"
"We need a couple people here to cover our escape and a couple people there to cover our arrival. Lupin," he turned to face Harry, "give them the instructions to not worry about protecting me, just the Weasley's."
"You can't honestly believe that I'm going to tell them--"
"Yes, you are going to tell them," Lupin was taken aback. "Look, the Death Eaters will have orders to not hurt me. Its my friends they're after. You have to promise me that you will not risk your own life to protect me."
"If you're sure Harry," Lupin said, not believing what Harry was telling him.
"We're going to need it in five minutes. Can that happen?"
"Yeah, the whole Order's been on active duty for a year now. I'll bring Tonks here with me and put Moody and Shacklebolt at Grimmwauld Place." He turned to leave when Harry stopped him.
"Bring Moody here instead of Tonks. There shouldn't be any trouble at Grimmwauld Place but there may be a lot here. I'd rather have you and Moody at my back."
"Okay, I'll get on it." He left to make the proper communications. Harry hobbled over to the post to lean against it. He didn't want to put too much pressure on his broom. He sat contemplating the situation for several minutes before the Weasley's started to show up with their bags packed. They looked flustered but they were ready to go. Lupin returned with Moody.
"What's this all about Potter?" he growled.
"We're helping get these people out of here," Harry replied. "Okay, we're going to do this nice and easy. Those who can't apparate will need to side-along."
"Harry, we should do this outside so we have more room," Lupin said noticing the scared looks on Ginny and Ron's faces when he mentioned apparating.
"No, we do it here," Harry replied, quite confident in the plan. "If they come through the door we only have to deal with them one at time. Right," he looked at Lupin, "are we ready?" Lupin nodded his head. "Okay, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley first. Ron and Hermione next. Fred and George after them. Lupin and Moody will be last followed by me. Got that?"
As they nodded their heads there were several loud cracks outside of the house. Harry knew what they meant. The attack had started. He turned to Ginny and Mrs. Weasley, who was startled by the noise.
"You two, go now!" He kissed Ginny on the forehead and gave her a nod. He heard them apparating as he hobbled towards the door. He stepped between Lupin and Moody and stood in front of them. "Get behind me!" he yelled. Suddenly there was a voice from outside.
"COME OUT AND PLAY WEASLEY'S!" It was Lucius Malfoy and he was very angry. Harry assumed it was due to the failure of his son. The door to the Burrow blew open and crashed against the opposite wall. Harry looked back to see Ron and Hermione still standing there, wands out.
"RON! HERMIONE! GO!" he turned back to watch the door waiting for the right moment. He heard two cracks behind him and knew that his two friends were gone. Just then he saw a shadow starting to emerge in the doorway. Now is the time he told himself.
"Stupefy!" he shouted. He had timed it right and the curse hit Lucius just as he showed up in the door. He flew back and sounded like he crashed into another person. Harry looked back and shouted.
"FRED! GEORGE! GO!" He heard another two cracks. At that moment the windows of the house blew out and several hooded figures climbed through them. As more enemies came through the door Harry realized just how bad they were outnumbered. He turned to the two men behind him.
"You guys have to get out of here," he continued as Lupin opened his mouth. "No! I told you they weren't here for me. I'll hold them off, you guys go!" He turned back and saw at least ten people advancing towards them with wands raised.
Protego! he shouted in his mind. An invisible wall was thrown up in front of him just in time as a curse careened off into the wall. Suddenly, his wand began to vibrate and he felt the invisible wall surround, not only him, but his friends as well. He heard the people behind him apparate, which gave him a better feeling knowing he was safe. The curses stopped and he pulled down the shield. He saw Bellatrix Lestrange limping around. Seeing that her leg still bothered her gave Harry an idea.
"Effringo!" He shouted and saw her previously healthy leg snap. She screamed as she fell to the floor. Harry smiled as he concentrated very hard on where he wanted to go. He felt the compression and knew that he had left danger behind.