Disclaimer: I solemnly swear to protect my ass by saying that these characters are not mine. They belong to J.K. Rowling.
A/N: Sorry it's been awhile but I had to visit some friends. My boyfriend Mason has returned from a Mother's Day trip to England and has rightfully assumed his position as editor. Moving on with the story...
Chapter Thirteen: Fault
"My arms are sore, let me stretch a bit first." Tonks swung her arms across her chest as they approached the door.
"You could have used your wand." Lupin stated matter of factly.
"But what's the fun in that? The old bitty deserved a more personal approach." They paused outside the door to draw their wands. Lupin started a countdown with his hands from three. When he clenched his fist, Tonks kicked open the door and both rushed into the room.
"Stupefy!" A curse sailed past her head, causing her to duck behind a large chair. "Expelliarmus!" Tonks cried out as half of the chair was blown away.
"Wait!" Lupin yelled from behind a bureau. "Harry?"
"Professor Lupin?" Harry cautiously raised his head out from behind the bed.
"Yes with Tonks."
"Come on out Ron." Harry instructed so that his best friend could step out from behind the closet door. "What are you two doing here?"
"We could ask you the same thing." Tonks brushed bits of material from off of her shoulder. "We're looking for Angelina and hopefully the two of you. Where is she?"
Harry looked defeated. "Dunno. She was supposed to meet Lucius here and activate a portkey that would bring her and the fucker to us. We haven't seen her in over three hours. We've been looking for some clues as to where she may have gone."
"We found this just as you entered." Ron held up a bracelet. "It's the portkey. Never activated. Lucius must have her. She was here obviously and we talked to the innkeeper, so was Lucius. Neither came out."
Lupin crouched in front of the fireplace and swiped his hand across the ashes left behind. He brought his fingertips to his nose and sharply inhaled. "Floo powder. Pretty fresh."
Harry dropped to his knees, bringing his hands up to his face in the process. "What's wrong with me? Is it possible for once for me to not get someone in danger or killed?"
"Harry," Remus started.
"No, don't! You wouldn't be here if you thought that we weren't in some kind of trouble and you were right! First Sirius, then Hermione gets raped after I propose to her and now Angelina..."
"Let's go back to Hogwarts." Tonks suggested. "We'll regroup and start from scratch." She withdrew a bag of floo powder and brought a fire to life.
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Lupin and Tonks looked at each other in confusion as they stepped out from Dumbledore's fireplace. The Grangers were there, Ophelia crying against her husband's shoulder. Snape held his hand to his stomach as he stiffly patted Professor McGonagall on the shoulder. Harry and Ron appeared moments later to face the same scene.
Harry didn't hesitate to hug Ophelia. "What's happening?" Ophelia cried even harder. A sense of dread began to overcome Harry. "Where's Hermione?"
"Gone." Dumbledore stood from behind his desk. "Hogwarts was attacked by Deatheaters and Hermione was taken. I'm sorry Harry."
"How? This is Hogwarts. She was supposed to be safe. That was the whole point of her staying here." Harry shook with rage. Even though he was yelling at Dumbledore he was mostly angry with himself. The Headmaster knew this, as always and did not take his exclamations personally.
"Is anyone hurt?" Lupin asked.
"Just minor injuries. Most of the students have already gone for Spring holidays."
"So, my brothers are okay?" Ron looked pale.
"George is the same. Bill is fine." Dumbledore stated. "Fred is missing. I'm afraid."
"What?"
Severus stepped forward. "We were hidden in a secret room when a second entrance appeared from nowhere and we were all knocked unconscious. When Bill and I awoke both Miss Granger and the Weasley twin were gone. We are certain that Draco has Hermione but we are not certain of where Fred may be. Unfortunately, the Deatheaters found me as I was attempting to leave the meeting early to warn the Headmaster. I regret that my cover has been exposed so I can not retrieve any more information."
"Well Professor, you've never been one to avoid the truth. Do you know why they chose now to raid Hogwarts and take Hermione?" Harry asked.
Snape did not hesitate, choosing to ignore the warning look from Dumbledore. "You weren't here. After Lucius tried to steal Hermione, the Dark Lord was anticipating your attempt to seek revenge. They wanted to separate the two of you and it worked."
Harry nodded. "Thank you, Professor." He hugged Ophelia once more and headed out of the room.
"Harry wait!" Tonks lightly touched his arm to get him to stop. "We are going to find her and Angelina-"
"Angelina's gone also?" Dumbledore looked at Tonks, who bit her bottom lip as soon as the words left her mouth.
"Yeah, we think Lucius took her to Voldemort." Harry nodded. "I'm so sorry." He clenched his lips tightly to stop any tears from escaping. God, he needed to be alone. "I'm gonna go for a walk."
"I'll go with you." Ron walked out with Harry.
"I think I need a moment or two, Ron." Harry tried to pick up his pace but, as usual, he could not escape the longer legs.
"I'm not going anywhere, Harry. You think this is all your fault. It's not. If it is, then it's just as much my fault as yours. I agreed to go with you and I didn't try to stop Angelina from coming along."
"It's not just now." Harry said through clenched teeth. "It's. every. ruddy. time. Every year it's another scenario where I take it upon myself to try and fight everything and I always drag someone along with me. Do I have to go through the list again?" He did not wait for Ron to answer. "You and Hermione first year. Me and you second year. The three of us again third year. Me and Cedric... Neville, Luna, Ginny, Sirius..." Ron jumped back as Harry shoved his fist into a nearby window. "It's never gonna stop. As long as I'm around, it. will. never. stop."
Ron looked past the blood running down Harry's arm, and saw the deeper pain clearly written in Harry's tears. "You're forgetting something...You try to stop us, all the time. And just like Angelina, we choose to do this. You don't drag us. We refuse to leave. And I sure as fuck am not going to start now." Harry tried to resist at first as Ron stepped closer to him. "Hey, you short shit! Don't ruin my moment." Ron smiled as he successfully pulled his best friend into an embrace. "It's gonna be okay. Now first, we're going to the infirmary to patch up your arm. Then, we are going back to Dumbledore's office and we are all going to figure out a way to find the girls and we are dragging you along, got it?...I need to hear it."
"I'm think I feel faint."
"Close enough."
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Angelina lowered herself into the luxurious bubbles, the warmth enveloping her body. She refused to allow herself to cry until she was certain that the house-elf was gone. What started as a few silent tears erupted into body-racking sobs.
How did I let this happen, she thought to herself as she replayed the events in her mind...
She strode into the room with what she hoped was grace and waited beside the door until instructed otherwise. Angelina straightened her posture when she saw a gloved hand raise from a large chair gesture for her to sit opposite him.
"Well, you are something different and lovely, very. Wine?"
"Please." She extended her left hand, surpised that it wasn't shaking, in the hope that the bracelet would draw his attention.
"Interesting bracelet." Lucius reached forward to examine the portkey. Angelina subconsciously held her breath. Can it be this easy? she found herself thinking. Less than an inch from the charm, he paused as he noticed the door open. "Ah, Draco. Glad to see that you accepted my invitation."
Angelina quickly turned towards the fireplace as her former opponent approached the two.
"I'm only here for old time's sake." Draco smirked. "Soon I'll be a one woman man."
"Not yet. When was the last time that we played together?" It took Angelina a moment to realize that Draco was the type of prat not to look at faces and she allowed herself to relax and casually grasp her wand hidden within a fold of her dress. "Come, Draco. She looks very athletic and I anticipate to make good sport of her. You could at least watch."
Draco sneered at Angelina's profile. "I said 'soon' Father, I wholeheartedly agree with you in reference to not yet. We can consider this a token of forgiveness to each other. I do miss our fun. Besides, I could use the practice, wouldn't you agree, dear?" Without thinking, Angelina stepped away from his touch and closer examination. As composed as she could, the Gryffindor walked towards the window. She could still feel Draco's eyes on her.
"She's just nervous, Draco. We've the pleasure of being her first clients. We'll make it memorable for her."
Angelina heard Draco step closer. "I don't think that's it, Father." She whirled quickly around, drawing her wand just as Draco said, "Accio wand!" Quidditch reflexes taking over, she grasped the wand just as it escaped her fingertips. She then dodged set of curses cast by father and son to yell, "stupefy" towards whomever she thought was closest.
Lucius was too quick for her. "Protego!" he smirked as the attack backfired to hit Angelina in the chest, knocking her into the bedpost. Draco quickly accio'd her wand away while she was dazed.
"I knew something wasn't right about you, Johnson."
"You know her?"
"Yes and if you had attended more Quidditch matches, you would have recognized her. Angelina Johnson, Chaser and team captain my fifth year for the Gryffindors."
"Just because you knew me in school doesn't mean that I'm not what I say I am."
"Oh, really! And I guess that it's just a coincidence that your former teammate was attacked and you just happen to show up as a whore. Besides, you went with one of the twins to the Yule Ball my fourth year. Do you really think I'm stupid?"
"Well, argh!" she yelled as Lucius pulled her to her feet by her hair.
"Careful whore!" Angelina shuddered as the elder Malfoy ran his hand over her bodice. "Shame, really. I'd hate to kill you. You can be very useful to me." She struggled as he licked his lips. "Stop it! You put yourself here and I intend to get some use out of you."
"Father," Draco smiled as Angelina looked away when Lucius' hand travelled underneath her skirt. "I think we should assume that she is assisting Potter. Which means that he is away from Hogwarts as the Dark Lord suspected. Now is the time to strike." Draco noticed the bracelet catch the fire's light. "This has to be something suspicious." Before she could do anything, he quickly jerked the bracelet off of her wrist and threw it aside. "Why else would a Gryffindor wear a snake?" He lifted her wrist to his mouth and licked the blood off of the wound that the portkey created. "If you want her Father, then take her with us. We don't have time for this now."
Lucius bound her wrists behind her back with a rope that Draco conjured. "So lovely, pet. You will be a most amusing toy." He licked her earlobe, causing Angelina to cringe. "Don't worry, little lion, I take excellent care of my possessions."
The last thought that passed through her mind as Draco stunned her was how this was entirely her fault.