Even though it was a lovely day, marking the arrival of spring, Harry and Ron were feeling anything but cheerful as they wandered along Diagon Alley. The pair were performing tasks in connection with Arthur's funeral, which would be held the following week. Since Arthur's death, Molly had been in a pretty bad way and while Ginny had been tasked with looking after her mother, Bill and Charlie had taken charge of the funeral arrangements. Not wanting to be idle, Harry and Ron had volunteered to help, hence their presence in Diagon Alley.
"All we need now is to pick up the new robes," Harry said as they excited the florist, after placing their order for the upcoming funeral.
Bill, Charlie and the twins had all ordered new dress robes for the funeral, and Harry who had also needed new robes had offered to pay for robes for Ron and Ginny. Normally the Weasleys would have objected to Harry paying for Ron and Ginny's robes, but given the circumstances they'd gratefully accepted his offer. After all, no-one wanted to turn up to their father's funeral in tattered hand me down robes.
"Let's head to Madam Malkin's and then get out of here," Ron muttered, not exactly enjoying the trip given the tasks they'd been carrying out.
"I just need to call at the bank first," Harry said, checking his money pouch and finding it needed topping up before they made their final call of the day. As well as paying for the robes, he'd also contributed to other costs of the funeral, but he considered it money well spent as he wanted to ensure that Arthur had the send-off he deserved.
"Do you want to come down to the vault with me?" Harry asked as he and Ron entered Gringotts.
"Nah, I'll wait up here," Ron replied.
Normally Ron would have jumped at the chance of accompanying Harry down to his vault as he'd never been that deep into the bank. The Weasleys family vault was housed on one of the higher levels, as the deeper into Gringotts you got the more security surrounded the vaults, which meant the vaults containing the most money were kept deeper underground. However, at the moment Ron really wasn't in the mood to explore the wizarding bank which had fascinated him since he'd been a child.
While Harry headed down to his vault with one of the goblins, Ron wandered over to the large windows and gazed out over Diagon Alley. Blindly, he watched people go about their business as usual. Given the grief he was filled with, it seemed inconceivable that people could be living their lives as normal, but the proof was right in front of his eyes as life in Diagon Alley carried on.
When Harry returned, he and Ron headed back outside and Ron couldn't help but notice the noise level in the street had increased. As he and Harry headed down the bank steps and turned towards Madam Malkin's, there seemed to be some sort of commotion going on further down the street behind them.
At the increase of sound behind them, Ron turned his head in time to witness a gang of youths causing chaos outside of the apothecary by tipping over a display. As the owner of the apothecary rushed outside, brandishing a broom to chase the youths from the front of the shop, the group started to run down the street towards Harry and Ron, and Ron was hit by a feeling of deja-vu. Just as it hit Ron why the scene seemed so familiar to him, the youths reached him and Harry.
"Harry, watch..."
Ron's warning was cut off mid cry as the group of youths barrelled into Harry and Ron, sending them both flying to the floor. With Harry caught completely unawares by the gang, he hit the ground harder than Ron, and his glasses went flying in the fall. Ron quickly heard the break of glass as he spotted a large foot descend on Harry's glasses. However, he hardly had a chance to worry about something as banal as a pair of glasses as not only had the gang of youths knocked him and Harry over, but they were carefully attacking them. Ron was wracked with pain as fists and feet flew in his direction and he squealed out a cry of pain as someone stomped heavily on his hand, making sure to exert all the pressure they could and cause as much damage as possible. Knowing there was nothing they could do to end the attack, Ron tried to curl himself into a ball and wait for the pain to come to an end.
After what seemed like an eternity, but he knew was only a minute or two, the attack stopped and the gang broke away from where they'd been crowded around him and Harry. Cracking open his eyes, Ron watched the group leave, with one of them turning and calling back a fake apology as though the entire thing had been an accident. Although Ron knew from experience that from the outside, the entire incident would look like an accident, just like it had up in Hogsmeade when Draco had been the victim.
"Bloody bastards," Ron snarled. Turning his attention towards Harry, he was shocked to find his friend lying unmoving on the cobbles beside him. "Harry!"
Ron hissed in pain as he shuffled towards his friend. Looking down at his right hand, he figured several of the bones were broken, but that didn't matter right now as he was more concerned about Harry. By the time he reached Harry, several shoppers were rushing over to help, and one of the shopkeepers sent word that they were contacting St Mungo's.
"Don't move him," one of the wizards who had came to help said to Ron as he reached out for his friend.
"Is he breathing?" Ron asked.
"Yes, he's breathing," the wizard replied.
"What happened?" another wizard questioned.
"That gang of idiots ran into them and knocked them over," the first wizard replied before Ron could say anything.
"Arseholes," the second wizard snarled. "Did you see the mess they caused outside of the apothecary?"
As the two wizards started grumbling about the antics of young people, Ron focused on Harry and kept his thoughts to himself. He knew full well that what had happened had been no accident, but he knew better than to say otherwise at this stage. At the minute, what had happened to him and Harry seemed like a complete accident, but Ron knew otherwise and he was going to make sure the whole world knew it as well.
Help swiftly arrived in the form of St Mungo's medi-wizards, and by the time he and Harry were taken to the hospital, Harry had started to wake up. However, since Harry had been unconscious following the attack, he was whisked off for emergency treatment while Ron was settled on a ward and gave contact information to a medi-witch, so she could contact their family.
By the time Bill, Charlie, Remus and Sirius in his dog form arrived, Ron had been checked over and given some pain relief potion. Harry was also on the ward, in the bed next to him, although his head was heavily bandaged, including his right eye.
"What happened?" Bill demanded as Sirius went right over to Harry's bed and placed his large, black head onto his bed.
For a moment, Ron couldn't help but wonder how Sirius had managed to make it onto the ward in his animagus form. He knew why he couldn't visit as himself as he was still technically a wanted criminal, and with Voldemort in charge of the Ministry, any sighting of him would be investigated thoroughly. However, Ron was surprised to find him visiting in his dog form as he would have thought that animals would have been banned from the wards. But then the medi-witch on duty entered the ward and caught Charlie's eye, who greeted her with a flirtatious grin, and Ron understood what had happened. Charlie had once again used his charms to ensure Sirius got to visit his godson, just like he'd done when they'd visited Arthur the night he'd died. However, it had taken Ron a moment to remember that incident as that evening was still hazy in his mind, and right at the moment, he was still recovering from the brutal attack in Diagon Alley.
Knowing how much Harry would appreciate the visit, Ron noted the way his best friend patted Sirius's head, reassuring him that he was okay. With Harry busy, and quite likely not able to remember as much as he could as he'd been taken more by surprise by the attack than Ron, he explained just what had happened in Diagon Alley.
"It was clearly revenge for what we did to Malfoy," Ron concluded.
"Clearly," Bill agreed with a nod.
"But proving it will prove impossible without admitting our part in what happened in Hogsmeade," Remus said. "We can't claim retaliation without admitting what we did."
"We can always claim they retaliated because they thought we were responsible for what happened in Hogsmeade," Ron argued. "We don't have to say we were responsible, just say that the dark think we are."
"There's no smoke without fire," Charlie retorted. "If we even hint that we could be responsible for what happened in Hogsmeade, people will start to talk. I'm sorry Ron, but we need to stay quiet."
"I hope quiet doesn't mean we do nothing," Ron snarled. "I've broken every bone in my hand, and they're going to have to give me several potions to fix it. And look at Harry, he was kicked so badly in the head that he might lose the sight in his right eye."
"It might not be that bad," Harry muttered with a wince.
"Let's hope it's not," Remus said gently as Sirius let out a low whimper and nestled his head into Harry's hand.
"And we will do something. I promise you, Ron, they will not get away with this," Bill assured his little brother. "But right now, let's focus on getting you and Harry out of here before Dad's funeral."
Satisfied that when the time was right, they would get their revenge, Ron relaxed and settled down to spend the night in St Mungo's. It would take all night to fix his hand, but at least he would be out in the morning, but for Harry, it could be a long stay in hospital depending on how things went with his eye. Although with any luck the swelling would go down overnight and in the morning, his best friend would also get a clean bill of health and they could be discharged together.
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As she devoured the main article in The Daily Prophet, Hermione couldn't help but admire her father's brazenness. The previous day the paper had reported on a gang of youths running riot in Diagon Alley, resulting in substantial damage to property belonging to the shops and two injuries to wizards, who had been going about their business. The previous day's article hadn't named the wizards, but Hermione knew it had been Harry and Ron who had been hurt.
However, that morning her father had gone public on the incident, and he'd linked it to the one in Hogsmeade, where Draco had been hurt. Voldemort had not minced his words in the interview, and he'd made it perfectly clear that he wouldn't be standing for such anti-social behaviour while he was in charge. In fact, Voldemort had even made it sound as though he cared about Harry and Ron being hurt as he repeatedly referenced three innocent victims, and promised justice for them as he announced an official inquiry would be launched by the Ministry to identify the gang who had caused such trouble in two different regions of the country.
"Something looks amusing," Draco remarked, dragging Hermione's attention away from what she was reading and back to breakfast, where their friends were all waiting for her to hand the paper around so they could all take a look.
"It is rather," Hermione replied. "Father is taking a stand against the gang that rampaged through Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. Apparently he won't be standing for that sort of behaviour, and he certainly won't tolerate innocent people being injured."
"He actually called Potter and Weasley innocent?" Blaise questioned with a snort.
"Of course. They're victims, just like Draco," Hermione answered seriously. "Or at least they are now. It's pretty much implied that it was the same gang as the one in Hogsmeade."
"It does make sense that it was the same gang," Daphne remarked with a nod of her head. "After all, what's the likelihood of two different gangs causing the same type of trouble within weeks of each other."
"It also explains why Snape couldn't find culprits within the castle walls," Theo added. "Since the second incident occurred during the week, it means no-one in Hogwarts could have been involved. Maybe they're looking for an older gang."
"Maybe," Hermione agreed with a small smile. "I'm sure father will get to the bottom of it. I'm also sure that after this interview, no-one will dare behave so recklessly again."
"I'm sure after that interview, no-one will dare throw accusations around either," Draco remarked with a chuckle.
"I rather think that was the idea," Hermione laughed in agreement. "I'm sure Harry and Ron will have their own ideas about what happened, but how can they claim retaliation if the same people who hurt them also hurt Draco? If they do try and claim their accident was in retaliation for Draco's, they'll look like idiots."
"Unless they confess to being behind my accident," Draco said.
"They won't do that," Hermione predicted with a shake of her head. "That will make them look bad, and they won't risk that. They were trying to provoke me, but they're never going to admit that."
"But are they going to be provoked in return?" Blaise asked. "They haven't done anything so far."
"To be fair, this only happened a couple of days ago," Hermione replied. "Both Harry and Ron were in hospital overnight. In fact, I think Harry might still be in there."
"Maybe this will hold more news," Draco said, picking up a letter from his father, which had been neglected once Hermione spotted her father was on the front page of the paper.
While Hermione finished the article about her father, Draco tore open the letter from his father and devoured the contents. How his father knew exactly what was going on at St Mungo's was a mystery to Draco, but he clearly had a source within the hospital as he'd given a full account of what had happened to Potter and Weasley throughout their stays. Weasley had apparently suffered a very painful night having the bones in his hand re-set, which had been rather time consuming as every single bone had been broken. As for Potter, he'd been in danger of losing his sight in his right eye, and even though that never happened, his sight had still diminished and according to Lucius, he would need a stronger prescription in his glasses, not to mention further tests to check on any lasting damage.
Finishing the letter, Draco handed it over to Hermione as he read the article in The Daily Prophet for himself. The letter and paper were then passed around the group, so everyone had the full picture of what was happening.
"So what comes next?" Theo asked as they packed up and got ready to head to the first lesson of the day.
"I don't know, but Bellatrix hinted there was more to come," Hermione remarked, throwing a glance towards the Professors table, where Bellatrix sat in deep conversation with Severus.
"Whatever it is, I'm sure we'll hear about it soon enough," Draco predicted, throwing his arm over Hermione's shoulder and using his cane to steady himself on the other side, as the couple led the Slytherins from The Great Hall and into the day ahead.