Emerging from the consulting room, where he'd just had an appointment with the healer about his eyes, Harry leant back against the wall, taking a moment to digest the news which had just been delivered to him. Harry had played down the visit to the healers, and although Remus had accompanied him to the hospital, he'd left him checking on Percy while he saw the healer by himself. As far as everyone else was concerned, Harry's visit was merely a check-up and although his sight was now worse following the incident in Diagon Alley, he would be just fine. What Harry hadn't told anyone was that the sight in his right eye was still blurry and tests had shown that it wasn't going to get any better. In fact the Healer had just informed him that his vision was only going to get worse and in time he would lose the sight in his right eye. The only thing he couldn't give Harry was a time frame for it happening. Harry's vision could last years, or he could be blind in one eye within months. There was just no predicting how fast the damage would spread and rob Harry of his ability to see.
Harry knew he would have to inform other people of his condition, especially if there was to be any fighting. But the timing wasn't exactly great. Not only were the Weasleys still grieving for Arthur, but they'd also just lost their family home. The Burrow was gone and even though no-one was hurt in the fire, everything in the house had been destroyed. Everything the Weasleys owned was gone, and while the family were currently staying at Grimmauld Place, at the end of the day they were homeless. Although even if they did rebuild The Burrow, or even find a new home, it would never bring the old place back, and the precious belongings that had been inside were lost forever.
With so much else going on, Harry had made the decision to keep quiet about his vision, but he knew his silence was only temporary. When the time was right, he would share his news, but for now his priority was to be there for the Weasleys, just like they'd been there for him since he'd entered the wizarding world. Burying his distress at the bad news he'd received, Harry called for the lift and stepping inside the empty container, he pressed the button to take him to the floor where Percy was still residing.
As the doors slid closed, Harry leant against the wall and closed his eyes as he tried to clear his emotions and project a calm front which Remus wouldn't be able to see through. Just as he felt as though he was achieving calmness, the lift jerked to a halt and Harry's eyes flew open to find he was no longer alone. Even though his vision wasn't what it had been, it wasn't so bad that he could have missed the wizard in the lift with him when he'd entered.
"What did you do?" he asked, pulling his wand from his trouser pocket and pointing it towards the smirking wizard in the corner.
"Me?" Lucius Malfoy asked, an innocent expression gracing his features. "I didn't do anything."
"You stopped the lift," Harry accused. "And you were hiding when I got in. You weren't visible when I entered the lift."
"I was hiding in the corner under my invisibility cloak," Lucius returned sarcastically. "Oh wait, I don't have one of those, you do. I was here all along Potter, it's not my fault your eyes are so bad you failed to see me."
Harry frowned at Lucius and really wanted to contradict him, but suddenly he wasn't so sure. He could have sworn the lift was empty when he got in, but the truth was he had been a bit distracted. Between his blurred vision and his distracted state, he might just have missed Lucius. Granted it wasn't very likely as Lucius was hardly the sort of wizard you could miss, but Harry just couldn't be a hundred percent sure of what he had or had not seen.
"I notice you don't deny your eyes are bad, Potter," Lucius chuckled.
"I wear glasses, it doesn't take a genius to see I have trouble with my eyes," Harry retorted.
"From what I hear, it's more than a little bit of trouble," Lucius remarked with a smirk. "I've heard a whisper that very soon it won't matter if you wear glasses or not as either way you won't be able to see."
"Where did you hear that?" Harry gasped, appalled that Lucius seemed to know what should have been confidential information.
"Now, now, I can't give away my sources," Lucius chuckled. "Let's just say I've got eyes and ears all over. I hear all sorts of juicy little tit-bits."
"Well you've heard wrong," Harry hissed. "I am perfectly fine. That little revenge attack in Diagon Alley failed. Ron and I are just fine."
"Shame the same can't be said of old Arthur," Lucius drawled. "How tragic of him to die so suddenly. I hear these infections can come on very fast. Especially after reckless behaviour from his family. Although speaking of reckless behaviour, I hear the young Weasley girl burnt the family home down. How careless of her, leaving a candle burning like that. Young people today never seem to learn that their actions have consequences."
As Lucius fixed him with a knowing smirk, Harry's mouth dropped open as it hit him just what Lucius was saying. However, before he could respond, Lucius jabbed one of the buttons situated behind him and with a juddering motion the lift began to move again. After a few seconds it stopped and the doors slid open.
"This is my floor," Lucius said, sliding through the open doors. "Good day, Mr Potter, it was so nice to see you again."
With one final smirk, Lucius disappeared from Harry's eyeline. Jerking back into action, Harry grabbed the doors before they closed and poked his head out from the lift. However, the corridor was empty and there was no sign Lucius had alighted from the lift only seconds earlier. Swearing at the fact he'd been taken so by surprise that he'd let Lucius go, Harry stepped back into the lift and once again pushed the button that would take him to Percy's floor.
As the lift once again began to move, Harry returned to what Lucius had said, and the implications he'd made. Even though he blamed the dark for Arthur's death, because he'd been injured in their attack over Christmas, he'd never thought his actual demise had been anything other than a natural occurrence. But now suddenly he could see that Arthur had died less than a week after the incident in Hogsmeade where Draco had been hurt, and only days after they'd made sure Hermione knew who was responsible.
There was no doubt the dark were responsible for his and Ron's attack in Diagon Alley, but now it would appear they'd ended Arthur's life as well. And then there was the fire at The Burrow, caused by the candle Ginny had insisted she'd extinguished. Maybe Ginny was right, and someone else relit the candle after they'd left for the funeral. Given Lucius's remarks and everything else that was going on, it certainly seemed likely that the dark had a hand in yet another tragic turn of events for the family Harry loved so much.
By the time the lift arrived on Percy's floor and Harry emerged from the lift, he was sure that Lucius Malfoy and the dark were responsible for every bad thing that had happened over the last few weeks. Eager for everyone to know what he'd discovered, Harry quickly reassured Remus that his check-up had gone just fine, and after checking that there was no change with Percy, they headed back to Grimmauld Place, where Harry insisted that he needed to talk with everyone.
Within ten minutes of Harry and Remus arriving back at Grimmauld Place, Sirius and the Weasleys, aside from Molly who was resting in her room and the twins who had been keeping out of things, were gathered in the kitchen. After gaining reassurance that Percy was still okay they all sat back to wait and see what Harry was so animated about.
"I saw Lucius Malfoy at St Mungo's," he announced when every eye was on him.
"I suppose it's too much to hope for that he was seriously hurt," Sirius remarked.
"He wasn't hurt, we shared a lift," Harry said. "In fact, I'm sure he was waiting for me. I would have sworn the lift was empty when I first got in, but then the lift stopped and he suddenly appeared."
"The lift stopped? He stopped it? Did he hurt you?" Sirius demanded, his dark eyes flicking over Harry as he checked his godson wasn't hurt.
"He didn't hurt me," Harry assured his godfather. "He was there to gloat."
"Gloat about what?" Bill asked. "We're not stupid, we know who was behind what happened to you and Ron."
"He mentioned that, but he also mentioned Arthur. And how quickly infections can spread, especially after reckless behaviour from family."
"No," Ginny gasped as everyone shook their heads at what they were hearing. "He was just messing with you, Harry."
"Was he?" Harry countered with an arched eyebrow. "Arthur's condition deteriorated the same week we made our move in Hogsmeade. When we heard the news that he'd taken a turn for the worse, we were waiting for Hermione's response. Maybe that was her response, or at least the response of the dark."
"We can't prove it though, can we?" Remus queried. "Lucius didn't admit it outright, did he?"
"Of course he didn't, but I got his meaning," Harry insisted. "He was gloating. About Arthur, about what happened to Ron and I, and about the fire."
"The fire?" Ron muttered with a frown, his angry glare flicking towards his sister. Despite Ginny's protestations of innocence, he still blamed his little sister for them losing the family home. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"He mentioned Ginny and a candle," Harry explained. "I suppose given his contacts at the Ministry, he might well know the fire was caused by a candle. But how did he know it was Ginny's candle? As with everything else, he was gloating. He was virtually admitting to being behind it all, or at least being part of it."
"But why would he want you to know all this?" Remus questioned with a frown. "The only thing we've connected the dark with is the incident in Diagon Alley. We put the other things down to bad luck, or accidents."
"I don't know why he wanted me to know, but trust me, nothing is as we thought," Harry said softly. "The retaliation of what happened in Hogsmeade wasn't just what happened to Ron and I. It started with Arthur, and it continued with The Burrow. They killed Arthur. They burnt down The Burrow."
"And they attacked you and Ron," Sirius snarled, not willing to forget about the fact his precious godson had been hurt. "I for one won't stand for this any longer. It's time we did something."
"It is," Bill said softly, exchanging firm nods with Charlie. "The time for talking is over. It's time we took this fight to the dark and ended this once and for all."
"And that there is what Lucius hoped to achieve," Remus whispered as everything fell in place as he looked around the table at determined Weasleys. "We wanted to push Hermione into starting something, and they've turned the table on us. They're pushing us into making the first move. They're turning us into the bad guys."
"Quite frankly Remus, at this point I couldn't give a toss," Charlie snorted. "I don't care if we're playing into their hands. They've gone too far. They've taken too much from us. Our father is dead, one of our brothers is in hospital and will likely never recover, another of our brothers and someone we consider a brother was attacked and could have been badly hurt, our family home is gone and our mother is a shell of her former self. They may not have killed her, but they've killed her spirit. So whether it's giving them what they want or not, we will not sit back and be passive any more."
"I'm with Charlie," Harry said with a determined nod. He was rather pleased with the idea of action sooner rather than later as at least he would be able to fight before his sight went, and if he was really lucky they might even be able to get rid of Hermione and her father before he had to admit to anyone that he was going blind. "We need to do something, and we need to do it now. We've wasted too much time playing games as it is. So what if people think we're the bad guys, as long as we win, who cares what anyone else thinks."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
When the post owls arrived over breakfast, Draco recognised his father's owl sweeping into the Great Hall. However, instead of coming straight over to him the bird settled at the Professors table, where he noted both Bellatrix and Severus detaching letters from the birds leg. Only then did Lucius's owl make his way over to Draco and deliver his letter.
"What exactly is going on?" Draco muttered to the owl, feeding him some wholemeal toast as he opened the letter from his father.
Instead of replying, Lucius's owl grabbed some more toast before rising into the air with a hoot. Without a second glance, the owl soared out of the Great Hall and headed home to Wiltshire. Glancing at the Professors table, and finding both Severus and Bellatrix reading their letters intently, Draco followed suit and dove into the letter from his father.
"Well?" Hermione demanded from his side after she'd given him long enough to read his father's missive. Normally, she wouldn't have pried on Draco's correspondence with his father, but given Severus and Bellatrix had also received letters, she was figuring it could be important.
"Let's walk," Draco said, grabbing his cane and rising to his feet as he asked their friends if they wanted to join them.
Once out of The Great Hall, Draco led the way out of the castle, and despite the chill in the air, everyone followed him as he settled himself on the wall running down the steps leading into the castle.
"Well?" Hermione demanded again.
"Father says it's time to be prepared for action," Draco replied. "He expects the Order to strike any day now."
"Why would they suddenly strike now?" Theo asked with a bemused frown.
"It seems father had a run-in with Potter yesterday and may have dropped a few hints as to what has truly been going on lately," Draco explained. "Of course, if Potter mentions it to anyone father can prove he was nowhere near him at the time."
"So basically Lucius was gloating about what's been happening," Blaise chuckled in admiration, loving the way Lucius was able to wind people up so easily.
"He was making sure Potter and friends know for sure how much distress we've been behind," Draco confirmed with a nod.
"But that still doesn't mean they're going to strike," Theo argued. "Potter and Weasley might be hot-headed, but surely someone associated with The Order has a few brain cells. Surely they can remind them that be striking first, they case themselves in the role of villains."
"More than likely," Draco replied with a nod. "But even with logic playing a part, I still think father is right about them going to strike soon. I know I would in their shoes."
"No you wouldn't, you're smarter than that, Draco," Hermione said with a shake of her head.
"Smartness plays no part in this, Hermione, you know that," Draco chuckled. "We're playing with very primal emotions with the Weasleys. We've targeted their family. The people they love. Put yourselves in their shoes. What would you do if your father was killed? One of your brothers attacked, and another lying in hospital never likely to wake up. And then your house was burnt to the ground and you lost everything. Anyone who wouldn't react to that isn't right in the head. Sometimes it's not about doing what's smart, it's about doing what's right by the people you love. As I said, in their shoes, I would be getting ready for action."
"I have to say, I'm with Draco on this one," Blaise said with a nod. "I cannot see the Weasleys letting this slide. Even if it makes them the villains, they will strike."
"So we have to be ready for them," Hermione said. "If the action takes place elsewhere, I'm sure well get called to arms. But it might just happen somewhere nearby. We all need to be alert, and be ready to fight. Unless, of course anyone doesn't want to fight."
Of course everyone wanted to fight, and the entire group swore their loyalty to Hermione and their father before they headed back into the castle for the day ahead. Luckily there was a dark arts lesson that day, and Bellatrix must have received a similar message from Lucius as her lesson involved a whole lot of practicality. As well as working on their fighting skills, they brushed up on a few new spells which would pack a punch in a fight. The battle was coming, and while Hermione and her friends were ready, the real question was if anyone else in the school would fight alongside them or would they be against them?