Chapter Six
The tunnel, and the cart ride, seemed endless. They were traveling at speeds that would have been impossible for Harry to even dream about achieving on his Firebolt. All of their faces were pulled into a grin, though Tonks used her metamorphic powers to flap her cheeks a meter behind her.
"Where do you think we are going?" Harry managed to yell out over the rushing wind.
"It would help if I knew what direction we're headed in!" Tonks yelled back (although how Harry had now idea). "But no matter what direction we are headed in, we are no doubt leaving England!"
"Maybe Ireland?"
"No!" Hedwig yelled suddenly. "We are heading south-east!"
If the force of gravity would have let them, Harry and Tonks would have looked at Hedwig in shock. Hedwig, however, still seemed to sense their feelings.
"I don't know how I know!" she wailed. "I just do!"
"Well if you're right," Tonks yelled after a minute "We are probably headed to Paris!"
"Why do you say that?"
"That is where the nearest Gringotts branch is!"
They lapsed into silence once more, the whistling of the air going past the only sound heard. After what seemed like a twenty minute ride in the faint light provided by lanterns zooming past overhead, a bright speck of light started to grow in the distance.
"About bloody time!" Tonks exclaimed. "We need to contact Remus as soon as we get out and let him know we got out OK."
As the light grew bigger and brighter, the cart started slowing down noticeably. Now that the air whistling past had subsided, they were able to hear noises echoing down the tunnel. Loud excited voices, the slamming of heavy doors, and over it all, the wailing of a siren like the one they had heard at the Gringotts in London.
"Crap." Harry said. "Do you think they were attacked too?"
"I doubt it." Tonks replied, her hand slipping under her robes to grip the handle of her wand anyways. "You-Know-Who has found little support in the rest of Europe. Many still remember the horrors committed by Grindwald and his forces. Plus, as long as You-Know-Who stays in England, the ICW isn't really compelled to act against him." She didn't have the heart to tell him that if Voldemort learned he had escaped, he would probably chase him to China if he had to.
"Lazy buggers." Harry said bitterly, as his hand rest on his wand handle too.
However, once they coasted out of the tunnel, they both froze, then slowly joined Hedwig in holding their hands in the air. Nearly three dozen spears were aimed at the their heads, with a dozen wands added in to still any thoughts of sudden movement. The flashing red lanterns just capped the whole thing off.
One of the goblins was yelling at them in french at such a rapid clip that Harry doubted that even if he knew french he wouldn't be able to follow it. Every time he opened his mouth to say something, one of the spears would jab closely throat, prompting him to shut his mouth. Exasperated, he let out a sigh, the burst of rustling his hair.
" 'arry?" asked a female voice with an edge of shock in it, "Is that you?"
A second later and one of the wands clattered to the ground and a young woman with long blond hair burst through the thicket of spears aimed at them and threw herself into Harry's shocked arms.
"You're alive!" she cried out, showering his cheeks with kisses. "I 'ad feared zee worse when you went missing!"
It wasn't until the woman turned and was saying something in french to the others did he realize who it was.
"Fluer?" he asked incredulously. "What are you doing here? For that matter, where is here anyways?" Fluer's laugh sent a pleasant shiver up Harry's spine, while most of the guards relaxed and moved back to their posts.
"Did zey not tell you? You are in Paris now mon cheri! Zis iz zee Paris branch of Gringotts. I work 'ere."
For the first time Harry looked around. Instantly he was struck by how different the Paris Gringotts was from the London Gringotts. While London was an imposing white marble fortress, it was clear that the Paris goblins liked to show off their wealth. The area where they had come out was separated from the lobby and the rest of the carts by two massive stained glass walls. The walls themselves were lavishly decorated with colorful wall hangings and highly detailed living paintings. Before Harry could say anything, one of the goblins stepped forward, his gem encrusted armor giving him away as some sort of officer.
"I think it is time you explain yourself Mr. Potter..." he started to say in slightly accented english before Harry raised his right hand to show him his rings. "Excuse me, Lord Potter-Black." the goblin corrected himself. "Now do you mind to tell me why we received an emergency message from London, and then you four show up on the evacuation cart instead of our lord?"
Now that it looked like they weren't going to be killed, the reality of what they had left behind settled down on Harry like a lead weight. He tried to speak but the words got caught in his throat. Tonks rubbed his shoulders with a curious look on her face, while Fluer looked at him in concern.
"Moria..." he managed to say softly, the goblin officer suddenly stiffening. "Raganok said Moria..."
"AIEE!" the goblin cried out, followed by a long stream of gobbledygook that soon had the entire bank ringing with the sounds of grief from the goblins.
"Harry..." asked Tonks slowly, noticing that several of the humans were crying as well. "What is Moria?" Harry swallowed hard, and was grateful when Fluer gave him a Calming Drought and hit him with a strong Cheering Charm.
"A long time ago, a muggle writer wrote a series of fictional stories. In one of them he wrote of a massive dwarf city and mine, sort of like Gri...er... London Gringotts, called Moria. The city was attacked by dark forces, and all of the dwarfs died fighting."
Tonks's eyes bulges slightly.
"You mean we left them there to die?!" she screeched, her hair flaring a deep red. In a flash she was out of the cart and running towards the tunnel, wand drawn.
Instantly the goblin officer stopped his keening, and with a speed that surprised Harry who was trying to struggle out of the cart, tackled Tonks with a flying leap.
"No!" he yelled. "You can't go back!"
"We left them there to die!" Tonks yelled, he suddenly sharp nails ripping through the goblin's armor. Keeping a firm grip on her, the goblin yelled out something in french. Almost immediately. Fluer and another french witch started firing spells into the tunnel, vanishing support beams and blasting apart walls. In a matter of seconds, a hundred foot long section of the tunnel collapsed in a cloud of dust. When it cleared, Tonks ceased her struggles and started sobbing bitterly.
"We left them to die..." was all she kept saying.
"Then let them!" the goblin said harshly. "Let them die fighting with the honor they have earned! Going back would achieve nothing and render they sacrifice meaningless! Think! How would you protect Lord Potter-Black then? He is many miles from a home he can't easily get back to, in a country that has its own share of dark wizards and witches!" Once Tonks had calmed down somewhat, he continued.
"Do not think that you are safe here. Once your Lord Voldemort learns that Lord Potter-Black has escaped yet again, he will follow him here. Do not be shocked if all of magical Europe is plunged into war. Your life is no longer yours to hazard. You are all who Lord Potter-Black has left."
"Hey!" Hedwig protested angrily.
"Owls do not count." the goblin said simply.
" 'e iz still not alone Manager Boneblood." Fluer said suddenly. "I am sorry, but I must resign my job 'ere."
Boneblood looked at her for a few seconds before shaking his head.
"Resignation rejected." he said simply. He held up his hand to stop Fluer from speaking. "However, I do suggest that you take a paid vacation of... oh... a year." Fluer opened her mouth to argue, then what Boneblood has said sank in and she smiled happily.
"Thank you!" she said with a curtsy.
With surprising strength, Boneblood pulled Tonks to her feet and unceremoniously dumped her into Harry's arms, who had finally managed to free himself from the cramped cart. While Harry was reassuring Tonks, Boneblood walked over to Fluer and hugged her waist.
"Be careful." he whispered to her. In french, he whispered even softer: "Guard your heart my friend."
"It was lost long ago." Fluer replied in french hugging him back.
Breaking apart, Boneblood was relieved to see Tonks had recovered.
"Normally I would be telling you to go to France's Ministry of Magic, but sadly our Ministry is just as corrupt as yours is. Word of your survival would get back to Lord Voldemort the second you stepped across the ward lines. As is you have precious little time till Gringotts London is thoroughly searched and the conclusion is made that you have escaped."
"So how do we get back to Britain and Hogwarts?" asked Harry with a touch of worry edging into his voice. If Remus was right, he needed to get back to Hogwarts soon to activate the wards.
"It is too far for a direct apparition from France to England." Boneblood said. "And you cant get an international portkey without going through the french ministry. Your best bet is wait a few days then take one of the muggle ferries across the Channel."
He stepped back and looked at the four of them before sighing. Harry was really starting to appreciate the french goblin's human-like nature.
"I wish I could say that you will have the help of the goblin nation in your quest Lord Potter-Black, but Lord Voldemort has taken us out of the fight. We are paralyzed without a king, and when Raganok was elected, it was after a five year long process, the shortest amount of time in goblin history. The most I can do is offer you all the luck I have, and pray that it is enough." He paused and looks Tonks in the eyes.
"Just so you know, the fall of Gringotts London will prompt all other branches to increase their security. You won't be able to pull what you did in London again. When we say your true form, we mean it."
Tonks flushed a bright red, her hair shifting colors to match.
"Now Go!" Boneblood said sharply. "Good luck, lay low, and if the gods are with us, we will all still be alive at the end of this."
"Hopefully..." Harry said in a dead voice. Once more, the prophecy came to the front of his mind. Hedwig stood next to him and nuzzled his shoulder.
"Come on Master." she said softly, and Harry nodded. Fluer arched an elegant eyebrow at what Hedwig had called him, but didn't saying anything at that moment, instead leading them out of the silent bank and into the noisy crowds of France's magical shopping center.
"Welcome to La Place Magique!" Fluer announced proudly. For Harry, the sight that greeted his eyes would become one that stayed with him for the rest of his life. There were hundreds of shops, multicolored pendants flew everywhere, and in the background, the massive Eiffel Tower dominated the skyline. As for the sheer number of people, Harry wouldn't even begin to try and make a guess on how many there were.
"Merlin Fluer! He exclaimed. "How do you guys keep all of this hidden from the muggles?"
Fluer fidgeted.
"No offense 'arry." she said. "but your British culture eez... behind.. in terms of technology and magical understanding, non?"
Harry flushed and nodded sheepishly.
"I figured as much." he admitted. "I noticed that during the Quidditch World Cup."
Fluer lead them onto the Plaza, pointing out various points of interest to Harry and Tonks. Both of them were glad that some of her accent had eased up, allowing them to understand her better. Meanwhile, Hedwig wished she was an owl again so that she could turn her head in all the directions she wanted to while she took in the sights.
"So where are we going to go? Asked Tonks once it became clear that Fluer was leading them in a specific direction. "What is your idea of lying low?"
"To my apartment, non? Eet eez zee safest place in Paris eez eet not?"
"Of course." Tonks said with a flush as she remembered. "As a curse breaker you must have some pretty exotic wards around your place."
"Naturally."
"So how are we going to get there?" Harry asked. "Walk?"
"Floo of course." Fluer answered, her tone of voice making it clear what she thought of the brilliance of that question.
"Bloody hell..." Harry cursed. "I am never going to get used to that... give me a broom any day."
"Don't worry." Tonks said kindly, helping guide Hedwig through a crowd of German tourists. "We all have a hard time at first."
"Great..." Harry replied sarcasticly. "Great help from the girl who fell out of the floo herself!"
" 'arry," Fluer said while Tonks mimicked a beet. "Zee key to using zee floo eez that you don't stop walking forward. Otherwise you will lose your balance when you exit zee other end."
"Wonderful!" Harry exclaimed. "Why the bloody hell didn't anyone tell me that five years ago?"
There was a round of laughter from the girls as Harry muttered angrily under his breath. The crowd started to thin and Harry saw the Plaza's floo connection, 30 fireplaces located under a large stone arch. Fluer pushed her way to the front of the line and secured the use of one of them. From the glazed looks on many of the men left in her wake, Harry suspected that she used her allure to aid her. Fluer wrote the name and location of her apartment on a slip of parchment and showed it to them.
"Fidelus?" Tonks guessed.
"Oui." Fluer replied. "So please... whisper it as quietly as you can please."
Hedwig raised her hand in the air.
"Can someone please go ahead of me?" she asked with a blush on her face. "After what happened last time..." she trailed off, her blush growing darker.
"Oui, of course!" Fluer said with a giggle as she quickly burned the parchment and vanished the ashes. "What kind of a hostess would I be if I wasn't there to greet you?"
Tossing the floo powder into the fireplace, she waved and stepped forward to vanish into the green flames. Gulping, Hedwig quickly followed Fluer and vanished as well. Tonks stopped Harry before he could go through.
"Don't worry Harry." she said gently. "I won't let anything happen to you."
"I'd much rather you found a way to get back to Remus on your own." Harry replied seriously. "He must be going crazy right now."
"He'd go even more crazy if he knew I left you with a human owl and veela barely two years out of a french school that has the poorest defense against the dark arts class in all of Europe!"
"Well... when you put it like that..."
"Just get going will you?" she gave him a playful shove towards the fireplace.
Grinning, he tossed in the powder and whispered out the name of Fluer's apartment. With a roar of green flames, he watched Tonks and the plaza vanish.
~ Birds Of A Feather~
Lily Potter sat in Dumbledore's chair with her eyes closed. She was still naked, but after fifteen years of being a bodiless spirit powering the wards around Privet Drive, things like that no longer bothered her. What did bother her was being stuck in this office, the door wouldn't open for her. It was just one more thing to be mad about. Fifteen years of not being able to cross over, all due to one old man's manipulations. Dumbledore's portrait was lucky that she hadn't seized the Sword of Gryffindor and slashed it to ribbons.
She sighed heavily, her heart aching with loss. It took all her willpower not to rip the the ring off of her finger and go back into the form she had before. The Resurrection Stone on the ring was all that was keeping her in this body, and she wasn't sure that she could just keep going back and forth. So, she lived with the pain.
Opening her eyes and getting up, she walked over to Dumbledore's mirror and examined herself in it. Her body had recreated itself to that of what it had been when she had died at the age of twenty-one. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. While on one hand she had always loved her looks, on the other hand she now wasn't much older physically then Harry now.
Harry... closing her eyes again, she focused on the slight tug that she knew was in Harry's direction. Powered by the magic of the ring and the energy of the dead, she could have easily apparated to his side, but that would involve ripping through the wards of Hogwarts, and no one wanted that.
She cursed under her breath. Barely an hour alive and she already she was stressed out. She walked back over to the chair and collapsed in it.
"How in Merlin's name am I going to explain this to him?"
Her mind troubled, Lily fell into a restless sleep.
A/N: Yes, I know, a hell of a long break, and not that long of a chapter when I do post. I can explain. First of all, I was flat on my back with the flu for over a month, and I could barely sit up long enough to write this, never mind type it out. For that, I am sorry, and hope that I don't have such a long break again in the future. Second, this seemed like a very natural place to end it, considering the events I have planned for the next chapter.
As for Fleur's accent... I wasn't sure, so I will leave it to you, the readers, to tell me what you think of it. Too much? Not enough? Let me know so I can make corrections.
And, as always, feel free to leave a general review of what you think of the story so far, and where you think I might be taking this, what ships might develop, stuff like that.
Thanks for reading and see you next chapter!