Sorry about that, this chapter was meant to be posted before Emmerdoodles went on vacation, but wasn't finished then. Sorry! We still don't own Harry Potter. And just a warning-there's some blood in this chapter. And on that note...
Chapter 38
Diagon Alley Revisited
The group gathered in the Defense office gaped at whichever twin had burst into the room. Ron then unsteadily walked up to his brother. "You and Fred are both okay, though, right?"
"For the moment…" George stated warily. Sirius then took over.
"Hermione, go tell McGonagall about this. Tonks, go get the Aurors. Bridget, Remus, Heather, you're coming to Diagon Alley with George and me. Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Nikki, you stay here!"
"Sirius, we've already proven that we can take on Death Eaters!" Ginny protested. "I want to be with my brothers!"
"No, it's too dangerous, you're staying, end of discussion."
"He's right," Heather agreed. "We just got you away from the Death Eaters, you're not going back."
"But…" Ron began.
"No," Remus declared. "Not happening." They soon flooed away, leaving five very annoyed teenagers behind.
"I am so sick of everyone treating me like I'm six years old!" Harry cried, flinging himself dejectedly onto Heather's sofa. "Does everything I've done count for nothing?"
"You know, we could floo after them," Nikki suggested.
"You heard Sirius, we have to stay here. He'll have our heads if we don't!" Ron replied.
"Sure, he said to stay here," she continued. "And we have stayed here. Now we're done. You just need to look at it from a different angle. He's a Marauder, he should know that!"
"Sure, he knows that. But when it comes to me, he goes to overprotective godfather mode," Harry explained. "He'd probably ground me until I'm thirty or something."
"Still," Ginny started, "it is tempting. And technically, we wouldn't have broken any rules…"
"Besides, I want to be with our brothers, too…"
"And it would be a great opportunity to test our skills…" Hermione put in.
"Getting back at those Death Eaters for what they did to Hogsmeade, not to mention us, would feel good…" Nikki admitted. The four of them stared at Harry for his opinion. He raised an eyebrow, stood his ground for a few moments, and then gave in.
"Alright, but let's try not to let anyone from the Order see us, okay?"
"Do you think we would just walk right up to Heather and say, 'Hi! We know we're not supposed to be here, but we came anyway'?" Ron asked incredulously.
"We'll just keep a low profile then," Nikki assured Harry. "Anyone who would potentially bite our heads off will never know we were there. Hermione, know any good appearance-altering spells?"
"If I did, I would have used them by now. We'll just have to be careful," she replied, taking a handful of Floo powder. "Diagon Alley!" Harry, Nikki, Ron, and Ginny followed suit, and came to a soot-covered halt in what used to be the Leaky Cauldron. Now it was mostly a pile of rubble surrounded by a wall and a half.
"This is horrible," Harry breathed, drinking in the sight. It truly made his blood boil.
"How anyone can do this is beyond me," muttered Ron while he stepped into the street. The air was thick with curses, spells, evil laughter and screaming. It was like Hogsmeade, only worse. Most of the shops had been decimated, and those that were standing had become fiery torture chambers. The one building untouched was, oddly enough, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.
"Look," Hermione shouted, pointing at the joke shop. "It's still there!"
"That's because Fred and George put up all sorts of wards. They showed me when I was testing their products over the summer. Most of the protection was meant to keep explosions from the inside from destroying the building, but it seems to work the other way, too."
"Useful," Nikki murmured. "I bet none of the other shopkeepers even thought to put up more than an anti-theft ward. Never expected to be attacked by rampaging Death Eaters, I suppose."
"Uh…if you guys don't mind, can I-I mean-I want to see how Fred and George are doing," Ron stammered.
"I'll go with you," added Ginny.
"If it's all the same to you, I'd like to check on Sirius, Heather, Bridget, and Remus. That is, of course, with none of them seeing me at all."
And I'll go with Harry," Nikki replied. Hermione hesitantly looked at the four of them.
"We really should stay together, there are Death Eaters running around!"
"They won't pay attention to us," Harry assured her. "And besides, if we split up that makes us less likely to be seen. By a Death Eater or Order member."
"Fine," she huffed. "I'll go with Ginny and Ron."
"Right. We'll meet back here in half an hour, floo to school, and no one will even notice we're gone. Come, Mr. Flame." With that, Nikki and Harry snuck off to their left, while Ron, Hermione, and Ginny went right.
"You should have brought your cloak, Harry!" panted Nikki as they ran from a large group of Death Eaters.
"Didn't think of it, sorry."
"You should be." Harry glared at her as they sat down to catch their breath behind what obviously used to be a shop.
"We've found Remus, he seemed to be doing just fine. As did Bridget and Heather. But where's Sirius?"
"He's your godfather, what're you asking me for?" Nikki asked cheekily.
"It was a rhetorical question, Nicole."
'Lestrange," she suddenly growled menacingly.
"What?"
"That's Bellatrix Lestrange, I can tell by her laugh. She killed my parents."
"I can't hear her as well; what's she saying?"
"Something about her 'dear cousin.' Dude, I feel sorry for whoever that is." The color drained from Harry's face and he scrambled away from their hiding place, Nikki following bewilderedly.
"You apparently know her cousin?"
"Sirius! He's her cousin! Her maiden name's Black!" Harry yelled, dashing towards Lestrange's cackles.
"Ugh. Who in their right mind would marry Bellatrix?"
"Mr. Lestrange!" Harry shouted over his shoulder.
"Well, duh, obviously-oomph!" Harry had skidded to a stop, Nikki ramming into him.
"Sirius…" he whispered hoarsely. It was indeed Sirius, looking much worse for wear. He had a large gash on his chest; blood was seeping into his robes. Bellatrix had her foot pressed hard onto the wound to keep Sirius from escaping and her wand was digging into his throat.
"I didn't kill you the first time I tried," she was taunting, "but have no doubt I won't fail again!" Just as she was about to use Avada Kedavra, Harry let off a succession of Stunners while Nikki yelled out the disarming, petrifying, and binding spells, most of which hit their mark. The two of them then ran up to Sirius, taking his wand from Bellatrix and kicking the motionless Death Eater aside. Harry knelt down on the ground and began shaking his godfather a bit.
"Sirius!" He blearily opened his eyes and looked up at Harry in confusion.
"James?" he croaked.
"Sirius! No, Sirius, it's me, Harry!" Nikki slapped him for good measure and he blinked a couple of times, then groaned.
"I told you two to stay at Hogwarts."
"And we did," Nicole replied. "For a few minutes, at least."
"Harry, when we get back to school, your grounded."
"I don't care!" Harry laughed, hugging Sirius, who inhaled sharply. "Sorry, sorry…"
"'S alright. She hit me with a Slashing hex. Bridget should be able to heal it in no time."
"If I knew how to conjure stretchers, I'd put you on one," remarked Nikki. "But we haven't covered that yet."
"Note to self," Sirius muttered, "teach sixth year Defense how to conjure stretchers."
"C'mon, Sirius." Harry took Sirius's arm and slung it over his own shoulders, helping his godfather to his feet. Nikki took his other arm and did the same. Both students staggered a bit, but remained standing.
"Alright," Nikki sighed once the three of them regained balance. "How in the world do we get back to Hogwarts?"
"Ask Remus," Sirius responded.
"And have him know we were here, too?" Harry shrieked.
"What, you think I wouldn't tell him?"
"We just saved your life, can't you do the same for us?" he asked.
"Ha ha, funny. All Remus and Heather will do is have Filch hang the both of you from your ankles."
"Peachy," Nikki intoned. Lucius Malfoy then suddenly appeared in front of them and hissed, "Harry Potter…"
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry sneered, slipping Sirius's arm off of his shoulders and taking a few steps toward the Death Eater. "Azkaban get too scary for big bad Lucius?"
"You're one to talk," he sneered back. "Draco told me all about how you couldn't stand to even be near a Dementor."
"Yeah, well, I've defeated them, and you're nothing next to a Dementor."
"Really now? Let's see, shall we?" Malfoy began using what seemed like every spell he knew, forcing Harry onto the defensive. The shields were protecting him for the time being, but they were growing weaker, while Malfoy showed no sign of letting up. Harry was finally hit with an unknown spell and thrown backwards; the curse made it impossible for him to breathe. Lucius was making to saunter up to Harry and gloat when he was hit by four Stunning spells at once and crumpled to the ground in a heap.
The next thing Harry knew, he was lifted into a sitting position, leaning against Heather. She muttered a few choice words and the spell was lifted, leaving Harry gasping for breath. To his surprise, once his breathing had returned to normal, she hugged him. It was rather like Mrs. Weasley's hugs, only Heather wasn't attempting to crush his ribs.
"You're in so much trouble, Harry," she whispered.
"Yeah, I know. Sirius already promised I'd be grounded. How is he?"
"Fine. Bridget was able to mend the cut without a problem." At that moment, Sirius dashed up to him, pushing Heather out of the way and embracing Harry as if both of their lives depended on it.
"Sirius, I'm fine!" Harry yelled into his godfather's robes. "Why is everyone acting like I died!"
"Because you should have," Sirius replied darkly.
"What are you talking about?"
"The spell Malfoy used was an ancient and evil curse," Heather interrupted. "It causes the victim's organs to shut down. On adults, it would be the heart and lungs, killing them slowly. When performed on someone younger, like you, for example, the brain fails as well. It should have killed you in about four seconds.
"It's because of the Prophecy," Harry murmured. "It didn't kill me because only Voldemort can…"
"Of course," Sirius agreed. "But watch out if Voldemort uses that thing."
"Harry, is that true what you said?" Nikki was now kneeling beside him, concern written all over her features. "About you and Voldemort?"
"'Either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives'," Harry recited. "'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies.' Sorry I didn't tell you sooner."
"Oh, Harry…" Sirius released him and Harry brought Nikki into his arms, allowing her to cry into his shoulder.
"C'mon," he whispered, "let's get back to Hogwarts." They stood up, along with Sirius and Heather. "How did you, Bridget and Remus get here, anyway?"
"You can thank Nicole for that," Heather smiled. "When you started dueling, she ran to find us. And…where'd Malfoy go? Remus, Bridget, Nicole and I hit him, he couldn't have just walked away."
"We'll worry about that later," Remus suggested, pulling a quill out of his robes.
"Not a Portkey," Harry moaned.
"Diagon Alley has been thoroughly destroyed. Would you rather we walked back to Hogwarts? Bridget! We're leaving!" Remus called out. She ran up and put a hand on the quill, and then the six of them landed in the Hospital Wing. Hermione, Ginny, Ron, and the twins were already there, and jumped at Nikki and Harry the second they entered.
"Where were you?"
"What happened?"
"Is everyone alright?"
"Harry, you're bleeding!"
"Hey, let them breathe!" Sirius cried, dragging Harry and Nikki away from the crowd of Weasleys plus Hermione. "Both of them are fine, that's my blood not Harry's, they were off dueling Death Eaters, now they're back, and Heather and I are going to keep a very close eye on them." The two sixth years smirked mischievously and bid the occupants of the Hospital Wing good-bye before wandering down to the kitchens for a snack.
"How do you deal with it all?" Nikki asked. She'd, not surprisingly, convinced the House Elves to make her favorite American meal-hot dogs and macaroni and cheese. More surprising was the fact that she'd gotten Harry to eat it as well.
"How do I deal with all what?"
"Voldemort, the Prophecy, all that killing…"
"It's survival, mostly. Voldemort's been a part of my life forever, How do you think I got this?" he replied, lifting up his bangs to reveal the lightning bolt scar. "The Prophecy just confirms that Voldemort wants me dead. I've known that for awhile."
"Doesn't that scare you, though?"
"Of course it does. Everyone either seems to think I'm invincible or I'm a little kid who can't protect himself. And they're both wrong. At some point, my life is going to include, or end with, murder, and if someone believes that doesn't terrify me, they'd be dead wrong.
"But what scares me more is the fact that everyone I care about is in danger because of me." Harry looked up at Nicole and smiled wryly. "You've made yourself into a huge target by being the Boy-who-lived's girlfriend."
"I am NOT the Boy-who-lived's girlfriend!" Nikki roared, startling Harry. She jumped up from the table and stomped toward him, wearing a very menacing glare. "I'm Harry's girlfriend." She bent down to his level and before either of them realized, Harry and Nikki were kissing. Harry pulled her closer just as the door to the kitchens burst open and Ron, Hermione, and Ginny appeared, thoroughly startled by what they saw.
"You-you're-I mean-Harry…" Ron spluttered, staring at the two of them with wide eyes.
"Oh my…" Hermione whipsered.
"Oh, come on!" Ginny cried exasperatedly. "You can't tell me that you two've never kissed!"
"Uh-well…" Ron broke off. Harry, Nikki, and Ginny began laughing hysterically. Hermione shot them a furious look, took Ron by the arm, and stomped out.
"There," Ginny declared triumphantly. "You're free to snog all you want. I would, however, like to know how you two got together in two months whereas it took six years and Ron almost dieing for them."
"Alright, the couples are as follows." It was the weekend before exams, and most of the wedding party was lounging around the Defense office. Heather had a large notebook and as reading off everything that still needed to be done. "Bride and groom…"
"That'd be us," Sirius clarified.
"Thank you, Sirius Orion Black."
"Must you use my middle name?" he whined.
"Yes," she replied. "Anyway, Sirius Orion Black and Heather Anne Evans. Then we've got the Best Man and Maid of Honor, Remus John Lupin and Bridget Marie deGrasse. Harry James Potter and Nicole Rebecca Harrison are the first to go down the aisle. Ronald-"
"Don't you dare say my middle name!" he warned.
"Bilius Weasley and Hermione Jane Granger are next," Heather continued, ignoring Ron completely. "Then there's Fred Gideon Weasley and Nymphadora Madeline Tonks."
"Ugh," Fred muttered. "No wonder you use your last name." She nodded furiously in agreement.
"Christopher Michael Harrison and Ginevra Molly Weasley are last, and then me. I've been in contact with Chris and he says he'll do it, if not because I was his favorite teacher n the world, then to see Nicole. And that's a direct quote."
"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Fred and George cried at the same time, identical looks of outrage on their faces.
"Oh, yeah," Heather laughed nervously. "George Fabian Weasley and…" She whispered his partner's name so quietly that only Sirius heard her. He leapt off his chair in response and bellowed, "WHAT?"
"Siri, she said she'd do it, and she really has changed…"
"The day Petunia Dursley changes is the day Snivellus and I bake a cake together!"
"As long as it's chocolate, dear. And you make Snape wear a hairnet."
"Aunt Petunia?" Harry asked with dread.
"Heather's gone mental!" the twins shouted.
"I have not! She deserves to be a part of this! She was actually apologizing when I talked to her the other day. To me and Harry," she responded.
"Fine," Sirius snapped. "As long as her husband and son aren't invited."
"I would never dream of that! There is one thing, though. You're all going to have to wear Muggle clothes, Petunia won't go near robes."
"You've got to be kidding," Sirius groaned.
"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze?" Heather pleaded, giving a face resembling that of his dog form. "It's only for one day, and then you can throw them all away!"
"Only if I pick what food we have at the reception."
"Deal," Heather stated. "You'll find your tuxes and dresses, respectively, hanging in the closet over there. See you all back here in about a week, you've got permission from the Headmaster to stay at Hogwarts until the wedding. Now students, go study! It won't bode well if you fail all of your exams, now will it?" Hermione gasped and raced out of the room, dragging both Harry and Ron with her. Ginny and Nikki followed, both laughing their heads off.
There. Production has sped up and this fic will indeed be finished before HBP comes out. We will have a sequel, but don't worry if it doesn't show up till around August, we need a break! We also need a good title for it, give us suggestions. P.S. Chapters will come faster if you review more-wink wink nudge nudge.
