Grief on His Birthday
Harry did not know how long he was unconscious, but was relieved to find out that Lucius and Bellatrix were still there, both Stunned, and that the Ministry hadn't arrived yet. It must have been only a few minutes ago that the other Death Eaters disapparated. He tried to get up, but felt excruciating pain once he did.
'Well, nothing new there. I'll just have to suck it up and go inside, before the ministry finds me.' He was lucky the Death Eaters' faces were turned away from him as he Stunned them; otherwise, they would have seen him sneak into the house.
Indeed, the ministry arrived seconds after Harry stepped into Number 12, Grimmauld Place. Since the Aurors could not see Grimmauld Place, they did not suspect that Harry would be hiding inside. Harry was lucky that Shacklebolt hadn't come; otherwise he would have found Harry.
Harry had no idea what spell hit him; nor did he care. All he wanted was for the pain to go away, so that he could go look for the locket. Fawkes tried to heal Harry, but for some reason he could not. Harry read his spell books and tried to find anything that might be helpful in identifying the curse that hit him, but seeing as he did not remember what incantation the Death Eater had used and there was no physical, visible damage, he could not find anything.
'Whatever this is, it will just have to heal by tomorrow, because this is a waste of time' Harry thought to himself.
He crawled to the couch in the living room, bringing both Fawkes and Hedwig with him, and immediately fell asleep.
The next morning, Remus received his usual copy of the Daily Prophet. Today, he, Tonks, Arthur, and Petunia were to go search for Harry. McGonagall was to come too, but she would have to return to Hogwarts if Harry was not found before school started. Remus did not know where to start looking, but was nevertheless determined to look anywhere and everywhere he could possibly think of. He dully opened his copy of the Prophet; the minute his eyes read the big, black heading on the first page, he almost fainted. He could not breathe, this was not happening! Tears started to appear in his eyes, making it harder to read the article.
MALFOY AND LESTRANGE CLAIM TO HAVE KILLED HARRY POTTER
Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange, both Death Eaters and perhaps some of the most loyal servants of You-Know-Who, were captured last night around 11:00 PM in London. A Patronus was received in the shape of a stag from a mysterious person, telling the Ministry Authorities that there were two Death Eaters, Stunned, at a certain location unknown to the Prophet, and that about 10 more Death Eaters escaped before anything could be done. Aurors arrived at the place immediately; however, they only found two Death Eaters with no trace of the person who sent the Patronus. Later that night, after interrogating Malfoy and Lestrange with Veritaserum, they claimed they saw "another friend of theirs attack Harry Potter," causing the latter to drop dead on the ground. They could not, however, give details of where the boy disappeared to. The Ministry officially declares Harry James Potter's death on July 31, 1997, time of death unknown. May this day be a remembrance day, to pay respect to the Savior who gave up his life to help the Wizarding Community.
Remus could not believe his eyes. He was standing up, without realizing that he had done so while reading the article. He suddenly dropped to his knees, and cried. Tonks came running to see what happened, and when she saw the heading of the Prophet, she collapsed into Remus' arms and they both sat on the floor, sobbing.
Back at the Burrow, no one knew of the news. Arthur Weasley had informed his family of Harry's run-away, but the news of his death had not yet reached their ears. Ron and Hermione were shocked enough from his leaving, after he promised them that they could come with him. They were now being forced to go back to school, and resented that dearly. However, they decided not to fight over it. They would go to school, and ask McGonagall to let them go look for Harry; she would not tell their parents, they were sure of it. If and when they found Harry, they would give him a piece of their minds for running away without telling them.
That afternoon, Remus made a stop at the Burrow, hoping that the Weasleys and Hermione already knew of Harry's death. He couldn't bear to tell them himself, so he brought the Prophet with him just in case. He knocked on the door, gave the password, and walked inside, his expression grave.
Molly Weasley immediately spotted that something was wrong. She called a family meeting right a way, and within a minute the family, including Percy (who had taken to apologizing for his prat-like behavior), Bill, Charlie, the Twins, Ginny, Ron, Arthur, and Hermione, were in the living room. Fleur had decided to go dress-shopping for her wedding, and was not present.
"Have any of you read the Prophet within the last couple of days?" Lupin asked quietly.
"No, Remus, we haven't; we cancelled our subscription after they started writing all that junk about Dumbledore and Harry. Hermione is the only one who still receives it, but I don't think she had had a chance to read it because we have been very busy with preparations for the wedding," Molly stated, a curious expression on her face. At the mention of Harry's name, Lupin dropped his eyes.
"Is there something wrong? Did something happen?" Hermione questioned worriedly.
"I'm afraid I have bad news. Brace yourselves, because this isn't going to be easy."
They all looked up at him, their eyes showing fear and anxiousness.
"Well…he's…You see, it's like this…Well…What happened is…" Lupin could not bear to say it aloud.
"Remus, what happened? Is everything all right?" Arthur asked, afraid of what the answer might be.
"Here," Lupin replied, handing the Prophet over to Molly.
Molly's eyes narrowed as tears began falling on her pale face. "No! It's not true! It can't be!" She threw the Prophet against the wall, and stormed upstairs, crying her heart out.
Ginny went to pick up the newspaper, but the second she picked it up and glanced at the heading, she dropped it, as if it was burning hot. She then picked it up again, reading it aloud, not allowing herself to cry in front of the others. As she read further, her voice diminished, until she could not finish her sentences properly. She suddenly burst out in tears; sobbing, she ran upstairs and threw herself on her bed, slamming the door behind her. This left Ron, Hermione, Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Percy, and Lupin in the living room. Ron picked up the Prophet and finished the last couple sentences. "The Ministry officially declares Harry James Potter's death on July 31, 1997, time of death unknown. May this day be a remembrance day, to pay respect to the Savior who gave up his life to help the Wizarding Community."
"Oh my God! It was his birthday! Harry died on his 17th birthday!" Hermione cried.
They were all crying; Ron was embracing Hermione as she cried onto his shoulders, his own tears getting her hair wet; Arthur sat on his armchair, his face buried into his hands, not making any sound, though undoubtedly crying; Remus did the same, only his sobs were louder; Bill, Charlie, and Percy were standing silently, tears dripping down their faces.
