I did it Kelley! YAY…You'll see what I'm talking about.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Chapter 11Harry looked around. He was tired, and would like to lie down, but he also decided he needed a shower if anything more. He wondered why he received such a nice room; besides the fact he was beside Voldemort.
Harry walked into the bathroom, to find it full of silver and green, and an occasional black. He decided not to take a bath, feeling he might fall asleep in the tub. So stripping himself of his clothes, he pushed the curtain aside, and hopped in.
The feeling of the hot water was wonderful to him, he had not taken a shower in so long, and it felt awesome.
After about thirty minutes, he dried himself off, and pulled on a pair of pants. Harry climbed into bed, where, the chains wrapped around him. A familiar feeling.
It's not like I can leave the room anyway, Harry thought. So why the chains?
Harry looked up at the sound of the door creaking open, and a jet of red light piercing his chest.
Oh. That's why. Harry thought as he wriggled around in pain.
The curse ended, and Harry saw Voldemort walk over to his bedside.
"Flip over," and Harry found himself flip over onto his stomach. He felt a horrid sensation on his bare back. Voldemort was burning his flesh, and this time, unlike the cruciatious curse, Harry did scream. Blood spilled over his back and onto the bedside.
Why is this happening now? Harry thought.
"I'm just repaying you for all the thirteen years of pain you've given me." Voldemort said, as though answering Harry's thoughts.
Harry didn't know why this torture was happening now, when it could have happened any other day he was in Voldemort's care, but something must have angered Voldemort suddenly that he had to take it out on Harry.
Harry did know, that he'd been whipped, suffocated, frozen, burned (of course), cruciated, and bruised. His bones were broken and healed, and broken again many times.
Voldemort pulled out a knife, and traced it down Harry's bloody back. A thin line of blood seeped out of it. He did the same to Harry's arms as well.
Harry seconds later felt a liquid pour down onto his flesh-torn back. It stung immensely.
Only what must have been an hour later, Voldemort was done, and Harry felt the relief of being alone once again.
-
"Ron…I think… I know…where… Hufflepuff's cup is…." Hermione said, as though she didn't believe what she was saying.
"You, you do?" Ron questioned, eyes wide.
"Yeah, almost…positive…Come on Ron Lets go!" she said with sudden excitement that almost made Ron fall from his chair.
"All right, where to?"
"You wouldn't know, but I've done some research so I would. We can do side-along apparation." Hermione said matter-of-factly.
"All right," and Ron gripped tightly onto her arm.
-
Ron scanned the area of which they arrived. There was a large house, which wasn't much of a looker. It was also abandoned, and might be what young muggle kids would consider the 'scary old house' with an old background story to it.
To the left of the house, he saw a sign, almost too covered in vines to read. He ripped a fair amount off, and found what he could uncover said: phanage.
"Phanage?" Ron said uncertainly. "What the…"
"Orphanage, Ronald. Orphanage. Come." Hermione corrected.
Ron followed Hermione to the doorstep of the house, and tried to shove past her when she stopped.
"Wait," she said. "Remember when Dumbledore went into that house, and it had all of the enchantments? Well what if this house has them? I mean, we can't do underage magic and"-
"Well I just did the Reducto curse so what about that, huh?"
"Well there was an adult upstairs remember? They can't actually track down who's doing the magic remember? But we have no adult with us now, so they can assume it's us."
"Oh. Right." Ron said, feeling slightly stupid. "So what do we do?"
"Find a well trusted adult." Hermione said confidentially.
"But who?"
"I have an idea, let's go back."
-
Harry was once again introduced to a deatheater meeting, taking his place beside a tall, lanky figure. He patiently waited for Voldemort to join them in the meeting, while standing in a horribly uncomfortable position from that bothered the welts on his back.
Harry heard a door open and Voldemort walked into the center of the room, looking very angered as he had the night before. He glared at all his Deatheaters as they scrambled into a bow.
"Rise, you fools!" Voldemort ordered. He quickly withdrew something from his robe. "Who has seen this article?" Voldemort asked.
One daring, and shaking man stepped up and said. "I have mi'lord."
"Then why didn't you inform me?"
"I was waiting for the opportunity." The man replied shakily.
"Enough of your pathetic excuses. Crucio." The man instantly dropped too the floor, screaming and writhing.
"Has anyone heard mention of this? Do you have any idea what it is about? The prophet has been known to supply lies, but…"
"Mi'lord, if I may ask what the article is about?" A man stepped forward, and Harry instantly knew it was Lucius Malfoy.
"Read it." Voldemort said angrily, tossing the paper to the wealthy aristocrat.
Lucius caught the paper, and straightened up. The headline of the article made Harry want to dance:
Dumbledore, alive or dead?
Behind his mask, Harry was smiling, and beaming with hope. He hadn't bothered to listen to the rest of the article. He knew the prophet told lies, but he was willing to turn his beliefs a bit to believe Dumbledore was alive…. But Snape killed him. Harry saw it. No, Dumbledore was defiantly not alive. Unless…
Voldemort was furious, and that meant there was a possibility.
"Mi'lord. What if the ministry was trying to scare us?" One brave deatheater asked. Oh there was that possibility too. "I mean, Dumbledore was the only one you've ever fear"-
Crucio! "Do not speak out of turn!" Voldemort shrieked.
"I'm sorry Mi'lord, please, I'm sorry!"
"All of you find as much information on this theory as possible! Now, leave all of you!" Voldemort commanded.
Everyone did so, and Lucius dropped the paper he had recently held. To Harry's discovery, it said evening Prophet. So that's why Harry was being punished as so last night.
Harry left the room, and went to his chamber, as Voldemort had instructed that morning.
-
"Please Fred, George, we need you! Please. We can't do it, and you're of age! Please. We know you would be skilled in this subject." Hermione had been pleading with the twins for the past twenty minutes, but had not gotten them to budge. She knew they were of age, and could well keep their secret. (If she decided to tell them). Hermione also thought they would be professionals in what she wanted them to do. To figure out the wards and traps on the old rotting house.
"No Hermione! The shop is awfully busy and we haven't had any free time. This is the most we've gotten in days and"-
"What if we offered to help in the shop? No salary, except your help."
"Hermione!" Ron whined at her offer.
"Well," Fred took a minute to consider. "It would be nice…. George?" He said, turning to his twin, who also looked just as thoughtful. George broke from his trance.
"Oh-uh-yeah, yeah that would be great. Extra help in the shop."
"Alright, you've got yourself a deal." Fred said, grabbing Hermione's hand and shaking it enthusiastically, reminding Hermione of Ludo Bagman.
"Great than," Ron said, who was still shaking Georges hand.
"So, what exactly is this secret?" Fred said slyly.
"You promise you'll help us no matter what we say?"
"Yeah, we shook on it." George said.
Hermione looked at Ron and he nodded. "Horcruxes."
Both Fred and Georges' eyes widened immensely.
"Wait," Hermione said, her tone very surprised. "How do you know about Horcruxes?"
"Hermione, we hear a lot of things. Many adults seem to fail to remember the phrase: 'the walls have ears.' Or more rather, the walls have extendable ears." Fred said grinning at the three.
"Some dangerous work Hermione, but, we promised. But why"-
"It will help us defeat V-Voldemort." The four cringed at the name. "He has obstacles set up, and we figured maybe you could you know, help us get through them, being of age and talented in that way." Hermione said hopefully. "We want to destroy all the Horcruxes, so this wont be the first time we call upon you. If, that's all right?"
"Yeah, well let's get it over with." Fred said, who seemed rather regretful of the agreement.
"You mean right now? Were not prepared. It's going to get pretty bad in there I mean…It is You-Know-Who- I mean Vol-Voldemort." Ron corrected himself after an intense glare from Hermione.
"Well Ron, we've seen what Dumbledore did I mean, we are a bit prepared. And the sooner we do it, the sooner Harry is rescued."
"Hermione, we haven't seen anything!" said Ron faintly. "It was pitch black, and we heard a bang and a thud. How many things can go bang and thud, Hermione? How many?"
"Well, I doubt Voldemort would put the same enchantment on each Horcrux, so were alright in that situation. Now, Ron, apparate with Fred, and I'll go with George." Hermione said taking hold of George.
"Wait I got to lock up the shop, and flip the sign." Fred said, loosening from Ron's grip. Minutes later when Fred returned, the four apparated to the "Phanage."
-
"This is it. Let's go inside." Ron made his way to the door, but Hermione held him back.
"Ron, without magic, we'll only get in the way!" Hermione said crossly. "Let them do it."
Ron crossed his arms, and began to sulk as the two watched the twins draw closer to the house. They turned to look at Hermione and Ron, and gave a quick mock salute before walking inside.
"How did they get inside so easily"- Hermione began, but was interrupted by a loud, familiar bang.
"No duplicate enchantments, huh, Hermione?" Ron said smugly, and a bit triumphantly at getting the best of Hermione.
"Well it may not be the same"- All light in the house immediately disappeared.
"Ha." Ron smirked.
"Ron, don't be so smug. They could be in trouble." Hermione cupped her hand around her ear, listening for screams or shouts, and gestured Ron to do so too. All they could hear was whoops, hollering and laughter.
"Typical Fred and George," Ron muttered knowingly to himself.
"Must they always make a joke out of everything?" Hermione said with a frown.
"I suppose so," said Ron, who was now laughing.
Ron's laughter was cut short when he heard several swear words come from the house.
Hermione looked fearfully at the house, and glanced back at Ron. Another bang was heard, and Fred and George came running from the house, as a black smoke raced after them.
Although they looked empty handed, Ron saw Fred gave a thumbs-up, and patted an oddly shaped lump in his robe.
"Yes!" Hermione shrieked, throwing her arms around Ron, and giving him a hug. "They got it Ron, they got it!"
"I know, I know," Ron said slightly taken aback by Hermione.
"Well, let's see it." Ron said, and Fred began to pull the object from his pocket. It was a goblet, which was glowing a faint yellow. They knew it to be Hufflepuff's cup.
"Oh my God, George, what happened to your thumb?" Hermione said, noticing it looked black, shriveled, and dead. It looked just like Dumbledore's hand. "Oh no… I should have guess as soon as the inside of the house went dark. I'm so sorry!"
"Hermione, Shh. It's for a good cause, isn't it?" George said, with a weary smile.
"Let's just blow it up and get it over with." Fred said, who although without the black thumb, looked the more exhausted of the two.
"Sounds good to me." Ron said, and stepped back a bit along with Hermione and George.
With the word Reducto, the cups performed the same procedure as the locket and the ring did.
-
Several minutes later, the four found themselves back in the upstairs room of Weasley Wizarding Wheezes.
"You guys," Hermione said as she hugged the two, who staggered into her arms. "Thank you so much." Releasing them from the hug, Hermione tugged Ron's hand, and he began to follow her to the stairs.
"Hey," George shouted. "Where do you two think your going?"
"Home, we have to study more of the Horcruxes"-
"No you're not," said Fred, collapsing on the bed nearest him. "Your shift buddy. Wake me up at three." And with that, the second twin fell onto the bed as well, leaving the duo to tend the shop.
