Dean was grinning slightly, the morning of the Hogsmeade weekend. Hermione noticed immediately. "What are you happy about?" she asked, suspiciously. "You're never usually this happy in the morning."
"Yeah, well—I asked Romilda out last night," he said.
Ron spluttered on his pumpkin juice. "You're going to Hogsmeade with her! What, as a date?" he demanded.
"Yeah, well, I kinda figured it was time. I have gotten to know her a bit better these last couple of weeks," he said.
"Have you?" Dudley couldn't remember seeing Dean speak to her much beyond an occasional hello to each other.
"Yeah, when you and Ron have been at quidditch, we've studied together," said Dean.
"You kept that quiet," Dudley commented.
"Well, I didn't want to say anything until it was in the bag. What if she said no? You two would take the mick," he said.
"True," admitted Ron. He glanced over at the Ravenclaw table. Dudley knew he was looking for Cho.
"Just go and say sorry," Dudley said.
"No! I can't do that, I'd look a right prat," Ron replied.
'Because letting the prettiest girl in the school get away just because you're too stubborn or idiotic to say sorry isn't prattish behavior," said Hermione icily.
"Yeah, well … if she came and said sorry for cheating …" Ron trailed off, his gaze flicking towards Cho again. "Anyway, it's not like we can go on a date or anything—we've got our prefect duties."
"Yes, Tonks is supervising it all," Hermione said. "We're to patrol Hogsmeade and keep an eye on things. If we see anything suspicious, report to Warrington."
"Nothing will happen," Dudley said, confidently. "I don't think Voldemort is stupid enough to attack Hogsmeade, he must know the place will be crawling with Aurors."
Lord Voldemort
"I want you to attack Hogsmeade," Voldemort said addressing Antonin Dolohov. "I'll leave it to you how to go about it," he said, fixing his gaze on Dolohov. "Kill any and all mudbloods."
"My lord, the place will be crawling with Aurors …"
"Don't question me," Voldemort snarled. "Do as I say."
"Yes my lord," Dolohov bowed. "Who should I take?"
"Crabbe, Goyle, the Carrow twins, Greyback and Montague" said Voldemort. He hesitated, thinking. "Take the Selwyns, too - Miles and Clayton. This needs to look like a major attack. "Kill the Aurors or mudbloods-whoever you can and leave once reinforcements arrive. Do not stay and engage with the Aurors. Arrive, kill and flee. An attack on the mudbloods will strike fear into the nation, and, show that if you are pure … or halfblood, you have nothing to fear. Kill only the mudbloods."
Once Dolohov had left, Voldemort sent Malfoy to fetch Bellatrix Lestrange.
"My lord," she bowed. Stood up, and bowed once more.
"Bella … my most loyal servant …" he said, slowly.
Bellatrix's face was glowing with pride.
"Dolohov is going to distract the Aurors," he said. "An attack on Hogsmeade, they will head there immediately."
"Who is my target, my lord?" Bellatrix looked pleased at the prospect of a very important job.
"You are going to strike at Lockhart's idiotic Magical aw Enforcement Patrols. They are patrolling muggle towns and cities, keeping an eye on things. They are not a threat, but they will be a useful statement."
"Do you know where they are, my lord?" Bellatrix asked.
Voldemort smiled. He did know. Just a few days ago, he had ordered Rowle to ambush one on their way to the Ministry, forcefeed him a drop of Veritaserum, get the information of the Magical Law Enforcement Patrols schedule and then wipe his memories. It had been simple, and Rowle had carried out his duties flawlessly.
He knew he had a Ministry spy within his ranks, so he had kept the information close. Now, it was time to reveal it and time to strike.
"Who shall I take, my lord?" Bellatrix looked giddy at the prospect of bloodshed.
"Rodolphus, Rowle," said Voldemort. He thought on his ranks. Some of his number were otherwise engaged in matters such as meeting the giants, trying to trace Igor Karkaroff or tracking Horace Slughorn. "The Notts—Abaddon and Theo. And, try some of our new recruits ... Bole and Derrick."
Six should be sufficient.
"A patrol will be in Durham on Saturday. You will kill them and display their corpses outside the entrance to the Ministry of Magic. Send a message to our dear Minister."
"What about the Aurors?" Bellatrix said.
"They will have their hands full with Yaxley and his team," said Voldemort. "They have Aurors on guard duty at Diagon Alley, St. Mungoes, Hogwarts and a few other locations. With Yaxley's distraction, they will be stretched thin. Shacklebolt will want to protect the children, so he will send the bulk of his Aurors to Hogsmeade immediately."
Dudley
Dudley always enjoyed a Hogsmeade Weekend. It was really the only chance the students had to get out of the school for a bit. Then there was the fact that Hogsmeade was a really nice little village with some great shops. Dudley especially loved Honeydukes. Even with his diet, he always made sure to visit and stock up on snacks and goodies for the next few months. The school was on high alert and there was a long line of people waiting to leave. Filch was there giving everybody a good poke with his secrecy sensor in case they tried smuggling contraband. Ron got a few extra pokes because he pointed out it didn't matter if they smuggled stuff out. It was Dudley, Ron, Hermione, Luna and Ginny. Dean had stayed behind to wait for Romilda Vane, who was apparently quite a late sleeper.
"Aren't you going with, is it Michael Corner?" Hermione asked.
"He's going with his friends," Ginny replied, "I said I'll meet him at the Three Broomsticks later."
Dudley noticed that Ron seemed a bit distracted. "What's up with you?" he asked, falling in line next to his friend. Usually Ron was excited to visit Hogsmeade.
"I was hoping to see Cho waiting," he replied.
"I heard she's going with Reginald Jigger," Luna said.
"What?" Ron shouted, causing two third years in front of them to jump with fright.
"Who?" Dudley had never heard of him before.
"He's in Cho's class, captain of the Astronomy Club," Luna said.
Ron looked even more outraged. "I've been finished for the captain of the Astronomy Club? Come on ... really, me and Cho hadn't really split up ... had we?" he looked at Hermione.
"Well, you haven't spoken to her since the quidditch match," said Hermione.
"Yeah, but still ... it's only been a week!" Ron said, disgruntled.
"This is the response she was hoping for, Ron," Ginny said, confidently. "She's hoping to make you jealous."
"I'm not jealous!" Ron protested. He was squeezing the chocolate frog he had been eating so hard that it had crumbled into pieces.
"Well, just act like this when you see her, and she'll be pleased," said Ginny. "Or scared."
"I'm not acting like anything," Ron muttered and proceeded to grumble all the way into Hogsmeade,
At Hogsmeade, most of the students seemed pretty relaxed and carefree. You could have almost forgot there was a war on were it not for the many posters covering some of the shop windows and a group of grim looking Aurors in the center of town.
Hermione recognised one of them. "Look! It's Diggory!" she hissed. Sure enough, Cedric Diggory was there, looking as handsome as ever. He was talking earnestly to a tall black wizard with a shaved head.
"That's Shacklebolt, the Head Auror," Ron said quietly as they eyed him.
"Have they only assigned two?" Hermione said, in surprise. "That doesn't seem many."
"I expect more will be out of sight," guessed Ginny.
"There's one there-look," Luna pointed at Cassius Warrington who was talking to Marcus Flint and a woman who they didn't recognise. With them were a few more prefects including Hannah Abbott, Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson and Susan Bones.
Warrington looked over and noticed them. "There you are, oi! Granger, Weasley!"
"I forgot we had duties," Ron groaned. "I'll try and skive off-catch you three later," he muttered and followed Hermione to join Warrington and the two Aurors.
The Aurors
"Right, you're the last two," Warrington said, a little irritably.
"No," said Hermione, glancing around. "The Ravenclaw prefects aren't here."
"I know, they've been assigned the castle," Warrington said. "Now, listen-Flint is going to give us our orders."
In all, there were 18 prefects plus the head boy and head girl-two from yeard 5, 6 and 7 of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. The Ravenclaw lot were still at the castle it seemed.
"Right," said the female Auror. "I'm Penelope Flint, some of you may recognise Marcus ..."
Marcus Flint gave a curt nod. He was tall, muscular and looked like he might have a drop of troll blood in him.
"Head Auror Shacklebolt and Cedric Diggory are here too," she pointed towards the center of the town square where Shacklebolt and Diggory were keeping an eye on things.
"Also, here are Dawlish and Butcher,"
"Who?" Ron asked.
Penelope Flint looked annoyed at the interruption. "Another Auror, now shut up and pay attention!'
Draco Malfoy smirked at Ron getting told off.
"You are to pair off and patrol the village-Warrington, you have the areas?" she said.
Cassius Warrington stepped forward.
"First of all, you may have noticed Head Girl Stimpson isn't here, she is in the hospital wing. So, 7th Year Slytherin Prefect Scarlett Prewett will be joining me as interim head girl," he said. "We, along with Salas and O'Leary... and will carry out a rotating patrol."
Scarlett Prewett was a short, pretty girl with shoulder length black hair and very pale skin. She gave a nod of acknowledgement, so too did Vivien Salas and Derrick O'Leary-a pair of 6th year Hufflepuffs."
"Malfoy and Parkinson-you will patrol the mountain path," Warrington said. "Macmillan and Abbott-I've assigned the main square with Shacklebolt and Diggory. Granger and Weasley-you've got the Shrieking Shack.
And so it went, Warrington assigning various students to various locations around Hogsmeade. When he was finished, Penelope Flint gave a small nod. "Good work," she said, approvingly. "You might want to consider a career in the Aurors, Warrington."
Cassius Warrington puffed his chest out proudly.
"You all have your orders," Penelope Flint said. "Marcus and I are performing an aerial patrol. You won't see us, but we'll keep an eye on things from above. Stay sharp-if you see anything-ANYTHING-suspicious, notify either the Head Boy or Interim Head Girl or one of the senior Aurors immediately."
They all nodded.
"If you get attacked-shoot red sparks in the air and the Aurors will converge on your location. If you see anything suspicious, shoot green sparks and someone will come to see what's up. If you need urgent medical assistance, shoot up blue sparks. Understood?"
They all nodded.
"Dismissed!"
Ron Weasley
Ron stifled a yawn. "This is dull," he muttered. He was leaning against the side of the shack, whereas Hermione was looking alert and a little anxious.
"Pay attention, Ron!" she snapped. "You never know what's going to happen. Death Eaters could be sneaking through the woods towards us now."
Almost against his will, Ron felt his gaze dart towards the woods. "Nothing there," he said.
"Well, no, but they could be!" Hermione said.
"Fine," Ron stood up straight and yawned, stretching his arms out above his head. "I'll pay more attention-though they'll be mad to attack Hogsmeade. There's like ... 16 of us, the head boy and girl, six Aurors and some of the teachers are here too."
They had seen McGonagall, Tonks and Flitwick walking around the village, adding their considerable might to the town's defences.
"Yes, well ... you never know," said Hermione.
There was a small group of third year Ravenclaws inspecting the Shack, one even being brave enough to peek inside through a crack in the thick boards covering the windows. But other than that, all was peaceful.
Malfoy
"We split up," Malfoy ordered. "To cover more ground!"
"But, Draco ..." Pansy whined. "I wanted to spend my patrol with you."
Draco knew what she wanted, to spend the entire time they were meant to patrol kissing in the privacy of a nice tree. On another occasion, he would have been quite happy to, but today, he had plans.
"We're prefects, Pansy," he said, and grimmaced, realising he sounded like a dork when he said. "I mean ... let's do this properly, we can find a place to kiss later, ok?"
Pansy gave a small nod, though clearly she wasn't happy.
"Now, let's split up-cover more ground. You stay on the path, I'll patrol the woods," Malfoy said.
"Are you sure?" Pansy asked, anxiosuly. "Should we split up?"
"It'll be fine," Malfoy said, a little irritably. "You stay here and be careful."
He gave Pansy a quick kiss, broke away from her embrace before she could turn the kiss into a snog and he hurried into the woods.
He had something important to do, something secret. He only hoped he wasn't late. He hurried through the woods for five minutes before heading back towards the path which led into the mountains. There was a cave near here-that was his destination.
"Draco, you came," a voice said. His father stepped out of the cave. His hair, usually neat and tidy, hung loose and lank. It had receded quite a lot since Draco had last seen him. There were bags under his eyes and he was paler than normal. One of his arms was missing, Draco saw with a shudder.
He stared at his father in shock, taking in his worn appearance. It had been a long time-too long since he had seen him. "Father!" he gasped, hurrying forward.
"Draco!" there were tears in his father's eyes as he stepped forward to embrace his son.