Chapter Seventy-Three: The Enemy's Move
Ginny Weasley – Present Day
April 28, 2001
Ginny sat down at the back of the room, annoyed. She did not want to be there, of course, and there were much more important things that needed her attention, but how could she break her promise to Harry? She had promised she would continue to plan the wedding and so here she was, sitting at Dudley's muggle wedding, ensuring that her being present would cause him to be present at her wedding when the time came. Although they were mid ceremony, Ginny could not focus as her mind was of course on her own problems and the problems in the Wizarding World. She thought about the riddle that she had gotten not very long ago, and it still had been unsolved. She thought about the resurrection stone and the fact that they still could not locate it. She thought about Ron, and that although secure, there was still no way to wake him up as it was impossible to get into the Department of Mysteries. She thought about the Fortescue murders and how they had absolutely no leads at this time. She thought about Grindelwald and what else he was going to do. And of course, she thought about Harry an Hermione being on the run with absolutely no freedom insight. Her head hurt with all the problems that she had in front of her and she didn't know which problem to tackle first. Although admittedly, she didn't have a solution for any.
"Are you alright?" asked a woman next to her.
Ginny looked up; it would appear that the ceremony had ended.
"Fine," she said smiling, as she made her way to leave.
She needed to find Dudley and Polly so she can give her good wishes and go back home to sort out the next problem. As she walked around the room, she noticed a large crowd gathering in the far north corner and assumed Dudley and his new bride must be standing there, being congratulated by other guests. Rather than wait in the long crowd, Ginny decided to stand back and wait for the crowd to start clearing before she would make her way over. The woman that was near her earlier had come over to her again.
"Smart move, I'm waiting too!" she stated.
Ginny smiled but did not respond.
"I'm Lucy," the woman said, eager to make conversation.
"Ginny."
"How do you know Polly?"
"I know Dudley, actually," Ginny responded. "He is my fiancé's cousin."
"Polly is my cousin," Lucy said excitedly.
Ginny did not reply in the hopes that Lucy would take the hint, but Lucy, however, was eager to make a friend.
"I don't think I've met any of Dudley's cousins," she went on. "What is his name?"
"Harry," she said blatantly.
"Oh my, you're talking about Harry Potter!"
"I didn't know that there were any witches here," Ginny responded, finally paying Lucy some attention.
"I'm the only one actually," she replied. "Apart from you of course! See, I'm a muggle-born."
"Now that I think of it, I recall Dudley mentioning that Polly had a cousin who's a witch."
"That would be me! But please keep it between us; Dudley's family does not know."
Ginny nodded her understanding. She was all too familiar with how the Dursley's felt about magic.
"Is it true what the Daily Prophet is saying about Harry?"
"No."
"I didn't think so. My friend Daisy has been following the story and she's convinced it's the same situation from when You Know Who was alive, and the Ministry was against Harry."
"Seems like your friend Daisy is quite intelligent," Ginny responded.
"She's just very obsessed with the truth. She's a Potter too, actually!"
Ginny spun around. "Really?"
Lucy nodded. "Of course, she's a Willox now that she's married, but she was born a Potter."
"I didn't realize that there were other magical families with the surname Potter."
"Oh yes, and Daisy has researched them all! Like I said, she's fascinated with facts and information."
Ginny watched as the crowd grew thin and realized her chance was upon her.
"It was lovely to meet you," she said to Lucy as she turned and made her way over to Dudley and Polly.
Once she had finished giving her congratulations, she apparated back to the Bureau and was surprised to find Neville there waiting for her.
"Everything alright Neville?" she asked him.
"Not exactly," he said. "You may want to sit down for this."
Gellert Grindelwald – Present Day
April 28, 2001
Gellert flipped through the book written by Rita on Harry and his friends and sighed. He couldn't figure out where the Elder wand was, but he knew the answer was somewhere in this book, whether Rita realized it or not. He knew that Harry had the wand when he fought Riddle, but didn't have it mere hours before. He concluded that he got the wand off Riddle himself and used it to finish him off. But what then did he do with it? And where did Riddle get it? He flipped to the chapter in the book on the Elder Wand and reread it for what felt like the one hundredth time. Something about it was just not adding up.
He Who Must Not Be Named had visited Grigorovich in Nurmengard, who then confirmed where the Elder Wand was. Once He Who Must Not Be Named had that in his possession, he was ready to take on Harry. All that remained to be the Master of Death was the Resurrection Stone and the Invisibility cloak, which we knew was with Harry himself. Evidently, killing Harry was the key to not only his survival, but to becoming the Master of Death.
Gellert knew there were parts missing to this story and whether Harry knew and chose to hide it or not, the truth was that Riddle had visited Gellert and asked him for the wand. Gellert, of course, had told Riddle where to find it, for he too wanted to see the take down of Albus Dumbledore. If only he had kept that fact to himself, perhaps he would be the one with the Elder wand now. He thought back to his most recent encounter with Harry and focused on the wand in his hand. It most definitely was not the Elder wand, but Harry was the last known owner. So where was it?
"Reading that again?" asked Rita, as she stomped into the room.
"I am doing research Darla, as you very well know."
"Well, your research must wait," she said, rather irritably as she dropped an ugly looking tea cup on the table in front of him.
Gellert slammed the book shut and looked at the cup. "What is this?"
He watched her raise her wand and transfigure the cup into an unconscious Ministry guard.
"What on earth?"
"I used the spell on him," she started, frustration in her voice. "Took him to the window and broke it."
"What?" Gellert screamed. "You broke the only known passageway?"
"Relax," she said. "I had my suspicions about it so I tested it out and as there is still a dead guard in front of me, it was clearly a decoy."
"The window is a fake," Gellert said, catching on.
Rita nodded. "Potter and his stupid friends played us again!"
"They played you, Darla, and you're the fool to have let them."
"What was I to do?" she screeched.
"Play back," he said smiling. "Alright, if this is how Harry Potter wants to play, then we shall play too. Gather Creevey and Thicknesse, would you? We are going on a little adventure!"
Hermione Granger – Present Day
April 28, 2001
Hermione sat cross legged on the grass hidden behind a large bush with a quill in hand and parchment at her feet waiting to write down whatever it is that she heard. She and Harry had made their latest campsite about ten feet from the Death Eaters lair (under the protection of charms of course) so that they could monitor their activity. They would then take turns sneaking out of the protection of the barrier and towards the entrance of the lair and eavesdrop on the conversations inside. As of late however nothing helpful was discovered. Hermione yawned and made to go back to the tent and switch shifts with Harry when something said by what sounded like Theo caught her attention.
"My mother is getting anxious as well; she wishes to see my father."
"As does mine," responded Crabbe.
"We need to be patient. As soon as Grindelwald is fully running the Ministry, they will be woken up and free to roam again."
"Yeah, and then we're back to following orders from yet another. Wasn't the purpose of all of this to be our own leaders, Blaise?" grumbled Crabbe.
"We won't be under Grindelwald's rule," responded Theo. "We give him the Hallows, he frees our people, and we go about our separate ways."
"And you believe that Grindelwald would allow that?" asked Macnair.
"I don't like the guy any more than you do, but he conducts himself quite differently than the Dark Lord. If we don't get in his way, he will leave us be."
"This is ridiculous!" spat Crabbe. "We're supposed to be running things!"
"We don't have the resources, Vince, even I know that," responded Blaise.
"But if we play our cards right, we will be positioned well," added Theo. "We will be able to do what we want, when we want, with our fathers next to us."
"And if we don't find the other Hallows?" asked Pansy. "I want my father back too."
"Grindelwald is working on finding them just as much as we are," Pius stated.
"Well, he can't get his hands on them before us. You'll let us know where they are if he finds them, won't you?" Blaise asked.
Pius cleared his throat. "Of course. My loyalty is to the Death Eaters; but I do his bidding to ensure I know what's going on. Speaking of..." Hermione heard silence for a while before he spoke again. "Looks like he needs something. I'll go see what he wants."
Hermione watched as Pius emerged from the entrance with a galleon in his hand, and walked a few paces down the pathway before apparating away. She then tuned in to the conversation again.
"The next Hallow we give him will free over half of our people and we know that Potter knows where they are."
"How do you know that, Theo?" Pansy asked.
"It's in this book." Hermione could only assume that he was referring to the Book Rita Skeeter had written about them.
"So we need Potter then," growled Macnair.
"As does the rest of the bloody world," responded Crabbe.
"Look, we have an advantage over Grindelwald when it comes to Potter."
"What's that?" Blaise asked.
"We aren't wanted," Theo replied. "We can tail the Weasleys to start, or anyone associated to the Order. You can't tell me that Potter isn't in regular communication with them."
"They won't just give him up," said Crabbe.
"So we torture them!" Blaise said excitedly.
"We'll need to plan this thoroughly," Pansy said. "The Order knows how to escape."
"Narcissa could probably help," suggested Blaise.
"I don't trust Draco," Theo said blatantly.
"He did get us the cloak."
"Yeah Vince, because he got his father back in return. No, we will do this on our own."
Someone yawned inside the lair.
"Well, let's go eat then and meet back here to figure out our plan," said a voice that Hermione did not recognize.
"Not much to figure out; we stake out the Weasley house and the Ministry, and grab any Order member we come across," ordered Theo.
"We need a place to take them," said Pansy.
"We can bring them here," said Macnair.
"We don't want anyone to find out about this place," Pansy replied.
"I don't have intentions of letting them leave here alive."
"It's an option," said Theo thoughtfully. "We don't want a target on ourselves though."
"Malfoy Manor," said Crabbe suddenly.
"No way!" shrieked Blaise.
"Why not? Malfoy is trying to prove himself, isn't he? If he says no, we'll know exactly where he stands, and if he says yes, well then, the heats on him, not us, and we have ourselves a torture ground."
"That could work," Theo agreed. "Alright, we'll meet here tonight and make a schedule. Vince, bring Draco here around seven, okay?"
Hermione watched the Death Eaters disassemble and she quietly made her way back to the protection barrier, where Harry was waiting inside the tent.
"Hey," he said as she made her way inside. "My turn?"
"No need," she said as she made her way over to an armchair. "They've all left to go and eat."
"Is everything okay?" he asked her.
Hermione shook her head no and began to tell him everything that she had heard. "Harry, we can't let them be in any danger," she finished.
"We won't," he said. He paced around the tent for a short period of time. "So, Draco took my cloak, which we knew, but now we know why."
Hermione nodded. "He got Lucius back, and probably under the Abracadabra spell, which could also explain why Rita was trying so hard to find out where the barrier is."
"And they think I have the remaining two Hallows."
"Yes, well, so does Grindelwald."
"Hermione, we need to find that stone."
"The Order is doing everything that they can; they'll find it."
Harry sighed. "How long until he figures out where the wand is?"
"Not long," Hermione said quietly.
"It's not safe anymore."
"No," she agreed. "But nowhere is safe, really."
"It'll be safest with me."
"I don't know if it's such a good idea, Harry..."
"There isn't another choice!"
"Well, either way, it's not like we can go and get it now, so let's focus on what we can do."
"We need to warn the Order."
"We should go to Remus' hideout; nobody knows about that place just yet."
"Okay, let's go now before they come back then."
Hermione paused. "You go," she said.
"You don't want to come?"
"I want to stay here and listen some more."
"You want to stay here and talk to Draco," Harry said matter-of-factly.
"Harry..."
"No, Hermione, it's too dangerous!"
Hermione struggled with her thoughts. She knew Draco had done some horrible things, but he would never help them, at least not willingly.
"He allowed you to be tortured by Bellatrix in his own home," Harry said quietly, as if he were barging into her thoughts.
Hermione started to sob. Harry grabbed her and held her tightly. After what felt like an eternity of tears, she lifted her head up and nodded. "Okay," she said in merely a whisper. "Let's go."
Draco Malfoy – The Past
March 7, 1998
Draco knew that not confirming that was Potter to his aunt would get him into serious trouble, but he couldn't do it. He closed his eyes as his aunt grabbed Hermione and it took everything in his power not to stop her. Why did he feel this way about her? She was nothing but foul to him, yet his heart raced whenever she was near him. He stood next to his mother as he watched his aunt Bellatrix pace around a terrified Hermione.
"How did you get into my vault?" Aunt Bellatrix shrieked.
"We didn't!" Hermione cried, but it was too late.
"Crucio!"
Hermione's screams filled Draco's ears. He quickly left the room and tried to escape the sound, but it was impossible. The more Hermione sobbed, the more Aunt Bellatrix tortured her.
Draco cursed loudly. "Help!" he said to the empty space in front of him. "I need to help her!"
He half considered running down to the cellar to free Potter himself in the hopes that he would be able to help Hermione, but he knew that he would be instantly killed by the Dark Lord if he did that. Her screams grew louder until Draco thought his head would explode from pain. Not from the pain of the sound, but the pain of potentially losing someone who wasn't even his. He made his way over to the exhausted Hermione but hid himself in the shadows wondering if he could cast a protection charm between her and his aunt, without his aunt realizing it. He raised his wand and silently casted the charm, just as he saw Weasley barging up the stairs. Worried that the weasel would ruin everything, Draco ran towards him, just in time to see Potter in front of him, trying to wrestle some wands out of his hands. As Potter defeated him, Draco turned his attention to Hermione and knew at once that the barrier he put on her had disappeared. Wandless and terrified, he noticed his old house elf and pleaded for help.
"Stop my aunt," he whispered to the elf. Moments later, he saw the little house elf dangling on the chandelier above his aunt and smiled. Despite how much he hated Potter, he knew Potter to be resourceful, and therefore knew at once that Hermione was safe. He sighed a breath of relief as he watched the chandelier crash to the ground and saw thick brown curls disapparate from the room.
Author's Notes:
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! This chapter is going to introduce some plots and help answer questions from earlier in the story. The next chapter will tell you what Neville needed to tell Ginny, and no, it isn't good!
To answer reviews, ShainaCobra - I stay true to Rowling's story so that should tell you the outcome, but there is plenty of story from now until then which will put a significant twist on everything. CBird28 - I will confirm that the Ritual Knot is not fake! Zack - thank you! I have to go back and edit quite a bit of grammar, but I am just trying to get the story out for now then can go back and edit, but I'm definitely writing the "Canadian" way, so I'm happy you're enjoying that! I understand your point about Dramione, many people feel the same as you. I guess you'll have to see why I choose to do it anyways (and yes, the story will answer that in time!) Jaelyn Baker - thanks for the head's up!
Alright, see you all soon, until then, thanks for all the reviews, messages, and support!