Chapter 2: The Lion's Den

I wrote this fanfic when I was 16 back in 2005, right after Half-Blood Prince was published, so it's not my best work. I wrote it as an alternate 7th book, before book 7 was published. I got really lucky with some of my predictions. My idea for the "bottomless bag" came from Mary Poppins.

"Keep Breathing" by Ingrid Michaelson.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting on the floor of a less hazardous part of the Knight Bus, ducked below any windows they might be spotted through. They each held a medium-sized shoulder bag they bought from Fred and George's store. They were called bottomless bags, because no matter how much you put in them, they never got full or heavy, and when you reached in for a specific item you placed inside, it would always be the first thing you touched. Before the wedding ceremony, the three Gryffindors had filled their bags with clothes, potions, spellbooks, and anything else necessary to live in their new hideout together, including some food they'd swiped from the stocks of food for the reception.

None of the trio had been able to change out of their dress robes in their rush to leave, but each had used various spells to modify their attire to look simple and practical, thankful that the closing of Hogwarts meant all its students could legally use magic outside of school, no matter what their age. Harry and Ron wore comfortable trousers and shirts with shortened sleeves. Hermione's blue tulle skirt was trimmed to knee-length, and the top of the dress was free of the beading it bore previously. Once they were on the bus, Hermione had also pulled a white sweater from her bag, to cover her bare shoulders, removing any jewelry.

They got off the bus in a small village about two miles from Azkaban prison, where prison inspectors and off-duty human guards frequently stayed. It was around 2am by the time they entered the village, but Harry still pulled his invisibility cloak out of his bag and threw it over himself. Any Azkaban guards spotting Harry Potter walking the streets so close to the prison would cause a scene.

"That's the tunnel to Azkaban," Hermione whispered to the boys as they walked, pointing to a large wooden door on the ground between two old houses that appeared to be nothing more than an old underground storage facility.

"A tunnel goes straight between here and Azkaban?!" Harry whispered, astounded. That couldn't be safe. Wouldn't it be too convenient for escapees?

"It's no ordinary tunnel," Hermione responded, moving close enough to Harry that his invisibility cloak brushed her legs as they walked. "It's more like a version of the maze you went through in the Triwizard Tournament that goes underground and underwater. I read about it in Prian Court's Book of Big Security Measures. Only inspectors, guards, and a couple aurors know the way through."

Harry's silent nod was unseen by his friends, as was his long, thoughtful stare at the doors as they continued walking through the village. The first houses they passed looked decent, but the farther they walked along the weaving main road, the worse for wear the houses looked. Eventually, they reached a fork in the road. The lower road seemed to exit the village. The upper road seemed to dead end at the base of a steep, rocky hill. The three teens headed toward the rocks.

Three dilapidated houses lined the base of the steepest face of the hill, framing the road's end. One looked as though it had once caught fire. Another of the houses was completely missing a part of its roof. The third house seemed to have a little stability left to it. One window on the second floor was shattered, and the steps up to the door were broken, but the trio stepped over them to enter the house.

The interior of the house looked better than the outside. Cobwebs blanketed the walls, but they seemed sturdy and acceptably insulated. The stained and worn carpet still held its shape well enough. The staircase to the second floor was solid, though it creaked, and all the windows but the one upstairs were sound. The house included a small living room and a smaller kitchen with a fridge, stove, and sink, but no cabinets. There was one bathroom with the sink, toilet, and bath all chipped and rusted. There was one bedroom upstairs with a large, broken bed frame, and the floor was covered with downy stuffing that had fallen out of the torn mattress. There were piles of wood pieces and fabric strips everywhere.

"It'll need work," Harry said, folding up his invisibility cloak and tucking it into his bag, "but it'll do."

"Well, no one would think to look for us here anyway," Ron said, eyeing the web-covered walls warily. He blinked when they dissolved away, and turned to see Hermione already had her wand out and working. "Thanks," he said a little abashedly. Hermione smiled at him before using a quick repairing charm on the broken window. Harry took his cue from her.

"We should be able to finish repairs by this afternoon," he said. "I'll start in the bedroom. Ron, you and Hermione start work downstairs. I'll catch up with you down there." Hermione and Ron nodded their understanding and went back downstairs. About five hours later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were seated in the living room on a couch they'd created by dramatically enlarging a rolled up pair of socks. Together they had transfigured the wood piles into cabinets, filling them with the food from the reception. They'd repaired and scoured the bathroom, fixed the bed, and bombarded the floors with cleaning spells that failed to take away the musty smell. The lights still needed tending to, but the sunlight through the windows was enough for the tired witch and wizards for the time being.

The long, hooded cloaks the two men wore had camouflaged them in the dark. They saw the red-headed boy and the curly-haired girl passing them, whispering to their invisible third companion. One of them shifted slightly when they paused outside the tunnel to Azkaban, reaching a long-fingered hand into his robes to grip is wand. As the young travelers continued walking, the two men slipped out onto the street and tacitly followed them to a fork in the road where they ducked behind a rock pile to avoid being seen. Once their quarry entered a house at the end of the upper road, they sped into the neighboring scorched house and waited inside.

Hermione awoke when Ron moved beneath her. She had fallen asleep with her head on his chest, his arm around her. Ron woke with her movement. They both sat up, staring absently at all the parchment and pictures pinned on the wall in front of them until Harry spoke from behind them.

"Our mission map," he said, walking up to the wall and pinning what they recognized as R.A.B.'s note on the wall next to a picture of the fake Slytherin locket the note was found in. "Things are only going to get more complicated now. We have to keep track."

"Great thinking, Harry," Hermione said, getting up to examine his work more carefully. Ron moved closer too.

"Lists of Horcruxes, Death Eaters..." Ron mumbled, casually slipping his arms around Hermione again and resting his chin on the top of her head. "This should be fun." Ron felt a quiet, bitter laugh shake Hermione's frame in response. Harry, too, released a grim laugh.

"We can do it," he said firmly. "We have to."

"Speaking of obligations," Hermione sighed, leaning farther back into Ron's body, "we promised in that note that we'd write back to the others once we found a place to stay."

"Yeah, we should do that now," Harry said, pulling parchment and a quill from his bottomless bag. "I saw some owls flying around the village. We can flag one of them down to deliver it."

"Where?" Ron asked. Hermione looked between the boys worriedly. Harry stared at Ron for a minute before thinking of an answer.

"The Burrow," he said. "McGonagall would be too obvious to interceptors, and Remus would be impossible to contact during the full moon." Hermione and Ron murmured their agreement. Harry started scrawling out a short letter, but stopped before he finished. "What do we call this place?" he asked. Ron and Hermione exchanged glances.

The two cloaked men stood outside the house, peering at the teens through a window that was slightly clouded by the cool, moist evening air outside. The one who had reached for his wand previously was squinting his dark eyes at the parchment and picture covered wall, taking mental notes. The other man's lighter eyes refused to leave the young friends, huddled over the letter they were writing. His light eyes twinkled with pride as they scrolled over the tall red-head, following his arm until it disappeared into the thick brown curls of the young woman who was talking excitedly with the dark-haired boy writing the letter. The man's eyes rested on the latter the longest.

"Let's get one of those owls over here," the dark-eyed man said, his voice a breath above a whisper. The two men hurried down the road to the fork, where a few owls perched in a sickly tree. The light-eyed man stroked the feathers of a gray one, making clicking noised with his tongue. He whispered to the owl and it took off, up towards the rocky hill where he saw a flash of light shoot from a wand to flag it down. A moment later, the owl was airborne again. It disappeared into the oncoming night, as did the two cloaked men.

"WAKE UP!" Ginny Weasley shouted, running through her home like her fiery red hair was burning her. "EVERYONE UP! THEY WROTE BACK! HARRY, RON, AND HERMIONE!"

Witches and wizards sped out of bedrooms in their pajamas. Some guests from the wedding had stayed the night at the Weasley's, so the kitchen was packed by the time everyone got downstairs. Molly and Arthur Weasley, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Fred, George, Remus, Tonks, Neville, and Luna all surrounded Ginny. She shook violently as she read the letter aloud the tense group.

"We're safe. Don't worry. We found a place to stay, and we're starting to plan our next moves. We'll keep you posted. Send this owl or other inconspicuous owls to 'The Lion's Den'. They'll find us. Just don't write too often. We can't risk catching too much attention. Be safe, everyone. We love and miss you all." The letter was signed: Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Harry's Patronus: Prongs.