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Chapter thirty two
The Order meeting
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Without any real appetite, they ate an early lunch in the darkened kitchen of the Blacks´ House, while ignoring Kreacher´s grumpy remarks. Then Harry requested the elf to bring a piece of parchment, wrote the headquarters´ address on it, just as Dumbledore had done once and confided the important note to Remus.
Harry´s new assignment did not surprise the werewolf at all, since he had been probably expecting this conclusion of the Secret-Keeper issue all along. He also considered praiseworthy that Harry thought his responsibility through to details and was definitely right in assuming that they would need to share the address in the future.
However, when Remus suggested that the identity of new Keeper of Fidelius Charm should be revealed to at least some other member of the Order as well, Harry asked him to tell only Aberforth Dumbledore. The late headmaster´s brother was the only one he trusted enough to agree to it. But he strongly demanded that no one else would find out about it.
After that, both Angela and Harry went upstairs to rest to their rooms. Their owls – Harry's snowy white Hedwig and Angela's black forest one Roxana – were already waiting for them there. All owls, calluses, eagle-owls and other sorts of messenger birds were released from the sealed school Owlery by Aurors from the Ministry, who finally managed to check up on the grim situation in Hogwarts.
They slept through the rest of the morning and almost the whole afternoon, not even realizing it was a Christmas Day. Tonks woke them up knocking at seven o'clock in the evening.
By that time, a large number of wizards and witches had already gathered at the headquarters. Almost all members of the Order of the Phoenix came, the surviving Hit Wizards and Aurors from the Ministry, as well as Witchers and Curse-Breakers and the complete Wizarding Council, which temporarily took over the leading position of the wizarding world. Most of them were only there because Remus or Aberforth Dumbledore let them read the location of the Order headquarters from the aforementioned piece of parchment. McGonagall, Shiernov and Hagrid also appeared as representatives of the Hogwarts faculty.
As usual, this great meeting was held in the underground hall, where some extra tables and chairs had been set up for the occasion, so that everyone could be comfortably seated. Instead of the two larger armchairs that were always placed in the front, there were five, occupied by Aberforth Dumbledore, Remus Lupin, Minerva McGonagall, and some strange guy from the Council. The middle chair – the highest one – remained painfully empty.
The room was crowded and stuffy. Only a few wizards dared to speak. Harry, Angela, Hermione, Ron and Neville were sitting together on the edge of one of the long tables, not looking around too much. They were oblivious to the curious stares that most of the people present were giving them. Especially Shiernov observed them quite intently for some time. Hermione was wordlessly holding Ron's cold hand.
"How are you managing it at home, Ron?" Harry asked quietly. He sat down next to Neville without a second thought, so that he would not have apparently sullen Angela by his side.
Ron, who was as pale and silent as his older brothers sitting nearby, shrugged helplessly.
"Mum´s going nuts," he sighed. "Ginny's clock hand keeps showing on ´Missing´."
Harry already noticed that Mrs Weasley was not in the room with them.
"At least you know she's alive..." Hermione whispered, trying to cheer her boyfriend up.
Ron shot her a not very pleasant look, so she rather looked down at the table and said nothing else.
"My grandmother is quite excited about all this," Neville stated suddenly.
Everyone but Ron looked at him blankly.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked quietly.
"She said she's very proud of me and all the other students for – I quote – for how we kicked those nasty warlocks' asses," Neville smiled a bit sheepishly.
The thick atmosphere in the small group of friends eased up a bit, when they all imagined Neville's grandmother showering her grandson with praise, while slapping his cheeks lovingly.
"Although… Of course she´s sorry for those who did not make it..." Neville added sadly.
The last one to come was Dedalus Diggle, who approached the wizards sitting on the five front chairs and they talked about something there for a while. Then he returned to his seat with clatter of the crutch he'd been using since last night, and Aberforth Dumbledore rose from the chair next to the empty middle one after his brother.
Everyone's eyes turned to him. He ran his fingers thoughtfully through his short greying beard and glanced over everyone present.
"I welcome you all on this special meeting of the Order of the Phoenix instead of my brother, who lost his life during the attack on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry last night," he spoke quietly at the beginning.
His serious words silenced even the last whisper.
"First, I would like to assure the current members of the Order that all Aurors or other employees of the Ministry present have taken an Unbreakable Vow regarding anything related to our organization or its members before even its location was revealed to them."
The wizards of the Order, who had been looking at the ministers nervously until this moment, relaxed a little, hearing this statement.
"Preferably, I would like to appeal that we should elect a new head of the Order to take my brother's place. Any suggestions?"
Dedalus Diggle stood up.
"I think it should be you, Aberforth. You helped me and the others at the Ministry a lot yesterday, and I personally trust you as much as your brother," he stated firmly and slowly sat down again.
"I agree with Dedalus' suggestion," Remus Lupin stood up. "We can't put anyone more reliable in our midst."
"Me too," McGonagall said with a short nod. "You knew about everything that happened here and you were also the closest to our Albus. He often consulted with you. I'm sure he would want it that way."
"Me too," the hulking leader of the Aurors sitting by the wall, agreed loudly.
"So, high positions stay in the family, right?" someone's high voice noted sharply.
It was the man sitting on the high chairs with them, the Chairman of the Wizarding Council with the unpleasant, almost ferret face.
"YOU have nothing to do with it!" shouted Hagrid, who looked very sinister. Apparently, he didn't like the Chairman. "Aberforth Dumbledore is the best person who can lead us!"
"Exactly! Yes! So it is! Let it be Dumbledore again!"
The other members of the Order supported the half-giant loudly. The Chairman frowned and remained silent.
"So... Is anyone against this proposal?" Remus asked seriously.
No one answered. Aberforth Dumbledore watched them in silence for a moment.
"All right then. If you all wish it, I will submit to your decision," Aberforth stated with the famous calm attitude, which was so typical for his brother Albus.
Everyone nodded their heads in satisfaction, except for the Council Chairman, Merogh.
"So, we can move on now," Aberforth continued. "Mr. Chairman and the Wizarding Council agreed that holding elections for a new Minister of Magic is unnecessary and dangerous. Therefore, the Council of Supreme Wizards will take control of the wizarding world for the moment. There´s a new address of the temporary Ministry, about which we will inform all of you later, as it is also protected by Fidelius Charm. All formal matters can be handled there."
Aberforth Dumbledore paused for a moment.
"Regarding the protection of the Order of the Phoenix headquarters, I would like to inform you of what you all already suspect. My brother was able to appoint his successor before his death, who immediately took over the Secret-Keeper position after his death. However, I will not reveal his identity for security reasons.''
Hermione, Ron and Neville looked at each other confused. Angela met Harry's gaze for just a brief moment, before he looked away.
"Furthermore... As you all know, the Daily Prophet, whose editorship remained intact despite being close to the Ministry, has already begun to exaggerate the last night's events," Aberforth Dumbledore pointed out disapprovingly.
Harry and Angela, who missed any new issue, looked at the others, who just nodded grimly. They had obviously already read the papers, as were most of the people present, who were frowning knowingly.
"Therefore, I would like to clarify to you how it all actually happened," Aberforth stated firmly.
The tension in the room was already almost palpable.
"I´d like to point out that it was only thanks to the fact that our headquarters protection was secured in advance that the traitor was unable to reveal its location to Lord Voldemort."
Most of the hall shuddered or looked displeased or frightened.
"Therefore, he couldn't attack us and destroy the Order, as we think he originally intended. Instead, he tried to take over the Ministry of Magic for the second time, in which he unfortunately succeeded. We believe that his Death Eaters, who have been secretly working at the Ministry without our knowledge, have a large share in this outcome."
The room was gravely silent, broken only by Dumbledore's calm voice. Council Chairman Merogh frowned even more.
"During his attack and occupation of the Ministry, many Aurors and officials who defended it perished, including Rufus Scrimgeour, who, according to our information, was murdered by Lord Voldemort himself. Among the victims of the Order of the Phoenix, unfortunately, was also Alastor Moody..."
Harry completely froze up, when he realized that he had not even noticed that the old Auror was not in the room.
"…who was killed in a skirmish with five Death Eaters, as well as Elphias Doge. Unfortunately, in addition to these great wizards, some Hogwarts students also passed away last night..."
Aberforth Dumbledore paused for a long moment. Many gazes once again turned on the group of young wizards.
"Approximately half of all Death Eaters attacked the patrols around the Hogwarts grounds at the same time that Voldemort himself broke into the carefully guarded Ministry. According to the Hogwarts students, at that moment my brother Albus was already dead and the faculty was unconscious. The Death Eaters began to conquer the castle through the main gate, which although the traitor did not open for them from the inside thanks to the alertness of certain students..."
Aberforth gave Harry and Angela a warm look.
"…but which was weakened by death of the Protective Charm creator. It took them about an hour to break through. However, the students resisted the attackers. According to our information, they managed to injure many Death Eaters and restrain several Slytherin students, who unfortunately helped out in the castle destruction. Most of the students, under protection of their older classmates and professors, who woke up from unconsciousness thanks to Angela Rosier, escaped from the school through a secret passage."
Angela fidgeted uneasily as she felt the eyes of many wizards on her.
"However, at that time the castle was already starting to burn. Almost all the students escaped... However, some of them paid a high price for their courage to stand up to Lord Voldemort's followers. Lavender Brown, Colin Creevey, Samuel Phillips and Luna Lovegood were killed while defending their school. And Ginevra Weasley is still missing. All the others are fine with their families or under the supervision of Healers in the hospital, and that's only thanks to the classmates who sacrificed themselves for them..."
Both Hermione and Angela were trying hard to hold back the tears that welled up in their eyes. Ron was staring at the table and Harry was giving Dumbledore an almost absent look, just as gloomy Neville too.
"According to our first investigations, which we were only able to make after the fire had died down, all the equipment of the castle was destroyed by the flames. Only stone had remained intact."
Everyone present knew what a commotion this news had caused in the wizarding world. Even they themselves were shocked at the destruction of a place that was considered one of the safest.
"The traitor who caused all this trouble and then ran away is Severus Snape, former Hogwarts professor and as you all know a member of the Order," Dumbledore didn't even try to hide the contempt that vibrated in his voice at the wizard's name.
The hall hummed and most of the wizards scowled angrily.
"Thanks to the fact that this magician has an overview of all the members of the Order, and the promise he made when joining the Order was probably cancelled by the oath he made to Lord Voldemort long ago, the wizards from the Ministry of Magic, with the help of Aurors and ours, will begin to secure the houses of all members that have not yet been done so to prevent any possible revenge or attack. We will also make available to you and the Daily Prophet, a list of all Death Eaters we know of or learned about yesterday, so that everyone can be on the lookout for these individuals or so that people can alert us of any possible sightings of them in public."
Harry could not help but smirk. Everyone would rather keep their mouths shut, just to avoid getting hurt or losing a family member.
"I want to appeal to you again that none of you should go anywhere alone but in a larger group. Do not leave your house after dark and take great care of yourselves and your families. Agree on passwords or review questions with your loved ones. You know what potions can do... All wizarding families get the same instructions. I want to tell you honestly that according to our information, Lord Voldemort has at his disposal approximately three hundred Death Eaters, all Dementors from Azkaban, the exact number we do not know, and we have heard that they have already been joined by a group of werewolves, about whose presence our patrols informed us."
Dumbledore's not very encouraging speech brought tension and a whiff of fear into the room. Everyone remained silent.
"And that's all," Aberforth stated heavily. "I know it doesn't sound very encouraging, but we must not succumb to helplessness. We must do everything to defend ourselves against the increasingly powerful evil that awakens fear in us. No one will give up here!" he declared firmly and loudly at last and sat back in his seat.
The meeting was over.
Slowly and in silence, the wizards and witches began to leave with a great clatter of chairs being pushed back to the table.
Before the meeting, Harry had made clear to Remus, Hermione, Ron and Angela that he wanted to talk to them. So, they said their goodbyes to Neville, waited for everyone to leave, and as the door closed behind Aberforth Dumbledore leaving them alone in the room without question, Lupin sat down with a group of former Hogwarts students.
"So? What's going on, Harry?" Hermione was the first to speak up, already noticing from his and Angela's behaviour that something was wrong.
Her dearest friend was silent for a while, staring intently at the wand in his hands, which he was fiddling with.
"Something happened to me and since you spend most of your time in my presence, you have a right to know," Harry finally began with an apparent effort.
They all watched him in serious silence; only Angela kept twirling with the small ring on her left hand.
"Remus... You know about that Prophecy related to Voldemort and me, don't you?" Harry turned to Lupin first.
His former professor nodded a little hesitantly. "Yes, Dumbledore once spoke to me and Sirius about it. But I don't know its exact wording. I only know..."
"What does it concern?" Harry finished a little hoarsely.
"Yes," the werewolf confirmed.
"Good. So, the four of you know about it and Voldemort himself, though only to a certain extent. What it literally sounds like, only me, Angela and you two know," he turned to Ron and Hermione. "Remus, I will reproduce it for you later, I don't feel like it right now..."
Remus just nodded in understanding.
"However, there´s something you don't know," Harry sighed heavily. "Apart from Angela, only Professor Dumbledore was aware of it. Some kind of mental connection was created when Voldemort tried to kill me as a baby. It was because of that connection that my scar was burning and I could feel his feelings before I learnt Occlumency. Unfortunately, every time I let my guard down just a little, he takes advantage, as if sensing it. It has happened twice already. I'm sure you remember that time after we rescued Remus. I pushed Angela away from me outside on the street," he turned to Ron and Hermione. Both of them nodded. "His rage got the better of me in that moment. The direct connection was not intended and only lasted a moment. Yet, Dumbledore had warned me then that it might happen again. And it did… The second time…"
Harry glanced at Angela, who was looking directly in his eyes.
"I think he wanted revenge on us for failing to destroy the Order and for escaping his Death Eaters. He managed to take control over my body and... I beat Angela.''
"You know very well that it was that pale bastard and not you," his girlfriend countered immediately.
"But he did it through me!" Harry opposed harshly. "With my own hands! He manages it at the cost of enduring the excruciating pain, the same as me, but he probably doesn't mind that much..."
Harry paused and gritted his teeth. Hermione glanced briefly at Angela's face. A healing bruise was clearly visible on one side of her mouth. After a moment, Harry continued.
"After I managed to get him out of my mind," Harry continued quietly. "I went out to think it through..."
"For too long, I'd say," noted Lupin reproachfully.
Harry did not respond to that. "And I will stay here only under two conditions," he stated firmly.
"What conditions?" Lupin asked with a frown.
"Well, first of all…" Harry held out his wand hand toward Angela. "I want you to take it and hide in a place I won't know about."
"What?" Angela´s eyes widened in surprise and disbelief. "You cannot to this! You can't be without your wand, Harry!"
"I must! If Voldemort succeeds again, I can kill any of you with it! You must hide it from me! And you all take good care of your own…" he added gloomily.
With a disapproving frown, Angela took Harry´s wand in her fingers, but she did not object to his idea anymore.
"And the second condition?" Hermione asked a little shakily.
"None of you can remain alone with me," Harry replied. "When you talk to me, never alone. I want at least two of you to be with me every time. You must not leave anyone alone with me. Is that clear?"
"But, Harry…" Remus started to protest.
"If you don't agree to this, I'm leaving this house right now!" Harry snapped at him perhaps more sharply than he had even intended. However, he was determined and nothing and no one would persuaded him otherwise. "Do you have any idea how I feel?" he spoke hoarsely. "Knowing that I could hurt the only loved ones I have left?"
"Alright, Harry," Hermione was the first to agree, though it was clear she was not very happy about it.
Ron nodded solemnly, as did Remus. Only Angela stared at the table and was apparently unwilling to agree to the terms.
"Angie?" Harry prompted her impatiently.
Slowly, she looked up and looked into his eyes again.
Angie, please, you must promise me, too, he spoke to her through his thoughts. I swore to myself that I would never let myself hurt you again. But you must help me!
She did not answer for a long time.
"…I promise," she finally stated quietly and lowered her gaze again.
"Okay," Harry breathed out with relief. "Thank you."
There was silence for a while.
"Why did Dumbledore refer to the Daily Prophet with such disgust?" Harry asked, eager to change the topic. He was tired of thinking about of the things Voldemort could be capable while in his head and he was quite curious about what they had come up with in the editorial office.
"Don't even ask," Hermione snorted contemptuously.
"I'll bring you all the latest issues if you want," Remus suggested to Harry and Angela. "Dedalus brought them. But it's quite irritating…"
"Just bring them, please," Angela joined Harry´s request. "Let's see if they've learned to write the truth or not."
After Remus brought the newspapers, they spread the copies out among themselves and ran their eyes in disbelief over the disgustingly large headlines…
THE MINISTRY OCCUPIED BY YOU-KNOW-WHO!
THE MINISTER OF MAGIC MURDERED!
THE HOGWARTS BURNED DOWN
5 students perished!
"They added Ginny to the victims list. It didn't help Mum much," Ron, standing behind them as well as Hermione, grunted grumpily.
ALBUS DUMBLEDORE DEAD! TRAITOR INSIDE THE SCHOOL!
Half the shops in Diagon Alley closed, yet lively Knockturn Alley!
THE WIZARDING WORLD IN FEAR...
WHAT ELSE CAN WE EXPECT?
"This is really awful," Hermione commented grimly. "They´re creating such a circus around it all…"
THE WIZARDING COUNCIL MERGES WITH THE SECRET ORDER OF THE PHOENIX!
"And where did they get this information?" Harry blurted out shocked.
"Merlin knows," Hermione shrugged. "But I heard that probably someone from the Ministry brings them the latest information for a lot of money."
Quite annoyed, Harry frowned when he saw another headline.
THE STUDENTS DEFENDED THE SCHOOL AND PAID WITH THEIR LIVES!
Is HARRY POTTER to blame?
"Never mind it, Harry," Hermione stated soothingly. "None of us thinks about it that way."
THE BOY WHO REMAINS ALIVE ESCAPES THE DEATH EATERS AGAIN!
MAYBE, HE HAS THE POWER TO OPPOSE EVEN THE ONE...
Harry did not finish reading the title. Angela gathered all the papers quickly into a huge pile and threw them further on the table.
"They make me sick," she snorted.
Harry remained silent.
"This is the worst Christmas I've ever had," Ron noted quietly.
No one said anything, but everyone wordlessly agreed.
Remus stood up after a moment and pulled out a copy of the 'traitor' page from a stack of newspapers. He shook his head in disbelief. "I still don't understand how he could have the stomach to play such a game on us all for so long."
"I don't think anyone can understand Snape's thought processes," Angela reacted with a smirk. "To me, he's just a scumbag who enjoys ruining other people's lives."
"I have to agree with you," Hermione nodded. "I always knew he was a bastard, but that he's capable of something like this... Incredible."
"I´m almost persuaded that he had his nasty fingers in everything that has ever gone wrong for us. Like a demon that brings nothing but destruction to everyone," Angela stated gloomily.
In that moment, she herself had no idea how close to the truth her statement was.
/
"Who's there?" came a muffled question from behind the oak door. She recognized Daria.
"It's me, Angela," she replied quietly. "Let me in, Daria."
"What form does your Patronus take?" the girl's voice asked immediately.
"Of a unicorn," she reacted calmly.
Only then did she hear some rustling, the muttering of an incantation, and then door opened. Pale Daria smiled at Angela.
"Hey… Come in," she invited her.
Gladly, Angela left the winter weather outside and entered a pleasantly warm house.
"And sorry for the questioning," Daria added.
"It´s okay. Everyone is doing it like this now..."
Daria closed the door again and secured it. Angela hung her coat and scarf on the hanger above the shoe rack.
"Let's sit down in the kitchen. I was just about to make some coffee. Will you join me?" her friend suggested.
"I'd love to," Angela agreed, following Daria into the cosy kitchen.
She sat down at a narrow table by the window, through which the weak sunrays penetrated, and watched Daria as she prepared huge mugs for both of them.
"Are you home alone?" Angela asked when she noticed that the house was otherwise quiet.
"Yes," Daria nodded slowly. "Grandma is at Grandpa's in the hospital."
"What? How comes? What happened?"
"Shortly before I got home, the word got around that Hogwarts had been attacked. Grandpa had a heart attack," Daria explained quietly and poured two teaspoons of instant coffee into each mug.
"Daria, I'm so sorry... How is he doing?" asked Angela sympathetically.
"They say it does not look well," the girl replied, blinking hard to clear the tears that were welling up behind her lids. "Healers don't give him much of a chance. He has a weak heart."
With a trembling hand, Daria added one sugar cube to each coffee pile. Angela stood up, walked over to her and gave her a reassuring hug.
"It will be all right, you'll see. He'll get over it. You have to believe," she whispered reassuringly.
"Lately, I don't believe in anything at all," Daria murmured, and with a grateful look, she broke out of her embrace. "But thanks."
A moment later, she poured the hot water into both mugs.
"Milk?" she turned to Angela.
She just shook her head. Daria took the full mugs to the table and sat down as well.
"What about you?" she asked. "Where do you even live now?"
"At my Dad's house, I told you about it before," Angela answered quietly, taking a careful sip of the hot, bitter liquid.
"And what about Harry?"
"Hmm, he's in there, too."
"And are they not watching you by any chance?" Daria asked suspiciously.
"Of course. Like hell hounds," Angela said with a hint of disapproval.
"Oh, and they let you out alone?"
She chuckled bitterly. "I told only the house elf where I was going, so he will let the others know if anything. Our dear guards wouldn't let me go anywhere, even with an escort…"
"They have a reason, don't they?" Daria reminded her strictly.
"Don´t start, Daria! I'm careful…"
"You can never be too wary of vengeful Death Eaters!"
"I… I just had to get out…"
"Something else happened, didn't it?" Daria eyed her carefully.
Angela raised her eyebrows. "What else was supposed to happen? All those catastrophes were not enough for you?"
"Something with Harry?" her friend asked relentlessly.
Angela sighed, giving up her pretence. "Yes… But I don't want to talk about it. I can't. Sorry."
"No need," Daria shrugged. "I understand."
"Were the Witchers from the Ministry here yet?" Angela asked to change the topic.
"No, why?"
"They are working on securing the houses of all wizarding families."
"Yeah, well... They won't come to us so quickly then. We´re not important enough..."
Angela frowned. They were both silent for a while.
"Daria, I'm sorry to ask you like this, but..." she began very cautiously. "What was that curse Draco cast on you in that hallway?" she asked about what had been on her mind for some time.
Daria grimaced: "I don't know and I don't care! He just proved to me what a bastard he is!"
"But that doesn't make sense," Angela did not understand. "Don´t you think he proved something completely else?"
Her friend snorted in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?"
"Definitely not. He could have killed you if he wanted to, Daria," Angela emphasized. "He was supposed to, his father requested nothing else. But he did not do it."
Daria remained silent and frowned, as she sipped her coffee.
Angela observed her expression carefully. "You still love him," she said then.
"No! Absolutely not!" Daria retorted.
"That wasn't a question."
"You know what?!" the young witch snapped, getting up from the table, almost panting in anger.
"What?" Angela challenged her.
Daria let out a sharp exhale and walked over to the kitchen counter, resting her hands on it and keeping her back to Angela.
"You will be better when you admit what you really feel. Believe me, I know this from my own experience," noted Angela in a soothing tone.
"You're right..." Daria sighed reluctantly after a long moment of silence. "I still love him somewhere deep in my heart. Even though I should hate him!" she shouted helplessly.
"Every battle with love is already lost," Angela said grimly.
Daria turned to her with tears shining in her eyes.
"Who is it from?"
"Heliodoros of Emessy."
"Quite a disgustingly truthful quote," Daria murmured and returned to the table to finish her coffee.
"I admit, I don't know what to think of Draco myself," Angela stated seriously. "On one hand I must consider him an enemy, but on the other... I feel sorry for him."
/
Draco Malfoy, seated on the windowsill in the attic of the mansion of his family, slowly swayed with his legs dangling in the air, smoking. He still could not get rid of the bad habit and especially recently, he needed more cigarettes every day. Nicotine was calming him down.
Dressed in long black coat and with a scarf draped casually around his neck, he was not cold, even though it was a freezing evening.
His eyes were fixed on the shining starry sky, but he could not actually see it. Before his eyes was something completely different – a face of the girl he loved. But she was looking at him reproachfully and hatefully.
He should have killed her back then, his father had ordered him to, but he did not do it. He could not… He would not be able to cast a killing curse on her, never...
Even Angela yelled at him hatefully, as he knocked Daria unconscious. She would not trust him anymore either. Even she was already convinced that he was a loyal servant of the Dark Lord. And yet, he... He had a strange feeling that he did not even know himself on which side he was.
Suddenly, Draco flinched and began to rub his left arm. He would probably never get used to that sharp, burning sensation.
Damn it, again…?
He tossed the rest of his unfinished cigarette into darkness of the night and swung back inside the attic.
"Draco!" came a muffled voice from somewhere below. "Draco, where are you?"
His father was looking for him again. As if he did not know what to do himself. He looked outside for the last time, wondering how this all would once end… Then he closed the shutters with a careless charm and made his way to the steep steps downstairs.
/
The faint morning sun broke through the tearing clouds that were slowly moving across the sky above London.
It was snowing and freezing all night long. By dawn, the snowfall stopped, but the temperature remained well below zero degree. Frozen snow on the sidewalks crunched under the feet of people rushing to work. The sparsely spaced trees were covered with snow and sharp icicles grew from the eaves. The sun's rays reflected from the snow-white blanket and through the icicles threw beautiful piglets shining into the eyes of citizens.
The group of people in the kitchen at Grimmauld Place could not admire the winter beauty of the morning, since there were no windows in the underground room. They sat at the table with huge mugs of hot cocoa, pot of coffee, fresh pastries, sliced ham, and fried eggs. The whole kitchen smelled good and was pleasantly warm, despite the fact that its walls were created by stones. What was not so pleasant was the silence.
Harry and Angela went about their breakfast quietly, with Harry stubbornly avoiding his girlfriend's gaze. Remus was watching them thoughtfully and Tonks was scribbling something down on a long piece of parchment.
After the meeting two day ago, when Hermione and Ron had already let home, Angela went to Harry's room. It was firmly locked. She tried to talk to him through thoughts, but he did not answer. She was terribly sorry that he had closed himself off so much towards her. As if they did not go through enough already... Then she spent the last afternoon at Daria's and did not come back until late in the evening. Therefore, she did not catch even a glimpse of Harry, until this morning.
Angela did hide his wand carefully, as he had requested, even though she did not want to do it at all. Yet, she told Remus about its location as well. She had a bad feeling that no one else would know about it. Although she partially defied Harry's wish with it, she could not help it.
"Would you like to visit Hogwarts with us this afternoon?" suggested Remus unexpectedly, wanting them both to relax somehow. "We haven't really searched there yet. Maybe some of your things survived."
Tonks gave him a slightly reproachful look, but he ignored it. Harry and Angela looked at him with interest.
"But I warn you, it's not a very pretty sight," added Lupin.
"I think I can handle it," Angela nodded. "Maybe there really is something left there..."
Harry remembered his precious photo album and Firebolt.
"I'd go too," he agreed calmly.
"Good. We did not manage to restore the fireplaces, so we will apparate to Hogsmeade. At two o´clock," Lupin informed them. "And... we'll have an escort, of course."
Angela grimaced and Harry did not react on it at all.
"How about we get Ron and Hermione too?" Angela proposed. "I'm sure they'd like to look for their stuff, too."
"That's a good idea," Remus nodded. "I´m sure that Ron in particular would welcome getting out..."
"Nothing new about Ginny?" Harry asked, even though he knew the answer.
Remus just shook his head dejectedly.
/
The group of six wizards and one half-giant carefully entered the blackened castle through the huge arch that remained after the main gate, their footsteps crunching on the broken tiles.
The four former students looked around in disbelief. All that was left of the paintings were pieces of blackened frames, all the windows were broken, and in their place there were only empty holes in the walls. It did not look at all like there was a gala dinner in the Great Hall just two days ago.
The ruins of the castle were guarded only from the outside by a few Aurors. No one believed that Death Eaters would appear here again.
"I've never seen anything sadder," grumbled Hagrid, whose hut luckily remained undamaged and he could stay there, even though he was currently alone on the Hogwarts grounds.
Remus, Tonks and Hagrid remained downstairs in the Entrance Hall while Harry, Hermione and Ron made their way up the main staircase, which was covered in ash and fallen plaster up toward the former Gryffindor tower. Only Angela ran down the stairs into the underground passage.
/
The Slytherin common room looked terrible. There was only dim light from the two small openings in the overhead windows, but that only added to the gloomy appearance of the whole space. There was no sign of any couches or chairs, and the hallway that led to the bedrooms had to be accessed through a fair amount of rubble, as the ceiling there had collapsed for some unknown reason. Through the jagged hole, she could see into the corridor above her.
Angela carefully made her way to the bedroom she shared with her classmates and looked around regretfully. All that was left of the beds were some kind of charred poles, scattered all over the ground. She walked over to where her bed used to be. A half-crumbled metal skeleton remained of her suitcase, which she had left underneath it.
She had just had enough. Nothing could survive such the fire anyway.
She was about to leave, but suddenly, a tiny flash caught her eye. She stooped in amazement, pushing aside the remnants of her clothing and pulling the glistening thing from the pile of slimy blackness. It was the dragon necklace, which Draco gave her for Christmas. It was incredible that it did not melt down in that heat.
Surprised, she held the chain undamaged in her palm. The very thing, which Harry disliked on her the most. She swallowed hard, but it did not get rid of the lump that formed in her throat.
Angela was looking at the chain indecisively for a moment, but then stuffed it into the inside pocket of her jacket.
/
Harry stared in disbelief at the undamaged Firebolt he had pulled from under the charred remains of his bed.
"That's not possible," he breathed, turning the broom lovingly in his hands.
"Fireproof version, hmm," Ron hummed appreciatively.
Harry placed the broom gently next to him on at least somewhat clean floor and began digging through the pile of suspicious black rags that used to be his clothes. He did not even expect to find what he was looking for, but then his fingers touched the smooth leather surface. Shakily, he pulled out the undamaged photo album Hagrid had once given him to the light. He must have used a fireproof charm on it as well; otherwise, there was no way to explain it.
He felt incredibly grateful that at least he had this, even if it was just photos. Those photos meant a lot to him and he already considered them lost.
Ron was now staring blankly at the album in Harry's hands.
"You're in quite a luck, Harry," he noted quietly.
/
Within twenty minutes, everyone had gathered again downstairs in the hall. No one wanted to be in the castle even a minute longer. Harry held tightly on his two found treasures, as if he never wanted to let them go.
"You didn't find anything?" he asked thoughtful Angela as they walked out of the castle.
She shook her head dismissively, but did not look at him.
Snow appeared under their feet again, wiping the ash and dirt from their shoes. They headed in silence toward the lake, around which they wanted to get to Hogsmeade, with Hagrid accompanying them.
Something made Angela raise her head and peer toward the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
"Harry…" she gasped suddenly, stopping and squeezing Harry's shoulder so hard that he hissed in surprise. "Look..." she pointed toward the forest.
He looked over there and stared in surprise. Even from that distance, he could make out a poorly clothed small figure with long, dark red hair stumbling toward them.
"GINNY!" someone behind them shouted in a shaking voice.
It was Ron, who had already started running to his sister, the snow spraying high into the air behind him…