XIII. THIS IS THE NEW ORDER
The second Order Meeting was worse than the first, his mother seemed to have overhauled the Order, taking control.
"Echo hasn't told me anything of Harry or the others, Molly," The Weasley woman and his mother clashed like no to others had, even worse than their husbands.
"Well maybe we should make that a priority," Molly stood then, staring up at Narcissa.
"We work with what we've been given," Narcissa said, "It's unlike Bellatrix to move against the Dark Lord, there-"
"She's mental!" Molly screamed, "We're going to make plans based off the whim of a crazy person? We need to get those children back, and Echo needs to make that a priority."
"Because I'm not doing enough as is?" A second Narcissa stood in the entrance of the common room, Draco wouldn't be able to tell the two apart from just standing there.
"I can not sleep a full hour for risk of changing back, I can't move around the house more than what I know and the information I have is more than I expected to get, and only because she came to me." Echo took an angry breath; her skin was beginning to bubble, her hair darkening.
"You will have your information, when I can manage it." Echo had moved across the room and was standing again as herself in front of Molly.
Molly turned her nose up.
"Mum," Charlie pulled her down on the seat next to him, "They're right, I miss Ginny too but-"
"Shut-up, Charlie." Molly snapped at her son.
"From what I heard, Bellatrix is losing faith in the Dark Lord-" Narcissa began; Echo signaled to take over and with Narcissa's consent, continued.
"They're all questioning his ability to lead them, now that Harry's been broken, he has no further cause, no motive, they need a new leader or a way out." Echo paused for a little longer than necessary, then sat and continued.
"We need to discretely offer a way out, I suggest using the tabloids and rumours, particularly through Hogwarts that going to the right people will have the mark removed, sell it, for an unreasonable price, and many of the powerful death eaters will leave just to prove they can."
"Echo you need the infirmary, what's happened?" Charlie darted forward the small distance and stopped her from falling off her chair.
"The Dark Lord has found alternate methods to entertain himself."
"Mrs Malfoy, Draco, I suggest you begin working on a way to expel them from the manor, if that rumour gets around too it will give other the incentive to leave, wait until the rich ones are out, then lower the price of mark removal." Echo made an odd noise, like a cough and a hiccup, and then she vomited.
"I'm taking her to the infirmary," Charlie said.
HP
The room had a thick darkness; the sort only madness could create. Harry's feet were cold, because they were bare and the tiled floor was chilly. She wasn't afraid.
She knew Bellatrix was in her mind, she could feel her presence, her pride that Harry could sense her there.
Harry very rarely felt like a prisoner now, she didn't understand why she stayed.
"You've faced him before," Bellatrix was saying to her, "you were supposed to be a solider. Our weapon," Harriet became dimly aware of the other woman's rambling.
"I've got it all figured out, we need one more force, one justified and strong and unstoppable, the death eaters will join us and be treated fairly, rewarded, the order will join us and the wizarding world will be able to take over, we could endure, not be outnumbered!"
Harry concentrated hard on her voice, on her mind and presence. She began building a wall, but another attack from Bella made it crumble.
Harry was slammed back into reality.
"The Dark Lord is far more powerful in the mind than me."
"I know, I'll try harder I promise."
There was a long and weighty pause.
"Harry, I have a job for you."
HP
Echo stretched and stood tall again. She was so in tune with Narcissa's body now that she was awkward and slow in her own. Her supply of Polyjuice was running low and she had already asked for the ingredients to be flooed to her.
The door loudly bashed open, a dark, cloaked figure made its way into her room.
"Narcissa?"
Echo breathed a slight sigh of relief, it was only Bellatrix, and she could handle Bellatrix.
"Yes, Bella?" Echo said in her best Narcissa-voice
"Narcissa?" Bella asked again, seemingly not directing the question to Echo.
There was a wand at her throat. It seemed she couldn't handle Bellatrix afterall.
"Where is my sister, Echo?"
Echo scowled. "Where are the five children you took to train Harry?"
Bellatrix smiled, "come," she backhanded Echo, "I'll show you."
Then everything went black.
HP
"We haven't heard from Echo in a few days," Narcissa was holding her half of the mirror she used to contact Echo. "I think we should find her."
Molly stood then, looking furious. "Mum," Charlie grabbed her arm to calm her but she pushed him away.
"Why should we make her a priority when there are five children being tortured?" Molly roared, "She's unpredictable and dark, we can't trust her anyway. Those kids should be our focus!"
Narcissa looked furious, but it was Anastasia who stepped in front of Molly.
"Echo is still a child," Anastasia said, calmly and simply. Not what anyone had expected. "She is an orphan who was forced into this Molly, and it will do you well to remember that she also made it her priority to get us the infomation we need to rescue Harry and the others."
Molly didn't have an argument and simply retook her seat.
"We need an objective, the Manor is shut to us now," Bill was speaking now.
"There are no Malfoy's there, we need one of you to go back soon or the Manor will feel abandoned," Luna said quietly, she then seemed to pick something out of George's hair.
Bill made no comment to Luna's statement, but continued on his own tangent.
"We have to draw them out, capture who we can and provoke them-" Bill was stopped by Narcissa's too thin hand.
"No," she said, "if we remind the Dark Lord he still has enemies, he may just become active again."
Molly glared at Narcissa but the rest of the order considered her words.
The whole room flinched as the fire flared up again, all wands were trained on the beaten and bloodied form of Echo who fell through the floo with a barely alive Ginny in tow.
"They're in Hogsmeade," she said hoarsely, "hurry."
HP
Harry was having the time of her life, alongside Bellatrix slaughtering all the people who said those horrible things about her. How she slept around in fourth year, or how she was derange, the next Dark Lord. Harry paused. Oh the irony.
Harry watched the order show up, she went there straight away, spotting Sasha and Draco on the front lines.
Draco the penis.
Harriet ran to them. They did nothing. She cried a little and launched herself into the centre of the group. She led with a killing curse that struck Hagrid and he fell. She felt something, a twinge, but she paid it no mind as she sent unforgivables and burning, cutting, breaking and stinging hexes at the Order.
"HARRY!" the shrill and panicked scream was Bellatrix, who ran to her straight away, launching herself into the fight, casting nothing, only defending, "Harriet, stop!" Bella cried, reaching the girl who was laughing and playing a game of pain with the people that hurt her so much.
Harriet only paid attention when Bella screamed in pain, she grabbed Harry and apparated them away.
"Retreat!"
A masked death eater launched the mark into the air and the Death eaters all apparated away.
HP
Draco couldn't move, couldn't speak, he just saw Harriet Potter fight like his aunt. Psychotic, mad, ruthless and unbeatable. The hospital wing was packed with injured people, Hagrid was dead, Madame Rosmerta was found dead, a rogue slicing hex cast by Harriet had caused Aberforth Dumbledore to bleed to death.
Echo was sleeping and they would have no peace until they heard what she had to say.
HP
"Mother, you're hurt?" Harry knelt by Bella's bed, she had a bandage over the stump of her arm, it was hit, it had been blown off.
"You didn't fight independently," Harry said, recalling one of the many lessons. "you cared, you got hurt."
"Now is a good time to strike," Bella ignored Harry, "the Dark Lord will be reeling from the attack, you go alone, unharmed and elated from the battle, the pain."
Harry physically fell when she felt the attack on her mind.
She worked hard to block it out and even opened her eyes to look at Bella. She pushed the woman from her mind and Bella smiled.
"Go," Bella said to her, handing Harry her holly wand.
Harriet took the wand and ran from the room as Bella laid back on her bed.
Harry was barefoot and ran through the corridors of Malfoy Manor.
Tom was probably in the study, and he was usually alone these days or with Nagini. Harry was silent as she snuck along, like Bella taught her, she was even aware of the way her too thin arms moved away from her body to stop any rustling and her toes curled into the thick carpet.
The Manor was ruined, the art was burned and scorched and crooked the halls dirty with blood, dust and grime.
Harry cracked the door open a fraction, Tom seemed to have been waiting for her, Nagini, the great snake curled on the mantel piece. The snake moved and Tom looked at her like she was bringing a message.
"Avadra Kedavera!" Harry flung her wand forward and the room filled with bright green light as she cast the spell with a whisper. Tom looked shocked as he died, she was too fast for him.
The body of the Dark Lord slumped to the ground and Harry shut her eyes and lay down. The snake had slithered away, free now.
Harry's work was finished and she was tired.
Echo had woken up with a groan and smiled wearily as Madame Pomfrey came over to her.
"You look happy," Poppy stroked her hair and sat by her bed. "Happiest I've seen you since you came here."
"I escaped before they broke me, Poppy," she sighed and smiled, "I got away," Echo coughed violently for a moment, Poppy laid her down and ran a cool cloth over her head.
"Stay still love," Poppy looked at her sweetly. "You look a lot like Elaine," Poppy smiled at her again.
"I'm going to die from this, aren't I?" Echo was still smiling contentedly even as a worried expression slipped on Poppy's face.
She nodded sadly. "You will need to stay here," Poppy said, "I can't fix it, you will live as long as you stay still."
Echo looked unhappy and lifted the sheets back.
"I should change the dressings," Poppy said, and went to get fresh ones.
Echo pressed her hand on the white bandages covering her stomach, wincing at the pain it caused.
The Weasley girl was laying still on the floor two feet from her, there was a pile of bodies along the other wall. Echo moaned a little and stood up, stumbling over to the pile. They were all dead, so she mover to the Weasley girl.
There was a pulse, faint, but there.
She looked out of the bars and yelled.
Finally one of the Carrows stumbled into the dungeons, he was sweaty and smelled - a feat considering the stench of the room.
"Wha' er you here want?"
"I want to see Bellatrix," Echo said, "Now."
Carrow had a foul look on his face and he waddled over to the door of the cage.
"She's taken the Death Eaters to Hogsmeade for a little fun," Carrow said with a leer, he unlocked the cage with his wand and grabbed her collar.
"Don't mean we can't have fun of our own, eh?" his stubby fingers pulled at her dress, but Echo saw her chance. She bit his hand and he dropped her with a cry, ignoring the various aches in her body she darted around the stupid, fumbling man, picking up a large bone that was on the floor and cracking it over his head, she ran back into the cage and lifted Ginny and then ran from the cage.
Echo ran up the corridor and found the nearest open floo, calling out Hogwarts she stepped into the green flames and was spun just in time to see the bright light of Carrows Blasting Hex follow her into the floo.
She saw grate after grate fly past but paid no attention to them, desperately trying to find the Hex that's light mixed with the fire. She held onto Ginny's hand, noticing the little cuts that the Hex was opening up.
It was grazing her arms and legs and hands and face too, blasting away small parts of skin and then her eyes went wide as she was yanked out of the grate and her insides were blasted apart. She tried to hold together her ruined stomach and chest as she stuttered out the Death Eaters plans, hardly noticing the shocked and disgusted faces of the order. Then everything went black.
Charlie was in the ministry atrium when the floor shook, as if the ministry had been rocked on its foundations. Many of the tiles fell from the roof causing screams and people to duck to the floor, briefcases and spells protecting their head.
From the fountain black mist poured from the water, off of the water like smoke. It solidified above and around the fountain, the figure above in all black, her hair wild and black, her wand above her head. Around the fountain Death Eaters were appearing, their wands drawn. Charlie was surrounded by bodies as people flooded into the atrium from corridors and lifts, Death Eaters surrounding them.
Bellatrix fired curses into the crowd, and people screamed and fell and tripped over one another.
"Welcome," Bellatrix's voice was louder than any human voice, amplified by magic, "Welcome," she said again, "To a new ministry," Bellatrix cast a lazy glance at the minister, then she flung a small shiny object at him. Charlie had to crane his neck over the crowd and saw the minister fall to the ground.
"A new ministry where we embrace the Dark Arts, and embrace our superiority to Muggles and most importantly," Bellatrix paused, "we need to weed out the impure magic, the mud bloods and muggles in our world must be exterminated!"
The death eaters, now moving along the crowds, they were outnumbered, 2:1 were cheering and shoving at the normal wizards, then Bellatrix jumped from her spot above the fountain, her heels clacking on the atrium floor and the death eaters began hearding people together.
Charlie was swept away with a few of the Wizards who once worked with his father, a large blonde death eater and one that couldn't have been older than 16. He hid his face carefully. They didn't understand why the mark had disappeared from his arm but assumed it was safe again. That was a week ago. They had slowly began to re-build their world.
Then he saw her, Harry standing near the entrance, dark and brooding wand drawn. Her long hair was swept back and her scar – as faded as the dark mark – was visible on her forehead.
"Welcome to a new world!" Bellatrix was yelling. Charlie sought out any faces of order members in the crowd. Hogwarts was still the same, not a school again but housing for the rebels and the Order. He saw Sasha who was staring at Harry and Draco and Bill. The four of them made eye contact.
Sasha slipped from his group into another, and Bill did the same. Draco saw what they were doing and did it also. One from the group slipped into another group. They were nearing the elevator and Charlie took his chance.
"We have to get her," Bill said, "She's obviously important."
Draco nodded.
"We should get out of here first." Sasha said, "We'll have another chance at Harry."
Sasha held up a hand.
"Darkness powder." He whispered. They all wandlessly cast the spell Fred and George had created along with the powder to be able to see in it and Sasha threw it up in the air.
The four of them darted towards the nearest floo, Charlie grabbing Draco before he could run to Harry, who had her wand out and a defensive stance. A Swordstaff strapped across her back.
"Not today," Charlie told Draco and the four of them flooed away together.
They ran into the great hall, sounding an alarm to draw every one there.
"Bellatrix has taken the ministry," Bill announced. "Harry's with her."