Chapter 23
Charles waited until after lunch before gathering the Hogwart's student together. "All right, everyone. We're going to send you to Diagon Alley today so that you can get your supplies for school."
All the children shouted and applauded. They were enjoying their time at the Safe Haven, but they were also looking forward to a trip to Diagon Alley.
"We're going to send you in groups of six with one chaperone. There will be aurors watching the crowds, but if anything happens, immediately transport back to the Safe Haven. You all know how to use your transport keys. Correct?"
The students nodded. "All right," he said, glancing down at a bit of parchment in his hand. "I've made a list and assigned each one of you to a group and a chaperone. Remus Lupin, you will be in charge of the 'Troublesome Sextet.'"
Remus grinned, but all the students looked around, wondering to whom he was referring.
"That would be," Charles continued, "Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, and Neville Longbottom."
"Hey!" Harry said, looking around at his companions who also seemed a bit put out by the moniker. "We're not troublesome!"
"Yes, well, tell that to the people who had to clean up the Department of Mysteries," Charles said. "Now, the second group will be led by Molly Weasley. This group includes . . ." He continued down the list until all the students had been assigned to a chaperone.
"Now, everyone have fun today, but be back by 6:00. That will give you 5 hours," he said. "Get your shopping done, stay in your groups, obey your chaperones, and, as my friend Alaster Moody would say, 'CONSTANT VIGILANCE!'"
"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" every one repeated, laughing, then group-by-group, they transported to Diagon Alley.
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After a trip to Gringott's bank, Remus's group assembled in front of Madam Malkin's shop. "All right, we'll get our shopping done first, and then we'll have fun the rest of the day. Now, who needs new robes?"
Everyone in the group raised a hand, so 7 people went into the clothing store, 6 to be measured. When they all had new robes, Remus shrunk the bags so they could put them in their pockets, and then they went to the bookstore, the apothecary, the stationary shop, and the owl emporium for treats for their pets. After an hour and a half, the shopping was completed.
"Let's go to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes," Ron said, grabbing Hermione's hand and dragging her toward the shop. Harry took Ginny's hand and followed. To his dismay, Luna grabbed Neville's hand. Shaking his head and chuckling, Remus followed.
The shop was crowded, not only with DA members, but with other students who had chosen today to do their shopping. Harry made his way through the crowd to the counter, gently pulling Ginny behind him. "Hey, George!"
George grinned at him. "Fred's in the back, Harry. Go back there, and I'll meet you in a minute."
Harry led Ginny to the back room. The others soon followed. "What are you doing?" he asked Fred who was sitting at a table over a diagram.
"We're working on something for the Order," he said. "Or we were before the shop got so crowded."
"What is it?" Harry asked, peering over his shoulder.
"Sorry, top secret," Fred said, folding the parchment.
"Hey, Harry," George said, coming into the room. "Fred and I thought we'd take some fireworks to the Safe Haven tonight and shoot them over the ocean. What do you think?"
"I think that'd be great, but would you check with my grandfather before you do it to make sure they won't interfere with the magic he has around the Safe Haven? If so, I'm sure he could change something to allow the fireworks."
"Okay, we'll check with him first. We have some new things I think the little ones will like."
"Hey, Ron! Put that back! Don't touch it!" Fred called.
Ron was holding something that looked like a child's spinning top. He gently set it back down on the table. "I wasn't going to do anything," he said defensively.
"Yeah, well, if you had, I'm not sure we'd ever be able to find you," George said.
"What is it?" asked Harry.
"It's one of the things we're making for the Order," Fred said. "That little top will create a whirlwind so strong, there's no telling where you'll end up when it finally lets you go."
Ron backed away from the table. "Why do you have stuff like that set out where anyone can touch it?"
"Ronnie, Ronnie, Ronnie," George said, shaking his head. "This is our private laboratory. It's not set out where just anyone can touch it."
"But we would have put it away if we had known you were going to visit," George said.
"Since you lot are busy," Harry said, interrupting the argument before it could get started. "We'll be off, then. See you tonight."
The day went without a hitch. The group of 7 spent the rest of the day walking down the narrow streets that made up Diagon Alley. They browsed shops and had ice cream at Fortesques, where Harry held Ginny's hand under the table while they ate. He had to use his left hand to eat his ice cream, but he didn't mind.
"This has been a good day," he said to Ginny. "I'm glad we didn't have to worry about Death Eaters or anything."
Ginny smiled. "I've had a good time, too, Harry."
"Um, Ginny? If Granddad says it's okay for the fireworks, would you, you know, want to watch them with me?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that."
He felt himself blush and turned his attention back to his ice cream. He didn't know why it made him blush when Ginny looked at him like that. He had known her since he was 11 and had never been shy around her before. He wondered if this was how she felt when she had the crush on him when she was younger. He hoped he would get over it soon because it had been really annoying when she was doing it to him back then.
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Voldemort, Nagini, and Bella had apparated from place to place for much of the day. It was obvious to Sirius that he was trying to confuse anyone who might be following them. His final destination was the abandoned muggle orphanage where he had been born. He and Bella got to work immediately, raising wards and putting up charms and curses. At last, he added the fidelius charm and made Bellatrix his secret keeper.
"Go find the remaining Death Eaters," he told her. "Show them the address and tell them to expect my call this evening."
"Yes, Master," Bella said, and left.
To Sirius's amusement, he watched from the control room as Voldemort began doing housework. He selected a large room with a fireplace, expelled the dust and dirt, repaired the walls, ceiling, and chimney, and conjured a new throne and some sconces for the walls. When the throne room was complete, he conjured a large rug in front of the fireplace where Nagini immediately slithered over to settle down. Then he chose another room to be his bedroom. After cleaning and repairing, he conjured a bed and some sconces and lay down to await Bella's return.
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When the twins showed up with the fireworks, Charles told them that it would disrupt the magic of the Safe Haven, but he would transport them to a beach where they would be able to enjoy the display. And so the inhabitants of the Safe Haven, except for Snape, were transported to Potter Island. Dobby was left to watch the monitor with the instructions to get Charles when the Death Eaters began to arrive. So everyone, including Albus Dumbledore, went to the beach that evening for a picnic dinner and entertainment provided by Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.
Before dark, most of the students played in the cool waters of the ocean while the adults walked the beach or sat watching the children. Small children built sand castles and sculpted sand merpeople. Charles, Remus, Albus, Shacklebolt, and Moody watched the children in the ocean, wands out, ready to rescue anyone who might fall prey to sharks or the undertow. Sirius and Tonks were in the ocean, playing with the students.
As it began to get dark, the swimmers came out of the ocean. The adults conjured towels and blankets and performed drying and warming spells. Harry sat on a blanket beside Ginny, surrounded by his friends and family. He couldn't remember ever being so happy. For the first time in his life, he had a family. He had his friends, and he had Ginny.
After dinner, the fireworks began. Harry and Ginny lay side by side on the blanket, holding hands, watching the colorful display over the ocean. His heart was so filled with joy, he was hardly able to contain it. His eyes watered, but he blinked the tears back before anyone could see them. And when he turned to face Ginny, she was watching him. She smiled, and he moved his face closer and kissed her.
It was the warmest, sweetest, most exciting kiss he had ever experienced. Of course, he hadn't had that much experience, but compared to the kisses he had shared with Cho Chang, this one out-ranked it a thousand times. He pulled back and saw his joy mirrored in her chocolate brown eyes. He smiled, leaned in, and kissed her again. He could have stayed that way forever had it not been for Ron's foot making brisk contact with his shoulder.
"Hey, watch it!" Ron, who was sitting behind him with Hermione, whispered furiously. "That's my sister you're snogging."
"Sorry," Harry said to Ron while grinning at Ginny, and she giggled. "Not really," he told her softly.
"Neither am I," she whispered back, and they turned their attention back to the fireworks.
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As the hour grew late, Charles became concerned that Dobby had not yet called him. He transported to the control room. "No Death Eaters have arrived, then?" he asked.
"No, Granddad Charley. Theys not come yet."
"And he hasn't used the mark to call any of them?"
"No. He just be sitting in his big chair staring at the fire."
"Has Bella returned?"
"She be back a long time. She be cleaning the kitchen and trying to make biscuits. The Dark Lord isn't being very happy with Bella's cooking," he said, grinning.
Charles chuckled. "I guess he misses old Wormtail," he said, sitting next to Dobby at the controls. He glanced at his watch. It was almost 11:00. Perhaps he was waiting until closer to midnight. "Dobby, would you mind going to tell Albus to make sure everyone is back at the Safe Haven before midnight?" he asked.
"Sure, Granddad Charley. Dobby don't mind." He popped out of the trunk.
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At 11:30 pm, Voldemort called Bella into the throne room. "Hold out your arm," he said. He placed the end of his wand on her dark mark to summon his Death Eaters. Within moments, 30 dark-cloaked, white-masked figures stood in Voldemort's throne room.
Charles groaned. "We're going to need more cells," he said to Remus who had just entered the control room. "Is everyone back from the beach?"
"They're transporting up, now. Albus and Sirius will be here in a moment."
"Where's Harry?"
Remus grinned. "He may be up a little later. He and Ginny seemed to hit it off this evening."
Charles smiled. "Good. She seems like a nice girl."
"She's exceptional. Reminds me a lot of Lily."
Sirius and Albus entered together. "Everyone's safely back in the Safe Haven," Albus said. "What do we have here?"
"Voldemort's moved to the orphanage, and he's just called 30 more Death Eaters," Charles said.
Voldemort stood in front of his throne. "My loyal servants," he said. "You are all that's left of my Death Eaters. The others have been captured. However, tonight we will bring them back."
Charles began to duplicate the dungeon in preparation.
"Tonight, we will take Azkaban. Bella has prepared a ship to take us to the island. The dementors have joined our cause. When we are within sight of the prison, I will signal the dementors. At that time, they will turn on the guards, leaving the prison vulnerable. Bella will fly to the island, enter the warden's office, and dismantle the anti-apparition wards. You will then apparate to the island and free the prisoners. Give those who are not Death Eaters the opportunity to join us. If they refuse, leave them for the dementors and apparate back to the ship. From there, you will receive further instructions.
"The ship is The Lonely Mariner. It is docked at Shadow Rock in Thurso, Scotland. Be there by midnight. That is all. You may go."
As the Death Eaters left the room, Charles moved the trunk outside to stun and capture them, and Remus, Albus, and Sirius went to the dungeon to scan them and place them in their cells. Charles moved the trunk back into the room where Voldemort sat staring into the fire.