Chapter 29
Ron Saw Us
"THEY'RE COMING! THEY'RE HERE! GRAB WHAT YOU CAN AND GET OUT OF HERE!"
Michelle Goldsmith and a few others made up the only Daily Prophet employees remaining in their Scottish hideout. They returned from their new location to rescue the supplies remaining, but within a few minutes of their return, they heard noises. Their designated leader, a former auror, quickly ascertained that the Ministry's forces already had entered the building.
"Quick, quick," he ordered, each of them grabbing what few items they could. The ex-auror stood guard, his wand outstretched. "Go, go!" One by one, Michelle and the others disappeared with a crack.
"In there! I heard something in there," the ex-auror heard from down the hall. Gritting his teeth, he accepted that he would have to abandon the remaining supplies. At least, they succeeded in moving the most important material and equipment. He twisted and disappeared.
The door burst open from a spell, and four aurors rushed into the room just as the echo from the final apparation crack faded away. Two of them automatically cast stunning spells, which harmlessly struck the opposite wall. They quickly checked the room for anyone left behind, but soon they realized that the newspaper had escaped again.
"BLAST IT!" yelled one of the aurors, the squad leader. In a fit of anger, he grasped a work table full of parchment, ink, quills and other supplies, and threw it against the wall.
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx
Hermione swam as fast as she could, trying to catch up with Ron, but the taller, more athletic boy continued to pull away from her. Nevertheless, she remained within sight of him, and did her best not to fall too far behind. As far as she could tell, Ron had no plan in mind but simply swam as fast as he could. From time to time, she tried to look side to side, but she feared taking her eyes off Ron in case he turned suddenly, and she lost sight of him.
Ron never looked back and had no idea that Hermione followed him. The young wizard was a good swimmer to begin with, having learned as a young child while playing in the large pond near the Burrow, but under the effects of the gillyweed, he swam faster than he ever thought possible, looking back and forth for any sign of movement. He remained just twenty feet below the surface so that he could see as much of the lake as possible, but even so, he realized how much territory he would have to cover. The thought merely caused him to pick up his pace.
Little did he know that fortune would smile on him. From the corner of his left eye, he noticed a flash of light. Coming to a stop, he stared in that direction, and sure enough he saw two more flashes, and then two more. They looked like spells; they had to be spells. He turned and dove as fast as he could, keeping his eyes on the continuing flashes.
Hermione saw them too, at almost the same moment as Ron, and she dove in the same direction, at a diagonal angle to Ron, the two friends virtually equidistant from the battle waging far below and to the left.
A minute before, Harry neared the rocky bottom of the lake, his wand at the ready and his senses focused both on the horcrux and Voldemort. Protected by a ledge, Voldemort could not yet see him, but Evan from his vantage could see both. Voldemort did not yet sense any danger and continued to swim at a normal pace. Evan kicked forward, just inches above the lake floor, trying to remain hidden from the dark lord. I may only have one chance.
Harry felt Voldemort approaching but he could not pinpoint Hufflepuff's cup. After a few seconds, he decided to retreat into a shallow cave carved into the mottled brown rocks. I'll let Voldemort find it for me, he decided. Unable to see well, he pulled his glasses out of the pocket of his swimming trunks and put them on. For a moment, everything remained blurry before coming into focus, and Harry knew that his eyes must have glowed again. He pushed his back flat against the cave wall, his heart pounding in anticipation.
Voldemort appeared from over the ledge, Harry looking almost directly up at him. Though tempted to throw a curse at him immediately, Harry knew he had to wait. Find the horcrux first, then worry about Tom. The dark lord slowly settled down to the bottom, his red eyes glancing back and forth from his transfigured fish head.
As he settled down to the lake bottom, something did not feel right to him, and he turned all the way around. Almost at the end of his revolution, he caught a glimpse of Evan Harrington hovering a few inches above the rocky bottom.
Petrificus totalus, thought Voldemort, and a streak of light passed though the water towards the auror, impeded by the density of the water. As a result, Evan had plenty of time to avoid the long-range spell.
Bloody hell, Evan cursed to himself at the realization that his cover had been blown. Instinctively, he cast a stunner back at Voldemort, though he knew it had no chance of reaching its target.
Harry could see the reflection of the two spells, and he carefully emerged from his cave, at first seeing the back of Lord Voldemort and then the figure of a man in the distance. He knew that the man must be Evan Harrington.
Stupefy, thought Harry, excited that he could cast the first spell at Voldemort with his back turned, but Harry learned again why Lord Voldemort was not an average wizard. Seemingly sensing Harry's spell before he even cast it, the dark lord flicked his wand to the thought of protego, and Harry's spell glanced off the shield harmlessly.
The battle begun, Evan saw no need for finesse, and he cast two more spells rapidly as he swam forward in a zig zag fashion. Voldemort jumped backwards to avoid those spells, only to have to erect another shield to block a new barrage of spells by Harry. Evan cast another of his own, trying his best to keep Voldemort occupied and unable to retaliate.
The unexpected ambush in fact kept Voldemort from responding in kind, but only for a few moments. As his enemies moved to cast new spells, he turned and darted more quickly than Harry thought possible, stopping suddenly about twenty feet behind Harry. The dark lord hesitated a moment to turn and then thrust his wand towards Harry. Unable to speak, he could not throw any of the unforgivable curses, which all required more power than an unspoken spell could muster, especially underwater. Instead, Voldemort resorted to one of his own creations, rayatio, which sent a pair of yellow lightning bolts through the water as if it were air. If it hit its mark, the victim would suffer a severe shock which would immobilize him for a minute at least. Or in this case, for the rest of his life.
In that moment of hesitation, however, Harry felt Voldemort behind him and instinctively dove down and rolled to the right. Voldemort cursed to himself when the spell narrowly missed its target, cracking a large boulder fifty feet behind Harry. I could feel it before he even threw it, Harry realized, and instantly he now understood how Voldemort and Dumbledore could duel so magnificently. They both possessed that extra sense warning them of a spell before the caster even threw it.
Emboldened, Harry cast more spells, as did Evan, and again Voldemort needed to erect a shield to fend off the new attacks. Wishing to concentrate on Potter, the dark lord began to consider the additional attacker a nuisance. He decided to rid himself of the auror before turning his attention back to Harry. Again bolting away, Voldemort zigzagged upwards at a tremendous pace. Harry tried to chase after him, but he quickly learned that Voldemort's self-transfiguration, extremely advanced magic beyond the capability of virtually all wizards, allowed him to move much more rapidly than Harry could through gillyweed.
Unable to sense Voldemort the way Harry could, Evan nevertheless had the sense to erect a shield the moment Voldemort dashed off, and when Voldemort suddenly stopped and sent the rayatio spell his way, it bounced off of the shield violently. The force of the spell, however, knocked Evan off balance, and he could not keep the shield up. Another quick rayatio from Voldemort hit him and knocked him silly. He turned on his side and floated slowly to the gravelly lake bottom.
He had not been knocked unconscious, however, as apparently the unspoken nature of the spell, combined with the density of the water, prevented its full effect. Nevertheless, he could not move, and helplessly watched in a daze as the dark lord turned his attention to Harry Potter.
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx
Hagrid unceremoniously dropped Peter Pettigrew into a small, dingy cell in the dungeons of Hogwarts castle. Peter crumpled to the hard, stone floor, rubbing his sore neck with his real hand. Remus stood at the door of the tiny cell, and after allowing Hagrid to exit, slammed the iron bars shut.
"If yeh don' want to kill the rat yerself, jus' let me know," the half giant growled, "I can think o' a dozen things t' do with him."
Remus did not reply to Hagrid's threats, instead observing his old friend, now trembling slightly with fear.
"I'm not going to kill you yet, Peter," the werewolf informed him. Remus by now had regained his normal calm, for the moment repressing his anger. "The Order will need to question you. I have a few for you right now. Where's Voldemort, and what is he doing?"
Up to this moment, Peter had not spoken a word since Hagrid's hand grabbed his neck. Now he faced the dilemma of either betraying his master, whom he hated but feared, or resisting the Order of the Phoenix's questioning. Of course, resistance would be futile anyway, as assuredly he would be given veritaserum at some point, and he knew that he lacked the ability to lie under the influence of that powerful truth serum. The fact that Remus would kill him anyway made the decision that much easier. At least Remus would kill him humanely; Peter saw what the dark lord did to Severus Snape.
"He's in the lake, looking for something. I don't know what." Though he tried to act bravely, his voice shook through his false calm. Remus knew him well, and could see how vulnerable he felt.
"Is anyone with him?"
"No, only me, and he left me on the shore." Peter pulled himself to the wall of the cell, and leaned against it. Other than a small bare platform on which to sleep, the cell was empty.
"Where is your headquarters now?"
"We move every few days. Today we are in an old manor in Scotland, but I have no idea where it is or what it's called. We move so often that I don't care any more." He spoke in a nervous but defeated monotone. Remus knew him well enough to know that he told the truth.
"How did Voldemort overcome the wards?"
"How? I can't explain it, but I can tell you what he did. He brewed a potion, gave it to Narcissa Malfoy, pushed her into the edge of the wards, recited an incantation. Then he killed her. Said the power of the murder would strengthen the spell." Peter almost admitted to the murder himself, but at the last second decided to blame it on the dark lord. After all, ultimately all the responsibility lay with him.
"She's dead, al' right," Hagrid confirmed, "Couple o' centaurs brought her body t' me, t' bury her. They wouldn' leave her out in the forest. "Tha's when I heard about the rat here."
"Narcissa? Dead?" Remus' eyes widened at the news, and he immediately thought about Draco Malfoy, still imprisoned by the Order, which frankly did not know what to do with him. He would have to view her corpse and pass on this information; it could perhaps be put to good use. Turning his eyes back to Peter, who glumly stared at the stone floor, Remus decided he had heard enough for the moment.
"It's all over now, Peter. Think what you could have been. A wasted life."
"A bloody coward!" Hagrid added for good measure, and he followed Remus out of the dungeons.
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx
Voldemort turned away from the sinking Evan Harrington to again engage with Harry, but to his surprise, Harry no longer remained where he left him. Looking left and right, Voldemort saw nothing. Thinking that Harry may have swung to the other side, Voldemort spun around to check behind him. At that very moment, Harry dove down from above him and at full speed plowed into his back, knocking the dark lord off his feet.
Stunned by the physical assault, virtually unheard of among wizards, Voldemort tried to regain his balance in the water, but Harry jumped on him instantly, wrapping both arms around his stomach and squeezing as hard as he could. Voldemort flailed his arms, his wand still held by his right hand, but Harry held tight and jumped twice towards the rock wall, pulling Voldemort with him. Taking advantage of his physical superiority, Harry placed his shoulder into Voldemort's back and thrust the dark lord into the wall, trying to smash his fish head against the sharp rocks. Voldemort managed to keep his head away from the wall, but his left shoulder hit against it hard, drawing blood. Harry thrust again and again until finally Voldemort managed to squirm free, his shoulder in terrible pain, probably broken.
Beyond rage, Voldemort whirled around to attack with his wand, but he needed to react immediately to block a spell from the wand of Evan Harrington, who had recovered sufficiently to give Harry some cover. The younger wizard pointed his wand again, when to the complete surprise of all three combatants, spells rained down on Voldemort from above right and above left. Looking up, Harry and Evan saw Ron and Hermione attacking Voldemort from different directions.
Harry's friends had witnessed the last couple of minutes of the confrontation, and actually tried to cast spells a minute earlier when Harry's situation appeared dire; however, they had not received lessons from Evan Harrington regarding underwater spells. In the common room the night before, Harry briefly explained the technique to them, pointing to the exact spot on his abdomen where he concentrated. After a number of failed attempts, through sheer determination they managed to produce a couple of weak spells, unnoticed by the other combatants. Once they learned the feel, casting more powerful spells quickly became possible.
Heartened by the reinforcements, Harry and Evan continued their own assault on the dark lord, who suddenly found himself surrounded. He turned and darted away, but when he stopped to Harry's left, Ron and Hermione already sent spells down that forced Voldemort to resort to defensive shields. Harry turned, fury in his face, and for the first time Voldemort saw the young wizard's eyes glow green.
He dove towards his nemesis while thinking reducto, pointing a few feet in front of Voldemort. Rubble burst into the water, throwing the dark lord backwards and temporarily out of control. Evan took the opportunity and cast a stinging spell which he figured would cause enough pain to allow the four allies to attack again. The thin blue line just nicked its target in the calf, causing Voldemort to jerk again from the pain. Ron and Hermione rained more stunners down from above, but at their distance and with Voldemort tumbling unpredictably, the spells missed.
Harry charged forward with his wand thrust out in front, ready to attack again as soon as the water cleared. Voldemort meanwhile had struck his fish head against a rock wall, which now joined his shoulder in pain. Frustrated at the limitations imposed by the water, his physical limitations, and the unexpected four-on-one odds, he attempted to devise a new strategy, but Evan and Harry determined not to allow him a moment to think, sending two more spells. Harry's cutting spell hit Voldemort's right forearm squarely, slicing into the dark lord's flesh and almost causing his wand to fall. Just as he grabbed at it, Evan's petrificus totalus hit his already injured left shoulder. The water diminished the effectiveness of the spell, but the dark lord felt a little sluggish, and pain radiated through his body. A weak stunner from Ron hit him in the back, further intensifying the pain and disability.
Voldemort realized that he could not continue. Rapidly he realized that Harry had not yet found Hufflepuff's cup, and he would be unlikely to be able to collect it easily. Better to retreat now and then return later to collect the cup. Just as a new volley of spells from four directions bore down on him, he found the energy to shoot directly upwards, avoiding all of them. Harry gasped internally as he realized that Hermione and Ron could be placed in danger, and he shot after Voldemort continuing to fire stunning spells as quickly as he could, joined by Evan. A couple of them struck their target, further forcing the dark lord to flee as rapidly as possible. Finally Harry pulled up, satisfied that his friends no longer were floating in a danger zone.
The four remaining wizards and witch hovered motionlessly for a full minute, watching Voldemort disappear in the murky water, but expecting his return at any moment. Finally, Harry carefully swam back to where he felt the horcrux, while Ron, Hermione and Evan followed behind. Taking charge, Evan pointed for Ron to stand guard to the far right, Hermione to the left, with Evan taking the center.
Without Voldemort's presence confusing his senses, Harry could feel the horcrux more easily but could not pinpoint its location. He concentrated with all his power, lines forming in his face, but still he could not narrow down the sensation. He turned around and saw the back of Hermione, her wand pointed in preparation for any attack. The sight of her snapped him out of his concentration, and suddenly he wanted to be with her more than anything in the world. He almost forgot about the horcrux all together.
Relax! he told himself, Just let it happen. The lines on his face disappeared and the tension left his muscles. Returning to the rocky bottom of the lake, Harry floated along, feeling just as he did when walking among the trophies in the castle. As he meandered by a large boulder, he suddenly knew that Hufflepuff's cup rested inside of it. Spreading out his arms, he placed both hands on the boulder, and became fully convinced.
He turned to look at Hermione again and quickly swam to her, touching her shoulder. She turned to look at him, and briefly their eyes met. He stood stunned for a moment, but finally he remembered why he came, motioning for her to move away. He pointed at the boulder and made an exploding motion with his hands. Hermione understood that he intended to use the reducto spell to smash the boulder into bits. She nodded and swam away, motioning for Evan and Ron to do likewise.
Reducto, thought Harry, and the light from his wand squarely hit the boulder, bouncing off it harmlessly, as if Harry merely threw a rubber ball at it. He knew that Voldemort would have strengthened the boulder, and that he would need tremendous power to overcome it, but he also maintained supreme confidence that he possessed sufficient power. He tried again, and merely caused a few small chips of rock to fall to the lake floor. Realizing he needed much more power, Harry focused and directly from his gut again concentrated on the word, reducto. Holding the spell for minutes, the boulder little by little broke into chucks, creating a large mound of debris on the lake bed and a cloud of tiny particles floating slowing with the almost imperceptible current in the lake. Evan left the others and added his own reducto to assist Harry, and the pile of debris grew quickly. Finally, as the twin bolts of light reached the middle of the huge rock, the light reflected off of metal. Harry lifted his wand and fell to a knee from exhaustion, bowing his head almost too his knees.
Hermione quickly swam to his side and placed her arm around his back, allowing him to catch his breath, so to speak, though he could only breath water rather than air. After a minute, she slid an arm under Harry's shoulder, helping him off the lake bed. Ron and Evan already hovered over the cup, though the auror kept looking in all directions. Together, Harry and Hermione floated over to the large silver cup which Evan managed to dislodge with a little effort, rocking it back and forth before it broke free. He handed it to Harry, who reached out his left hand to grasp the intricately carved handle, lifting it up for all four of them to see. Again his eyes met hers, and Harry felt his face try to smile, though due to the gillyweed, his lips barely moved. Pointing with his wand, he indicated that they should swim back to shore. Evan and Ron joined them, and the four pushed off towards the surface. Evan swam slowly as a result of Voldemort's spell, and Ron hung back to accompany him.
Half way up, Harry felt the transformation back to his normal mammal begin, and he picked up the pace, since he remained nearly one hundred feet below the surface. Hermione realized Harry's predicament, and as his feet and hands lost their webbing, he slowed down, and her heart filled with fear that he might not reach the surface in time. She shot forward and grabbed his arm, pulling him rapidly upwards. Just as Harry felt that he had to take a breath of fresh air, the two of them broke through the surface. Harry gasped in oxygen while Hermione returned to her temporary habitat in the lake.
Harry inhaled deeply several more times before he finally convinced himself that he had made it. Lifting the cup out of the water, he smiled and began slowly to kick his feet to swim back to the shore, which he realized still lay a good distance away. Without warning, he felt Hermione's hand grab his, and she pulled him along, as she had not yet lost her gills and webs. Harry appreciated the tow, and he turned over onto his back to keep his mouth above the water. After a couple of minutes, he realized that only a little over one hundred yards remained when Hermione let go of his hand. A moment later, her head emerged, and she took her first breath of air.
Wrapping an arm around her, Harry helped to prop her up, while she finished the final few seconds of her transformation. Finally she relaxed from the anxiety of experiencing that sensation for the first time, and she turned face to face to Harry. They smiled at each other, but said nothing. Hermione wrapped both her arms around Harry, and the two friends pulled each other close, kicking hard enough to stay above the water. Their eyes met.
Without a word, their faces moved forward, and their lips met in a kiss as spontaneous as Harry's first kiss with Ginny, though quite a bit wetter. They let the moment linger, briefly parting before renewing the kiss. They momentarily forgot to kick, caught up in the moment, and they both slipped awkwardly below the surface, their lips losing contact. A moment later they both resurfaced, chuckling at themselves. Finally the realization of what they had done hit them, and their faces parted a few inches to allow them to examine each other for any signs of regret. They saw none.
"Harry," Hermione finally whispered, "You did it."
"WE did it," he answered softly, "Like we always do." They kissed again.
Some thirty yards away, Ron and Evan watched. Ron stared emotionlessly for a minute, and Evan could sense the tension as the young wizard seemed to undertake an internal struggle. The auror found it difficult to swim from the pain of Voldemort's spell, but he gamely raised his arm in an attempt to move forward. Ron noticed, and sighing deeply, kicked his feet.
"Let me help, Mr. Harrington," he offered, pulling Evan the last few yards to the shore. Ron lifted him to his feet and helped him to collapse a few feet away from the water's edge. Evan lay on his back, finally allowing himself to relax. Ron turned back to the water and saw Harry and Hermione embracing again, only this time a little closer to shore. Apparently they could not swim the whole hundred yards without another snogging session, he thought, as he turned away.
Yes, he accepted that Hermione preferred Harry to him, that the two were more suited to each other, but he still had no desire to watch. With his wand, he conjured two towels, handing one to Evan, who merely clutched it to his chest. Ron dried himself with his back to the lake so that he could avoid any further demonstrations of his friends' affections. Soon he heard the two of them walking though the last few feet of shallow water. He allowed himself to turn around, where he saw Harry pulling Hermione out by her hand, water dripping off of them and embarrassed smiles on their faces. Hufflepuff's cup dangled from Harry's other hand. Ron conjured two more towels.
"Thanks mate," Harry murmured, realizing for the first time that Ron must have watched the show in the lake. With Hufflepuff's cup now held firmly in his left hand, Harry decided to keep the topic on business. "You shouldn't have come," he scolded Ron with a smile, "That was really stupid. Like something I would do."
Ron smiled and retorted, "I learned from the best. Let's help Mr. Harrington; we should move him to the hospital wing. Maybe Madam Pomfrey can help him."
"No need," Evan interrupted while recuperating on the shore, "I'll be fine; I've been worse off plenty of times. Lucky we were under water, or Voldemort would have finished me off. He couldn't use the killing curse without being able to speak."
Hermione toweled off her face and hair, and Harry and she again locked eyes, suddenly oblivious to the rest of the civilized world. Ron and Evan realized that the two lovebirds would prefer to be alone, so the auror attempted to roll onto his side in order to stand. Ron helped lift him, and the two men slowly walked towards the castle. Harry and Hermione watched them for a minute, and Harry wrapped an arm around Hermione's shoulders.
"Ron saw us," Harry realized quietly, worry in his voice.
"He knows. He already knew," Hermione assured him with a smile, "Ginny too. They both knew before we did." Harry turned towards her, his green eyes wide with astonishment.
"They knew? Ginny too?" He shook his head in response to Hermione's nod. After allowing the news to sink in. he turned her towards him smiled at her and added, "Well, I have an excuse. I'm a clueless boy. But what about you?"
"Girls can be clueless too," she responded indignantly, but her facade cracked immediately, and her smile returned. Harry thought he had never seen anything more beautiful. The two wet teens embraced again.
"Do you think Ron will be OK?" a clearly worried Harry asked quietly into her ear, "He's my best mate."
"He'll be fine. Talk to him about it. I'm sure he'll be fine."
They kissed briefly again, but being on land rather than in the water caused them to feel more self conscious, and they silently agreed to resume their amorous activities at a later time, indoors and in private. They released each other and finally realized that they remained soaked to the bone.
"Could you do a drying spell on me, Harry," Hermione asked, "I'm feeling chilled from the breeze." She smiled lovingly.
For the first time, Harry noticed that Hermione's thin blue sleeveless blouse clung tightly to her body, as did her shorts to a lesser degree. His eyes scanned her up and down, and then back up again. He smiled evilly.
"I don't think I know that spell," he answered as he again allowed his eyes to roam, "Must have fallen asleep in that class."
Hermione smiled coyly at the realization that Harry Potter, of all people, was checking her out. Raising a disbelieving eyebrow, she waved her wand down and to the left with a small hook at the end.
"That's the wand movement," she explained as if teaching a first year, "and the spell is secarius. You pronounce it seCARius."
"OK, let me try," Harry agreed, "SeCARius." He waved the wand just as Hermione instructed, but somehow he "missed" the target. "I think it's too hard of a spell for me. Sorry." Hermione could barely contain her laughter at Harry's bald-faced lie and his guilty grin.
"Fine!" she replied with false indignation, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." She turned on her heels and stomped off playfully towards the castle. After three steps, her clothes and hair magically dried. She turned around to see Harry's wand pointed at her, a huge smile on his face. She waved her wand to return the favor. Now both completely dry, Harry approached her and took her hand.
"That's blackmail," he complained as they walked towards the castle. Hermione smirked.
"It worked, didn't it?"