Deatheaters' revenge, chapter two.
Disclaimer:-
It all belongs to ME you hear? Yeah right. To anyone who has been on another planet since 1997, this is just to let you know that Harry Potter belongs to J.K.Rowling, her various publishers and Warner Brothers.
Am I J.K.Rowling or Warner Brothers? Well, I don't have highly paid lawyers to threaten fans in India for making Harry Potter themed carnival floats, nor threaten fan-sites (until the bad publicity put them off), nor get far reaching unprecedented (and probably illegal) injunctions from the UK high court which have now led to a major threat against civil liberties as other courts followed that precedent to stop legitimate and legal protests, all in the name of protecting their billions of dollars. So I guess Harry Potter doesn't belong to me.
Author's note...
After Ginny had stopped Umbridge's plan to force the wizarding world into a war with the muggles Bonnie had continued to suffer nightmares following the cruciatus curse.
As Ginny rushed her to St. Mungo's and then had to help Hermione explain to others from the cast of the films that their world was real, they didn't know that other plans were afoot, which would soon affect their lives.
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Back at St. Mungo's Ron and Hermione were arguing again. "Explain to me again why we just left them like that? They haven't even agreed not to tell anyone."
"Ron. What if they do? Nobody's going to believe them. They'll put it down to a publicity stunt."
"Hmm. I'm not so sure. Why wouldn't they believe them?"
"Hermione's right," said Ginny. "You haven't lived with muggles. They don't believe anything they can't explain. You should see how they make fun of anyone who believes in ghost or UOFs."
"UFOs," corrected Hermione.
"What are UFOs?" asked Ron.
"Unidentified Flying Objects. People who see them think they are ships with aliens from outer space. Other say they are imagining things or it's a trick of the light."
"There are really aliens from outer space?"
"Oh, Ron. I don't know. Ginny's just pointing out that they just make fun of anyone who believes in something they don't. So you don't have to worry."
"Don't mind me, you two," said Ginny. "I'll leave you to your arguing while I go see how Bonnie is."
"We'll come with you," said Ron.
They raced up the stairs and it took Ron flashing his auror identification to get them past the mediwitch, who had told them visiting hours were over.
"Is she still unconscious?" Ginny asked the mediwitch.
"No. She came round slightly, but we gave her a sleeping potion. She'll sleep till the morning at least."
"Thank you," said Hermione. "We'll come back to see her then."
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"So who's first?"
"I'd like to get that blood traitor, Weasley."
"Which one?"
"The auror. The one who led the hunt for us. The one who's responsible for me having to go into hiding like a common criminal."
"So he's first then?"
"No. Too well protected. And anyway, I want to hurt him. By the time I kill him, I want him to beg me to do it."
"But if you can't even get him?"
"Don't worry. I know exactly what I'm going to do."
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"We can't talk about it here," insisted Emma.
Rupert and Matthew had begun to talk about the wizarding world in the hotel lounge.
"Yes we can," Dan pointed out. "Nobody's going to know we aren't chatting about the films, are they?"
"Just nothing too specific then," warned Emma.
"That's okay," laughed Matthew. "Evanna can tell us more about Hogwarts."
"Oh not again. You had me up half the night telling you about that."
"Consider it your punishment, for going off and having adventures without us," laughed Jeff, who had quickly become part of the group since the night before.
Their laughter was cut off by a commotion outside the lounge as a harassed security guard burst through. "I apologise. I tried to keep them out, but they pushed through."
"It's okay," said Emma. "They're friends of ours."
"Oh. Okay. Well, please ask them to carry their passes in future."
"We will. I'm sorry for the bother."
"Sorry about that," said Hermione. "We apparated into the hotel, but they wouldn't let us into the lounge where you all were."
"How's Bonnie?" asked Evanna.
"She's okay," said Ginny. "We brought her with us. We made her rest on her bed for the rest of today. She's still very tired."
"You think?" asked Rupert, looking amused.
Ginny looked around to see Bonnie walking into the room.
"Bonnie. We told you to rest," warned Hermione.
"If you think I'm staying in bed upstairs while you're all talking about me downstairs, you've got another think coming."
"What makes you think we were talking about you?" asked Ginny with a grin.
Her line was spoiled slightly by Evanna and Emma, who had both run to Bonnie to hug her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay," she cried. "Or I will be if you don't hug me to death."
"I'm really glad you're back," said Evanna.
"Yeah," laughed Dan. "Now we've got two of you to interrogate about Hogwarts."
"Don't you dare," said Hermione. "She needs quiet. I mean it. If she gets overtired it could bring on another attack."
"And the only reason Ron didn't obliviate you all is that we persuaded him you could help Bonnie."
"Help me how?"
"I had to tell them about your nightmares," admitted Evanna.
"And they've agreed to help Evanna look after you."
"I don't need looking after;" protested Bonnie.
"Bonnie," said Hermione patiently. "You and Ginny stopped a war. As far as I can find out, you are probably the first muggle to even survive being put under a cruciatus curse. Don't be afraid of letting people help you."
"Hey! You're the girl who lived," laughed Ginny.
"Ron and I spent years persuading Harry that he didn't have to do everything alone," commented Hermione. "Don't make us do the same with you."
"Bonnie," said Emma, quietly. "From what we've been told, I can't even imagine what that bitch put you through. We all want you to know, we're here for you, as long as you need us."
Bonnie nodded.
"Now," said Hermione. "Ginny, you'll have to give the others whatever you gave Evanna to contact you."
"I didn't give her anything."
"Then how did she call you?"
"I don't know. Evanna?"
Evanna shook her head. "I don't know. I was just thinking, wishing Ginny was there to help, and then she was."
"Ginny?"
"I just knew Bonnie needed help. It was like I heard Evanna screaming for me."
"Hmm," said Hermione. "I wonder how?"
"Remember. Evanna knew who I was the moment she saw me. At the time I wondered if she was magical. After then things got chaotic and I forgot all about it."
"Me? Magical? You've got to be kidding;" laughed Evanna.
"Well, you managed to put a thought into Ginny's mind," said Hermione. "We'll have to investigate that later."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "I see hours in a library coming up."
Evanna laughed.
Hermione tried to look offended, but nobody was fooled for a minute. "Okay. Then we need a way for whoever is with Bonnie to get help quickly if you can't wake her up."
"Medallions?" suggested Ginny. "Like we had in the D.A.?"
"No good. You have to be magical to write on them."
"Can't you give us all portkeys?" asked Emma.
"No," said Ginny, "the moment you touch them, you'd be taken off wherever."
"Not necessarily," said Hermione. "I could make one that's only activated if you say an activation phrase."
"You're going to give them all port-keys?" asked Ginny.
"No. Just Bonnie. Whoever's with her can put Bonnie's hand on the key and say something like 'St. Mungo's now' and Bonnie will be taken to the hospital."
"They'll have to go with her. You can't have Bonnie just dumped in the waiting room," Ginny pointed out.
"Thanks," laughed Bonnie.
"Okay," agreed Hermione. "Whoever's with her will have to put their hand on the portkey as well."
"Can you do it?" asked Ginny.
"Of course I can," said Hermione, offended.
"I don't mean that. I mean, legally? Make a portkey, without permission. Then give it to a muggle, and have two muggles taken to St.Mungo's with it?"
"Well, I am in the Magical Law Enforcement department. And my fiancé is a senior auror. And if anyone still objects, I think Harry would get away with it, don't you?"
"Personally I think any of you three could probably get away with breaking into Gringotts again if you wanted to."
Hermione laughed. "Well if I'm ever unemployed, I might think about it. But I could do without the dragon ride."
"Hermione hates flying," explained Ginny. "Even on broomsticks."
"Hermione," asked Jeff. "Can I tell one other person?"
"Why?" asked Hermione suspiciously.
"It's Dawn. The make-up girl. She'll know if I'd hiding something. And if Bonnie requests her as her personal make-up girl again, she can be with her when the rest of us can't. I don't know how I'm going to make her believe me though."
"Okay."
"Now you've organised me, I'm a bit tired," admitted Bonnie.
"Right, Bonnie. You go to bed. Ginny, stay with her until I get back with a portkey as you're the only one who can apparate her away." She turned to Jeff. "And your name is?"
"Jeff."
"Okay, Jeff. We'll go to Bonnie's bedroom and apparate to your girlfriend. Once she's convinced, I'll go back to see Harry and Ron and then make the portkey."
Ginny looked at Emma and said, "You were right. She IS bossy."
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Two weeks later.
"She's being protected. Someone's with her at all times.And that's not all."
"What now?"
"We detected something magical. We think she's got a portkey."
"Then they know? They all know?"
"They must do."
"I'll get them all. Every last one of them."
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Both Hermione and Ginny had insisted on visiting Bonnie as often as they could. Ginny, because Bonnie had become her friend, and Hermione as she was really the only one who could understand what it was like to be really tortured by the cruciatus curse.
"I know it sounds silly," she explained to Bonnie one day, "but train yourself to think of something really happy every time. The happiest memory you can think of."
"Like you do with a patronus?"
"Just like that. When Bellatrix was torturing me, I did that, and it really helped. I think it was probably the only thing that kept me going. And it definitely helps in nightmares."
"It's not easy."
"No," agreed Hermione. "It isn't. Get the others to remind you. The moment they wake you up. It helps it fade away quicker."
"Does it ever get better?"
"Yes," she assured her. "But if I'm honest, you had it worse than me. You had no magic to protect you."
"Don't feel guilty," Bonnie insisted.
"I know what Ginny means. You'd have been better off not knowing any of us."
"Actually, I can't imagine not knowing you all now. You know I still get owls sometimes from some of the girls at Hogwarts?"
"Just the girls?"
"Well, no actually. But you can't imagine the reaction of some hotels when they see owls flying in my window."
Despite herself, Hermione laughed.
"Yeah. I have to get the message off and shoo the owl away before hotel staff come to 'rescue me' from the stray bird. Half the time I don't even have time to write a reply."
"I didn't think you liked it at Hogwarts much."
"It was just lonely, being the only muggle after Evanna had gone. Watching everyone do things I'd never be able to do. And the way some of them took it for granted, like it was nothing."
"I know. If you're not muggleborn you don't realise how special it is, having magic."
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The comparative peace of an autumn Friday was shattered by the loud sound of an alarm.
Ron called out, "Get a message to Hermione. I need her at St. Mungo's."
He ran to the nearest apparation point in the Ministry and appeared a millisecond later in the entrance hall of St. Mungo's. Mediwitches were standing around Bonnie. He forced his way through.
"Are you okay?" he asked Bonnie, who was crying. "Another nightmare? In the daytime?"
"Ron," she gasped out. "They hurt Dawn."
"Who? What? You're not hurt, right?"
"No, but."
"Okay. Wait." He turned to the mediwitches and said, "Thank you. Auror business. I'll take it from here." he turned back to Bonnie and said, "I'm taking you to the Ministry. We can talk safely there."
A minute later they were in his office. Hermione arrived only seconds after they did.
"Why did you bring her here?" she demanded.
"Shh. Let her speak. Bonnie. What's happened? Who hurt Dawn?"
"I don't know. I was resting. I had a disturbed night again. Someone apparated into the room. They wanted me. Before I knew what was happening, Dawn had grabbed my hand and put it on the portkey. Someone yelled something and Dawn went flying against the wall. Then before they could grab me, Dawn yelled out 'St. Mungo's now' and I was in St. Mungo's. You've got to help her."
Ron was already running out of the room. "Hermione. Tell Harry."
But when Ron apparated into Bonnie's hotel room, it was empty. Only a bloodstain on the wall showed she'd been there.