A/N: Hey, thanks everyone who is still reading and reviewing, I appreciate it. Hope you're still enjoying the fic.
Summary: A continuation of Complexities of the Heart,
Things Between PeopleBy katemary77
Chapter Six:
I
was just guessing at numbers and figures
Pulling your puzzles
apart.
Questions of science, science and progress
Could not
speak as loud as my heart
Tell me you love me, come back and haunt
me
Oh, and I rush to the start
- The Scientist, Coldplay
Harry was bored.
It was the end of another Order meeting and he was almost wishing he had never been allowed to sit in. So far, Order meetings seemed to consist of discussing possible new recruits, speculation of Voldemort's plans and conference regarding the Wizengamot's difficulty in appointing a new Minister for Magic, now that Fudge had been sacked. This, at least, Harry was mildly interested in. It seemed that Voldemort was trying his hand in politics, attempting to make it as hard as possible for a new Minister to be appointed by having his Death Eaters with seats in the Wizengamot split the Wizarding council in two. At the moment, Amelia Bones was sitting in as the head of the Ministry but she wasn't allowed to make any drastic changes until either she or someone else was officially selected.
"Something has to be done, Albus, we can't continue on like this," Arthur Weasley was saying. "The Ministry is a complete shambles; Tibbons and McArthur have completely undermined it. Can't you do something?"
Professor Dumbledore sighed.
"As head of the Wizengamot I must remain completely neutral," he answered. "If I appear to move in either direction, surely Tibbons or McArthur would call for a vote of no confidence in me, a possibility we can't afford at this point."
"Can't we just get rid of one of them?" Harry asked, fidgeting as the entire Order turned to look at him. "Tibbons and McArthur have either coerced or blackmailed large amounts of the Wizengamot into different groups, each supporting a different candidate, so a sufficient majority can't be reached in a vote, right?" He received various nods for this succinct summary. "Well, if we eliminate one half of the opposition, if we get rid of either Tibbons or McArthur, shouldn't Professor Dumbledore be able to pass a vote?"
"That would work perfectly, Harry, but it's not too easy to make men like Tibbons or McArthur back down or disappear," Remus said gently.
"Voldemort makes people disappear all the time," Harry countered, ignoring the scattered gasps of the assembled groups at his use of the name. "I know we can't sink to his level by killing or kidnapping either of them, but we have to take some form of action."
"I may regret saying this, but I think the boy is right," Professor Snape said sourly. "Inaction is no longer a policy that works to the Order's advantage, if it ever was. Perhaps if we follow Tibbons or McArthur closely, we may find sufficient evidence to imprison them for suspicion of being a Death Eater, if not confirmation of their allegiance entirely."
Dumbledore was silent for a moment and then decided.
"This seems to be the direction we should take with this problem; however, we've run out of time for this meeting. If everyone could think further on this and perhaps our friends in the Ministry take a closer look at Tibbons and McArthur, by the next meeting we may have a firm plan to put in action. We are adjourned, ladies and gentlemen."
Harry turned to Anna, who was beside him. It was the first Order meeting she'd attended since Harry had found her bleeding in the bathroom and she'd barely said a word. She gave Harry a small smile and patted his hand.
"Good work, Harry. You're right; we need to start taking more action against Voldemort."
Harry smiled, glad for her approval.
"Harry, Anna."
The young Gryffindor turned. Mrs. Weasley was approaching, a funny expression on her face. She still didn't agree with Harry being allowed to sit in on meetings.
"You're both well?"
"Yes, thank you Mrs. Weasley."
"I'm glad. They haven't been able to tell you in their letters, in case of interception, but Ron and Hermione were wondering if they might come and stay here with you, from next week."
"Of course!" Harry exclaimed, excited at the idea of seeing his friends, "As long as that's okay with you and Remus, Anna."
She squeezed his hand again and seemed to give a genuine smile.
"It'd be nice to have the house full again. They'd arrive on Monday, Molly?""
"Yes, around midday."
"That's perfect, just in time to help organise a birthday party for you, Harry."
The teenager shook his head: "You don't need to do that, Anna, honestly – "
"Nonsense, Harry," Remus interjected, having wandered over to hear the last part of their conversation, "Of course you're getting a birthday party."
"We insist," Anna added and she and Remus smiled at each other over Harry's shoulder. He shrugged. There didn't seem to be anything he could do.
-------------------------
The party was in full swing. Anna and Remus had expanded the first level dining room to a huge size and had decorated it madly with multicoloured balloons and streamers, though Gryffindor red and gold held a majority. The room was bursting full with Order members and Weasleys; dancing, drinking eating and talking. Harry, despite himself, was having a great time. Anna had managed to contact Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood and they, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Harry were seated in a circle of overstuffed armchairs and couches, laughing as they recalled the happier moments of the last five years.
"Present time!" Anna shouted and a general cheer went up as most of the guests moved towards Harry's small group. Harry suddenly found himself bombarded with gifts as Remus levitated the wrapped bundles over to him.
A little self-consciously, aware that Anna was taking photographs with a steaming magical camera, Harry began unwrapping his presents. Luna and Neville had gotten him a few bars from Honeydukes, which seemed to be a theme as most of the Order had gotten him some kind of candy as well.
Hermione had given him a new Broom Servicing Kit as the ever-practical prefect had noticed the first one she'd gave him three years ago was getting old and running low. It seemed Hermione and Ron had enacted some strange role reversal as Ron had gifted him with a book on Seeker techniques which had neat drawings of Wronski Feints and other Seeker manoeuvres that he could follow. The twins gave him a large bag of their latest, not-even-for-sale-yet jokes; "For our silent partner," they had whispered, handing it over.
Finally, Remus and Anna had given him two books on blocking ones mind and creating advanced defences in Occlumency. There was another small box though, amongst Remus and Anna's gifts and he opened it to find a brand new, glittering Golden Snitch.
"Wow! Remus, Anna, thanks!"
"No worries kid," Anna smiled. "And on that note…" With a wave of her wand the lights went down and she conjured up the cake that had been hidden from Harry in the kitchen. It was covered in candles and the party guests quickly began to sing Harry a Happy Birthday. It was the first time anyone had done so and Harry found himself feeling quite emotional about it. As if he had sensed this, Remus gave Harry a comforting smile and put a hand on his shoulder as he beckoned him to blow out the sixteen candles. He did, in one go and when the lights went back on he laughed aloud at the cake.
"It's a snitch!"
Anna laughed.
"We thought you'd like that
"Are its wings moving?"
Remus nodded.
"Anna charmed them. Neat, huh?"
"Definitely," Harry laughed.
"Enough chit chat, cut into it!"
Anna handed him a knife and he made the first cut. The knife came out dirty and Harry laughingly pecked Hermione on the cheek. Soon, the cake had been served and everyone was digging in, most exclaiming that it was delicious. The music went back on and everyone separated into their different groups, talking and laughing once more.
Their fun was spoiled, however, when a small owl rocketed into the room and smashed into Professor Dumbledore's beard-covered chest.
"Slow down there, young fellow," the Headmaster frowned and quickly unfolded the letter, which Harry now noticed was marked by the Ministry crest. "Oh dear."
"Albus, what is it?" Professor McGonagall asked.
Dumbledore lowered the letter and surveyed the room.
"Lord Voldemort is attacking Azkaban prison. The Ministry needs back up, they can't hold him off. They've asked us to go." He seemed strangely despondent for a moment, merely watching as the room erupted into action. Then, slowly, Harry watched as Professor Dumbledore seemed to come back into himself and take charge. "Enough! Alastor, Kingsley, I want you to each lead two teams of eight into the fortress and around it. Back up the Ministry, go now as quickly as you can." It seemed that groups had already been decided as many of the Order members nodded and followed either Mad-Eye or Kingsley out of the room. "Remus, Anna, the Dementors are attacking the Welsh coastline. You both have strong Patroni. Go and protect the public; we can't have hundreds of Kissed Muggle civilians." Dumbledore surveyed who was remaining and seemed to realise it was only the twins and the Hogwarts students. "Take whoever you can. See if you can organise runners and readers. The injured members will end up either here or at St. Mungo's." In a rush, he and McGonagall left.
"I'm coming," Harry said as soon as they were gone. "You know my Patronus is strong enough, Remus."
Remus and Anna didn't even argue; they knew that they would need help.
"Which of you can cast corporeal Patroni; and I mean every time, not just once or twice," Anna asked.
The twins stood, as did Luna and Ginny.
Ron muttered, "Only sometimes," under his breath and Hermione's face flamed. Neville gave a sheepish smile.
"It doesn't matter," Remus said, slipping easily into his authoritative Professor-mode. "Now, you three, you'll have jobs anyway. Neville, go to Hogwarts through the kitchen Floo and run quickly to the Infirmary. You need to bring Madame Pomfrey back here with you and help her carry any supplies she'll need. There are going to be casualties and injuries tonight. Accio Order parchment! Accio quills! Accio owls!" A dense book and Hedwig, Pigwedgeon, Anna's owl and an owl Harry hadn't seen before came shooting into the room. Hedwig landed on Harry's shoulder and ruffled her wings indignantly at being summoned so. "Ron, Hermione, this book is the way that the Order keeps in contact with each other in battle. You see the sections? Mad-Eye, Dumbledore, Kingsley and I will each have a paper that we'll write on if we need immediate help or reinforcements. You need to keep track of things and if any of us says anything about needing the Ministry or someone from St. Mungo's, use the owl to make the order. Understand?"
Ron looked terrified and Hermione fiercely determined, but they nodded and took the items into their hands.
"We have to go, now."
"Here," Remus said, handing out blocks of chocolate to each of the people who were going. "Eat it when you need to. Don't be stupid about it."
Ushering the twins, Harry and the girls out of the room, the small team headed to the front door. Anna was holding a bunch of cutlery she had snatched from the dining room and magicked into portkeys.
"Before we go; no heroics!" Remus said gravely. "Don't go rushing off into battle and do as we tell you. It's under that condition only that you're being allowed to go, is that understood? We won't split off and no one will go off on their own. If Anna or I tell you to leave, leave immediately. We can take care of ourselves."
"Here." Anna passed around a spoon to each of them. "These will take you back to Headquarters. If we send you home, go immediately in to the house once you arrive on the street. If at anytime you feel at all like the Dementors are too strong and they're affecting you too much, get as close as you can to me. I'll work on keeping a strong positive aura around me to alleviate the effect." She thrust a serving fork out in front of her. "Grab hold. Three – two – one!"
Harry felt a tug behind his navel and then they were spinning wildly in midair before coming to a crash landing on soft grass. Harry stood up, offering Ginny and Luna a hand, before surveying where they had landed. They were on the outskirts of a small-sized town. Harry counted themselves lucky that the coastline opposite the island of Azkaban hadn't been a densely populated suburban area. The town was quiet, though; spookily so, and Harry spotted almost immediately a pocket of Dementors stalking through the streets.
"There," he said quietly and Remus nodded.
"There must be about fifteen. Stay together," the werewolf whispered to them, "And stay close to Anna."
"Woah, you're glowing."
Turning at Fred's startled voice, Harry was surprised to see that Anna was in fact letting off a very faint pale lilac glow.
She nodded; "Good, it's working. Come closer and you should feel it."
Harry did as she suggested and bit back a sigh at the feeling of complete contentment that washed over him when he approached her.
"That's wonderful," Luna said in her usual dreamy voice.
"Come on," Remus interrupted, pulling them all back to a harsh reality. "Wands at the ready."
Harry thought hard about Ron and Hermione, raised his wand and let his voice join the chorus of, "Expecto Patronum!" Prongs erupted from his wand and charged towards the Dementors, joined by two identical monkeys, a silver hare and some kind of big cat. Harry had seen these patroni in D.A lessons before; what he was really interested in seeing was the forms that Remus and Anna's patroni took. Harry felt a bit of a pang in his chest when he recognised the huge dog that Remus had sent flying off into the melee and suppressed a laugh when he saw a shaggy pony entering the battle.
"Always been my favourite animal," Anna said, sending him a tight smile.
"It suits you," Harry said back.
She raised an eyebrow.
"I choose not to be offended by that. Come on, move forwards everyone."
"What are we going to do with them?" Ginny asked, watching as their patroni rounded the dementors into a tight circle.
"Trap them," Remus replied, "On three, Anna. One… two… three… Arcaes patronus!" they both shouted and spindly webs of pearl white shot out of both Anna and Remus' wand, forming a solid cage around the dementors. "We'll keep them in here until the Headmaster decides what to do with them."
"What kind of spell is that?" Fred asked, a little awed, "I've never heard of it before."
"It's a pretty obscure charm," Anna explained, "It was developed during the time I was working in the Experimental Charms Department. As far as I know it's only being taught to Ministry personnel… aurors, other people from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
"Come on, we should keep moving. There might be more," Remus prompted and the small group began to move forwards into the small town. As they passed through the quiet streets, Harry felt a growing sense of dread fill his throat. This town shouldn't be so silent at six pm on a Sunday night. Kids should be everywhere; families should be barbequing, going for walks, hanging out in the front yard trading news with neighbours. When he spotted a dark clump up ahead on the sidewalk, his heart jumped into his mouth and he started moving forward at a quicker pace, somehow knowing what he was going to find and denying it at the same time.
"Harry, wait!"
He ignored Remus and dropped to his knees beside the three tiny bodies. Two boys and a girl. The boys couldn't be older than five or six, but the girl was younger, maybe only four years old, and her vibrant red curls spilled around her pale face. Their eyes were open, gazing indiscriminately up towards the starless sky. They were breathing, still alive, but empty shells, devoid of any signs of life. Kissed, Harry realised. This is what the Dementor's Kiss looks like.
There was a choked cry behind him. Fred and George were comforting Ginny, who was crying, and the twins didn't look much better. The glowing light around Anna had blinked out. She and Remus just looked sad, but resolute and like usual, Harry couldn't tell what Luna was thinking.
"It's not just them," the Ravenclaw said, the dreaminess in her voice gone, "They Kissed everyone."
Looking over the neighbourhood, Harry saw she was right. There was another body, an older woman, collapsed on the steps of her porch. Across the road the lights of a corner shop were on and they brightly lit a sickening tableau; a young girl slumped over the counter where she had been handing change to two boys and their father.
"There must be more dementors than the ones we've already dealt with," Remus said quietly, "We need to move forward and deal with them before they hurt anyone else."
"That way," Anna said, pointing to the opposite end of town, "I can feel them. There are at least thirty."
She was pale, Harry noted, and the aura surrounding her was almost completely indistinguishable. As they walked towards where she had indicated, Harry dropped back beside her and touched her arm.
"Are you okay?"
Anna nodded; "Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you, Harry."
They moved forward quickly and soon enough they reached a small shopping plaza. Faint screams came from within but soon they were silenced. Harry felt sweat begin to form at his hairline as numerous dark shapes began emerging from the shopping centre. Terrible power coursed through him, tingling over his skin and down to his fingertips. He felt as if a well of magic had opened up from deep inside of him and poured through his limbs. Resolutely, he stepped forward and roared, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" the brilliant red of the little girls curls – the same colour as his mother's hair – fresh in his mind.
Harry expected Prongs, silver and transparent, to come from his wand, but instead Prongs, the same silver but solid, burst forth and reared on his hind legs. He dashed forward to the closest dementor and speared the creature on his magnificent antlers, visibly puncturing the wraith in the chest. The dementor screamed, a terrible, piercing noise, and appeared to collapse in on itself, shrinking and shrinking until there was nothing else.
"What the…" Fred began but seemed to lose sight of his words.
Harry, though he was as dumbfounded as any of the others, kept his wand trained on the dementors and beckoned for Prongs to continue his assault. Soon everyone else began directing their own patroni to round up the creatures for Prongs to… vanquish? Kill? Harry didn't know.
Prongs, real life Prongs trotted over to Harry and bowed his antlered head before him. Harry, with a shaking hand, reached out and touched his father.
"Dad…" he mumbled, and Prongs disappeared. Turning, he saw that the others were grouped behind him, staring with wide eyes. "What… I don't understand."
Fred and George shrugged.
"Come on. That's all of them, I think," Anna murmured, "We should do a sweep of the town… for survivors."
"I'll contact Ron and Hermione, tell them to speak to the Ministry about… about everyone whose been Kissed," Remus said.
Quickly, they began moving through the streets, houses and shops but found no one alive, just dozens upon dozens of lifeless bodies. As they reached the coastline, Ginny gasped and pointed out to sea. Harry could see, far away, a dark hulking mass of land, sporadically lit up by sharp bursts of light; bright purple, poisonous yellow and sometimes a sickening, familiar green.
"Azkaban."
Suddenly, there was an abrupt trilling noise and Remus reached for his pocket.
"What do they say?" Anna asked.
"Ministry officials will come as soon as they can, but we're needed over at the island. They're outnumbered, Anna, we have to go now."
Nodding sharply, Anna turned to the kids; "You need to go back to Headquarters now."
"But – "
"Fred, George, we can't stop you from following us to Azkaban, you're adults and trained," Remus began, "But Harry, Ginny, Luna, you know you have to go."
"Use the Portkey, now," Anna finished firmly.
"Okay," Ginny said. "Come on Harry, we'd just get in the way."
Knowing she was right but still not liking it, Harry moved over to Ginny and grasped the handle of the spoon. He shared a quick glance with both Remus and Anna.
"Be careful, please," he said quietly.
"We will," Remus replied. "Now go."
Ginny tapped the spoon with her wand and then they were spinning, spinning, spinning and then suddenly landing on Grimmauld Place with a crash.
"Come on, let's get inside."
Harry and Luna followed Ginny up the front steps and knocked on the front door. Soon enough, a frazzled Ron opened the door.
"In the kitchen, come on."
They rushed down the basement stairs. It was chaotic. Hermione was sitting in the corner, frantically scribbling out messages and orders in the leather-bound books Remus had left with her. Madame Pomfrey was busy already; some Order members were obviously injured and she and Neville were doing what they could to help them.
"Harry, Ron! Take over from me," Hermione called out, "I can help Madame Pomfrey, I know more healing spells than either of you."
Quickly, they complied with her request and Ron began giving him a brief explanation of how to use the books. They got to work immediately and Madame Pomfrey had plenty for the others to do.
"Harry," Hermione called after a while, "Anna, Remus and the twins?"
"At Azkaban," he replied.
She paled a little.
"They'll come back."
Harry nodded and swallowed hard. She's right, he told himself, they'll come back. They have to.