When Harry informed his friends of his decision, they were less than impressed.
"You're barmy," muttered Ron, as Hermione lectured Harry on the opportunity he was throwing away.
"Thanks Ron, that really helps," Harry shot back, annoyed. Why can't they ever just support me? he thought angrily.
"Well you are," Ron continued, his voice rising as Hermione's lecture continued in the background, largely unheeded. "You could actually do something great here, actually strike a blow against You-Kno – VOLDEMORT, and you refuse because you don't want to be told what to do! It's selfish, that's what it is!"
"And I'm not allowed to be a bit selfish for once?" Harry yelled, temper boiling over. "My whole life I've either been locked in a cupboard, or dealing with being the fucking Chosen One! I haven't had a choice my entire life, and now I do, and I want to take it!"
"So you really choose to let V-Voldemort win, do you?" asked Ron, disbelieving.
"So that's it, you don't really think I can beat Voldemort, do you?"
"No," said Ron, panicking. He hadn't meant to say that. "You're just not ready yet, and this would be this best chance of getting ready. It's only three days. And would you SHUT UP HERMIONE!"
This last part was said in unison; Harry and Ron turned on Hermione, who swallowed her next point about how well Harry would do in his NEWTs with seven years to study.
"Sorry," said Ron, while Harry looked apologetic, "but really, NEWTs?"
Hermione looked hurt, but nodded.
"Listen, you two," said Harry, trying to get back on track, "it's all very well for you to say that I'm mad, but you're not the ones who have to do it. For you it will be like I've gone away for three days. For me, I'll be alone for seven years. Seven bloody lonely years, where I won't see you, I won't see anybody, I won't do anything but train, and I know the whole time I'll be worrying about you two, because like it or not, it will seem like seven years to me, and seven years is plenty of time for Voldemort or the Death Eaters to come and hunt you down, and that's not a feeling I'm going to be able to shake. I can't do that. I can't abandon you, even if it is for 3 days, because it won't be for me. You just have to accept that. I can't do it.
"Just try to see it from my perspective, OK? It's not just about being independent. I'm scared. It will be too hard. It's not something I can handle. I'm sorry."
With this admission, any further objections Ron and Hermione had died in their throat. Hermione's eyes began to well up, and she flung her arms around Harry, a muffled apology escaping from Harry's shoulder. Ron was silent, but he came forward and ruffled Harry's hair before giving him a brief one-armed hug.
The three friends spent the rest of the day relaxing. Harry informed Dumbledore's portrait of his decision. The portrait's face fell, his eyes lowered, and his figure seemed to shrink further into his chair, but all he said was, "Very well, Harry, I know it was a big ask."
Fed up with being cooped up at Grimmauld Place, Harry suggested they see a movie. While perhaps not the smartest thing to do when you're more or less in hiding, they figured the Muggle world was relatively safe. Harry once again donned his new travelling coat, and they set off.
As they left the central London cinema and walked out onto a crowded street, one voice cut through the din, and the hair on the back of Harry's neck stood on end.
".... Weasleys, I'm sure of it, look at the hair, I know I've seen it before," came the voice.
"Are you sure? I didn't get a look at him. What would he be doing here?"
"You of all people know they hang around the Potter boy, and he lives with Muggles."
"I didn't see Potter with him," came the second voice, and Harry thought he might recognise it. It did not bring to mind happy thoughts. All of a sudden on guard, Harry caught Ron's eyes, while grabbing Hermione and moving quickly down a little side street. Ron got the message; he had heard the voices too, and knew he had already been seen. Trying to act casually, he walked past the side street, while Harry grabbed his Invisibility Cloak from a backpack he'd been carrying. He had taken it just in case, and if the source of the voices were Death Eaters, and they were actively looking for him, his travelling coat would be of little use.
"Harry, what's happening?" asked Hermione, worried. "Why did we leave Ron?"
"Somebody recognised him," replied Harry through gritted teeth. "How could I have been so careless?" he continued, berating himself.
"What, Death Eaters? Here?"
"I don't know, but I'm not taking any chances," replied Harry. "Now quickly, get under the cloak, we should both fit, then we can rejoin Ron."
"But Harry, it's crowded out there, we can't move under the cloak there, not the two of us!"
Harry swore under his breath. A nice afternoon out had turned bad very quickly.
"OK, you take the cloak, I'll make do with my coat," he said, and before Hermione could protest, he was off, racing down a far less crowded parallel street to meet up with Ron a block further. Footsteps echoing behind him told him Hermione was following. He darted up the next street and saw that he'd beaten Ron, who was taking it slowly. And sure enough, there were two men following him, one taller, and quite old, and one short. And no, he couldn't be. Harry's heart fell as he recognised the short one.
"Wormtail," Harry whispered despairingly. Harry felt an arm on his shoulder, and turned to find Hermione's disembodied hand floating behind him, before disappearing back into the folds of the Invisibility Cloak.
"Alright, I'm gonna try to catch his eye, get him to turn down here, if we're quick we'll be able to Apparate before they can follow him." But even as he spoke, the crowd seemed to part, and as Harry looked from behind the corner, he saw the taller man dart forward, and as if in slow motion, grab Ron and Disapparate with a small pop.
"Ron!" yelled Harry, stunned. Without wasting a moment on thinking, he tore the Invisbility Cloak off Hermione and sprinted onto the street. Wormtail was still there; he had heard Harry exclaim, and his small eyes were darting around, trying to find the source.
"What was that?"
"Did that man just disappear?"
"Ouch, who was that?"
Harry passed these voices with barely a thought. His eyes were on his quarry. Just as he was about to throw himself at Wormtail in a full-bodied tackle, he came to his senses. The crowd was milling about again, and Harry could no longer move as freely. Wormtail was still searching for him, so he moved carefully behind him.
"Alright, you little piece of shit, where did they go," hissed Harry in Wormtail's ear as he pressed his wand into the traitor's back. Wormtail immediately stiffened with fear. "Don't make a move," continued Harry savagely, as he saw Wormtail's silver hand twitch. "If you do I'll blast you into a million bloody pieces, for real this time."
"OK, OK," hissed Wormtail, "he's not with the Dark Lord, don't worry. He's been taken to my place."
"Take me there," ordered Harry immediately. He was beyond rational thinking, all he knew was that he wanted nothing more than to find Ron and bring him back.
"Really? OK, with pleasu-"
"And no funny stuff," Harry continued, "If the first thing I see when we get there isn't Ron then you're dead."
"OK, OK, we'll go. It's all the same to me."
And with a pop, they were gone, leaving a stunned Hermione alone on the London street.
"Harry?" she called, hoping he was still there under the Cloak. "Harry? Are you there? Harry?"
Her calls went unanswered. Listless, she returned to Headquarters, tears streaming from her eyes.
"Ron!" yelled Harry, as he recovered his balance. And there he was, unconscious on the dusty wooden floorboards of a dingy living room, the tall Death Eater standing from his chair in the corner as he saw Wormtail and heard Harry's voice. Without wasting a second, Harry stunned Wormtail, but before he could turn his wand on the taller Death Eater, Ron was awake, and writhing in pain under the Cruciatus curse.
"I'd stay there if I was you, Mr Potter," came an oily voice all too familiar. Harry turned, still under the cover of the Cloak, but that was quickly banished across the room, landing with a flop in the corner. He looked down. His footprints were clearly visible on the dusty floor. Severus Snape stood there, cold eyes calculating, as Harry fixed him with a stare of utmost hatred.
"Petrificus Totalus," the former Professor muttered, and Harry fell to the floor in a full body bind. "You shouldn't have brought them here, this place is not well protected. And stop it, Nott, the Weasley boy will suffer enough at the hands of the Dark Lord."
"Aww, come on, Severus," said Nott, and Harry remembered the tall Death Eater from the Department of Mysteries. "I've only been out a few weeks, it's been too long since I've had this sort of fun!"
Harry looked on, helpless, as his best friend squirmed under the effects of the Cruciatus curse. His blood was boiling, he was mad with helplessness. Snape crossed the room wordlessly and revived Wormtail.
"Now remember, the Dark Lord wants Potter. Do not kill him. Try not to kill the Weasley boy either, if you can help it. When the Dark Lord returns, I dare say he'll enjoy having the pair. In the mean time, try not to mess up."
"Of course, Severus," breathed Wormtail as he picked himself off the floor and dusted himself off. Nott looked up from his torture for a moment to nod his agreement.
"Now, I must find the Dark Lord. He is meant to be in Nigeria today, but I'm sure his recruitment drives can be put on hold for a find such as this. How did you say you found them again?"
"Dumb luck, Severus," replied Nott jauntily, lifting his curse. "We were coming back from Avery's, came onto a Muggle street, there they were. I spotted the Weasley, but we waited until Wormtail got a good look at him to make sure. Figured if we got him, Potter would follow."
"And how right you were," sneered Snape, looking down on Harry as he lay on the floor. "Mr Potter's arrogance knows no bounds. Playing the hero was always his way. However, his skills as a wizard, as I'm sure he now realises, simply cannot support such an ego, no matter how much he wishes it were so. The apple never falls far from the tree."
If Harry had been able to move, he would have been crying. As it was, he lay frozen, as Nott resumed his torture. It was horrible. He would have preferred take the curse himself. Nothing could have been worse than knowing he was responsible for his friend's pain, and knowing he was totally, completely helpless. The only comparable feeling was being similarly helpless as he saw Dumbledore finally fall. Fall to Snape. The same person that had put him in this bind, that was making him helpless. It was nothing short of unbearable.
"Wormtail, if it were up to me, you wouldn't be living here at all, but as you're living in my house under none other than the Dark Lord's orders, kindly remember to clean up after yourself," said Snape, examining a dirty plate sitting on a coffee table in front of the chair upon which Nott was once again sitting. "Honestly, you were cleaner as a rat. Now, I must fetch the Dark Lord. Remember what I said. Nott, I see you're intent on having fun with the Weasley boy, so just make sure you don't overdo it."
With that, Snape swept out of the room.
"So, Potter," came Wormtail's breathy voice, as he knelt down and faced Harry. "Still thanking me for bringing you here? Got a little more than you bargained for, hey? I tell you what, the Dark Lord will be very pleased to see you. He wasn't going to look for you for another few weeks, yet, but you fell right into his hands. Now we just play the waiting game. It will only be a matter of time before the Dark Lord is here himself. In the mean time, you just get comfortable and watch the show."
The rest of the show was short lived, however. Without warning, five pops echoed off the floorboards, five figures materialised in the room, and five beams of red light flew across the room. Wormtail crashed to the ground as two of the beams cannoned into him, while Nott crumpled into his chair as three found their mark with him.
"Wotcher, Harry," came a voice, and Harry suddenly found himself once again able to move. A soft hand grabbed his arm, and the voice Harry now recognised as Tonks' continued "There are more Death Eaters on the way, we have to go now."
But as she spoke, three more figures strode into the room. Clearly not expecting to find Order members there, the new Death Eater arrivals froze for a moment, before spells started flying. Harry was pushed into the corner as Tonks joined the fray. He tried to get up, but his wand had gone missing. He had dropped it when put in the full body bind, and in all the confusion it had disappeared.
"Harry, your wand,"called Tonks, as another three Death Eaters entered the room. Harry recognised Kingsley Shacklebolt sending a powerful Bludgeoning curse at two Death Eaters he couldn't place, while Remus Lupin was standing over Ron, duelling with Alecto Carrow. Tonks had his wand in her other hand, and he leapt forward to grab it while she duelled with a young Death Eater. She had a distinct advantage over the inexperienced dueller, but the young man managed to release a stream of fire at Harry as he exposed himself. Harry caught the attack full in the face, and was propelled backwards, his face burning.
Tonks took advantage of her opponent's distraction and Stunned him, before turning urgently to Harry. She performed a quick painkilling charm, but Harry was out of the fight before he'd even started.
Tonks relieved Kingsley of one of his opponents, while the two other fighters Harry didn't recognise managed to gain the upper hand over their Death Eater opponents. Eventually, the Death Eaters numbers were cut down to just two, against the four Order members, though Kingsley had received a nasty gash across his right shoulder that was bleeding freely. His arm was hanging useless by his side, and he was using his left hand to fight.
The Death Eaters looked at each other, panicked. This gave one of the new fighters the opportunity to land a strong Bludgeoning curse. As the final Death Eater saw his comrade go down, he fled, Disapparating before he could be hit by the four curses now aimed at him.
"Let's go, let's go, there might be more coming," urged Tonks, hurrying back over to Harry.
"Accio wands," said one of the fighters, who Harry now saw was sporting a long ponytail. He looked vaguely familiar. 8 wands flew into his outstretched hand. "Want to make life as difficult for them as possible, right? It's a pity I'm not on duty. Not that locking them up would do any good now anyway."
"Whatever, Williamson," said Lupin. "Let's just get them out of here, come on."
Harry listened distractedly to these voices as they floated around his head. He was far too preoccupied with the burning pain consuming his face to pay much attention. Tonks had taken the edge off the pain with her painkilling charm, but it wasn't enough to remove the pain completely. With a sudden lurch, Harry found himself being sucked into that familiar squeezing feeling, as Tonks took his arm and Apparated back to Headquarters.
Please R&R! Barely had anything so far. :(