Wow – I finally finished this chapter! Which is nice, because it's been open on my Microsoft ever since I finished chapter 11, but woohoo!
Current song: Secrets by OneRepublic. Well, Harry does want Riddle to know that he will be a threat in this story…so…sort of fits, doesn't it? (:
The story will get a bit more tense as it progresses, that's why the rating's been changed to T (I said this last author's note; just want to make sure you guys got it)! Now let's read + enjoy this chapter.
"I – I was – I was –" Ginny began, or rather stuttered. She was pale white and sweaty. Arthur looked like he was about to lunge at her and smack her across the face.
"You were what?" Molly shrieked at her daughter. She burst into tears on Arthur's shoulder.
"Mother!" Ginny cried out, but stayed rooted on the spot.
"Forgive me, Sir Arthur," Neville said, holding his hand out. "I am at fault for Ginny's actions- "
"What – Neville, no!" Ginny squeaked. She turned to her father. "Dad, this…this is Luna Lovegood. We broke her out of the dungeons not too long ago and now she's on the run."
"You broke a prisoner out of the dungeons?" Arthur said in disbelief.
"Well done," George and Fred said identically, grins slapped across their faces.
"Fred, George!" said Molly.
"Everybody except these three –" Arthur pointed at Neville, Ginny and Luna, "out – NOW."
Fred and George grumbled something inaudible as they shuffled back to their rooms; Bill, Charlie and Percy sighed and left the house, Bill muttering, "Best be back to Fleur…", and Ginny, Neville and Luna were left standing in the middle of the room, staring at an anger-struck Arthur and a tearful Molly.
"Ginevra Molly Weasley," Arthur said, standing up from his chair. "What were you thinking, escaping a convict?"
"She is not a convict!" Ginny said to her father in disbelief. "You only believe her to be because Riddle's imprisoned her – half of the other people in the dungeons are innocent as well!"
"It's not that we do not suspect her as innocent!" Arthur said hotly. "Do you know how risky it was? You could have both earned yourself new cells! Or graves! The next time you want to carry out a rescue mission, you come to the Order. That is why we are here."
"Well, I'm part of the Order, aren't I?" Ginny said. "So is Neville!"
"You are underage students!" Molly said, defending her husband.
"Ginny," said Arthur, massaging his temple. "You will fight when you are ready. We're already losing our heads searching for our son, Harry, and Hermione. Don't add to the list."
Ginny crossed her arms stubbornly, but said nothing. Neville opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again. It was Luna who spoke this time. "Sir…your daughter and Neville were kind and brave enough to get me out of dungeon cell…you should be rather – rather proud."
Arthur looked at Luna, then sighed. "Off to bed, all of you. Luna, you can share a room with Ginny. Neville, go back as quiet as you can to your grandmother's. We cannot, I repeat, not be seen harboring a fugitive in our house. If anybody comes knocking on the door you come to one of us, you hear, Ginny?"
Ginny nodded excitedly and turned to Neville. "I will be seeing you tomorrow."
Neville nodded, smiled, then disappeared behind the front entrance. As Luna followed Ginny up the stairs to her bedroom, Ginny said quietly to herself, "Oh Ron…Harry, Hermione…I pray to God you are safe…"
-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-
(9 Hours Later)
It was the largest thing Harry had ever seen. The Hogsmeade library has towering shelves with hundreds of books, and Harry wondered to himself how a mere human could get to the top; Hary stared up at the library in awe, Hermione stared in excitement, and Ron bit his lip and ran his fingers through his hair in discomfort.
"Have you ever seen anything so … wonderful?" Hermione said, stepping forward, as if she were a moth addicted to a blinding light.
"Hermione," Ron whispered, grabbing her wrist. "No. Remember what we're here for."
Hermione shook her head and said, "Erm – right. Harry, do you have the sword?" she whispered the last word.
"Yeah," Harry said, brandishing it under the cloak that still concealed him. "Should we ask the librarian over there?" he said, pointing at a stern looking, awfully skinny woman who was scribbling into parchment.
"I'll go," Ron said rather haughtily, and walked up to the woman's desk, Harry and Hermione following closely behind. "Excuse me," he said, squinting at the woman's robe label, "er, Madam Pince - I was wondering if you could help me look for a book."
"What is it you want, young man?" she barked at him.
Ron looked taken aback. "I was wondering if you could tell me where to find a book about the Godric-"
"NO!" she barked, spit flying at Ron's face. "NO! I do not know where that book is and if I did I wouldn't tell you! GOODBYE TO YOU, YOUNG MAN!"
Ron backed away from the woman, scared for his life, and ran behind a large pile of checked-in books. Harry and Hermione followed him – as soon as they were out of sight, Harry burst into laughter.
"SHUT UP!" Ron said.
"I'm – I'm sorry, mate," Harry said, laughing in between words, "It's..it's just…" he couldn't continue on and stuck to laughing.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Well, that wasn't a big help," Hermione said. "Why did we even bother asking her? The book must be somewhere hidden."
"H-hidden?" Harry said, recovering from his laughter and wiping his tears. "W-what do you mean?"
"I mean," Hermione said, clearly annoyed now, "we should search for a secret passage way of some sort, like a tunnel or something."
"Well, that woman obviously knew that the book's somewhere here," Harry said, "but it's no wonder Riddle doesn't trust her with that information."
Ron, who was rubbing his left arm with his right, muttered something along the lines of, "Crazy old bat…"
Harry gazed around the library and saw, to his dismay, that it was rather full. "We can't go all together, it will seem suspicious. There are one too many people here."
"Let's split up," Hermione said. "We'll all take different isles, and we should find each other we find anything rather, er…odd, I suppose."
"Some sword," Ron said, staring at the hidden sword beneath Harry's cloak. "It can't even guide us to this damn book."
"It wasn't made for that, Ron," snapped Hermione. "Anyway, Harry take an aisle, I'll take the next, and Ron, you take whichever."
Ron kept his narrowed eyes on her as he disappeared behind a large aisle of heavy, old looking books. Harry's smile appeared on his face and he turned to Hermione, "Come come, now, Hermione. You and I both know that the snogging behind my back must end."
Hermione stared at him in disbelief, then hit him roughly on the arm.
"Ow!" Harry said.
"He's barking," Hermione spat.
Harry said nothing, but muttered, "I'll be in aisle 15."
"Good," Hermione said, straightening up. "I'll be in 17."
"This is going to take years," Harry said to himself as he distanced himself from Hermione and started walking, still concealed under the quote, towards the aisle he said he would be visiting.
He arrived. Aisle 15 was dusty, dirty, and looked as if nobody had visited it in decades. And for some reason – a plaque on the side of the aisle read R, meaning restricted. Harry's face fell, and his nose wrinkled as he travelled through cobwebs. It's bound to be somewhere here. Nobody's been here, he thought to himself, and as he coughed, he knocked over a large pile of books that fell roughly on top of him. Harry grunted as he shielded himself, but the books were so strong they knocked him off his knees and he gave into the pressure. Covered in a pile of books, (something he thought would never happen to him) he dusted off his cloak, shoved it back on and stood up.
He stopped and stared. A large, leather bound book that had landed on his left foot caught his attention. He squinted at it. Godric Gryffindor Through the Years. His face lit up. This must be the book! Harry thought gleefully to himself. He tried jerking it open, but book remained shut, and would not budge. He rubbed his hand on his robes and said "Relashio!" the book snapped open and Harry helped himself to the dusty pages.
His eyes travelled through the book. There was nothing about the Gordic touch. He flipped the pages. The House of Godric…The Sword of Godric…The Legacy of Godric… "Touch, touch…"he muttered to himself as he kept on flipping the pages. There was nothing.
Harry scoffed. "Useless," he said, and threw the book back onto the ground. He was about to walk out and find Hermione, but something else caught his eye. There was a rather bright looking parchment amongst the dirty brown pages and he snatched it from the book. It black and bold letters, the parchment read Aisle 77.
"What?" Harry muttered to himself, but pocketed the parchment and went to go search for Ron and Hermione. Hermione said she'd be in Aisle 17, he thought to himself travelling through Aisle 16.
He bumped into a womanly figure who was carrying what seemed like 10 books. "Ouch!" he muttered, but nonetheless got up to help the woman. "H-Hermione?"
"Harry!" she said. "Did you find anything?"
"What –what're you doing with all those books?"
"Oh, well I haven't checked them out yet, but I was hoping some of them could help us with finding out the incantation, you know – a bit of research wouldn't hurt anybody."
"I think I found something better," he said, pushing his hood back on. At Hermione's confused look he handed her the parchment he had found.
"What's this?" Hermione said, her pale cheeks turning rosy red. "Where did you find this?"
"Back at Aisle 15," Harry said. "I found it in this Godric book, I think it might lead us…somewhere."
"Somewhere, Harry?" Hermione said.
"Just trust me, alright?" Harry snapped. "I think…I think someone's trying to help us. We've got to go to Aisle 77 and get that book; I think it's there."
"Well what makes you so sure that this parchment is trustworthy?" Hermione snapped. "Anyone could have written it!"
"It's worth a shot!" Harry said.
Hermione hesitated. "Fine. Let's go get Ron."
"No – there's no time," Harry said. "We'll find him later. Let's just go and get that book, and then get the hell out of here." He grabbed her wrist and together they ran, Harry looking from his left to his right in hopes that Ron would miraculously be in one of the aisles. "How many aisles does this library have?" Harry barked, as the wind whipped past his ears.
"Eighty-four this month," Hermione said, and Harry groaned.
He looked at all the different plaques. 35, 36, 37…
What if I'm leading us straight to a trap? Harry thought to himself, and for good reason. Riddle wasn't stupid enough to think that Harry wouldn't go looking for the Godric Tou.
49, 50, 51…
Sirius was dead. His parents were dead. What if his life would end right here? Only because he was a gullible prat. He shook his head.
65, 66, 67…
The numbers sped past Harry's mind. Where was Ron? Hopefully something hadn't happened to him…
73, 74, 75…
"Harry," Hermione's voice said. "Harry, we're here." She sounded tired, and for good reason; they had been running non-stop for quite some time.
Harry examined the aisle. It looked like a replica of Aisle 15, only it was much darker and much scarier.
"Harry, this is a restricted section," Hermione's scared voice said, and she grabbed his shirt in fear. "We're not supposed to be here."
Harry didn't look at her, but grabbed her wrist and said, "Exactly."
Not only was the aisle restricted, it was also a lot larger than the others. "Hermione," he said. "Hermione, I need light."
"L-Lumos Maxima," Hermione stuttered, and suddenly a bright and prominent white light shone throughout the room.
"How will the book look like?" said Harry.
"You'll know," Hermione said, looking around the room.
Harry drew the sword from under the cape.
"I don't think that will be necessary," Hermione said.
"Well then why do we need it to find the incantation?" Harry demanded, setting the sword back in place.
"Well, I'm trying to figure that out, aren't I?" Hermione snapped back, pulling her dress up so that she could climb on a ladder to search for the book.
"Right," Harry said. "…sorry."
Hermione smiled weakly as she climbed steadily up the shaky ladder. "G," she said. "g, g, g, g…"
"Looking for 'Godric'?" Harry said testily.
Hermione nodded, running her fingers through the spines of the books. "Well, don't just stand there, Harry! Get looking."
"Fine," Harry said. He took down his cloak and started taking out random piles of books and examining them. The Secrets Behind the Death Draught…Confronting the Faceless…A Look Back in Time: Curses… "Why are these even allowed here?" Harry said in awe, pushing the books away from him as if they were dangerous.
"Riddle doesn't always tend to his duties," Hermione said in a disgusted tone. "Have you found anything yet?"
"No," Harry sighed, and he continued rummaging through random piles. "You?"
"I've been through the entire G section," Hermione said, climbing down from the ladder. "Are you sure that note was accurate?"
Harry wanted to say 'No,' but instead created a sound between a groan and an approval. "Maybe it's stationed under T," he said. "For touch."
Hermione sighed and set to work, re-climbing up the ladder to get to the books marked under the T plaque. "What are you going to do?" Hermione snapped at Harry.
"I'm looking," Harry said. "All these books are so damn heavy…"he heard Hermione mutter several things as he continued dusting off books to catch the titles. Warlocks Through the Ages…Banshees & Blood… "It's disgusting," Harry said.
"What is?" Hermione said, not taking her eyes of the shelves.
"All these books," Harry said with a thick voice. "They should be illegalized. Look at them!"
"I know," Hermione said. "I would never pick up such a horrid things. I suppose Riddle finds these fascinating, though."
Harry said nothing, but picked up a large leather bound book; the interface was covered in muck and dust, and Harry didn't want to touch it. He blew on it to dust it off. He made out a bit of what the book title said…Har. He lifted his hand over the interface and wiped the muck off, rubbing the dirt off. Harry Potter. His eyes widened. "Hermione?" he said, over his shoulder. "Since when have there been books about me?"
"What are you talking about?" Hermione said, climbing down the ladder. "People aren't that stupid, Harry."
"I know," he said, turning around and shoving the book in her face.
"Harry…" she said slowly, taking the book in her hands. "Could…could this be? Could this be the incantation?"
"I – I don't know," Harry said, taking the book back. "I have a hunch."
Suddenly, there was a long, drawn out scream that pierced both their ears.
"It's a Cauterwaling charm!" Hermione screamed, her hands on her ears. "Riddle needed to make sure you wouldn't get your hands on that book! We need to find Ron and escape!"
"Alright!" Harry screamed, and he took the book and attached it to his belt, then set his cape on. "Let's go!"
As he and Hermione ran out to leave Aisle 77, Harry caught glimpse of all the readers running out as well. Guards were also scattered about the library and shelves, one by one, were tuned over. "Ron!" Hermione cried. "Ron! Where are you?"
Harry, with Hermione's hand in his, scanned the building in search for a vibrant red-headed spot. "RON!"
"Ron!" Hermione said. "Ron…Ron…" Harry could see her eyes sparkling with threatening tears.
He turned to look: they were at aisle 54. "He must have looked in one of the other aisles, down at the bottom!" Harry said, as a Hogsmeade citizen ran in between Hermione and him ,causing him to stumble forward. The cauterwaling charm was doing its job well.
He and Hermione ran forwards, Harry's head bobbing left to right in search for Ron.
He read a nearby plaque: they were at Aisle 41. Harry began to grow worried. "RON!" he yelled, but his voice was drowned out against the cauterwaling charm and the many people yelling. "RON!"
He looked over at the next plaque; aisle 37. "Damn it!" he said, and continued running through the screaming people, Hermione's hand slipping from his…
He turned one more time, in hope he would see Ron's face. Aisle 26. There, in front of Harry, was Ron, dusting off his pants. When he caught site of them (particularly Hermione's relieved face), he said, "There you are! Where the hell where you two?"
"Er, long story," Harry said, as Hermione attacked Ron with a huge hug. "We'll tell you later – now, we must escape."
Hermione pulled away from Ron, and said, her arms still linked around his neck, "Thank goodness you're alright."
Ron smiled down at her.
"I got the book," Harry interrupted awkwardly, brandishing the large book that said his name as its title in Ron's face. At Ron's awestruck face, he grinned, but the cauterwaling charm grew louder. "We're going to need to get out of here and get on our horses!" Harry screamed at them both, and the pair started running again.
The library was a mess at this point, with people even laying on the ground; guards, and possibly allies of Riddle, where interrogating people and throwing over books. As they began to run faster and faster, Madam Pince, the librarian, eyed the book in Harry's hands and said, "NO! No, you cannot take that, you –"
"Stupefy!" Ron said, his hand flying at the woman; she flew off her spot and hit a book shelf, then slid over, unconscious. Ron noted his powerful spell with a smirk.
"HEY!" said a guard, who spotted the book in Harry's hands. "It's Harry, it's Harry Potter!"
"Oh no," Hermione said. She muttered "Silencio!" to the guard, but it was too late; the others had heard him, and about four or five were now on their tails.
The trio continued to run, Harry eyeing a plaque to see what aisle they were on…aisle 14, aisle 13, aisle 12…"We're almost there!" Harry screamed at the pair of them, as they ran for their lives away from the gaurds.
"OI! STOP THEM!" said the guard in the front, who, Harry noted, was running the fastest. He heard the other guards mutter other words, but did not care; if he was caught, Riddle would kill him and it would be over.
Aisle 4; "We're almost there!" he said, and he could hear Ron swearing and Hermione panting; he was sure they were holding hands. A quick image of Ginny ran through his head and he shook it off, focusing on the priorities…
Aisle 1.
Hermione turned and released her hand from Ron's grip, raising it to the nearest book shelf. "Expulso!" she screamed, and the books and shelves burst into pieces, falling on top of the guards and knocking them out; Harry shielded himself but admired Hermione's work.
"Well done," he said, then the pair ran out of the library and into the streets of Hogsmeade, which were now filled with guards and people who had previously escaped the library running for their lives…"Get to the horses!" he yelled, pointing at the stallions, whose reins were tied on a nearby fence.
Hermione raced down the steps first, followed by Ron, then Harry, and Harry 's head whipped back to several of the guards – probably those who hadn't been hit with Hermione's explosive curse, running on the steps behind them. "SEIZE THEM!"
Hermione screamed and raced down the steps faster and faster, and jumped off the last few. The trio dashed across the busy streets, the guards hot on their heels; Harry was almost there…the fence was now only feet away…
He untied his rein, jumped atop the horse and waited for Ron and Hermione to settle themselves on their horse. He looked ahead and saw the guards raising their hands to shoot spells at them. "Hyah!" Harry and Ron screamed, and their horses reared up and ran through the busy crowds, their head missing fired spells by inches. Harry could see it.
The welcome gate to Hogsmeade was prominent, even against the many terrified looking people. Harry turned around. The guards were out of sight. He looked down at his left hand and saw the book, still clutched tightly. His face flooded with relief, and he looked at Ron and Hermione to see the same expression reflected in their faces….
The trio have escaped yet again. And Harry's finally gotten the book! That was nice to write, hehe…but remember, without the sword, they can't get the incantation. That bit will be revealed quite soon.
Good night, lovely readers! x