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-Chapter Seventeen-
Candles bright atop the birthday cake
Tall swaying shadows on the walls do make.
The Birthday Party
Harry felt like all the wind has been knocked out of him. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were still staying in that house, and so were Bill and Fleur.
"When?" he asked the blonde boy standing before him.
"Now. He plans to carry out an early morning strike. There's no time to lose, Potter. Alert them at once."
"Yes---- I'll try and get to them." Harry muttered distractedly, " But ---I dunno, they might be sleeping, will they notice if I send a--, Malfoy you need to stop Voldemort."
"Are you insane, Potter?"
"No I am not. Listen, go to him now and tell him the Weasleys are giving me a big birthday party at their house this evening -a perfect chance to catch me unaware. Go Draco, before he sets out."
Draco turned and disapparated from the spot.
Harry thought for a moment. If they were sleeping they would not notice a patronus. He had to go himself.
Just as he thought, the Weasleys were still asleep. The nascent sun was just warming up the dew-soaked grass in the garden behind the kitchen and the grass looked fresh and green but Harry barely noticed anything.. He had tried to apparate inside the house but there must have been some sort of protection in place and he had fallen on his back on the ground outside. Wasting no time he pulled himself up and started pounding the kitchen door, shouting all the while- "MR WEASLEY! MRS WEASLEY! WAKE UP. MR WEASLEY!"
"Harry? Is that you?" he heard a voice asking him from behind the door.
"Mrs. Weasley?" Harry croaked, relief washing over him, " yes it's me, listen---."
"What is your favourite pudding flavour, my dear?"
"Treacle. Mrs. Weasley, listen, there's no time, just wake everybody and get to the headquarters. You don't have to let me-----."
The door opened and a worried looking Mrs. Weasley poked her head out.
"Harry, what's the matter, dear? What are-------"?
"Mrs. Weasley, please, don't ask anything. Voldemort's coming here, you must leave."
Mrs. Weasley turned pale and her eyes widened with fear. Right then Mr. Weasley came hurrying inside the kitchen.
"Harry, what-------."
"Arthur," cried Mrs. Weasley, "he's coming for us." She said in a shaky voice.
Mr. Weasley turned as pale as his wife.
"I will go and wake ----"
"Dad? What's going on?" Bill entered, his long red hair looking disheveled and confusion showing in his brown eyes and scarred face.
" What eez all ze noise about? 'Arry! What a surprise."
"We have to get away from here, Bill, Fleur, we are going straight to headquarters."
"But Mom----"
"No question, just go. Oh, the records of our last meeting are in our bedroom. You all go, I will----"
" Mrs. Weasley, please; there's no need for you to go upstairs." Harry hurried forwards, "Accio meeting records." A large roll of parchments zoomed into the kitchen and into his hands.
Mrs. Weasley smiled weakly, "Being silly, dear,"
The sound of people apparating wiped out the feeble smile of her face.
All five of them whipped around wand ready, but there were no silver masks and swishing black cloaks. Instead it was only a very white – faced Ron, followed by his equally pale twin brothers and Hermione, all the boys in their pyjamas and Hermione wearing a pink dressing gown.
"Harry, what's going on?" she asked urgently, " Malfoy turned up saying----"
"Is Malfoy back? What did he say?" Harry demanded.
"He said something, like you-know –who was not coming now, he had deferred it till evening, he said you must be here." Ron replied, sounding very confused.
-XXX-
Hermione was trying to sort out Draco's injuries. He was bleeding all over.
" How 'orrible!" commented Fleur, shuddering. She and her husband had just been made aware of the danger they had just averted. While Bill took the news with a grim stoicism, Fleur seemed just unable to get over the shock. "I theenk I will go and send Athos to France, to tell them I am fine." Saying this, she went out of the room, her long silvery mane trailing after her. It was just a minor sign of the seriousness of the situation that Ginny showed none of her usual reactions of disgust at this mention of Athos, the very prim and proper eagle-owl that Fleur had brought from France.
Harry was looking at Draco's injuries. They hadn't been there when he had knocked at Harry's door a few while ago. He was also thinking about what to say to the Order. Bill and his parents were busy contacting the other members to inform what had just happened, and they had barely had time to question Draco over his mumbled explanation of having 'accidentally found out about the attack.' But Harry knew he would be asked explain what he was doing outside the house once things have calmed down a bit. It had been only two days since he had asked Draco to leave the house and since there were no Order meetings in between, he still hadn't told anyone about Draco's spying act. He wasn't sure they would trust Draco now if they found out all this, and to make matters more complicated, Harry wasn't sure himself whether to trust Draco or not.
"How did you get all these injuries?" he asked the blonde boy sitting in front of him.
"The Dark Lord thinks I should have informed him earlier about the birthday party, before he had made other plans." He replied in a languid tone.
"So this attack on our family wasn't a sudden plan, was it?" Ron demanded aggressively.
"Use your brains, Weasel," and there was a faint hint of his old smirk on his face, "of course the attack was not planned this morning. Unlike you, the Dark Lord plans things out."
"Why didn't you tell us before, then, if you really wanted to help?"
"Because, Potter, the Dark Lord doesn't make his plans for everyone to know. He holds secret meetings and as I was hiding from him I had no way to find out."
"Wait a minute." Said Ginny, " you mean to say Voldemort was not aware you were there for the last two days? You were hiding from him?"
" Yes, I was. Did you really expect me to go and tell him that the Order had thrown me out? I wouldn't be alive to tell you all this then."
And it occurred to Harry now that had Voldemort known Draco had been caught spying them, Draco couldn't have pretended to spy for him still and feed him the fake news about the supposed birthday party.
"When did the Order throw you out?" someone asked, and they all wheeled around to find Remus standing at the door, looking at all of them.
There was nothing for it. They had to tell him everything.
"I really want to help the Order." Said Draco, when Hermione had finished telling everything. " I don't deny I came here to spy on you, but I was really forced to do it because he had threatened to kill my mother. For a long time now I have felt that not only have we not gained the power I thought we would have if the Dark Lord returned, my family has even lost whatever power it had since the Dark Lord's returned. I would have listened to Dumbledore if the others did not turn up that night, believe me, I would have."
Remus was looking straight into Draco's eyes. "Joining the Order won't bring you any power." He said calmly. "The order aims at fighting Voldemort, not gaining power."
"And I don't want power any more." Draco replied. "I have learnt there are more important things in life. I don't want the Dark Lord to win this battle because if this is how he treats us now, I am afraid even to imagine how he would treat us when he takes over. And I want to contribute in any way you want me to, so that it goes a little way in preventing his victory in this battle."
Now there was a tense silence in the room. Everybody was looking at Remus. He spoke at last.
"After Snape, the Order will find difficult to trust you if they find out you came to spy on us. So everything we discussed here will remain between us." He took a deep breath. "At what time will Voldemort strike the Burrow today?"
"At five in the afternoon" Draco replied.
"Good. We have about ten hours to be ready"
"Get ready?" asked Ron, thunderstruck. "Don't tell me we are having a party at five there?"
"Yes we are." Remus replied firmly. " Otherwise Voldemort will realise Draco's working for us."
"You don't think this is going to be too much of a risk?" Hermione asked.
"We will be ready for our guests, Hermione." Remus smiled, " and besides, when exactly are we not at risk these days? I find this very thing tiring, deatheaters waiting for me everywhere we go-------if we have to play hide- and- seek , let us play it on our own terms."
Harry noticed his gleaming eyes, and he suddenly felt in his heart, that Remus was after all, a marauder.
"But, sir-----"began Neville hesitatingly.
"Don't worry Neville, our best aurors and fighters will be there. You don't have to worry about it."
Harry stepped forward. " You really don't mean that, Remus."
"Harry, you can't be thinking of going there-----"Remus began.
"It is my birthday party." Harry replied hotly.
"And we have to be present in his party, because he will invite his friends." said Ron simply.
Now both Harry and Remus looked taken aback.
"Look, all of you are too young to take part in this kind of a battle."
"But we have already done that twice, and Harry more than that." Ginny argued.
"I think I will go and decide my party dress." said Luna in her serene and dreamy voice, and drifted out of the room in a trance that would have put Fleur to shame.
-XXX-
The balloons were hung, and a cake was put on the table, with candles and all the decorations. Mrs. Weasley even charmed the old wall-clock to keep chiming in the tune of 'Happy Birthday to you,' yet; the atmosphere in the room was anything but cheerful. Tonks, Shacklebolt, Remus, Moody, McGonagall, Hagrid and Bill were all looking alert and tense.
Harry did cut the cake and everyone did clap, but eyes kept strayingtowards Moody's foe-glass. Figures were still blurred.
"Now listen," said McGonagall, addressing the teenagers, "we have agreed to let you come because we want the deatheaters to believe we really were having a party, but as soon as we see them in Alastor's glass, we turn it into a portkey which will take Luna and Ginny back to headquarters, and the rest of you will apparate back. Is that clear?"
"But Professor," said Hermione, "doesn't setting up a portkey require ministerial approval?"
"In situation like this, no. We don't want them to see Moody's Dark Detectors and think we were prepared from them."
"Anyway, to prove we were having a party, we will take a photograph." said Tonks, holding up a wizarding camera. "Say cheese, everyone."
The photograph came out instantly and they enlarged it to make a banner out of it, which was hung from the ceiling, with all of them grinning and waving at themselves.
"They are coming." said Moody suddenly. Everybody leaned towards the mirror, and sure enough, some twenty hooded people were visible in it, led by---------.
"He's come himself." said Shacklebolt quietly.
Remus pointed at the mirror and said "Portus."
The mirror glowed bright for a moment and Ginny and Luna hurried forwards to hold it. One, two, three---- they were gone.
"Arthur, Molly, go and alert the ministry."
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley disappeared.
"And you go now."
"I need to be here a little longer, Professor," said Harry, "It's my party and I must be seen."
"POTTER-------"
CRASH. The door flew open. Candles toppled. Furniture caught fire.In shor it was utter chaos. All around him people were dueling fiercely. Harry ducked at a jet of green light missed him and hit the cabinet behind. Voldemort had seen him. He set a stunner towards the nearest deatheater and didn't wait to see if it hit him or not. He turned on spot, and disapparated.
Back at Grimmauld Place, the others were waiting with anxious faces. At the sound of his arrival, they all turned.
"Harry!" said Ginny, running forwards and throwing her arms round his neck.
"Oh, Harry! I was so worried. Mum and dad have gone to alert the ministry. How's the fight going?"
"It was hard to tell." Harry replied, "But the order is putting up a great fight."
"But where is Neville?" Luna asked.
"What?" Harry was completely nonplussed for a moment, "I thought everyone came before me!"
"Well Hermione and I did," said Ron, "but Neville never arrived. We thought he must be fighting with you."
Harry felt a wave of panic wash over him. Why had Neville not returned?
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