CHAPTER 4 – A RAGING SAILOR AND HALF A BURROW
Severus helped his young Dragon to the guest room, trying hard not to cause him any more pain that he was already suffering. He laid out some night clothes and told Draco to change while he went to retrieve the potions he would need to ease Dracos' discomfort.
Returning to find Draco ready for bed he said, "I usually don't allow students pain medicine to ease punishment pain but I will make an exception in your case because you were not punished, but abused. I am also giving you a sleep potion so you can get some rest. We will talk again tomorrow when you are feeling better. I've checked you over and it looks like you are lucky in that there are no broken bones or internal damage this time."
Snapes' voice sounded void of emotion but the young Dragon knew better. If you spent time with the Potion Professor, who was also Draco's Godfather, you began to sense the subtle differences in his voice. The young Dragon knew that Severus cared for him, and drew comfort from that.
Placing three bottles on the table beside the bed he began to help Draco open them. Just as Draco was drinking the third potion, Severus heard Albus calling him through the floo. Severus made sure that Draco was in the bed then he told him, "Stay in this room until I return." Severus didn't worry too much since he knew Draco wouldn't be moving very far after drinking the sleeping potion, at least for eight hours or so.
Albus was still calling through the floo, so Severus sucked in a deep breath and went to see what the ruckus was all about."Yes Albus, how can I be of assistance?" asked Snape to a human head appearing in his fireplace.
Albus had his game face on so Severus did not utter some of the snide comments that he might have, if the situation were different. "The Burrow is being attacked, Molly called for help, we need to go now! I've already sent out the alert to the Order and the Ministry so we should have backup when we arrive. Severus, don't forget your glamour charms".
Snape grabbed his cloak with the hood, as he wouldn't want to be recognized by any Death Eaters that might be at the Borrow. He uttered his Glamour spell which was a package of glamour's he used when he went out but did not want to be recognized. He then threw the powder into the fireplace and stepped into Dumbledor's office.
He arrived right in the middle of a 'Harry moment' which was the last thing they needed to endure right now.
Harry sat and stared at the table that blew up and remembered the look of fear and determination on Molly's face. Then he thought of Ron, his best friend, and the rest of the Weasley family. He jumped up and told Albus, "I want to go with you!"
"Absolutely not" replied Albus. "You need to return to the infirmary and help Madame Pomfrey in case we have people injured."
"But my friends are there, and I want to help" said Harry with a tone of voice that would usually erase the twinkle in Dumbledore's eye.
Severus could not hold his tongue any longer. "What are you going to do Mr. Potter, throw your wand at them? You are eleven years old, please use what few brains you have. Figure out how to do what you're told and stay out of the way".
"Severus, please, let's NOT go there today" said Dumbledore.
Harry's temper exploded as he gave Snape an angry glare and said "You might not have friends who love you but I do and I want to be there for them". Severus had no time to argue with the brat so he reached over and tapped Harry's portkey ring twice.
Albus sent a patronus to Poppy right after Severus sent Harry to the portkey bed. The patronus told Poppy that Albus was on the way to the Borrow, to expect casualties and do whatever she had to do to keep Harry in the infirmary once he arrived on the portkey bed.
As soon as Poppy saw Harry arrive she hit him with a containment charm which would not allow him to leave the top of the bed.
Harry felt that squeezing sensation and the next thing he knew he was sitting on a bed in the infirmary. He was furious! They were not going to stop him from going to the Burrow to help his friends, that was for sure. He would use the emergency infirmary floo. He started to jump off the bed and head to the floo but didn't get very far. He tried to get off the bed again and found that there was no way he could get off. He looked up only to see Madame Pomfrey standing there with her wand out and a smile on her face.
"Mr. Potter, the Head Master wants you safe and sound upon his return to Hogwarts and I aim to do all I can to see he gets his wish. You can't leave the bed top area unless I remove the containment barrier, so you might as well just make yourself comfortable for awhile."
If looks could kill, Poppy would have died at least a hundred deaths. As Poppy turned to go back to her office the eleven year old cut loose with a few colorful phrases that would have caused a sailor to blush. They were colorful enough for Poppy to stop in her tracks, turn and walk back to Harry's bed.
"What did you say to me young man?" asked Madame Pomfrey.
Harry realized that all the pressures of the past few days had caught up with him. When the fear of what might be happening to his friends started forming pictures in his head he lost it. It was like he had ingested Polyjuice Potion and turned into his Uncle Vernon, or at least his mouth. Harry turned bright red as he looked at the shock and disappointment radiating off Madam Pomfrey's face. Harry began to feel sooooo ashamed.
"I am so sorry, I don't know what came over me, please forgive me!" answered Harry.
With a flick of her wand, Harry's mouth felt like it was full of soap. Putting real soap into a child's mouth was not healthy as it could cause diarrhea. This spell was the best thing since peanut butter for parents. It was safe, very uncomfortable, and quick acting. It could also be removed quickly when the parent felt the child had comprehended the intended message.
"Oh, yuk, that's soap, it's horrible it's terrible, Madame Pomfrey please don't do this, take the taste away!" responded Harry as he tried his best to wipe it away on the sleeve of his shirt.
"Young man, your words reached far beyond the 'I'm sorry' stage, although that is one of the necessary actions for the wonderful flavor of soap to be removed from your dirty mouth. I will take the taste away when I feel you have come to your senses and are more inclined to use the correct English language with people. Until then; You can think about what you said and how you're going to write a two page report on the meaning of all those colorful words you used along with an apology."
With that Poppy turned and walked back to her office. She planned on letting him suffer for five minutes then allow him to begin work on his essay. That should keep him busy and quiet until Albus came back. She did wonder where this kid had picked up some of those words he had just used. To tell the truth, she didn't even know what some of them meant.
The foul flavor was really beginning to affect Harry. His stomach was churning from fear and nerves and his eyes were beginning to water up. He didn't want Madame Pomfrey to see him cry but he didn't know if he could hold it much longer, the taste was really bad and there was nothing he could do about it. Not only was it a very unpleasant experience but he was very embarrassed. This woman had been nothing but kind to him and he had said some very nasty things to her just because he was angry at Dumbledore and Snape.
Harry never saw Madame Pomfrey come out of her office but five minutes later his mouth was free of soap flavor and filled with a mint flavor. The tray holder, that usually held food, moved closer to him as parchment, quill and ink appeared. He knew what was required and he started writing an apology.
The apology portion of the assignment took up a lot of space and Harry hoped that she would know that it really came from his heart. He tried to explain that it was not her he was yelling at but all the people that had hurt him and all the situations in his life that he had no control over. He admitted to her, "I know this is not an excuse to say such things to you, there can be no excuse, but please know that in my heart I think the world of you and would never purposely try and hurt you".
After the apology Harry found that he had a problem. Madame Pomfrey had required that he list and define all the nasty words that he had used. His problem was that he found he didn't know what half of them meant. He was sure she did and perhaps that is why she had asked him to do this, to see if he knew or was just being a parrot-mouth.
He could remember Mr.Weasley saying once, "Cussing is the language of the ignorant because they can't use the English language to express their thoughts. It is much wiser to not say anything until you can put your thoughts into a language that can be understood then perhaps your thoughts will stick with those who are listening and things will change".
The twins had cut loose with a line of words that were very colorful and Mr. Weasley happened to be home at the time. The twins received wisdom applied to their backsides through the application of a paddle, while the rest of the kids, including Harry, received a lecture. Harry had taken that lesson seriously. Even though the paddling took place in Mr. Weasleys' study everyone heard it going down, there really is. no privacy in the Burrow. Harry learned later that there was a spell that Mr. Weasley could have used to create privacy for the twins, but Harry thought that Mr. Weasley probably wanted every one to hear that punishment. He was not only teaching the twins by direct application but the rest of them by inference. Harry had ever uttered those words until today.
Harry decided that since he could not write the definitions that Madame Pomfrey required he would just write the truth including the Weasley incident so that she knew he knew better and had just slipped up. It was all he could do and he just hoped it was enough.
When Albus along with Severus, who looked like an oriental Ninja, arrived at the Burrow they could see that the upper-floors were on fire. There were about five Death Eaters standing outside shooting curses at anything that moved in the Burrow and watching the building burn.
They had apparated some distance from the homestead so that they would not be seen. They heard a couple pops and saw Tonks and Remus arrive a bit closer to the home but still out of sight. They all joined up and decided to attack from the rear of the Death Eaters hoping to surprise the attackers.
What worried them was that these five might not be all there were and that some might be hiding. About that time Alice and Bill arrived. It was decided that Severus, Albus, Tonks and Bill would go toward the house and surprise the attackers. Remus and Alice would watch their backs in case there were more attackers hidden in the woods.
The fire was getting worse and if they were to get the Weasleys' out of the building before it burned down they would have to move fast. There were four 'expelliarmus' curses cast and two did their jobs. It also let the Death Eaters know that they had company. They were not brave souls, just bullies so they did the 'bully thing' and decided to take care of 'number one' by disapperating out of the area.
They were in for a surprise as after everyone was in place Albus had case an anti-disapparation jinx on the area and they were not going anywhere except a vacation in Azkaban.
Albus and his crew cast the 'incarcerous' curse on those Death Eaters that were down, wrapping them up in ropes. Severus cast an 'Impedimenta' on one of the attackers while Tonks cast 'diffindo on the other effectively cutting his wand in half, much to the shock of the attacker. They quickly tied up the remaining attackers and began to apply water, using 'aguamenti' on the house. Once the fire was out, Bill ran inside immediately to check on his family. His heart was in his throat not knowing what he might find. The others followed, leaving Remus and Alice outside to keep an eye on things.
They yelled first letting the Weasleys know that they were coming in as they didn't want to get hit with a curse or hex. When they entered they saw Arthur standing guard at the fireplace as Molly was shoving her kids into the floo sending them off to the infirmary at Hogwarts. Molly and Poppy had decided to send them through as long as Arthur could be sure that it was secure and no Death Eaters could get through. The agreement was that the minute Molly yelled stop, Poppy was to shut the floo down no matter what.
All the kids had been pushed through and were safe at Hogwarts. Molly was getting ready to go through when Bill and Albus entered the house. Molly called through the floo telling Poppy to take care of the kids until she arrived. She assured her they were all fine and that Albus was on had arrived.
Bill and Arthur checked out the up-stairs areas and decided that it was pretty much a total loss and would have to be torn down. The bottom floor was still in pretty good shape and they should be able to fix it up.
The ministry arrived after it was all over and took the Death Eaters into custody. Of course they had to make reports and question everyone. It would have been a long process if Albus had not asked them "What took you so long? The fight is over and now you show up?" They got rather red in the face and the questioning seemed to end rather quickly.
Arthur looked at Albus and said, "You will pay for that one Albus, when Fudge hears about it".
"I am sure my friend that it won't be the last time Minister Fudge is angry with me. In fact if I had a day where he was not angry or insecure over something I just might have to retire". Then with a twinkle in his eye he told Arthur and Molly that they would need to stay at Hogwarts until this could be sorted out and their home made safe for them again. "Let's go back to Hogwarts now, as we are all tired, dirty and hungry. After some food and sleep we can talk it over and decide what to do."
Bill looked at Albus and asked, "What is happening Albus? These are Death Eater want-ta-be's, the bottom of the barrel. They have no skill and don't really seem to have a plan, what or who is behind all this? Is Voldemort still alive or is there some other chief-bad-guy out there trying to make a name for themselves?"
"I don't know Bill, but lets talk about it all later when we can think clearly" replied Albus.
One by one they stepped into the floo and ended up back in the infirmary of Hogwarts much to the relief of the Weasley children.
Harry was working on his essay when Molly called Madame Pomfrey and they talked about something. Harry tried to listen in but he could not hear what they were saying. He was not on good terms with Madame Pomfrey at the moment so he decided that keeping his mouth shut was most likely the best option.
The next thing Harry knew Ginny and Hermonie came flying through the floo, followed by his best friend Ron, the twins were next and lastly popped out Percy. What a sight to behold, it really did his heart good to see them both alive and well. The ache in his stomach seemed to lighten a bit but then he thought about Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and the ache returned.
Madame Pomfrey put her arms around Ginny and Ron and led them all over to where Harry was stuck to the bed. She waved her wand causing a number of comfortable chairs to appear for them and told them to be seated.
Ron and the twins looked at the floo then the chairs and Poppy could sense what was going on in their heads. "Ginny, Ron, and the rest of you heard your Mother when she said they are all just fine. Albus and the crew are there now and no body is hurt. She told you to wait here for the family and that is what you are going to do, so have a seat. I will arrange for some lunch to be sent up."
The bunch of them, being a bit intimidated by Madame Pomfrey, sat as instructed and turned to talk with Harry.
Poppy waved her wand, releasing Harry from his enclosure on the bed, then told him; "I think you can finish that project later as the you all probably have a lot to talk about right now".
Harry understood the look. Nothing was forgiven yet or forgotten but he was to help his friends pass the time until their family could come back together and console each other. That is what friends are for.