This and the next chapter will likely be the most war-action, and the most explanation, you will get out of this fic. Except, perhaps, for the events of the last chapter, which I have planned but have yet to actually sit down and write. Regardless, I'm not as good at violence as I am at writing about people (I understand people, being a psychology major. Violence? Nope, understanding violence still eludes me completely.) As such, this might not be my best chapter, but I think it's necessary to kind of explain some of my own views on fate in this particular fic, and where I'd like the fic to go in the future. I'm glad to see that so many are enjoying, and I hope you continue to enjoy. Probably not all that many chapters left at this point.
Disclaimer- It's not mine. But I'm going to London soon, on my foreign exchange project, and I plan to take a picture in all the Harry Potter-related places I can, so I can pretend to be JK and imagine that it's mine for a little while :)
Harry knew he should be struggling to return to his own time, but the prospect of hurrying back to a war that he would soon be thrown in the middle of held very little appeal when Sirius, Remus and James were around, and his mother was never more than a room or two away.
But spending so long away from the terror of the wizarding world's war and the suspicion that followed Voldemort's reign of terror quickly eased back Harry's caution, and eventually, that was his downfall.
It started out simply enough—at least, in Sirius's mind, it was all very simple. The plan: go to Hogsmeade; find the butterbeer; bring it back. Though Harry insisted on leaving money for the drink behind so that the bottles of liquid happiness weren't quite stolen, Sirius still didn't see how Harry could be so nervous about it.
After all, it wasn't as though they hadn't broken the rules multiple times already within the day. Earlier, between the Gryffindor Lion's Quidditch victory over Hufflepuff and their night excursion to the village for butterbeer, the Marauders had already set off fireworks in the halls to celebrate. They had broken into the kitchens numerous times for food, as Remus and Peter were doing at the moment, and had often snuck around the castle late at night with Harry at their side.
"This is different," Harry insisted when Sirius pointed all of this out to him. "This isn't in Hogwarts, there's way more that can go wrong."
Sirius scowled, annoyed. "No, there really isn't. Either we get caught there or we get caught doing something wrong in school—either way just amounts to more detention." He softened slightly when he saw Harry's face. "Really, mate, it'll be fine. James and I have done it loads of times."
"Then why can't you take him?" Harry whined, knowing already exactly why.
Obliging him, Sirius answered. "Because he's with Lily making early rounds so they can both enjoy the after party, and you know she's okay with us breaking the rules as long as she doesn't know about it in time to stop it."
Harry rolled his eyes, exasperated both with Sirius for being so insistent and his gut for nagging at him in such a way.
They set out through the crone's hump passageway, careful to keep quiet while traveling. In spite of the fact that all seemed to be going according to plan, the nagging suspicion that something was wrong became increasingly worse as Harry neared the end of the passageway with Sirius right in front of him.
Irritated with himself for being paranoid when the attacks in this time weren't nearly as bad or as often as the ones in his own, Harry pushed forward in front of Sirius. "Let me go first, okay?" He asked carefully, his wand already in his hand and steady, his stance defensive.
Sirius shrugged, used to Harry's odd moods. "Okay, just open it slowly in case there's someone there."
There was indeed someone there, but it wasn't someone who should have been there. A little bit of lifting revealed the dusty floor of the Honeydukes shop, with a dark clad figure moving about in the basement.
"You're quite sure he said down here?" A voice hissed, clearly angry. Harry jumped when another voice quietly replied, sweeping across the floor and into his limited field of view.
"Positive. He seemed sure that the entrance was over here." Harry's blood froze as he identified the second voice- McNair.
As quietly as he could, Harry carefully lowered the trapdoor so that it once again disappeared into the floor. "Sirius, there are Death Eaters up there. I need you to run back and get help."
Sirius visibly paled, in spite of the only light source being a very dim amount of light from Harry's wand. "Don't be ridiculous. Dumbledore's right up at the castle; there's no way any of them would risk anything with him up there." Still, he too seemed uncertain with the words, saying them more to reassure himself than because he actually believed it.
Harry nodded, aware that Sirius had a point. "I know, hopefully not. But I also don't think they're looking for candy," He stated sardonically, annoyed.
Sirius scowled, clearly a little annoyed at him for joking at a time like this.
"So what do you think they are looking for?" He asked, curious, and watched with awe as Harry's eyes began darkening in anger.
Harry himself was thinking of Wormtail, and how the Marauder had probably run to Voldemort as soon as he could to tell him all about the secret passageways and entrances to the castle. "I don't know," He said, instead of telling Sirius his suspicions. "But I bet it'd be useful to find out, so I'm going to wait it out here, just in case."
Sirius shook his head, firmly against this idea. "That's stupid—they could find this door, and it'd be like a death-trap. You wouldn't really have anywhere to go but back down the passage."
"I'll lock the door and just see if I can hear anything through it," Harry argued. "Besides, I beat you in defense, so I'm better to leave behind, and you know it."
Sirius hesitated, and Harry took advantage. "If you don't move, they'll get out of here too quickly to do anything, and then I might be in more trouble. Get back and get someone down here."
He hesitated only a moment before nodding and running quickly in the opposite direction. Sparing him only a glance, Harry turned and pressed his ear quickly to the trap door, discouraged when he didn't manage to hear anything. Quite suddenly, he got an idea.
It was stupid. It was dangerous. But it seemed important- after all, was this not a sign that history had changed? If Dumbledore had been aware of the passage, would he not have had it guarded to prevent anyone from using it to get in?
Carefully Harry once more eased open the door, pleased to see that both Death Eaters were across the room behind some boxes, knelt on the floor. Casting a quick disillusion charm on his body, Harry slipped out of the small crack in the floor and crept to some other storage boxes on the opposite side of the room.
"This is stupid for a first mission," the Death Eater Harry couldn't identify complained, his hands still sweeping over the dirty floor for any trace of a crack or crevice. Waiting for the moment that the other Death Eater answered, Harry carefully sealed and concealed the trapdoor once again so that it stood better chances of remaining hidden until help arrived.
"Those who are loyal to the dark lord are merely happy to serve him, regardless of the job," McNair replied, his voice clearly displaying evidence that contradicted his previous statement.
"Oh, of course! Is that why you're here, when you've been with him for a long time?" The other Death Eater snarled, clearly hitting a nerve. Uncomfortable, Harry shifted his weight under him, holding his breath when one foot made a noise against the dirt on the floor.
"Shut up!" McNair ordered, his head raised underneath his cloak. "You hear that?"
"Hear what?" The other Death Eater replied, clearly nervous. Harry fought the urge to chuckle in spite of himself, slightly amused. It was apparent that even the more seasoned Death Eaters like McNair had been slightly less daring back when his parents had been in school, which likely explained the lower number of attacks and the less frightened students.
"I'm not sure," McNair replied. Harry released the breath he'd been holding when McNair turned back to the floor.
A few more moments, which to Harry felt like hours, passed, as Harry sat in the cramped secret entrance to Honeydukes, his palms sweating and his pulse racing, before the other Death Eater sighed "I really don't think there's anything in here, especially not any entrance to Hogwarts."
And right at that moment, McNair pulled the trapdoor up.
Cliffhanger much? I already have the next half of this chapter, as it were, written, I just don't want to post it tonight. It's too late, I'm too tired, and it takes too long to do right now. Maybe perhaps tomorrow. If not then, at least probably before New Years. Best New Years wishes all, and happy holidays.