CHAPTER 15

Preparation

"I'm so so sorry," Ginny was saying to Charlie as he lied on the couch, a cold washcloth held to his temple where a bruise had appeared. On becoming stunned by Ginny he had fallen heavily, hitting his head on a sharp stone.

"As I keep saying Ginny, stop apologising. I train dragons for a living, this is hardly a serious injury… although it was quite a surprise welcome." George started chuckling again beside Harry, but put his fist in his mouth when he received an angry look from his mother. "It is nice to see everyone again," he stated happily, his eyes resting mainly on Harry. They had filled Charlie in on the 'Harry scenario' as soon as he regained consciousness. He reacted in a way very differently from any other member of the Weasley family. He had merely frowned for a moment, as if deciding whether it was credible then smirked, folding his arms and staring Harry dead in the eye.

Charlie took the washcloth away and gave it to Mrs. Weasley,

"It was a bit touch and go there," he said sarcastically, "but I think I'll live." He stretched his arms above his head; a burn that stretched down his arm glinted in the light. "You know, if you need a fast way to get to Vereor Nex I could always lend you a few trained dragons," he stated with a smirk.

"…Yeah nothing says stealth like massive flying reptiles," replied George, raising his eyebrows in scepticism.

"Well whether you use dragons or not, I'm coming with you," he stated – the way in which he said it caused the others in the room not to protest. "Besides," he said, "I have a break off work and you could be attacked by some horrible beasty whilst your away."

"Geez, don't sound hopeful or anything," replied Ginny, a smile playing on her lips.

"Where did Jack go?" Charlie asked suddenly, as if only just recognising his disappearance, Mrs. Weasley answered.

"Oh, he took off – had to go back to work. Not to worry, I'm sure Ginny will fill him in on everything when she goes home." Charlie nodded in response, but Harry's eyes were instead drawn to Ginny – he wondered if he was the only one who had seen the slight tightening of her jaw and her adverted gaze, he frowned, wondering what it meant. As if she could feel his eyes on her she glanced up for a moment, staring directly into his eyes and then adverted her gaze to listen to the conversation being held.

"So," Charlie stated, "I need to know… when you left – how were Ron and Hermione?" The question was directed at Harry, and although he knew no one could answer but him, he wished someone would step in and say something to avert the conversation to different matters. He shifted uncomfortably, and looked up at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley – who held expressions of high interest and almost happiness, he swallowed.

"They," he began, feeling a clog rise up in his throat, "they were alive," he stated firmly. 'But for how long?' Ask the guilt-bearing voice in his head. Charlie frowned for a moment, then nodded – Harry could see that Charlie sensed his uncomfortableness on the topic, (especially in front of Ron's parents,) – and offered a weak, understanding smile.

Harry was feeling again, the overbearing regret and guilt, it was like a kick in the gut. By now, he knew, if they were still alive they would be imagining he had forgotten about them. Every moment he spent in this place of warmth and comfort, they were in Vereor Nex suffering unendurable torment. Before Harry could stop it; a tear slid down his cheek – he pushed it away hoping no one had noticed.

"Harry and I need to go to the Ministry, finalise a few details… let the Aurors know what's happening, that sort of thing – we'll be back in a few hours." Stated Ginny, standing. Her eyes met Harry's, they urged him to follow her without protest. He frowned and stood, with a nod to the others, then followed Ginny out the door. As they walked across the garden Ginny talked,

"What's up with you?"

"How do you mean?"

"Harry, we're not stupid – we know Hermione and Ron would not be in a good way, we know that they'd be the same… or worse than you were when you came back… so what's up with the avoiding?"

"Avoiding?"

"Like you don't know, every time Hermione and Ron are mentioned, or the day you escaped for that matter – you disappear inside yourself for a few minutes and you get this awful… haunted look on your face. Why?" Ginny's eyes were for once not filled with anger or frustration, but with a sincere understanding. They had reached the other side of the garden now, and stood beside a few trees – Harry could only just see the window he was looking out of only moments before.

"Harry please; what's going on?" Harry grit his teeth and shut his eyes for a moment,

"When I left –," he began, then stopped.

"Go on…"

"We made two minutes," whispered Harry, the wind ran through the trees – making them hiss.

"Harry!" The words echoed off his mind, he saw Ron's hand reaching forward as the body was dragged backwards, his eyes widened in fear and he scratched his nails into the dry earth, making his hands dark and red. Hermione was clutching to a tree with the last ounce of energy she had left, she looked up at Harry was dark pleading eyes as he turned to run away, their last hope of survival, and their last chance of ever getting out of there. Hermione was wedged away from the tree, her fingernails cutting into the bark, hands bleeding, her mouth forming over Harry's name even though only a fearful whimper came out.

"You made two minutes? What do you mean?"

"Until they caught us… we were weak… we had barely moved for so long…" he was going to continue but the tree beside him caught his eye, "the figure I saw…" he said, frowning, "was standing right here," his eyes darted around the trees where they stood. Ginny let of a sigh of annoyance,

"Did anyone tell you that you are ridiculously easily distracted?"

"… then Jack came," he continued, ignoring her.

"You're not suggesting that the supposed figure you saw was Jack, are you?"

"It kind of makes sense."

"Uh, no it doesn't – not in the slightest. Why would he be watching us?"

"I have no idea."

"It wasn't him…" she stated firmly, "he's a really nice guy Harry, you'd like him if you get to know him."

"Doubt it," he muttered under his breath. "So are we actually going to the Ministry?" Queried Harry, Ginny sighed,

"Yeah, Jack was telling me that preparations are underway and that we should go down to see what's happening… so, shall we?" She asked, extending her hand.

"This is new…"

"Turning over a new leaf… or something," she said with a shrug. Harry smirked for a moment and grabbed her hand; with a crack they disappeared, before they landed, once more, in the Ministry of Magic.

Even though Ginny had said that preparations were underway, Harry had not been prepared for the site that awaited him in the Ministry of Magic. The group of Aurors that had been elected to come with them had taken refuge in a large room near the back of the Ministry. The room had no windows, and only bright prison-like spotlights shining from each corner. The Aurors were all in separate discussions, although all their voices carried the same sense of urgency and authority. Harry heard his name mentioned a few times and a group of Auror heads looked up from their work. One man who Harry recognized as Gene Fillius from the Auror meeting walked up to them,

"Weasley, Potter," he said, nodding slightly in greeting.

"His name is James, remember?" Ginny warned,

"Oh, of course, my apologies. We're pretty much all set, we've used got several of the Ministries tents for sleeping in – food supplies – potions, the general protocol… is there anything you wanted in particular?" The proper way in which he spoke made Harry smirk slightly. Ginny seemed shocked by their organization,

"Oh, wow," she said. "Thanks Gene, I have a few potions and such I need to bring, but asides from that we're pretty much set it seems."

"Impressive," Harry muttered, regarding the room.

"Thankyou sir," Gene replied, causing Harry to smirk again. Another Auror came up to Ginny,

"All we need to know is co-ordinates," he was muttering. He raised his eyebrows in expectation. Ginny shifted slightly,

"We don't exactly – have co-ordinates." The man who has asked the question frowned a little – and a few Auror's looked up unbelievingly.

"What exactly are we supposed to do for navigational purposes then?" The man asked, still frowning.

"James here will be navigating, he remembers the way…"

"Of course…" the man said, although his voice was laced with skepticism, Ginny ignored it.

"James! Ginny!" Came a voice from the other side of the room. Jack strolled over, smiling at both of them. "Impressive huh?"

"Yeah, James was just saying that it was…"

"We've put extendable charms on each of the bags, so that they are light and small… I've never seen it done before, it's quite ingenious." Jack was muttering with an almost boisterous excitement. It made Harry angry that he was so happy; it was almost inconsiderate to the task at hand.

"I have," he muttered, his voice almost coming as a growl, "Hermione used it whilst we were out defeati –,"

"So, what else do you have to show me?" Ginny asked, interrupting Harry.

"A few of them just wanted to ask you a few specific questions," Jack replied, "so, we'll be with you in a second James," Jack said, leading Ginny to the back corner of the room where a few Aurors stood patiently. As Ginny was leaving she shot Harry with a look that said 'behave.'

"Must suck," came a voice to Harry's right, he looked. A young man with a curly mass of hair was pushing large items into a small backpack.

"What must suck?" The boy smiled and stood,

"Jack and Ginny; must suck. I remember I once went to America for some mission, and when I came back I found my girlfriend with another man – it sucks right?" His voice carried a strong Australian accent.

"…That doesn't really apply to me," said Harry snapped a bit. The man raised his eyebrows in an almost amused expression,

"Whatever you say," he said. "But for the record, I don't like him,"

"Who?"

"Jack. He's too nice… and a really good fighter… and all women swoon on him," he said with a distasteful shake of his head.

"Wow, thanks for that… I feel so much better." The man laughed and extended his hand, Harry noticed that the top of the man's index finger was missing, that that white lines were hatched on his skin where scars had supposedly healed.

"My names Dylan," he said. Harry took his hand and nodded, "this'll be some journey, eh?"

"Yeah…" Harry replied, "sure will be."

Hey hey, hope you enjoyed this chapter – let me know what you think! Thankyou so much for the reviews, these ones made me laugh.

"JACK IS EVIL!"

"I don't like Jack much."

"I just don't like Jack."

Ahh, amusing.

I'm kinda bombarded with work at the moment, expect an update once a week, or once a fortnight. I tried to upload this sooner – but fanfiction was playing up on me… is it just me or is it doing it for everyone else too?

In the next installment their journey will be underway – horrah!

Phoenixxsong