Attack
Harry was setting about making himself lunch in the kitchen of his flat. He had been away for several months but when he arrived, he found it neat and clean to the point that even his Aunt Petunia would have approved of. It was obvious Dobby took his job seriously and had maintained the place well during his absence.
The flat was small with only a tiny kitchen, one bedroom and a sitting area with a window that looked out over Diagon Alley but it served its purpose as far as Harry was concerned; it provided him a place to stay other than number twelve Grimmauld Place or the Burrow.
It was located over the very public Leaky Cauldron so the Order of the Phoenix had placed charms and protective spells around it that rendered it as safe a place to stay as any other. Hermione had also found several ancient charms that most in the current wizarding community would find very difficult to breach which added to the security.
Today was Friday and it was the third day that Harry had spent on his own. He had been looking forward to some time alone since it seemed he had spent several months in the near constant company of Ron, Hermione or others. But now faced with the actuality of privacy he had to admit he was starting to feel lonely.
The day before he had been looking out his window at the goings-on in Diagon Alley below. It was nowhere near as busy as it had been before Voldemort's return but there were still a good number of wizards and witches going about routine business and activities.
As he watched, he had noticed a flash of red hair when Ginny had come into view. His eyes followed her progress and he saw her stop to talk cheerfully to one of the shopkeepers who looked to be only a few years older than he was.
The monster that had remained quiet within Harry' chest since they had been at Hogwarts together stirred when he saw the shopkeeper place his hand lightly on the small of Ginny's back. Then he led her closer to his shop in the guise of showing her a display of items for sale. The guy continued to stand much too close to her to Harry's way of thinking and it looked like their conversation had taken on a flirtatious air.
Harry knew he was being unreasonably jealous since he had given up any right he had to object. He had made it clear that he did not want nor did he expect her to wait for him until he completed his mission; therefore, he could not very well complain now if she was showing an interest in someone else. Had Ginny been cognizant of certain activities that transpired during his time in Romania, she could have accused him of more than testing those same waters himself.
Ginny eventually crossed from the other side of the alley and walked towards the Leaky Cauldron. Harry's heart began to beat faster; perhaps she was on her way up to visit him during a break from Fred and George's shop. He waited for her knock on the door but it never came.
He had started for the door to go down to her and then stopped. No matter how he felt, he had to remain steadfast to the promise he made to himself to keep his distance from her.
He had continued to watch out the window until he saw her walk back across the alley and towards the joke shop with several bags in hand. It finally dawned on him that it was nearly noon and she had only come to the pub to pick up some lunch to take back to the twin's shop.
Disappointment had settled over him like a thick, oppressive cloud until he mentally shook himself. He really needed to get a better grip on his feelings and thoughts as far as Ginny was concerned. Then he reminded himself again that keeping his distance from her was the safest thing for both of them.
Now he was scrounging around a cabinet for the biscuits Mrs. Weasley had sent home with him and he heard a knock on his door. He crossed the room and picked up his wand as he went. He might still be under doctor's orders to refrain from using magic but most other people did not know that. He felt it was better to be safe than sorry. The last thing he wanted was to be caught off-guard again.
"Who is it?" he asked gruffly through the door.
"Hey, Harry! It's Hermione. You decent so I can come in?" he heard her familiar voice say.
He unlocked the door and opened it to reveal Hermione's smiling face.
"Hi," Harry said surprised but happy to see her. "What are you doing here? We're not supposed to be heading out until tomorrow afternoon."
Hermione looked around the flat and said, "I know, but Ron and I were in the neighborhood to pick up some things for the trip. I thought I'd come up and see if you wanted to have lunch with us downstairs. Plus I wanted to make sure that you had started packing but by the looks of things that might be a bit too optimistic on my part."
He had attempted to start packing earlier but had gotten no further than throwing some clothes into piles on his couch.
"I'll be ready to go by the time we're supposed to leave. You've trained Ron and me well in the virtue of punctuality," Harry said grinning. "I was just going to have some soup and biscuits but lunch downstairs does sound much more appetizing."
He started toward the door and Hermione said, "We also invited Ginny to join us during her lunch break from the shop."
Harry's grin faded. He gave her a warning look and growled, "Hermione…"
"Oh, come on, Harry! What will having lunch together hurt? Don't you at least want to talk to her again or say goodbye before we leave?"
"We've said all we need to say to each other. And why can't you keep out of things that don't concern you?" he asked, growing more annoyed.
"Because I care about both of you! I hate to see you make a mistake or do something stupid that you may regret. Just come down for lunch—"
"Thanks, but I think it will be better if I decline after all," Harry replied.
He took Hermione by the arm and led her back toward the door. "I'll see you downstairs tomorrow at one o'clock, all packed and ready to go."
He gently pushed her through the doorway and before she could protest, he closed the door behind her and locked it.
"Harry! Quit being stubborn!" he heard her say from the other side.
Not receiving a response from him, she said, "Fine! Be that way!" and then he heard her angry footsteps retreat down the hall.
Harry went back into the kitchen to resume his search for the biscuits. Upon finding them, he took one out of its wrapping and threw it onto the table; crumbs went flying everywhere. His bowl of soup did not fare much better when he placed it heavily on the table beside the remaining pieces of biscuit. Its hot contents sloshed over the table as well as his hands. Unable to perform a simple charm to clean up the mess he had just made of his lunch, he went to the sink to retrieve a towel to wipe up the table.
In frustration, he finally sat down wondering why Hermione could not leave things well enough alone. It wasn't that he did not want to see or speak to Ginny but he was still sorting out what she had said during their last conversation. Unfortunately, the more he thought about it, the more of what she had said made sense; he just was not sure what he should to do about it.
As he was mentally replaying Ginny's words again, his thoughts were interrupted by what sounded like an explosion in the alley and several screams.
Startled, Harry jumped up and ran to the window to look outside. He saw several people running up the alley as carts containing various types of merchandise exploded on either side of them. He heard more screams and then he saw people dressed in black robes and masks entering the alley from all directions.
His mind was just registering that Death Eaters were attacking Diagon Alley when he realized that Ginny, Hermione and Ron were probably still downstairs at lunch. Without thinking, he grabbed his wand and bolted out the door.
In the short amount of time it had taken him to reach the first floor all patrons had cleared out of the pub and a full-scale skirmish had commenced outside. Aurors had appeared and were beginning to battle the Death Eaters and a few brave witches and wizards had dared to join in the defense of their shops.
Harry ran out of the pub and ducked quickly behind a large barrel of fire whiskey as a stray hex flew past his head. He was looking frantically around for some sign of his friends. He hoped they had gotten to safety and were letting the Aurors handle the Death Eaters.
Two consecutive explosions caught his attention and his heart sank when he looked down the alley in the direction of the twin's joke shop. Ron was on his side of the street having taken cover behind a large crate of melons; he was throwing hexes and curses at Death Eaters as they approached. Hermione and Ginny were directly opposite him on the other side of the alley trying to find cover behind whatever they could. They were also firing their own curses and hexes as they found the opportunity and providing several with Aurors much needed assistance.
Harry got down on his hands and knees and keeping his head low, he started making his way toward Ron. When he was within thirty feet of Ron's position Harry saw a Death Eater moving stealthily from behind a cart on the other side of the alley in an attempt to sneak up behind him. Ron's attention was on two other Death Eaters that were firing curses in Hermione and Ginny's direction. Just as the Death Eater was taking aim at Ron, Harry yelled "Expelliarmus!" squarely hitting the Death Eater and sending him flying into a nearby signpost.
Ron turned toward Harry and surprise showed on his face as Harry cautiously approached. Harry continued moving toward Ron but halted when he saw the expression on Ron's face quickly turned from surprise to alarm.
Harry barely had time to hear Hermione scream, "Harry! Look out!"
Harry turned to see a Death Eater crumble to the ground directly behind him. He looked across the alley to see that Ginny had her wand still pointing toward the fallen Death Eater. She gave him a wink and a grin before turning her attention back to two more Death Eaters who were continuing to battle several Aurors.
Harry managed to get to Ron and said, "What's going on? They've never attacked in the afternoon before!"
"Dunno," Ron replied as he took aim at another Death Eater then said, "They seem to be concentrating on moving up to the other end of the alley. Thanks for taking that guy out but you know you aren't supposed to be using magic for a few more weeks. You need to get out of here!"
"I can't let you guys have all the fun. Besides, I'm not leaving you when there are Death Eaters everywhere."
Ron went to move further up the alley when he turned back to Harry, "You're going to put yourself back in Saint Mungo's if you don't get out of here. We'll be fine. I saw Tonks and Kingsley and several other top Aurors arrive a while back. They should have things under control soon."
"Look, Ron, I don't plan to argue with you while—" but he was cut off by a short scream coming from across the alley.
Both Ron and Harry fearfully looked across the street. Hermione had been hit by a disarming curse and had lost her wand which left Ginny to defend them both.
Without thinking, Harry said, "Come on! We need to cover them!"
He fired several hexes as he and Ron made their way up the alley. Harry saw a Death Eater fire at Hermione but she was able to duck out of the way just in time. Ron then hit that particular Death Eater with an extremely strong stunning curse of his own.
Harry and Ron were now directly opposite Hermione and Ginny who were crouched behind a very small crate. They were trying to avoid being hit by hexes and curses that were coming from the building above where Harry and Ron were taking cover. Harry noticed every curse that looked to be aimed at Ginny was veering off to the side at the last second. The thought dawned on him that she must be wearing the pendant he had given her last Christmas.
Relief flooded through him and he yelled, "Hermione! Get behind Ginny! Keep Ginny between you and the street!"
Hermione looked at him in confusion but did as he said as another curse headed toward them; again, it veered off just as it looked as if it would hit them.
Harry yelled one more time, "Ginny! Stay in front of Hermione and try to find cover!"
He turned to Ron and said, "Come on, they won't be able to get out of there with whoever that is firing at them."
Harry and Ron quietly entered a pet shop that was empty except for the merchandise that continued to squawk, squeak, growl and make other strange noises. If luck were on their side, the sounds of the animals would drown out any noise they might cause as they made their way up the stairs to find who was firing on the girls.
As they neared the top landing, Harry heard several voices and he realized one of them was very familiar.
"You two are pathetic! Get out of the way! I'll take care of that filthy mudblood myself," Harry distinctly heard the voice of Draco Malfoy and from what he said, there were at least three of them up there.
Harry looked at Ron, whose face had grown red with anger upon hearing Malfoy's comment. The door across from the landing at the top of the steps was open and Harry could see three figures crouched by the side of an open window moving out to fire off a round of curses and then duck back behind the wall again to avoid return fire. Surprise was still on their side.
Harry motioned to Ron to take the two on the left side of the window, which left him to take out the one on the right. He silently counted one, two, three with his fingers then simultaneously he and Ron moved through the doorway.
Their curses struck two of the figures and knocked them out; but before either of them could get off a shot at the third, he had moved with amazing speed and quickly turned toward them. He fired a curse back in their direction and both Harry and Ron jumped out of the way, each returning fire as they went.
Their curses hit the wall behind Malfoy who was able to duck and roll to a standing position. He came to a stop and pointed his wand at Harry.
Ron yelled, "Hold it, Malfoy!" and trained his wand on the center of Malfoy's chest.
Harry had also rolled to standing position on the other side of the room only seconds after Ron but he had dropped his wand on the way.
Malfoy's face first registered surprise and then anger as his eyes met Harry's.
"Potter! I thought you were on your deathbed in Saint Mungos! Drop your wand, Weasley or your buddy here gets it!"
Neither Harry nor Ron moved.
Ron said, "You don't really think you're fast enough to take us both out? You drop it!"
Malfoy continued to train his wand on Harry.
Narrowing his eyes shrewdly, he said, "You'd be surprised what I've learned since I left Hogwarts. I told you to drop your wand and kick it over to me! Or do you want to watch him die right in front of you? Think of the reward I will receive when the Dark Lord finds out that I was the one who finally killed Harry Potter!"
Ron shifted uncomfortably then both he and Malfoy were surprised to hear Harry begin to laugh.
Sounding completely unconcerned by the threat Harry said, "Now you're a big bad Death Eater, Malfoy? You didn't have the balls to murder Dumbledore when he was defenseless and your life supposedly depended on it, so why should we be scared of you now?"
Harry's grin abruptly faded and he looked Malfoy hard in the eyes.
In a cold voice he said, "Snape's not here to do your dirty work for you this time. I'm unarmed just like Dumbledore was. So go ahead. But make sure you give it your best shot."
The shock of hearing Harry describe exactly what had happened on the tower at Hogwarts over a year ago registered on Malfoy's face.
His wand wavered slightly and he said, "How do you know—"
It was the opportunity Harry had been waiting for; Ron watched in astonishment as Malfoy suddenly flew across the room. He hit the wall very hard and crumbled to the ground.
Ron took Malfoy's wand and placed a binding hex on him and his two companions, one of whom turned out to be Goyle.
"What'd you just do?" Ron asked and looked back at Harry. He became instantly concerned when he saw Harry sway on his feet and quickly brace himself by placing his hand on the wall.
"Harry, are you okay?"
Harry put a hand to his head in an attempt to stop the sudden spinning of the room.
He said, "I'm fine. We need to get back out there to make sure Ginny and Hermione are okay."
Ron took a quick look out the window and saw that Hermione had retrieved her wand and she and Ginny were cautiously making their way up the alley.
He looked back to Harry and said, "You know you aren't one hundred percent yet. Maybe you should head back—"
Harry knew he had pushed himself more than he should have but he picked up his wand and replied, "I said I'm fine and I'm coming with you. I won't use any more magic unless I have to."
Ron looked at him doubtfully but knew better than to argue. He levitated the bound bodies of their captives to take them out to the alley so that the Aurors could round them up later.
Ron asked, "What exactly did you do to Malfoy up there?"
Harry grinned and said, "Something that Ivan helped me work on all those evenings that you and Hermione disappeared on your 'walks.' I once mentioned how I had blown up my Aunt before our third year without using my wand so he considered it a personal challenge to teach me how to control a little magic without one. It was just a small disarming spell but he thought it might come in handy some day."
"I'll say! You've got to teach me how to do that," Ron said, clearly impressed.
Harry refrained from mentioning that, while the spell he just used on Malfoy was one he had learned to cast perfectly, he had only intended to disarm him; not to send him flying across the room. Harry had also never felt dizzy after performing that spell before. Perhaps the fact that his energy levels had not yet replenished was affecting him more than he had realized.
The fighting had moved farther up the alley and as Harry and Ron continued to move up the street, they passed a number of unconscious Death Eaters lying on the ground. Eventually they came to a halt because a large brick building completely blocked their passage. It looked as if someone had picked it up by its foundation and deposited it horizontally across the street.
Harry heard Ron whisper with alarm, "This building was pretty close to Fred and George's shop!"
The pile of rubble was nearly twenty feet high, which made it impossible to know what might be on the other side. Harry saw no one behind them and he was growing concerned that they had not seen any sign of Ginny or Hermione; he said a silent prayer that they were still safe.
Harry said to Ron in a barely audible whisper, "Keep an eye out behind us. I'm going to climb up and see if I can find out what's happening on the other side."
Ron nodded and turned to begin scanning the alley behind them.
When Harry made his way to the top of the stack of bricks and wood he saw that it was not going to be easy to get to the other side since it was another thirty feet across. He looked around at the top floors of the remaining buildings to ensure no one was there to detect his slow progress. As he crawled across the mountain of rubble, he realized the only sounds he now heard was fighting off in the distance.
Harry came to a gaping valley in the rubble and he found he had no choice but to climb down into the cavern in order to get to the other side. Slipping once or twice, he made his way to the bottom.
He was contemplating the best way to climb up the other side when he heard the voice of Bellatrix Lestrange coming from the other side and a cold dread spread rapidly through Harry upon hearing her words, "Bring them both to me! I want everyone to witness what happens when they defy the Dark Lord!"