Harry excused himself and managed to follow Snape and Draco and overheard Snape telling him that he made an Unbreakable vow to Narcissa to protect him. Draco was being unbelievably arrogant, "I don't need protection. I was chosen for this. Out of all the others. Me. And I won't fail him."
"You're afraid, Draco. You attempt to conceal it, but it's obvious. Let me assist you," Snape told him.
"No! I was chosen. This is my moment," he retorted. Quietly, he went back to the party and found Hermione, Ella and Edward easy enough. He was thinking of the whole situation in which Edward was discreetly looking at him and managed to tell Ella what Harry had overheard. Ella was grateful that there were no other vampires around to hear what Edward had told her.
Ella leaned to Harry's ear and said, "Don't stress yourself over this situation but do talk to the Order of the Phoenix about this and see if they know anything about it." Harry nodded at her command. He thought that would be a good idea to talk with them and see what needs to be done. On the train home, Harry thought about telling Ron about what he overheard but decided against it. He had figured out what would happen if someone makes an Unbreakable Vow.
That night, he was sitting across from Remus, Tonks, Edward, Ella, Jasper, Alice and Arthur about what he heard, Remus asked, "Voldemort has chosen Draco Malfoy for a mission?"
"I know that it sounds mad," Harry stated.
"Has it occurred to you Harry that Snape was simply pretending to offer Draco help so he could find out what he was up to?" Remus asked.
"That's not what it sounded like," he told him.
"Perhaps Harry's right, Remus. I mean, to make an Unbreakable Vow..." Tonks added.
"It comes down to whether or not you trust Dumbledore's judgment. Dumbledore trusts Snape, therefore I do," Remus informed him.
"Dumbledore can make mistakes," Harry explained.
"You're blinded by hatred," Remus accused.
"No, he isn't," Jasper commented. "If he's feeling hatred, I'm not feeling it."
"Yes you are!" he said, ignoring Jasper. "People are disappearing, Harry, daily. We place our trust in a handful of people. If we start fighting amongst ourselves, we're doomed," Remus said.
"Jasper, Alice, go back home. I have a feeling that we might need everyone here. I fear that something will happen tonight," Ella said, quietly as she led them outside. Jasper and Alice nodded and Apparated to the Cullen house.
After that argument, Arthur took Harry, Edward and Ella aside to another part of the house, Arthur looked at Harry and said, "You'll have to forgive Remus. It takes its toll, his condition."
Harry took a moment to look at him and noticed how tired he looked. "Are you all right, Mr. Weasley?" he asked.
"We're being followed, all of us. Most days, Molly doesn't leave the house. It's not been easy," he told him.
"Did you get my owl?"
"Yes, I did," he answered. He sat down and thought about how to tell Harry what he's learned, "If Dumbledore's traveling, then that's news to the Ministry, but perhaps that's the way Dumbledore wants it. As for Draco Malfoy, I know a bit more."
"Go on," Ella encouraged.
"I sent an agent to Borgin and Burkes. I think, from what you described, what you and Ron saw in the summer, the object that Draco is so interested in is a vanishing cabinet," he notified.
Harry looked a bit puzzled, "A Vanishing cabinet?"
"There were all the rage when Voldemort first rose to power. You can see the appeal. Should Death Eaters come knocking, one simply had to slip inside and disappear for an hour or two. They can transport you anywhere. Tricky contraptions though, very temperamental," he clarified.
"What happened to it? The one at Borgin and Burkes?" he asked.
"Nothing. It's still there," he said. Molly had called everyone to dinner. Knowing that Edward and Ella didn't eat, she set aside two goblets full of blood for them.
"Thank you, Molly," Ella replied.
"Truly," Edward agreed. Molly blushed and went on feeding the rest of her family.
After everyone was fully satiated, Tonks announced it was time for Remus and herself to leave. At the door, Tonks said, "It was delicious, Molly, really."
"Are you sure you won't stay?" she inquired.
"No, we should go. The first night of the cycle's always the worst," she said as she looked at Remus, who was looking at the night sky, looking a bit pale.
"Remus?" Arthur called out.
"Sweetheart," she said as she rubbed his arm. Just moments later, unbeknownst to the 'adults,' Harry was standing by the window above the front door with Ginny and saw what three or four black cloud-like figures zoomed by.
Harry ran out, passing Molly, who in turned cried out, "Harry, no!" Remus immediately ran after him.
"Remus!" Arthur called out. Ginny immediately followed the pair.
"Ginny!" Molly cried out.
In a distance, Bellatrix called out, "I killed Sirius Black! I killed Sirius Black. You coming to get me? Harry, can you get me? You coming to get me?" Harry stood around, trying to see if he could find any of the Death Eaters but didn't. In a distance, he could see a pale white 'head' floating by. When that 'head' turned to face Harry, he saw the red eyes and immediately knew the unknown figure was a vampire. He was immediately frightened when he saw the vampire heading towards him. Within a blink of an eye, the face disappeared and saw the back of Ella and heard Ginny call out. "Harry?" As soon as she stopped speaking, a Death eater had shown up.
Harry picked up his wand and said, "Stupefy!"
"Harry! Ginny!" Arthur reached them in time to see that they were unharmed. In a distance they heard the house explode in fire and Arthur simply said, "Molly" before the three of them ran back to the house. A ring of fire had stopped them from saving anything from the house. Molly leaned into Arthur's arms when he hugged her to him. Everyone felt defeated when they saw the house continue to burn. The Cullens had managed to burn the fire out.
While the Weasleys went through the house seeing what they could salvage, Ella pulled Harry aside, "There's something you need to realize, Harry."
"What's that?" he asked.
"If they can get to you here while you're with a magical family, it'll be easy for them to get to you anywhere. You're bloody lucky you weren't killed. You have to realize who you are, Harry," Ella explained.
"I know who I am, Ella, all right?" Harry responded snarky. If Ella was hurt, she wasn't showing it but she expected this kind of reaction from him at some point because of the stress of who he was and he was being attacked from every possible way. "Sorry."
"Don't worry, Harry. I would have reacted the same way if I were in your shoes," Ella said.
"Why is he doing this?" Harry asked.
"He's trying to kill you again, Harry," Ella said.
"Why?" Harry inquired. "What did I do to make him want to hunt me?"
Ella was quiet for a moment and then spoke, "He wants to kill you because you have something he doesn't and never will get."
"What's that?"
"Friendship," she said, "and love. Above all else, Voldemort wants power. Think of it like the mountains. At the very top of it, it's the source of all power but it's lonely at the same time because there's no space to share it with people but that's what he wants. He wants the very tip of the mountain but the road there is difficult for him because you're alive and you're the bump on the road and he's trying to squash that. The reason why he has difficulty killing you now is that you have me, Ron, Hermione, your friends, the Weasleys, and so many more people who love you, Harry. That's the one thing that he doesn't expect." Ella left him alone to think about what she had told him just now.
"Molly, allow us to help you buy a new house," Esme said.
"Absolutely not! Arthur and I have built this house with our own hands and money. It may be difficult for us to rebuild the house with a limited budget but it can be done," Molly said and she had continuously adamantly refused to accept any kind of monetary support from the Cullens but graciously accepted their help in rebuilding their house.
Everyone had gone back to school. The Weasleys, the Cullens and Harry were more apprehensive than usual and Hermione caught onto that like she usually does. Harry told her what had happened and agreed with what Ella told him. It was that time where Harry was in Dumbledore's office and was in another memory shown in the Pensieve. "I'd like to know where you get your information. More knowledgeable than half the staff, you are," he said as he faced Tom.
"Sir, is it true that Professor Merrythought is retiring?" Tom asked.
"Now, Tom. I couldn't tell you if I know, could I? By the way, thank you for the pineapple. You're quite right, it is my favorite. But how did you know?" he asked.
"Intuition," he simply answered.
Slughorn was suspicious of Tom's answer but looked at the clock and saw the time, "Gracious. Is it that time already? Off you go, boys, or Professor Dippet will have us all in detention. Look sharp, Tom. Don't want to be caught out of beds after hours," Slughorn said and looked at Tom. He noticed this faraway look on his face, "Is something on your mind, Tom?"
"Yes, sir. You see, I couldn't think of anyone else to go to. The other professors, well, they're not like you. They might misunderstand," he strayed off.
"Go on," he encouraged.
"I was in the library the other night in the Restricted Section and I read something rather odd about a bit of rare magic. And I thought perhaps you could illuminate me. It's called, as I understand it… (speaks indistinctly)…" Tom explained.
"I beg your pardon? I don't know anything about such things, and if I did, I would tell you! Now, get out of here at once, and don't let me catch you mentioning it again!" Slughorn said and pointed at the door, signaling Tom to leave the room. When Harry left the memory, Dumbledore noticed a puzzled look on his face.
"Confused? I'd be surprised if you weren't," Dumbledore said.
"Well, I don't understand. What happened?" he replied.
"This is perhaps the most important memory I've collected. It is also a lie. This memory has been tampered with by the same person whose memory it is, our friend, Professor Slughorn," Dumbledore explained.
"But why would he tamper with his own memory?" he asked.
"I suspect he's ashamed of it," he answered.
"Why?"
"Why, indeed? I asked you to get to know Professor Slughorn, and you have done so. Now I want you to persuade him to divulge his true memory, any way you can," Dumbledore said.
"I don't know that well, sir," Harry informed him.
"This memory is everything. Without it, we are blind. Without it, we leave the fate of our world to chance. You have no choice. You must not fail," he described.
Harry left his office and wandered through the halls thinking of what Dumbledore had described about the memory and how important the piece of clue was to the bigger picture of fighting against Voldemort. He walked to Slughorn's classroom who in turn saw him enter and said, "Aha. If it isn't the Prince of Potions himself. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Sir, I wondered if I might ask you something," he said.
"Ask away, dear boy, ask away," he incited.
"The other day I was in the library, in the Restricted Section and I came across something odd about a very rare piece of magic," he didn't know where else to start.
Slughorn paused a bit before answering, "Yes. And what was this rare piece of magic?"
"Well, I don't know. I can't remember the name exactly. It got me wondering, are there some kinds of magic you're not allowed to teach us?" he asked.
"I'm Potions Master, Harry. I think your question'd better be posed for Professor Snape," he said, trying to make Harry leave.
"Yes. He and I don't exactly see eye to eye, sir. What I mean to say is, well, he's not like you. He might misunderstand," Harry described.
"Yes," he agreed and then went on, "There can be no light without dark. And so it is with magic. Myself, I always strive to live within the light. I suggest you do the same," he told him.
"Is that what you told Tom Riddle when he came asking same questions?" he asked bluntly.
"Dumbledore put you up to this, didn't he? Didn't he?" Slughorn asked and then left without an answer. Harry decided to wait for a bit to allow Slughorn to walk to his office before following him. He didn't want Slughorn to be any more suspicious than he already was. Moments later, Harry found himself at Slughorn's office and knocked. "Yes?" he asked. Slughorn opened the peephole and saw that it was Harry, "Oh, it's you, Potter. I'm sorry, I'm busy at the moment," and closed it. Harry couldn't get a word in and decided at that moment to leave it as is before heading towards his dorm room where he found Ron sitting on the floor.
"It's beautiful, isn't it? The moon," he said, dreamily.
"Divine," Harry answered simply and then looked around the room and saw all of the candy wrappers on the bed and the floor, "Had ourselves a little late-night snack, did we?"
"It was on your bed, the box. I just thought I'd try one," Ron said, getting up from where he sat on the floor.
"Or 20…" Harry strayed off and then went to sit down on the bed.
Ron immediately went to sit next to him and said, "I can't stop thinking about her, Harry." Harry felt a bit uncomfortable that Ron had invaded his personal space on his bed and then moved away. He sat down on the bed next to his.
"Honestly, I reckoned she was annoying you," he responded.
"She could never annoy me. I think I love her," Ron said absentmindedly.
"Well, brilliant."
"Do you think she knows I exist?" he asked.
"I hope so. She's been snogging you for three months," Harry commented.
"Snogging? Who are you talking about?" Ron asked.
"Who are you talking about?" he inquired, wondering who Ron was talking about.
"Romilda, of course. Romilda Vane," Ron answered.
"Okay, very funny" he got up from the bed, walked over to the end of the bed, leaned down to pick up the candy wrappers before feeling the box that Ron was holding hit him, "What was that for?" he asked as he stood up.
"It's no joke! I'm in love with her!"
"Fine, you're in love with her. Have you ever actually met her?" Harry said, deciding to play along with Ron's game.
"No. Can you introduce me?" he asked and then went to the window and sat down.
Harry picked up the card that came up with the box and saw what was written. He put the card back down on the bed, went to Ron and said, "Come on, Ron. I'm gonna introduce you to Romilda Vane," he took him to Slughorn's office and knocked on his door, and before Slughorn could say a word, Harry said, "I'm sorry, sir. I wouldn't bother you if it weren't absolutely essential."
Ron looked over Harry's shoulder and said, "Where's Romilda?"
"What's the matter with Wenby?" he asked.
Harry leaned closer to the peephole and whispered, "Very powerful love potion."
"Very well. Better bring him in," Slughorn said as he opened the door for them. Harry was able to lead Ron into the office as Slughorn opened his chest of remedies. As he was pulling out the ingredients for a tonic, he spoke, "I'd have thought you could whip up a remedy for this in no time, Harry."
"Well, I thought this called for a more practiced hand, sir," he said. Harry figured that this would be a great way to try and see if he could get Slughorn to open up about his sluggish memory.
"Hello, darling. Fancy a drink?" Ron asked as he wrapped his arms around Slughorn.
"Perhaps you're right," Slughorn admitted as he was astonished by Ron's behavior.
Harry walked around Slughorn and pried Ron off of him and led him to the couch behind them, "I'm sorry, by the way, professor, about earlier today, our misunderstanding."
"Oh, not at all. All water under the bridge, you know? Correct?"
"I expect you're tired of it after all these years," he said as he walked back to Slughorn, "All the questions about Voldemort."
"Don't use that name," he said and then went back to the tonic. Once he was finished, he stood in front of Ron and gave him the cup of tonic, "There you are, old boy. Bottoms up."
"What's this?" he asked as he grabbed the drinks.
"Tonic for the nerves," he responded.
Ron took a sip of the tonic and whatever magic was in it made Ron "wake" up from the love potion and asked, "What happened to me?"
"Love potion," Harry described.
"A bloody strong one at that," Slughorn added as he took the cup away from Ron.
"I feel really bad," Ron confessed.
"You need a pick-me-up, my boy," he said as he looked at whatever drinks he had. "Got Butterbeer, wine, dazzling oak-matured mead. I had other intentions for this, but I think, given the circumstances…" he brought three cups, handed one to Ron, the second to Harry and kept one for himself, "Here we are, Potter. To Life." Ron had immediately drank from it as Slughorn spoke. Ron immediately fell down after taking in one sip.
Harry immediately gave his drink to Slughorn and ran to him, "Ron. Ron. Professor, do something," he called out.
"I don't understand," Slughorn said as he sat down in the single chair.
Harry immediately ran to Slughorn's chest and was rummaging through, trying to find something. He finally came across a box of bezoars, grabbed one and ran back to where Ron was lying. He stuffed it into Ron's mouth, "Come on, Ron, breathe."
Ron managed to swallow it but he wasn't responding. After a moment, Ron took a deep breath and Harry released the breathe he was holding. Ron looked up at Harry and said, "These girls, they're gonna kill me." In that moment, Ella made an appearance with Carlisle and Madam Pomfrey.
"Oh, dear," Pomfrey said as she rushed over to Ron who was still lying on the floor. Carlisle went to help her with Ron.
"Harry, come and help me with Professor Slughorn. Madam Pomfrey and Dr. Cullen are taking care of Ron," Ella said as she grabbed the cups from Slughorn and set it aside. "Harry, do you remember which bottle Professor Slughorn used to offer you the drink?"
"Yeah," he responded and pointed to the one on the table. Ella grabbed the bottle and put it in a brown paper bag. Harry was holding Slughorn's arm as he waited for Ella to lead them.
"We'll meet you at the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey," Ella said. She nodded and led the way with Carlisle holding Ron's weight and following Pomfrey. Ella stood on the other side of Slughorn and leading him by using his elbow. When they got there, Edward was standing by with Ginny and Hermione. They saw that Ron was in and out of consciousness but Pomfrey gave him a potion to help him sleep peacefully. "I'll go inform Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall about what happened to Ron." She left immediately. It wasn't until 5 minutes later, did she arrive with Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall, fully aware of what had happened.
"Quick thinking on your part, Harry. Using a bezoar," he said and then turned to Slughorn, "You must be very proud of your student, Horace."
"Hm?" he said, he wasn't really paying attention and then said, "Oh, yes, very proud."
"I think we agree, Potter's actions were heroic," McGonagall said and then asked, "The question is, why were they necessary?"
"Why, indeed?" Dumbledore agreed. He approached Ella and grabbed the bottle that was in her hand, and smelled what was inside the bottle, "This appears to be a gift, Horace. You don't remember who gave you this bottle? Which, by the way, possesses remarkably subtle hints of licorice and cherry when not polluted with poison."
"Actually, I had intended to give it as a gift myself."
"To whom, I might ask?" Dumbledore asked.
"To you, Headmaster," Slughorn asked.
Lavender immediately walked in and said, "Where is he? Where's my Won-Won? Has he been asking for me? What is she doing here?" when she saw Hermione sitting next to Ron.
Hermione immediately stood up and said, "I might ask you the same question!"
"I happen to be his girlfriend!" she proclaimed.
"Well, I happen to be his... friend," she retorted.
"Don't make me laugh! You haven't spoken in weeks. I suppose you want to make up now that's he's all interesting!"
"He's been poisoned, you daft dimbo!" Hermione exclaimed. "And for the record, I've always found him interesting.:
Ron groaned and Lavender said, "Ah! See? He senses my presence. Don't worry, Won-Won! I'm here. I'm here."
Everyone was curious as to what he was going to say but he mumbled at first and then slowly said, "Hermione. Hermione... Hermione…" Lavender walked off in a huff as Hermione grabbed Ron's hand and sat on his bed.
"Oh, to be young and to feel love's keen sting," Dumbledore said. Ella turned away, stifling her smile. "Well, come away, everybody. Mr. Weasley is well tended."
Ginny stood up from her chair and walked towards Harry and said, "About time, don't you think?"
Harry smiled and then saw that Madam Pomfrey had put something down for Ron and said, "Thank you."
Hermione looked over at Harry who gave her a look and she simply replied, "Oh, shut up."