Chapter 42
The four days passed uneventfully and so fast Harry felt sure they must have skipped at least one day entirely. He had left potions that afternoon and when Draco passed with a whispered "see you tonight", he had had a moment of confusion where he had no idea what he could have meant.
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All noises in the dormitory seemed louder that evening. Putting on his pyjamas, brushing his teeth, joking around with the others, all of it made him feel like he was an alien of some sort going through the daily motions of being Harry Potter with no idea what that actually meant. Harry hoped it was only to him that Ron's laughter sounded so fake.
It was the strangest thing. Going to bed like everything was normal, while knowing that three of the five people in the room would only sleep for a few hours, and then they would head out to meet with Luna and Draco and the girls. And they would go to Azkaban. And in five or six hours it would all be over, and they would either be back in their beds at Hogwarts, or in auror custody, on their way to either the Ministry or St Mungo's.
It was strange, Harry thought, how you never got used to fear. Nothing he had been through in the last couple of years, no matter how horrible, did anything to diminish the overwhelming sense of dread. Possibly it made it even worse, made it easier to imagine what they had ahead of them.
He tried very hard not to think too much about the dementors. It didn't go very well.
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He hadn't really expected to get any sleep at all, but he must have drifted off, because he was woken by someone gently shaking his shoulder.
"Harry?" whispered Neville.
Harry groaned.
"Harry, wake up."
"I'm awake," he muttered.
"We should leave soon."
He sat up and Neville got out of his way. Harry's body ached in protest of his sleep being interrupted. He slipped out of bed and got dressed as fast as he could manage with his groggy mind. Neville already looked ready to go and waited silently by Harry's bed while he got ready.
"Has Ron left?" asked Harry.
"Yeah, I heard him a little while ago."
Harry nodded.
"Dean and Seamus?"
Neville cast a quick glance over his shoulder toward Seamus' bed.
"Asleep, as far as I can tell," he said, still speaking barely above a whisper. "I think they do actually cast silencing charms on the drapes…"
"Let's hope so, they're a lot less likely to wake up and notice anything if that's the case."
"This part still seems so unnecessarily risky."
Harry shrugged, looking around the dormitory to Ron's and Neville's beds with the curtains drawn around them; Dean's empty bed that he hadn't slept in for quite a while now.
"There's no reason they would check our beds. We'll be back before they even wake up tomorrow. And if we're not, Dean and Seamus are going to be the least of our problems."
Neville didn't say anything. Harry picked up his Firebolt and took the invisibility cloak from where it was stowed away in the trunk under his bed.
"Let's go," he said.
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They made their way through the dark, empty halls of the castle, which seemed bigger and colder this time of night.
"We hardly even have a plan," said Neville.
"We have a plan."
"It's pretty vague…"
"In my experience, plans never really work out, no matter how detailed they are."
"It would still be comforting, I think."
They walked across the grounds towards the gate; down the gravel path the same way they had four days earlier. Neville looked back towards the castle.
"Remember third year?" he asked. "When they had dementors surrounding the grounds? And they let them onto the train?"
"Yeah," said Harry.
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Hermione and Luna were waiting for them by the side of the road. They looked tense but determined and just seeing them took the edge off Harry's own nerves.
"Ron and Ginny aren't here yet?" asked Neville.
"I left the same time as Ginny and we met Ron in the common room, so they're on their way. They should be here in a couple of minutes," said Hermione.
"And Malfoy?" asked Harry.
"No sign of him yet."
"There they are," said Luna.
They looked towards the castle, where two broomsticks were just visible in the dark, flying low over the ground and headed in their direction.
Ginny and Ron landed a moment later and dismounted their brooms.
"How did it go?" asked Neville.
"Easy enough," said Ginny. "The changing rooms weren't locked, only the broom shed. Got it open with an alohomora, honestly, I don't know why Hooch even bothers..."
She pulled open the bag she had slung over her shoulder and handed out gloves for flying to Neville, Luna and Hermione. She and Ron were already wearing theirs and Harry had brought his own as well. Ron looked around.
"Where's the ferret?" he asked.
"Not here yet," said Hermione.
"Did something happen?" asked Ginny.
"We don't know."
"Maybe he wasn't able to sneak out," said Harry, trying to sound less anxious about it than he was.
"I'm guessing cold feet," said Ron. "How long do we give him?"
Harry looked back up the empty path towards the gates.
"Before what?" he asked.
"Before we leave without him."
"We can't. We talked about this, we can't apparate into Azkaban, so we have to go to the coast, and he's the only one who's been there," said Hermione.
"You can apparate to a place you haven't been."
"You can, in theory. The less specific that place is the more difficult it is. Do you think you can apparate to "some stretch of the of coast of Great Britain from which it's possible to reach Azkaban"?" said Hermione sharply.
"I think you or Harry can."
"Let's just give it a few more minutes," said Ginny, interrupting them. "Then we'll figure out what to do if he's still not here."
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Harry looked at his watch every thirty seconds of the tense silence while they waited for Draco to show up. After two minutes, he was certain he wouldn't come. He was about to offer to go back and find him when there was a sigh of relief from Hermione.
"There," she said.
He looked up and saw a third broomstick zooming towards them from the castle. A flood of relief washed over him. A few seconds later, Draco had joined them.
"Sorry," he said, slightly out of breath. "I had some trouble getting out of the common room."
"What kind of trouble?" asked Ginny.
"Fifth years don't sleep, apparently."
"Did anyone see you?"
He rolled his yes.
"I might not have an invisibility cloak, but my disillusionment is perfectly good."
"You're sure?"
"Yes, Weasley."
"Just checking, arsehole," said Ginny. "Let's go."
Draco handed his broom to Luna. He reached his arm out to Harry who took it, trying not to think of how much significance that simple gesture seemed to carry.
"See you in a bit." he said to the others.
Then he felt the pull like a hook behind his navel when Draco disapparated.
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Harry could hear waves. The air was tinged with the salty smell of rotting seaweed. He was still holding on to Draco's arm.
"Is this it?" he asked, speaking louder than he wanted to in order to be heard over the wind.
"I think so," said Draco. "There's a house down there, right?"
Harry followed where he was pointing to and saw the angular shape of a darkened house a bit further down.
"Yes," he said.
"Then it's here."
Draco laughed nervously.
"This is terrifying," he said. "This is why I'm not in Gryffindor."
Harry reached for his hand, his fingers were icy cold. He squeezed it tightly. It felt like he ought to say something while they were here, these few seconds they had to themselves. It was becoming harder and harder not to think about the fact that they might not both make it through the night.
"I'll apparate back and get Hermione," he said instead and held on tighter for just a moment before letting go.
Harry's warm hand was pulled away and Draco watched him spin and disapparate. For a moment he was alone on the coast. His robes had been charmed to keep him warm but he still had goosebumps creeping down his arms. He eyed the silhouette of the house where it crouched low in the lyme grass. The windows were dark but it was probably too optimistic to think that both the aurors in there were asleep.
He started at the loud pop when Harry came back with Granger. Then she went back for Ron who went back for Lovegood and soon all seven of them were gathered on the coast, four of them holding broomsticks. They looked out towards the sea, maybe searching for a glimpse of the tower, even though they knew they wouldn't be able to see it.
"Well," said Ginny. "Should we get going?"
They mounted their brooms. Draco kicked off and was the first one in the air, the others took a little longer before their passengers were settled and they followed. Draco flew ahead, leading them as close to the small house as he dared. Then he turned and they left the mainland, flying straight out over the ocean.
The cold gnawed at Draco's flesh, there were drops of water in the air that stung his face like needles. He didn't remember how long the boat ride had been from the mainland to the prison. It had seemed endless, but he was starting to fear that they might have gone too far, that they might have missed it. How close did they have to be before it became visible? He wasn't sure about that either. He glanced back at the dark shapes of the others flying behind him. They might have to turn around and start over from the house on the coast. Fly out again and hope they had better luck. If he had been alone, he would have turned back already, now he didn't dare tell them. It was too early for failure. He tightened his grip on his broom. They were wasting time. They could spend the whole night flying back and forth and still not find it. And even if they did find it, how likely was it even that their plan would work out? There were so many ifs and maybes.
Even if they succeeded somehow, they wouldn't make it back in time.
Then they would get caught.
They would end up with their own cells.
He was hit suddenly by vivid memories of the time he had spent guarded by dementors before his trial; the way a smell can trigger half forgotten childhood memories, so his fear tasted queasily of dementors. The fear convulsed in his chest, he was about to turn around, tell them it was hopeless and – and there was the tower. It materialized suddenly about a hundred meters ahead of them where before there had been nothing; a looming, triangular building shrouded in unnatural silence. Draco breathed a sigh of relief. He adjusted their direction. They began their descent.
The four broomsticks skimmed low over the water. There were the thuds of their shoes on the rocks of the barren island when they landed. No one said a word as Draco led them to the staircase. He felt terribly exposed when they made their way across the island; there was nothing but the darkness giving them cover, and though he was grateful for the moonlight it also meant that anyone looking out would have easily spotted them. But there were no cries of spells from above and soon his hand closed around the slick, cold railing of the stairs. He turned to look back at them.
"Everyone ready?" he asked so quietly the tremor in his voice was hardly noticeable.
And the resolution on their faces was answer and encouragement enough.
They carried their broomsticks with them to the platform at the top of the stairs, then left them leaning against the railing there where Granger cast securing charms and disillusionment on them. Ginny crouched down in front of the door and pulled off her gloves. The tools she took from her pocket looked almost muggle in their primitiveness, but it took her less than a minute of working the oddly shaped metal blades into the keyhole before the door swung open. Longbottom pulled open the bag he had slung over his shoulder and handed the invisibility cloak to Harry. He pulled it on and disappeared.
They all watched the dim hallway anxiously as if keeping themselves from blinking might enable them to see an invisible person sneaking past the guards' room to make sure the door was closed and further down the hallway to make sure it was empty. Draco wasn't the only one who jumped a little when Harry reappeared right in front of them.
"Clear," he mouthed, and they all followed him.
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It was slightly warmer inside, but only because there was no wind. They couldn't risk casting their patronuses until they were inside the actual prison, so they walked in near darkness.
The door to the guards' room was closed, but a sliver of light shone out from under it. Draco held his breath when he passed. Harry had stopped, waiting for Draco to show the way, so he went past him and retraced the route the auror had taken all those months ago, forcing himself to believe that he was remembering it correctly. They reached the iron door and he stopped and put a hand against it. He looked back over his shoulder.
"Weasley?" he called.
It was a narrow corridor and she had to squeeze past the others. It would be a terrible place to duel. He flattened himself against the wall to give her room to work with the lock. She crouched down in front of the door and reached into her pocket. He could hear her breathing.
"Just unlock it," he said. "Don't open it. One of us should cast a patronus first."
She nodded. There was a quiet scrape and clink of metal.
"Can one of you give me some light?"
"Lumos," whispered Draco.
Ginny shifted.
"Bit to the left."
He moved his wand, their shadows jumped and twisted over the walls. There was an unpleasant crunch from the lock.
"Shit," she muttered.
"Everything alright?" asked Longbottom.
Ginny didn't say anything. Draco glanced back up the passage. His hands were clammy and despite the cold, he was sweating under his robes. The lock squeaked.
"You said you had the lock figured out," he hissed.
"I do. You said the auror used a key to open this last time you were here, yes? George said these could open anything locked with a key."
"George said- are you serious? He used a key, that doesn't mean there aren't any curses too, how would I know if there were any curses just from seeing him unlocking it-"
"Malfoy, can you maybe dim the light a bit?" asked Granger nervously from somewhere behind them.
"They're not muggle lockpicks, alright, so calm the fuck down," sneered Ginny.
"I can't believe we're breaking into Azkaban with something you got in a jokeshop."
"The aurors have to get in and out on here on a regular basis, I don't think it's closed with fucking blood magic-"
She cut herself off. They all fell quiet.
"Anyone else hear that?" asked Ron.
Draco had heard something.
"Nox," he whispered.
The light went out. The corridor had been dimly lit even before he cast lumos but their eyes hadn't adjusted and now they blind in the darkness. He heard the rustle and clink of Ginny going back to work on the door. There was a scuffle of feet as the other five people behind turned to face the end of the passage. Draco raised his wand defensively too, though he wouldn't be able to cast anything in here without hitting one of his companions.
There was another sound. It could have been someone moving about up in the guards' room. It could have been the wind outside. It could have been a door opening or someone coming down the stairs after them. Draco gripped his wand tighter.
There was a click.
"Got it!" said Ginny.
Draco reached for the door handle.
"Expecto patronum," said a voice behind him, forceful but not loud, and he turned to see a hare patronus erupt from Lovegood's wand.
Draco pushed down the handle and shouldered the door open.
The force of the dementors rammed into his brain like a sledgehammer. He froze in the doorway. Lovegood's patronus was shielding them, but it couldn't be as strong as the one of the auror who had escorted him the last time, or maybe it was just that they were more people this time, that it was stretched thin. He felt his energy drain away.
"Go!" said Harry frantically somewhere far behind him.
It felt terribly wrong to go towards the source of the deadness and the cold instead of running away from it, to safety, but he made himself move forward, the others pushed through after him and Longbottom pulled the door shut behind them. They crowded onto the topmost gallery of the prison, all of them with their wands out, all of them facing the door, Draco's heart pounding hard in his chest.
A second passed and then another, and no aurors burst through the door.
"I think we're good," said Harry.
He turned towards them.
"Everyone, patronuses."
The light from Lovegood's hare reflected a bright sheen in the whites of his eyes. His voice was all business, but Draco remembered third year and he thought that Harry had to be just as scared of this place as he was.
"Expecto Patronum," he cried and it would have been loud had his voice not been swallowed by the walls.
The silver stag was the first to join the hare, but it was soon followed by an otter, a terrier, Draco's snake, Ginny's fox and – surprisingly and clichéd – Longbottom's lion.
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The Weasley's took up positions by the door. It had taken forever to decide who should stand guard in case the aurors followed them. Ginny had been an obvious choice, since she was the strongest duellist, but Ron had plainly refused to stay behind and had looked like he wanted to punch Draco's teeth out when he had called him their best "supporting duellist". Ginny had asked for Longbottom, but he was better with the runes than Ron was, so in the end he had sided with Draco, as had Granger, and Ron had reluctantly agreed to guard duty.
"Good luck," said Ginny.
Ron pulled Granger into a hug.
"Be careful," he said, looking over her head and straight at Draco.
"We will," said Harry. "See you soon."
"Soon, mate. If not, we're coming down after you, aurors or no aurors."
"Thanks," said Harry.
They split up. Draco led the way along the gallery followed by Harry, Granger, Lovegood and Longbottom, as they headed for the cells.
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Granger and Lovegood had taught them the runes. They didn't have to understand them as long as they drew them correctly, so they moved forward in succession, spreading out over a stretch of wall, each etching a rune into the walls with the tip of their wands, then they all moved further down, repeated the process. The chain would run along the surface of the wall the way it had in the secret room. They had tested it across a window and it was able to breach the gap, so they assumed it would go across the cells as well as long as there was a rune on either side. The width of it was enough to shut the dementors out of the cells completely. And hopefully that would work.
Their little circles of silver light moved slowly downwards through the levels, leaving a string of runes behind them. The dementors didn't come near them, but they were there, in the wide, empty space between the three walls along which the gallery ran; in the cells opposite the patronuses or on the lower levels. Tattered cloaks that moved like shadows over the walls. The faint sound of rattling breaths.
Sometimes Longbottom would stop to glance nervously back towards the top of the tower. They probably wouldn't even hear it if there was a duel up there, but maybe he was hoping to notice light from the spells if something went wrong. Granger would check her watch every time she moved forward to draw the next rune. Draco didn't know if she was actually keeping track of time or just making sure she didn't accidentally look into one of the cells. Draco didn't have any trouble with that – his eyes were constantly and inevitably drawn to the pit. It was the sort of darkness that sucked at your gaze, complete and impenetrable. It wasn't like looking into a dark room, it was like having a blind spot in the middle of your vision and it was impossible not to try to stare through it.
There was the soft press of a hand on his shoulder and he flinched.
"Go on," said Lovegood, gently pushing him forward.
He moved. Granger passed them, eyes glued to her watch.
"We're too slow," she said.
"We're fine," said Harry, a little way ahead of them.
He was already at the stairs to the next level down.
"We're doing it all wrong."
"We're following the plan," Harry said. "Your plan."
"We won't make it. It's been two hours already since we left the castle. We have to be back in three. This is taking us too long."
"The trip back will be faster," said Draco. "It won't take us as long to get back as it took to get here."
"It's still not enough time – for the runes yes, but we don't know what will happen in the pit -"
"Well, what do you suggest we do?" hissed Harry.
They were speaking in low voices, whispering to each other even though there was no one to hear them. Draco pulled his own watch out of his pocket. Arguing was wasting their time as well.
"We should split up," said Granger.
"You want to change the plan now? We agreed we would stay together. We don't know what's waiting for us down there."
"I thought we would be faster," she hissed back. "But we don't need to be five people to do the runes. It's ineffeicient."
"Neville and I can do the runes by ourselves," said Lovegood. "You three head for the pit."
Granger looked at Malfoy as if she had forgotten he was there.
"That's not what we agreed-" Harry began again, about to protest, but she cut him off:
"We don't have a choice, Harry. Either we split up or we fail."
Now it was Harry's eyes that went to Malfoy. He looked worried.
"It could just be me and Hermione," he said.
"I'm coming. I have as much first-hand experience with dark magic as the two of you. You might need me."
Harry sighed.
"Fine, then," he said. "Let's go."
He turned down the stairs and Draco followed. Granger stopped behind him and looked back at the other two.
"Do you have a watch with you?" she asked.
"We do," said Longbottom.
"We'll be two hours at most. Do you think you can finish the runes in that time?"
"We're good, just go on. And be careful down there."
"We will."
Then Granger followed Harry and Draco down the stairs. Escorted by the stag, the otter and the snake, they left Lovegood and Longbottom behind.