"So, what have you got?" Neville asked as Harry joined him in the coffee shop on Tottenham Court road. He was looking rather worn as he nursed a cup.
"Remember how Da was able to trace the Hufflepuff cup to Gringotts? Well, I have a way in: I got the Parkinson's vault key!" He handed the item in question to his brother. "Incidentally, where's Daphne?" The Slytherin girl was nowhere to be seen, which worried Harry.
"She's sitting on the other side," Neville nodded towards to a well dressed woman scribbling something on a pad of paper. It took Harry a moment to recognize Daphne in that formal looking business woman. "Keeping watch."
"Are you worried about Snatchers even in the muggle areas?"
Neville nodded. "Yeah. And remember, don't say You-know-Who's name – the Wizangamot put it under Taboo"
"Right, I'll just call him Tom." Harry sighed. It had been a long two days.
"You ok? You don't look so good, and I'm the one who's been living out of muggle motels for the past 3 months."
"Yeah, I'm fine," Harry stated, zoning out for a minute.
[[Yesterday]]
"Harry, we need to talk about what happened last night," Hermione had pulled Harry into an empty classroom as they were leaving the Gryffindor dorms to go down to breakfast. She cast a Muffliato and then froze, not certain what to say. Last night they had returned from the Parkinson raid after midnight and gone straight to their respective beds.
Harry looked everywhere except at Hermione. "If.. If you get pregnant, I'll do the right thing," he forced out. With the Contract looming over his head, marriage wasn't a foreign concept to him anymore, but that didn't make it any easier to talk about.
"Don't be stupid!" Hermione retorted. If she got pregnant, her life was over - no university, no career, no anything. All of her dreams would die. It didn't even bear thinking about. "I mean it was an accident. We both were hyped up on adrenaline after the fight. I have read about this in an anthropology book last summer. It's a natural reaction, and it didn't mean anything."
Harry head snapped up to look at Hermione, "Are you kidding? This wasn't the first time that we.. acted romantically. There was Slughorn party. And ever since then I been very.. aware of you. I don't know about you, but.. I think I'm in love with you."
"No, you're not!" 'I can't do that to Ginny! Not like Romilda.' Hermione turned and ran out of the classroom, leaving Harry Potter standing in shock in an empty classroom.
[[last year, 'That' which Romilda did]]
It was just after Hogsmead weekend, and Hermione was running late for dinner. But with dentists for parents, she had always taken hygiene very seriously, so she stopped off in the second floor girls room before heading down to the Great Hall. She was just finishing washing her hands when she heard sniffling from a partially closed stall at the far end of the room.
She turned and approached it tentatively. She really wanted to go have her dinner, but her conscience wouldn't let her just walk away (the conscience sounded remarkably like Harry Potter. That prat!) "Are you ok?" She asked gently.
There was no response, so she pushed open the stall, expecting to see a homesick firsty. "Lavender? What happened?"
The normally sophisticated fashionista was sitting on the (covered) toilet seat, her knees pulled up. "It's Ron."
Hermione sighed, "What did he do now? I can talk to him, get him to apologize." Her relationship with Boy Who Lived had become more distance since he had started dating Lavender, but she would like to think that they were still friends, and that he would listen to her guidance.
"That two-timing asshole is fucking Romilda!" Lavender wailed.
The profanity hit Hermione like a physical blow, "I… I don't know what to say."
Lavender sniffled for a moment and wiped her eyes. "There's nothing to say. It's over."
Hermione stood helplessly for a few moments before shrugging and gently letting the stall door swing shut. She didn't even wash her hands again before leaving the bathroom.
[[now]]
"Ooh, right – the other thing" Harry brought his attention back to the here and now – it was probably for the best that Daphne was keeping an eye out for danger, because his situational awareness was shot, 'Dad would be so pissed with me.' Probably for more than one reason. Dad kept telling him not to end up like Sirius, but what did he do? 'That wasn't my fault!' He pulled out a pair of potions. "Polyjuice – this one is of Mrs. Parkinson. We got some of her hairs from her hairbrush, and I was able to take some of the raw polyjuice from the potions supply closet. Unfortunately we weren't able to get anything of her husband, so this is of Snape."
Neville blanched, muttering, "Just what I've always wanted, to look like the slimy git!"
"Yeah. But you're going to need to sneak into the LeStrange vault, and this will help keep the goblins from knowing who you are." Harry paused, "Are you guys doing ok? I mean, as in getting along." When they talked over the mirror, Harry never knew if Daphne was within earshot, so he didn't want to ask.
"Yeah. We're good. I know that this whole thing is very alien to her, but she's been handling it like a champ. We've had a few disagreements, but nothing serious."
"Well, I'm impressed that you are staying focused and not, you know, shacking up. And not getting out of bed for a week" Harry quipped.
Neville blushed, casting a quick glance at Daphne before looking away. Finally, he leaned over and whispered. "She's pretty serious about being a virgin at her wedding."
Harry nodded, "sound like Mum would like her," feeling only slightly guilty.
"Yeah, she will," Neville got a far away look on his face.
"Ok, I'll call you later."
\*/
As was his usual lunch-time routine, James Avery sat down at his favorite pub and order a pastrami sandwich and a cup of tea as he pulled out his copy of the Daily Prophet. The front page story – about a muggle born arrested for importing housewares from France without a Special License (only required for muggle born businessmen) – made him smile. He made a mental note to see if he could take over his inventory. He wouldn't be needing it.
A waitress brought him over a cup of tea. He didn't even look up as he picked it up and took a sip. It was only as he brought it to his lips that he realized the cup was a lot fancier and more delicate than they usually used here. But as soon as he took the first sip, that detail became unimportant as he felt the cup suck him in.
The rest of the diners looked up in surprise as the older gentleman in the corner booth disappeared, his newspaper fluttering to the floor.
A woman in a servers uniform rushed up to the table and grabbed the cup as at the same time the pub owner rushed out from behind the bar yelling, "Don't touch that." And then a moment later, "Hey, you don't work here!" But the woman had already run out the door
As soon as she ran out, Emmeline canceled the color changing charms on her hair and clothes, making them appear to be regular muggle attire.
"Get on!" Sirius pulled her up behind him onto his bike before roaring away through the trash infested alley. They drove up the wall at the end and over the building onto a road in muggle London.
"Feels like old times," Emmeline smiled slightly as she held tight onto Sirius. If Sirius wasn't still holding onto his Auror sensibilities, she would have tossed the cup to shatter in the street. But instead it would join their growing collection, though Avery was their highest profile target so far.
\*/
Hermione lay in bed, staring at the ceiling of her bead again. 'What am I supposed to do?' She had always tried to be a 'good girl'. But now she was at a loss as to what that even meant. 'Why did I sleep with him? I knew he's dating Ginny!' She curled into a fetal ball as a wave of self loathing coursed through her. After several seconds she finally tamped it down. 'What's done is done. I just need to move on, change myself into the person that I should be. Maybe I should ask Ron out'. That thought was absurd on so many levels that she knew she never actually would: Ron was still in hiding, probably either on the continent or in the States. Chances were she would never see him again. And if she did, she had come to accept that he wasn't interested in her.
But Harry was. He said that he loved her. And he was so comfortable to hang out with, except... "Arg!" that would be wrong! He was Ginny's!
"Hey, if you need to do that, go to the loo. Some of us are trying to sleep," Parvati snapped from the other side of the dorm.
\*/
The following day was the deadline to sign up to stay at Hogwarts over winter break. McGonagall had advised all of the muggle born students (and most of the others as well) that they should do so. Hermione had been delaying making the decision: with everything that was going on, she really wanted to see her parents. But McGonagall was right – it would put them in unnecessary danger, coming to pick her up.
At breakfast Terry had joined the Gryffindors and they were talking about what the Rangers should do over winter break.
"I think we should also spend some time with the other students that are staying. Many of them aren't used to spending the holidays by themselves. And some, like Susan Bones, may not have any family left outside of Hogwarts." Nobody had heard from Amelia, the Head of Magical Law Enforcement, since the Ministry fell. Susan was holding it together, but her grades had plummeted.
Hermione found herself smiling – Harry always did the right thing. She then remembered that she wasn't supposed to be thinking about things like that. 'Maybe I shouldn't be sitting so close'. But Harry was a friend, and she wasn't going to let one accident change that.
"Ok, we just have the midterms to get through, and then we have two weeks to do whatever."
\*/
When Hermione walked into the Library, she was surprised to find Ginny sitting at a desk, a book open in front of her, as she stared off into the distance looking morose.
"Hey, what brings you down here?" Ginny usually studied up in the Gryffindor Common room - she like having people around her. A sudden guilty flash went through Hermione, 'What if she's here to talk to me because she found out what happened withHarry?'Her heart started pounding.
"Harry broke up with me."
Hermione sat down next to Ginny and put an arm around her to comfort the younger girl, at the same time feeling like a complete fraud, like a horrible person. "Did he say why?"
"No. Well, yes, he said that it just wasn't working out. But that doesn't mean anything," Ginny sniffled and dabbed at her eyes with her sleeve. "I bet it's some other girl. Guy's just can't keep it in their pants!" Guilt shot through Hermione, and her shoulders hunched up. "I'm going to find her and kill her!" Ginny shot to her feet. "Thanks for sitting with me, but I think I need to burn some of this … whatever off." She strode out, heading for the quidditch pitch & the broom shed.
\*/
Amycus came to Snape's office. "You missed the meeting that the Dark Lord called last night."
"I was busy. Being a headmaster is a full time job, especially in this difficult time." All of the muggle born children were in a panic, and the pureblood parents were annoyed as well, writing letters of complaint. Fortunately, most of the muggle parents were completely clueless, so while they weren't exactly quiet, their options were limited and their letters could safely be ignore. But if the purebloods actually had any plan for what they wanted to do, they could have him sacked in a heartbeat, except that most were scared that whoever replaced him would do an even worse job.
"I make time to go when the Dark Lord calls."
Snape just smiled, 'Yes, but you don't actually teach'. As usual, he didn't say that out loud. It would not be diplomatic, and he was always diplomatic.
"The Dark Lord wants you to send all of the muggle born children to him, for placement with appropriate families."
"No."
"Excuse me?"
"Confundus!" Snape hit the Carrow before he knew that he was in a fight. While Amycus tried to gather his scattered wits, Snape Obliviated selected memories. 'Hm. His mind has the texture of Swiss cheese.' Clearly, he was not the only person Obliviating this Death Eater, though the other person was far less talented. Their Obliviations were crude, sledgehammer-like work. At this rate, Amycus would be reduced to being a drooling idiot (more so than he already was).
"You can go now. Thank you for bringing me your end of term grades." Amycus' mind (or impending lack thereof) wasn't his problem.
Snape turned back to his desk and the mountain of paperwork. He wasn't certain how long he could keep up this juggling act, but there was no way that he was going to turn those little vermin over to the Dark Lord. There was very little that Snape actually liked, but he had a very large and intricate hierarchy of things that he despised. And children were nowhere near high enough on that to warrant being turned over to Voldemort.
\*/
Nominally, Hermione was doing homework. Except she had been staring at the same half written charms essay for the past half hour. A small pool of ink had formed under her quill.
'Why did that idiot break up with Ginny? The whole point was so that he wouldn't!' She felt horrible. She had never ever meant to hurt Ginny (or Harry). 'So what am I supposed to do to fix this?' She obviously had to do something. Ginny clearly loved Harry.
She lowered her head onto the desk, not noticing that her hair was dipping into the pooled ink. She just had no idea how to go about doing it. She was no Daphne – her talents were academic, not social. 'What can I do?' Finally, she pushed herself back upright and brushed back her hair. 'Fine. Next time I see him, I'll ask Ron out!' That would settle everything. It would resolve her unresolved tensions with Ron, it would show Ginny that she wasn't cheating with Harry. Everything would go to the way that it should be.
She felt relieved.
She didn't notice that brushing her hair back had smeared ink all over her forehead and half way down her hair.
\*/
"Hey, Harry?" Ginny walked up to Harry. "I just want to clear the air. I don't want us to.. separate on a bad note." She took a deep breath and pushed on, "I didn't mean to tell you what to do and what risks you should or shouldn't take. I know I do a lot of risky stuff – George is constantly berating me for it. Ron too, but that's because he's a prat." She fidgeted with the edge of her sweater. "What I mean is... I know that it was hypocritical of me to tell you not to do something because it's dangerous." Her shoulders hunched up as she spoke, and she suddenly looked much smaller, much less Ginny-like. Harry had never seen her appear so vulnerable. "It's just that I was worried that you would get hurt. Get killed. Like Collin."
Harry awkwardly put an arm around her and rubbed her back. "Thanks. You coming to explain this means a lot to me." She was a lot more brave than he was. He never told her why he broke up with her.
"So, we are.."
"Friends?" Harry finished quickly.
"Always." Ginny hugged Harry tightly.
\*/
Remus stood up. The Order meeting had been one interminable session of doom and gloom, and everybody was emotionally wrung out. "There is one bright light: I've been talking to the British werewolf packs. Last year, many of them were leaning towards supporting You-Know-Who. They weren't happy with swearing allegiance to packs from the continent, but Fenrir Greyback was a strong Alpha and very persuasive. After the attack on Hogwarts, that has changed. Given You-Know-Who's complete disregarded for the were-wolf casualties, they feel that they were used as cannon fodder. Also, Fenrir Greyback's death undermined the appeal of joining with his foreign packs. I believe that most werewolves will be neutral"
Lily nodded and gave him a smile of encouragement. Keeping the Order going was difficult, and their operations had become even more circumspect. At least James was having some success on the continent.
It would be a difficult Christmas.
\*/
And at Hogwarts, the last midterms were completed. Some students went home, but the majority decided to remain. It was kind of nice, if a little strange – it felt like an extended weekend.
Harry's was heading down to the Great Hall, late for dinner, when his mirror buzzed. He debated getting it now or calling Neville back after he ate. "You guys go on ahead." He waived Dean and Terry on as he stepped off into an empty classroom. "I'll be just a minute." He activated the mirror. To his surprise, the person on the other side was a stranger – an older woman.
"Harry? It's me, Daphne," She whispered urgently. "Neville and I got captured by the Death Eaters. I think we're at Malfoy Manor, in the wine cellar."
"What happened?" Harry asked. He wasn't certain if this was legit, but he would go with it for now. If it was real, his brother was in trouble.
"We polyjuiced and tried to sneak into Gringotts. It didn't work. We.." She glanced nervously sideways at something off screen. "I have to go. Don't call." The mirror went dark.
Harry jogged down to the Great Hall to the other Rangers. "Guys, we have a problem." Harry jerked his head back the way he had come. "Come with me so we can talk."
"Can't I have dinner first?" Dean moaned.
"What, are you Ron?" Terry replied. The Ravenclaw had started eating with the Gryffindors more often than not. "I'll go get Ernie."
"Get everybody. We'll meet in the Room."
A few minutes later, everybody was gathered in the Room of Requirement and Harry had explained what had happened.
"What I don't understand is why it was Daphne making the call instead of Neville. I hate to say it, but she is a Slytherin." Hermione voiced.
"She wouldn't do that!" Ginny retorted, giving Hermione a sharp look. "She loves Neville. He's probably injured. If somebody you loved was in danger, you would also do anything to protect them."
Hermione opened her mouth to reply and then shut it without saying a word, leaving it to Terry to say the obvious. "That makes it more likely that it's a trap, not less."
Harry shrugged. There wasn't anything he could do about that. Either way, he had to go rescue his brother. "Ginny, do you think we can get in touch with Bill? He's a ward breaker."
Ginny nodded, "Yeah. He's probably at the Burrow for Christmas. And his girlfriend's an Auror – she'll know what to do."
Harry shook his head no. "I know what to do. Whether it's a trap or not, it's pretty certain that they have my brother, and I have to go get him out. The only question is how to do it safely."
"And an Auror is going to be able to help with that," Ginny replied, exasperated. Harry was too fearless – he had never gotten hurt, and he didn't know how bad it could be.
"She's right, mate," Dean added. "But how do we get there?"
"I got that covered," Harry pulled out the string Portkey that Bill had given him at the Slug party. 'I guess Slughorn was right – the party was useful for something.' "This will take us to the Burrow." He glanced sideways a Hermione, remembering who he had gone with to that party, 'even though it sent me down the rabbit hole chasing after that crazy...' he let the though trail off not certain how he wanted to finish it.
"Ok, lets do it." Ginny looked at the others. "You all brought your brooms?"
\*/
[[Flashback]]
Neville glanced at Daphne – they were outside the Parkinson vault, with a goblin waiting for them in one of their insane transport carts. "Now what?"
The goblin had pulled out a magazine of some sort and was reading it, being careful to keep it below the edge of the cart so the humans couldn't see what it was.
"Inside," she pressed the key to the lock, and the door swung open. They quickly stepped inside and closed the door. "So according to what we found, the closest LeStrange vault is two levels down. That shouldn't be too hard, but we'll need to Stupefy our driver. You go and chat with him. Maybe ask if there is a fee for withdrawals of over 1,000 Galleons."
Neville rolled his eyes, "This is Gringotts. There are ALWAYS fees."
"Yes, I know, but he's a goblin. Go pretend to be a dumb human and ask, and I will Stupefy him while he's goblin-splaining."
"Ok," Neville had just stepped out on the the terraces outside the vault door when an alarm sounded and strobe lights started flashing all over. A voice yelled something in Gobbledygook.
"Stupefy!" Neville immediately stunned their driver in a panic, "We must have been detected. Let's get out of here!" Neville pulled out a boom and Daphne mounted behind him. The plan was that Neville would fly and she would cast any protections that they might need. Neville kicked off and the broom raced up parallel to the tracks, heading for the opening far above.
The wizards flew past some goblin guards in full armor, but none of them were attentive enough to stop them. The track spiraled and whirled around through the vast space, and Neville followed it as closely as he could for fear of running afoul of some kind of trap otherwise.
The two teens finally burst back out into the Gringotts main lobby, to find themselves flying towards the middle of a crossfire – Lucius Malfoy had a raggedly looking bum pinned behind an abandoned tellers desk. A pair of large men in ill-fitting high-end wizards robes were just circling around.
As Neville steered up to avoid getting hit, Lucius's eyes got big. "Stop them!" He yelled.
One of the thugs – it was Macnair – turned to cast something just as Neville dove for the entrance. But just as the would-be bank robbers reached it, the solid oak doors slammed shut.
Neville yanked up hard on his broom, slewing it to the side so that they wouldn't slam head first into the solid oak, but they still side swiped it hard enough to momentarily disorient both teens, which is when Macnair hit them with an incarcerous spell. The two tumbled off their broom, with Neville hitting his head on the way down, leaving him groggy.
At the same time, Lucius' other companion dragged the stupefied bum out onto the main floor – it was Ron Weasley.
Malfoy gave the stunned Boy Who Lived a satisfied look before strolling over to the two by the broom.
"And who exactly are you?" He could identify Pandora Parkinson at a glance – he had had an affair with her some years back, when she was still fresh and attractive – and there was no way that this was her. The Parkinsons were on the continent, acting as ambassadors to France.
"Finite Incatatem!" He cast, careful to avoid hitting the ropes binding them together.
Nothing happened. "Polyjuice? Well, we'll just have to wait for that to wear off." He would hold off on reporting to the Dark Lord until he knew what he had. It wouldn't do to ask for just minor credit if he had caught some of the big fish from the Order (and of course, the reverse didn't even bear thinking about).
"Bring them to Malfoy Manner," he directed Crabbe and Mcnair.
A goblin hissed at him. "They were interfering with Goblin property. According to the treaty that your kind signed, they are our prisoners."
Malfoy sneered at the goblin, "They did not steal anything from the Goblins, so they are not under goblin jurisdiction. They are simply wizarding fugitives that were arrested here. You have no jurisdiction over them."
The Goblin glanced off to look at his supervisor, who grimaced without a word. With final hiss, the Goblins retreated.
Minutes later, everybody had been portkeyed to Malfoy manor and the three prisoners were deposited into separate cells in the wine cellar. 'What sort of wine cellar comes with prison cells?' Daphne wondered. They didn't dare talk – they didn't know who was listening. The damn thing was, if she told them who she was, Lucius would probably let her go. But only if she told him now, before he reported to Voldemort. She glanced at the cell across the room, where Neville was being held. 'He's injured. He need medical attention.' She had heard how bad head injuries could be.
And once Voldemort was here, it was all over.
\*/
"Let me get this straight, you want to go charging in to the Malfoy Manor, despite the fact that it is probably full of Death Eaters? And you want Bill to help you do this?" Nymphadora asked incredulously. Twelve teens – the Rangers, including some new members - were all gathered in the Burrow, with Bill and Tonks. Arthur was out on Order business with Mundungus (Bill was worried about his father – he had taken being fired from the Ministry hard, and was spending far too much time with Mundungus. He wouldn't be at all surprised if they had stopped off at the pub on way home for 'a couple' of drinks).
"We're not going to be looking for a fight – we'll go in and out, fast as we can. We have all trained with flying our brooms in enclosed spaces." And fighting on them, if need be, but Harry didn't say that. He didn't want Tonks to think of this as risky.
'Thank you Sirius, for those Auror drills.' Though it had been his own (insane) idea to do them on a broom, in the Chamber of Secrets.
Bill got up and paced around the room. "If anybody else was telling me this, I would say 'no' and throw you out on on your arse. But I trust Harry to know what he's doing."
Dean and Seamus exchanged incredulous looks. Just because this was the RIGHT thing to do didn't mean it was SMART. Even they knew that, and they were Gryffindors.
"Are you going to go along with this?" Tonks asked equally incredulously.
"Yeah. But I'm just going to bring down the wards. The rest is up to you." It was a huge risk, but this was war, and they were all legally adults.
Tonks shook her head. "Give me a half hour before you head out so I can round up some Order members to give you some support. 'I can't believe that I'm organizing back up for a bunch of kids!'
Harry shook his head. "You can have a half hour while Bill works on the Malfoy wards – I don't know how long Nev and Daph have in there before the Death Eaters decide to interrogate them. In the meantime, everybody get ready." He was wearing his invisibility cloak under his clothes, in case he needed it, and he had his pockets full of things he could transfigure quickly. He was holding Dumbledore's wand, and he had his old wand strapped in his arm holster, just in case.
\*/
"Ok, hold on to the tablecloth," Bill instructed the group. It was actually an enlarged handkerchief. All of the Rangers looked varying degrees of nervous, but they took hold of the portkey without hesitation. "On the count of three.."
They spun into the air, landing a dozen yards from the wall around the Malfoy mansion.
"We should be facing the side of the house. These old mansions have a servants entrance on the side, from back when having human servants was all the rage, two hundred years ago. You should be able to get in through that." Bill talked, babbling nervously as he set up his counter-wards: special ward stones that he had 'borrowed' from his supply locker at Gringotts. Activating them would push a hole through the Malfoy protections.
"Right, and then I'll use a Point-Me for Neville" Hermione added. "How long can you keep the wards open?"
"If they're as strong as I expect, just a few seconds. Are you certain you want to do this? I will only be able to open up a hole maybe 3 feet in diameter," Bill added, but Harry just nodded as if it was not a concern. With a shrug, Bill continued "But once you're inside, you should be fine – most mansions are only warded to keep people out. But if you see any Death Eaters, get out, fast!"
"Yes, we already discussed this." He turned to the others, "Get ready to go."
Bill glanced around, "I would still prefer to wait for Tonks and the reinforcements."
Harry shook his head. "We don't have time. If they show up after we go in, have them hit the front of the house, put on a show."
"Can do." Bill took a deep breath,"tell me when you're ready."
Harry turned to look at his troops. Most of them had been training together for over a year on a weekly basis. The four new recruits would stay back with Bill, as a reserve. "Mount up, wands out. We do this like we practiced. Stay low, fly fast. No flashy spells."
Dean leaned over and whispered, "Yes, Entil'Zha," forcing a smile from Harry despite himself. He nodded to Bill, "whenever you are ready"
"On the count of three. One.. Two.. Three!" He tapped the keystone for his counter ward. With his mage sight, Harry saw the Malfoy ward ripple and tear. As soon as there was an opening large enough for a broom rider, he kicked off and darted through, followed by a stream of seven other broom, nose to broom bristles.
"Wow. They're good," Anthony Goldstein commented. He was one of the reserve members, along with Lavender brown, Hanna Abbot and Michael Corner.
"I hope it's not a trap."
"I hope they stay safe even if it is a trap."
\*/
The eight Rangers flew across the lawn, laying flat on their brooms, just inches above the manicured grass. In the dark they were all but invisible.
In the lead, Harry spotted a door on the side of the house. He cast an overpowered Muffliato followed by a blasting curse, silently ripping it off of its hinges. Harry flew in through the door and took a left, looking for a door to the basement or a kitchen (which would likely have access to the wine cellar). The other fliers followed him, keeping just a few inches between their brooms. As Harry approached the end of the corridor, he could see what looked like a lounge, and there was the sound of quiet conversation. Harry signaled a stop. There were definitely people out there, and it didn't look like a promising route. He looped back the way they had come, with the others following silently, flipping their brooms up and over to make the turn in the tight quarters of the hallway.
At the other end Harry led them into a cross-corridor. Here they found a dining room. It looked empty, so Harry flew in, heading for the door at the far side – if he was designing a mansion, that's where he would put a kitchen. He was almost there when the door swung open and Jugson stepped out, a ham sandwich in his hand.
The bald Death Eater froze at the absurd sight of people on brooms in the dining room. Before he could recover his wits he was hit with a pair of almost silent stunners.
He collapsed with a thud. 'Jugson?' Somebody called from the kitchen.
Harry burst through the door, strobing a Lumos in front of him. Another Death Eater had been reaching for his wand, But Harry Stupefied him as well before he could could figure out what was going on.
"There!" Ginny pointed to a door next to the one they had just come through – it must lead downstairs, as there wasn't enough space for another room. She Muffliato'ed the door and then Alohomora'ed it.
She was right. Harry exchanged relieved glances with the others. He wasn't certain how much time they had, but it couldn't be too long before somebody noticed something amiss.
Terry had the presence of mind to levitate the two stunned Death Eaters under the kitchen table and disillusion them.
They flew down into the basement - it was a surprisingly well lit room with racks of wine in the middle. Along the periphery of the room were a series of doors set side by side, like a bunch of closets, except the doors were thick oak.
"Neville? Daphne?" Harry asked as he hovered near one.
"Harry, thank Merlin. We're here!" came Neville's voice from the middle one.
"It's not a trap!" Dean breathed a sigh of relief. He and Ernie Alohomora'ed all three doors open, revealing Neville in one and a strange middle aged woman in another.
"I'm Daphne," she quickly called out. "The Polyjuice is still active." Ernie glanced at Harry. When he gave a nod, he and Dean dipped lower so that the two of them could mount up behind them.
"That's Ron!" Hermione called out. She had landed by the third door and ran in to help the Boy Who Lived up.
As soon as her feet touched the ground, an alarm sounded throughout the building.
The Rangers exchanged glances. As Hermione struggled to help a groggy Ron onto her broom, she could hear running footsteps. They sounded like they were approaching in the kitchen
"Susan, Terry, we blast the ceiling. Ginny, Seamus, vanish any debris." Harry quickly took charge. "Reducto!"
Three powerful blasting curses hit the ceiling, ripping a hole in it. Ginny vanished a chunk of beam that was falling towards them before helping Seamus vanish broken pieces from the jagged edges of the hole.
Harry didn't wait for them to finish, flying in a corkscrew to avoid the jutting beams as he went up and out into the remains of the dining room. A dark cloaked figure was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Harry slammed the door shut into his stunned face and transfigured it into brick as he raced for the windows.
The transfigured door would hold just for a few moments, but that was all he needed to put his head down and cast a Bombarda at the window. He hit it almost the same time as the spell, shards of glass biting into his left shoulder and back.
He heard spell fire from inside the house as the other Rangers followed suite, casting half-aimed spells just to disorient their attackers long enough to fly out the window.
Harry was most of the way to the Malfoy property line when a sudden overwhelming pressure smashed down, forcing all of the Rangers to stumble to the ground.
Voldemort descended, flying without the benefit of a broom.
Harry staggered up, transfiguring the grass into grasping tentacles, but Voldemort casually sheered these off with a wave of his wand, which continued on to cast an oily yellow spell at him. Harry threw himself to the side, letting the rot spell splash onto the ground behind him.
The other Rangers were slower to recover. Dean had managed to stay on his broom, but the others were on the ground, exchanging spell fire with Death Eaters that were casting from inside the dining room.
It was a matter of time before one of them thought to circle around and catch them in a pincer.
Harry did his best to exchange spells with Voldemort, but the Dark Lord easily blocked his attacks, and the one time Harry was dumb enough to shield against one of Voldemort's spells, he was knocked off of his feet.
Which was the only thing that saved him from the decapitation curse that went through the spot he had been a moment before.
As Harry rolled to his feet. Hermione attacked Voldemort from the side, trying to buy Harry some time, but the Dark Lord simply motioned with his off hand, and a barrier of stone rose to block her spell.
As she darted to get a clear shot, Harry transfigures the wall into a hand that grasped at Voldemort, but he just side-stepped it casually.
"I do not know who you are boy, but you are a nuisance. Avada Kedavera!"
Harry could see the spell building before the Dark Lord said the words, so he threw himself to the side in time.
Right into the path of another Death Eater.
Before the Death Eater could get his spell off, Susan was casting at him, keeping him too busy to do anything.
"Everybody, run for the wall!" Harry directed, as he transfigured the lawn between the Rangers and the Death eaters into cthonic horrors – massive tentacles with mouths on them, that not only attacked the Death Eaters but also blocked their view of the retreating teens.
His Rangers scrambled for brooms or just ran, casting at the few Death Eaters on this side of Harry's horror.
"Harry!" Hermione shrieked.
Harry turned around – he had been momentarily distracted by his transfiguration – to see Voldemort casting another 'Avada Kedavra!"
This one hit him square in the chest.
"No!" Hermione cast a piercing hex, but the Dark Lord easily batted it aside with a smile. He deflected the next couple of spells from the Rangers, toying with them.
Suddenly their was a loud gong and the Malfoy wards collapsed. Remus Lupin and Tonks blasted a hole in the wall, sending the debris at Voldemort. Several more Order members started casting through the open, as well as the Ranger reserve.
Voldemort grimaced, going on the defensive as he took a moment to come up with a strategy. There was no rush - his followers would make it through the cthonic barrier shortly, and they would dispose of any intruders that he overlooked.
"Hey, snake-nose, we aren't done here!" Voldemort turned to see Harry Potter get up, a circle burnt through his clothes, revealing… nothing. It was as if there was a hole punched clear through his torso. A gray cloud of ghostly figures swirled around him as he rose. Most were featureless, with just a vaguely humanoid outline, but every once in a while one of them would coalesce into a clear human form.
"What are you?" A small trickle of a barely remembered emotion tickled Voldemort.
"I am what you made me." As Harry staggered up, everybody had a blueish or greenish tinge. It was worse than when he was in that muggle hospital – much worse. His ability to see magic was ramped up so that he could barely distinguish the people inside the aura around them. Except Voldemort – his aura was a purplish blob connected by a spiderweb of glowing strings to his body, like it was a puppet that he was controlling (it looked somewhat like the connection that Dementors had to their bodies). And there were strands shooting off from him to elsewhere els.
To the Horcruxes?
Voldemort's eyes got big and he shot into the air, giving the Rangers time to race for the edge of the apparition barrier.
"Everybody, go!" Harry called out as he ran. As soon as he staggered to the other side of the wall demarcating the Malfoy property, Bill grabbed him and Side-alonged him to the Burrow, leaving the ghost army to fade away.
\*/
"So, care to explain what happened there?" Bill asked.
About a quarter of the group – mostly Order members - had apparated back to the Weasley residence.
"Did everybody make it out?" Harry asked.
Tonks nodded, "I saw everybody apparate out before I left. I'm not certain where they all went, though."
"The Rangers probably went to the Shrieking Shack, so that they can get back into Hogwarts." If they remembered his instructions. Harry hoped that they kept it together until they got back. "I should go join them."
Ginny, the only other Ranger that had also come to the Burrow, looked torn. She was sitting next to a badly beaten Ron as Emmeline Vance cast basic healing charms on him. She wanted to go check on her friends, but this was her (idiot) brother.
"What's going on with your chest?" Remus pointed.
"Oh, that. I'm wearing my Dad's invisibility cloak. Apparently it can stop the killing curse. Good to know." Harry reached nonchalantly through the hole burnt through his robes to check under the cloak. Aside from an odd, star shaped burn, his chest looked normal. He quickly pulled the cloak back into place and cast a mending charm on his robe (on both the front and the back – the Killing Curse had passed through him like he wasn't even there) to cover up the damage – it should hold until he got back to Hogwarts.
He could freak out when he had some privacy. Now, he had to keep going until he got everybody home safe. And… he almost lost his balance.
"I need to go now," he turned and headed for the door, walking carefully so as not to stumble into any half-seen obstacle.
"Hold on, young man," Tonks blocked his way. "You need to have a medi-witch check you out." She wasn't certain why she had let Bill convince her to let Harry carry our his harebrained scheme in the first place (well, she did: As Alistar always said, 'love makes you stupid') But now she was going to make up for it by being the responsible adult.
"I have responsibility to my people," Harry countered. "They're probably waiting at our rendezvous point, worried sick. If I don't show up, who knows if they'll do something stupid."
"What about the Avada Kedavra? Who knows what side effects there could be from surviving a Death Curse!" Tonks countered.
"I do," Harry smiled cheekily, "I've made a habit of it." He saw no need to worry anybody by telling her that his vision was still swimming – he could barely see the people under the blue glow that surrounded them. He turned to the glow that was (probably) Ginny, "Let me know how Ron does. Return to Hogwarts when you can." Ron's glow was more green than blue, but it was as bright as everybody else's. Harry wasn't certain why, but he hoped that it meant that he wasn't too badly inured.
Ginny nodded before standing up and giving Harry a hug, "Thanks for saving him."
Harry nodded awkwardly. He was being thanked for something he didn't really do – he hadn't even known that Ron was there. He patted Ginny's back awkwardly. It felt good to hold somebody after all that stress. 'Maybe Hermione was right – maybe what happened at the Parkinson's was just a reaction to the fight.' He stepped away from Ginny. "Stay safe." He apparated away just as the Floo roared and Arthur Weasley and Lily Potter spilled into the Burrow.
\*/
"Harry!" Neville grabbed him into a bear hug as soon as he apparated into the Shrieking Shack. "Are you ok? I saw you get hit with something during that battle."
"Eh, it was the Killing Curse. I walked it off." Harry stepped back to show that he was all in one piece.
"Harry James Potter, don't you dare do that again!" Hermione somehow teleported between the two brothers so that she was practically leaning into Harry. Strangely, her blue glow wasn't a smooth blob like most of the others but was spikey, like a porcupine with its quills up, reaching out to stab into him. Harry quickly took a step back from the quivering mass. "I thought you were dead!" She glanced up and down over him, making sure that everything was intact.
"So you really are the Master of Death!" Neville replied, only half jokingly.
"Don't say that," Harry countered self consciously, glancing to see how the others would react to something so pretentious. Seeing the puzzled look on everybody's face, he elucidated, "Dumbledore apparently collected artifacts that looked a lot like the Three Hallows, from the that story by Beedle the Bard. And I, uhm, inherited them. But they had nothing to do with this - I think it was just my Dad's cloak."
"Well, don't risk it again," Terry added, "we wouldn't want to lose our leader." Terry's aura had odd purple ripples to it.
"Are you ok? Did you get hit by something?"
"I'm fine." Terry's hand self consciously rubbed his left thigh. "I'll have Madam Pomfrey check me out once we get back."
"Let's head in," Neville pointed to the secret tunnel, "Daphne and I can hide out in the Room of Requirements until we're ready to head back out." Now that Harry had a chance, he noticed that Neville did look exhausted and kind of beat up.
"Are you really ok?"
"Yeah, Lavender and Daphne patched me up. I just need some rest."
Harry nodded. "In that case, you go on ahead. There's something I need to take care of first."
He disapparated.
\*/
He reappeared at the edge of the Malfoy mansion, his invisibility cloak covering all of him. He carefully crept over to the hedge outside the wall. He could see a pair of wizards casting spells at the hole, slowly patching it back up. A third one appeared to be probing the wards – this was something that would not be visible to the regular person, but with Harry's augmented sight, he could see the shimmer of the wards give and stretch under his ministrations. The people, on the other hand, where indistinct blurs.
The only illumination was coming from the mansion and the the glowing ball of light floating by the workers. Harry looked away from them and waited for his eyes to adjust. Finally, he could make out some shapes in the darkness.
Harry licked his lips nervously and started working his was around the outside of the wall, not looking at the mansion, to preserve his night vision. He walked slowly so as not to trip. He was about a quarter of the way around when he saw it – one of the blue strands that he had noticed coming off of Voldemort.
He had guessed right – Voldemort was in residence, or had at least stuck around to debrief (torture) his people. Harry mounted his broom and slowly, slowly flew along side the strand.
It was well after midnight when he noticed that the blue string was branching. He chose one that looked thicker and followed that. He had taken his invisibility cloak off at this point, and was flying a little faster, but it was still almost dawn when he finally arrived at the end point.
It was #12 Grimauld place.
With a determined smile he apparated back to the Shrieking Shack and staggered back to the Gryffindor dorm and his bed.
\*/
"Wake up, mate," Dean was shaking Harry the following morning.
"Mwa?"
"You missed first period!"
"Breakfast?"
"That too. What time did you get in last night? Seamus and I hung out with Neville and the others in the Room until almost midnight, and you still weren't back! We were worried about you, mate!"
Harry pushed himself upright. "It was.." He remembered what had happened – he had found where one of Voldemort's Horcruxes was hidden. "I had an important erred to run. And it was a success!"
\*/
"Hermione, I need your help," Ginny pulled the other girl aside as they left the Great hall after lunch. "I was talking to my father, and we need to stop these 'Ranger raids'. Somebody is going to get hurt or killed. We aren't ready to fight Death Eaters. The others won't listen to me, but they respect you."
Hermione nodded, glancing around to make sue that there wasn't in view before casting a Mufflato. "I know. I don't like it any more than you do, but what else can we do? We can't let Vol.. You-Know-Who just take over. If that happens, we won't be the only ones who's lives are in danger." Hermione shrugged, feeling powerless. She completely agreed with the younger girl, but there was no alternative. If they didn't fight, evil would win.
"But Harry got hit with the Killing Curse. Again! He almost died!" Ginny took a ragged breath. "Merlin, I don't know how he's still alive!"
Hermione nodded. So this was about Harry. "I know. And he's acting like the fact that he got lucky twice means he's invincible. He doesn't understand that the law of probability is against him now!" She sighed as well. "But I… we can't stop him. I don't like it anymore than you do, but this is important to him. This is who he is – he has a need to save people. And… And it is important to all of wizarding England as well. The best I.. we can do is support him and make sure that he doesn't take risks needlessly."
Ginny glared at her. 'She's become a brain dead Entil'Zha groupy.' She clearly wasn't able to look at the situation rationally anymore. "If he gets hurt, it's going to be all your fault!" And stomped off.
\*/
"Who is this Entil'Zha?" Voldemort demanded. When he had first heard the name over the summer, he had thought it was just Ministry bravado, but now... He wasn't certain if he had heard the name or if his Legilimency had picked it up during the skirmish at the mansion, but it pervaded everything that had gone wrong recently. He could taste it. He resisted the urge to flick his tongue out like a snake. "Well?"
Several low level Death Eaters cowered in the meeting room. They didn't know the answer, and didn't dare draw his attention - the Dark Lord had become more and more erratic of late. Nobody replied.
"Where is Snape? This Entil'Zha is young, a recent graduate of Hogwarts, most likely. Maybe even a student! Snape will know him." He faced one of the Death Eaters directly and repeated. "Why is Snape not here?"
"I don't know. He didn't come to your summons" He stammered. Severus Snape had not attended any Death Eater meetings since the fall of the Ministry.
Voldemort hissed. Snape was now ensconced in Hogwarts and refused all demands that he present himself. It was almost like he thought he was above the Dark Lord (the possibility that he took his academic responsibilities seriously did not occur to Voldemort. This was clearly a personal affront). "Very well. We will have to take over Hogwarts. I was planning to do so anyways. But now we will need to move up the time table." The Taboo had informed him that there were multiple instances of people using his name there – it was clearly a hot bed of insurrection.
His gaze snapped to one of the wizards standing stock still, like a mouse trying to avoid drawing attention to itself when faced with a snake, "Put the word out that my loyal ones should prepare themselves." Voldemort could just use the Dark Mark to call all of his disciples to him, but he was gracious, and would give them some warning. Also, it would allow him to consult with Lucius – the Malfoy scion was keeping track of the disposition of their forces. He was one of the few of his followers that actually contributed something other than their body. Voldemort glanced back at the two remaining Death Eaters standing in the room, 'Speaking of bodies, should I make them into Inferni? No, not yet. I can always do that after they fall, as long as the cadavers aren't too badly mutilated.'
\*/
"So if you can't see it anymore, how will we know what we're looking for?" Neville asked as he and Ginny accompanied Harry to #12 Grimauld place.
Harry gave his brother an annoyed look, "I thought my 'mage sight' would last longer than 24 hours. Last time I had it for over a month!" On the plus side, he could actually see what he was looking at, instead of having trying to guess where everything was so that he wouldn't bark his shins. He could still see spells before they were cast, though, so all the training he did with Sirius wouldn't go to waste. "Look for anything that feels evil."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Neville sighed as they entered into the unused house. Sirius had let go the last house elf – Kreacher – some years ago, so everything was covered in dust.
"I'll be able to identify one," Ginny replied grimly. Her memory of the Diary still made her skin crawl. "Why don't we split up - you go with Harry upstairs and I'll take the downstairs."
"Righty-oh!" The two boys went up to the second floor and started on the first bedroom.
"I can see why Uncle Sirius doesn't want to live here – it's almost as bad as the Shrieking Shack." Sirius had done the minimum amount when he had locked up the property – he took out his own belongings, he had burnt everything in his mother's bedroom, and he had tossed sheets over the furniture. Other than that, it was the same as it was when people had lived here, except dustier, and with half the spell lights no longer working.
"Oh, I don't know. If it was cleaned up and the hideous yellow wallpaper was replaced with something less 1970's, it might not be too bad," Neville pulled open a series of drawers, one after the other, but they were all empty. "Speaking of the Shrieking Shack, What do you think of Susan Bones?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that she's waiting for you at the Shrieking Shack." Harry had decided to only take a small group to search the house, so that their absence from Hogwarts would be less conspicuous (and so that they wouldn't trip any wards in Grimauld place – he and Nev were keyed in, but he wasn't certain how many 'guests' he could bring without setting off the alarm), but Susan and Hermione had insisted on waiting for them at the Shrieking Shack. "That's the sort of thing a girlfriend does. And now that you've broken up with Ginny, you're fair game."
Harry shrugged, blushing slightly. He focused on examining the room, looking for any tell-tale traces of the purple or blue aura. "Her Aunt's an Auror. She's just trying to live up to her expectations."
Neville snorted, "Yeah, keep telling yourself that. You're a 17 year old wizard, in his last year at Hogwarts."
"So.. How are you and Daphne doing?" Harry changed the subject, hoping to embarrass his brother into silence.
"Surprisingly good." Neville smirked. Having survived a near death experience had melted the Ice Queen's aloofness. "We might have an announcement the next time the family is all together."
Harry turned to look at his brother in surprise, but before he could say anything, they heard Ginny call out, "I found it!"
They raced down the stairs to find the witch opening up a built-in corner display case. Harry could see a little will-o-wisp like blue light hanging off of something inside it.
"Don't touch anything!" Harry called out.
Ginny held up a locket ,"I'm not stupid! I'm not going to open it!
Neville nodded his agreement, "It should be safe to handle, otherwise Sirius would have noticed that there was something off about it."
"I still don't feel comfortable just carrying that in my pocket," Harry pointed out.
"So let's destroy it here. We can try using Fiendfyre." Neville turned back to Ginny. "Ginny?" the girl was walking away from them, heading towards the door. "Where are you going?"
She didn't respond, instead opening the front door and walking out.
Harry and Neville exchanged glances, "Ginny, let go of the locket!" Harry called out as he and his brother ran to intercept the girl before she could disappear from sight. 'Thank goodness she doesn't have her apparition license yet!'
As they ran outside, Ginny had already mounted her broom and was in the air. Without breaking stride, Harry threw himself onto his own broom and kicked off.
"Damn," Neville staggered to a stop. The Malfoys had seized his broom when he was captured.
\*/
Harry poured on the speed, trying to catch up to the Weasley girl, but she dove down among the rooftops, flying with her trademark disregard for safety. Harry wasn't quite as much of a daredevil, but he made up for it by having a faster broom. He managed to get to within a few feet of her as she raced along the roof of a neighboring brownstone. He could see the locket flapping around her neck "Ginny! Take that off! It's controlling you!"
But she ignored him, instead turning to dive straight for the ground before turning into a side alley to weave between the jutting fire escapes. 'Why did the locket affect her so quickly? Is she sensitized to if from her experience with the diary?'
Ginny rolled sideways to avoid Harry's grasping hand. She knew he wasn't reaching for her, but for the locket. 'I always knew Harry liked Hermione. That's why he broke up with me,' The voice from the locket sounded so much like her own subconscious that she couldn't tell which was which. Ginny flew recklessly, going in through an apartments open window and smashing out through the one on the other side of the room, scattering glass behind her. It felt good to finally let all of her anger out.
'This is insane!' More than anything else, Harry was terrified that Ginny would get hurt. She wasn't taking any precautions at all. He wracked his brain for any spell that he had that could stop her without injuring her. "Confundus!"
It was by shear luck that Ginny managed to not get hit with the confusion spell. She glanced over her shoulder, glaring angrily at Harry.
And apparated.
\*/
Susan was pacing anxiously in the front entryway of the Shrieking Shack. She knew that it would probably be another hour wait before Harry and his team returned, but she was just too anxious. She had always hated waiting.
When she heard the soft pop of apparition form outside the door, she didn't wait to confirm who it was – she pulled the door right open. "Ginny! How did it.."
Hermione was just putting her book down when there was a flash of light and Susan dropped like a sack of potatoes.
Hermione's Ranger training overcame her natural scholastic inclination, and she cast a shield first before trying to figure out what was going on.
It saved her life.
Ginny same in blasting, casting ever nasty curse that she knew. Hermione retreated into the hallway leading away from the foyer.
"What's gotten into you?" Hermione demanded. She started out just shielding and dodging, but when Ginny showed no sign of slowing down, or even of recognition, she started mixing in stunners and other disabling spells.
Ginny was a pretty good fighter, but she wasn't thinking straight, and Hermione had developed into a canny duelist, using the terrain to the best advantage with her large repertoire of spells. She animated the floor boards that Ginny was standing on, causing her to lose her footing. The split second that she gained from that maneuver she invested in casting a spiderweb spell that filled the hallway. Ginny tried to shield against it, but there were too many strands. Several came up under her shield, grabbing her legs and tangling them and slowing her down.
Finally, Hermione was able to hit the younger girl with a Stupefy.
Moments after she did, Harry and Neville burst into the building. "Hermione, are you ok? Is Ginny ok?"
Hermione just nodded dumbly. Neville tore his robes off and used the resulting wad of cloth to slip the locket off of Ginny"
"That wasn't Ginny, " Harry patted Hermione's back awkwardly, "that was the locket – it's like the diary – it's a tool for controlling people. She found it, and it must have possessed her." Despite Hermnione being a crazy… witch, he felt vaguely guilty lying to her.
Hermione nodded, "That was awful" She whispered. It was worse than the battle at Malfoy manor. There, she had perfect confidence that she was one of the good guys, and her enemies were the bad guys. But here.. it almost felt like Ginny was attacking her over Harry. She glanced up at him before turning to look back at Ginny, "Shouldn't you check on Ginny?"
"She's fine," Neville replied as he checked Ginny's pulse.
Harry nodded and went to check on Susan. Fortunately, she had just been hit with a stunning spell.
"So what do we do with the locket?"
"I have an idea for something I want to try," Harry replied. "But it's way over my head - I'm going to need Terry's help for the Arithmancy." If it was even possible.
Hermione bit her lip, not pointing out that anything that Terry could do, she could do better and faster.
\*/
That evening, Harry, Neville and Terry met in the Room of Requirements. "My plan is to use soul magics to strengthen the bond between the locket and Tom, so that we can use it to cast spells on him." Everybody had started avoiding using Voldemort's name because of the Taboo, but only Harry referred to him almost disparagingly as 'Tom'.
Neville's face broke into a smile as understanding dawned. "Wicked! Can we really do something like that?"
"I don't know, but I can find out," Terry mused, "I will need to get into the restricted section of the Library.
Harry nodded. "I'll give Neville my invisibility cloak, and the two of you can get started on that. Meanwhile, I'm going to go back to Grimauld place and check out the Black library – there may be something there as well."
"I'll write up a list of books for you to look for."
While Terry was distracted, writing out the list, Neville whispered to Harry. "Do you think we'll be able to find the other horcruxes this way as well?"
"I don't know. Maybe?"
"Are you certain you're keyed to the wards on the Black library?" Terry asked as he handed over his list. It was disappointingly short – just five titles that Terry thought might have spells for strengthening bonds.
"If I need to, I can call Sirius, but I'd rather do it without him – he's a known Auror and I bet that the Death Eaters are out looking for him. There is no reason to make their job easier."
Terry nodded. "This is going to be pretty complicated work. I want to bring in Hermione."
Harry grimaced but nodded his agreement, "Ok, but nobody else – I don't want word getting out of what we're working on."
\*/
Ron paced around his bedroom. He hadn't been here since September, almost 6 months ago. 'I am tired of this. Hiding and running.' Nobody told him anything. Mr. Potter had treated him like a child, setting strict limits on where he could go and when, never explaining why except to say that it was dangerous.
And then living on the streets as he tried to find some way to get one of Voldemort's Horcruxes… 'I need to do something. This can't go on.'
"Ron, dinner!" George called up from the kitchen. Whenever his older brother visited, he took over the cooking duties, as their father's talent in that direction was vestigial.
Maybe he'd do something.
After dinner.
(George was a phenomenal cook)
\*/
"Ok, so here is what we have," Hermione was in full lecture mode. The Room of Requirements had several tables set up in an otherwise empty space. One of them held the locket, while the other two were covered in books and notes. "This is an old spell that should strengthen the bond. Harry will have to be the one to use it, though, as he is the only one that can see the target." She glanced up quickly at Harry. This would be their first time working together since she had rejected him, and she was terrified (The Ranger raid hadn't counted – there she had been just part of the Rangers, following Harry's instructions). She wasn't certain where the terror of not knowing what Harry thought of her ended and where the terror of what they were doing began, but it put her in a strange, emotionally detached state. It was almost like she was observing herself from outside (though that hadn't stopped her from taking charge of this research project).
Everything felt jumbled. On some level, she realized that she was skipping past several intermediate steps. Normally, she would build her way up to such an ambitious spell, but here she had just checked all the Arithmancy, and when it all added up, she decided to jump in with both feet. When she tried to consider what could go wrong, all she could think of was Harry hating her.
She was aware that her mind seemed to be completely short circuiting on risk assessment, but she just didn't care anymore.
Harry nodded. He could see the small dot of blue hovering above the locket when he was within a few feet of it.
Neville stood back with Terry, a few paces behind Harry. "Is this dangerous?" Hermione was acting weird, like she was manic. He glanced over at Terry, but he didn't look overly concerned.
Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. It shouldn't be. But make sure that you're not caught in the umbra of the spell – I modified it from a dark spell that used to be used as part of some wedding ceremonies, to bind the wife to her husband." Her sense of detachment was so great that she couldn't even build up a good head of outrage at this disgusting practice.
"Uh, yeah. You don't want to end up married to old Moldy-shorts," Neville laughed nervously.
"Why don't I practice the wand motions first" Harry replied, glancing at the sheet that Hermione handed him. "And this incantation – it six words long! When do I start the wand motion?"
"Uhm, you have to do the wand motion the whole time." Terry replied as he peered over Harry's shoulder. "That's the way all spells work"
"But the wand motion is pretty short. I'm going to have to move really slow!"
"Yeah. Sorry," Hermione glanced down at the floor, embarrassed at her failure. She should have made them the the same length, somehow.
Harry sighed. "It's fine." He glanced at the parchment again before looking over to see if Terry had any better understanding of the spell than he did. "Nobody else could have come up with something like this on such short notice," He finally added grudgingly.
He went through the wand motions three times, saying the words in his head to get the pacing. Something was happening, though, as he felt a prickling on his skin, like an electric charge building up.
"Ok, let's try it. Everybody else stay back." Harry waited for the others to go to the far side of the room, into the ward circle that Terry had prepared. He then walked over to the table with the locket and began the incantation, moving his wand lazily.
Nothing happened.
"Make more of a curl at the end of the wand motion," Hermione stepped out of the ward and tentatively approached Harry, reaching out as if to guide his wand hand. She knew that she shouldn't come too close, but correcting people was a strong compulsion for her. Almost as strong as Harry's 'helping people' thing. "And the third word is 'Ligamentus', not 'Legamentus'"
Harry nodded and cast again. This time a light flared from his wand, but it was unfocused and it didn't hit the Horcrux, instead filling the room with weird multicolored shadows.
Harry felt like he was floating. He looked to his left and saw himself standing by the table. 'Wait,' S/he glanced down – s/he was looking out of Terry's eyes! He felt a sudden surge of abject terror coursing through him. 'I messed up. I should never have allowed Harry to try it before testing it myself!' The sensation was like something out of a horror movie, snapping him back to himself.
"I need to end this now!' She raised Neville's wand and cast 'Finite Incantatum!"
Everybody slammed back into their own bodies. "Is everybody ok?"
"Uh, yeah," Neville replied, "I forgot what the world looked like when you're so short though," He quipped before dropping to his knees and vomiting (the Room kindly provided a chamber pot just in the correct position).
It was several long minuted before Harry felt better enough to talk. "I think.. we should take a break. We'll try it again in a couple of days." The others nodded.
\*/
The following morning, Hermione pulled Harry aside as he came down the stairs from the boy's dorms to go down to breakfast. "You're going to try the spell without any of us present, aren't you?"
Harry opened his mouth to deny the charge, but seeing the fierce determination in Hermione's face, he couldn't lie to her. He just shrugged awkwardly.
"You need somebody else there just in case something goes wrong. And I'm the obvious choice, as I can also tweak the spell if we need to, to make it work."
Harry frowned. He didn't want to be alone with Hermione. He had barely been able to concentrate yesterday. Actually, he didn't want ANYBODY there - he didn't want to endanger anybody else. Yesterday had been truly awful. "It's not safe."
"I know it's not safe! Being a Ranger isn't safe either. But we aren't going to defeat You-Know-Who by being safe. You know you need my help," and she needed to do everything in her power to keep Harry from dying – from being killed by some stupid mistake of hers that she didn't notice until it was too late.
Other Gryffindors walked past the two teens arguing quietly by the side of the stairs. Harry felt self-conscious discussing this in public. He shrugged awkwardly again, trying to think of an answer. He still didn't want to have Hermione there, But… If Hermione wanted to risk herself, that was fine. It's not like she didn't deserve whatever happened to her.
"Fine."
\*/
That evening found the two of them back in the Room of Requirements. "I was thinking, I was trying to simplify the incantation, but I may have taken it too far. " Hermione handed him another parchment – it was now eight words. "You'll have to slow down the wand motions some more," She smiled apologetically. Harry just nodded.
"If that doesn't work, I have a couple of spells that I found that may do something, but they aren't really a good match for this application," Hermione knew she was babbling, but she was too nervous to stop herself.
"Let's try your creation first." He pronounced the phrase while making the glacially slow wand motions. He could feel a tug of something reaching out from him to his wand point. Harry quashed that, instead trying to force the spell from his wand tip into the little blue dot. He struggled with it for ten minutes before releasing the spell. "I think that did something."
"Did you feel the connection all the way back to You-Know-Who?'
"No."
"Ok," Hermione pulled out one of the books that he had borrowed from the Black library. "Try using this spell." She showed him the page, "It will let us see if we made any progress.
"What on earth is a 'soul probe'? And why would anybody use it?"
"The writer says its useful for identifying if somebody is an Inferni. And it can also be used in the process of creating them."
Harry shrugged before casting the spell. "That's super weird. I can feel that there is a connection to something here." After a moment, he added, "but it doesn't give my any new information. I can see the connection equally well with my weird vision."
They went through the other spells that Hermione had bookmarked as candidates, but none of them did much of anything, before circling back to the eight word spell that Hermione had created. After he finished the wand motion, Harry tried to hold the spell in place for a good fifteen minutes this time. By the end of that time, the entire room was filled an energy that made everything tingle.
"Is this safe?" Harry asked belatedly. His voice sounded echo-y to his ears.
Hermione cast a couple of diagnostic charms, "we're both fine. What about the locket?"
Harry squinted. "The connection looks more robust, but I can't be certain. I'm going to try casting the eight word spell again."
Hermione nodded. It seemed to be the only thing that was working. So she DIDN'T make a mistake last night when she jumped straight to it.
This time, Harry held the spell for a full half hour, and the room was swaying when he was done.
"Ok, I think we should stop now," Harry looked at Hermione and giggled. "Sorry. I'm a little light headed."
Hermione struggled to control herself. Having Harry laughing was pushing her into a giggle fit as well. Finally, they managed to get control of themselves and headed back for the dorms.
"Um, Harry, can we talk? About..." Hermione asked as they stepped out of the Room of Requirements, but Harry didn't reply, instead picking up his pace. He didn't so much as look at her. She finally let him walk on ahead.