REPLY TO DAVE PETTY: I'm really glad to hear that you're enjoying my story! And yes, there is, indeed, a lot of mischief to come in this chapter and the next :)
enjoy! CH.17 - Stake-Out
It was surprisingly chilly and windy in London that night when Harry appeared at Claremont Square Park. The streets were dark and empty, the only sounds coming from the rustling of the leaves, and the shadows dancing deceivingly.
still hidden under his Invisibility Cloak, he crouched down behind some bushes and took out the DA coin.
"I'm here — Prongs" he wrote, and waited for a reply.
The coin turned warm after a short moment. "On our way to the South side of the park. — R.H.G."
Harry sighed lightly and tugged the cloak more securely around himself, wondering why, out of all nights, tonight felt like an autumn one.
He heard soft rustling behind him, and immediately drew his wand, still crouched down in the bushes, on high alert. To his relief, he heard a familiar voice whisper, "Harry?"
He lowered his cloak, revealing only his head.
"Over here!" he whispered back, a little louder. From behind a few large bushes appeared Ron, Hermione and Ginny, who swiftly joined Harry.
"Alright, guys, have you seen anything?"
"Nothing. There's no-one outside," whispered Ginny from Harry's right, rubbing her arms with her hands from the chill.
"Well, c'mon then, let's move to a better position so that we can have a good view of the house," suggested Ron.
No one expressed any complaints, so the foursome — still crouching — moved closer to the small, black, iron fence at the edge of the small park. Luckily, there was a low and dense tree very close to the fence, right in front of 12 Grimmauld Place, so that's where they settled.
Their plan was simple: stay hidden and look for any signs of Death Eater activity. Hermione would try and detect any sort of wards set around the area, which would help determine how bad said activity is, if there was any. If there turned out to be no wards set — which Harry highly doubted — then they would call it a night. If there were, then they were to spy from safety on the house and gather intel.
Harry was itching to just bust into the house, wands drawn, and let all hell loose, but he knew he — they — couldn't do it; it was too risky and, as Snape had so eloquently put it throughout the years, foolish and Gryffindor-ish.
Harry's stomach gave a sudden lurch of guilt. If Snape knew what they were up to, he would skin Harry alive, and after that evening's emotional and revealing conversation, Harry hated the thought of Snape perceiving this stake-out as a betrayal of whatever trust the two had been able to build over these last two weeks. After all, Snape had vowed to keep him safe, and here Harry was, foolishly staking out a probably-swarming place filled withDeath Eaters.
But he knew that Snape no longer held any power over him — them! They were no longer students and professor, and were all adult wizards…But the guilt continued to churn uncomfortably in his stomach, and Harry couldn't stop thinking of what Snape would think if he knew. Would he be disappointed?
"I'm going to see if I can detect any wards," came Hermione's hushed voice from his left, startling Harry out of his thoughts.
Hermione raised her wand and began chanting different spells in Latin. Every few sentences, she paused, concentrating intently. No one dared to interrupt her. Harry was glad that Hermione had her hair in a braid, because he wouldn't have appreciated her bushy mane getting blown into his face by the wind.
A few minutes later, Hermione lowered her wand, a grim look on her face. "There are concealment and silencing wards set, but I just don't understand why they didn't put up any of the more advanced wards," she told them, keeping her eyes fixed on the house in front of them.
"Maybe the Death Eaters just have a 'death' wish?" joked Ron, earning a slight punch to the shoulder from an unamused Ginny.
Harry slumped down against the thick tree trunk with a sigh. "Well, at least now we know that they're there. I guess we'll wait for now. Make yourselves comfortable," he insisted.
As they all sat themselves in the deep shadow of the thick tree, eyes on the surrounding area and house, no one really said a word. It was ghost-quiet, and the wind had died down a little. Harry's hands were getting a little cold, so he shoved them inside his pockets, only to feel something thin and cold in them. It suddenly hit him that they were the silver wrist bands he'd bought for himself and Ginny.
He looked over at where Ginny sat, a foot or so away from him. "Psst, Ginny!" That caught her attention. Harry gestured to her to come closer. Together, they moved to the opposite side of the thick trunk, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder.
"What is it, Harry?" asked Ginny, curious.
Harry felt like the biggest idiot when he began to stumble over his words. "I erm…Well, the other day...I…I got you something!" Feeling his cheeks grow red in embarrassment, Harry took out the two silver wrist bands from his pockets, and handed one to Ginny.
The girl studied it closely in her hands, tracing her fingers delicately over the single, red stone in the middle. Then, she looked up and beamed at him.
"It's beautiful, thank you, Harry!" She leaned forward and gave Harry a small kiss, before putting on the silver accessory.
Trying to quell the butterflies in his stomach, Harry explained,"I have an identical one, see?" he showed her his band, already on his wrist, too. "The stone warns you if the other wearer is in danger. I think it turns warm, or something."
Ginny smiled at him, a little cheekily this time. "Well, with your history, it'll certainly come in useful." She nudged him playfully with her elbow. "Thanks Harry, it's brilliant!"
They sat in companionable silence for a while, gazing up at the now-clear sky. Harry suddenly thought of Sirius as he spotted the constellation, and his thoughts returned to their stake-out. He and Ginny joined Ron and Hermione again, and the foursome continued watching.
Almost an hour later, a distant, yet all-too-familiar, CRACK sounded bringing them all back to full
From the shadows of the park's foliage, the foursome watched as an unmistakable, dark cloaked figure with a skull mask moved swiftly towards 12 Grimmauld Place. The figure paused, looking around at his surroundings, wand drawn.
For a heart-stopping moment, the Death Eater's gaze lingered on the place from where they watched, but then continued up the stairs to the door of 4 Grimmauld Place, and knocked on it.
They watched with bated breath as another cloaked figure answered the door, and let the other in, but not without some sort of remark and what sounded to be a jeer.
"Well, there you have it," Ron huffed.
Harry's insides churned. He was expecting as much, but to actually see it only infuriated him. How dare they strut about the place? How dare they use it as their residence, as if they own the place? And what of Kreacher? No matter how sour that house elf was, he didn't deserve to be tortured for information.
He felt a warm hand on his shoulder. "Harry?"
"I'm fine, Mione." He batted her hand away, and without warning, took out his wand and muttered, "Homenum Revelio!" pointing his wand at the house straight ahead.
There were only two Death Eaters in there.
But how could that make any sense? Why would there be only two of them?
"There's only two of them," Harry muttered to them, puzzled still.
"But that doesn't make any –"
"Sense, I know, Ron," Harry interrupted. Maybe they could take them out? Were they strong enough to take on two Death Eaters? Harry knew they said they wouldn't actually go in…
But what if Kreacher was being tortured at that very moment? What if the bastards were carelessly shifting through every room of the house, including Sirius' childhood bedroom? Worse, what if they found something that was once his mother's or father's, like that letter from Lily and photograph of the Marauders?
And they couldn't call for the Ministry — that place was already overrun with Death Eaters, and it wouldn't do to add oil to fire, as the saying went.
"I'm going in." It was a statement, a decision already made.
"Are you mad!?"
"HARRY!"
"Don't be stupid, mate!" came their protests all at once.
"Look, guys, you don't have to come! There's only two of them, and, for all we know, they might be torturing Kreacher and trashing the whole place!" He took a deep breath. "I can't just let them…They're in Sirius' home! The place that could have been MY home, had he not…"
Harry couldn't bring himself to say it. Instead, he let out a slightly shaky breath of fury and grief at the unfairness of it all.
"There's no way we're letting you go in there all alone, mate!" added Ron, punching him in the shoulder. Harry frowned.
"No. I can't let you —"
"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Harry James Potter!" cried Ginny exasperatedly. "When will you learn? You're stuck with us, and vice versa!"
Despite himself, Harry smiled at them, warmth taking place in his chest. He kept forgetting that his friends would stick with him through thick and thin.
"Alright then," relented Harry, his gaze falling on Ginny. "Gin, you stay here, in case something goes wrong and we're in trouble, alright? Go straight to McGonagall if anything happens." Harry hated how commanding his voice sounded with her, but he couldn't let anything happen to Ginny, and she would be their only hope of calling for help, should anything go wrong.
Ginny looked as if she were about to argue, but in the end agreed, giving Harry a small squeeze on the shoulder. "Be careful, alright?" she whispered.
"I'm her brother, and it's like I don't even bloody exist!" muttered Ron irritably. Ginny rolled her eyes and ignored him.
Under Harry's Invisibility Cloak, the trio crossed the street to the house, and walked up to the door silently. Hermione, being the best at charms, muttered "Confractus Cinccino!" and they heard a soft CLICK.
From the tiny crack in the door, no light issued; it was pitch dark inside. Slowly and carefully, the Trio stepped inside, wands at the ready, straining their ears for the smallest noise. The dingy entrance hall was clear, so they peeked into the dining room on their left. No one was there, so they began moving towards the staircase as quietly as humanly possible.
All was going well, until Ron accidentally stepped on one of the loudest floorboards in the whole bloody house.
The groan from the floorboard made Harry cringe at the sound, and moments later, the familiar shrieks and wails of Mrs. Black's portrait sounded deafeningly loud throughout the house.
"...Filthy mudbloods!... Scum of the earth!...Blood traitors!..."
Heavy footsteps sounded from the staircase leading down into the basement, and the trio froze on the spot, breaths held.
"Who's there!?" demanded a gruff voice as a Death Eater ascended the wooden stairs, landing right in front of the invisible trio. Blood pounded in Harry's ears as he recognized Amycus Carrow. The Death Eater looked around, his wand drawn, before stiffening and looking straight at where they were, pressed against the wall to keep from touching the man.
"Attack on command," breathed Harry, keeping his voice barely-audible.
What happened next seemed to go in slow motion: the Death Eater's eyes suddenly widened with realisation, and he reached blindly with his hands in all directions, before finally grasping the cloak. Harry knew then and there, that their cover was blown. At the same instant, more Death Eaters had emerged from the basement — Harry assumed at least three or four, by the sounds of it.
"NOW!" He shouted, and all hell broke loose. The cloak was thrust off them, and the trio began duelling the Death Eaters. Spells and curses were flung left and right as countless colourful beams of lights lit the dark place.
They ducked behind walls and furniture, rounding corners and attempting surprise attacks on the enemies. Harry was by far the most skilled dueler out of his friends — courtesy of Snape — and found it amusing how he was actually proving to be a challenge for two Death Eaters at the same time! He heard more spells and shouts from behind him, but he didn't dare turn around to look.
All was going considerably well, until a slashing curse grazed Harry's shoulder. He hissed at the pain, cursing under his breath that the shoulder belonged to his dominant hand. This distraction was enough, however, because a moment later, Harry was hit with a Petrificus Totalus, and he hit the dusty floor with a thud, landing painfully on his nose. He could smell and feel the blood now issuing from it.
Bloody wonderful!...Literally!
The Death Eaters laughed and jeered in triumph.
"Nice going, lads! We got the infamous Trio!"
"Hey, Alecto, didn't you say you were stunned by some girl in the Ravenclaw Common Room?" came an unnamed voice from somewhere behind Harry.
A female's voice replied: "Yeah, but it was that annoying, daydreaming blonde, none of these!" she spat.
"Can you believe we actually got Potter?" An unfamiliar, smug, male voice boasted.
"Alright, alright, settle down!" Harry realised with a chill down his spine that that voice belonged to Lucius Malfoy. "Let's bring them downstairs. Then, we can have some…fun," the blonde bastard nastily drew out the last word.
The next thing Harry knew, he, Hermione and Ron — all of them under Petrificus Totalus — were being carelessly levitated downstairs into a dimly lit, damp and rotting basement of 12 Grimmauld Place. The basement was a small, stone room with a couple of old cabinets with peeling paint, and a couple of broken chairs. Other than that, it was pretty baren.
They were all thrown unceremoniously onto the cold, stone floor in a corner of the room, and watched as five Death Eaters poured into the basement, grinning at them evilly, chattering excitedly. Harry recognized both of the Carrow twins, Dolohov, Rookwood, and Malfoy.
The blonde wizard lazily walked to the middle of the room, so that his back was turned to the trio, and was facing the rest of the Death Eaters. "My friends, what a victory at last!" he announced. His audience laughed.
"Now, now, we will all have our fun with them, so there is no need to worry," he assured them calmly, and turned slowly to look at the three wizards on the floor. "Mr. Potter…" he drawled. "I must thank you for vouching for myself and my family," he said in mock sincerity. "Your kind heart has never led you astray."
Yeah, I see now how big of a mistake that was! thought Harry savagely, trying to ignore the pain in his bleeding nose and shoulder.
"I suppose…" continued Malfoy. "That I should repay you, manners being manners, so my gift to you is to take pity on your acquaintances, and finally finish what the Dark Lord has failed."
Harry felt his blood freeze, as he thought of what was about to happen to him and his friends. His only comfort was the fact that he would be the first to suffer, as it was because of him that they were in this mess in the first place.
He only hoped help was on its way.
His wand was roughly yanked out of his hand by Malfoy, and carelessly tossed to the side with a CLANK. Then he was levitated and dropped in the middle of the room, and felt himself being released from the petrifying spell.
His victory was short lived, however, because just as he started to stand, he heard a loud "CRUCIO!" bellow behind him, before he dropped to the floor from the unbearable pain in every inch of his body that he hadn't felt since his fourth year. Seconds felt like hours as he writhed and screamed and convulsed on the cold stone floor, helpless to do anything.
Harry, Hermione, and her brother had been gone for a while now, and Ginny was really starting to worry. It had been over fifteen minutes, and there was still no sign of them. Something had gone wrong, she just knew it.
Suddenly, she felt something warm on her wrist. Rolling up her sleeve, she realised it was the bracelet Harry had gifted her.
Without a second thought, Ginny spun on the spot and Disapparated, reappearing only moments later in front of the huge double gates of Hogwarts. Without stopping to catch her breath, she raced across the grounds and through the castle, only stopping before the ugly stone gargoyle.
"You idiotic piece of useless rock, let me through!" she bellowed at the unwavering gargoyle.
"Sorry, can't let you through without a password," it replied, uncaring.
"Why, you little b...!"
"Miss Weasley, what is the meaning of this!?" Ginny spun around and couldn't remember feeling so relieved by the sight of Professor McGonagall, who was hastily walking towards her down the large corridor.
She wasted no time. "Professor, Ron, Harry, and Hermione are in danger!"
McGonagall's eyes widened before flashing dangerously behind her spectacles. "By all means, do explain, Miss Weasley!"
"They're at Grimmauld Place! Our plan was just to stake out the place at first, but then they went inside and told me to come get you if they were in trouble," she explained at a pace she didn't know she was capable of. Luckily, the professor didn't question her.
"I will inform the Order at once." Not wasting a second, she sent multiple Patronus messages before turning back to Ginny. "I informed Severus, the Minister, and the Weasleys. We are to meet in front of 12 Grimmauld Place," she informed her briskly, beckoning her to follow.
Together, they hastily made their way through the castle, across the grounds, and finally Disapparated once beyond the wards.
I hope you've enjoyed this chapter! Again, all of my chapters are already written, so I have no reason to abandon this story, it's just that it sometimes takes a while to edit them cuz they're a bit old. Anyway, school's started, so I MIGHT have to limit my uploads to once or twice a week!
Don't forget to review!
