The Order of the Pheonix

Chapter Ten

Amestris

Fuhrer's Mansion

William took one look at Yuery's expression and turned to Maes, "Take Tad to check on the girls, will you?"

"What, no." Maes frowned. "I am tired of you leaving me out of everything! I'm not one of the babies."

"Tad is." William reasoned, as he ignored Tad's indignant expression as he followed Yuery over to their closet. "Maes please, this is important. I promise I will fill you in later."

"Fine. C'mon Tad, let's go find out what the girls are doing." Maes sighed as he led the younger boy from the room.

"Kids are going missing. Kidnapped most likely by the people who are after me. Dad's heading back over to England to help. He is refusing to let me go." Yuery rushed out as he shoved items into his bookbag, having dumped it onto the floor as his brothers argued. "I'm going, whether he wants me to or not. I am not just a kid, I'm who all this is about! I can't just hide here while other people are getting hurt."

"How will that even work Brother? You can't cross our borders?" William said trying to reason with his brother.

"Others have done it to get in, how hard can it be to get out?" Yuery frowned, "Especially when they are opening it to let Dad's group out anyway."

"This is bigger than getting grounded. This is worse than us wandering off out of the yard in the summer house." William argued. He had already decided he was not going to let his brother do this without a fight. "Dad's going to know you're following them even with your special cloak. You have to know that."

"I'm not following Dad. I know where he plans to go, I will meet him there and then he'll have no choice but to let me stay." Yuery said before drawing his wand. "I'm sorry Will. We both know you plan on going to Dad as soon as you finish arguing will me. I need a head start. Petrificus Totalus."

Instantly, William found himself unable to move as Yuery stepped over him and walked out of the closet. "I'm sorry Brother. It will wear off soon, and Maes will probably find you sooner, but I need a head start." Yuery said as he closed the door part of the way.

William tried to struggle his way out of it but was unable to do anything as he watched his brother walk away. Yuery, felt guilty even as he slipped on the cloak he had stolen from his Dad's office. He knew that William would be very angry with him, it would take months of apologies before Will forgave him. Probably Maes as well. Dad and Mom…he was trying not to think about them.

Malfoy Mansion

Cellar

There were several of them down here now. Cedrick had been here the longest, though he had lost track of how long he didn't think it had been more than a week. Everyday someone new arrived, Fred, Dean, Padma and Luna had all arrived as unharmed and bound as he had the first day. Every few hours a jumpy little man came in with a jug of water and loaf of bread muttering to himself about extra chores.

They all agreed he wasn't the one who took them, he sounded differently than the other man. Lucius Malfoy had been whispered among them but not loudly announced as they did not know who would be listening to them. Instead, Cedrick appointed himself leader as he was the eldest (barely) and here the longest. He, along with Fred, spent most of their time dividing up the little supplies they were given, comforting the other children, and trying to think of a way to escape.

Neville had been delivered a few minutes ago, the latest 'guest' of the cellar and was still stunned. All their wands had been taken after arrival by the man with the bread, so they were going to have to come up with a plan that did not involve magic to get out. At least no magic right away. Fred was confident that once they were free of this room, they could easily retrieve their wands.

Luna was the calmest of the group by far, though Cedrick wondered if she was truly calm or just appeared that way. Padma was at a loss as well after trying to talk to her. Dean had no interest in trying to talk to anyone, aside from demanding to know how they planned to escape. "If they don't know who he is, we cannot tell them." Cedrick whispered to the others as he gestured to Neville. "He was their main target from what I have overheard, so if they know they have him then they won't need the rest of us anymore…and they'll kill him."

"I think they would know though?" Padma asked while frowning. They hadn't acted as though they knew or cared to know any of their identities so far, but she also knew their names had appeared in the papers after the abductions before hers, she presumed the others too. "We won't have long before they know with the papers unless they aren't reporting anymore."

"Well then we need to think quickly." Cedrick said decidedly. "First, we need him to wake up, then we need a plan."

"What if we were all him?" Luna asked in her usual breathy way that made the others shrug at first before it sunk in what she had said.

"What do you mean Luna?" Cedrick asked kindly. He knew she was strange, but she had several insightful ideas in their conversations. The others shook their heads and scooted to the other end of the room, not wanting to hear whatever scheme she suggested about creatures that didn't exist or spells that had never been written.

"If we were all him, then they wouldn't know which of us was him, and they would have to figure it out. It would give us more time." Luna reasoned.

"Impossible." Dean groaned even as Fred and Padma nodded in agreement with the idea. "We would need Polyjuice potion which according to Professor Slughorn takes ages to brew and the ingredients are near impossible to gather…if you do it wrong you can get stuck."

"…Okay. Viable plan. When he comes down to feed us again, Fred and I will jump on him. If we can trap him before he can get to his wand, we can get HIS wand and then get out of here." Cedrick said after they all thought about it. Luna nodded vaguely, which they assumed meant she either agreed or was planning something on her own.

Drachma

Dungeon under Palace

Viktor and Ling stood watching the wizard calmly reading in the corner of his cell as if he was simply sitting in his room instead of awaiting his fate. "Edward said this man was completely unhinged. I had hoped he was wrong, but I believe it was a fair assessment." Viktor frowned.

"I have unfortunately had many conversations with this man, I agree with Edward's assessment. He seems to have gotten worse since then. Edward and Roy sent word that they are fine with whatever sentence you provide as long as it leaves Yuery out of it completely. This man has an unhealthy obsession with the boy. Bringing the boy into contact with him can not serve any good." Ling sighed. "They are also in the middle of yet another situation regarding the wizards, the third in such a short time. Edward informed me he is going to handle this one personally, though he did not give details."

"Hmm. Their leader, Minister …Fudge? I believe, wrote me earlier demanding the return of Dumbledore to stand trial there for his crimes. Is he high ranking? Will this further complicate Edward's mission, do you know?"

"He is, and no I have no idea. I do know Edward would not be happy to return this man, he seems to repeatedly get away with terrible things. Perhaps consult Roy Mustang before you decide?" Ling suggested.

"hmm. I will, I do intend to speak to Dumbledore again myself first though. I simply must try to understand his logic." Viktor nodded slowly.

Ling snorted, "That does presume there was any logic to his plans." Both men laughed at this before sighing again. Viktor tiredly rubbed his forehead at the building headache before stiffening high posture to enter the room.

Viktor walked calmly into the room, followed by two silent guards who remained by the door as Ling watched. He stared pointedly at the prisoner for a moment before he sighed. "You have no remorse for your actions, I assume. I only wish to know is to what end? The borders are sealed. Had you managed to somehow capture the child you wished to trade my daughter for how could you possibly have left with him? Did you think of that at all?"

"To stop the unthinkable from happening, an unconscionable act must occur." Dumbledore looked regretful, but Viktor had men like him before. He was unmoved.

"You intended to bring harm to Yuery Elric? You are admitting it now?" Viktor demanded.

"To stop the rise of the Dark Lord, Harry Potter must be sacrificed." Dumbledore replied.

"I see." Viktor stood again. "Thank you, sir, you have made this far easier to decide."

Fuhrer's Mansion

Maes waited five minutes after leaving Tad to play with the girls, before he went to listen at the door. He heard Yuery's apology and spell, ducking behind the door of their parents' room as Yuery walked passed on the way to Yeye's office where his cloak was kept, before Maes slipped into their bedroom.

William was in the closet unable to move anything but his eyes. Maes frowned as he knelt beside his brother trying to remember if he had learned anything about this spell already. He of course hadn't learned any active spells yet, but studying the theory and method should help at least some. He gave up after a moment though, scolding himself for wasting time as he stood again. "I will get help, don't worry Brother, one of the adults will know what to do."

He then rushed downstairs to where their parents and grandparents' offices were in hopes one of them was in. It was expected that at least one of them would be working from home, at least one always was. He found both his mother and grandmother in his grandfather's office moments later as he rushed in. "Yuery's gone! He cast a spell on Will to make him not move and stole his special cloak and ran away. He's going to follow Dad."

All three adults jumped to their feet alarmed as Yeye said "Winry, Riza go check on William and the other children. Maes go with them, I'll contact Snape to counter the spell and try to catch up with Edward. Surely Yuery will be nearby."

"Hurry Roy, the border is only opening for a few minutes, but it will be enough to let anyone slip out." Riza said with concern. "Yuery is so much like Ed it's likely he won't approach until they are in England."

"Agreed. Edward will need to be informed; However, it is imperative that they do leave for the sake of ending this whole thing. Edward delaying will only increase the chances of Yuery managing to escape our borders." Roy said, shaking his head. An idea came to him, horror briefly crossing his face, before he turned his attention back to his wife "Did they move Sirius Black as scheduled?"

"He is not scheduled to move until tomorrow morning. It was delayed while Albus Dumbledore was en route to avoid conflict in the event of an escape attempt from either party. I will have them move it up immediately." Riza replied grimly.

"He wouldn't do something so reckless as to attempt an agreement with the same man who came here to kidnap him…oh my god, go put more guards on Black please." Winry said as she thought of both her husband and son's personalities.

England

Malfoy Manor

Cedrick and Fred stood on wither side of the door as Luna explained everything that had happened since they had been captured. Dean and Padma waited against the far wall not liking the plan in the slightest. Dean was insistent they were going to get themselves killed. Padma felt they were going to make everything worse.

Luna still thought they should all disguise themselves as Neville which she reminded them of a couple of times and Neville sat in silence thinking that he should just admit his identity to spare his friends. Cedrick then reminded everyone that Neville being the one they wanted was bad because it made the other five pointless and sighed a death sentence for all six.

A creak on the stairs ended the various arguments going on around the room as Pettigrew came down with their meal. As soon as he knocked and reminded them to get away from the door, Luna and Neville made sure to make enough noise to sound as though everyone complied. Pettigrew opened the door cautiously and counted four children plus two lumps under the pile of blankets presumed to be children before he stepped into the room.

As soon as he was over the threshold Fred hit him over the head with a large can while Cedrick hit him in the stomach with a second can. He fell to the ground with a groan, Cedrick riffled through his robes and found his wand. Luna and Neville stepped forward to help tie him up and Padma and Dean finally came out of hiding to slip passed the others out into the hall.

Dean poked his head back in with a nod to indicate there was no one else outside the room. Pettigrew was left tied behind a closed door as they children snuck up the stairs. Cedrick led the way, motioning for the others to remain silent as they entered the hallway. At the end of the long hall was a door out into the back garden, they could see through the glass, so the children moved toward the obvious escape.

Lucius Malfoy appeared moments later silently behind them. He raised his own wand even as Luna noticed him and said, "We have been seen, run please."

Cedrick through himself in front of the younger girl, getting stunned for his effort and dropping the wand which was then picked up by Fred Weasley. Malfoy sighed in annoyance, casually flicking his wand at the remaining children. Dean dived out of the way while Fred, Neville, and Luna were stunned. Padma let out a scream before a second jet hit her as well, Dean slipping away in the chaos and further into the mansion.

Dean found the front door quickly, Malfoy searching for him loudly nearby, as Dean made his way across the foyer without looking around. He heard a rasping voice from the dark sitting room. Dean ducked quickly as a jet of green light flew just over his head, before he could recover Lucius Malfoy had grabbed him, dragging him into the room with the strange voice. "Is this the one?" the voice demanded from the shadows of a wingchair.

"No, My lord. This one is a mudblood." Malfoy sneered. "Well halfblood."

"Dispose of him." The voice demanded as Dean renewed his struggles. "Then find Longbottom."

Malfoy returned to the children tied together in the hallway, pulling Neville from the pile before he sneered at the newly reappeared Pettigrew. "Get them downstairs. After this you had better hope that the spell is cast correctly. The Dark Lord does not suffer fools or incompetence."

"Yet it was you who took six tries to find the correct child." Pettigrew whispered as he levitated the remaining children back down the cellar stairs. "Wait, where's that other one?"

"Nagini was hungry." Malfoy said as he walked away.