Chapter 29: Not without incident...
With a few gliding steps, Voldemort stood in front of the plate, and pulled his robes open, exposing a grayish, wax-like chest. A steely scrape could be heard as he slowly drew a dagger from a scabbard in his belt. Like in a grotesque prayer, Voldemort extended his hands forward at head level, and stayed like this for a moment, gripping the dagger firmly with both hands.
"This is the beginning of a new age," he said with pathos as he stood there..
Harry hit his head on the headstone when he jerked back in shock as Voldemort suddenly brought his hands in and pierced his own heart.
Coughing blood, the Dark Lord slowly dropped to his knees next to the new body, the hilt of the dagger still protruding from his chest. Crabbe looked on oblivious, and Goyle was slightly disturbed by the proceedings, while Draco looked like he was fighting his stomach. Bellatrix gazed with profound reverence at her master, who would go such lengths to achieve greatness.
Voldemort knelt there for a few seconds, his body swaying as his body quickly bled out. With great problems, he managed to raise his head, and tried to say something, before he keeled over sideways.
Harry knew what would come next. The black cloud of Riddle's soul would rise, just like it did in his first year, and move over to the host body. Bellatrix and her co-minions stepped over to the new body to address their Master, Draco behind them.
But nothing happened. No cloud, no lights, no weak voice from the creature, nothing. While the Death Eaters started to become restless as their master took his time to address them, Harry suddenly realized what this meant.
They really had destroyed all Horcruxes!
"Master?" Bellatrix whined as the small body kept motionless, breaking the silence of the others, who were equally horrified by the proceedings. It was bizarre how much she sounded like a small, recently orphaned child while doing so, when she had been the cause for so many similar scenes.
Harry saw their distraction as the perfect chance and quickly vanished the ropes binding him and sent the same spells at Hermione and Margret.
He cancelled the silencing charm on himself and Hermione, and then reached for his battlewand.
During this motion, Draco turned round and saw the captives free, with Hermione in motion to dive for her wand. He immediately went for his wand. Harry changed tactic and quickly sent a wandless reducto in his direction to keep him from casting at Hermione. He succeeded in that, as Draco dove to the ground to avoid the spell. This, of course, notified the others of the situation.
Bellatrix wasn't feared for no reason. While whirling around, she already had started to draw her wand. Goyle was already diving for cover behind a headstone, while Crabbe hadn't even turned around, yet.
As Harry was a bit distracted by cursing Draco, his own draw was too slow and gave her enough time to draw her wand. Still, his overpowered piercing hex, almost as wide as a head, was already on it's way.
Instead of trying to shield that spell, Bellatrix simply reached over and yanked Crabbe in front of her, using his bulk as a shield. The curse pierced all through him, spraying her in blood and liquefied organ pulp. Just as this spell was designed to, it dissipated after it had penetrated the body, in order not to damage anything behind the target.
Not bothering to wait for the man to recognize his death and to keel over, she just stuck her arm through the hole and sent a vile sizzling lilac curse at Harry, which he thought to be an organ expelling curse.
Not in the mood to try his shield on that, he dove to the left and let the curse pass, as he got his own wand in a correct grip to return fire.
ooOOoo
While Harry rolled over the ground, Goyle unsheathed his own wand and aimed it at the running Hermione from behind his cover. When the girl in question dove for her wand and kept on rolling over the ground, he took aim and yelled "Avada kedavra". His curse hissed over her, missing her by a good foot and a half as she rolled behind a headstone and impacted the ground in a explosion of mud. Goyle was rather surprised by her action. Dropping to the ground and cowering in fear was something he was used to, but this was a dodge, something he had never expected a target to do.
Still panting from the magic spent, and seeing Margret running for cover, he sloppily sent a bludgeoning hex at her. Chuckling over the result of this spell, he took cover behind another headstone in case of a return attack by the Mudblood while he rested a bit.
His spell hit the running Margret in the small of her back. Her surprised gasp never managed to turn into a full scream as the impact pulled her legs out under her and sent her flying into another gave marker.
Hermione, though, did scream for her mother as she saw her impact on the stone, where she came to a rest in a motionless heap. All sense of self-preservation forgotten, she jumped out behind her cover, with only vengeance on her mind. Seeing the elder Goyle crouching behind cover, she started raining a chain of spells down on him.
Goyle was in complete panic. He had expected that the girl would have gone into shock after seeing her mother it. She was supposed to be a crying wreck at his mercy. The murderous rage that caused this inferno of spells rain down on him was something he couldn't deal with, except for to curl up behind his slowly disintegrating cover.
He gave a relieved sigh as the rain of doom suddenly ceased. His smile would have turned into a scream of panic if he had seen Hermione give her wand an overhead swing before slashing it down and ending in a jab towards the stone. As she executed the jab, she yelled "Bombarda!"
A huge orange ball of the wall battering curse raced towards the thick marble slab, shattering it and driving the fragments deep into the back of the crouching Goyle patriarch, knocking him over.
Seeing her foe cut down, Hermione came to her senses, panting with exhaustion. She immediately rushed to her mother's side, but never arrived there. Noticing a motion to her right, she quickly raised a shield to block the cutting curse Draco had sent at her. Stumbling and panting, she was slowly driven back and away from her mother as she had to counter and block the spells he cast at her.
ooOOoo
While Hermione was busy with Goyle, Senior, Harry and Bellatrix were exchanging a flurry of spells. Tombstones were exploding all around them as they were hit by deflected and dodged spells, as the vilest of magic was brought to bear by the both of them.
"My, my, what spells do they teach you these days," Bellatrix taunted Harry as she finished the crouched spin to dive under his organ-expelling curse that made a tree behind her wither.
"That's our newest class, 'Crushing evil vermin'," Harry replied against better knowledge. He had to throw himself back to stop as a spike of red-hot metal crossed the path he was on. Feeling the heat singe his hair as the spike cleared him by inches, he slowly realized that he was out-classed.
He bought himself some time to take a breath by animating a stone angel next to her, but Lestrange had no sense for the fine art of Transfiguration, and simply blew it to pieces. Still, she managed to doge the cutting course that Harry sent at her back with a grotesque contortion. For a short moment, Harry pondered the question whether one of her personalities was watching her back during fights. The ghastly lilac light that he just barely avoided taking straight in his face ended that philosophical discourse.
A kneecap-crushing, a heart-stopping and a bladder-perforating curse later, Harry knew that he was living on borrowed time. If Voldemort hadn't done the decent thing, they'd all be strung up by their spleens by now. Harry was starting to feel the latest injury as he was forced to dodge almost constantly. Bellatrix, on the other hand, hadn't even broken into sweat, yet. Her movements were erratic, and completely unpredictable as she moved around, casting in a fury, always shrieking and taunting.
Harry had no idea where to aim at, and was sure that half the time, even Bellatrix didn't know where she was going and what she'd be casting next. Only the fact that every single one of his spells was high- or overpowered and forced her to dodge and loose her aim had saved him so far. It was only a matter of time until she got him if he kept playing her game.
In a practical application of 'Insane enemies require insane tactics' - a direct quote of Flitwick - Harry switched to a different approach, and used a flurry of rolls and twists to close the distance. Bellatrix was completely surprised with that approach, and her shrieked question of what the stupid boy was doing was answered when Harry suddenly stood face to face with her, batting her wand to the side as she was about to cast a stream of acid at him.
The jet impacted with a marble angel guarding over a grave site, whose surface sizzled and melted away in a white goop as the acid worked on breaking it down. Harry didn't really notice that, he was busy sticking his wand into Bellatrix's face and casting a cutting curse.
The crazy woman was of course disagreeing with that course of action, and used her off-hand to bat his wand out of alignment, while spinning to bring her wand to bear again, only to be blocked by Harry, who used his inertia to swing his wand into position under his blocking left arm. Lestrange gyrated back in the other direction, her elbow shoving his wand out of danger, his eviscerating curse digging a deep gouge into the lawn.
His disadvantage in mobility negated and Bellatrix seriously discomforted by the close combat, Harry felt his chances increase by a huge margin as they pushed, pulled and grappled in order to bring their wands to bear, Harry drawing as heavily on his fencing skill as Bellatrix on her insanity.
ooOOoo
Initially, Hermione was struggling under Draco's assault. The first spell had hit her on the wrong foot, as she was running for her mom and completely out of balance. She barely managed to stay on her feet as she staggered, trying to form a proper defense against the hail of spells. Much to her luck, Draco wasn't a good dueller, and his spells were infrequent and badly aimed.
The first piercing hex went extremely wide, her forward inertia still persevered and the spell passed far behind her, and impacted somewhere in the bushes at the cemetery's boundaries. Draco had learned from that and cast the next spell ahead into her way. She had drawn up a shield in time, and the spell ricocheted off into the sky as she threw herself to the left between a few grave markers, bleeding off speed. The grass between the stones proved to be slippery, and Hermione took precaution to keep her wand and a shield aimed backwards in Draco's general direction as she took off for a couple of tombs in the distance, weaving between the stones.
She saw a few spells passing by but could feel her shield still holding when she finally found herself on a gravel path that gave her better footing.
Spinning around, she dropped her shield and fired a cutting curse in the general direction of his head before she dove to her left side, finding cover behind a ornate sarcophagus, before executing a quick roll that made her escape into the paths between the tombs.
ooOOoo
Draco quickly took cover behind a corner of a tomb at his right side, taking a few hectic breaths.
This was not right. He had an edge over her as she stumbled around, like the useless mudblood she was. But even though she was only running away from him, he was unable to hit her! She even managed to block one of his spells while almost falling down.
He was already attributing this to stupid Muggle luck, but then she stopped, turned and returned a spell that almost impacted, and just barely missed his ear before escaping an a flurry of movements. The shock had brought his vicious attacks to an immediate halt. This was far too close for his comfort.
Hectic, he took a quick look around the corner, finding no one. Tense and very careful, he made his way round his cover, his eyes darting around for any sign of motion, not noticing the slight motion at the corner behind him.
ooOOoo
With a shrill scream, Bellatrix launched her fist at Harry's face after he had again shoved her wand out of the very same. This fighting style was extremely confusing to her, she preferred long range, where her good aim and agility worked to her advantage. Just like her reputation. Most people tried to stay as far away as possible from her in a fight. That stupid whelp in front of her actually hadn't gotten that memo. Her triumphant cry as her fist connected with his cheek turned into a surprised one as he did not only refuse to fall, but stubbornly held on to her wand arm, yanking her with him as he spun.
That yelp was in turn converted into a moan as Potter used his free arm to lodge his elbow in her side. She barely managed to pull her face away as he tried to hit her with the back of his head. Her wand arm still in his grip, she simply punched him in the kidneys.
Harry cried out in pain as her fist connected, and spun around, forcing her wand hand up high in order to do so safely. Extending his wand, he tried to cast another spell at her at point blank. Out of other options she simply bit in his hand. She didn't really draw blood, as he quickly pulled his hand back, but it gave her a chance to wrestle her wand arm down and try to aim it at his midsection.
Only a sharp pain in her left knee stopped her from achieving this. That piece of filth had kicked her! Out of instinct, she also grabbed his wand arm, and returned his kick.
ooOOoo
Harry hissed as her pointy boot scraped over his shin, but kept hold of her. Wrestling against her writhing form, he pushed her against a gravestone, trying to immobilize her legs with his own as they fought for dominance. Bellatrix was slithering like an eel, and worst of all, she was trying to bite at his face. He was seriously surprised as she suddenly stopped and smiled at him.
"Reducto," she whispered, smiling like Christmas had come early for her.
Harry was perplexed. He had her wand hand in a tight grip around her wrist, and her wand as not pointed at him, at all. Then he heard the explosion, and the shrill cry in a voice he'd be able to single out among thousands. In panic, he tried to look what had happened, but couldn't make out anything.
Most importantly due to the stars impending his view as Bellatrix had unceremoniously rammed her knee into his groin while he was distracted.
ooOOoo
Hermione screamed in pain as the wall next to her erupted in fragments. She pulled her hand back, cradling it against her chest. It hurt badly, but she knew subconsciously that it wasn't broken, it was merely badly bruised. The piece of rock had mostly hit her wand and twisted it out of her grip, and only a few smaller pebbles had actually hit her and left bruises. Sadly, her left leg was hit quite hard, and as she rose, she winced as she stood up, her leg almost giving out under her.
But far worse than the pain was the fact that she was now unarmed, and Draco very much aware of her presence. Quickly, she hobbled back behind the tomb, trying to come up with an alternative plan.
Draco gave a hoarse scream of triumph as he saw her flee, cradling her wand arm and obviously hurt. Feeling secure in his superiority, he strode after her, not even caring to run.
He turned around the corner in a leisurely pace, laughing as he saw her desperately hobbling away from him. When she suddenly turned around and jabbed at him with her hand, shouting "Diffindo!", he almost wet himself in fear as he threw himself to the ground in a desperate attempt of dodging.
ooOOoo
Harry was rolling around on the ground, under the shrill laughter of a triumphant Bellatrix. Out of options, he quickly cast a wandless banishing curse at her, which she barely dodged.
Shrieking loudly, she started to shower him in spells, which he tried to avoid by rolling around on the ground.
Not knowing what else he could do, he fell back on his trick from the last engagement, and cast an Incendio hex, pushing all his magic into it.
As the huge cone of fire rushed at her, Bellatrix wasted no time and cast a shield. The heat was immense, the fire almost completely surrounding her.
This time, though, Harry's opponent was an experienced dueller, and had one luxury that the late Wormtail couldn't fall back on. Space.
Harry was unaware of the fact that she simply had stepped back until she was out of the fire. He only realized that something was wrong when the writhing red light of the torture curse jumped at him from within the fire.
The next sensation was liquid fire being poured into his bloodstream.
Harry screamed.
ooOOoo
Hermione moaned in pain as her leg gave out under her. She had given everything in this attempt to cast wandlessly, but obviously it hadn't worked, again. This time she had been so sure. She had given it everything. And still, it didn't work. Draco was already rising again, and he was pissed.
Draco was stalking towards her, and her knee had conked out. Refusing to give up, she dragged herself behind a gravestone, only to find herself cornered against a mound of earth from a freshly dug grave.
"How convenient," snarled Draco as he approached her. "Far too good for your likes, but how fitting that you end up here. What a pity I don't have time to fully enjoy this."
Just then, a long scream of pain echoed from somewhere behind Draco. A male scream. A very familiar male voice. Even Draco immediately recognized it and lowered his wand slightly.
"DRACO! DRACO! I GOT HIM, I GOT POTTER!" Lestrange's voice rang out over the graveyard.
"AND I'VE GOT HIS BITCH!" he roared back, smiling as a shrill laughter answered his call, followed by another scream of agony.
"Seems I'm not lacking time, anymore," he said with a cruel smirk.
Hermione could see the feral anger in his eyes, and knew that there was nothing she could do. She was absolutely helpless and at his mercy.
At least so she thought, until she saw the rip in his shirt.
It wasn't a tear, it was a cut. A perfectly straight cut across his right stomach, four inches wide, on his otherwise unblemished front of his shirt. The shirt had dirt marks on the left side, on which he dropped to avoid her, so it couldn't have come from that.
The sight of the cut did something to Hermione. Just like Harry had told her - such a long time ago, it seemed - she suddenly knew it. She couldn't explain it, but she knew she could do it. Because she had done it!
Quickly, she raised her hand and pointed at his chest. "Diffindo!" she yelled, watching him flinch slightly.
"You crazy bitch!" Draco yelled back. With a sharp slash of his wand, Hermione's head was thrown to the side as a hard slap impacted on her cheek. "You are disarmed and helpless. Do you really think I'd fall for this trick, twice?" he raged as Hermione shook her head to clear her vision. The coppery taste of blood was in her mouth as she slowly turned back to glare at him.
She felt betrayed and elated as she saw a second gash on his shirt. Elated, because she really had done it, but betrayed as well, for all she could do was a slight cut to his clothes. Still, being Hermione Granger, she was already pondering the ramifications of this while Draco continued berating her at wandpoint. Just before the second slap hit her on the other cheek, she had figured it out.
Out of natural instinct, she shielded her head with both hands as the more and more slaps hit her.
She heard Draco shouting some more abuse at her, but she wasn't listening. She was focussing herself and waiting for a chance. She pulled every little bit of what was left of her magical reserves together. She knew why her spells had failed. Wandless magic was highly inefficient. Without the magical focus of a wand, she needed much more magic, and she was already closing in on complete exhaustion from the fight.
She needed to push all her magic into a spell. A spell that was easy to cast. A spell every witch could cast in her sleep. She only had to endure this beating, first.
ooOOoo
Harry was coughing up blood as the next kick hit him right on the belly button. Bellatrix was making the most of this. Instead of holding him under the torture curse, she had switched to the much more satisfying method of doing bodily harm the old-fashioned way. Doubling up in the foetal position, he was unable to defend himself against the next kick, this time into the face.
Harry could feel a tooth breaking as his jaw snapped shut. By now, he was far beyond screaming. There simply wasn't enough air left in his battered lungs to allow for more than a moan and gargling noises.
Wrapping his arms around his head and pulling his knees tight to his rump, he expected the next blow.
But this time, he was only tormented by a shrill laugh.
"Awww, isn't that cute? How determined, and still so useless." Lestrange cackled in her shrill baby-voice. "Potty, you should take lessons from this Muggle bitch - that's volition!" she shrieked, kicking Harry in the kidneys, hard enough to hurt, but not really into it. Bellatrix was far too much entertained by the show.
ooOOoo
When Margret had regained her consciousness, she felt less pain than she feared. Being a doctor, this fact was terrifying. Panic rushed through her as she confirmed that she really had no feeling in her legs, at all. When she heard her daughter's scream in the distance, her mother's instinct pushed these concerns aside. From her vantage point, she could see that Hermione was still alive, but chased by that blonde asshole. In her current state, she had no illusions to her being of any help to her daughter. A second scream made her aware that her daughter's only hope was also in severe danger.
Tears shot to her eyes as she was forced to helplessly watch the boy writhe and scream as some invisible power caused him pain beyond imagination.
"Trying to pway with the biggies, Potty," she heard the vile bitch cackling as she started kicking Harry, who could only try to curl up to avoid the blows that rained down on him from every angle as that woman circled him, always finding a new spot to hit next.
When that monster roared out her triumph, and someone replied that he had Hermione, it occurred Margret that she was the last one standing. She had to huff a small laugh when she realized the sarcasm of that epiphany.
Cursing her helplessness, Margret had to avert her eyes from the poor boy being beaten to a pulp.
When she suddenly noticed the proverbial straw sticking out of a hedge ahead of her, she ignored her inner doctor screaming bloody murder at her for her stupid idea. Moaning under the pain in her battered back, she ground her teeth and started pulling herself towards it.
ooOOoo
After he'd administered a thorough magical beating, Draco was sure he'd beaten her into submission. She wasn't resisting, at all, completely resigning and accepting her place.
Draco's confusion only lasted for a fraction of a second as Hermione suddenly opened her arms and pointed at his crotch. Then the word "Depilo!" rang out and the pain kicked in.
With a roar that would make his namesake proud, Draco dropped his wand and doubled over, clutching his groin as he slowly dropped to his knees. Hermione didn't leave him any time to recover as she grabbed the shovel lying to her right.
She swung it with full force, the edge of the shovel hitting his neck with a popping sound. Blood sprayed out of the gash as Draco keeled over, his body twitching spasmodically before he became still.
Hermione managed to swallow the bile both times it rose, as her body tried to deal with the situation. She couldn't afford wasting valuable time emptying her stomach. Instead, she dragged herself over to Draco. Taking his wand, she started casting spells at her knee. She was no help if she couldn't even stand.
ooOOoo
"Aww, Potty-Pooh, isn't she adorable? Any idea what she is planning to do?" Bellatrix tittered happily. That she was grinding her heel into Harry's right hand while she was commenting the action was part of the reason she felt so elated.
"While highly entertaining, I must admit I am growing curious, don't you as well, Hawwy-bewwy?" she chatted, lifting her foot up to free herself from Harry's other hand clawing at it, only to bring it down, sharply. Harry's howl of pain as something snapped was music in her ears. "You too? You're right, I should take a closer look," she said, turning on her heel - which still was firmly planted on Harry's hand - and strode over to where Margret was inching forward.
"Now, now, you little filthy bitch," she sing-sang as she came closer, swaying on a zig-zag course as if she were strolling through a park. "What are you trying to do?" she asked.
When Margret ignored her and kept on crawling on, she kicked her in the thigh. For a moment, she was irritated when that was completely ignored, but then kicked her in the ribs, instead.
When Margret tried and fail to curl into a ball at this, Bellatrix started hopping and laughing, clapping her hands happily as she celebrated her finding.
"Awww, our wittle beastie is foundering," she teased. Margret didn't give her the satisfaction of any reaction, but stubbornly shook the pain off and resumed her crawl. "But such a brave beastie, so brave..." she cooed, circling Margret, watching her closely.
"Poor beasty, poor beasty," she tweeted, stooping down low and petting Margret's head with long, lovingly strokes.
ooOOoo
Margret felt disgusted by the way that bitch acted. The doctor in her knew that Harry won't play the piano again, that snap was really bad. Forcing herself to ignore his situation, she moved on, trying to crawl even faster as she saw the woman waltzing over casually.
She only felt being jostled by whatever the woman had done to her legs. Deep inside she knew that whatever she did probably had left a huge mark, and what this meant. Swallowing the desperation that surged, she redoubled her efforts.
The kick in the ribs was more noticeable, though. She felt as one or more ribs that probably already were cracked from the impact with the headstone gave way and snapped completely. No willpower on earth could have prevented her from folding. Of course, she only could fold halfway, her arms curling up around her mid-rift as she gasped for breath.
She could have strangled that bitch with her bare hands when she heard her speak to her as like to a sick horse, but channelled her anger into determination. Only a few more yards.
When that madwoman was touching her hair, Margret had to bite her lip to keep from retching. Only what she had gone through in anatomy class and the fact that it was only a couple of feet to her goal kept her going.
ooOOoo
Bellatrix Lestrange had seen many things, but this was utterly confusing. Hurt Muggles trying to crawl away she could understand, hurt Muggles crawling towards their family members, too. But this one was different. She did neither of those. Was she trying to hide in the hedges? No. She couldn't hide anymore. What was she trying to do?
Curiosity had killed many cats, so she held her wand pointed at the woman at all times, but left her otherwise undisturbed.
She was slightly alarmed when the woman had reached the hedge and reached into it. Her wand almost sparking with magic, she waited for the hand to come back out.
She laughed out shrilly when she realized what the stupid thing in front of her had done.
"Potty! Ooooh Poooootty..." she sang out. "The mommy has found your wa-hand! Too sad you can't hold it, anymore," she cackled.
Her laughter became even more shrill when the stupid Muggle bitch tried to point the wand at her. "Aww, the bitchy wants to play witchy?"she howled with laughter, dancing on the spot.
"Hey, Potty! Didn't you tell her that Muggles can't do magic?" she called out in Harry's direction. Still, she noticed that the stubborn bitch weakly tried to aim that wand, but failing to lift it properly.
"I've got an idea," Bellatrix spoke, shaking with laughter, staggering towards Margret. Right next to her, she knelt down and spoke to the completely exhausted woman.
"Here, let me help you. You poor thing, poor thing. Soo tired, so very tired, right?" she cooed mockingly. "Let's make this a fair contest, ok? Be both will cast one spell, at the same time. I'll even teach it to you - it's my favourite," she spoke, before starting to cackle madly. "Among us girls, it's actually my second favourite, I like the cruciatus much more, but that stays between us, yes?" she whispered.
Clapping her hand on her thigh, she laughed over her own joke. "Anyway, back to class - it's really straightforward; all you have to do is to wish for me to die, and then you say the words, 'Avada Kedavra', ok? A-va-da Ke-da-vra. Easy, isn't it?"
"Now, together, on three!" she spoke, slowly putting her wand on Margret's head.
ooOOoo
Hermione never felt such pain in her whole life. Magical exhaustion was cruel. It felt like fire was flowing through her body instead of magic as she kept the spell up. The normally bright light of the healing spell was a weak glow, but it worked. Ending the spell and panting, she weakly staggered to her feet. It wasn't perfect, and far from fully healed, but she could at least put weight on her leg.
Stumbling, she paused and reached for the shovel she had used on Draco. Using it as crutch, she hobbled back on the way she had come from.
It took her more than a minute to trace the way back she only had taken a few seconds to run, earlier, but she managed. Carefully, her back pressed to the cold stone of the tomb, she crept closer to the edge. Reaching it, she threw a quick glance around the corner. The glance turned into a long stare as she saw a picture that would haunt her for long time. Harry a motionless lump on the ground, with Bellatrix Lestrange kneeling over her mother.
Hermione sighed as she looked at the useless wand in her hand. In her current state, she could only use it to poke an eye out. Anything she could cast would only make Bellatrix angry.
The only plus point was that Lestrange kept on teasing her mother and was thoroughly distracted. Taking a good grip on her shovel, she crept closer. That sneak turned into a mad dash equivalent of a hobble when she watched Bellatrix putting her wand on her mother.
ooOOoo
"No! No! No!" Bellatrix chided Margret. "You can't cast if you can't aim! Here let me help," she said, taking Margret by the hand. Putting her wand back on her head, she guided Margret's hand to her chest. "No, we count to three," she spoke.
"One."
"Two."
"Three. Avad..."
A loud noise cut Bellatrix off. Instead of the rest of the spell, only a gargle came out of her throat. A look of extreme surprise was on her face for the last few moments it was recognizable. Then, Hermione's shovel impacted with full force on her right cheek.
ooOOoo
Hermione was like a demon unleashed as she reached the spot her mother laid. Somewhere inside, she noticed the sound, but she was too focussed on her intention to recognize it. With a scream that held all the fury she had built up over the last minutes, she swung the shovel as hard as she could, trying to stop Bellatrix from casting the spell.
It hit with enough force to knock the kneeling woman down. Hermione felt a painful sting in her wrists at the impact, almost dropping her makeshift weapon. Her anger fuelled by the pain, she swirled around and hit Bellatrix again, this time full on the forehead, once more screaming in fury as she did so. Lifting the shovel for another blow, she finally noticed the huge wound on her victim's chest.
With a soft thud, the shovel dropped on the grass.
ooOOoo
"HENRY!"
The man in question left his place at Grimmauld Place's fireplace and sprinted towards the entry hall. When the other had been abducted, Tonks had assumed command. She had put Remus in charge at the Three Broomstick's, and had taken Henry to the Black Manor. There, she had assumed watch duty at the entrance door, knowing that their emergency portkeys would take them there. Henry's job was to mind the fireplace, in case that they'd be contacted by someone.
He had already thoroughly ruined the carpet in that room when Tonks called out for him.
Sprinting through the hallway, his mind replayed all the pictures that it had come up in the last 20 minutes. When he reached the hall, he was in part relieved that not all of his fears had come true. But two our of three wasn't the result he'd hoped for.
"What happened?" he gasped as he found Hermione trying to care for Margret, who was prone on the ground. Tonks was meanwhile waving her wand like mad over a bloodied bundle that he knew must be Harry. The hiss that the bundle emitted as Tonks said something about bones in Latin, confirmed his thoughts.
"It's a case of 'you should see the other', Henry," Margret said, ending in a pained hiss, her small chuckle causing her pain in her bruised side.
"Stop this shit, Margret! What happened? Are you alright?" Henry almost exploded as he dropped to his knees next to her.
"I'm fine, darling, Hermione is well, and Tonks will fix Harry up in no time. They made it, Henry, Voldemort is dead."
"He is? Really? Finally," Henry sighed. "You can't imagine what I have been through since you were kidnapped - I thought I'd never see you all again!" Henry cried as he embraced his wife and daughter in a hug.
"I'm so glad you all are fine," he choked out, pulling out of the hug. He barely managed to catch Margret as she slumped down.
"Wait a moment - you said you are fine! What is wrong?" he stammered.
Margret caressed his cheek softly as she smiled at him, crying softly. "Hermione is alive, Harry is alive, and I am alive, as well. I am fine. I'll miss dancing, though."
"No! You... No!" Henry cried as it hit home, cradling his wife as she cried on his shoulder. "Hermione, what happened?" he demanded.
"Dad... She... A spell threw her into a stone. Her back..." Hermione tried to explain, but failed to continue. Finally, the adrenaline rush from the encounter ebbed off, and she lacked the strength to keep herself together. Henry found himself once more in a hug with both of his women.
"But - you have magic! Tonks? Can't you do anything?" Henry called out helplessly, trying to look around for Tonks.
"We can! Let me just finish patching up Harry," Tonks replied coolly from Harry's side. It wasn't the first time she had to patch someone up, being all torn and upset won't help her magic. She was a professional, and could cry later. And usually, if you kept it together, there was no need to cry, then.
"So. That's it. I can't do anything about the Cruciatus, now, but the rest should be fine. We'll regrow the teeth, later. At least you're not bleeding to death, anymore," she told her patient. "Try breathing shallow for the next few minutes, the ribs are still setting. Same for the hand. And be careful when you stand up, you've lost quite a lot of blood, and I have no potion at hand."
Standing up, Tonks rolled her head and shoulders until a crack sounded. Breathing in deep and exhaling fully, she turned and went over to her next charge.
"Ok, let's get her patched up for transport. We need a real healer on her. A severed spine is beyond my skill. Stand back," she said. As soon as Henry had lowered Margret to the floor, she cast some spells at Margret.
"Seems fine," she concluded. "No bleeding, the ribs are bruised, but otherwise fine. I'll carry her through the Floo. Hermione, call Remus at the Broomstick's, tell him we'll come through. Harry, you'll be going solo, Hermione, you'll guide your dad through the Floo."
"What? Aren't we going to St. Mungo's?" Hermione asked, confused.
"Same question," Harry chipped in from behind, swaggering lightly, but standing on his two feet. He came up on Hermione's side and slung his arm around her, for moral support as well as for his own stability as he grimaced a pained smile her way. Hermione gave him a won smile in reply and suddenly perked up. Reaching for her waist, she pulled his battlewand out of her jean's waistband, handing it over.
"St. Mungo's doesn't serve Muggles. Wizards only. We have to get her to Poppy. She's a pro healer - when Charlie Weasley broke his back in his sixth year, she had him patched up right on the field - took her but a minute," Tonks explained, shaking her head with a small laugh as a memory surfaced.
"Bloke went straight back into the game. Ever since, Pomfrey doesn't heal Quidditch players on the field, anymore, except for life-threatening stuff," she said as she started to move Margret onto her arms, with Henry quickly helping her standing up and carrying Margret when he noticed her intent.
"Guys! Get going - it works best if it's done within less than an hour," she chided the others when they hadn't moved from the spot by the time they were done.
She didn't have to tell them, thrice.
Chapter 30: Old dog, old tricks...
Harry crash-landed on the floor of the 'Three Broomsticks' as the fire spat him out. He had just enough time to pull himself to his feet before the fire flashed once more, ejecting Remus with Hermione and her father.
"Mister Potter! Is everything alright?" the voice of Professor McGonagall easily overpowered the din of hectic voices.
"Alright? Nothing is alright!" Henry barked, cranky, as he turned on the woman. "These kids just did your government's job!" he scoffed, but turned away, ignoring the people present, as Tonks stepped out of the fire, Margret's limp figure in her arms.
"I don't understand? What job? How did you escape?" McGonagall stammered, turning from Henry to Hermione, who didn't react at all, to Harry, who was shaking lightly, still looking like a mess with his broken teeth and bruises all over. Tonks didn't bother much to heal superficial damage, she was more concerned with actual damage.
"He's dead," Harry whispered, cringing as the movement caused the pain in his teeth to flare up. Meanwhile, Tonks gently transferred Margret to Remus' arms.
Professor McGonagall couldn't have looked more shocked if he had jumped at her with his bare ass. "Excuse me? I don't understand," she stammered, trying to get an answer out of the boy.
"Voldemort is dead, and we need to get her to Pomfrey," Tonks replied in his stead as she pressed by, shouldering a path through the thickening crowd with Henry. Remus was following closely on their heels, barely noticing the weight of Margret in his arms.
Harry assumed the rearguard with Hermione, who still was barely reacting to their environment, at all. He would have worried more if his teeth and sore muscles wouldn't protest at every step at the fast pace Remus displayed. Not breaking his step, he put his hand at his jaw to cast a wandless pain relief spell. Still, they hadn't even made it out of Hogsmeade before it became blatantly obvious that Hermione and he were holding the group back. Everywhere, students and adults were crowding them, demanding answers or just rubbernecking.
"Get her to Poppy, we'll follow at our pace," Harry wheezed, cradling his stomach. Being healed by magic didn't mean you didn't feel like shit, still.
"Don't," he said when Tonks made motions to fall behind with them. "Half the Order is here and none of the Death Eaters still left is stupid enough to try a thing in broad daylight. They're probably still trying to find out why exactly their tattoos faded. I need you with mum, in case some Slytherin gets stupid. Only Remus can carry her this fast, and Henry can't help against wands. He'll even need your help to get into the castle."
Tonks evaluated the situation for a moment before she nodded. "Good luck," she said, indicating something behind Harry with a jerk of her head, and fell into a trot. As Remus and Henry matched her pace and gained speed, Harry had to suppress a groan as he turned and saw said half of the Order catching up to him.
ooOOoo
"Mister Potter, I need a statement," Kingsley asked as soon as he had come up along Harry.
"Voldemort is dead," Harry replied, hobbling along with determination, his arm wrapped around a silent Hermione. He did roll his eyes, though, when half the group gasped at his words. He was fairly sure some younger ones had actually fainted.
"That's good news, but I'm afraid I need a little more than that," Kingsley prodded.
"Bellatrix, too," Harry replied, continuing to ignore the attempt to slow him down and entangle him in a conversation.
Another gasp ran through the crowd at the statement. "You killed him and Lestrange, both?" some man gasped, probably Diggle, judging by the voice.
"Mu - Missus Granger killed Bellatrix," Harry replied, catching himself just in time from calling Margret 'mum' in public.
"You mean Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall inquired.
"No, I meant her mum!" Harry protested sharply, wincing at the pain it caused him. Of course, his mood took another sharp dip because of that, as well.
"You must be joking! She's just a muggle!" Diggle protested, which brought Harry to full stop.
"And blew a hole straight through Lestrange's shrivelled heart with a gun, " Harry spat, glaring at the man who suddenly felt the urge to apparate away. "I remember beating you with even less refined muggle methods, and no tools at all," Harry growled.
"Mister Potter, let's keep things civil," Kingsley poorly tried to defuse the situation. Harry gave him a nasty look for the comment and continued walking towards the castle, forcing the others to follow him.
"Whatever. Anyway, Lestrange and her fellow Death Eaters are all dead," he curtly replied.
"What about Mister Malfoy?" Professor McGonagall inquired as she took position next to Harry.
"I have nothing to add to my statement," Harry replied evenly, his eyes hard.
Professor McGonagall bristled when she heard those news. "Was that really necessary?" she asked, disappointment heavy in her words. She almost ran past Harry as he suddenly stopped and gaped at her.
"Did you just ask me that? Really? That ass took us to Voldemort, tried to kill us, and you ask me that?" Harry rounded on her. "He went at Hermione and she put him down, just like the man who cursed her mum!"
"Who was that?" Kingsley interjected.
"Thy didn't introduce themselves - I guess they were Crabbe and Goyle senior, I suppose. Doesn't matter, I got the other one," Harry replied before he turned away and continued the long way up to the castle. Behind him, people were starting to get louder as students were starting to get the picture.
"This is great, mate!" Ron's voice could be heard over the din.
Harry came to another full stop.
"Great?" he asked, staring incredulously across the group at Ron. Some students slowly backed off to make way for whatever was about to happen.
"Of course! You-know-who, Lestrange and three Death Eaters down! It's over!" Ron exclaimed happily.
"He's right, we should have a party!" someone cheered, with many others joining him.
Harry's stare moved across the cheering crowd. Finally, he sadly shook his head. "You are pathetic," he whispered as he turned and stomped off, leading a still silent Hermione away.
Many confused looks followed him as everybody looked on. Of course, it was Ron who actually voiced his thoughts, first.
"What's wrong with them? Crazy, both of them! Moping around when there are such good news."
While Ron was gaining a couple of approving looks, he missed the murderous one from his sister. So he wasn't prepared for what was to happen.
"I swear, this is Hermione's fault. Harry used to be cool before he hooked up with her," he started venting his mood.
Ginny had held back until now, thoroughly shocked because of what her friends looked like. Harry looking like being through beater practice as a Bludger wasn't the bad thing - you get sort of used to that with him.
No, the real shocker was Hermione. The fact that she hadn't spoken a word since they appeared, was worrying enough, but the way she just stared into the distance was almost painful to watch.
The little bit of information that Harry had divulged had just barely registered with her, allowing her a faint idea of the horrors their friends had gone through in these couple of minutes they were gone. She was on the brink of bursting into tears when her idiot brother had to run off his mouth, again.
She could fully sympathize with Harry stomping off like that, she was just making motions to follow them when Ron practically demanded some action. Stepping up behind him, she tapped his shoulder. When he turned and looked at her, smugly, she simply rang his bell and ran off after her friends, ignoring the shouts of her father's wife.
ooOOoo
"Ginevra Molly Weas...", Molly's voice had rung out, before a hard stare of her husband silenced her. Molly was still extremely uncomfortable with the new power structure in the family. She almost had forgotten how determined and intense her husband had been during the war. He had let her run their lives ever since, but after Ginny moved out, his old self quickly re-emerged.
"Leave her be, he brought that upon himself. You should rather help him than waste time shouting at her," he chided her, before turning to glare at the group.
"As for you," he growled as his gaze swept across his fellow Order members.
"He's a kid, what's your excuse?" He spat, waving his hand towards his son currently trying to relearn how to breathe. Ignoring some indignant outcries, he ranted on. "He never knew war, but most of you have been through one! These two kids have just come out of a bloody battle, and all you think of is stuffing your gullets." Most of the group actually had the decency to look embarrassed, but quite a lot of them still glowered at him for raining on their parade.
Letting his gaze sweep across them, he ended up locking it with Flitwick. The approving nod the quiet man gave him did wonders for his conscience.
"Let them have their petty party, Arthur," the small man said as he approached his old friend. "Let's go and care for the survivors," he said with a small smile.
Arthur nodded in reply, before glancing at the group once more. It would have felt good to echo Harry's sentiment, but would have felt cheap. In the end, he settled for a disappointed shake of his head as he turned away and walked off, Flitwick falling into step with him, both men conversing softly as they made their way up to the castle.
ooOOoo
When Arthur and Filius entered the infirmary, they found it almost empty, at first glance. Only a second glance revealed that there were some privacy curtains drawn in the back, behind which they could make out some movement.
"Hello, is anyone here," Arthur called out as he approached the curtain.
The curtain rustled a bit as the figures shifted behind it, and revealed Remus.
"Oh, hello, Arthur, Filius," Remus greeted them friendly, while Tonks stepped out behind the other curtain, as well.
"Hello Remus," Arthur replied with a cordial nod, although it did not escape neither him, nor Filius, that Tonks did put her wand away and slipped back behind 'her' curtain after Remus had greeted them loudly. "How are they?"
Remus stepped back and pulled the curtains behind him aside, inviting the visitors in. "Reasonably well, I guess, considering what they've been through."
Entering the secluded area, Arthur noticed that half of Harry's group was currently confined to beds. From the shades on the other curtained section, Hermione's mum obviously was also lying in one, with Poppy waving her wand over her like a maestro during an overture, as she was doing miracles to whatever injury she had obtained. The other two shades seemed to be Tonks and Mister Granger, Arthur assumed.
Of this group, almost traditionally, Harry was in bed, although instead of being treated, this time he seemed to be the treatment. In his arms, Hermione laid motionless, her eyes still focused on a point a thousand yards beyond the wall. Harry was cradling her, cooing words in her ear, but it wasn't sure she even heard those, for the lack of reaction.
He wasn't surprised to find his daughter there, sitting next to that bed and holding Hermione's hand.
"Filius!" Poppy's voice cried out from behind the other curtain. "I could use an extra hand here!" Obviously, Tonks had relayed the identity of the newcomers.
The small man didn't need a second call to hurry over to her, stripping off his coat as he did so. He knew very well how taxing magical healing on muggles was, especially such extensive procedures as Poppy was currently attempting. Without any magic of her own, her patient couldn't make use of any potions, and doing all the work with charms alone was extremely taxing.
Meanwhile, Arthur made his way over to his daughter's side.
"Hey Ginny, Hermione, Harry," he spoke softly as he took his place there. He smiled sadly as he got only two replies.
"You might consider giving Hermione a calming potion," he spoke after a long pause.
"Calming potion? I don't think she needs to get any calmer," Harry replied weakly.
"Trust me, Harry, I've seen my share of spell-shock in my days. It won't heal her, only time and love will, but it should help drawing her out of this state. Ask Remus," Arthur replied.
"He is right, Harry," Remus remarked. "I didn't want to give one to her as I didn't want to deal with her snapping out of it, earlier," he confessed calmly.
"Why?" Harry demanded, a bit harsher than expected. "Why did you leave her like this if a simple potion could have helped?"
"Because we had more important things to do, and still have," Remus spoke softly. "I'll get her one, I know where Poppy has her supplies hidden."
With a nod, Harry agreed to his offer. "How's mum?" he asked.
Arthur had to smile bittersweetly as Harry spoke these words. Merlin knew that Molly had tried to all but force Harry for years to call her that. That Hermione's mother had managed that Harry called her so, and completely naturally, spoke volumes about her. Molly would never have understood this.
"She's in good hands - with Filius helping out, I'm sure Poppy will have everything under control."
"As we do have some time to burn, how about fixing your teeth? I'm quite proficient with that spell," Arthur proposed, trying to change the topic..
"Harry, Harry," he laughed as he received a questioning look from the boy. "Didn't you ever wonder how the twins became that good with Bludgers?"
He quickly glanced in the direction of the door, even though the curtains hid them from view, anyway. "Molly must never hear what I'm telling you now - we do have my old one hidden in my shed, and they practiced with it whenever Molly was out at the grocer's during summer."
Arthur smiled broadly, not unlike the twins did, when Harry rose a surprised eyebrow.
"Yes, I played beater in my old days, and I taught them all I knew. Merlin only knows how often I had to regrow a molar or incisor, or patch up bruises and broken bones before Molly would come home and notice anything."
"Good times," Arthur said, sadly, his eyes unfocused for a moment as his memories carried him away for a short stint back in time. "Now, if you would hold still for a moment, I promise it won't twinge a bit," he spoke, winking at Harry, who was shaking his head mirthfully as he tried to imagine the twins as kids, shooting each other off their brooms. Ginny obviously drew on some memories from her childhood, and started giggling, which set Harry off, as well.
Nonetheless, Arthur was already working on the task at hand. In fact, it would have been a novel experience for him to cast these spells on a boy not fooling around while he did so.
ooOOoo
Harry was still getting used to his new teeth when Henry and Tonks stepped in through the divider. Seeing Hermione fitfully sleeping next to Harry, Henry immediately inquired about her.
"How's Hermione doing?"
"She's asleep now, Remus fetched her a calming potion. She almost instantly started blabbing before she fell asleep. How's mum?" Harry returned the question.
"They're still working on her. I won't bother you with the details, but there is quite a bit of damage there. They say they can handle it together, but the doctor in me can't really believe it," Henry replied with a sigh.
"I know you'd rather sleep for a week, but since we do have time now, I'd like to ask the question we all have been holding back - what exactly happened out there, Harry?"
Though he in fact did look every bit as Henry said, Harry nodded tiredly and launched into his tale.
ooOOoo
"... and then I used Hermione's necklace to get us home," Harry concluded his recount that left out most of the gory details. It never registered with Harry that he actually lost all sense of his current surroundings as he recounted the tale. He actually had to take a quick look to remind himself where he was.
He could see Ginny's lower lip tremble ominously as she held his left hand in a death grip. Arthur's hand on his shoulder was heavy, but comforting. The other people present held a mixture of expressions, from pitiful to thoughtful, with Henry breaking the silence.
"So he did the decent thing and offed himself?" he stated flatly.
"He'd have done the world a favour if he'd done it as a child, already," Ginny commented, with no one correcting her statement, as they couldn't find too much fault with it.
Tonks, in her charming way, was commenting on the practical aspects of it. "Harry, you're back to basic training with me once we're back," she growled.
"Huh?"
"You still haven't been properly untrained," Tonks replied with a hint of anger. "You're casting a bad light on me when you act so stupid."
Harry gave a deep sigh before he chose to reply. "Tonks, I'm not even remotely in a state to follow your logic. Could you please, pretty, pretty, please tell me - in more than ten words - what I did wrong?"
"Ahem, Tonks?" he asked when instead of an answer, Tonks started to cast silencing charms at the curtains. One-way silencing charms, to be precise.
Harry actually recoiled when Tonks suddenly turned and stalked at him, her index finger jabbing at his chest while her nose almost touched his.
"You didn't run, you stupid hero!" Tonks growled at him, her finger almost stabbing him in the eye as she gesticulated strongly while she started talking herself into a rage. "I thought you guys were ambushed and fought your way out, but no, I must find out that you once more failed to listen! Again and again, I told you that if you are outnumbered, you cut and run. You were alone, with two unarmed companions, one of those a MUGGLE!" she yelled while her face took on harpy- like features as her form subconsciously reacted to her anger.
"Who couldn't even summon things to her! And instead of summoning one of your portkeys and make it like the thrice-cursed trees, you though it would be a good idea and try shooting ONE of FOUR armed killers in the back?" she hissed, almost spitting in his face with barely held back fury, her arms flailing at her side.
After few more tense moments of impending violence, Tonks turned so abruptly away that Harry instinctively flinched away in anticipation of a hit. Pacing up and down furiously, Tonks continued her tirade, while Harry's hand involuntarily felt for the necklace that Harry now wore again.
"You almost effing killed all of you with that stunt - What if they hadn't simply banished Margret away? What if she had fallen a bit more unlucky and snapped her neck? What if Hermione hadn't managed to outfight the others while you were losing to Bellatrix," Tonks ranted, before almost storming back to Harry and targeting him directly, again.
"I wasn't losing - I was actually winning," Harry replied hotly. "I almost had her, if..." he trailed off.
"YES! IF! If she hadn't attacked a team-mate of yours! If that hadn't caused you to forget everything you were supposed to do. If you weren't standing there like a firsty instead of effing taking her down while her wand was pointed the other way!"
"Yes, we know you're the big cheese, but don't you get it in your stupid head? Fighting... is... a... team... effort!" she barked, punctuating each word with a jab of her finger to his forehead.
"No matter how good you are - you can't force the others to solely fight you! And you can't fight properly if you try to protect others! That's why you must accept that not everybody might go home at the end! That's why you should never get into a fight unless you are at least almost even-numbered! Numbers almost always prevail!" she railed at him.
Harry had never felt so bad in his life. At first, he had the reflex to lash out back at Tonks, but the longer her tirade went on, the more he realized how right she was. If he had simply snuck over to the others he could have freed them and they'd be gone, with almost the same result.
"But... Bellatrix..." he stammered.
"Yeah, Bellatrix. I loved Sirius as much as you did, but petty revenge doesn't win wars!" Tonks rounded at him, again, for his protest.
Harry's eyes widened as she did so. "No! It wasn't..."
"It was! Voldemort was already down, it was a huge success already, but you wanted to get her, as well. You wanted it so much that you ignored common sense! While dangerous, she is a mere rabid dog - she'd probably would have turned up somewhere for a fight, and would have gone down quickly, as she is useless without someone holding her leash! She can't plan and can't rally an army around her. The Death Eaters would have fallen apart and we could have hunted her down in numbers."
Harry was shocked when she laid the facts out before him. And even more by the fact that she was right - Voldemort was dead, already, just getting away safely would have made it into an utter fiasco for the other side. He lucked out, again, but only barely.
"I... I... I'm sorry," he choked out.
"Not yet. After all the training, you still have the habit of instantly forgetting all you learned and just winging it when the shit hits the fan. I taught you how to fight as a team, I taught you how to escape and evade - but no, you get into trouble and instantly do the same crap you ever did - jumping head-long into the deepest puddle of shit. Yes, you were obviously protected by fate - there is no way you could have survived the shit you've pulled off over the years - but this is over! Voldemort is dead, the prophecy has finally been dealt with and fate has no interest in you, anymore - you now can lose a fight!" she ranted at Harry.
"Honestly, If I have to set your whole crew on you to chase you all over the island with Cruciatus curses, I'll beat this habit out of you," Tonks growled in his face. "Don't you get it, you stupid dolt? You are not just my boss, and the others aren't just my charges. We're family!" she said, her growl taking more and more of a whiny note as she laid into him, before she finally grabbed him in a bear-hug.
"Just don't do that, again, right?" she whispered as she let go of him, stepping away into the waiting arms of her boyfriend. Ginny took over in hugging Harry, while Arthur resumed the kneading of his shoulder.
"Henry, I..." Harry started an apology, but was cut off by a wave of Henry's hand.
"I understand. You were in over your head and made a wrong decision," Henry stated as he walked over and put his hand on his shoulder. "Learn your lesson, and we won't talk of it again, ok?"
A sudden snort drew the collective attention away from that emotional moment and towards Remus, who had started to behave strangely. At first, only his face twitched lightly, then his shoulders joined.
"Remus?" Tonks asked confused as her boyfriend started leaning onto her, his whole body shaking with laughter.
"He knows not!" Remus suddenly gasped.
Tonks rolled her eyes. "And now he finally has gone mad," she growled.
"He knows not!" Remus gasped again, his arm curled around his belly as the laughing caused his lungs to protest violently.
Henry made eye-contact with the other people present, but found only the same confusion that has beset him. "Remus, I'm afraid we can't follow you," he finally prompted.
Remus made a few rasping coughs as he tried to pull himself together. "The prophesy - we were such fools. He knows not!"
"I'm afraid I still can't follow you, Remus."
"...the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... " Remus breathlessly quoted the relevant part of the prophecy.
"The Dark Lord knows not!" Remus repeated. "It was literal!" he chuckled. "It was a question of punctuation - but Harry had a power, the Dark Lord knows not," Remus explained. "He didn't know we countered his plan!" he chuckled as everyone exchanged stupid glances.
"Sorry to rain on your parade, darling, but if that were right, what about 'the hand of the other'?" Tonks quipped.
"Well, Voldemort's hand wasn't his own, anymore. Voldemort's body was part Harry, part Riddle Senior and part Wormtail. So it was either Harry's hand, the 'other' Riddle's hand, Voldemort's other body's hand or even Wormtail's hand it referred to," Remus speculated.
Tonks wasn't completely sold on his argument, yet. "Wormtail?"
"Well, strictly speaking, he is an 'other' - and come to think of it, at Hogwarts, we often were referred as 'Potter, Black, Lupin, and the other, you know, what's his name?'," Remus speculated further, still chuckling occasionally.
"And now we know why Divination is considered a 'woolly' art," Harry summed it up with a chuckle of his own.
ooOOoo
Just then, the door flew open. Remus immediately turned and spied out of the curtains. "Dumbledore's strolling in, flanked by Kingsley and Snape," he commented.
A few moments later, the Headmaster's group had approached the curtains, and Dumbledore's voice rang out.
"Hello? Mister Potter?"
For a few moments, Harry contemplated faking a coma, but he knew that the old man wouldn't believe that. With a sigh, he rose from the bed and stepped out to meet the Headmaster.
Tonks and Remus followed behind him, and moved a few steps apart. Not much, but enough to get a proper angle to create a crossfire situation, if needed. Henry, Arthur and Ginny followed not far behind, pooling behind Harry.
"I still have a couple of questions for the official report, Mister Potter," Kingsley began, with Dumbledore taking over.
"And I would also be interested in hearing the tale," he added.
"However, I do believe that this is the wrong venue for such a delicate tale," he continued. "I believe my office would be better suited for this, wouldn't it?" he mused, although his eyes were locked with Harry's while he spoke.
"With all due respect, I don't think this is the right time, Headmaster, Mister Kingsley. I..."
"I insist," Dumbledore added . "We wouldn't want to disturb Madame Pomfrey's patients, won't we?" he spoke, glancing at the curtains behind which Pomfrey and Professor Flitwick still fought for Margret.
Harry's eyes narrowed slightly at these words, but then he turned to look at his companions.
"Tonks, Remus, would you please stay with the Grangers? I'll just make my report for the Ministry and friends, so we can finally set sail, alright?" he chuckled while he exchanged a few looks with Tonks and Remus, his eyes darting around between the curtains.
"Care if we join you?" Arthur casually asked Harry, indicating Ginny and himself.
"Arthur, I don't think that... " Dumbledore tried to protest, but was cut off by Arthur.
"As Head of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts, it is my duty to investigate."
"Also, Mister Potter needs some counsel and a witness if he is going to testify, isn't he?" He said with a slight smirk.
"Of course," Dumbledore conceded the issue. "But I don't believe your daughter has a need to be there."
"Neither has Snape," Harry said evenly.
"Ten points from Gryffindor!" Snape thundered.
"And a thousand points from Slytherin for a student joining Voldemort, kidnapping two students and their Head of House being too stupid to notice that I'm no longer a student!" Harry thundered back. If Dumbledore hadn't been so surprised by Harry making a scene, he would have noticed Tonks and Remus having a silent conversation.
"See, I can do this, as well," he continued evenly, smiling sweetly.
"This is preposterous! Potter is obviously lying! Mister Malfoy hasn't done anything like that and Potter is certainly a student. Ten more points!" Snape ranted.
"I have at least two dozen eyewitnesses for the abduction, and you will find his body at the Little Hangleton graveyard, among his fellow Death Eaters and the corpse of Voldemort," Harry retorted. "And in case you didn't notice, I was in London to take my NEWTs - passing them means I'm no longer a student."
"More baseless accusations. And clearly, Potter is making this up," Snape snapped back.
Henry was only inches from jumping at the sanctimonious bastard, if Harry hadn't shot Snape down so thoroughly.
"Naturally, I'll submit to Veritaserum for court, if needed. We could even use the pensieve in the Headmaster's office. Other than Mister Snape here, I like to prove my statements, instead of just voicing opinions as facts."
"You little, arrogant," Snape wound up, but got stopped by Dumbledore before he could dig his hole deeper.
"Severus, please. Harry, as Head of House, he has a right to be there."
"No. He is openly hostile towards me ever since I stepped into Hogwarts, for some things my father - whom I don't even know - did. And since this is a criminal investigation instead of a disciplinary school issue, he will not attend the meeting," Harry stated adamantly.
"Harry, I," Dumbledore started when Snape once more started complaining, but Harry cut him off.
"I insist, Headmaster," Harry demonstrated that two could play that game.
For a couple of moments, Harry's glare met Dumbledore's stoic look, before Dumbledore acknowledged the deal with a nod. "Well, I told you that your behavior would turn around and bite you one time, Severus. You may attend your other duties while we discuss the events."
Snape was too shocked to say anything, he settled for a petulant glare before he stormed out of the infirmary.
Although he didn't say a word, Harry was dying to know whether he was going to cry.
ooOOoo
"What exactly is going on here?" Ginny demanded as soon as the door had closed behind the group heading for the Headmaster's office.
"Dumbledore wanted to talk to Harry in private, and your father went with him as a friendly wand," Remus explained.
"Why?" she inquired.
"I'm not quite sure. I believe he wants to negotiate the official story," Remus speculated, exchanging questioning glances with Tonks and Henry.
"I happen to agree." Tonks replied.
"What now?" Henry asked.
"We wait for Margret to get fixed up, and then we get you all on board of the Revenge and get out of here," Tonks explained.
"We need to tell Dobby, he has to clear out the manor and destroy the portkeys," Remus continued plotting. " There's no way this will end well."
"What? Why?" Ginny called out. "Didn't we win?"
"I guess we two had the same revelation when Dumbledore said that bit about Hermione and her mum," Remus sighed as he slumped a bit.
"What? Did he threaten them?" Ginny gasped.
Tonks shook her head, sadly. "No. At least I don't think he did. I doubt he knows enough to put the puzzle together, yet."
Sighing as well, she continued. "It's because of the Malfoy brat. He is dead, and his father isn't the forgiving type. And as you know, he has the Minister firmly in his hand."
Ginny didn't take long to curse softly. "Crap."
"Exactly. He can't touch Harry, yet, but I'll show you my true form if he doesn't try going after Hermione and Margret."
"Bugger, even dead, that jerk causes nothing but trouble," Ginny summed up what everybody else was thinking.
ooOOoo
It didn't take long until they finally walked into the Headmaster's office. While the others filtered in through the door, half of them still on the staircase, Dumbledore strode around his desk and sat down in his overstuffed chair.
Harry, who entered behind Kingsley, would have liked to say that he was surprised to see that there were no chairs for visitors, but that would have been a lie. Without hesitation, Harry drew his wand and created two seats, not too stuffy, but comfortable.
Offering them to Arthur, who waved off, he vanished the other and immediately sat down in the right one, figuring that Kingsley would suit himself.
"Oh, I see you already have taken a seat. Forgive me for being such a bad host," Dumbledore spoke as if he hadn't paid attention as the events unfolded. "In my age, you will find yourself seeking a seat instantly as well," he chuckled as with a flick of his wand, he created ample seating for the entire group.
Arthur waved off, again, and Kingsley also declined, and remained standing next to the wall, towering over the proceedings.
"Well, Harry, I think it would be best if we start with you recounting the events, I suppose," Dumbledore continued.
Seeing this as a logical demand, Harry complied. "Of course. Hermione and I were just returning from London," Harry began.
"Why have you been there?" Kingsley interrupted.
"Fair question; we were having our NEWTs. With full marks, and an entire year early," Harry replied. Kingsley nodded as Harry correctly guessed his next question.
"Anyway, we were just returning to the 'Three Broomsticks' with our family, to celebrate that happy occasion."
"That's when we were abducted by a junior Death Eater," Harry spoke. Of course, he was interrupted by Dumbledore.
"We don't know for sure if Mister Malfoy is a Death Eater," the man tried to play down the role the boy had played..
Harry turned his head lightly to look the man straight in the eyes. "Correct. He was," he replied, goading the man on purpose.
"If you like to deny the facts, you are welcome, but still, that boy had abducted me and others in front of witnesses, brought us to Voldemort, was helping them to prepare that ritual and was trying to kill us. I know that for you, he'll always be the 'golden boy', but to me, and everyone else, it makes him a Death Eater," Harry spoke without any sign of emotion. In fact, he didn't care anymore. He was simply too tired to argue anymore.
Still smiling gently Dumbledore quickly stopped Kingsley from interrupting by raising his arm.
"Actions, which he was, no doubt, forced to do - either by extortion or magic," Dumbledore replied kindly. "I do understand your righteous anger, but would it really be necessary to add such unnecessary weight onto the already burdened shoulders of grieving parents?" he asked, guilt-tripping like a champion.
"Who were members of Riddle's club, so who cares," Harry reminded Dumbledore.
"We could stand here all day and assign blame, or we could shake the past off and step into a brighter future together," Dumbledore proclaimed. "Isn't this what we all want?" he asked, his eyes twinkling as he smiled at all present.
"Which is a polite way to say that they have enormous political power and would fight us every step of the way if we don't throw them a bone," Arthur translated for Harry.
"Whatever," Harry sighed, rolling his shoulders to loosen some of the post-Cruciatus cramping that was starting to set in, and continued to recount the events from earlier that day.
ooOOoo
"... and then he jabbed the dagger into his heart'," Harry recounted the main events for the second time this day.
"I don't quite understand," Kingsley commented. If it weren't for his occasional questions, you'd forget that the man was even present. "Why would... You know who... Kill himself?"
"You see," Dumbledore took the lead before any untoward information might be shared. "Riddle had taken some precautions that allowed him to reside on this plane, even if his body were destroyed," he explained.
"He already performed the ritual Harry described once, in order to create an artificial body to reside his spirit in."
"Sadly for him," Harry barged in, "that body was badly damaged back then, when I threw off the blood wards," he said, turning the knife in the old wound.
Dumbledore did not give him the satisfaction of showing any reaction to that barb, and carried on as if nothing had happened.
"So in order to repair that body, he obviously wanted to retrace the steps and create a new body for him, and probably made a mistake somewhere along the line. Anyway, what happened after it became obvious that the magic had failed this time?" Dumbledore steamrolled over the details, again trying to withhold information to anyone he didn't deem 'in the need to know'.
Rolling his eyes, Harry continued his tale. You'd think that the second time around, it would have been easier, but Kingsley practically dissected every word he spoke. Dumbledore was just looking pensive, and Arthur did what he was best in - being supportive.
Completely lost in recounting the events to the detail Kingsley required, Harry never noticed Dumbledore perking up, frowning slightly, even before Kingsley's badge chimed.
ooOOoo
"Mister Lupin, you know very well that she should not be moved at this very moment," Pomfrey protested half-hearted when Remus and Tonks had started to round up everybody to leave the infirmary.
"I know, and I assure you we will take every precaution necessary to not undo the marvellous work you have done," Remus buttered up to her as he came closer and put an steadying arm around her.
"But she is a Muggle, and doesn't belong here," he continued as he led her towards her office, continuing to sweet-talk.
Tiredly, Filius watched Tonks starting to conjure a stretcher for Margret. "Try adding a bit more upward movement to your flick at the second twirl," he stated as it started to take form. "That should make the structure a bit sturdier than the lazy swishing you've developed since you left my care," he commented, ever the teacher.
Tonks simply nodded and corrected her movements accordingly. She was out of school, but still, old habits died hard. And you would be bonkers to ignore advice given freely by a Master.
Having the stretcher done - which did look better on the side she had conjured last, she had to admit - she started levitating Margret onto it, taking extra care to exercise the swish and flick motion precisely.
"Does she need remedial classes?" Remus teased from behind her.
"Oh no, she's doing splendidly. She always had a talent for charms work," Flitwick replied happily, ending in a slight yawn.
"My, my. That was quite a bit of workout, I must admit. Long time since I did such work. Almost forgot how tiring it is," he spoke, stretching his neck a bit. "Give me a nice, fierce duel, any time over this. I don't especially like this kind of work. These endless repetitive curls and waves make me fall asleep," he chuckled.
"No place for creativity, neither," he added with a grin.
Shaking his head, Henry noticed that Ginny seemed to be amused at the thought of trying to be creative with healing spells. He would bet there was a story of the twins behind that. Noticing that Remus was just starting to make another stretcher for Hermione, he reached out and caught his arm.
"No," he said, stepping to the bed and simply hoisting Hermione into his arms. "I might not be of much help with my wife, but I still can take care of my daughter. If something happens, I want someone with a wand to have his hands free."
"Good thinking," Remus replied. "I guess that means that I'll levitate Margret, so Tonks can do what she does best."
"If you end this with 'Looking good', I'll have a new fur cap by the next moon," Tonks replied evenly, but took the lead, nonetheless.
Remus chose to not delve any deeper into the ready hole, and simply waved his wand to lift Margret while he silently exchanged the appropriate male gesture with Henry behind her back.
ooOOoo
"Oh, Luna, Neville! Where have you been?" Ginny called out as soon as they left the infirmary and met the couple waiting in front of the door.
"At the lake," Neville spoke, his cheeks gaining a rosy hue as he tried to avoid eye-contact.
"Not now, Nevy," Luna cut in, "you can brag later. How are they? And where is Harry?"
"They are fine, but asleep. Harry's with the Headmaster and Kingsley, and Auror, making a statement."
"And you are running off without him?" Neville asked. "Oi!" he cried as Luna slapped him on the back of the head.
"Neville, Hogwarts is buzzing with the news - just add one and one. I'd bet that by now, Lucius Malfoy is demanding that the Minister unleashes his Rotfang army to avenge his poor son," she chided him. "By the way, you should not use the staircase - I think a couple of Slytherins are trying to set kind of an ambush there," she told Remus.
"Is that so," Flitwick said with a cold undertone. "I think I'll have a nice stroll in that direction, having a chat with some students," he excused himself, striding off, his usual jovial mien gone.
"Well, I vote for the staircase behind the tapestry of Alrik the Clumsy fighting a dragon," Remus said as he guided his stretcher the other way.
ooOOoo
"The clumsy, indeed," Henry laughed as they approached the animated depiction of a knight hopping on one foot, holding the other in both hands, with a huge hammer of war lying next to him. The dragon was just having his second go at setting fire to the man's cape when Ginny pulled it aside to reveal a staircase going up.
"Don't we need to go down?" he asked.
"Don't think about it, Mister Granger," Luna assured him. "It's just trying to look like that, in fact, it goes both ways. It simply doesn't like being used, so it makes you think it goes the wrong way."
Henry wasn't sure whether she was pulling his leg or not as she swept by and vanished up the stairs.
A couple of minutes later, and a number of non-existent walls, hidden doors and entirely too many stairs, he was rather sure they hadn't made it to a different floor, but probably once around the castle.
The only reason why he was sure that this wasn't kind of a prank on him was that it was due to the three kids running scout for them, steering the group clear of any groups of students. They only had encountered a handful of them, and he noticed that these wore yellow trim on their cloaks, which would mean that they were Huffletuffs, if he remembered right.
ooOOoo
Albus was puzzled by the story. The part of Tom killing himself was sound. That particular ritual, so his own research had shown, only worked with a spirit possessing a certain kind of homunculus.
But why didn't the transfer work?
He was pondering the implications when suddenly, the role call for the infirmary updated. The Grangers had left. The reports he had all implied that the injuries of Missus Granger had been extensive, so it was unlikely that she simply walked out.
The buzz of Kingsley's badge reminded him that he couldn't allow this at the current time. Surreptitiously drawing his wand, he pointed it at the floor, frowning slightly as the usual headache hit him when he tapped into his connection to the castle.