Author's Notes: You are all in luck. I've had this chapter planned for over a month and so I was able to write it very quickly. I won't be able to say the same about Chapter 10. Anyway, thanks again everybody for the reviews and I will try to get Chapter 10 done as fast as I can.
CHAPTER NINE
THE ARMY OF DARKNESS
Ron had Harry up early the next morning to practice Quidditch. So Harry was up and on his Firebolt, throwing the same ball they used in the Quidditch match on his birthday at Ron's head. Luckily for Ron, Harry was still too sleepy to throw accurately.
"Are you okay, Harry," Ron asked after awhile.
"Huh? Oh, yeah…I'm just tired."
"How long did you stay up last night?"
"I dunno. Past three."
"Three! What the hell were you doing? You weren't still looking at that weird parchment thing, were you?"
"Yeah."
"What is that thing? Why is it so important?"
"It's nothing. It just-er-belonged to Sirius, that's all," Harry said quietly.
"Oh. Do you want to stop practicing?" he asked.
"Could we? After all, it's not like we won't be practicing a whole lot at Hogwarts," Harry said and he started to drift towards the ground.
"Got a lot of practices scheduled for us, eh?" Ron said with a grin as he also started to drift downwards.
"Well, we've got to train two new Chasers and maybe two new Beaters. Of course we're going to have to practice," Harry told him.
"Great," said Ron happily as they both landed. "So what do you want to do now?"
"I wish I could ride around on Sirius's bike, to see what all it can do," Harry replied. "Lupin said it could fly."
"I don't think Mum will let you on it. I wouldn't want a repeat of two days ago," Ron said grimly.
"It's okay. How about we go see what Hermione and Ginny are up to?" Harry suggested.
"Oh great, just what I want to do, go see what two teenage girls with hormones are up to. They're probably whispering in each other's ear and giggling," Ron muttered.
Harry chuckled as they walked back towards the house. "Giggling about what?" he asked.
"About whatever it is girls giggle about. How should I know?" Ron said with a shrug as they walked into the house.
They found Hermione and Ginny in the living room talking, but they weren't giggling. "What are you two up to?" Ron asked as he plopped down on a couch that had several patches in it.
"We're talking," Hermione said. "What does it look like we're doing?"
"About what?" Harry asked as took a seat in one of the chairs.
"About whose broomstick is bigger, Viktor Krum's or Oliver Wood's," Ginny said nonchalantly. Harry and Ron gaped. "Oh grow up! Of course we weren't talking about that," she muttered as she rolled her eyes.
"Thank God!" Ron cried, looking disgusted. "Who would give a damn about Vicky anyhow?"
Hermione just frowned, shook her head, and turned to Harry. "I expected you two to be out longer," she said.
"Harry's tired," Ron said.
"Bad night?" she asked.
"More like a late night," Ron told her. "He stayed up past three."
"Harry is capable of answering himself, you know," Hermione scowled, then turned back to Harry once again. "Past three?"
He nodded. "I had a lot of thinking to do."
A small frown played over her features. "Did you find what you were looking for?"
He shrugged. "Some things became clearer."
"That's good."
Ron was looking more and more confused as Harry and Hermione kept talking. "Would somebody like to tell me what you two are talking about?"
"Don't worry about it, Ron," Harry murmured as he looked outside. "It's a nice day outside. What do you all want to do?"
"I thought you were tired," Ron said incredulously.
"I'm feeling a little more energized now," Harry said. "How about for lunch we go out and have a picnic in the field?"
"That sounds nice," Hermione murmured.
"I'll go grab us a blanket," Ginny said and launched herself from her seat and up the stairs.
"Come on, Ron, let's go make some sandwiches," Harry said and took off for the kitchen.
"The man is too tired for Quidditch but now he wants to make sandwiches for a picnic," Ron griped as he followed Harry.
"Oh, quit whining, Ron," Hermione said with a chuckle as she went over and grabbed a basket off of a self in the kitchen.
"I'm not!"
"You are too," Hermione said with a laugh as Harry grabbed some bread.
"I am not," Ron muttered as he got out some ham.
"Oh, please, don't start, you two," Harry said as he shuffled around the kitchen.
"I've got the blanket!" Ginny said when she arrived back downstairs.
"I'm not whining," Ron said earnestly as both he and Harry started to make the sandwiches.
"Sounds like you are," Ginny commented as she set the blanket down.
"What is it, Gang Up on Ron Day?" he muttered as banged his head against the counter.
*****
Later on, all four of them were sitting on the blanket underneath a large oak tree near the edge of the field, munching on sandwiches and talking about the upcoming school year and what they wished would happen.
"No, no," Ron said as he talked around a mouthful of food, "it would be better if Snape showed up late during the welcoming feast in a skirt and blouse."
"I knew he was a cross-dresser," Harry said with a laugh.
"Ugh, I wouldn't want to see Snape in a skirt. Imagine his legs," Ginny said and they all shuddered.
"Yeah, they're best kept hidden," Hermione agreed.
"He's got chicken legs," Harry said as he took a swig of chilled pumpkin juice.
The other three stared at him. "How d'you know that?" Ron asked.
Harry opened his mouth, about to explain what he saw in Snape's Pensieve, but thought better of it. "Remember in our third year when Neville put the Snape boggart in a dress?"
Ron and Hermione started laughing, but Ginny pouted. "I didn't get to see it."
"Remember that funny stuffed vulture hat Neville's gran wears?" Ron asked her. When she nodded, Ron chuckled and said, "Now imagine Snape in that hat wearing a green dress."
Quite suddenly, Ginny burst out in laughter and the others joined her as the memory played in their minds. Hermione sighed. "We don't get enough moments like these anymore."
"No, we don't," Ron said as they all went quiet. Then, Ron snorted in laughter and muttered, "Snape in a dress," bringing forth another onslaught of laughter.
*****
That night found Harry and Ron in Ginny and Hermione's room. All of them were sitting on the floor and somehow Ginny had gotten them all to consent to a game of Truth or Dare, much to Ron's chagrin.
"Really, why are we playing such a girly game?" Ron asked.
"Because this 'girly' game can be a lot of fun," Ginny said. "Harry: truth or dare?"
"Truth," he muttered and awaited his question.
"Did you ever think about really naughty things when it came to Cho Chang?"
"I'm a teenage guy. What do you think?" he said as Ron laughed and Hermione frowned.
"I'll take that as a yes," Ginny said with a grin.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Ron: truth or dare?"
"Er-Dare," Ron replied.
"Okay. I dare you to go tell your Mum that you wet the bed last night," Harry said.
"What!"
"You heard me," Harry said with a grin.
Five minutes later, Ron walked back into the room, his face extremely red. "Ginny: truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"Just how many times did you kiss that Michael Corner?"
Ginny thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I have no idea. Too many times to count, really."
Somehow, Ron's face turned even redder. "That bastard! I'm going to kill him!"
Ginny laughed. "Hermione: truth or dare?"
Hermione shrugged. "Dare, I suppose."
Ginny grinned wickedly. "I dare you to kiss Harry."
Both of them turned red. Harry turned to Hermione, who looked quite panicked, but suddenly a small gleam came into her eye and she leaned over and pecked him on the cheek.
"Hey!" Ginny cried.
"You never said where," Hermione said in triumph. "And Harry, have you ever thought about shaving? You feel like sandpaper."
Ron and Ginny laughed and Harry rubbed his hand over his cheek. "Is it really that bad?"
"Well, unless you're aiming to grow a beard," Hermione told him with a smirk.
He rubbed his hand over his cheek again. "So maybe I'll shave tomorrow. I'll need a razor though."
"Don't worry. With so many boys in the house, we always have an abundance of razors," Ginny said somewhat irritably.
Hermione yawned and checked her watch. "It's getting late and I'm getting tired. Why don't we stop and pick this back up some other time, okay?"
Ron got up and stretched. "That sounds like a good idea. Good night, Ginny. Good night, Hermione."
"Good night, Ron," they both said.
Harry was still rubbing his face when he got up and said good night to the girls.
"Oh Harry, it's not that bad," Hermione assured him. "It's just a little rough."
When Harry went to bed that night, he suddenly wondered how bad he would be at shaving.
"Oh don't worry about it," Ron said when he expressed his concern to him. "You should have seen Percy. Bloody fool cut himself about twelve times the first time he shaved." This gave little comfort to Harry as he fell into a restless sleep.
At first, he dreamed about a dragon, something that looked strangely like a cross between Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback, which used to belong to Hagrid, and that Hungarian Horntail he faced in the first task in the Triwizard Tournament. He was flying around on his Firebolt as the dragon breathed flames up at him. Suddenly, he heard someone panting behind him and he turned around to see Wormtail.
"You called, my master?" he asked.
"Remember your little assignment I sent you on in Romania?" Harry asked him quietly.
"Of course, my lord. Your faith in me is all-"
"Silence! I have another job for you. But first, how are things at the manor?
"The manor? Everything is well, Master. She is doing well," Wormtail informed him.
"Good. Now, on to your new mission. Order up some others and send them to Southampton. Then, send our new Romanian allies along with Flint."
"Flint, sir? Senior or junior?"
"Senior. Judas will lead them. You can send young Marcus with the entourage to Southampton," Harry told him.
"Yes, my lord. Where would you like Judas to go, Master?"
"Judas Flint shall take our new friends and attack the town of Ottery St. Catchpole," Harry said with a malicious smile.
"Yes, Master," Wormtail said, but Harry could feel is confusion.
"You're bewildered by my orders, Wormtail," Harry said with a scowl.
"No, Master. I do as you-"
"Quiet you insolent fool! That miserable town is where the Weasley family lives. Understand now, Wormtail? We will not only divide up those pathetic Aurors with our double attack, but also we will have dealt a painful blow to Harry Potter."
At that, Harry woke up with a strangled cry, waking Ron.
"What is it, Harry?" he asked.
"Go! We've got to get out of here! They're coming!" Harry yelled as he jumped out of bed. "They're coming!" he repeated as he fumbled towards the door in the darkness.
"Who?" Ron asked, still in his bed.
"The Death Eaters!"
If Harry could have seen Ron's face, he'd know that his friend had gone extremely pale.
"You saw it?"
"Yes. I was…I was in Voldemort's head again. I saw what he did," Harry said.
"I'll go tell Mum and Dad," Ron said quietly and rushed towards the door.
"I'll go wake up Hermione and Ginny," Harry said and wrenched open the door before taking off down the stairs.
After some mumbling from Hermione and a "What the hell?" out of Ginny, everyone was in the kitchen, frantic, as Mr. Weasley stuck, his head into the fireplace to contact the Order.
"They'll notify the Aurors and be here in a second," Mr. Weasley told them once he removed his head. Suddenly, there were two loud CRACKs and both Lupin and Moody were in the kitchen.
"The Ministry is sending Aurors here and to Southampton," Lupin said.
"Everybody go get your trunks!" Moody ordered. "Grab enough clothes for a few days."
They all traveled back upstairs quickly and packed. Harry stuffed Hedwig in her cage as Ron grabbed Pigwidgeon and Hermione took Crookshanks. By the time they returned, Lupin ushered them outside as Moody took hold of a kitchen ladle, muttered "Portus," and headed outside.
"Wait, my broom!" Ron cried and headed off towards the broom shed.
"Ronald!" Mrs. Weasley screamed.
Harry took off after him. "Ron, forget about it!" But Ron had already wrench open the doors and was grabbing both his Cleansweep and Harry's Firebolt. "Ron, let's go," Harry said, but then his eyes rested upon Sirius's motorcycle. Suddenly, they heard an explosion from within the town. Running away from the shed, they saw that a large portion of Ottery St. Catchpole was on fire.
"Get moving," Harry said quietly and headed back for the motorcycle.
"What are you doing?" Ron asked.
"Don't worry about me," Harry said as he took a hold of the bike.
"Harry!"
"GO!" he bellowed as he hopped on and kicked the engine into life.
Ron ran and Harry took off. He heard someone behind him shout, "Harry, wait!" He turned his head to see Lupin running towards him. "What are you doing?" he asked.
"Taking care of business," Harry replied.
"Harry-"
"You're going to Grimmauld Place, right? I'll meet you there," Harry told him. "Just tell me how to make this thing fly."
Lupin sighed. "Molly's going to kill me, you know," he said as he pointed to a small pedal by his right foot. "There. Hit that and you start flying."
Harry revved the engine. "Thanks," he said and took off.
Somehow, Harry found riding a motorcycle as natural as flying on a broomstick, although he had never even ridden on a bicycle. The wind blew in his hair as he sped down towards the town faster and faster until finally he passed a smoking house and saw people running and screaming.
He slowed a bit to assess the scene. People were everywhere, escaping from burning homes and running from whom Harry figured were the Death Eaters. Suddenly, a man with gelled-back green hair and a leather jacket walked out into the road, laughing at the sight around him. As woman passed, screaming, and with an excited cry he ran off after her.
Harry gunned the engine and took off after them. Within an instant, Harry was next to the green-haired man and he kicked out hard with his leg, knocking the man down. Harry stopped and turned back to find an incredible surprise. The man was standing up already, laughing harder than ever.
"Stupid human. Like that would kill me," he said with an accent that sounded a little like Viktor Krum's. Before Harry knew what was happening, the man jumped an unnatural length and knocked both Harry and his bike over.
"You're just a lousy kid," he said as he looked at Harry closely and then he grinned. "I always liked my food young."
Quite suddenly, Harry felt something bite him and it took him a moment to realize that it was the man that was biting him. He tried to kick him off, but the man was extremely strong.
There was a WHOOSH in the air and man jumped up, howling in pain. He twisted his body and Harry could see a long wooden arrow sticking out of his back. With another twist, he fell and laid quite lifeless in the street. Harry finally realized that the man had long, white fangs.
"Hey there, are you…Harry?" asked a man with a deep voice. Harry looked over at the other man and recognized him to be Kingsley Shacklebolt. In his hands was a crossbow.
"Kingsley!" Harry gasped as the tall Auror helped him up. "What was that thing?"
"A vampire. What are you doing here?"
"A vampire? A real vampire?"
"Yes," Kingsley said. "What are you doing here?"
"Fighting a war," Harry replied.
"Are you bleeding? Did he bite you?" he asked.
"Yeah…wait, am I going to become a vampire?"
"I don't know, did you bite back?"
"No."
"Then no, you won't. But I don't want there to be another chance that you will be one. Get on your bike and get out of here, Harry," Kingsley said.
"No," Harry said defiantly.
"This is no place for you. Get going!"
"No," he said more firmly.
"Come on Harry," he said and tried to grab Harry's arm.
"I said no!" Harry said and stood his ground. "How do you kill vampires?"
Gritting his teeth, Kingsley reached into a satchel on his belt and pulled out a wooden stake. "Pierce this into their heart."
"That's it?" he asked and took the stake from him.
"Unless you want to throw holy water or decapitate them. Garlic wards them off, too," Kingsley told him.
"Right," Harry said and took off.
"Be careful!" Kingsley called after him.
Harry ran around, searching. There were people lying dead in the road, some burnt to death, some with two bite marks on their necks. The first one Harry came across sent him over to a nearby bush to hurl.
Eventually, Harry became accustomed to death and the metallic smell of blood as he continued searching. Suddenly, he heard a heart-wrenching scream only a few meters away in an alley. He ran to the mouth of it and saw a woman being pinned to a wall by a vampire with extremely long brown hair, sucking on her neck.
"Help me, please!" the woman begged and the vampire turned around to see who she could be talking to.
Fear rushed through Harry's body as the vampire released the woman and faced him. Blood covered his pale face and his eyes were an eerie light gray. He snarled and stepped towards Harry. Then he looked down at the stake in Harry's hand and laughed. "Pathetic boy," he muttered in a thick accent before he launched himself at Harry.
Harry grappled with the taller, stronger being and yet felt all of his fear melt away. He simply reverted back to his instincts whenever Dudley was around, ready to take a swing at him. He dodged a critical blow to the head, side-stepped, and brought his knee up to connect with the vampire's abdomen. Had the vampire had the ability to breathe, he would have wheezed a bit, but instead, he just stumbled back and then charged at Harry again. Harry, however, was ready. He simply moved out of the way and tripped the vampire, sending him sprawling to the ground. A second later, Harry had him flipped over and the stake sticking out of his heart.
"No more meals for you," Harry murmured and pulled the stake out once the vampire's body went limp.
"Thank you," the woman sobbed as she rushed over to Harry and gave him a hug. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," he replied. "Now go on and get medical attention. You've probably lost a lot of blood."
"What was that thing?" she asked.
Harry looked back at the dead vampire and replied, "A monster."
After he and the woman parted, Harry found himself once again roaming the streets as the fires burned and people ran. Eventually, he entered the center of town and saw what he didn't want to see: a man lying in street, his wand next to him. What was worse was that four other men surrounded the dead Auror; three of them were kneeling next to him, feasting. The fourth was wearing a hooded mask.
Harry's blood boiled and his grabbed his wand. With one swift wave, he shouted, "Stupefy!" and all three vampires dropped, unconscious.
The Death Eater's reaction was that of mild surprise, but his wand was at the ready and he was looking around for the attacker. When he spotted Harry, he laughed.
"My, my, I never thought I'd meet Harry Potter," he said in a voice that made the hair on the back of Harry's neck rise.
"You must be Judas Flint," Harry said and watched the Death Eater jerk in surprise.
"Stupefy!" he yelled in anger.
"Protego!" Harry yelled and blocked the spell.
"Tut, tut, Potter. You know the rule: no magic if you're underage."
"Then quit forcing me to use it," Harry shot back.
"You really are a smart aleck," Flint muttered.
"Like father, like son. You'd know all about that," Harry said with a smirk.
He could see Flint's eyes go wide behind the mask. "You little-Impedimenta!"
"Protego!" Once again the spell was blocked.
"Crucio!"
At that, Harry dived out of the way as the curse hit a building, blowing a huge hole in the wall.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry cried and Flint's wand went flying. "Accio!" With that, Harry had Flint's wand in his hand. He laughed. "Ouch, beaten by a sixteen-year-old. Perhaps you should go back and practice dueling, Flint."
Flint was about to launch himself at Harry, but suddenly somebody yelled, "Stupefy!" The spell missed Flint and, swearing, he disapperated.
Harry heard footsteps approach from behind him. He turned to see Kingsley coming his way. "Vickers!" he yelled. "Did you get him?"
"No!" shouted back the other Auror. "He disapperated."
Kingsley frowned and looked down at Harry. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, although the Ministry may try to expel me again. I-er-used some magic."
"Don't worry about that. I'll take care of it," Kingsley said and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Did you recognize the Death Eater at all?"
"Yeah, it was Judas Flint," Harry told him. "Here's his wand."
Kingsley took the wand and stared at it. "Judas Flint? I can't believe you got his wand away from him. How did you know it was him, anyhow?"
"The same way I knew they would be coming tonight. A dream," Harry replied. "Is everything okay now?"
"The Muggle fire department is taking care of the flames and most of the vampires had fled. You-Know-Who probably doesn't want his little army destroyed right away. I'd bet anything that they had orders to stir up some trouble and then leave," Kingsley said.
"I wonder how bad it is in Southampton," Harry mused.
"I wonder if they had vampires," Kingsley said, but then focused his attention on Harry. "You better get going. Did Lupin move you all to Headquarters?" Harry nodded. "You don't mind, do you Harry, that we use Grimmauld Place as the HQ? It is, after all, your place now."
"I don't mind."
"Good. Now, let's get you back to your bike so I can turn it into a portkey and send you to London. A cleanup crew will be here any minute to alter memories."
"Okay."
After reaching the edge of town and collecting Harry's motorcycle, Kingsley performed the spell to make it a portkey. "Hey Harry," he said and Harry sat down on the motorcycle, "good job tonight. You'll be an excellent Auror one day."
Harry smiled. "Thanks," he said as he felt a familiar pull around his navel.