Disclaimer: Harry Potter and pretty much everything else related to it is owned by JK Rowling. I own pretty much nothing.
Author's Note: OK… It's been a veeeeery long time since this has been updated. That being said, in this universe, Sirius is alive, Dumbledore is alive, Snape's been discovered by Voldemort as a spy, Lupin was healed of werewolfism by one of the Swords of Power in an earlier chapter… And a lot of other stuff. I'll try and update much more often, and just get this thing done, so I can concentrate on Destiny's Call, which is my new fic, and features a character which I borrowed from another story I'm writing, which is completely original. That's about it. Thanks to everyone who reads. Please review!
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: DRAGONSLICER
Two days had passed, with no word yet from Sirius, Lupin, and Mr. Weasley about the Dragon Hunter they were pursuing. While there had been no new attacks in the days since the last devastating strike on the Ministry, Reynolds believed it was only a matter of time until the next one. Under duress from the Minister, he had pulled back most of the Aurors into the area around London itself, to protect the Ministry from further attacks.
Harry had raged about this decision. "It won't make a bloody bit of difference whether they have a dozen Aurors or a hundred! Voldemort has Shieldbreaker and Doomgiver. That gives him the edge he needs!"
Hermione had tried to calm him, saying that even though Voldemort did indeed have those weapons, they could only protect a few of his people at a time. He would be loathe to lose almost all of his followers in an attack on a heavily defended target. Harry had been forced to grudgingly agree to the logic in that. Voldemort was vicious, but he was far from stupid.
Still, the quiet following that attack unnerved him. He knew Voldemort was planning something. Snape had fully recovered, along with the rest of the injured, thanks to the powers of Woundhealer, but he unfortunately knew nothing about Voldemort's latest plots.
"It seems he rather suspected me for some time now," Snape admitted, "so I'm afraid I don't know too much about what he's planning. You could try asking Mr. Malfoy, though I doubt he knows much either."
His words rang true. Draco turned out to know very little about Voldemort's overall plans. He seemed quite willing to talk about what he knew now that he had been captured.
"Well, it's not like you can stop the Dark Lord anyhow, so what's the hurt in talking?" he had sneered.
Harry had also noticed that many students seemed to be studying Defense Against the Dark Arts outside of class far more often than normal. While he knew Birmingham was a difficult teacher, the load that everyone seemed to have was rather enormous, and he knew that his class had not received any additional work. He asked Ginny, who was practicing Stunning with a few friends in the courtyard about it.
"Oh, well…" she fiddled with her wand for a moment as she answered, "you see, Harry, it's just that… Well, people are scared, y'know? I mean… You-Know-Who's not only back, but he's doing a lot. I don't think any of us imagined it could be this horrible."
Harry sighed. "Yeah, neither did I, really…" He paused, looking out over the lake. "There are times I wish these Swords had never come here, you know. They seem to have caused nothing but pain and suffering."
"Pain often accompanies joy, Harry. And nothing really worth doing is ever easy. You should know that better than most."
Harry looked at her and nodded slowly. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Still, so many people have died. I wish there was something I could do to stop it."
Ginny hesitated, then patted his arm softly. "You've already done so much, Harry, more than I think you know. And if it makes you feel better, I know you'll do everything you can. Never doubt that there's anything more you can do; you always do your best, even if you don't think so."
"You really believe that?"
"I do. And I think you'll find most of those who know you best believe it, too."
Despite himself, Harry had to smile. "Thanks, Ginny. That does mean a lot to me."
He decided to head back up to the common, lacking any particular reason to continue wandering the castle grounds alone. Hermione was there reading a rather large book, and she smiled warmly at him as he entered. He headed over to her, smiling in return, but was intercepted by Ron halfway there, who smiled at him as well.
"How about a game of chess, Harry?"
Harry blinked and started. "Chess, Ron? Now? Please tell me you aren't serious."
"Why not? Look Harry, I know you've been pretty down lately, what with the war and all. But if you dwell on that, it'll only get worse. Isn't it important to remember that we are, after all, still alive, and remember that therefore we have to live, regardless?"
Harry couldn't help it, he blinked again. "What?"
Ron sighed and smacked his forehead. "What I mean is, we've mourned the dead, and we still do. And worrying
about things we can't currently control isn't going to help anything. And while people have died, we are still
alive, and have to choose life. I don't want to spend mine moping about, and I don't think you do, either. So…
How about a bit of normalcy?"
Harry looked at his friend, saw the earnestness in his eyes. He nodded slowly, finally understanding. "OK." He was grinning now. "Alright, but I just hope you go easy on me."
Ron grinned back. "We'll see." He got out the chess set, and Hermione, her eyes looking brighter than they had for a while, joined them at the table. And for a few hours, with all the turbulence around them, the three friends were just teenagers again.
The next day was the most normal Harry had had in quite some time. Rather than racing to save someone's life or fending off Voldemort's forces, he actually went to class and did homework. "You know," remarked Ron, "I had almost forgotten we were at school with all that's been happening."
Harry nodded. "Yeah, me too. And you're right, you know, Quidditch is supposed to be starting in another week, and I haven't even really trained the team at all, or practiced myself… Though really, I don't know how much time I can devote to that. Not until this is all resolved."
"Well, hopefully it'll be over sooner rather than later," said Hermione. "Things are bad now, but all we need is one major break. And Voldemort can't be in two places at once. We take things one step at a time."
Harry breathed heavily. "Yeah… It's still strange, though. Our lives have changed so much in the past couple months. The way we were at the end of last year seems like an entire lifetime from where we are now."
Ron grunted. "I know what you mean. Hard to believe it's only November, isn't it? So much has happened, I can scarcely imagine it. And you know we'll have to fight again, as soon as Dad, Sirius and Lupin get back."
Harry and Hermione nodded grimly. Hopefully that trio would be back any day now, with the Dragonslayer who, hopefully, bore the Sword Dragonslicer. While neither of them particularly looked forward to having to fight once more; they had seen far more death than they'd ever cared to see, they understood that Voldemort needed to be stopped, so that more people didn't die.
At that moment, the portal opened, and Neville climbed into the common room. "Hey guys," he said, making his way over to them. "Professor Dumbledore wanted me to tell you, Mr. Weasley, Sirius, and Professor Lupin are back, with the Dragonslayer. You're never going to guess who it is," he finished with a grin.
The three friends looked at each other, then stood to follow Neville. "Well, let's go, then," declared Harry.
The followed Neville back out the portal and down the stairs to Dumbledore's office, whereupon Neville spoke the code to get inside. Standing in the office were Dumbledore, a few members of the Order, and a man who must be the Dragonslayer. He was tall, and somewhat haggard looking, and had a Sword, which must be Dragonslicer, belted at his hip. Dumbledore looked up as the four entered.
"Ah, yes, come in. I'd like you all to meet the man who will hopefully be able to stop Voldemort's dragonriders." The man turned about, and Harry, Hermione, and Ron gasped.
"Hey there, little brother. Been a while," he said with a grin. It was none other than Charlie Weasley.
Ron stood shocked for a moment before bounding forward and pounding his brother on the back. "Charlie! Why didn't you tell us about all this, huh? You could've saved us a load of trouble!"
Despite his admonishment, a grin had spread across Ron's face. Smiling themselves, Harry and Hermione closed in, giving their own greetings to the second Weasley child.
Charlie clapped Ron's shoulder. "Well, Ron, you see, in the midst of fighting massive, fire-breathing dragons, I just up and forgot to send a memo. And how was I to know there were 12 of these things?" He slapped a hand on the Sword hilt.
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Ah, yes, while I'm sure you all have some catching up to do, I'm afraid we do have some more pressing matters to attend to."
The four nodded. "Of course, Professor. What's our next move, now that we have Dragonslice?" asked Harry.
Reynolds spoke. "We've already got a plan laid out. While it's true You-Know-Who has got Shieldbreaker and Doomgiver already, he won't pass up a chance to get his hands on another, or destroy one he can't have. We've laid a little trap for him. Stonecutter is being sent back to the Ministry. Once there, we'll make sure Voldemort hears about it. With any luck, we can draw in some of his forces and take them out. We're working on some tactics to bypass Shieldbreaker if Voldemort himself is there."
Harry nodded. "Alright. When is this happening?"
Dumbledore answered. "Tomorrow. However, Harry, it will still be very dangerous. I can't ask you to come, especially as now you do not have the powers of Shieldbreaker to guard you."
Ron interrupted. "Professor, I think we're past that. We've got to stop Voldemort, or it won't really matter in the long run, will it?"
Harry nodded, clapping Ron on the back in solidarity. "We were involved in this from the start, Professor. We'd like to see it through to the end. For better or worse, we have some responsibility in this who situation."
Hermione gripped his arm, giving him a smile as she stood with her two friends. Neville, too, stepped up on a level with them, surprising everyone, including himself. Sirius gave a small smile as he looked on from where he leaned against the wall.
Dumbledore nodded. "I see. Very well then. I shall have you notified when we're leaving. For now, you all could use some rest for the night. Remus, Sirius, could you see them back to their common room?"
The four allowed themselves to be led back Gryffindor Tower. Saying quick goodnights, they headed up to bed, and readied themselves for tomorrow's new battle.
The next morning, Harry heard a voice whispering to him, as he was shaken awake. "Time to get up, Harry. We're heading to the Ministry now." It was Sirius. Harry pulled himself out of bed as Sirius went to wake Ron and Neville. In a few minutes, they headed down to the common room. Hermione was waiting for them.
"Professor McGonagall woke me up. You all sleep well?" she asked.
Harry grinned. Despite the severity of their current crisis, he couldn't help but give her a little ribbing. "Would've slept better if you had been with me." Hermione smacked his arm with a laugh.
"You are a very naughty boy, Harry," she said, wagging a finger at him. "This is a very serious occasion!" Despite herself, she couldn't keep the smile off her face. The two linked arms and headed downstairs, with Sirius and Ron shaking their heads in their wake.
Dumbledore, Charlie, Lupin, Reynolds and a few other Order members were waiting for them in the Great Hall. The fire was already lit. "There you are. Well, into the fire, then, Harry. We're expecting that we'll be starting shortly."
Harry nodded, and holding Sightblinder at his side tightly, stepped into the flames. He was immediately spat out from another fireplace at the Ministry. A few Aurors he had seen before and a couple more Order members awaited him. They pointed him off to the side as more people came through. A few minutes later, the group was complete. On hand were two dozen Aurors, a dozen members of the Order, including Dumbledore, along with Charlie and the four students.
"We're all set here," remarked one Auror. "Now we'll just have to see if he took the bait."
They had all taken up hidden positions. Sirius stood next to Harry, peering out a small window. "Don't worry. We've got more people scattered about the square. Voldemort won't know what hit him." He laid a steady hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry smiled at his godfather, and returned the gesture. Next to him, Hermione favored him with a quick smile before returning her eyes to watching.
After what seemed like a tense eternity, Harry heard the flapping of great wings. He had heard it before, during the Triwizard tournament. "Dragons," he whispered.
Sirius nodded. "Just one of them. That's strange, though, there's nobody else." He Apparated, then reappeared a few moments later. "Nobody else has seen any more forces, either. Hold on. We're going to cover Charlie while he takes out the dragonrider."
Harry and the others watched as a lone figure strode into the square. Holding Dragonslice in front of him, Charlie fixed his eyes on the dragon and its rider.
The rider laughed. "You must be very brave, or very stupid to face a dragon single-handedly. Either way, you'll shortly be dead." With that, the dragon lurched forward, astonishingly fast for a creature of its size. Charlie dodged to the side, and a Dragonslicer seemed to emit a low hum, swung through the dragon's front foot. The mighty Sword sliced clean through scale and bone, severing the foot and leaving the forearm a bloody mess. The dragon howled in agony, nearly bucking its rider before swinging around in fury, trying to kill the human who had hurt it so. Charlie managed to avoid its tail, but his robe caught fire from its breath. He quickly tossed it aside before charging back in, dodging another attack and swinging Dragonslicer into the dragon's chest with a mighty battle cry. The Sword immediately plunged through the dragon's supposedly impenetrable skin and seemed to almost jump in Charlie's hands, thrusting true into the beast's heart. With one massive jerk, it slumped to the side, dead.
The rider was thrown off. He didn't even have time to scramble away before the dragon's body fell on him, crushing him to death. Charlie, breathing hard, pulled the Sword away from the carcass and stumbled towards Dumbledore, who was now also in the square.
Harry ran the short battle through his head. Charlie had, in seconds, killed what he had had to use all the skills he had in 4th year to just get past. While he knew that Dragonslicer had to be powerful in its ability to slay dragons, he hadn't expected anything quite that decisive. He was startled out of his reverie by Sirius cursing beside him.
"Damnit," growled Sirius.
Harry turned to him. "What's wrong? We won, didn't we?"
Sirius stared out the window. "Voldemort must have known it was a trap. To only send the one dragonrider, and nothing else? There's been no activity anywhere else in the Ministry. And if he didn't take the chance to seize Dragonslicer with Charlie all alone out there, he's not here at all."
Hermione looked at him. "Maybe he just got suspicious."
Sirius shook his head. "No way. Even if he suspected, he still would have come. He desires power over anything, and he never would have shorted himself on this unless he knew something was up. Somebody tipped him off, somehow."
That statement chilled Harry to the bone. Someone within their ranks was passing Voldemort information. Somebody high up enough to know about this trap, which Harry doubted more than 20 people knew about before this morning, and all of whom knew virtually everything the Order and Ministry was doing to fight Voldemort. With information like that, Voldemort would know every move they made.