Not a whole lot of reviews for Chapter 1....oh well, I guess I can't expect too much on the first chapter. Just keep on readin' and reviewin' that's all I can ask for right now (that and nominations ::wink::)
There's a reference in this chapter to one of my favorite video games of all time, but it's not obvious for those of who haven't played it. Pumpkin pie to anyone who can tell me what reference is, and what game it's from.
A quick reminder, in case some of you forgot, this chapter will again start up the use of 'single quotes' for when Harry and Hermione communicate through their minds.
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Chapter 2: Return of the Rat
Harry was standing in front of the mirror in his and Hermione's room, buttoning up his plain white shirt.
"They really decided to go all out for this, didn't they?" he asked, looking at Hermione slip into a black skirt through the mirror.
"Well, not all out," she said. "They could've made it a black-tie affair."
"Knowing Fred and George, they probably would've too if given the opportunity," said Harry with a grin.
"I tend to agree," said Hermione with a chuckle as she threw on a simple cream-colored blouse.
"Can't say I'm complaining though," said Harry pulling up a pair of khakis. "You look marvelous, by the way." Hermione chuckled.
"Quite the charmer, aren't you?" she asked, sauntering over to where he was standing.
"I do my best," Harry said with a smile. He turned around and captured her lips with his in a passionate kiss.
"If we keep this up," Hermione said once Harry pulled away. "We'll never get downstairs..." Harry gave her a small frown.
"I suppose we can't be late to our own party, can we?" he asked. Hermione smiled and shook her head.
"But...I'll promise to make it up to you when we get back up here tonight," she said in a low voice.
"I'll hold you to it," Harry said with a grin.
"Deal, now let's get going." said Hermione.
They walked downstairs hand in hand and made their way to the basement kitchen, where they would be flooing to the Leaky Cauldron.
"You know," said Harry as he reached for the pot of green dust. "Somehow I get the feeling that we're going to have to learn to apparate if we want to pass the auror training." Hermione considered him carefully.
"Do you mean to tell me that you haven't so much as even looked into how to apparate?" she asked with her brow furrowed slightly.
"Erm....no?" he suggested. Hermione let out a groan and shook her head.
"Well then I suppose I can just help you out," she said. "Mind you I haven't tried apparation yet, but I've read all there is to know about it."
"Why am I not surprised?" Harry grinned as he threw a pinch of the dust in the fire and green flames roared to life. "The Leaky Cauldron!" he yelled as he stepped inside the flames. A second later he was gone.
'Why am I not surprised that he didn't give any thought to this at all?' Hermione asked herself.
'I heard that,' Harry's voice replied in her head. 'Are you coming?' She rolled her eyes and threw a pinch of the floo powder into the fire, shouting, "The Leaky Cauldron!" and a moment later she too was gone.
Hermione tumbled forward as she emerged from the fireplace, only to fall into Harry's waiting arms.
"We really need to work on our landings," he said smiling. "You're just as bad as me."
"I take that as an insult," Hermione said sticking her tongue out at him. "Oh, for pete's sake. I'm covered in soot." She drew her wand and muttered a simple cleaning charm on herself before noticing that Harry had the same problem and cast it on him too.
"Well m'lady, do you think you're ready to go to our banquet?" Harry asked, holding out his arm for her. Hermione giggled.
"I suppose so," she said with a dramatic sigh. Neither of them could help but laugh as they walked out into the back alley and Harry tapped the appropriate bricks with his wand.
Since it was a Wednesday evening, Diagon Alley wasn't very crowded. The sun was setting in the distance, and a warm summer breeze was blowing, making it a very comfortable walk for Harry and Hermione. There was the occasional point and stare as they passed people, but nothing out of the ordinary except for a tiny reflection of light from somewhere near the curb that seemed out of place. Harry simply shrugged it off as a trick of the light.
They walked for a few more minutes before Angelo's came into view. On the outside it seemed rather quaint. Like most of the other buildings in the area, it rose four stories above the ground and had a brick exterior. However neither Harry nor Hermione had ever been there before, so it was with wide eyes that they looked around the establishment once they had entered.
Saying that Angelo's was a simple restaurant would be a gross understatement. Harry thought that saying it was a fine establishment restricted to only the rich would be closer, but not quite all the way. It was instantly obvious to him that only the most wealthy in the wizarding world could ever afford to dine here. They were standing in a large foyer with enormous full-body portraits of famous witches and wizards that Harry had seen on chocolate frog cards hanging on the walls. A diamond chandelier was sparkling some twenty feet above them, and there was a maitre d's podium made out of what looked to be solid cherry wood in front of the dining area, which looked to be covered with a gold-threaded rug. It wasn't until Hermione slightly nudged Harry that he noticed the person behind the podium was talking to him.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Harry asked, still bewildered.
"I asked, if you 'ave a reservation zis evening?" the host asked in a very thick French accent. Harry noticed that he was fairly short and probably had an entire bottle of Sleakeasy's Potion on his head.
"Uh...we're here for the party," he replied, not entirely sure of what the most formal response would be.
"Mmm, and your names are?"
"Harry Potter and Hermione Granger," Harry answered. The host's eyes widened slightly at this but quickly looked to a ledger to hide his reaction.
"Yes, of course," he said with a slight bow. "Please follow me." He walked off to the left, away from the dining room and slowly Harry and Hermione followed him. The host reached a door and tapped the knob twice with his index finger. Harry heard a click and the door swung open, revealing a short, well-lit marble hallway with a lift at the end of it.
"Ze lift will take you to ze banquet," the host said. "Top floor. Enjoy yourselves, Monsieur Potter and Madame Granger." With that he bowed and returned to his podium.
"Well, Madame Granger," said Harry, mimicking the host's accent. "Shall we go to our party?"
"Why of course, monsieur," she replied, with a chuckle. They walked into the hallway and the door closed behind them, which Harry supposed was to keep unwanted people out. They walked to the end of the hall and he pressed the button to summon the car. A soft bell announced its arrival and they boarded, Hermione pressing the button labeled '4'.
"You know," she said, examining the buttons for each floor. "If I didn't know better, I'd swear these were diamond."
"It wouldn't surprise me," he said. "Everything in this place seems to be the best that money could buy."
"You're telling me," Hermione replied. "I wonder who owns this place. Whoever it is must be filthy rich."
The bell dinged softly to let them know they had arrived at their destination. Smiling, Harry took Hermione's hand in his as the doors opened to let them out. They were still rather early; he could only make out four or five people in the room. Then he took a look at the surroundings and his jaw dropped.
The single room occupied all of the top floor, and was made entirely of glass. The ceiling, walls, tables, everything save the floor. He wondered briefly what kind of charms were used to make the outside look like plain brick to anyone on the street. There were about a dozen small little tables that could seat up to four scattered about the room, covered with navy blue silk tablecloths. Each of the tables had a solid gold candlestick holder with a lit candle in each of them. Combined with the dim lights and the fading sunset, they gave the room an ethereal glow. The soft sounds of jazz and blues were heard in the background, coming from what he guess were magical speakers that were quite well hidden. It was rather a lot, Harry thought.
"You like it then?" Fred asked, he and his twin coming up beside Harry.
"Er....it's...a lot," he managed to say.
"Well of course it is!" George exclaimed cuffing Harry's shoulder. "Don't let anyone know, but this setup cost us about what you gave us to start the business," he said in a whisper.
"How could you ever pay for this?" Hermione asked looking at the fading sun through the glass windows.
"Well, let's just say that our net worth has increased exponentially from what Harry gave us," said Fred in a low tone.
"So you're millionaires," Harry said, more as a statement than a question.
"Shhhhhhh!" George hissed. "We don't like that term. It makes us sound so...."
"Malfoyish," Fred finished, causing Harry and Hermione to chuckle.
"Listen," George said, resuming his normal voice. "There aren't a lot of people here yet, so why don't you go and chat with our esteemed Headmaster. He's over there talking to Moody."
"How many people did you two invite, anyway?" Hermione asked. The twins looked around the room.
"Well, we've got room for...." Fred paused to count the tables. "About fifty," he said.
"You've got to be kidding," Harry replied. "I don't think I know fifty people."
"Oh, sure you do," George replied with a smile as the elevator bell dinged again. "Now go and relax." Harry and Hermione sighed as they started to walk over to Dumbledore and Moody, but that strange reflection of light Harry had seen out on the street appeared in the corner of the room. He stopped and looked at the spot, but again there was nothing there.
'Harry?' Hermione asked silently. 'What is it?'
'Nothing,' he replied shaking his head. 'I'm just seeing things.'
"Ah, and here are the guests of honor," Dumbledore said with a smile as Harry and Hermione got to his table. "I trust all is well?"
"Very well sir, thank you," Hermione said as Harry pulled out her chair for her to sit down.
"Lookin' forward to training, you two?" Moody growled.
"I think so," Harry said. "I'm not really sure what to expect." This elicited a scoff from the ex-auror.
"It oughta be interestin'," he said. "Back before this whole election business, it'd have been Kingsley to train ya."
"Yeah, about that," Harry said. "I thought Amelia Bones was the Head of Magical Law Enforcement."
"When Percy was elected," Dumbledore said. "Amelia was promoted to Personal Advisor to the Minister. Kingsley was asked to take her place."
"So who will be training us then?" Hermione asked. This elicited a warm smile from Dumbledore and a more pained, crooked, one from Moody.
"Traditionally they'd take the best auror they've got and throw you with him on assignments," Moody growled. "But the Ministry needs all their aurors out hunting death eaters what with the return of You-Know-Who, and they don't want trainees getting in the lines of fire."
"So what'll happen?" Harry asked. Moody grinned.
"Let's just say that I owed Kingsley a personal favor," he said, his magical eye darting around the room.
"You'll be training us, Professor Moody?" Hermione asked, her expression brightening considerably.
"I told you not to call me that, since I never even taught you lot in the first place," the auror growled. "But yes, I'll be training you in most of the stuff you'll need to know."
"Most of the stuff?" Harry asked.
"Well I'm a bit rusty on my potions, so someone else will be helping you with that," Moody growled. "Dunno who though."
"I see that more people have arrived, so it may be prudent to go and say hello to each of them," the headmaster interjected with a smile. "After all, it is your party."
"Yes, of course," Hermione said standing. "It was wonderful to see you both again."
"You too, Ms. Granger," said Dumbledore with a smile. "Or should we start calling you Mrs. Potter?" Harry and Hermione looked at each other with thoughtful glances.
"We haven't really discussed that yet," Harry said.
"No worries," Dumbledore replied with a wave of his hand. "I'm sure there are more important things on your minds right now."
"You two enjoy yourselves," Moody growled, taking a swig from his hip flask. "And remember -"
"Constant vigilance," Harry and Hermione finished for him.
"And don't you forget it," Moody said.
"Come dear, let's go greet the guests," Harry chuckled. He and Hermione waved goodbye to Albus and Moody and walked over to a table where Molly and Arthur Weasley were sitting, the former fretting about how much this cost her sons.
"Honestly, how they can go about and spend this much money just for one night is beyond me," she was muttering while Arthur was doing his best to look fascinated at the tablecloth. "Harry, Hermione, how are you dears?"
"A bit amazed at the arrangements," Harry said gesturing to the room they were in. "But I can't say I'm complaining."
"Yes, well," Molly huffed. "I think this is a bit extravagant even for Fred and George."
"I still wonder who owns this restaurant," Hermione said. "This place must have cost millions."
"Some witch," Arthur said, joining the conversation. "Her familiar is a dog named Angelo, so she named the place after him."
"Must really like the dog," Harry joked.
"Harry! Hermione!" a voice behind them shouted. They turned and saw Neville waving at them from a seat next to his gran.
"Well, we should go and say hello to them," Hermione said. "We'll see you later, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley."
"You too, dears," she said.
Finally, about an hour later, Harry and Hermione had said hello to just about everyone present, and it turned out that he actually did know fifty people. Everyone who had been present to watch Harry and Hermione open their letters, along with the entire Order of the Phoenix had shown up, with the obvious exception of Snape and his dislike of joyous occasions. Dean, Seamus, Neville, and Lavender were present as well as all of the old Gryffindor quidditch team. Apparently Fred and George had tried to get Parvati, but she was on holiday with her family for the summer. The entire staff from Hogwarts was there, and to top it all off, Fred and George had convinced Dobby to show up. All in all, it was a rather festive bunch.
"Could I have everyone's attention please?" asked a standing Fred in his best impersonation of Professor McGonagal while tapping his glass with a fork, earning him a reproving glare from his old transfiguration teacher. "Welcome!" he announced in a booming voice. "I'm sure you all know why you're here, but in case you don't, we're celebrating England's two newest aurors!"
Enthusiastic applause sounded as he finished this, but Harry held up his hand next to Fred's to silence it.
"Soon-to-be-aurors," he corrected.
"Yes, yes," George said, dismissively. "Anyway, there will be dancing after dinner, so while we wait for the meal to be brought up here, please enjoy yourselves!" The twins sat back down after this, leaving everyone to chat amongst themselves.
Dinner in itself was a pleasant affair. Harry and Hermione sat with Ron and the twins while dining on the best filet mignon Europe had to offer.
"Wizards get the best cows on the market, you know" George said, stabbing a piece of steak with his fork.
"I would've thought it would be dangerous to eat cow in the first place, what with Mad Cow Disease running rampant," Hermione said, eyeing her portion carefully.
"Oh come now," said Fred. "This whole Mad Cow Disease that the muggles go on about, it's quite ridiculous."
"Why do you say that?" Harry asked, taking a sip of wine.
"Because it's dim-witted pranksters who put the Imperius Curse on the cows," George replied. "From what I've heard they find it funny to watch cows do things that cows should never do, then have the muggles shoot them."
"That's horrible!" Hermione exclaimed.
"No worse than what death eaters do," Harry muttered, causing a sigh from his fiancee.
"I suppose."
Once the meal was over, the tables magically vanished and a dance floor was revealed. However, just as the music was about to begin, Remus (in true Marauder fashion) yelled out from the back, "SPEECH!" and was met with tumultuous applause. So much to Harry's dismay, he found himself and Hermione standing in front of the assembled guests who were waiting for an inspiring string of words (or something of the like).
"Well, erm..." he began clearing his throat. "First off we'd both like to thank Fred and George for throwing us this wonderful party -" This was met with applause. "And we'd like to thank each and every one of you for coming here to celebrate it with us." More applause.
"An' you think that the fact that it was held 'ere had nothin' to do wit it then?" Seamus called out from the back of the crowd, eliciting a chuckle from the audience.
"No, and I'm sure that Fred and George were thinking along the same lines when they decided to have the party here," Hermione chimed in, causing more laughter.
"Anyway, I'm sure we'd all like to get to dancing, so if no one has any objections? Good. Shall we then?" As if waiting for his cue, the lights dimmed and the volume of the music in the background increased enough for people to dance to.
"May I have this dance?" Harry asked Hermione is his most gentlemanly voice.
"I would be very honored," she replied with a smile. Harry led her out onto the dance floor and wrapped his arms around her waist, as a slow, blues song started playing.
"You know," Hermione said, resting her head on Harry's chest. "I do kind of like the ring of it."
"Ring of what?" Harry asked, puzzled.
"Mrs. Potter."
"Shall we have people start calling you that then?" Harry asked, grinning.
"I think so," Hermione replied. He was leaning in to kiss her when he saw it and froze. It was the tiny reflective glimmer he had been seeing all day, but this time it didn't disappear.
"Harry?" Hermione asked noticing his change in expression. "Harry?"
He didn't answer. Although it was very dark since the sun had gone down, and most of the candles had been extinguished, years of playing as a seeker had trained Harry's eyes very well, and it didn't take him long to figure out what that glint of light was.
It was silver. And it was in the form of a hand attached to a rat hiding in the corner.
"We need to find Dumbledore right now," he whispered urgently. Hermione was about to question him, but saw the intense look of fear and resolve in his eyes and quickly silenced herself. They found Dumbledore dancing with Professor McGonagal a few feet away.
"Harry, Hermione," their old head of house began. "How are you..." but she trailed off when she saw the look on Harry's face.
"What is it Harry?" Dumbledore asked.
"Wormtail's here," he whispered, so as not to be overheard by anyone else.
"I see," the headmaster replied. "Alastor?" he called to his left, and the old auror walked over to him. "Where is he, Harry?"
"In the corner to your back and right," he answered. Moody, seeming to have understood, swivelled his magical eye to that spot. It took him a moment before his normal eye widened.
"We have to get everyone out of here now," he growled in a low voice. "They could be coming any minute."
"No," Dumbledore replied. "It would cause a panic. It will be easier to defend everyone from inside here anyway."
"How?" Hermione asked. Dumbledore drew his wand.
"Contega Vitalus," he muttered, and the windows and ceiling flickered a dull silver momentarily before returning to their normal transparency. "If there is an attack, we will be protected long enough to muster a defense," he whispered. "But hopefully it will not come to that-"
The words weren't out of the headmaster's mouth when ten green flashes went off from outside the building. They all struck the glass simultaneously, and, to Harry's great surprise, reflected off the walls and went back at their casters, striking two death eaters while the other ten were forced to evade the spells on their brooms.
Then panic broke out. Dumbledore quickly cast a sonorous charm on himself.
"Everyone must listen!" he roared as more green jets of light hit the glass, which was starting to crack. "We cannot run from this. There are too many of us, the chance of escape too small. We have no choice but to fight. Use every spell you know to defend yourselves."
The people in the room looked apprehensive as they drew their wands, but all fear in the room disappeared at once when the windows finally shattered and spells started firing from every direction.
Chaos ensued. Harry didn't remember much of the battle, only a few stunners that he'd shot at the attackers (he wasn't going to risk firing a killing curse when it might hit someone on his side) and the freezing jinx that Hermione used to immobilize three death eaters in mid-air.
Fortunately, having a few aurors and several teachers from the most prestigious wizarding school in the world can help in a battle, and by the time it was all over five minutes later, no one had ended up dead. The windows and ceiling had been shattered, there were black scorch marks on the floor in several places, and eight hooded figures were being bound and gagged, while the two who were killed were being hauled off to the side.
"Well, that was scary," said David Granger, brushing his slacks off as he stood next to his wife. "What happened?"
"We got 'em all," Moody growled. "Kingsley pulled off a great stunner and knocked one out and Tonks did a nifty bit of apparation and got herself out onto one of the brooms to take the last one down."
"Where's Wormtail?" Harry asked, not caring about anything else at the moment.
"Hang on," said Moody, swivelling his magical eye around before giving a small laugh. "Still in that bloody corner, too scared to move."
"How utterly like him," Harry sighed pointing his wand at where the rat was. "Accio rat!"
There was a high-pitched squeak as the rat flew from where it was cowering in the corner into Harry's outstretched grip. Hermione immediately cast a revealing spell, and just as it did four years ago, the rat grew into one Peter Pettigrew.
"Well now," Harry said, looking the cowering man right in the eye. "Fancy meeting you here, Wormtail."
"H-h-h-h-harry," he stammered. "W-w-what happened here?"
"Oh, you didn't see it?" Harry asked. "Then again you were probably too scared to look up from your hiding spot. Your colleagues tried to kill us."
Peter stood there looking at the floor, whimpering.
"I should have noticed it was you earlier," Harry continued. "I saw that hand of yours all day." He yanked back the sleeve on Pettigrew's robe to reveal the silver hand. "You should work on covering that up, Peter. It gives off quite a reflection."
"Sorry to interrupt your reunion, Potter," Moody growled. "But I need to take this scum to the Order's detainment center for questioning."
"No."
Moody spun around and looked Harry right in the eye.
"What?" he growled.
"I want him turned over to the ministry," Harry said. "There's something that needs to be cleared up."
"And what's that?" Moody asked in a lower growl, obviously displeased at having someone argue with him.
"I want Sirius' name cleared."
Moody was silent as it was apparent that there was a huge internal struggle going on in his mind. Finally, after about a minute of debating to himself, he sighed.
"Have it your way then, Potter," he said, conjuring two pairs of golden shackles and magically fastening them to Pettigrew's wrists and ankles. "I'll take him there." With a soft 'pop', he and Peter disappeared.
"Perhaps it would be better if you returned to headquarters," Dumbledore said to Harry, Hermione, and her parents as Ministry officials descended on the scene with mediwizards to help people who had been injured. "I will take care of everything here with the Ministry." He tapped a knife he picked up off the floor with his wand and it glowed blue for a moment. Harry took it from him and held it out for Hermione, who put a finger on it, along with each of her parents.
"Good job tonight, Harry," Dumbledore said. "You saved more people than you know." With that he tapped the knife again and Harry felt a familiar tug behind his navel as he was whisked away from Angelo's.
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So yeah....not a fun chapter. I really didn't like writing this one, it irritated me to no end, and I don't like chapters that have no or almost Ron in them. This basically just sets the story for the next 20 or so chapters, and the real fun stuff will begin shortly. Until next time.