(A/N: Hey, I've posted two chapters at the same time! You need to read the previous one first and afterwards this one! In chapter 17 are written very useful informations…)
Chapter 18. BACK AT GRIMMAULD PLACE
...
Along unknown shores
We are in many to walk
With tears in the eyes
With the sun inside our hearts
If you are tired to fight
Come here and have a rest.
...
"One more friend" by Lucio Battisti
The following day Christmas holidays were starting, and the majority of the students would leave Hogwarts to go back to
their homes.
Harry slept the entire morning; Ron didn't have the heart to wake him until lunch time.
"Harry? Harry, do you hear me?"
Harry heard his friend's voice off in the distance. He tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids seemed too heavy; his head was throbbing painfully.
After a few minutes, he clearly heard the voice of Madam Pomfrey.
"Come on Mr. Potter, if you drink this potion you will feel better soon."
Finally, he managed to open his eyes and made out Madam Pomfrey's face as she helped him drink a smoking potion from a silver bowl. The taste was horrible but he didn't protest, mainly because he wasn't strong enough to do so.
Almost immediately, he felt an enjoyable cold feeling throughout his entire body, and his forehead was slowly cooling. He leaned his head on his pillow and stared around him.
Hermione was standing at Ron's side, hugging Crookshanks in her arms; both of his friends looked really worried.
"My prescription is one day of absolute rest, light food, and no overwork. Now, I'll make arrangements with the house-elves concerning your meals."
Madam Pomfrey exited the dormitory, leaving the three friends alone. Harry propped himself up with his elbows on the pillow, trying to get seated, while Ron came closer to help him. Then, he leaned back against the wall and smiled slightly to reassure his friends.
"I'm feeling better... there's no need for those worried faces!"
"You fell asleep in the common room last night, right? I heard you coming up at dawn."
Ron was scolding him, but Harry couldn't understand why.
"Oh, Harry, you should have gone to bed when we did! Instead, you stayed down in the common room and your fever went higher!"
Harry was surprised to see Hermione so resentful.
"Hey, guys! I'm feeling really better now! Madam Pomfrey does miracles, and tomorrow I'm sure I'll be able to leave Hogwarts!"
Hearing his words, Ron and Hermione became serious and lowered their gazes.
"What's happened?" he asked worriedly, and after a minute of silence, Ron spoke.
"There's been another attack..."
Harry's heart jumped to his throat.
"W-what are you saying? Where?"
"London, right in the center of the city. We found out this morning, reading the Daily Prophet," whispered Hermione as Harry stared at her, mouth gaping.
"A group of Death Eaters blew up an entire district, causing at least fifty deaths and wounding thousands of people. Muggles blamed it on a gas leak, but a few wizards clearly saw hooded Death Eaters moving out from the place and, above it all, they saw..."
"YOU-KNOW-WHO's Dark Mark in the sky."
Ron ended the sentence for her in a gloomy voice. It was several seconds before Harry could fully realize the meaning of what he had just heard. Then, he spoke, still pondering every word.
"War... has... really begun! We can't go back now..."
"Exactly, Mr. Potter!"
Their attention was drawn by Professor McGonagall, who had just entered the room and was staring sternly at them.
"And precautions are never enough... Tomorrow morning, when you are feeling better, you will go to the headquarters of the Order... Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger will come with you."
Harry looked at his friends, and as none of them replied, he did.
"And what did the Headmaster..."
"It is Professor Dumbledore's wish."
Then Professor McGonagall turned to Ron and Hermione.
"The rest of your family is already there, Mr. Weasley. Your sister left a few minutes ago. Regarding your parents, Miss Granger, I personally just sent an owl to inform them."
Then she turned again to Harry.
"Mr. Potter, I expect you to follow Madam Pomfrey's instructions so that tomorrow you will be able to leave. That will be all. I wish you a very good day."
Professor McGonagall exited the dormitory, leaving the three friends without words.
Ron, who was pale like a bed sheet, took a seat on his bed, and Hermione did the same, caressing Crookshanks absentmindedly. Then Harry broke the silence.
"What do you think about it?"
"We should have expected it," Hermione replied, and Ron turned to face her.
"I mean... the war has just started, after all! I'm curious now to know how Dumbledore is going to react."
"He'll probably gather as many allies as possible!" Harry replied. He then recalled the vision he had and decided to tell his friends about it.
"Listen! I must tell you something that happened to me last night..."
When he finished his story, he realized that Ron was staring at him with his mouth open, while Hermione was wiping a few tears away from her eyes with her sweater sleeve. Then she sighed deeply and spoke.
"Are you really sure that she was your mother?"
Harry felt deeply wounded; how was it possible that Hermione wasn't able to understand? Harry tried to reply, but she cut him off.
"Don't you think that it could be another vision sent to you by Voldemort? After all, it wouldn't be the first time!"
"NO! I'm telling you that she really was my mother! You can't understand what I felt inside... and her words... the sense of sweetness they left me... it was REAL, I'm sure of it!"
Harry was starting to lose his temper.
"Please, don't get mad... it was just a thought! If your vision was real, then probably the fact that you found your parent's grave just made you more receptive to them..."
"Maybe you're starting to use your new Seer powers!" said Ron simply.
Harry and Hermione stared at him, astonished.
"If it's really as you say, I'm going to explore the matter. If Harry has new powers, then it would be best to learn how to use them!" said Hermione, slightly worried.
***O***
Harry, Ron, and Hermione had just entered Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, realizing that everything was still the same. The portraits of Sirius's ancestors were still covered with heavy black curtains and the few candles were emanating a dim light.
Harry was really in a bad mood; he was still thinking about what Mark Evans had said, and how he was always kept in the dark by the adult wizards. He really wanted to call Mr. Weasley over and ask him about it.
That morning, the three friends had jumped on the Knight Bus and Mad-Eye Moody, Tonks, and Professor McGonagall had escorted them to the headquarters. As soon as they had arrived, Professor McGonagall left immediately.
Mrs. Weasley gave them a warm welcome, and together they went to the huge kitchen downstairs, where they found the others waiting for them: Ginny and, to Harry's great surprise, Remus Lupin. He was sitting in an armchair by the fire, his right arm still covered with bandages and his face pale. As soon as they entered, Lupin immediately stood up and came closer to them, a large smile on his face.
"Finally you've come. I was really looking forward to see you again... are you all right?"
"Professor Lupin! How are you?" Harry asked, staring at him worriedly.
"Better, much better now... thanks, Harry."
"Why don't we all take a seat? Especially you, Remus. You'll get tired if you're standing up for such a long time," Mrs. Weasley warned him, and everybody got seated around the large table, where lunch was immediately served. Mr. Weasley would come back for dinner that evening; Fred and George couldn't leave their shop during the Christmas holidays.
Harry took a seat between Ron and Hermione, furtively staring at Lupin, to check if he really was feeling better, as he had said.
During lunch, Harry could feel a tensed atmosphere amongst the others, surely due to the recent events.
Afterwards, Tonks, Hermione, and Ginny helped Mrs. Weasley clean the kitchen, while Harry, Ron, Lupin, and Moody remained seated at the table, exchanging a few words.
"Professor Lupin? Can you tell me what really happened at the Riddle House that day?" Harry asked with a certain hesitation. Lupin stretched on the chair and looked at him seriously.
"Yes, Harry, I wanted to ask you the exact same question... and I'll do it, now that you've started the subject. How did it get into your mind to go to the Riddle House all alone? Dumbledore was furious when Professor McGonagall told him."
Harry lowered his gaze, mortified; he had posed the question without thinking about the inevitable consequence of being scolded.
"Really a bad idea you had boy... soon as they told me, I didn't even want to believe it!" Moody also seemed deeply disappointed, and now he was frowning at Harry with both eyes, his magical eye and the real one.
Then Lupin spoke again.
"Luckily, Ron seemed to have more judgment than you, and immediately went to warn Professor McGonagall..."
Harry had just realized that Hermione had stopped washing dishes and was now standing behind him, listening. He felt his cheeks warming up in shame of being scolded in front of everybody, and suddenly he decided to answer back to justify his actions.
"But, Hermione was in danger! I saw her in my dream! How could I stay there and do nothing?"
"You could've immediately told Dumbledore about your dream!"
"And what if he wouldn't have done anything... if he hadn't believed me? It's already happened once, and I thought that..."
"Why don't you trust the people who are in charge of you more?"
Harry didn't reply and lowered his gaze. Then Lupin tried to soften his voice, and spoke again.
"I really would like you to understand that Professor Dumbledore is aware of things that justify his behavior... even if we don't fully understand him. I just want you to trust the wizards of the Order next time... if there's going to be a next time!"
Harry nodded to him in silence.
"Well, returning to the story... thanks to Ron's information, we managed to reach the Riddle House just in time, because if we had entered that room a minute later we wouldn't have be able to help you anymore, Harry."
Mrs. Weasley shuddered all over, while Tonks, Ginny, and Hermione took a seat in front of Lupin.
"Yes, Remus is right!"
Tonks intervened in the discussion, and went on talking with emphasis.
"When we entered, we saw a really spine-chilling scene in front of us: you were lying on the floor unconscious and our little Hermione was kneeled by your side, trying to face YOU-KNOW-WHO... well, you should've seen her!"
Tonks seemed really amused by this, and Harry immediately turned to Hermione, who blushed furiously, deeply embarrassed. Then, she tried to justify her actions.
"Voldemort was killing you... what choice did I have? I fought to free myself from that Lestrange woman, and tried my best to protect you!"
Lupin went on with the story.
"Unfortunately, in the exact moment of our raid, Voldemort and his most faithful Death Eaters had just disapparated, but those who remained fought against us until the end. I reached Harry straight away and, with Hermione's help, I dragged him far away from the battle. When I came back inside, I fought with the wizards of the Order who had come to rescue you. Then I realized too late that Voldemort's evil snake had crawled behind me... suddenly, it sprung up on me, and sank its teeth in my right arm. I lost consciousness and woke up at St. Mungo's Hospital a few days later."
Everybody was silent; Harry had vividly imagined all of the scenes and felt a shiver going down his spine. Then Mrs. Weasley cut him off.
"Well... I think it's about time to stop with all these sad memories. It's better if you go up to your rooms and settle in."
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