Chapter 9: The Gray Dawn of the Next Day's Light
******************************Godric's Hollow***************************
August 2, 2012
8:15 am
A tawny brown owl paused in its flight outside a seemingly abandoned, somewhat damaged white cottage house next to a bubbling brook. Flying in tight spirals, a large rolled tube of paper in his talons, the owl circled until, without warning, a soft hoot sounded from nowhere and the air shimmered in front of him. The picture before him cleared to reveal for just an instant a slightly larger house, still by the brook, still white. It was almost as if the old house was merely an image of how the house had been before someone fixed it up and added on. That supposition was correct.
One of the most basic magical defenses of Godric's Hollow, of the house that Harry and Hermione used as their country home when they couldn't stand to live at Grimmauld anymore or they just wanted to escape from everyone, was a projection of it in a run-down, abandoned state. It was very similar to the one that showed Hogwarts to muggle eyes as a ruined castle with prominent "keep out, danger" signs. The image was not as bad as the house had been after Voldemort had attacked Harry when he was one, but it was close. The house had been secretly repaired by Dumbledore and others during Harry's years at the Dursleys and later been expanded by Harry and Hermione when they had learned that they would have not one child, but twins.
The image of the decrepit house reappeared as the owl vanished from sight, only to reappear moments later without the paper.
In the rustic kitchen of Godric's Hollow, Hermione Potter was sitting at a comfortable breakfast nook. Absently she picked up the Daily Prophet the owl had just delivered and began to read. As soon as the events of yesterday had begun to sink in, Harry and Hermione had taken their children and vanished to the Hollow, where only their family could find them. The kids were understandably upset, their parents not much less so, just better at hiding it. In the end Harry had ended up with the kids most of the night, and had finally gone to sleep at about four. Which was only a half hour after the kids finally slipped to dreamland.
After a minute of pretending to read, Hermione sat down the paper and began to shake, the mug in her hand shattered as it fell to the floor. Her arms wrapped around herself as she looked down at the picture on the front page of the Prophet of the ruined stadium. That was too damn close...a moment later...if Harry or I hadn't picked up the energy concentration or Luna hadn't sensed the trap...Her lower lip began to tremble as the shakes doubled.
A bare instant later, just coincidentally approximately the time it took for a pair of legs belonging to a 5'10" wizard to run from their upstairs bedroom to the kitchen, a strong pair of arms wrapped around her from behind. "That was too close Harry." Hermione murmured tearfully. Harry didn't respond in words, he just tightened his hug slightly.
After another minute Harry finally whispered, "you ok?" Hermione didn't answer, just picked up the Prophet after a moment and actually began to read it. The glance she gave him in passing a second later was more than ample thanks though. He gave his wife a small smile and turned to pour himself a cup of coffee. She grinned at his back, at the sight of his hair resembling even more than usual the nest of some large bird. Hermione skimmed the first, main article quickly. It was more or less a factual, sober interpretation of the events yesterday, at least of the ones that were cleared for the public to know. She nodded as she noticed the byline, by Elliot Hanson; he had always been the most unbiased of the Prophet reporters. He sat his mug down next to her and turned back to the counter. Without thinking, she picked it up and took a sip.
She glanced up as Harry clinked a plate on the counter as he was fixing himself a breakfast from the food Hermione had already made for them this morning. She looked down, and froze. Oh Bloody Hell...
Did the Ministry know?
By. Rita Skeeter.
Oh Crap... "Harry, come here." Hermione held out the paper for him to read, and she knew without looking, of the flash of rage that swam across his mind before he ruthlessly beat it back behind barriers of steel. Her eyes flicked to Harry's, he nodded to the paper:
Yesterday's attack on the Quidditch World Cup was a tragedy. Of that there is no doubt. But what is in doubt is the exact knowledge of our leaders about the attack. Yesterday, in a terrible, beastly act unknown parties used a magical device of unknown origin to inflict hundreds of deaths and innumerable casualties on the innocent attendees of the event. That is fact. However questions must be asked, if we are to truly trust our leaders in this arduous time. First, just what is the origin of the terrible device used on the fans on that terrible day? Anonymous sources within the Ministry itself have informed this reporter that the device's effects seem to be similar to those of a weapon created in the dark days of the Grindelwald war. A weapon that was supposedly destroyed when it was no longer needed, that does not seem to be the case, now does it, dear readers?
Second, just what were the Potters doing in the V.I.P. box that also happened to shelter the Ministers of Britannia, Australia and Bulgaria? Their spokesmen would have you believe that they were only there for the match. But it that were truly the case, why would they have a portkey ready to evacuate their children from the hazard zone? And in the same vein, why would they be so ready and willing to put themselves between harm's way and the Ministers? Simple professors, no matter what their pasts, would seem to overmatched by these events but they were not. No, on the contrary they unthinkingly acted in a manner that admittedly, saved innumerable lives.
No dear readers, it seems that what this humble reporter reported years ago was true after all. Harry and Hermione Potter are not mere Professors at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. While it is true that they do teach at the school, is that their primary purpose? What of the unexplained absences from teaching? What of the occasional spottings of them with Remus and Nymphadora Lupin and Alastor Moody, the very three Aurors at the head of the MLE? Were they merely reminiscing over old times, or planning further secret adventures? Once again, sources that this reporter regrets to have to keep secret, have related that secret, undercover groups were established to combat the remaining Death Eaters and their allies. Are the Potters members, or perhaps leaders of just such a group? Was their supposed, "reserve Auror" status a ruse, and there is nothing "reserve" about them at all?
And finally, it must be asked, respectfully of course, just where was the proper security at this year's games? Many excuses can be made, but in the end the responsibility must stop with the current Minister of Magic, Arthur Weasley. Minister Weasley was by all accounts a compromise candidate, and even though the war against He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named was won on his watch, he was seemingly helpless to stop the horrific assaults on our loved ones such as the Sacking of Hogsmeade, the attack on innocents in St. Mungo's, the Night of Fire incident and countless others that the Ministry would like to keep under wraps. Is Minister Weasley not suitable for the position after all?
Beloved former Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge was sought out for his expert opinion for this article. For the most part he refused comment, however he did comment on the last point, "Arthur Weasley has always been a dear friend of mine. He did his best during the war, albeit ineffectually, but he tried. Harry Potter saved us once again, and him of course. The problem is however, and I hate to say it, that Arthur does not have the stomach to root out the remaining Death Eaters root and branch. One need look no further than Lucius Malfoy; he has been on the run, launching terrorist attacks for how long? I should say no more, good day Rita."
Is Minister Fudge correct? Does the current administration have the necessary fortitude to lead us in these perilous times? And if so, what of the other questions this incident has evoked? Only time will tell us dear readers, but do we have the time to spare?
Harry looked up from the paper and pulled his glasses from his face absentmindedly. Pinching his eyes closed, he rubbed the bridge of his nose with a pair of fingers and sighed. "At least they did label it an editorial...Mione?" He added quickly as his eyes opened to see her seething.
"It's on the bloody front page, Harry." Hermione growled back. He nodded and took a bite of his sandwich. He swallowed and looked off into the distance thoughtfully. He watched out the kitchen window to the outside as a small speck swooped through the center hoop of the half-court Quidditch Pitch in the hidden backyard. The speck grew larger, it's color now a recognizable snowy-white. Harry moved his plate aside automatically as the window slid open at Hedwig's approach. She landed precisely on the empty spot and extended her leg. Hedwig's large amber gaze did not look happy as she took in her masters. Her nip at Harry's finger was half-hearted at best as he petted the snowy owl and gave her a discarded bacon rind.
With a concerned expression darkening his eyes, Harry took the official looking parchment and opened it with a flick of a drawn wand. Disarming as he did so, several security charms that were not ones used by the Ministry, but members of the Order of the Phoenix instead:
Harry and Hermione,
It looks as if your cover is blown. The editorial by Rita seems to be first salvo, I am trying to head off any further attempts by her or others to fully out your group(s). However she seems to have sources within and without the Ministry that are using this to push their agendas. I cannot squash her reporting without violating her rights, until and unless she is caught in a treasonous act, or unless new evidence proving her unregistered animagus status is uncovered. The MLE is currently investigating where her information has come from, however due to her allegations, my best agents, namely you and your group and Remus, Tonks and Mad-Eye are excluded. If I can find out about where she learned the information about the Weapon she can be dealt with legally as that information was and still is, highly, highly classified and therefore covered under numerous information protection acts.
I have discussed the situation with Albus and he has already stated his continued desire for you to continue in your Professor's roles, and the Ministry has utterly no intention of disavowing you or your group. If, as Rita seems determined to do, your group is fully outted I am already prepared to move your group into public accountability under Alastor, and I will take full responsibility for my and the Ministry's actions.
Molly and I would like to call on you tonight if ok. Please let us know. She is worried about Horry and Em. She was so worried about Harriet last night that the poor child gained a pound from her cookies. I will see you later in any case.
Arthur
Harry handed Hermione the note, he absently took a sip of her coffee as she blazed through it. She sighed and took her cup from him and finished it before speaking. "Well it's not like we didn't expect it sooner or later. We've run right at the edge too many times." She sounded pained as she stood and ran her fingers through her hair, temporarily brushing it out of her eyes. She didn't move from the window as Harry hugged her. "You ok Harry?"
"No."
"Me either." Her voice hitched, "what are we going to tell Ginny?" Her lip trembled slightly as a tear rolled down her cheek. "He was supposed to be safe."
"We have to get her back first love." Harry reminded her gently. Hermione nodded as she pulled herself from his arms and headed towards the kitchen stairs to the upstairs rooms.
"I'm going to go check on the sprogs." Harry nodded as she started up the stairs; she paused at the fifth one up and turned back, " Harry?"
"Em's a bit scared...ok, more than a bit. Horry is trying to act all brave, but he's scared too." Hermione nodded at his words, it was pretty much as she figured. "After I sent you to bed, Leo stayed out to protect them." Hermione gave him a quick, tired smile.
"See you can be a good dad." Hermione teased flatly. She headed up the stairs, just as an arrival chime echoed in the house. "Get that will you Harry?" She asked from the top of the stairs.
"Sure Mione," Harry replied softly, walking towards the front door even as she spoke. Reaching the front door, he glanced at a small crystal ball that was showing the outside of .the front door. He shook his head as he flicked his fingers at the door and it opened. As soon as it opened, Ron almost tumbled into the house; he was carrying a sleeping Harriet propped on his hip. He seemed almost grateful as she laid the sleeping girl down on Harry's couch, he carefully did not look towards his wife.
He was spared however as the minute Luna spotted Harry, she spun on him, her eyes flaring. Luna may have become less dreamy and more focused in the years since Hogwarts, especially since the birth of Harriet, though she never was what others called, "normal," but today, she was fully in the here and now, and primed for a fight. And that particular combination had never proven a good combination for her foes; just ask several Death Eaters who had met her ire at Hogwarts.
"And you." Luna hissed, carefully quietly enough to not wake her daughter. "What were you thinking, Harry?" Luna crossed quickly to him and waggled her finger in his face. "Taking my daughter...hell, your kids into the middle of a battle." Harry opened his mouth to respond, but closed it with a snap as she continued heatedly, "and to top it all, I have to find out that you three aren't really Professors, that you always have been active, even though Ron told me you all were only reserve officers, just consulting on odd jobs, like me, like the rest of us."
"That's not fair, Luna" Hermione snapped from the stairs, "they're still asleep love" she mentioned to Harry as she crossed to him, and stood slightly between him and the pissed witch, "you aren't stupid girl, even if you were never told, specifically...you knew we were more than Professors, hell Luna...did Ron coming home singed from dragons, and with cuts and bruises not let you know?"
Luna glared at her, and finally gave it up; she dropped into a chair and lowered her face to her hands. "Yeah I knew..." She shrugged, still not looking up at them; she didn't move either when Ron fell to his knees next to the chair. "I want in Harry...activate my commission, I know you can."
"Are you sure, Luna?" Harry asked quietly, hesitantly.
"They went after my daughter Harry. I want Lucius dead. I want every one of them dead." Luna replied darkly. Crookshanks padded down the stairs and jumped up on the back of the couch, surveying the scene. Harry glanced at Hermione; she closed her eyes, and after a long moment, nodded. He looked at Ron, who didn't look happy. Ron didn't disagree however, at least openly. His eyes were clouded as he gave a terse nod.
Harry frowned as he muttered something under his breath, and with an odd complicated movement of a phoenix-cored wand, a black dragonhide wallet appeared on the table. Harry flipped it open, to reveal a golden shield, inset with the crossed arms of the Ministry. Below it, an identification card held a moving image of Luna, along with her vital statistics and her rank and security ratings. "Agent Weasley, you are hereby activated to your previous rank, seniority as accrued on the inactive list." Luna looked up and mouthed, "thanks" as Harry handed her, her credentials.
"Well boss," Luna asked with a tiny, dark smile, "what's my first assignment?"
"Wait here until the kids wake up," Harry instructed softly, "then take them to the Burrow and join us at the Hospital site, I would like you to use your talents to look into the attack as well. You know where it is?" She nodded slowly as Harry and Hermione headed up the stairs.
*************************Secret Hospital Facility*************************
Draco looked exhausted as he gave something that might have been charitably called a nod as Harry, Hermione and Ron appeared suddenly with a soft CRACK of displacing air as Ron appeared. The once pristine arrival room was shattered; large dark cracks were in the once white walls and ceiling. The glass of the fourth wall was shattered and broken, with large red stains coloring the shards remaining. The heavy steel door was lying bent in the floor, the gaping doorway it had once guarded, warped.
"What do we have Draco?" Harry asked as he surveyed the damage. Draco gave him a grim nod as he pulled a small, steel-bound notebook from a thigh pocket. He motioned for the others to follow him as he stepped into the main part of the hospital.
Draco's voice was tired as well as he started reciting the litany. "At the time of the attack, and we have confirmed it was an attack as we found Smrynoff Waldinger in the wreckage. He was a known low level thug of Malfoy's, looks as if the agent on duty Kedavra'ed him before getting taken out himself. "
"Who?" Hermione interrupted softly, she was kneeling down, examining a piece of wreckage.
"Sanders." He replied heavily.
"Damn." Hermione whispered.
"Yeah," Draco agreed quietly. The four of them stepped over a shattered steel beam, the door to a room to the side was hanging open; the body of a patient was laying on a bed, with a blue robed healer draped over him. He continued, "At the time of the attack, there were eight healers, and fifteen medi-witches and wizards on duty along with twenty five patients in on short term care, along with the ten patients that were being held on a long term basis. In addition there were five visitors here at the time, all were on the authorized list, and according to the recovered security log, all were cleared."
He paused as they reached the end of the corridor, and stepped through the doorway to the long-term area. "We have accounted for all of the healers and thirteen of the medics. Almost all of the patients have been accounted for, and we actually found four alive." He shrugged, "I guess they missed them, they were down in the strength training area." He sighed as he used his wand to levitate a bit of debris out of their path. He stopped suddenly and faced Harry, Hermione and Ron. "We haven't found Neville...his parents, and Trelwany yeah, but for some reason they totally and I mean totally destroyed the room. There's just a pile of ashes where his bed was. They destroyed most of the security recordings before they left, we found a partial record from the entryway; it looks like there were at least twenty. But for the most part we don't really know what happened. Fred and George's forensic teams are working now, we looked over this area first of course."
"How the bloody hell did they get in?" Ron asked darkly, "the apparation wards were supposed to prevent this, and only security portkeys were supposed to be able to key in on this place."
"Not a clue" Draco snapped. He took a breath, "sorry Weasley." Ron just nodded. Several minutes of investigation passed with no new insights, only new horrors. The rooms they investigated were all grimly the same; bodies of healers, patients and the occasional visitor were horribly evident. After another hour, a new voice added herself to the mixture.
Luna stepped daintily through the wreckage; her ice blue eyes were truly cold today. Walking up to Ron, she whispered something in his ear, and headed to the long-term ward where Harry was standing, leaning on the doorjamb to Neville's old room. Stopping at his shoulder, she looked in. Harry glanced over at her, "can you get anything, sorry for making you use your gifts for this," he apologized shortly.
"It's ok Harry, I understand." Luna took a deep breath, and a second, and as she exhaled her eye lit with a golden light. She stood motionless, her gaze vacant for several tense moments. Occasionally, she would utter a low gasp, or a moan. With another breath, she snapped out of it. Harry caught her as she staggered, "I'm ok Harry. Its just the pain...it'll pass." She frowned, almost absently as her lips moved, with no sound coming out. She pointed towards the rest of the hospital, "they came in, in force, a single Death Eater apparated into the arrival point. He dropped something, like a small ball and apparated away instantly. It exploded a second or two later, and about ten seconds after that, about twenty came en mass. The door guard was stunned but he got off a Kedavra, before getting hit with about ten in return." Her voice cracked for an instant, but after another deep, steadying breath she went on.
"Most of them came straight here, Harry. They knew what they were looking for...the rest branched out." She paused, and her eyes faded to blue, "I can't SEE anything after that." He nodded and taking her by the shoulder as she was still shaking slightly he led her back to the disapparation point.
"Thanks," Harry glanced over at Ron who had just arrived. He looked haggard as he gave Harry a small headshake. Harry handed Luna off to him, and she closed her eyes as Ron took over the load. "Take her back to headquarters or home Ron, she needs the rest." The Weasleys nodded together, and with an arm around her waist to steady her, Ron led Luna off towards the entrance and the apparition point.
**************************# 12 Grimmauld Place***************************
August 3, 2012
2:33 am
Bright moonlight spilled into Sirius' bedroom. He made a small, grunting sound as he rolled over and absently tossed his arm over the blond next to him. Cordelia smiled in her sleep and rolled into his side. The pair of them had the house to themselves for a change, no Harry, Hermione and the kids, no Lupin or Tonks or their kids, no assorted Weasleys or other distractions. So of course, they both promptly fell together on Sirius' bed and went to sleep. Ever since the attack on the World Cup and on the Ministry's secret hospital, Sirius had been run ragged in his role as Arthur's troubleshooter. Between being sent to harass his godson over the investigation process and having to help with the notification of the families of the victims of the hospital attack to dealing with furious foreign magical dignitaries he was a pooped puppy.
Cordelia wasn't much better, even though her pureblood vampire status would, technically, allow her to keep going. She hadn't slept, or really had time to feed in almost three days. Dumbledore had been taken as much as surprise as anyone and the Order members that were exclusive of the Ministry had been working any angle they could find, desperate to find out Malfoy's next move. And in addition, she had been given specific instructions by Dumbledore himself to "talk" to those denizens of Knockturn Alley and other dismal hangouts, in some effort to find out what happened to Ginny. It was only after a long, frustrating night of knocking heads and ripping open minds to find only blank walls, that she had literally come in and collapsed on top of Sirius in his bed, knocking askew a report he had been blearily reading. When Harry and Hermione said they trusted her, they went all the way, adding her to the approved list on the house wards, thereby allowing her to surprise Padfoot.
Her hair was unbound; spilling over her face and mostly covering it, as Sirius, for some unknown reason opened his eyes and looked around. Absently he rolled onto his side and kissed his girlfriend's hair. A sudden urge caused him to look back over his shoulder, and a muffled curse escaped his lips.
A terribly, wondrously familiar pair stood in the corner of the room, A shock of raven-black, incredibly messy hair topped a pair of round-framed, black glasses that were displaying a pair of amused hazel eyes. The slim body beneath was tall, easily matching Sirius' stature of 6'2". A trim, auburn-haired woman stood at his side, her emerald eyes open and full of life. Ironic, since both of them had been dead for more than twenty years. "What..how..." Sirius managed to choke out. His eyes were wide and round, almost popping out of their sockets as he stared at the apparition of his long lost best friends.
"Honestly Padfoot," Lily responded lowly, "Magic...and you call yourself a wizard. Shame, shame..." James seemed to bite back a laugh as he looked in on his best friend. James walked in front of the window, and instantly Sirius knew they weren't mere ghosts. He was solid, blotting out the night sky beyond.
"What are you, you aren't ghosts...are you?" Sirius asked softly.
"No my friend, we're not." James agreed as he and Lily crossed to the edge of the bed and sat lightly on it. It dimpled down. He smiled at Sirius' confused expression and took pity on the Marauder. "But for now our time is limited. And we need to talk to you."
"Why didn't you go see Harry?" Sirius inquired reasonably, "after all, I love you two and all, but he's your son, and you could see the grandkids...they..."
A flash of pain crossed both James and Lily's eyes, "we can't, not right now Padfoot." Lily said with a touch of sadness in her voice, "believe me, I want to see, and touch my grandkids so much it hurts..." James' arm went around Lily as she collapsed into his shoulder.
"We don't have much time old friend, the preparations are not yet complete. There still might be a way for us, when Tom cast the spell to kill me and then Lily before Harry; he failed ultimately. Since he failed in killing Harry. You explain, dear."
Lily shrugged, and without raising her head from his shoulder, explained. "You know that my own and through our bond, James' soul helped defend Harry." Sirius nodded, "the way it worked out in the end was ironic in the extreme. Tom created his own downfall, by his own actions. Maybe." She paused, pregnantly, "if he had killed Harry first, all would have been for naught, but since he killed James, then me, then tried to attack Harry, in effect he tried to use the Kedavra to rend three souls instead of one." She smiled darkly, "even Hermione hasn't quite figured that part out yet; they are both so powerful, especially together, that they didn't need the extra protection that James' soul added to my own that night, when Riddle tried to kill her at Hogwarts." She shrugged again, "without that stacking effect, I'm not sure if my sacrifice alone would have been enough. Her equations were right, we were watching after all."
"Maybe some day we will be allowed to visit them," James interjected, "unfortunately, that's not the issue. Sirius, the time of troubles is just beginning. They might not be strong enough...or ruthless enough to handle them."
"Protect them Sirius" Lily whispered, "especially protect the kids...and Hermione from herself. In a way she is in the most danger, even though it won't appear as such." Sirius looked perplexed, but nodded nonetheless. Tears in her eyes, Lily came forward and hugged him, only to be joined by James a second later.
"I will" Sirius whispered, his eyes glistening as well.
"Goodbye old friend," James said as he stepped back, holding Lily's hand tightly. "One way or another. We will see each other again."
Sirius nodded to the space where for the barest of instants, his best friends had once more been alive. Sighing, he turned back to the bed. For a millisecond a small smile danced across his face, only to vanish abruptly as a soft tapping came from the bedroom window. He shook his head as he sighted a Ministry owl glaring at him from the windowsill. Easing from the bed, he opened the window Sirius and took a small rolled parchment from the aggravated owl and feed it a treat from a bowl of them kept by the window for that very purpose. It looked disdainfully at the slightly stale treat, but snapped it from his palm and leapt into night without another sound.
Grabbing his wand from the bedside table, Sirius disarmed the security charms on the message. An involuntary groan escaped his throat as his eyes scanned across it. "Damn it Arthur...no..." he hissed.
A soft moan answered him from the bed, "Wha...." Cordelia muttered, her voice laden with sleep.
"Go back to sleep Cordy." Sirius whispered and bent over to kiss her, she rolled over and went back to sleep as Sirius continued to look out the window silently.
A/N: There ya go, unless I get inspired probably the last chapter until after HBP is out for a bit.