Sorry Guys, I had this done, but I was traveling and then got the Flu bad enough that I couldn't walk straight. There will be revelations in this chapter that are confusing. They are meant to be. Thanks again to Lady Starlight for her work on this chapter.
Chapter 37: A long overdue talk
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January 23, 1998.
Several hours later, Hermione looked up from the remains of a late supper she was sharing with Harry as Luna entered into the kitchen and sat at the table. Hermione rolled her eyes as Ron summoned a clean plate from the cupboard and filled himself a plate with the remaining spaghetti from the dish in the center of the table. "Didn't you already eat?" she muttered as he tucked in and took a bite of garlic bread.
He shrugged, and continued to eat as Luna smiled indulgently at him, and Harry grinned under the cover of his napkin. Luna looked at Hermione, and pushed a notebook across the table at her. "Snape had five potions going," Luna leaned over and pointed at something in the notebook. Hermione sat back and glanced at Harry, before looking back to the blonde and crooking an eyebrow. Luna nodded, "Of those, two I recognized, Veritaserum and a Blood Replenishing Draught. It was these other three..." she frowned slightly as she indicated a long series of equations and several balanced reactions written in out in longhand.
"Is this the one?" Hermione asked, glancing to Harry as he got up to look over her shoulder, Ron continued to eat.
"What...I was there in the lab while you two were...whatever," Ron grinned through a mouthful of food. Hermione huffed slightly and looked away, back to Luna and the notes. Luna pushed back the sleeves of her too-big sweater and marked something in the notebook with a pencil.
"Yes, Hermione, this is what was given to the Minister..." Luna answered, knowing her well enough to discern where she was going. Luna flicked her wand and a tiny, sealed vial of a phosphorescent, green solution appeared on the table, "It has an unbreakable charm on it, it's safe."
"Hermione," Harry began slowly, "that looks like the..." he trailed off as he pushed away from the table and paced over to lean against the kitchen counter. Harry was suddenly pale, his normally, slightly olive complexion almost shockingly white under his contrasting mop of jet.
"It is," Hermione confirmed quietly as she walked over to him, and wrapped her arms around him from behind. Harry closed his eyes, as he flashed back to the horrid night in the cave. Hermione shuddered slightly as she went with him in his vision; Harry felt the soft patter of her tears on his shoulder as she watched that night flash past his mind's-eye. I'm sorry, Baby, she cooed silently to him.
It's alright, Love, I'll be fine, Harry reassured her as they turned back around, reversing their positions so it was now Harry looking over her shoulder. "What else, Luna?" Harry inquired softly. The grandfather clock up in the parlor struck eight thirty and Harry looked down, tilting his watch to confirm the time.
At the table, Luna and Ron shared a quick glance before she continued with her report, "The second one, well it seems to be Polyjuice, but it's insanely strong, perhaps lasting many hours," Luna glanced back down at her notes, "The last one...that was odd, I have only seen it before in that text by Burlington, that old one of yours Hermione."
"You mean that insane, Welsh Wizard who used to demand that all of his texts be bound in Dragonhide to keep the Wyverns from coming into your house and eating them?" Hermione responded oddly.
"Oh, they do...Daddy had one vanish one night, was the second edition so it wasn't bound in Dragonhide, Wyverns did it, even running an article about it next month," Luna replied earnestly.
Harry disguised his laughter by kissing the back of Hermione's head, she glanced back, rolling her eyes just for his benefit, before looking forward again, "What was the odd one, Luna?" Hermione said, trying to return them to topic. The door to the kitchen opened a crack and Crookshanks and Greymalkin sauntered in, and sat, looking plaintive until Hermione took pity on them and summoned each a saucer of milk.
"It seems to be a Conceptious Patron, Hermione," Luna replied and Hermione's jaw dropped. She turned and looked back at Harry again and he looked as confused as any of them. Ron glanced at the three, shrugged and continued to eat, and worked on a strategy for his next match in his head.
"Why would Snape need a potion to guarantee conception?" Harry muttered and Hermione shrugged, as Harry frowned, listening to some random thought that was trying to trickle forward, "Didn't Slughorn say something about that last year...about how it was outlawed as it tended to kill the mother about half the time."
Harry...you did listen...that wasn't in the book, not even Snape's, Hermione grinned up at him happily.
Well, you weren't talking to me, Harry replied softly and she apologized with a look.
Never again, not even if we are fighting, she promised silently, and sighed quietly as he nodded. "I'm actually more afraid," Hermione began and looked around at the others in the room, "well what if that was for Voldemort?" She bit her lip as Harry shuddered against her back, and tightened his arms around her, protectively. "Not that I could imagine who..." she closed her eyes as all of a sudden, she could, "Bella," her and Harry said in one voice.
Ron's mouth opened and closed several times, silently, as Luna frowned. "But why?" she asked as the rest of them looked to her, "Riddle would have know of the risks of loosing his position to an upstart. Any heir would be only a risk to his position, he would never risk that."
***************************Little Hangleton***********************
10:00 pm
A Death Eater slumped to the floor, dead as a flash of green faded and sudden silence reigned over the dark, musty chamber beneath the old Riddle family home. Long, pale figures gestured, and two tall, masked figures swept forward to remove the body. Tom Marvolo Riddle looked out on his gathered followers with eyes glowing a sullen, deep red and nodded slightly. His lips tightened as they all visibly cowered to one degree or another. His wand tracked across the circled group as if searching for a new victim, before he calmly replaced it on the arm of his chair and reached down, snapping his fingers. At his feet, one of his two...pets, looked up at him with languid eyes and flowed to his hand. Bella's dark locks rested under his hand as she looked up at him, a dark adoration that caused the Death Eaters in the front row to shiver despite themselves. "Bella," he hissed, as he lowered his fingers to cup her chin.
"Yes, my Lord," she smiled and heavy, darkly lidded eyes looked to him. She preened slightly like a large, evil cat with a giant canary. Off to the side of the room, Narcissa and Lucius stood together, neither masked, as they looked over the scene. Narcissa shuddered slightly at the sight of her sister, cavorting on the floor. She glanced back to share a look with her husband who returned the tiniest of shrugs, before watching resolutely.
Several of the Death Eaters looked about nervously, wondering who was next, as the Dark Lord's enforcer, among other things, bowed her head under his hand. A small, greasy man shuddered slightly as Voldemort's gaze passed over him, "Bella, please go and clean up Severus and Lucius' mess. Take Wormtail and McNair with you...do it so as they know what it means to defy the Dark Lord."
Bellatrix kissed his hand, before flowing to her feet, gathering a robe from the floor next to Nagini and wrapping it around her more firmly. She motioned imperiously at McNair, he returned a brief military bow and went to the door, testing the edge on a small, Headsman's axe as he went. Wormtail, shuddered as she approached, "Come, Peter, we have glorious deeds to perform for our Lord..." He hesitated, and with a growl, she grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and led him away, "Be honored," the rest heard as the door closed behind them, "you will be excellent bait for the master's wishes.
Riddle nodded as she left, tenting his long fingers before him, as he examined the remaining Eaters for signs of weakness. Finally, he turned to Lucius, and watched for a moment as the light from the few torches that were struggling to light the dark chamber cast shadows over his face. "Your punishment, Lucius...You will bring me your son's head, the next time he is encountered. He has failed me once more, he failed to kill Dumbledore, thereby costing me my spy inside the Order, he did not succeed in his task to kill the Minister, and he has not brought me the Weasley girl."
"NOOO!" Narcissa screamed and started to leap forward, "No, my Lord, please, let me..." Lucius grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back as Riddle chuckled softly.
"No, Narcissa, not this time, you can not compensate for his mistakes...he will die like the Blood-Traitor he has shown himself to be, now be gone," he sneered as Lucius led her away, out of the door. She was pale and shaking as he closed the door behind them.
**************************Grimmauld Place****************************
January 24, 1998
1:00 am
Ginny Weasley looked up as a soft POP sounded in the room she was in, and watched as Dobby placed a small meal of a sandwich, chips and pumpkin juice under a Stasis Charm on a table across the room. He walked over to her bed, which besides the table and a single chair, was the only thing in the room beyond a copy of Hogwarts, a History, that she was sure Hermione had had placed in the room to taunt her. Dobby did not meet her eyes as he snapped his fingers and caused a blanket to appear at the foot of the otherwise barren bed, and with another snap, a pillow. She frowned, "Dobby can you let me out?"
Dobby puttered about, not seeming to have heard her, which with his ears was about as likely as Voldemort showing up in the Ministry Atrium in chains, of his own free will, and doing the Can-Can. "Dobby, please," she said whiningly, "I won't..."
"Dobby is not hearing Miss Wheezy...Miss Wheezy tricked Dobby, Miss Wheezy hurt Master Harry Potter Sir, and his Mione...Miss Wheezy caused Dumbledore to die because Harry Potter Sir was weakened... Dobby does not listen to traitors to the Most Noble House of Potter or Gryffindor." Dobby walked past her, set the pillow down at the head of the bed, fluffed it with a snap of his fingers and stepped back. He crossed over to check something on the table, reaching up as he did so to stop the topmost hat of five he had on, from falling from his head.
"Dobby, I..." Ginny started, but Dobby vanished again with a soft POP. She frowned as she stood from the bed, and crossed to the plate the House Elf had laid out and sat down. Her stomach rumbled slightly as she looked at the food, debating if it were dosed in any way, but with a violent wave of her hand that canceled the Stasis Charm, she picked up the sandwich and began to eat.
The door creaked open and she spun to the door, dropping the sandwich on the plate as two presences walked into the room. She started to stand. "Don't bother," Hermione said tonelessly, "you aren't going anywhere; you might as well be comfortable." Harry propped himself against the wall near the door and crossed his arms. His glasses had slipped down on his nose, he stared unblinkingly over the top of them and Ginny looked away from his eyes quickly, painfully reminded of another set of eyes regarding her critically over another pair of glasses, however those were golden and not black, and the eyes, ice-blue and not emerald green.
"You can't keep me here," Ginny snapped and got up, only to freeze at a look, a sudden urge to sit filled her bones as emerald eyes lit with their own fire. "You can't keep me a prisoner," she added weakly,
"Exactly why not, Miss Weasley?" Hermione growled. She leaned forward over the table, and Ginny sat back in her chair. "You are hanging on a thread. The last traitor to the light we executed less than twenty-four hours ago." Ginny's mouth gaped open.
She looked up, at Harry, "Harry...please, Harry, I..." Harry shook his head and looked away. He paced to the wall across from the bed, his back to both of the girls.
"Why, Ginny?" Harry said softly, his voice almost dead; he shook his head again before she could speak, "Fuck it, it doesn't matter." He sighed, reached up to vigorously scrub at his scalp for a moment, before turning to look at the tiny redhead. "Why you did it, doesn't really matter to me anymore. What you did...does. You fucked with my family, Ginevra, and I don't forgive that easily."
"What do you mean, your..."
"Exactly what I said," Harry snapped, he took a loud deep breath through his nose, and gathered back tendrils of magic that were threatening to erupt. Ginny gulped as she felt the charge escaping her hair. "Let me explain something, right now, I don't know what to do with you. What do I do with you, Ginny?" she opened her mouth to snap a reply, but he went on, "Do I bring you back to Hogwarts with us, let you play Quidditch, go to classes?" Harry paced back over to Hermione and shared a quick glance; she bit her lip slightly, as a conversation passed without even a conscious thought between them.
Harry sat on the bed, sighing heavily as Hermione sat next to him, "Look at me, Ginny," she commanded softly, the girl looked to her, and two pairs of brown eyes met, "We have to know, Ginny...I'm sorry...Legilimens," she whispered.
A rush of images flitted through Hermione's brain, of Harry appearing at the Burrow unexpectedly, and a feeling of embarrassment, of Harry again, smiling up at her as he lay bloody and near death on the floor of the Chamber. A shadow flitted across those memories and Hermione chased it. She passed a brief memory of Ginny overhearing Molly talking about how nice it would be if all the kids would just pair off so that she could gain another daughter and son. Hermione paused in her pursuit as she ran across a memory of blonde hair and a room in Dover. As she turned a corner in the maze of Ginny's mind, the shadow she had sensed earlier loomed ahead, and Hermione felt herself being drawn towards it. She reached out....
Hermione and Ginny screamed as one, as a wall slammed down between them. A sudden cloying feeling filled the air, as Hermione swayed and Harry caught her. She turned to him and almost screamed again as she saw Harry's face. It was ashen and tired. Blood dripped from his scar, streaking across one lens of his glasses as he unsteadily rose to his feet and staggered to the door and out. Hermione glanced over at Ginny, found she was seemingly all right and followed him out.
By the time she had reached the hallway, Harry had slid to the floor right outside of the room. He was panting furiously, as he looked up at her with wide, panicked eyes. Haarrryyy...she whispered shakily, as she slowly knelt in front of him. Harry pulled her in tightly, his arms shaking, as he fought to relax. Her mind flitted back, was that what I think it was? She began to shake as well as she fell back on the floor, pulling Harry with her. Her heart skipped a beat as she glanced down to find bright red blood decorating the front of her shirt; before she remembered and reached down to wipe the blood from Harry's forehead with her thumb, before kissing the scar. The action seemed to calm them both at once, as they both went almost limp for a long minute.
Oh, God, Mione, I never even thought...her eyes were tearful and pained as she felt a tear try to escape her own eyes. Harry eased them both back to a sitting position, We can't tell Ron. Damn, I'm so stupid, Hermione, Riddle more or less told me that night and I didn't pay attention.
I don't think...well it didn't seem complete, not like the one in the locket, a fragment of a fragment, maybe? She shrugged, "Dobby," she whispered, and a soft POP echoed in the hall.
Dobby glanced around, found them and his already huge eyes grew, "Mistress Hermione, Master Harry Potter Sir, are you alright sir, ma'am..." he grew silent at a wave from Hermione.
"Dobby, go check on Ginny; make sure she is unharmed. Get Winky," she looked at Harry, and a brief, sad look appeared on her face. "Make sure that Ginny is not out of either of your sights. And don't let her see you." Dobby nodded and vanished.
I'm not saying anything, Mione, Harry muttered as he took off his glasses and looked at her, squinting. Without a gesture or word, she moved in close enough to him so he could see her easily. What do we do with her? We can't let her go, we can't risk it. If Tom were to find her, he'd find the fragment in her, and know that at least one of his Horcruxes was destroyed.
And the game would change...Hermione agreed, tiredly, then it'd be a rush to try to kill him before he could make any new Horcruxes and a race after that to destroy the remainders.
Yeah, and I don't know if we can win that, what if Bellatrix or one of the other fanatics already knows where they are at... Bloody Hell, Harry realized suddenly, he did say when Wormtail brought him back in the graveyard that his 'most loyal followers knew the lengths he had gone to'.
But that doesn't make sense Harry...Honestly, why would Lucius give the Diary to Ginny...or rather, if he had given it to her, wouldn't he have known it was a Horcrux, and surely Voldemort would know that you have destroyed it.
Harry shook his head, before tucking his head on top of hers. I have no bloody clue Hermione, Dumbledore was so sure that Tom didn't know what he and later we were up to. Maybe Lucius never knew the significance of it. Harry glanced back towards the door where Ginny was being kept, and stood, pulling Hermione to her feet, Let's go back in.
Hermione only nodded as they returned to the room to find Ginny slowly eating the remainder of her rather late dinner, she yawned involuntarily. "What have you done with Draco?" she asked, and glanced in the direction that the room where the pale ex-Slytherin was happened to be held. "He's not evil, he's not Snape, he didn't have a..."
"You brought it up Ginny," Harry responded, cutting her off, "so let's talk about...choices. The first one, since you just mentioned it, is Draco not killing Dumbledore. You say that he didn't want to do it, that he chose not to. Perhaps. Perhaps you are right and I am wrong about that, when I think he was just too afraid, that he would have if he could. I'm willing to believe you on that, I don't particularly want to kill him, despite what he may think. But I will if I feel he's a threat."
"We know what you tried to do to the Minister, Ginny," Hermione added softly, "we found the potion when we raided Spinner's End. The only reason that you didn't succeed was that he is fond of some odd cocktail that just happened to have potassium benzoate in it, that reacted just enough to mitigate the effects."
"Snape ordered Draco to," Ginny snapped, her voice held just a trace of a pleading note as she looked from Harry to Hermione, "he had to, to survive. Snape also told him I was to be recruited or killed, he did neither, he...cares about me," she added in an almost subliminal whisper. A soft POP went unnoticed as Dobby appeared and disappeared removing the remains of the food. The bed squeaked softly as Hermione sat back slightly, turning her head enough to meet Harry's eyes again. After a moment, he nodded and stood.
"I really hope he does, Ginny...that you aren't confusing a quick, convenient wartime shag with actual feelings," Harry replied and watched as Hermione left the room. Several minutes later, she returned with an unconscious blonde hovering at the tip of her wand. She levitated Draco over above the bed and let him drop. He didn't awake, only grunted slightly and rolled over. "He's fine for now, Ginny," Harry answered her unasked question, and watched as Hermione flicked her wand and several vials of a pale blue potion appeared on the table.
"We're not about to return either of your wands at the moment," Hermione explained, "so there's the alternative, take it, if you two feel the need to...entertain."
"You two just hate him," Ginny accused.
"Yes," Harry and Hermione agreed together. Hermione barely looked back at Ginny, at the girl who had once been as close as a sister, as she walked out into the hall after Harry. The door clicked and locked behind them, and as Ginny watched the slow, rise and fall of Draco's chest, tears began to silently fall from brown eyes.
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8:00 am
"What do you want to do with her, Ron?" Harry asked softly as he sipped from a mug of coffee and looked up at a projection of the room where Ginny and Draco were being held. The floating image from one of the hidden Osiris Eyes was hovering in mid-air over an open hand mirror, in it; Ginny was curled protectively around Draco on the small twin bed. Draco had only roused once since Hermione had dropped him there, at Ginny lying down next to him, and turned to her.
Hermione looked over at her friend over the top of her mug of coffee and flicked a glance at Harry. Her other hand was out of sight, brushing lightly over her wand as it lay in her lap. Harry patted her leg under the table, squeezing her knee before looking back at Ron. How long do you think he can keep blood in his ears? Hermione asked Harry absently as Ron fumed. Luna and Dobby had just left to get supplies, so they were alone with Ron. Harry just sent back a mental shrug.
"I'm thinking that she'll forgive me, eventually, if I just go in there an kill him, so..." Ron stood and started towards the door, taking one step before a orange fan of light shot out, freezing him in place. His eyes glared at Hermione as she stood and unapologetically slid her wand back into the holster she wore up her sleeve under her jumper.
"You're not a murderer, Ron," Hermione said quietly as she flicked her fingers and moved him back to a chair. His eyes flicked to Harry, the only movement he could do. "Don't glare at Harry either, this isn't his fault," Hermione snapped, and perched on the edge of the kitchen table next to him. Harry snapped his fingers and the spell died; Ron sat back and crossed his arms.
"Yes, I am, Hermione," Ron shot back darkly, "I've killed Death Eaters, what's another one?"
"Not in cold blood, Ron," Harry retorted quietly, thinking back himself as his knuckles tightened on his mug. He sat it down quickly before he shattered it and clasped them together in front of him. Hermione's hand reached over and held them for an instant before she looked back at Ron.
"Do you really, want to kill your sister's...boyfriend in front of her, Ron?" Hermione asked, with her voice warbling slightly.
"HOW DO YOU KNOW HE'S HER BOYFRIEND?" Ron roared as he leapt to his feet, he spun to the door, and stopped, flexing his fists as he slowly turned back to Hermione, "WHAT HERMIONE-DO YOU THINK SHE'S IN LOVE WITH THAT COLOSSAL WANKER?"
"How the bloody hell do I know, Ronald?" Hermione hissed, her voice ice to his fire, "She's sure as hell sleeping with him, their magical signatures are almost as intermingled as yours and Luna's...No, I don't know if she's in love with him, she sure as fuck probably doesn't know...after all she's the one who confuses a FUCKING CRUSH FUELED BY POTIONS WITH LOVE," Hermione's voice rose, as she stood and stalked out of the room, shaking. Harry froze Ron in place with a look; then followed.
He found her sitting in the dark Library several minutes later, heavy curtains were drawn over the large, two-story windows, and only a low fire was burning in the fireplace as he sat down next to her on the couch. She didn't look up as she crawled onto his lap and buried her face in his shoulder. Harry kissed the crown of her head, tightening his arms as she continued to shake slightly, in rage or sorrow, or both. Ron didn't mean anything by it, Harry whispered, and she nodded. He's sorry.
He is?
He's going to apologize, Harry continued, silently resolving to make him do so, you probably should too.
She sighed, and continued to examine his jumper closely, I will...it's just that...well, is it Ginny's fault for what happened or?
Both, Harry replied, as he ran his hands up and down her spine absently. It's not a true Horcrux; she's not possessed; she knew what she was doing. It might have helped her along a certain path, but she went willingly down it.
Hermione pulled back a bit, enough to give him a quick, tired smile before she stretched out on the couch, laying her head in his lap. I hate her, Harry, Hermione said after a moment, or at least I did, but right now, I don't know if I still do or if I just feel sorry for her. I used to love her like a sister, Harry, she TOLD me that she was over you, then she did what she did...I WANT her not to have been in control, to have had a piece of Tom controlling her. She frowned as she looked into the low fire, and shivered slightly, a flicker of green in her eyes, and the fire roared to life, casting sudden warmth over the chilled room. But that's not really the case is it? It was there, just occasionally whispering in her ear...encouraging her in what she wanted; to take the easy way out.
What are we going to tell Ron? Mione, you tell me, what happens if we do destroy all the Horcruxes, and still leave that piece intact? How do we get it out?
Nothing really, it's only, if I were to be precise...
Oh, I'd never think you were detail oriented.
Hermione smirked for an instant, kissed his thigh and looked back up, In that case--I would guess that that shadow is the obsession he had, that he had imbued her with that year. It probably never left her. I don't know, Harry, I really don't know, I don't think, it's enough to anchor him, and I'm pretty sure that it couldn't be used to resurrect him. But, it's a channel into her mind, like the A5 into London...we can't afford to let her be anywhere near Riddle...she'll be as good as his familiar, she looked over at Crookshanks as the ginger half-Kneazle sauntered in and dropped on the table. No, that's not right, a true familiar still has free will...she'd be an extension of his will, a toy to him.
Yeah, Harry sighed, I was afraid of that. I guess we have a new research project...Ron can't know, because...Harry sighed again, we can't make him have to be part of that decision.
What do we do with her, Harry? Stick her in a dungeon under the castle...we can't leave her here and we damn sure aren't putting her in hiding with my parents. And what about Draco, do we just execute him, turn him over to the Ministry, which is the same thing in the end.
Harry's fingers paused from their normal place in her hair when they were in this situation, for an instant, and twirled a ringlet around his finger, as he thought over it. How about something truly evil, he paused for effect; we put them back in school.
Hermione bit her lip slightly, as she sat up and looked around the room. She stood and paced over to the library table where Crookshanks stretched just enough that she had to reach out to pet him. Rolling her eyes, she snapped her fingers, and caught him as he leapt into her arms. She turned back to Harry, slowly petting Crookshanks as she stopped to think about Harry's words, I suppose that if we tell the Gryffindors not to...discuss her sins with her, they won't, but Draco would be dead an hour after he went back to Slytherin.
Harry stood and walked to the window. With a wave of his hand, the curtains opened and he looked out on the park beyond. A light snow had started to fall in the night while most of the house had stayed awake fretting. Harry reached out to touch the frosted glass, lightly tracing out abstract shapes in the condensation. His hand stopped for an instant, and Hermione and Crookshanks both perked up, as all of them felt two new arrivals; then relaxed as they recognized Dobby and Luna returning from their errand. The thing is, I guess, do we want those two together in the same school? For her safety as much as ours, I don't trust anything Draco might say...this could all be a plot to get him inside our defenses.
Hermione shrugged as she came over to join him at the window, she muttered a spell, decreasing her Familiar's weight and letting him jump up to ride her shoulder, I don't really care if she's shagging him, but Ron sure as hell does, and I do love him enough to try to spare him that, if I can.
Yeah, Harry agreed, reaching out to pull her into his side. They watched together as several Muggles walked through the park. One of them was leading a large black dog on a leash and Harry grimaced for an instant before looking away. But if I'm not going to dispose of Draco, I want him where I can watch him.
There is that, Hermione nodded, but I really have no idea of what to do, other than to just kill him out of hand...and we aren't the bad guys, the fact is, no matter how much we hate him, and I do despise him and everything his family stands for, he couldn't pull the trigger, at least as it pertained to Dumbledore. I don't want to punish him for doing the right thing for once, she gave Harry a small grimace, but he has carried out Voldemort's will otherwise, or at least tried.
Harry sighed and left the window, to return to standing by the fire, Hermione followed, frowning slightly, I want to talk to Remus about this...but you and I are going to make the decision, Ron too, I guess. Hermione shooed Crookshanks from her shoulder and wrapped her arms around him from behind, nodding silently into his back.
*********************St Mungo's, London******************************
10:00 am
The admittance room for the Wizarding hospital was relatively packed for a Friday morning. Usually the admittance room would start to fill up much more as the evening and night progressed, an almost unavoidable consequence of the start of the weekend, and the imbibing of various libations by magic users that should know not to drink and then do things like Apparate or try to ride large magical beasts, let alone the various spell 'accidents' that normally would occur.
A harassed looking witch stood behind a large counter, slowly dispensing with and directing the various patients that were coming in to their proper, most of the time, destinations. A tall Wizard dressed in a tweed jacket and smoking a pipe led a pair of small twins up to the counter next, they were stuck together back to back, and kept trying to walk in opposite directions. He was levitating them after him as he looked up at the Med-witch, "Spell damage," she snapped, and looked behind him at another ten people in line ranging from someone who seemed to have been turned into a rather short giraffe; to a young, auburn haired witch whose hair was standing on end and emitting periodic, small lighting bolts; to a short, rotund man, who was purple. She rolled her eyes, and glanced over at the large crowd of reporters that were crowded in a corner, waiting for the Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, to emerge and give a statement after his recovery from poisoning. "NEXT!"
The doors opened and several Aurors in dark blue robes led a tired and careworn Rufus Scrimgeour from the back of the hospital. He was leaning on a mahogany cane, topped with a small replica of his Badge of Office. His lion-like mane was flat and lank, as if it had suffered as much or more than the rest of him during his near-death experience, which included almost having the Healers call the time of death at least once before they were able to stabilize him. He knew it was only an accident of fate that had saved him at all, the potion, or poison rather, would have been fatal if drunk by itself. It was only a chance reaction with the ingredients in his drink that had mitigated the effects enough to give the specialists at St. Mungo's time to stabilize him and get his system flushed. Four complete blood replacements later, they had pronounced that he would recover, to a degree. And even at that, he was lucky; the Poison that had been used on him was still unidentified, certain to have been the work of a Potions Master, though it was similar to certain loyalty potions. The combination of life and magic draining that it had induced, would have been lethal in hours to any wizard without the timely intervention of the healers.
"MINISTER," a portly reporter in vermilion robes and a top hat screamed from the center of the crowd, "is it true that the Ministry is contemplating surrender to You-Know-Who?"
Scrimgeour looked up, but said nothing, as an aide standing next to him snapped, "No comment." Another reporter started to shout a question, but stopped suddenly at the sound of several high-pitched shrieks from one side of the room. Several witches and at least one wizard were standing on chairs, screaming about a large rat, scurrying along the baseboards. Several healers and a couple of Medi-Witches ran over with wands drawn, desperate to stop the vermin from infesting the hospital.
Every eye, including the four Aurors escorting the Minister looked over at the commotion, not noticing the woman that flowed to her feet from a waiting room chair directly in their path. "FOR THE DARK LORD...AVADA KEDARA." A searing green beam ripped across the lobby with a horrid rushing sound, impacting the Minister of Magic and throwing him back against the wall. Four more Death Eaters rose from the crowd and fired, dropping the escort in their path.
Screams of sudden terror filled the air as Bellatrix cackled and swept her hood back from her head, revealing her unmasked self. She contemptuously blocked the few, pitiful Stunners that came her way as she casually walked to the door, and flung down a pellet grasped in her hand.
The room plunged into total darkness, as another twelve Aurors who had been stationed outside or in other spots in the hospital rushed into the room and instantly collided to furniture, people and other barriers. After five, agonizing minutes where the dark was broken only by screams of frustration and fear, the effect vanished, leaving behind five dead bodies, and no trace of the Death Eaters.
...And the landscape changes....Next Chapter Ginny returns to Hogwarts, and it's not a smooth return, and a surprise stratagem comes from these events.