Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.
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Chapter 9
Trial by Fire
The incessant chiming of of the clock downstairs was soon joined by a desperate pounding on the bedroom door.
"HARRY -- GET UP! Death Eaters are coming, we have to go now!" There was a flash of light as the charms on Harry's door were dispelled. On the verge of panic, and still trying to tie his dressing gown closed, Arthur Weasley burst into the room. "Do you know where Hermione is? She wasn't in her room."
Turning away from the window, Hermione quickly answered, "I'm right here, Mr. Weasley, and it looks like they're attacking the village."
"No, you don't understand...Bill tied Molly's clock into the wards he and the Ministry set up. The only reason it would be ringing like this is if someone is tampering with them! Harry, we don't have time to pack right now...."
Ignoring Arthur's words, Harry franticly rummaged through his trunk before muttering, "To hell with this, Accio!" Various odds and ends exploded out of the open trunk as the Omnioculars he'd purchased years ago leapt into his hand.
Going back to the window, he raised the wizard binoculars to his face. "I think we may have a bigger problem," he said to no one in particular. Pointing them towards the bright flashes he'd seen in the village, he glimpsed a figure moving amongst the smashed Muggle buildings. "Oh, that's not good..."
"What is it?" Hermione asked.
Harry grabbed her arm and started moving. "Giant! They brought a giant with them, and I think it's coming this way."
"Merlin's beard...we'll have to try and apparate out or take the Floo. Either way, it's best if we do it together," Arthur replied.
"You get Ginny," Harry firmly told the older wizard. "We'll get Ron and meet you downstairs."
Giving them a quick nod, Mr. Weasley ran off to do as he was told. Hand in hand, Harry and Hermione rushed out of the bedroom right behind him.
It came as no surprise that Ron was still fast asleep when his friends raced into his room. With no time for pleasantries; Harry woke up his friend by levitating his bed, and then letting it drop to the floor with a loud bang.
"What the hell are you doing? It's the middle of the night!" Ron screamed.
Harry held up a hand to silence his friend. "Death Eaters are attacking the village. We need to get downstairs right now."
Now fully awake, Ron quickly pulled on his jeans and sneakers and ran down to the living room with his friends.
"All right, everyone, we had better apparate to the Ministry and make sure they know what's happening. So, pair up and we'll go on three," Arthur said once they were all together.
It took all the self-control Harry had to block the fear that was radiating from the elder Weasleys from his mind. Pulling Hermione close, with a squirming Crookshanks between them, he silently braced himself -- apparation wasn't Harry's favorite way to travel.
"Ready?" Arthur asked. Everyone nodded. "On three: One...Two...Three!"
Right on cue, Harry felt his girlfriend suddenly twist away from him along with the brief compression of apparation...
...Followed by the sensation of running headfirst into a brick wall before being violently thrown to the floor of the Burrow.
Harry rolled over, pain coursing through his entire body from the failed attempt. "Hermione...are you all right?" he asked.
Letting out a groan not unlike the pained sounds her cat was making, Hermione answered, "Ow.... I...don't think I...splinched anything. We must have hit the...anti-apparation ward, but Bill said we could still...."
"The Death Eaters must have messed with it so we couldn't disapparate," Harry responded.
"Arthur!" they heard Molly scream. Apparently, he'd been slammed into the side of the fireplace and now lay in a crumpled heap on the floor. Judging by his groans and the way he was holding himself, he wasn't going anywhere under his own power.
Getting gingerly to his feet, Ron lit a fire with an Incendio charm. Tossing a handful of floo powder at it, he yelled "Ministry of Magic!" -- only to have the fire go out. He tried again, trying to reach St. Mungo's this time, and got the same result.
"We've been cut off from the Floo Network," he muttered helplessly. "Guess they don't want us going anywhere."
"So now what? We could try to escape by broom..." Ginny suggested.
Molly quickly dismissed the notion. "Your father's in no condition to fly, and most of our broomsticks are out in the shed."
"It's too dangerous for us to go bumbling around in the dark," Hermione added. "For all we know, there could be a flock of dementors out there waiting for us. We can't summon the brooms out of a locked shed either, they'd arrive in pieces."
"Hermione's right, running isn't the answer," Harry said.
Ginny gave them both a deadly glare as she asked sarcastically, "So what is, oh Chosen One?"
"I have an idea," Harry replied in a commanding tone. "Ron, give me a hand with your dad. The rest of you listen carefully, we don't have much time...."
**********
A stillness had fallen over the darkened Burrow by the time three shadowy figures came into view. Crossing the yard like angry wraiths, they made short work of the outhouse containing the family brooms and the old shed Arthur used to tinker with the Muggle artifacts he so loved. One of the masked wizards chuckled at the destruction and conjured a second Dark Mark overhead, only to have the leader of this group strike him in the face. With an impatient shove and a sharp gesture to the third person in his group, they closed in on the Weasley home.
However, the Burrow itself proved to be somewhat tougher than its rickety appearance would suggest. The front door withstood multiple Reductor Curses before finally being blown off its hinges. Before the last bits of debris hit the floor, the three Death Eaters swept into the house. With a wave of his wand, the leader directed his companions upstairs while he proceeded to ransack the first floor.
There was no subtlety in their approach. Throughout the Weasley home, doors and cupboards were simply blown open as the Death Eaters moved from one room to the next. The loud noises and flashes of light ended only after every room had been inspected. In the living room, the leader paused to examine a half-finished Weasley jumper before smashing Molly's knitting basket against the far wall.
"Well?" an icy male voice asked as the other two walked down the narrow stairway.
"We checked the entire house. There's no sign of him," the second Death Eater answered.
The leader joined them at the foot of the stairs. "I told Lestrange that he wouldn't come here. What of the blood-traitors?"
"Gone," the second Death Eater answered. "The only living things we found were a ghoul up in the attic and some kind of miniature puffskein in one of the bedrooms. They must have fled when they saw the Dark Mark."
The third hooded figure spoke up. "Speaking of leaving, it looks like our big friend is gone too."
"And who's fault is that?" the leader said angrily. "You knew perfectly well that the overgrown simpleton was told to leave if he saw the Mark over this house."
Unseen by the intruders, Harry Potter grasped his wand a little tighter and crouched back down behind the overturned sofa with Ron and Hermione. For the tenth time in as many minutes, Harry silently thanked Mad-Eye Moody for once showing him the Disillusionment Charm. The plan seemed to be working so far.
Despite the second Death Eater's assertion, none of the residents of the Burrow had left the house. Taking a hint from Neil Granger's manual, they had Disillusioned everyone so that they'd blend in with their surroundings. Once everyone was enchanted, Harry had told Molly and Ginny to stay upstairs to guard Arthur, who was hidden under Harry's invisibility cloak with Hermione's ever-faithful guard cat. Meanwhile, the trio had used their magical camouflage to evade the Death Eaters until they could determine just what they were up against. It was difficult, nerve-wracking business, made worse by the close quarters inside the Burrow. There were many close calls -- the flying basket had missed Hermione's head by mere inches, for instance -- but they needed to wait until the right moment to ambush the Dark Lord's servants.
Almost there, Harry thought, forcing himself to stay calm. The invaders were all together, had lowered their guard, and didn't seem to have any reinforcements on the way. Now if that one would just move a few steps to either side, the trio would be able to take out all three Death Eaters before they ever knew what hit them...starting with the murdering bastard who was leading this group.
The third, and apparently newest, Death Eater said, "But Severus-"
"Don't start with me, you imbecile. Make one more stupid mistake and you won't live long enough to explain your foolishness to our mast...." Severus Snape interrupted his lecture upon hearing a noise from above. Glancing at his other compatriot, he shoved the first one aside and waved his wand to cast a silent Finite Incatatum.
Harry barely had time to groan "Oh shit" as he and his friends resumed their normal appearance. To make matters worse, Ginny had come into clear view near the top of the stairs.
Streaks of of light filled the room as the two sides opened fire on each other. Ginny put everything she had into one of her Bat-Bogey Hexes, only to have it easily deflected by Snape. In the same movement, he sent a stream of purple flames back in her direction. Having no room to dodge, the curse struck her she just as another spell smashed the stairs at her feet. Even as Ginny and what remained of the stairway collapsed, the third Death Eater stumbled into a group of stunning spells meant for Snape. The triple impact to his back propelled him into Snape, knocking him over, and inadvertently saving the senior Death Eater from the trio's second salvo as well.
Realizing where the spells had come from, the second Death Eater conjured a heavy metal shield as he moved to engage the larger threat. A Killing Curse turned the sofa the trio had used for cover into a cloud of flaming cinders. The teens scattered even as they sent their own hexes and jinxes towards their enemy. That shield made it easier for the Death Eater to block their spells; but outnumbered and unable to apparate, he was soon on the defensive. Finally, the brief stalemate was broken when a Disarming spell hit him from above and behind. Diving to retrieve his wand, he was struck by an assortment of hexes and jinxes that finally put him out of the fight.
But even as the last of his companions was trying to re-arm himself, Snape freed himself from his unconscious companion and managed to completely disable the anti-apparation field around the Burrow. With barely a glance, he sent his own Disarming spell upwards. Before Molly Weasley's wand hit the ground; he apparated into the living room where a well-placed curse smoked Harry out, and left him sprawled on the floor three feet from his wand.
"Potter." With a flick of his hand, he sent Harry's wand flying across the room. "I should have known. Did you honestly think you could best us?"
Meeting the former Potions master's sneer with one of his own, Harry said, "Why not? It wouldn't be the first time."
"As conceited as ever, I see. One would think you would have learned your lesson after our last encounter. But then again, your father never learned the proper respect either." Behind his mask, Snape's cold black eyes hardened even more.
"You're just upset because Dad always saw you for the scum you are," Harry said bitterly, hoping that his anger would help keep Snape out of his head. "And since you asked, I do remember our last little run-in...."
"Which is why he brought us with him this time, Snivellus," Hermione said as she appeared behind Snape, her voice filled with hate.
Snape instinctively spun into a crouch upon hearing that despised nickname. In doing so, he just missed being hit by a Furnunculus Curse Ron cast at him. His reprisal was interrupted by the need to deflect one of Hermione's jinxes. Behind him, Harry rolled away from Snape, hopefully in the direction his wand had gone.
"What's the matter, Snape?" Ron paused in his taunt to send another spell Snape's way. "Can't read three minds at once?"
A frustrated snarl came from behind Snape's mask. He cast a curse that Harry didn't recognize at Ron, who dove behind one of the last pieces of furniture in the room, and started digging through his robes with his free hand.
While his friends kept Snape busy, Harry was groping in the dark for his wand. Recalling a time when he'd been in a similar predicament, the young wizard silently cast the Lumos spell. A spot of light appeared on the other side the room, near the place where Snape was now standing. Panic gripped Harry when he saw the ex-professor take a step toward his wand. Acting solely on instinct, Harry reached out in the direction of his wand and desperately screamed Accio! inside his head.
Snape's head snapped around as Harry's wand shot out from under his foot, flew across the room handle first, and neatly landed in its owner's hand. Not giving his enemy a chance to react, Harry quickly cast a spell. In his haste and rage, however, the curse went wide -- missing its target, but connecting with a flask Snape had just pulled out of his robes. The contents instantly vaporized -- filling the Burrow with a thick, acidic cloud that burned the eyes and left everyone coughing on the floor.
By the time it cleared, Snape and the other Death Eaters had vanished without a trace.
**********
A group of Aurors charged into the Burrow some time after the battle was over, led by a tough-looking wizard named Dawlish. Paying little attention to the trio's presence, he had the others spread across the Weasleys' property in a hopeless search for the Death Eaters. Kingsley Shacklebolt, an Auror who was also part of the Order of the Phoenix, stopped just long enough to arrange for everyone to be transported to St. Mungo's with the other wounded.
Mr. Weasley had been admitted to the Artifact Accidents section with a concussion and two broken ribs, while Ginny was being treated by the Healers on the Spell Damage floor. The rest of them had come away with nothing worse than some cuts and bruises, which were treated by a harried mediwitch who had come across them in a waiting room. Eventually, their exhaustion overcame the remaining adrenalin in their bodies and they drifted into a deep sleep.
Some hours later, Harry became aware that there was something warm and soft lying next to him. Opening his eyes, he found Hermione's beautiful, but slightly blurry, face stirring only inches away from his own. Surprisingly strong arms tightened around his stiff body as he moved a bit, followed by her eyelids fluttering open. With a sleepy grin, she whispered "Good morning, Harry" and pulled him a little closer...
But just before their lips touched they heard a familiar voice call out, "Wotcher, Harry! Hermione!"
The young couple sprang apart (or as close to it as their stiff bodies allowed). Finding his glasses on a nearby table; Harry glared at Tonks. She looked exhausted, wearing her patched jeans and mousey-brown hair, and was laughing her head off.
"Tonks!" Hermione screamed. "That wasn't very nice of you...and how did you know we were here?"
"Old Auror trick, check page five." She gave them a sly grin and handed over a copy of the Daily Prophet. The front page had a picture of the Dark Mark floating over the Burrow. The headline above it read: GIANT ATTACKS MUGGLE TOWN, DOZENS FEARED DEAD.
Following Tonks' advice, Harry flipped through the paper until he saw an image of him and Hermione sleeping in each other's arms. Making an angry sound in the back of his throat, he read the caption:
Harry Potter, a.k.a. the Chosen One and last apprentice of the late Albus Dumbledore,
recovers from his hour-long duel with You-Know-Who's servants in the arms of his lover,
Miss Hermione Granger. (Full story on page 12)
"What's this rubbish? Oh, don't tell me...," Hermione groaned as Harry turned to page twelve. Beneath a couple of old pictures of them, there was a short article titled: Potter returns to his first love. Seeing the name of the writer, Harry tossed the paper in the garbage without bothering to read the column.
"I see you don't think much of Rita Skeeter's latest story. She'll be crushed," Tonks quipped. Pulling a small notebook out of her pocket, she patted herself for a moment. "Have you seen my quill? I've been up all night....ah, found it...and need to get your version of the attack for the reports. So, let's start with where you were when the attack began."
Before answering, Harry asked, "Um, shouldn't Ron be here? He was with us through most of it."
"I talked to him a little while ago, just before be went in to see his sister. Now, Arthur told me you two were together when the attack started. So tell me what you were doing, and don't leave out any details." Tonks flashed a grin at them.
Except for her prying, Tonks maintained a professional demeanor during their interview. She questioned them at length about the Death Eaters who had entered the Burrow.
"So you're both positive that Severus Snape was leading the other two?" Harry and Hermione nodded. "Did they say why they were there?"
Hermione answered, "Not exactly, but it sounded like they were looking for someone."
"Yes, I remember one of them saying that 'he' wasn't there. Then Snape went on about telling Bellatrix Lestrange that this person wouldn't come to the Burrow," Harry added.
Tonks chewed on the end of her quill for a minute. "Interesting.... It doesn't tell us much, but it's more than we had. Harry, I've got to ask: where you got the idea of evading the Death Eaters like that?"
"Thank Hermione, I got the idea from a film she took Ron and me to see. The characters hid themselves while some enemy soldiers searched their ship, and then decked the guards they left behind." Feeling Hermione's hand in his, Harry gently entwined his fingers with hers. "There weren't any good hiding places, so we took a hint from a book we, um...came across and used the Disillusion Charm to camouflage ourselves. Unfortunately, something alerted Snape and he dispelled the charm just before we were ready to attack."
"Otherwise we would have stunned the lot of them before they even knew we were there," Hermione finished.
"Doesn't sound very sporting," Tonks said.
Harry looked Tonks in the eye. "Well this isn't a game, now is it? I don't have a problem with hexing a bunch of Death Eaters from behind if it stops them from killing people!"
"You sound like your dad."
"Remus! What are you doing here? You're usually in bed all day after your change." Tonks jumped to her feet when she saw Remus Lupin standing in the doorway with Ron.
Lupin gave her a tired gaze as he said, "I'm a werewolf, Nymph, not an invalid. Nice hair, I see your thinking about me." Tonks bristled at the nickname and changed her hair to a Ravenclaw blue. Having disarmed his girlfriend's tirade, Remus turned back to the teens sitting on the couch. "I heard about the attack on the wireless and wanted to make sure you were all right."
"We're okay, Remus, but Arthur and Ginny were hurt pretty bad and we've been waiting for news about them," Harry told him.
Ron said tonelessly, "The Healers told us a little while ago that Ginny's going to have to stay here for a week or two, but should recover. Dad's okay, and will be able to go to work tomorrow. In the meantime, they're letting him and Mum stay with Ginny until she wakes up."
A subdued sigh of relief was overshadowed by Hermione's stomach growling.
"If you're that hungry, Hermione, Fred and George are waiting for us up in the tearoom," Ron continued. "They stopped by a little while ago on their way to the Burrow. Dad suggested we go along and help them start cleaning up."
Saying that she had to go write up her report, Tonks excused herself...but not before handing Harry a slip of parchment. "I did what you asked, Harry. Here's a list of what I set up, in case you're interested," she told him, stifling a yawn. "And Hermione -- your parents wanted me to say hello, be careful, and it's about time."
Once Tonks and Remus had disappeared around a corner, Hermione turned to Harry.
"I asked Remus if he could arrange a little extra protection for your parents...call it my 'saving people' thing," Harry explained. "He said that he would talk to Tonks about it." Surprise, gratitude, a touch of guilt, and love all tried to express themselves at once in the look Hermione gave him. Cupping her cheek, Harry added, "You don't have to say anything, Hermione, it was the least I could do."
The trio made their way to the tearoom on the floor above for some breakfast. Passing the locked doors to the long-term care ward, Harry exchanged a look with Hermione. They couldn't help noticing that Ron was being unusually quiet this morning.
"Um, Ron -- are you okay?" Harry asked him.
The redhead stopped walking and turned to look at them.
"No...not really," Ron said slowly. "Luna and her dad live in a flat above the Quibbler office, on the other side of the village from us. I read in the paper that it was leveled by the giant. I guess I'd better find Pig when we get home so I can let them know what -"
"Excuse us, please," a female Healer said to them, pointing at the doors.
Harry stepped out of her way, and found himself staring into the emaciated face of Alice Longbottom. This poor woman and her husband, the parents of the trio's friend Neville Longbottom, had been driven insane by some of Voldemort's most sadistic followers. Echoes of the pain they had endured were written all over her face, and the broken remains of her soul could be seen in her protruding eyes.
Those eyes didn't quite meet his, but Harry swore that he saw something flicker in them when he said hello to her. With a shaking hand, she took a piece of paper out of her dressing gown and dropped it into Harry's hand. The Healer gently said, "Now, Alice, don't bother the nice people. Come on, you've had a long morning and need your rest," and led her through the doors.
For a long moment after Alice had gone, the trio stood there looking at the Drooble's Blowing Gum wrapper in Harry's hand. Giving his friends a glance, Harry reached into his pocket to retrieve the false Horcrux he carried everywhere he went. Folding the wrapper into a tiny square, he placed it inside the locket before putting it back in his jeans. Harry then looped a comforting arm around Hermione and they went upstairs to meet the Weasley twins.
**********
In the aftermath of the attack, Ottery St. Catchpole was swarming with employees from the Ministry of Magic. Some of them were from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, supposedly providing security against a follow-up attack. Most, however, were Obliviators going around altering people's memories and people from the Department of Misinformation spreading the story that it was a freak tornado that hit their village and not a giant.
Dealing with the Ministry was rapidly becoming one of Harry Potter's pet peeves. Here he was, eighteen days short of his seventeenth birthday, and the only time he could (legally) do magic away from school was if somebody was trying to kill him -- as the Ministry bureaucrat who was minding the apparation point so thoughtfully reminded him.
But as much as this treatment annoyed Harry, the twins took even greater offense.
"Can you believe these people?" George griped as they walked up the driveway. "Having the nerve to lecture Harry after last night is almost as bad as harassing an innocent joke shop."
Harry shook his head. "Don't tell me they're still bothering you about that Darkness Powder...."
"Oh no, they've come up with all new things to pester us about. Over the last month we've had five different inspectors come through -" Fred told them.
"Including that old wizard Dad used to work with," George added without missing a beat.
Fred rolled his eyes. "- And at least a dozen 'official warnings' saying that we're 'undermining the war effort.' Naturally they don't say whose war effort...."
"Come off it, Fred. It's probably just some moron at the Improper Use of Magic office with no sense of humor and too much time on their hands," George said as they entered the ruined Burrow.
Fred gave his twin a dismissive wave. "You'd think they'd have one after hiring idiots like Percy."
"Speaking of the family prat..." George chimed in again. "So Perce, what brings you here? Doing a report on defective staircases?"
"One on our defective Ministry would be more useful," Ron said under his breath.
George looked at Ron. "I don't think there's enough parchment in England to write that report, " he said with a straight face.
Percy Weasley didn't react to his brothers' jibes. Instead, he just stood there looking blankly at his mother's grandfather clock. A stray curse had hit it, leaving its face hanging from a spring. The hands bearing their names now dangled limply on the broken mechanism.
In a subdued voice he said, "I was on Ministry business. We had a report that a wizard and his daughter are missing and unaccounted for -"
"If you're talking about the Lovegoods, they're in Kenya on a snorkack expedition," Ron explained as if it were an everyday occurrence. "Luna took a portkey, so your precious Ministry should know where they are."
Harry could tell that Percy wanted to ask, "They're on a what expedition?" but decided against it. Instead he said, "Thanks, I'll look into it tomorrow." Touching the damaged heirloom, Percy sadly muttered, "Mum's always loved this clock, it will break her heart to see it like this."
"It was an anniversary gift from Uncle Gideon and Uncle Fabian. Fighting the Dark Arts was about the only thing they ever took seriously." Everyone turned towards the kitchen, where Bill and Fleur had just come in. They hadn't been due back for another week. Looking at Fred, George, and Ron, Bill added, "You guys didn't have a chance to know them. Ron was about six months old when they died."
"We came as soon as we heard about the attack," Bill said, pulling off his traveling cloak as he approached Percy. Examining the clock, Bill said, "It looks bad, but there's a place in Diagon Alley that might be able to fix it. Assuming they're still open, that is."
"Well, if one of you would take it there, the rest of us can start on this place," Harry spoke up.
Percy stepped forward. "I'll do it." He quickly removed his own cloak and tightly wrapped it around the damaged artifact. By the time he was done, Bill had conjured and enchanted a crate to transport it in. Without exchanging a word, they carefully placed the clock inside and latched the box closed.
"By the way, all your pets are upstairs in the twins' old room, except for Hermione's cat. He bit me when I found him and ran into the kitchen." Percy told them.
Easily lifting the crate onto his shoulder, Percy got ready to leave. Just before he disapparated, he quietly said to Ron, "If you want to tell this Luna girl what happened, just send the letter to me. I can arrange for her to get it faster than regular owl post." No one was more astonished by this offer than Ron, who had written off his brother a long time ago.
"Good. Now that the Ministry's left, Harry can lend us a hand -" George said cheerfully after Percy was gone.
"Or a wand. Assuming that Miss Granger doesn't turn him in," Fred finished.
"Not today." Giving the twins a dirty look, Hermione wrapped Harry's arm around her waist and led him towards the kitchen. "I have better things to do with him," she added. Harry nearly jumped out of his skin as he felt his normally-reserved girlfriend pat him on his backside.
Once they were out of earshot, Harry asked, "What brought that on?"
"Fred and George think that all I do is study and boss people around. So just this once, I chose to take the opportunity to prove them wrong." Flashing that naughty little smirk of hers, Hermione quietly added, "Besides, you've earned a nice pat on the bum."
Before their talk could go any further, George's astonished voice was heard coming from the living room. "Um, have we missed something?" he asked. Then there was another pause before he shouted, "You're kidding! Since when?" Harry and Hermione exchanged a look, and then a brief laugh at the twins' expense.
**********
end chapter 9