Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J. K. Rowling, not me.
Dumbledore Answers Harry - Chapter 17 - Diagon Alley
"Are the preparations complete?" Harry hissed at the pathetic man kneeling in front of him. He was sitting in a comfortable chair.
"Y-Yes my Lord. We will attack Diagon Alley tomorrow at precisely eleven o'clock. Most students will be there preparing for the new school year, probably buying `Potions for Beginners' as the N.E.W.T. level text."
Harry felt great excitement at that proclamation. "Now, now Severus. Just because you are no longer teaching that class doesn't mean it's not being taught properly. However, after tomorrow there won't be as many students taking it. How many of my servants will be joining you?"
There will be a total of thirty of us. We'll be in three groups of ten at different areas. I'll lead one group, while Lucius and Bellatrix will lead the other two. Lucius will arrive five minutes early to set up wards that only those with Dark Marks can apparate through."
"Excellent. Have you completed your other assignment?
For a moment, Harry could see Snape shiver. "No master, we have been unable to locate Lucius' family so far. They are not at any of the Malfoy properties, and we have been unable to search any Black properties."
"Crucio!" shouted Harry angrily.
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Harry shot up out of bed as his left hand went straight for his scar. "Damn! I forgot to do occlumency last night!" He was soaked with sweat and breathing heavily. After sitting in bed for a minute, he muttered, "Might as well use the information. It could save lives."
He got out of bed and marched straight to Sirius' room. After knocking loudly on the door for about a minute, he finally heard Sirius' voice. "What is it? It's five in the morning! We're not going to Diagon Alley until ten!"
Harry opened the door and saw Sirius holding a pillow over his head. "I had a Voldemort dream. He's planning to attack Diagon Alley at eleven."
Sirius was now fully awake. "What?"
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After Harry explained what was happening, Sirius told Harry to stay there while he flooed to Hogwarts. Not having anything else to do, he went straight into his training after reinforcing his Occlumency shields. About a half-hour after he'd finished, Mrs. Weasley, along with her kids and Hermione, flooed into the house.
"Hello Harry-dear," said Mrs. Weasley, trying to cover up her nervousness.
"Hi Mrs. Weasley, everyone. What's going on?"
She took a deep breath. "Professor Dumbledore alerted Minister Bones, and she's sending several members of her `Life Force' to ambush the Death Eaters. The headmaster is also sending some Order members to help, Sirius included."
"Then I should go too!"
"You'll do no such thing!" yelled Molly, causing Harry to momentarily blanch as he backed away. "That's why he sent me here! He knew you'd want to join the fight!" Her countenance changed back to normal, and she walked up to hug Harry. "I know you want to help, and that you've been given special training, but Professor Dumbledore doesn't want word of your abilities to get to You-Know-Who. Right now, he knows you're good at defense, but not how good. Besides, if you show up there, every Death Eater will target you."
For a moment, Harry thought about arguing with her, or even tricking her with his morphing abilities, but was pulled from this train of thought by Hermione, who like Ginny, had stayed silent up until this point.
"Harry, why don't we just go upstairs?"
"Yeah," said Ginny solemnly, "You'll never win this argument."
Mrs. Weasley smiled at the girls and turned back to Harry. "Harry-dear, you really should listen to them. By the way, Sirius is buying your school supplies before the ambush, and he'll send them here as soon as he's got them."
"Then why can't we go before…"
"Just in case they change their attack time," interrupted Molly, "We don't want you there."
"Fine," he said, though his ears were red. He turned around and walked to his room, followed by the girls.
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"So Harry," said Hermione when they got into his room, "Did Sirius sign your Hogsmeade permission form?"
Harry half-smiled. "Yes, believe it or not, he does trust me to go there." Neither Harry nor Hermione saw Ginny's momentary frown.
The brunette girl sighed. "That's not what I meant. I was, er, wondering if we'd be going there together."
Harry looked at Hermione and then at Ginny as his mood changed. "I guess I have to choose whether to stay in the castle with Ginny or go into town with Hermione." He chuckled. "Or go into town alone." He took a deep breath. "You've both been really patient with me, haven't you?"
Both girls smiled and nodded.
"I, this is very difficult for me. You are both such wonderful girls. Ginny and Hermione, you are both very pretty and smart and many other good things, and any bloke would be lucky to date either of you." He sighed. "Remember your agreement to stay friends no matter which one of you incredible girls that I choose." He was doing his best to compliment them both to avoid them getting mad and hexing him.
"Yes," said the girls together.
He took another deep breath. "For now, mainly because of the Hogsmeade weekends," he said as Ginny's face fell, "and, well, a few things I've been feeling lately, I, er, think it would be best, um. This is hard for me to say because I don't want to hurt either of your feelings. Hermione, will you be my girlfriend, and Ginny, will you still be my best friend."
Harry saw a solitary tear fall down Ginny's cheek. She said, "I, yes, we'll still be friends, but I need some time alone."
"We'll be here when you're ready to talk," said Hermione, whose face had stayed neutral, "We both do care about you."
"I know," she said as she left the room, closing the door behind her.
Harry turned to Hermione and looked at her expectantly. "So, you didn't answer my question."
Hermione blushed lightly and smiled. "Of course I'll be your girlfriend. I just didn't want to act too happy around Ginny. I know how I'd feel in her place, and wouldn't want her rubbing it in. It is more practical to date me. After all, if you're going to Hogsmeade with me, everyone will say we're dating anyway."
"That's not the only reason I picked you," he said, looking in her eyes.
"Oh," she said, blushing more.
"Don't get me wrong, both you and Ginny are great, but lately I've been, er, having feelings for you that I haven't had so much for her. You may have noticed."
"Well, kind of, but I thought it was my imagination. You know, wishful thinking."
Harry took a deep breath. "So, how are we gonna handle this?" he said, taking her hand in his as they sat across from each other.
She looked from their hands to his face, smiling. "Well, I think we should take things slow. We are only thirteen, after all."
"You'll be fourteen in a month."
She giggled slightly, "And I expect my boyfriend to be generous with my birthday gift. Just kidding."
"I will be," he said, winking.
She giggled a bit more before saying, "You don't have to do more than you've already done. You've been a boyfriend without benefits to both Ginny and me for a year, and treated us both better than most blokes treat one girlfriend. One thing I would like to say is that whatever, er, affection we decide to show," at this point both their faces were red, "we should do in private. Specifically, I don't want to make Ginny watch us, um, kissing when we decide to do that."
Harry took a deep breath. "Ok. So, will you be my date for every Hogsmeade weekend until you or I specifically state otherwise?"
"Of course. You didn't really need to ask since you already mentioned Hogsmeade."
"I just wanted it to be absolutely clear. I didn't want to assume anything."
"Well, thank you. Do you think we should talk to Ginny, now?"
"We can certainly try."
-
Five minutes later, holding hands, the new couple walked up to the door where they heard sobbing and knocked.
"Who is it?" called Ginny's shaky voice.
"It's Harry and me."
"I…you don't have to worry about me. I…"
"You're hurting and I know that I caused it," said Harry.
"It's ok," Ginny said through the closed door. "You had to hurt one of us. I understand. You like the older girl who can go to Hogsmeade with you, who doesn't have this horrid red hair and freckles, who's more…developed. I know!"
"Your red hair is one of your most beautiful features!" said Harry. "I did not pick Hermione because I think she's prettier than you! To me, you're both equally beautiful. I don't know why I feel more, er, attracted to her, but it's not because of anything you lack! I already said that it was a difficult choice. Please open the door."
"I…no."
"We both know you've been crying just like I'd be crying if Harry chose you."
"Fine," Ginny said, "You won't leave me alone until I open the door anyway."
"Exactly," said Harry.
Slowly, the door opened to reveal Ginny with eyes that matched her hair. Without a word, Hermione embraced her. At first Ginny resisted, but then started crying into her shoulder as Hermione said, "I never wanted to hurt you."
Harry stood there awkwardly for a few minutes, wondering if he should leave, until Ginny looked over at him. "Come here, Harry. You didn't do anything wrong. You belong in this hug." She and Hermione separated on one side to make this a three-way hug. "Best friends, right?"
"Best friends," repeated both Harry and Hermione together.
-
At the same time, Sirius was waiting in Diagon Alley with his wand in his hand. There were a total of fifty people stationed throughout the area. Ten of them were Order members, fifteen were aurors, and twenty-five were members of the Life Force group that Madam Bones had put together specifically to fight Voldemort.
Suddenly, Sirius heard multiple apparition `pops' and looked around. About one block away was the group of ten led by his cousin Bellatrix. He sprang into action, pointing his wand and sending a stunning spell at her from behind before she could curse a civilian. She heard the noise and raised a shield as she turned to face her assailant. The rest of her group was occupied fighting others who had come upon them just as suddenly as Sirius.
"So, dear cousin. You spent nearly as much time in Azkaban as me, but didn't even get to have fun beforehand. Crucio!"
Sirius jumped out of the way and sent a silent `reducto' which she dodged as well.
"I don't call what you do fun!" He shot another hex at the same time as her. The spells met and ricocheted off each other, hitting buildings.
"But it is fun. Crucio!"
He jumped backwards, and now his back was against a shop. He chuckled, saying, "You'll never hit me with that curse," while she sent a silent `reducto' at a sign directly above his head. The sign fell on him, knocking him to the ground.
She wasted no time hitting him with a Cruciatus curse that had him shaking as his head was hitting the wood that was still on top of him, worsening the wound that was already there.
She cackled so much that she didn't notice one of the Life Force members shoot ropes around her from behind. She then disapparated away, taking the ropes with her.
Sirius' rescuer shot a Life Mark into the air, declaring it a victory as another one put a portkey on the now unconscious Sirius Black, sending him to St. Mungo's.
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