Harry Potter and the Parliament of Dreams - 2. Racing Through Dark Places

The carriage rocked violently from side to side as it took the corner inside the main gate. Professor McGonagall felt the carriage accelerate again as it rapidly crossed the causeway leading to the main doors of the castle. McGonagall and Sprout were barely able to brace themselves in time for the sudden stop of the carriage, as the thestrals’ hooves dug in.

The squealing stop of the carriage attracted the attention of Severus Snape, who was passing by the main door at that very moment. He threw open the main door and rushed outside, greeting his two fellow professors with a look of surprise on his normally dour face.

“Severus, get Albus quickly. We need to get Harry to Poppy right away,” McGonagall barked as soon as she saw him.

Snape sneered lightly at Harry, “What has Potter done to himself now?”

“His uncle beat him and I think he tapped his power in response, Severus. He’s too young to control it,” Sprout filled Snape in as she made sure that Harry was securely on the stretcher.

Snape’s pale face lost all remaining color, “Surely he couldn’t have done that so soon?”

Sprout nodded, a concerned look on her normally cheerful face.

Snape then looked suddenly concerned for Harry as well, “I’ll get Albus immediately.”

McGonagall nodded as she rushed off towards the infirmary with Sprout and Potter in tow.

Snape ran towards the Headmaster’s office only to bump into him half way there.

“Where is he?”

“They’ll have him in the hospital ward by now,” Severus replied.

“The magic detection devices went haywire with a sudden and very powerful display of magic. I’m glad Minerva and Pomona were in Hogsmeade. They were able to Apparate there immediately.”

Snape merely nodded.

“This was unexpected. He’s too young and he’s not ready for this yet,” Dumbledore replied as they arrived in the hospital ward.

“I doubt he’ll ever be ready for it. He’s too much of a Gryffindor,” Snape commented.

Minerva McGonagall snapped around to face Severus and shot him a cold stare.

“Perhaps I’m biased,” Snape deadpanned.

Albus snorted just as he watched Poppy casting healing spells on a still unconscious Harry.

“What do you think happened?” Albus directed at Minerva.

“I think his uncle hit him and he tapped his power in anger. Vernon Dursley was lying unconscious against the wall, like he was propelled there. Also, every piece of glass around Harry was shattered into millions of pieces. That is how he got the deep artery cut in his arm. The blood and bruising on his face is from his uncle.”

“Oh my,” was Dumbledore’s only reply.

Snape flushed red then went pale again and whispered quietly, “My word Mr. Potter, what have you gotten into this time?”

Only Albus Dumbledore heard him.

Minerva turned to Dumbledore, “What are we going to do with him? He can’t stay here. We have to spend the time strengthening the wards around the castle.”

“I’ll contact Molly Weasley. We’ll have to add some more protections at the Burrow, but I think that would be best until other arrangements can be made.” That said, Dumbledore turned on his heel and headed off to his office.

“Severus, can you keep an eye on him please?” McGonagall asked the sour-faced man.

Snape nodded while Minerva and Pomona headed out. Poppy was back in her office shortly thereafter.

*   *   *

After his shower, Draco crawled slowly into his bed, nursing his sore spots. He fell asleep almost as soon his head had hit the pillow. His sleep was quiet for a while before his dreams turned weird.

He was standing in a great room. He heard a noise and spun around to face his arch-nemesis.

Harry smiled again, “Time to wake up Draco.”

Draco woke up moments later to his mother shaking him, “Time to wake up Draco. Wake up!”

Draco stared at his mother.

She rarely showed any emotion to her only child. Once in a great while, she showed tolerance of Draco’s existence. The people at school thought that his mother was the one that sent him his nearly daily treats by owl. In reality, the elves sent the food at Draco’s request. His mother rarely even talked to him, if the truth were told. At least she didn’t hit him though.

“I’m awake,” Draco said coldly.

“The elves will be up shortly with your meal. You are to stay here for the rest of your vacation. You will be going to Diagon Alley on August 31st. You will stay at the Leaky Cauldron for the night and then take a taxi to King’s Cross Station for your trip back to Hogwarts. You are to stay there for Christmas. Your father suggested that you at least make your time here useful.”

She handed him two books. “Your father and I are leaving on business in France. Good bye.”

She got up and left without saying anything further or waiting for his response.

Draco started poring over his two new books. “Ganderfall’s Guide to Apparation” and “Animagi and How They Do It.” Draco’s initial thought was that both magical abilities would be too powerful for him to be able to perform. However, since he still had weeks left at home, he figured that it wouldn’t hurt him to try to learn the spells.

Draco started reading immediately, not even noticing the elves when they entered with his food.

*   *   *

Harry was having another very bad nightmare. It was dark all around him and he kept reliving Cedric’s death over and over. Voldemort was cackling evilly in the background. Harry suddenly found himself floating above his own body watching something large and slimy creeping over his arm. It bit him and he let out a blood-curdling scream. Harry jerked into consciousness and flung himself screaming and crying into the first set of arms available.

An extremely surprised Severus Snape barely managed to catch the small young man. In a terrible shock himself, he simply placed his hands around Harry as Harry buried his face into Snape’s robes. A look of utter confusion etched itself over Snape’s face. The confusion turned into astonishment in very short order.

Snape felt a presence that was almost overwhelming his magical senses. The power that was in and around Harry was shocking. Snape, who had stood many times in the presence of the two most magically powerful men in the world, could feel more power in Potter. The fact that the Potter boy seemed to have more potential then Dumbledore and Voldemort combined truly frightened him.

He hoped that it was because Dumbledore and Voldemort were able to keep their magical presence dimmed through skill while Potter could not. He sincerely doubted that they could dim it that much, though.

“That means that Harry Potter has the potential to be the most powerful man in the world and by a good measure to boot,” Snape whispered so quietly that no one heard. Not even the still-sobbing Harry. Snape tightened his hug ever so slightly to reassure the boy in his lap.

*   *   *

Harry slowly became aware of his surroundings. He was buried in someone’s robes. That meant he was somewhere in the wizarding world. He thought of the last things he could remember before he woke up with the nightmare. His pale face turned ghostly white. What happened?

He pulled back and looked into the face of the person that was holding him. He nearly died of shock. His jaw dropped and he pulled out of Snape’s arms as quickly as his bruised body would let him. He landed with a grunt on the hospital bed and he turned to stare at Snape, with an incredulous look plastered on his face and his jaw hanging open.

“Close your mouth Potter.”

Harry’s jaw snapped shut.

“Are you ok?” Snape asked dryly.

Harry only nodded.

“What happened?”

“Uncle Vernon hit me a few times and then the glass all broke. When Uncle Vernon went to hit me again, he was thrown through the air. I collapsed. I woke up with a nightmare about Voldemort,” Harry mumbled as he tried to piece together what happened.

Snape flinched slightly at the mention of the Dark Lord’s name. “How did the glass break?”

Harry looked suddenly frightened and he shuddered violently, “I don’t know.”

When he did so, Snape felt the magical force he was emanating drop to a more normal level, though it was still considerable.

Poppy came running at the sound of Harry’s scream and stood there in shock at Snape’s humane behavior. She broke free of her shock after a minute of observation and rushed forward placing her hand on Harry’s head as soon as he shuddered.

“Harry you need to rest since you lost a lot of blood. But first, I need you to drink this.” She handed him a vial of restorer and Harry swallowed it quickly.

“This potion will help you sleep,” she said as she handed him a dreamless sleep potion.

He drank it quickly and true to her word, it knocked him out immediately.

“Poppy, if you’d mind not mentioning…”

“Don’t worry, Severus, I won’t let anyone know you’re not a totally heartless bastard.”

Snape flinched visibly. He wasn’t expecting that, even from Poppy, whose strong opinions were often voiced. She only raised an eyebrow at him.

*   *   *

Severus Snape had stayed next to Harry all night. As much as everyone loathed admitting it, especially him, they needed Harry in the fight against the Dark Lord. The Order of the Phoenix was being called up after almost fourteen years of relative quiet. Snape had also returned to his role as a spy for Dumbledore, as well.

Snape was risking his life to help the wizarding world. He grunted at that thought. He was risking his life for Albus Dumbledore, the only man in the world that had ever really been his friend. Snape pushed aside his hate of his old schoolmate, James Potter.

Harry looked so much like James that it was truly uncanny. Snape forced himself to remember that it was Harry who stopped Voldemort. What Dumbledore told the boy about mother’s love was mostly poppycock. Lilly’s love for Harry did help protect him from Voldemort’s physical touch, but it did nothing to protect him from the killing curse.

That was a piece of information that Dumbledore had purposely obfuscated on.

You see, plenty of parents died willing to protect their children during Voldemort’s reign of terror. While Lily Evans Potter was no doubt a very special light in the world, and even Severus admitted that, she wasn't all that special when it came to the killing curse. Plenty of other powerful mothers and fathers died to protect their children and none of those people were able to block the killing curse on the kids. Harry Potter himself blocked the killing curse, of that there was no doubt at all in Snape’s mind. Given the emergence of the magical power he witnessed last night, he strongly suspected that his magical power activated itself to protect him from the curse. It also likely did so to protect him from his uncle last night as well.

Where had the power come from though? Dumbledore wasn’t talking to him, the other professors or to Potter himself. Snape knew that the Potters were a very old pureblood line. Lily Evans, prior to becoming Lily Potter had proven herself to be a very powerful witch. It was commonly thought that she was Muggleborn, but Snape wasn’t so sure about that. He had never been able to gather proof, but he suspected that her parents were actually squibs. Unfortunately, it was only speculation and he had no access to the few sources of information that would be able to say one way or another.

Snape knew Harry was powerful when he saw the sword in Dumbledore’s office at the end of Potter’s second year. Potter had managed to summon Fawkes, Albus’ phoenix. That act alone was extraordinary, as summoning someone else’s familiar was unheard of. Fawkes had carried the school Sorting Hat with him and from the Sorting Hat, Potter drew out Godric Gryffindor’s sword. Dumbledore told him this much. And what he did with that sword! At twelve years old, Harry Potter took on a full sized basilisk and killed it.

He was powerful enough and Gryffindor enough to be able to pull the sword out of the Sorting Hat. Hogwarts a History, Unabridged, included a few passages about the sword’s appearance over the years. It always appeared to a member of the Gryffindor House, who was in a life and death situation.

Snape was not sure where so much power could have come from, but it also stands to reason that Potter absorbed some of Voldemort’s powers. Harry Potter obviously had a great deal of magical might and it looked like there was no way he could hide it for much longer.

Snape turned to face his colleagues as they entered the room. They made enough noise to wake Potter. Snape was careful to be scowling at the boy by the time his eyes opened.

* * *

Harry woke up early the next morning when several people entered the hospital wing.

“Good morning, Mr. Potter. How good of you to join us,” Snape sneered lightly.

Harry looked up, put his glasses on and then focused on the newcomers, Mrs. Weasley, Prof. Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall.

“Hello Harry,” Ron's mother greeted him cheerfully, “Arthur, Percy and the twins are collecting your things from the Dursleys.”

Harry only nodded, not yet trusting his voice.

Harry looked closely at Professor Snape, who seemed to be suddenly lost in thought. In fact, this was the first time Harry could ever remember Snape not having a scowl on his face. Snape’s eyebrows were merely bunched up in concentration.

Molly Weasley said pleasantly, “I’ll be back for you dear as soon as I’m finished discussing arrangements with Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall.”

Mrs. Weasley, McGonagall and Dumbledore left, leaving Harry alone again with Snape.

“Excuse me, Professor Snape?” Harry asked quietly, his voice a bit scratchy.

Snape startled out of his thoughts, “Yes? What is it Harry?”

Harry almost choked in surprise. Snape was polite to him and he called him by his given name. “What’s going to happen to the Dursleys?”

Professor Snape looked momentarily surprised. “I’m not sure. I’d imagine that Arthur Weasley will straighten out your uncle's behavior,” Snape’s face darkened in anger towards the end of the statement.

Harry shuddered a bit at the angry look on Snape’s face.

“Harry? Listen carefully to me for a moment,” Snape said, returning to a sort of false calm.

“Yes sir.”

“Harry, this is very difficult for me to explain and now that I understand your childhood a great deal more, I think you deserve this explanation. My own childhood, like yours, was not pleasant. The one bright light in my life was your mother. We were best friends when we started Hogwarts. We were sorted into different houses of course. Your father took an interest in Lilly and was quite upset that I was friends with her. Your father and I hated each other. This extended to your father’s friends, though Remus to a far lesser extent. A war between us went on for years until after I was on the losing side of a rather egregious attack, I said something unforgivable to your mother when she tried to help me. It broke our friendship that day, but not my feelings for her. I loved her like a sister. Without the protection that Lilly had offered, the Marauders were even worse to me. It drove me towards the dark arts and the wrong people. When I left school, I became a Death Eater and I provided potions for the Dark Lord. I was in his service until I heard that He was going to target you. I could never allow Lilly to be hurt that way and I went immediately to Dumbledore. He help put you and your parents under the Fidelous Charm. It would have worked had it not been for Pettigrew. When the Dark Lord was told of the location of your family, I begged him not to kill Lilly. He never acknowledged me. As soon as he was out of sight, I informed Dumbledore. He didn’t get there in time.”

“You’re the reason Voldemort told my mother to get out of the way!” Harry exclaimed, his eyes wide and tears trickling slowly down his cheeks.

“What? How do you know he did that?”

“I see my parents die every time I am near a Dementor. Voldemort told her to get out of the way. She begged him to kill her instead. He finally did kill her when she would not move. He was hit by the rebounding curse when he tried to kill me,” Harry replied, rubbing his scar.

Snape looked pole axed. “I’m sorry I failed you and your mother. Your father saved me for his own reasons. It caused a Life Debt between us and I did all I could for him, but could not save him. I transferred that Debt to you and I am doing all that I can for you. I am still a spy for Headmaster Dumbledore. Even though I now recognize that you are not James Potter, I still have to act like a bastard towards you. For that I’m sorry.”

Harry blinked a few tears out of his eyes while composing himself. Normally discussing his parents death did not affect him, but his emotions were raw and on the surface.

Snape looked away politely while Harry composed himself. He then continued, “Do you understand why?”

“Yes sir. You’ll have to maintain your hatred of the Boy Who Lived in order to help ensure your safety as a spy in Voldemort’s circle.”

Snape’s eyebrows rose in surprise, “Yes, exactly.”

“I do understand your situation. Perhaps I’ll even make it easier for you to punish me without having to create reasons that would build even more outrage against you,” Harry replied while looking slyly in Snape’s direction.

Snape was once again surprised, “There is no doubt about it. You are most certainly a Gryffindor and your mother’s son. Good day to you, Mr. Potter,” Snape stood to leave.

“And to you Professor Snape. Best of luck to you on your mission.”

Snape nodded in reply and strolled out of the room.

Molly Weasley was entering at that time and they exchanged nods and Molly wished him luck as well.

“Are you ready to go Harry?” she asked.

“Yes ma’am.”

“Ok, we’re off to the Burrow then,” she smiled brightly.

*   *   *

Severus had expected to be summoned all night long, so he was not surprised when his forearm started to burn painfully by the time he reached the dungeon. He turned around and made for the main entrance. He passed Professor Flitwick on his way there.

“Filius, please inform Albus that I have been summoned and that I shall return and report to him as soon as I can.”

The tiny man smiled sadly at the Potions Professor, “I will. Good luck to you Severus.”

Severus nodded stiffly and made his way out of the castle. He cast a powerful spell and flew like a large bat to the gates of the school. As soon as he cleared the anti-Apparation field around the school grounds, he Apparated to the Dark Lord’s location. He had no idea where it was, but that was one of the strengths of the Dark Mark.

“Severus, how good of you to join me,” Voldemort sneered dangerously.

Severus bowed and kissed the hem of Voldemort’s robe waiting for him to speak again.

“There was a powerful disturbance in the flow of magic last night. It had something to do with Potter. Tell me what happened.”

Seeing no harm in the information Severus explained, “Potter was attacked by his Muggle uncle for reasons unknown and his magic responded. All the glass was found shattered in the room and his uncle was flung away from him with considerable force. He then fell into the broken glass and very nearly died from a severe cut to his wrist. He is at Hogwarts now under care from Dumbledore.”

Voldemort scratched his bare chin thoughtfully. “This is more serious than I thought. Thank you for your information. Do you know where the boy will be after he’s healed?”

“No my lord. Dumbledore does not discuss the boy with me.”

“Very well. You may go,” Voldemort said, dismissing him.

Severus walked only three steps away before Voldemort called out to him, “What do you know about the Malfoy’s family background?”

Severus turned back around and replied thoughtfully, “They are a very old family that can be traced back easily as far as the Founders of Hogwarts. With very few exceptions over the years they have been powerful Wizards in both Light and Dark arts. Lucius married Narcissa Black. The Blacks are a powerful family. Draco, Lucius’ only son, is an exceptional student in Potions and has a very large magical potential.”

Voldemort nodded again thoughtfully and then waved his hand in dismissal.

Snape hurried away before he could be called back again. He Apparated as soon as he was able and rushed back to the school to report to Dumbledore.

*   *   *

Molly and Harry traveled into Hogsmeade in a thestral-drawn carriage that the Headmaster had summoned for their purpose. They went immediately to the Three Broomsticks. Molly tossed some Floo powder into the fireplace and pushed Harry towards it.

“The Burrow,” Harry said as he whooshed off through the disorientating Floo Network.

He arrived into the arms of Ron, who immediately steadied him and pulled him into a hug. No words were passed between them, but the hug spoke volumes about the way Ron was feeling.

“Your stuff is in our room,” Ron told him as soon as he broke the hug.

“Our room?”

“You are going to be living here for the rest of the summer, at least. So, yeah, our room,” Ron said with an impish grin.

Harry smiled back. He then, quite suddenly, found himself in the middle of another hug. This time, it was between two people, with identical somber expressions on identical faces.

“Harry, we want,” George started, “to talk to you later,” Fred concluded.

Harry nodded. The twins smiled at him before leaving him to Ron. They went off and explosions were heard from their room, not even a minute later. Ron and Harry headed up to their room.

“So, Harry, are you doing ok, mate?”

“I’m a little woozy Ron and I am still stuck with far more questions than answers.”

“What happened?”

Harry’s eyes clouded and he shook a bit. “Can we not talk about it?”

Ron, seeing the distress his best friend was in, replied, “Okay, Harry. Remember that I am here for you, no matter what. You are my best mate.”

Harry smiled slightly. “Thank you Ron. You have no idea how much that means to me.”

“Do you want to go practice some Quidditch?”

Harry replied by grabbing his broom out of his trunk.

*   *   *

The first few days at The Burrow were quiet for Harry. He spent all of his time with Ron, barely talking at all. Ron understood and was there to support him anytime he broke down. The second day Harry was at The Burrow, Ron talked him into de-gnoming the garden. The funny gnomes did manage to cheer him up quite a bit.

It was a few days after Harry arrived when Fred and George approached Harry and Ron with a request to join them on a trip to Diagon Alley. They were meeting with some representatives from Zonkos and they wanted Harry and Ron to pick up some supplies for them. They also decided it would be a good time to pick up their school supplies, since their letters from Hogwarts had arrived that morning. Both boys were surprised when Ron had been made a Prefect.

A small war occurred in the kitchen that morning between Arthur and Molly over whether the boys should be allowed to go to Diagon Alley. Eventually, after a very long discussion, Mr. Weasley convinced Molly to allow the boys, and only the boys, to go to the Alley without her to accompany them.

She stayed home with Ginny. She went out to work in the recently de-gnomed garden in order to distract her worry over the boys.

*   *   *

The boys all stepped into the fireplace in succession, arriving moments later in the Leaky Cauldron. Fred and George went to their meeting while Harry and Ron headed towards the Quidditch sport shop.

They were just a few meters short of the shop when a large explosion blew them off their feet. Harry landed on top of a boy and Ron landed on top of Harry. They were covered in dirt, dust and broken glass.

*   *   *

Ginny was reading Ron’s spell book grade four when the living room clock clanged ominously as the hand for Ron moved from Traveling, to Mortal Peril. Ginny screamed. Moments later, the hands for both Fred and George also moved from Traveling to Mortal Peril. She was shaking like a leaf in the wind by the time Molly made it in from the garden. Molly was just in time to watch both Arthur’s and Percy’s hands move from Work, to Traveling and stopping at Mortal Peril. She let out a sudden shrill moan and collapsed backwards onto the couch in shock.

Molly's scream snapped Ginny out of her own terror and she scrambled over to her mother. She comforted her mother as much as she could while they both sat watching the clock.

*   *   *

Harry recovered from his shock enough to roll Ron off from him. He stood quickly, wand in hand. He moved forward to make sure that he was between the two boys behind him and any danger that was sure to come along. It didn’t take long to determine what caused the explosions. There were Death Eaters everywhere and the Dark Mark hung ominously in the air above them all.

One Death Eater approached Harry and leveled his wand at him. “Get out of the way Potter! I’m here for that Mudblood behind you,” he growled in surprise when he recognized the Boy Who Lived.

The Death Eater was on his guard for two compelling reasons. Voldemort had given very specific instructions to all his followers regarding the Boy Who Lived. He was not to be touched by anyone for any reason. When the time was right, the Dark Lord would handle the boy himself. He also didn't have any illusions about his own skills with the wand. He doubted very much that he'd be able to stand up to the boy who beat the Dark Lord twice.

The man broke out of his thoughts a moment later when Harry shouted “Expelliarmus!”

He managed to dodge the curse and he shouted “Imperio!” at Harry a split second later.

The curse hit him and Harry felt the feeling of the world drop away. All Harry could hear was a voice in his mind insisting that he stand aside. He very quickly overcame the desire to listen and shouted “NO!” and falling completely out of the curse.

Harry’s anger rolled off him in waves as the Death Eater aimed a curse at the boy on the ground. He pointed his wand at the Death Eater and was about to shout another curse when a blue beam shot out of the end of his wand and slammed into him. The man flew backwards across the street and slammed into the brick wall of the outside of Flourish and Blotts. He slumped to the ground with blood trickling out of the side of his mouth.

The boy screamed behind him a few moments later. Harry ignored the boy so he could pay attention to an approaching Death Eater. He aimed his wand at the Death Eater when a second explosion blew him back into Ron, the boy and a third boy that he hadn’t noticed before.

Harry’s ears were ringing and there was blood flowing freely down the side of his face. His left shoulder also had a long cut from some flying debris. He quickly recovered his senses and got back up. He noticed Ron out of the corner of his eye get up as well. Harry aimed his wand at the Death Eater that had just made it in range.

He shouted “Expelliarmus!” at the same exact time as Ron.

The two beams slammed into the Death Eater and the man went flying through the air slamming into the brick wall. There was a sound like a crumpled melon as the man’s skull caved in on impact. Harry stared in shock at the head-shaped dent in the wall and the bloody body beneath it.

He leaned hard against Ron, who was now standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him. Together they blocked the two boys behind them.

Harry looked questioningly at Ron.

“I’m not about to let you stand alone against a Death Eater. I’m your friend Harry and you'll never have to stand alone if I can do anything about it,” Ron said with a slight shrug while scanning the streets for more danger.

Another Death Eater approached and Harry changed target to the post the man was walking next to and yelled, “Confringo!”

The blasting curse lived up to its name was the post exploded, ripping into the Death Eater, causing the man to collapse with a hoarse scream.

The danger seemed to have passed. A very dirty set of twins ran up a few moments later. They had many cuts and bruises but looked whole. They rushed up to Ron with obvious relief stamped clearly on their faces. They hugged Ron and a very surprised Harry tightly before releasing them and looking them over. Harry was visibly exhausted but had a look of intense concentration on his face.

“Are they gone?” Harry asked George quietly.

“Yes. They started to flee when Dad, Percy and a bunch of men from the ministry arrived moments after the attack started. They are helping with cleanup and told us to come find you.”

Harry finally turned around to see who he was defending. Justin Finch-Fletchley was barely standing. Next to him were the two Creevey brothers. The boy he landed on must have been Colin, as he hadn’t even noticed the far smaller Dennis.

Dennis ran forward and wrapped his arms around Harry. “Thank you so much Harry! You saved our lives.”

Harry, who had been going pale with all the exertion, flushed a very bright shade of red.

“What? Humph…” Harry was able to get out.

The boy was not about to let up though and Harry was too weak to pry him off. The Weasleys were no help at all. The twins stood there with shocked expressions and Ron was laughing almost hysterically at Harry’s increasing antics in his desperation to get away from the boy.

Harry was finally saved from the boy’s clutches when the other boy stepped forward to grab his younger brother.

“Dennis! You cannot go hugging Harry like that! What are people going to think?”

“Thank you Harry!” Dennis squealed as soon as Colin managed to pull him away.

Ron recovered first, turning to the other boy that was behind them, “Justin Finch-Fletchley, is that you?”

“Hi Ron. Thank you both. You both saved our lives,” he said as he blushed and looked at his feet.

“Don’t worry about it Justin,” Ron replied, blushing when he realized that he really was a brave Gryffindor, standing next to his friend when his friend needed the help.

Ron turned away from Justin to see what Fred and George were doing. They were both casting healing charms on Harry, Dennis and Colin. It was also apparent that they started with each other as neither of them was bleeding now. Ron nodded his head towards Fred and Justin took the hint. They went over together to get healed up. About the time that everyone had their cuts healed, Arthur and Percy Weasley arrived.

Harry entered a kind of shock due to exhaustion. Ron explained to his father everything he saw while Percy spent his time looking over the two dead Death Eaters and the one living one.

“Justin, is it?” Arthur asked Justin.

“Yes, sir.”

“Your parents are muggles, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Where are your parents?”

“They were in Flourish and Blotts. I was just looking at the Quidditch Supply store.”

Arthur nodded and turned to the Percy, “Percy, can you bring Justin to Flourish and Blotts?”

“Right away,” Percy replied quietly.

Arthur waited until Justin was gone before he turned to Colin.

“Colin Creevey and your brother Dennis, I presume?”

Colin nodded, going even paler.

“You are also Muggleborn?”

“Yes sir. My father was getting a spot to eat at the Leaky Cauldron.”

Arthur’s face looked grim. Ron picked up on it right away, as did young Dennis.

“Something happened to our father, didn’t it?” Dennis demanded.

Arthur exchanged looks with Ron. Ron nodded and went over to stand behind Dennis.

“I’m afraid that might be the case," Arthur replied after Ron was in place.

Colin stuttered quietly, “What-t-t h-h-happened-d-d?”

Dennis spun around to run and turned smack into Ron, who wrapped his arms around the startled boy.

“Colin, most of the people that were in the Leaky Cauldron were killed. They were especially targeting muggles. If your father was there, then he was most likely murdered. We’ll need your help identifying remains, if you are up to it.”

Colin turned a ghastly shade of white, before saying in a very quiet voice, “What are they going to do with us? Our father is the only family we have. There is no one else.”

“For now, you can come home with us. Harry is staying with us as well. You do know Ron and Harry, right? You are all in the Gryffindor?”

“Yes, sir. I don’t think they like us very much though” Colin choked out, words failing him

“Would you like me to find another place for you two?” Arthur asked kindly.

Harry spoke up, “Colin, I like you two. I just don’t like the camera. Please don’t turn down a chance at a safe place because of me. I’m staying there because of issues with my Aunt and Uncle.”

Colin looked closely at the obviously drained Harry, “If you’re sure Harry.”

Harry nodded, too tired to even reply now.

Arthur brought Colin down the street to The Leaky Cauldron. When they returned a few minutes later, the tears in Colin’s eyes and the tracks down his face said well enough that the worse case was true. Ron had gotten Dennis quieted down and suddenly found his other shoulder occupied by Colin. Since everyone was tired, Arthur did not want to risk using the Floo, especially with two Muggleborn boys with them. He sent Percy back to the office to collect Ministry cars to bring them all home in. Aurors had arrived and were removing the fallen Death Eaters and bringing the one living one back for questioning.

The cars arrived a short time later and Arthur directed their loading. He got all of the boys into the cars and got them back to the Burrow within the hour.

*   *   *

Molly Weasley breathed an audible sigh of relief as first the twins, then Arthur and Percy and then finally Ron’s hands on the clock moved from Mortal Peril to Traveling. Ginny leaned back on the couch too, relaxing suddenly from all the strain and stress that she was in for the last ten minutes. Molly sent up a quiet thank you to whoever may be listening.

*   *   *

The cars arrived outside the odd little house in Ottery St. Catchpole. This was the first time that Colin and Dennis had ever seen a wizard dwelling. Molly rushed out to meet the returning boys and men. She grabbed first the twins then Ron and Harry in tight hugs. Only after that, did she hug her husband and Percy. It was at this point she saw too boys that she had never met before. Molly took one look at their tearstained faces and pulled them both into a motherly hug. They curled into her as they started crying again.

She directed them into the house as Arthur herded the other boys into the house behind her. She took charge after getting everybody settled in the living room. She went into her no non-sense mode.

“Percy, get the two cots for Ron’s room. These two boys can join Ron and Harry up there. Fred and George, help Harry to his room and get him in bed,” she added after a quick look at how pale Harry was.

“Yes, mum,” the twins said together as they picked Harry up between them and headed up the stairs after Percy.

“Ron, head to bed as well,” she said next.

Ron nodded and followed his brothers up the stairs.

That left Arthur, Ginny and the two Creeveys sitting on the couch.

Arthur pulled Molly into the kitchen where they held a quick conversation. Ginny, her motherly instinct becoming active a little early pulled the younger boy into her lap and comforted him.

“Colin, what happened?” she asked him.

“The Death Eaters attacked Diagon alley and they killed our father,” his voice cracked and he stopped talking.

Ginny did not reply as Dennis started whimpering into her shoulder again. They remained sitting in silence for a few minutes until Molly and Arthur returned. When they did appear, Molly’s face was very grave and the concern for all of the boys was etched on her face.

“Colin, sweetie, Arthur has explained what happened. You will be staying here for now. As you heard, I have had extra beds placed into Ron’s room in the attic.”

“Thank you Mrs. Weasley,” Colin replied.

“We’ll take care of things for you Colin. I’ll set up a meeting with Professor Dumbledore as soon as possible. The ministry will see to it that you are taken care of,” Arthur added.

“Thank you, sir.”

“All right boys. I want you all to go to bed and rest until dinner,” Mrs. Weasley commanded.

“I’ll show them up to Ron’s room and then come down to help you cook, okay Mum?”

“Yes sweetheart. Thank you.”

“Come on boys,” Ginny said to Colin and Dennis.

They all traveled upstairs.

Colin and Denis both settled into their cots and sniffled their way into silence. Ginny observed all the boys for a few moments before heading back downstairs to help her mother.

*   *   *

The only deviation in Draco’s day from the normal reading that he was doing was a loud shouting match that occurred in the atrium of the manor. Since his room was off from the third floor of the atrium, he heard the violent yelling when the door was opened to admit the house elf.

Draco was slightly surprised, since most of the time Malfoy Manor was as quiet as a tomb. He dismissed his curiosity though, since he was unable to leave his suite of rooms.

Another day passed for Draco Malfoy.