Chapter 32: The Face-off
“You’re not leaving here with Harry,” Mr. Weasley said defiantly. He didn’t sound frightened at all.
“And what makes you think you’ll be able to stop us?” Lucius asked lazily.
“There are thirteen of us and only eight of you,” Mr. Weasley replied coolly.
Lucius looked up to see that Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, Katie, Dean, and Harry had all armed themselves with their wands. Ginny was still struggling in Macnair’s arms.
“I suggest you let my daughter go, immediately,” said Mr. Weasley
“Or what,” snarled Bellatrix. “You’ll have one of the children stun us? Weasley “ might I remind you that we would all be willing to kill each and every one of you without a moment’s hesitation.”
Lucius looked sharply at her.
“I’m going to have to ask you to hold your tongue, Bellatrix,” he turned to Mr. Weasley. “I will have to confess, Weasley, my sister-in-law has a point. Just how much are you willing to sacrifice for Potter?”
Mr. Weasley did not back down.
“I said let my daughter go. Now.”
Lucius looked at him appraisingly, then said to Macnair.
“Let the girl go...”
Macnair threw her from him, onto the floor. Ginny was not phased at all; she immediately pulled herself up and drew her wand, glaring at Lucius.
“Now, about the boy...”
“I told you, you are not taking Harry anywhere. I won’t let you.”
Lucius stepped closer to Mr. Weasley, pressing the wand harder into his chest.
“I’m afraid you don’t have much choice, Weasley,” he said, smiling frostily.
Harry heard Lucius mutter something under his breath, and Mr. Weasley fell to the floor, screaming in anguish. Lucius continued pointing his wand at him as he writhed on the ground in pain.
“STOP IT! LEAVE HIM ALONE!” Harry yelled, stepping away from the group. He felt Mrs. Weasley grab his arm, but he shook her off and strode towards Lucius.
“I should have known you would give yourself up to save the fool,” Lucius said, as he relented from torturing Mr. Weasley. “So Potter “ Are you willing to sacrifice yourself to the Dark Lord to save your friends?”
“How do I know that if I let you take me, you won’t kill them all anyway?”
“I can’t make any promises, Potter “ except for this: If you don’t come quietly “ I’ll make sure they’re killed.”
“Harry “ don’t listen to him...” Mr. Weasley groaned from the ground.
“Have you not tasted enough pain, Weasley?” Lucius asked, as he pointed his wand at him again, muttering the spell under his breath. Mr. Weasley let out another cry of pain as he twisted on the ground.
“STOP!” shouted Harry. “THAT’S ENOUGH!”
Lucius, again, relented. He eyed Harry with interest.
“Are you ready to meet your fate against the Dark Lord, Potter?”
Harry hesitated “ if he was taken to Voldemort now, he would probably be killed. But if refused to go “ Lucius would take him by force anyway. It turned out, however, that Harry didn’t have to make a decision at all “ a dozen jets of red light shot from the center of the room and each of the Death Eaters dropped to the ground unconscious.
“What were you thinking, Harry?” asked Hermione. “Giving yourself up to Voldemort “ you know we can’t risk you...”
“Somebody had to do something!” he snapped.
“Well, you should have just let us take care of it,” said Hermione.
“How long were you going to let him be tortured before you did something about it?”
“We did something when we had the chance “ really, you need to start thinking more clearly, Harry.”
Harry glared at her. How could she possibly lecture him about ‘thinking clearly’ in a situation like this?
You think she’d be a little more grateful for the fact that I had been willing to give myself up to save them all, he thought angrily.
“We’ve been cut off from the Floo Network...” said Bill as he took his out from the fireplace. “I can’t contact anyone.”
“We’ll have to leave,” said Mrs. Weasley, pulling her ashen-faced husband from the ground. “Quick, before they wake up. Charlie “ I want you to Apparate, alert the ministry.”
Charlie nodded gravely and disappeared with a pop.
Mrs. Weasley turned to everyone else. “The rest of us will have to stay with those who can’t apparate “ except you Katie, perhaps you should go...”
Katie was seventeen and old enough to apparate “ but clearly the fact that she was still in school caused Mrs. Weasley to worry more about her safety.
Katie however shook her head.
“No, I’m staying.”
“Katie...” Harry said. “You should go.”
“Harry “ I’m not leaving you...the same way you wouldn’t leave me.”
Harry knew there was no pressing the issue. Mrs. Weasley must have gotten the same impression.
“All right then, let’s go, we have to get as far away as possible “ just in case Charlie can’t find anyone to come before they wake up” she said.
The twelve of them, including a recovering Mr. Weasley, ran hurriedly from the Burrow and over the hill. They kept going, headed towards the faint glow of the nearby town. They were traveling through some kind of forest, and they had only the light of their wands to see where they were going. After about a half-an-hour Charlie apparated nearby. He spun around, and upon spotting them, ran towards them “ almost out of breath.
“There are Aurors at the house “ they’ve managed to get seven of the Death Eaters, but Malfoy was already gone when we arrived. He must have woken up before the others. We think he ran for it “ probably back to You-Know-Who.”
There was a collective sigh of relief “ they sat down for a break, sweaty and exhausted from the running.
“Can’t hang around too long...it’s probably safest to get back to the house,” said Bill.
“You’re right “ you never know who could be prowling around these parts,” said a maliciously cold, drawling voice from the darkness.
Everyone froze “ it was Lucius. They all looked around, wondering where he had spoken from. Then, suddenly, Harry made a gasping noise as he felt fingers wrap tightly around his neck “ lifting him from his seat on the hard ground.
“You think you’re all very clever,” he snarled, stepping into their vision “ one hand enclosed on Harry’s throat, the other holding his wand. “You really thought I would let you get away with it.”
Everyone had armed themselves with their wands again, pointing them at Lucius “ but they knew there wasn’t much they could do, since they’d probably hit Harry instead, making it easier for Lucius to take him.
“Let him go,” Mr. Weasley said. He was walking towards Lucius, his wand still steady in his hand “ he was staggering slightly, due to the fact that he was still recovering from the Cruciatus Curse.
“Haven’t had enough yet, Weasley?” asked Lucius bitterly. “You always were a pathetic fool.”
“LET HIM GO!”
“Or what “ you’ll stun me?”
“Stupefy!” yelled Mr. Weasley. He missed “ he had been trying to avoid hitting Harry.
“I’ve had enough of this,” said Lucius coldly. He threw Harry to the side, and walked threateningly towards Mr. Weasley. “You’re days of meddling in my affairs are over, Weasley.”
Harry looked up from the ground where Lucius had thrown him. He could see Mr. Weasley and Lucius standing face to face right in front of him, and off to the side were the Weasleys, Hermione, Katie, and Dean “ all petrified with fear. There was a moment of silence, the air filled with impending doom. The darkness around them was almost suffocating “ and that was when it happened. It only took an instant “ but it seemed like an eternity. Harry watched as Lucius pointed his wand at Mr. Weasley; he heard the words, he heard the screams from Mrs. Weasley and Ginny. A streak of green light flashed through the air, illuminating the silhouettes of the trees surrounding them. And then, with a thud that Harry felt echo loudly inside of him, Arthur Weasley dropped to the ground “ dead.