Chapter 8 “ Finishing Touches
Ron stared at Harry with a look of absolute disbelief. They had been walking down one of the streets in Hermione’s neighbourhood for approximately a half hour. During that time Harry had been trying to fill his best friend in on Draco’s visit and the conversations he had been a witness to.
“Blimey, Harry. Malfoy told you ALL of that? No truth serum? I dunno, mate. It seems to me like he was a little too willing to share.” Ron stopped walking and looked at Harry with a look of utter disbelief.
Harry understood Ron’s frustration and was trying to be patient with him, but he was also exhausted after the night they had been through. He was beginning to get short tempered.
“Honestly, Ron. Do I need to owl Dumbledore to explain? Do you see now why you were kept in the dark? We were worried “ and rightfully so, I might add “ that you wouldn’t give him a chance. We’ve been living peacefully for weeks together. You’re just going to have to trust me. He’s not in this for the wrong reasons.”
Ron sighed. He had no other choice. Every question asked, every issue resolved with plausible explanations for each.
“Okay, Harry. I believe you; just don’t expect me to greet him with a hug or anything. This will take me some time.”
Harry nodded, “That’s fair enough.”
They continued their walk back to their best friend’s house. The street lamps gave off enough light to allow them a decent view in every direction. There were trees lined up down the middle of the street they were exiting which gave it a small town feeling.
Ron suddenly stepped on to the curb in front of Harry and held his wand out in front of him. Before Harry could react, the Knight Bus appeared, once again. The doors opened revealing a slightly confused Stan Shunpike.
“What are you doing Ron? Are you leaving? You don’t have to go!”
Ron smirked. “Don’t be daft. Care to join me in retrieving the Grangers from the Weasley clutches?”
Harry shook his head at the thought. “Oh, no ” picture your dad asking them question after question about life as a Muggle. We need to hurry.” He laughed and cringed at the same time as he imagined poor Mr. Granger trying to appease Arthur Weasley’s endless line of questions.
Nodding, Ron added, “I hope he hasn’t started on the subject of spark plugs…”
They stepped onto the platform of the Knight Bus. Stan looked forward.
Ron pointed ahead of them, holding tightly to the strap dangling in front of him. “One more time to the Burrow!”
Draco and Hermione were asleep on individual recliners when Ron and Harry returned. They had apparently fallen asleep watching the television because it continued to play in the background. Hermione was curled in a small ball and Draco was lying on his back reclined with his mouth open slightly.
Mr. and Mrs. Granger had a green hue to them as they walked in the door “ most likely the after effects of riding on the Knight Bus twice in one night. They looked around the front of the house in a daze.
Arthur Weasley joined them to assist in a small matter and whispered to Harry, “Do me a favour and divert their attention away from me.”
Harry nodded although he did not know why he was about to comply. He looked over to the Grangers and began asking them about an antique looking item on the mantelpiece.
When Hermione’s parents turned around, Arthur sprang into action.
“Obliviate!”
Mr. and Mrs. Granger looked at Harry and Ron after the memory moderation spell had been cast. The red-headed boy got a look of surprise from them.
“Ron, what a pleasant surprise!” Mrs. Granger gave him a quick hug, still obviously displaced. “ It is a bit late for a visit but I suppose you could share Harry’s room. Harry, you know where the inflatable mattress is, right dear?”
Harry mumbled in the affirmative, still amused at what a good job Arthur had done with the spell.
Her husband nodded, rubbing his eyes. “Yes. Why do I get the feeling that it has been a long night? I feel as if I have been running a marathon!”
Coming out of his daze, Harry placed his hand on Mr. Granger’s shoulder and led them down the hall towards the bedroom they shared. “You two sleep well. I’ve got everything covered out here.”
As they walked to their room looking slightly displaced, Arthur walked out of his hiding place. He looked slightly apologetic for what he had just done to the two Muggles.
“They won’t recall anything about their trip to our house,” he told Harry who had returned from escorting the two back to their bedroom. “They’ll think they took a nice long walk together. I hate to run but I didn’t really explain much to Molly when I left.”
He motioned to the sleeping teenagers. “I have to admit, I never thought I would see the day. I’m glad to see everything working out, Harry.”
With a Pop! he was gone.
Ron looked over at the sleeping forms of his friend and the Slytherin next to her. Despite what had been explained to him, he was still a little uneasy at the site in front of him. He looked over to his best friend for some guidance. “So do we leave them here?”
Harry nodded his head. “I am not lifting another finger. Come help me get your bed together. You’ll love it “ it’s full of air.”
That got his friend’s attention. “Seriously? Wow. I have to see this!”
Twenty minutes later, the house was completely dark with its occupants asleep.
Harry awoke to the sound of his bedroom door opening. At first he thought Ron went to satisfy his never ending need for food. He looked up and instead found a blonde wizard on his bed, or at least that’s what he thought he was looking at. He was too tired to put his glasses on to affirm his suspicion.
“Yes, Malfoy?”
“’Bout time, you lazy bum. We need to talk.” Harry felt the bed repress slightly as Draco whispered loud enough for him to hear.
Harry groaned. “Are you serious? Now? Ron kept me up all night with his snoring.” He pointed to his friend sleeping soundly on the floor.
Draco ignored him and proceeded with his line of thought, “Last night made me realize that Hermione’s parents are really no longer safe here.”
Sitting up, Harry gave a slight nod, “I agree, but what do you suggest we do about that? I assume you have some sort of brilliant plan or you wouldn’t have dared to wake me up this early on a Sunday.”
“Well, I might, but I feel odd talking about it or bringing it up. This was a lot less awkward when it was just a thought in my head.”
Harry put his glasses on. “Go on, spill it.”
“Godric’s Hollow.”
Harry flinched briefly but nodded. “It makes sense, but it’s a known residence of my family’s, and from what Lupin tells me, Voldemort sends his people out there fairly frequently. Is that how you knew about it?”
“Yeah,” Draco mumbled.
Watching the look of disappointment on Draco’s face, Harry found the need to elaborate on what he had just said.
“It was an excellent idea, Malfoy. I wish it was that easy to solve this problem but we’ll just have to brainstorm with the others and try to find something else that might work. Thanks, though, for telling me your idea. I’m glad that you are willing to help and happy to see you take the initiative of stepping up and introducing an idea. Hermione will be pleased and you may score some points with Ron.”
They both shook their head, smiling. Draco got up and as he closed the door to the bedroom, he looked down at Ron and whispered, “One step at a time, Potter. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
The four teens sat in the kitchen trying to think of a way that they could convince Mr. and Mrs. Granger to leave their home and find a safe hideout until the danger has passed. As they sat talking amongst themselves, they heard a familiar tapping on the window.
They all snapped out of their conversation and waited as Hermione made her way to the window to retrieve the letter.
Ron groaned, “Probably an alert from the Ministry about an upcoming Death Eater attack on the house to rub in the fact that we are running out of time.”
Hermione bit her lip as she opened the envelope. Her facial features eased up tremendously.
“Oh, this is brilliant! Of course, I should have thought of it myself, it’s so obvious!”
She had everyone’s attention. Draco pushed through the crowd.
“Well, what does it say? It better contain good news…”
She smiled. “Dumbledore has, once again, come through for us. Listen to this:
Miss Granger and Friends:
It has come to my attention that there was an attempted Death Eater attack at your house. Thankfully your parents were not in the house and you had the support of each other. (I also hope everything came out fine with Mr. Weasley.) Please give the following letter to your parents as I believe we can lead them to a safe destination and keep it pleasant as well. Keep your heads up and your ears open.
A. Dumbledore
Draco bit into an apple as Hermione proceeded to read the attached letter to her friends. Draco looked intrigued after hearing what the headmaster had planned.
“Hmm… a vacation to the tropics? Original, I’ll give him that.” He turned to look at Hermione. “Do you think they’ll do it “ just pack up and go?”
Harry shrugged. “The way Dumbledore wrote it, he made clear the danger of staying here and offered them an alternative which would be pleasant and maybe give them some much needed time alone. They can think of it like a second honeymoon.”
Hermione cleared her throat. “Third.”
Harry slowly turned towards his best friend. “S’cuse me?”
Hermione gave him a casual grin and reiterated what she had said.
“They took a second honeymoon the year I started at Hogwarts. I still don’t know where they went.” She diverted her eyes in irritation. Ron laughed when he came into her line of sight and she blushed. Ron watched her for a lingering moment and reached into the fruit bowl, finding a banana.
Harry sighed. “Fine, a third honeymoon. The point is, it’s not written to look like they are being disposed of and it’s a pleasant trip to a nice place. Heck, I would go in their place if it weren’t for this bloody war!”
Draco looked over Harry’s shoulder at the letter, it’s edges curling slightly in the boy’s hands. “So now we wait?”
Harry sighed. “Now we wait.”
Safe Haven by NikkiSue
Chapter Notes: I looked at my story here that I had typed so far and then cringed when I saw the *two notebooks* which still need to be typed out and thought to myself, "I think this could become the world's longest fanfic!" Many thanks to the greatest long term beta in the known free world, RitaWriter. (Eliza you are very much appreciated.)