Chapter 9: Organized Chaos
Approximately an hour and a half later, Hermione’s parents returned home to the faces of four suddenly quiet teenagers.
Her mother, always the astute one, spoke first. “Okay, where is the mess? What’s broken? Who got hurt?”
“Sorry, Mum, you’re not even close. We have good news, though.”
She looked perplexed. Taking his cue, Ron walked up to Mr. and Mrs. Granger. “You got mail while you were gone. It came by owl so we naturally thought they got the name wrong and we opened it. Sorry ” turns out it really was for you guys.”
Hermione’s father took the letter from a grinning Ron who then backed up into the ranks of fellow students along the counter. He cautiously opened it as if it was going to blow up in his hands.
He and his wife read the letter, their eyes widening as they made their way down the parchment. When finished reading, they looked up at the teens.
“Surely this is some sort of a joke?”
“No sir,” the boys answered. They looked at each other and Ron shrugged in agreement.
Hermione added, “It was written by the Headmaster himself.”
“Well, what about the practice? We can’t just close for goodness knows how long, can we?” Mr. Granger was almost incoherent as he spoke his concerns to his wife and anyone else who would listen.
Draco decided to try turning on the Malfoy charm. He stepped in front of Hermione, gently pushing her to the side as he spoke. She stayed close behind him, almost holding on to his black silk shirt.
“Sir, if you don’t mind me saying, from what Hermione has told us, your dentistry is thriving and there are several fully capable employees that can carry it for a while. You really do seem like generous people and should treat yourself to a vacation.”
He smirked as he watched the other three fellow students stare at him with their eyes coming out of their sockets in shock. Ron seemed to be stifling his laughter.
Hastily he added, “Honestly, it takes a true saint to deal with me as it is. Now you have Weasley here as well? Please, go relax for a while! You’ll thank me later.”
Ron stood there, nodding his head smiling, “Yeah, I’ll give him that.”
Mrs. Granger walked away with tears in her eyes and her cellular phone in her hands. Hermione ran up to her in concern. Harry followed, glancing back at Draco with a shocked look mouthing, What did you do?
“Mum, what are you doing?”
“Honey, I am calling the clinic and telling them that we are taking leave for a while. That speech was enough to convince anyone to take a vacation!”
Her father watched his wife leave the room and ran his fingers through his hair. “Well, I suppose that settles it. When do we leave?”
Hermione, Harry, Ron and Draco were back sitting at the kitchen table after bidding farewell to the Grangers. Now that her parents were gone, Hermione had asked what they would be doing next.
“Obviously we’re not safe here.”
Harry nodded, “That’s why we’re not staying.”
They all looked up from their cups of hot chocolate in question. Draco turned to face The-Boy-Who-Always-Seemed-to-Have-a-Plan.
“We’re listening, Potter. Go on…”
Harry stood up to face his friends. “Tonks and Professor Lupin are taking us to headquarters tomorrow.” He let out a breath that he was not aware of holding and looked at those seated around him.
Ron shifted. “So all we have to do now is get through the next twelve to twenty four hours and not get attacked by Death Eaters in the process, right? Yeah, okay. So who’s up for some Exploding Snap?”
Hermione ignored him and stood up next to Harry. “I’ll take first watch.”
“I’ll help you, then,” said another voice from behind her.
She shook her head, “No, Draco. I’ll use Harry’s cloak so I’m not seen. You’re so tall that with two of us under it, someone’s feet or head is bound to show.”
They agreed and then they were off to practice more aggressive duelling. Draco agreed to work with them on what he was taught as an up and coming Death Eater. After a few hours of work they retreated to the house for showers and cleaned up.
If an acquaintance of any of the four saw them make dinner that night, they would be beside themselves in shock:
Ron was cutting up the salad ingredients, albeit slowly since he had to do it the Muggle way.
Draco was in charge of preparing dessert, though he silently cursed when the mixer splattered chocolate on his new silk shirt.
Harry was cooking noodles for their spaghetti. Having lived as a Muggle all of his life, he took random noodles (when Hermione had her back turned, of course) and threw them on the ceiling to test if they were fully cooked.
Of course, in the middle of the mess that was her kitchen, there was Hermione dabbling in each person’s station making corrections and testing foods.
In the end, quite a feast was to be eaten. Manners were used at the table and conversations flowed steadily.
Draco leaned over for a second serving of spaghetti, cringed and looked at the person next to him.
“Merlin, Ron. My stomach still hurts from that disarming spell. I have to say I was impressed.”
Ron shrugged. “Hey, I said ‘please’, mate. You refused to cooperate!”
Harry and Hermione looked at each other, shaking their heads. They never imagined they would see the day there would be any sort of compliments between the two let alone hearing Ron call him, “mate.” War can indeed bring out the best in people.
The time finally came for them to try getting some rest. Hermione thanked Harry for the use of his invisibility cloak and bid the boys a pleasant evening. Little did she know that they were all worried sick about her and had no plans to sleep. As she got comfortable on the sofa, the three boys grabbed their bedding and moved closer to the bedroom door in the room they were sharing.
Hermione would be protected, if not anyone else.
In the early morning hours before the sun was on the horizon, there was a pop! heard, followed by a second one.
Hermione jumped, but she was aware enough to keep herself covered.
A certain blonde Slytherin heard it too. He woke the others, careful not to make a sound.
Hermione tried to keep her breathing steady so not to call attention to herself. She tried to listen for any signs as to where the unwanted visitors were. Something was dropped in the kitchen but she also heard what she knew to be the broken floor board in the entry way as well.
She gulped. Okay, they are both in different parts of the house, she thought.
Harry decided to try taking a peek into the hall. His wand raised, he glanced in both directions and returned to his position next to Ron and Draco. They placed a silencing spell on the door.
“I saw a shadow in the entryway, but weren’t there TWO arrivals?”
The two boys nodded in agreement. Draco whispered, “They must be separated ” smart on their part but scary for four underage wizards…” He held up his finger motioning for silence, “Hold on a minute… Accio Malfoy invisibility cloak!”
Ron shook his head at the blond. “You actually named it?”
Draco smacked him across the head, irritated. “No, you dolt. I didn’t want to accidentally summon Harry’s cloak off of Hermione so I was specific. I wasn’t sure it would even work.”
When he saw him put his cloak on, Harry went to join him.
“No, Harry. You need to stay with Ron.”
Harry’s mouth fell open in shock. “That’s insane, Malfoy! My best friend is in a room with possibly two Death Eaters who will kill her simply because she is not a Pureblood! Ron”” who Harry pointed to for emphasis “”doesn’t need a bloody babysitter either! I’m going.”
Harry stepped forward and Draco put his hand on Harry’s chest to, once again, stop him.
“Potter, think about it. If something happens, YOU know how to get to headquarters or you could at least summon someone with that Patronus that I have heard so much about it could drive me to vomit. If I get hurt and Granger is safe, Weasley can take her to the Burrow. We have to do this as a team or they”” he motioned to the door “”will win this, and I refuse to let him win!”
Draco’s face was red with the concentration of trying to stay calm. Harry sighed and dropped his head, “You’re right.” He looked directly into Malfoy’s eyes. “Be safe.”
Ron added, “Please keep Hermione safe. I... erm, we would be lost without her.”
“I won’t let either of them hurt her, Ron. Remember? I have already given my word.”
With that, Draco took a deep breath, covered himself with the cloak and quietly opened the door revealing an empty hallway.
Lucius silently cursed as he stepped over the bowl he had knocked over when he had arrived in the Granger’s kitchen.
If I was without class, I would simply blow the whole house up and be done with it, he thought. He walked towards the adjoining room which happened to be the living room where Hermione was hiding under the invisibility cloak.
Hermione’s eyes got to be as big as dinner plates when she saw the Death Eater walk into the room. Holding the cloak tightly around her, she wondered if it was the same two Death Eaters as the other night. She wondered also, if they were, which one she was looking at.
Bellatrix Lestrange took in her surroundings. She walked into the house a bit further. Lord Voldemort was not happy due to the recent disappearance of her nephew, Draco. She was about to fulfil her master’s wish of presenting the younger Malfoy with the Dark Mark. They had hopes for the boy, and with the Mark he could be summoned at a moment’s notice. The Dark Lord liked to be in control, and when Draco not only refused his Mark, but was transported away by an unknown Portkey or some sort, he because very angry.
In retaliation, he picked the names of a few families who were not pure blood, but Muggle-born, or “Mudbloods” which literally means “dirty blood”. He disbursed a handful of his Death Eater followers to those homes, ordering the families within to be destroyed, be as messy or as neat as they liked.
The most important name on that list was that of the Grangers. Harry Potter’s friend was a weakness to him and if his Mudblood friend was killed, Harry would become vulnerable and Voldemort himself would most certainly win the war. This particular family would be destroyed by his most trusted followers.
Bellatrix walked into the living room to join Lucius.
“We need to check every room. We will meet out here when finished,” she whispered harshly.
Harry had overheard what Bellatrix had said and tried to formulate a way out. An idea came to him and he raised his wand. Knowing that the silencing charm was activated in the room, he walked to the open window and said, “Expecto Patronum!”
His silvery stag Patronus appeared. He commanded, “Find Dumbledore. Hurry!”
It took off quickly. Ron looked worried.
“So do we just wait here like a pair of sitting ducks?”
Harry shook his head. “No, this is for real. Be ready to strike, but keep it simple. You’d be surprised what a good jelly legs jinx can do!”
Ron nodded, his confidence building, “Yeah, we’ll watch each other’s backs in case they both show up.”
They heard footsteps. The red headed wizard nodded towards his best friend. “Show time.”
Watching the bedroom door, Harry replied confidently.
“Bring it on.”
Safe Haven by NikkiSue
Chapter Notes: I would like to thank my beta Rita Writer for not only pulling me out of the capitalization hell I was in but also for sticking it out through this entire story! The characters are JKR's but the plot is all mine - muHAHAHAHAHAHA.