To Love and Live by LilaBear
Chapter Notes: Sorry these first few chapters are short! They'll get longer as we go along, I promise ;) Please review if you read this- it's my first fan fic so I want to know how it is and how I could improve. Thanks! :)
Harry sighed.
“Great wizard, stones, yard… where else could it be?” he complained.
Ron stretched out and lay on the ground beside him. Colin, who had joined them once he’d managed to extricate himself from his mother’s protective possession in the last week, shrugged.
“I don’t know where else-” suddenly Harry hushed him, and turned to Luna.
“Luna, where’s that mirror? I need to ask Hermione a question.”
Luna rummaged through her backpack, and pulled out the two-way mirror Hermione had given them before they left. Harry grabbed it and tapped his wand to it three times, saying out loud “I need Hermione”. Hermione’s face swam into vision.
“Harry? Harry, are you ok? What happened?”
“It’s ok Hermione. We’re at Malfoy Manor… nobody’s here.”
Hermione’s face fell.
“Nobody?”
“Not a soul. Well, I suspect there’s a poltergeist below the stairwell, but that’s beside the point. Hermione, I need to know if you ever discovered where the graveyard was.”
“Graveyard? Harry, there are heaps of grave yar… oh, Harry, not that graveyard!”
Harry nodded. “I need to know if it’s nearby,” he said.
“Just wait a moment,” she said. “Moody and Shacklebolt told me the name a while ago… I have it here somewhere.”
Her face blurred as she moved to look through her notes. He saw her face pale.
“I have a map in front of me… Harry, if you stand out the front of the Malfoy property and walk west along the road about ten kilometers, you’ll find that same graveyard.” She looked back up into the mirror.
“You don’t think he’s returned to that graveyard, do you, Harry?”
“I don’t know,” Harry muttered. “But it’s going to be something ironic when he finds his downfall in the same place he came back to power.”
Ron, Harry, Luna and Colin exited the house, alerting Tonks, Remus and Moody who were on guard to follow them.
“Wotcher, Harry,” Tonks said. “Where now?”
“The graveyard,” he said, his face set. Moody scowled.
“Wait, Potter,” he growled. “Arthur and George went to get Charlie and Bill from the Ministry… they’re bringing some Felix Felicis.”
Ron grinned as a laugh escaped his lips.
“Felix Felicis, Harry…”
Harry smiled slightly. “I’m not celebrating til I see him dead at my feet, Ron.”
Suddenly a loud CRACK sounded behind them, and they all swiveled around with an almighty “EXPELLIARMUS!” just in time to see Arthur, Charlie and Bill go sprawling backwards, their wands flying out of their hands. George stood there, grinning.
“Wouldn’t you know it, I’m the only one who’s drunk any Felix yet,” he winked.
Moody suppressed a chuckle as he helped Arthur to his feet, followed by Remus and Tonks who hauled Bill and Charlie up. Ron blushed.
“Sorry, Dad… I think it was me who hit you.”
Arthur looked bewildered.
“That was incredible, Ron. Those were amazing reflexes.”
Ron grinned slightly as Bill and Charlie hobbled to join the group.
“Oh, cheer up you two,” George smirked.
“If we didn’t have a war on our hands right now, I’d hex you,” Bill growled.
As Moody and Arthur explained the use of Felix Felicis and handed a vial to each member of the group, Harry brought everyone up to speed on the idea of the graveyard. Charlie looked at Harry, surprised.
“I know where that graveyard is,” he said. “Do you see that bunch of pine trees by that hill?” he pointed. “I suggest we apparate over there… you can see the graveyard from there.”
Moody frowned.
“Can anyone in the graveyard see through those trees?”
Charlie shook his head.
“Absolutely not. There’s a bit of a rise on the other side of the trees, then it dips down to the graveyard behind it.”
“Well then, I suggest we get cracking,” George said with a wicked grin. And he disappeared with a CRACK, leaving behind ten pairs of rolling eyes and many groans.
Colin rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
“Merlin, Harry… there must be at least thirty Death Eaters down there,” he whispered.
Bill raised his eyebrow. “That all?” he muttered.
“At last count there were only twelve free Death Eaters in England,” Colin shot back.
Harry shifted into a more comfortable seating position.
“There are a lot more in Azkaban than the Ministry has announced,” he said. “But there are heaps loose in Europe. Who knows where those guys down there usually live.
“Ever since Dean became in charge of public relations at the Ministry, he’s kept a very close eye on what they release. The idea is that if Voldemort doesn’t know how many Death Eater cells have been shut down around England, he’ll think he has more back up than he actually does… and therefore, be less prepared.” Harry looked at Luna gratefully. “That would have been Luna’s idea.”
“Oh no Harry, not my idea,” she said. “It was Daddy’s.”
George grinned at Harry before turning to look over the rise then down into the graveyard. Evening was approaching rapidly and it was getting harder to keep tabs on all the Death Eaters milling around.
“Why are they there?” Colin hissed.
“It’s like they’re… expecting somebody,” George added.
“Voldemort’s not there yet, is he?” Moody growled. Suddenly Harry felt very, very uneasy.
“I don’t like this,” he said. “I don’t like it at all. We’re far too close to those Death Eaters, and we know Voldemort will be here soon… it’s too easy to be ambushed where we are.”
Ron nodded in agreement.
“We need to move, Harry,” he said under his breath. Harry crawled towards the group, indicating for them to listen.
“I suggest we get away from here to plan. I can’t see these guys disappearing anywhere. Evidently, the final battle will most likely take place here. Apparate to Ottery St Catchpoole, then Hogsmeade, then Grimmauld Place. Hopefully, if anyone’s trying to track us, it will throw them off.”
Remus nodded, then hesitated.
“Grimmauld Place, Harry? Is that wise?”
“We’ll need Hermione and Fred, Remus. We need to go back to Grimmauld Place.”
Ten minutes later a gathering was taking place in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. Tonks, Remus, Moody, Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Colin, Luna, George, Harry and Ron sat around one end of the table, with Molly, Ginny, Hermione, Fred, Shacklebolt and Neville seated at the other end, along with three young Aurors, Marcus Shacklebolt- Kingsley’s nephew- Anthony Goldstein, and Marietta Edgecombe from Hogwarts. Harry, Ron and Colin cringed at the sight of Marietta- they had never fully forgiven her after Harry and Ron’s fifth year- but Hermione had assured them Marietta would be an asset to the team.
“There were at least thirty Death Eaters,” Remus was saying. “Which means Hermione, Fred, Neville and Kingsley most definitely need to join us, and hopefully Marcus, Anthony and Marietta.”
Ginny’s eyes fired up, but she bit her lip. She caught Harry’s eye and sent him a death stare. Harry flinched and turned his attention back to Remus. He knew he was going to get a serve from Ginny the moment this meeting was over.
“We need to go, now,” he said quietly. “The element of surprise is vital.” He paused for a moment before speaking again. “I wish we could get another few teams of Aurors-“
Shacklebolt shook his head.
“I only got Marcus, Anthony and Marietta because I was responsible for their next assignment. Scrimgeour refuses to send more Aurors on what he thinks is a wild goose chase.”
Remus sighed in frustration and dropped his head onto the table, before looking back up. “We need to move.”
Molly’s lower lip quivered, but this one time, she kept her tears in check.
“Go, go,” she whispered. “And share the Felix, you lot. You needn’t share any with George though, he shouldn’t have drunk his already,” she added, shooting a glare at George, who shrugged, holding up a new vial of Felix Felicis. Molly’s eyes widened.
“Where did you…?” George grinned and ducked out of the room, chasing after Fred.
Harry glanced at his friends as they raced to find warm clothes and get ready to leave. He turned to Ginny, who was still sitting at the kitchen table, unmoving.
“Ginny?” he said quietly.
He sat down beside her and placed a hand on hers, only to have her yank it out from under his hand and place it on her lap. Harry’s heart dropped.
“Ginny, I… I know this is hurting you. I know what it’s like, to watch your loved ones go off and not be sure which ones will return-”
“Do you, Harry? Do you? Do you know what it’s like to have your loved ones go off to an uncertain future, headed by the man you thought you loved who refuses to trust you enough to help?” she spat out. Harry flinched.
“I would trust you with my life, Ginny,” he said quietly. “But I wouldn’t trust myself with yours.”
“I don’t NEED you to be trusted with my life!” she hissed. “I’m eighteen Harry, in case you forgot. I’ve had my Apparition licence for a year, I’ve left Hogwarts, I’m grown up! Can’t you see that?”
Her look had almost turned to pleading. Harry placed his head in his hands for a moment, before looking up at Ginny. He couldn’t tell her what was really on his heart It would burden her too much. Hurt her too much if he weren’t to return.
“Ginny…” he paused, and then heard the words tumbling out. “What I see when I look at you is a woman who I can not bear to have taken away from me. I will not put you into the hands of the one who continues to take away all my loved ones- first my parents, then the only real father I ever knew, then Dumbledore- I will not put the next most precious person in my life into his hands. It might sound selfish Ginny, but I would not be able to stand it if I lost that too.”
He looked up into Ginny’s eyes, only to see them filling with tears. Dread washed over Harry.
“Oh Ginny, no, I’m sorry, please don’t, don’t cry, I-” Ginny broke him off with a bear hug.
“Oh Harry, just shut up,” she whispered through her tears. “I didn’t… I didn’t think your heart was involved any more. I just thought you were being another stupid overprotective brother who thought I was still eleven years old and in need of saving from a diary.”
A chuckle rippled through Harry’s body as he wrapped his arms around Ginny and kissed her forehead. The chuckle left as fast as it had come.
“Ginny… I might not be back in the morning,” he whispered. He didn’t want to think of the pain Ginny would have to bear if he didn’t return.
“Well then,” she whispered, “as long as you’re back by dinner I’ll forgive you.”
A smile tugged at Harry’s mouth.
“Please Ginny, just for a second… I need to be serious. I need you to realize I might never come back.”
Ginny’s hands traveled up his back and came to rest behind his neck.
“If you die, Harry… if you die, make this the last thing you think about,” she whispered, and stood up on his tip-toes to plant a gentle kiss on his lips.
Harry tightened his grip around her before pulling back and looking into her eyes. Those eyes… that kiss… that was what he needed. Something to give him perpetual strength to last the battle. Something to fight for.