Harry Potter and the Luminus Draconis

Chapter 3 - The Burrow

Harry stumbled slightly, as he landed after the Portkey journey. He stood in a wide, green field, with small yellow flowers in bloom. In the distance, there were rolling hills and trees, but only grass surrounded Harry where he stood.

"Hello Harry," said a voice behind Harry.

Harry spun around, reaching for his wand, until he saw the man standing in front of him.

"Professor Dumbledore," Harry smiled, knowing that whatever happened, for now he was safe with this powerful wizard.

Albus Dumbledore smiled, a sparkle in his eye. "You've lead everyone a merry chase these last few hours, Harry. Sirius was almost frantic in his need to find you."

"Well, he did find me, and just in time too," Harry quickly related the story of the mysterious package, the attack in his bedroom, his escape and the very strange incident on the road.

As Harry spoke about the strange doorway of fire, Professor Dumbledore looked almost ... surprised.

"Well, an action packed few hours. I suppose we had better arrange some alternative accommodation for you until the end of the holidays. No doubt you would like to spend some time with Mr Weasley and his family?"

"YES PLEASE!" Harry grinned, knowing that even though he'd been through a lot in the past twelve hours, he'd at least get to spend the rest of the holidays away from the Dursleys.

"Professor Dumbledore, what happened with the attack? Are Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia ... are they alright?" Harry felt a shiver of fear run through him. Even though he hated them, he couldn't wish them dead or anything to have happened to them, just because he had lived with them. "And what about Hermione? Did you get my message? I think ...." Harry felt his eyes start to water, and quickly stopped talking, concentrating with all his might on not showing anything except for a calm face to this man he respected so much.

Professor Dumbledore's face sagged, and he looked infinitely older than he had a moment ago. The sparkle in his eyes gone, he looked Harry in the eye. "Harry, your Uncle, Aunt and cousin are all missing. I'm sorry, but we don't know where they've gone. We got there as quickly as we could, but all we found was an empty house and our primary goal was to find you."

Harry felt his stomach fall. Again, more people he knew hurt or missing because of him. How far would the dark forces go to capture him, to hurt him? Would this be the fate of anyone who had dealings with Harry Potter? To simply disappear in the middle of the night?

"And Hermione?" Harry steeled himself for more bad news, though he knew that if anything had happened to her, his entire world would be gone. One of his best friends and just knowing him could get her killed.

"We don't know any details except what you've told me, Harry. I've sent someone to Bulgeria to find out more details, but I wouldn't think anything of it until we know for certain. I would suspect that it was just a ploy to distract you so that your attacker could finish whatever mission they had as quickly as possible. As it was, it certainly distracted you and kept you from thinking clearly enough to capture whoever it was."

Harry felt his heart plummet. Who knew if Hermione was ok? He couldn't think about the alternatives, but he hoped she was ok, and Professor Dumbledore was right.

"But Sir, how could they get to her? Or get to me? What about the protections that were around the Dursley's? And what was that doorway of fire? I've never seen anything like that?" Questions seemed to flow out of Harry, anything to stop him thinking about what could have happened to Hermione and his relatives.

"Harry, Harry, slow down. I don't know the answers to all of those questions. In fact, I don't know the answers to any of those questions. I've never heard of anything like that spell either, and that is a worrying thing." Dumbledore's eyes narrowed in frustration, or was it anger. "We will find out in time, I know, but for now, I should get you to the Weasley's and arrange for more protection to be set up around their house. We need to keep you safe until we find out what all of this is about."

Harry could feel the excitement about spending the rest of the holidays with the Weasley's still in him, except he still felt guilty about the Dursley's, and very, very worried about Hermione. What had happened to Hermione?

"On to happier things, though, Harry. I know your birthday is coming up, and I have a special present for you this year," Professor Dumbledore smiled as he withdrew a small package from somewhere deep within his robes.

Harry took the neatly wrapped present, and started to untie the bow.

Before Harry could finish unwrapping the present, Dumbledores voice interrupted him.

"Now Harry, I want to speak to you about your parents." Harry's hands froze, holding the bow and present, as he looked up at Dumbledore.

"My .. parents?"

"Harry, I knew your parents very well. I was headmaster of Hogwarts when they were students, and I worked with them as head Boy and Girl, and after they had finished school as well. I knew them well, and I feel that it is partly my fault for everything that has happened to them and you. I approved of the switch from Sirius to Peter, and I wasn't fast enough, or influential enough, to save Sirius from Azkaban."

Harry looked at the present in his hands, covered in wrapping paper with moving stars and moons set against a dark blue backdrop.

"Has anyone told you what your parents did, once they left school?"

Harry shook his head, stunned that finally someone was willing to talk about his parents. Whenever Harry had asked Sirius, he was unable to answer. Sirius was still very conflicted by his 'betrayal' of Lily and James by asking them to use Peter Pettigrew to be their Secret Keeper. Peter, who was also known as Wormtail, had been one of Voldemorts spies, and Sirius felt as if he had betrayed Lily and James.

"Harry, your parents worked in the Law Enforcement department of the Ministry of Magic. Even I am not sure what they worked on, or what they did, but I know that this is partly the reason why Voldemort targeted them. Nonetheless, I have quite a few memories of both James and Lily and I will be placing some of them in my pensieve for you to view when school goes back. For now, I hope you like my present."

Harry came back to reality and opened the present he had been holding. Inside were two books.

"Harry, James and Lily asked me to give these to you if anything happened to them. They wanted you to have something that told you a little bit about what kind of people they were."

The first book that Harry held was a large notebook made of leather, with a gold embossed "Fifth Year Potions" written in the middle of the cover. Harry carefully opened it and in the front cover was the owners' name. Lily Evans. As Harry closed the notebook, he noticed the faint scorch marks over the lower half of the book.

The second book was bound with a faintly shimmery material, and had little stick figure pictures of Quidditch formations and players all over the front. Upon opening it, Harry read his fathers name in the cover. James Potter. Flicking through the book, Harry saw a number of formations and Quidditch strategies, all moving and showing how to be performed for maximum proficiency. It was James Potters Quidditch playbook.

Harry looked up at Professor Dumbledore. "Thank you, Sir. This is the best present ..."

Professor Dumbledore smiled, the twinkle in his eye brighter than Harry had ever seen it.

"Harry, I'm glad you like them. I know your parents would be proud of you, and I know they wanted you to have these. But it's time for you to go now, where we know it's safe."

Dumbledore placed his hand on Harry's shoulder, and with a small 'pop', they were gone.

High above the meadow, a large red dragon drifted on thermal currents. It continued to fix its glowing red eyes firmly on the spot where the two 'hu-mans' had been. Intelligence, and the ability for speech, was only something that had recently come to this dragon, but it knew what it had been commanded to do.

With a loud roar of anger, it flapped off towards the west.

In the blink of an eye, Harry went from seeing a beautiful meadow surrounding him, to being outside the Weasley's house. It was, in Harry's words, the most amazing place he had been. It was a pure wizarding house and was full of all types of devices and magic that muggles could never imagine.

From where Harry stood, outside, near the front door, he could see gnomes running around the front garden and a hag-like face peering through the attic's sole window. A variety of strange noises seemed to be coming from one of the upstairs windows (along with a very smelly purple cloud of smoke) and a hammer was beating nails into shingles far up on the roof.

The Burrow. It was one of the only places, barring Hogwarts, that Harry felt like he was at home in.

Professor Dumbledore strode up to the front door and tapped it with his wand. Inside, a musical tune started playing. Outside, a picture of a face with red hair appeared, mouthing the words, "We'll be right there," which were hastily scribbled next to it.

From inside a loud commotion arose, sounding like a number of feet all rushing towards the door at full speed. The door was pulled open, with Mrs Weasley standing there. Behind her, the rest of the Weasley clan tried to look past her.

"Welcome Professor Dumbledore. And Harry. I'm so glad you're safe."

Mrs Weasley swept Harry into her arms, hugging him tightly. Harry could feel his face getting red as she hugged him tighter and longer than usual. Mrs Weasley always seemed to be able to embarrass Harry, but he didn't really mind it at all. It was nice to have a mother figure be concerned for his safety.

"Come on, Mum, let Harry come in instead of standing on the front step," Harry heard Ron's voice call out to his mother from somewhere near the front door.

Mrs Weasley let go of Harry, and ushered him and Professor Dumbledore into the house. As Harry started towards the door, the people standing inside fell back, allowing him to go in.

Inside, Harry finally got to say hello to the rest of the Weasley clan.

"Hi Harry!" Ron said brightly. Behind him, the twins, Fred and George, gave Harry wide smiles, while their younger sister, Ginny, smiled shyly.

"Ron, can you take Harry up and get him settled in your room? I'm sure he's tired after such a busy start to the day," Mrs Weasley said as she showed Professor Dumbledore into the kitchen. "Professor Dumbledore and I just need to discuss a few things before he leaves."

"Come on, Harry. You know the way." Ron ran up the stairs, leaving Harry to follow him up.

In the kitchen, Molly Weasley and Albus Dumbledore sat down as a pot of tea poured itself into two cups that had magically flown to the table.

"How is he, Albus? Was he hurt or injured? Arthur was very sketchy with the details." Molly hoped her face didn't show how anxious she had been when Arthur had told her that Harry had been attacked and had disappeared. Thankfully he had been found and was going to spend the rest of the holidays with the closest thing he had to a family. In many respects, she thought of Harry as her son, and had always treated him as such.

"Harry is fine, Molly. He's a very strong boy and has gone through much, and will continue to go through these kind of ordeals for a good time to come, I fear."

"I'm worried, Albus. How did someone get to Harry? I thought the Ministry was watching over him, and I know you had wards up as well to ensure that no-one got close to him either. What can we do if someone comes for him here?"

"Molly, Alistair and I will be working on putting wards up around your house here. I'm afraid it will means Percy and Arthur will need to floo to work, as the first wards we're putting up will be the anti-apparition wards. We're going to be putting up a great number of protection spells on the house itself, so it will be able to resist a vast array of destruction spells, assuming that someone will attack the house directly. There will be a team of Auror's watching remotely, ready to dispel the wards and apparate here at the slightest sign of trouble. Finally, well, it's best to keep something in reserve." The twinkle in Dumbledores eyes could in no way be described as friendly. "Also, I believe that Charlie will be coming home soon as he is going to be heading up the search for the Dragons in England." Albus Dumbledore looked around the kitchen, his eyes giving the impression that he was examining everything in sight.

Molly felt herself relax at Albus' words. Albus wasn't considered the greatest living wizard for nothing, and if he felt that Harry would be safe here, then Harry would be safe.

"I will ask, Molly, that you keep a close eye on Harry and Ron. I feel that this may be a very hard year on them both, and I know that Harry, especially, will do more than is asked of him. I want to make sure the rest of his holidays are restful, so that he is prepared for what may come."

Albus stood and put his teacup down. Molly realised she hadn't even noticed him pick it up.

"Molly, one thing Arthur may not have mentioned. Harry's relatives have gone missing as well. While I don't think he'll take this as a devastating blow, I think it would be worthwhile keeping a close eye on his mental state as well as his physical. Let myself or Sirius know if you become worried about him," Albus said as he smiled sadly. "A lot still rests on Harry, whether he knows it or not, and I fear that Voldemort may have some new tricks up his sleeve, now that he has returned. Keep him safe, Molly. And thank you."

With a small 'pop', Albus Dumbledore disappeared from the kitchen.

Once Ron and Harry had gotten upstairs and gone into Ron's room, Ron had gotten some spare clothing that was a little too small for him and given it to Harry.

"Harry, try these. Be better than your pyjamas to walk around in."

Harry blushed as he caught the clothes that Ron tossed at him. Funnily enough he remembered Ginny's shy smile as he'd walked into the house. Had she been laughing at his pyjamas?

"Thanks Ron. I'm glad I'm here, I tell you."

"So what happened? Mum was very vague on the details, and I don't think Dad told her anything anyway. All I know is that you went missing and freaked out the entire Ministry of Magic." Ron shook his head as he walked over to the window. "I don't think I've ever seen Mum so worried before. She really does think of you as part of the family, Harry."

Harry briefly explained to Ron what had happened, about the attack at the Dursley's, the strange man and gateway and the hounds. Finally he showed the two books that Professor Dumbledore had given to him. Whilst these books were something very special and private for Harry, being remnants of his parents, he felt the need to share this with his best friend. He had almost been killed today, and now he felt that he needed to make the most of the time he had left.

"Wow, that's amazing, Harry. And this Quidditch playbook looks awesome. There's moves in here I've never seen or heard of. Your dad must have been an awesome Quidditch strategist."

Harry grinned. Ron never changed. No mater what happened, his priorities remained the same, with Quidditch fimly placed at number one. Ron was excellent in a crisis, but remaining focused outside of one was not one of his strong points.

Ron turned around and passed the books back to Harry. He looked strangely grim, in contrast to his tone mere moments ago.

"Harry, this gateway you described. I've never heard about anything like it. And if Dumbledore is concerned, then I'm worried. Maybe we should write to Hermione and see if she knows what it is. If she doesn't, we both know she'll search through every book and library within range trying to find the answer."

Harry's heart dropped. He'd forgotten to tell Ron about the package and what it could mean.

"Ron, there's something else. Before I was attacked an owl dropped a package off to me. In it ... " Harry could feel tears begin to form in his eyes. " ... in it was a bit of Hermione's hair and a note. Ron, Voldemort has Hermione."

As Harry finished, he felt a tear trickle down his face. He felt the almost overwhelming fear for Hermione threaten to engulf him, but he fought it down. He couldn't loose control, not while Ron was there.

Ron, on the other hand, went completely pale, as if he had just been told his entire family had defected and joined Voldemort in his quest for domination of the magical world. His mouth opened and closed twice, as if he was trying to say something, but nothing came out. He slowly made his way to the bed and flopped onto it, his face a picture of misery.

"Ron, Professor Dumbledore thinks it was just a ruse to catch me off-guard and ensure the attack was a success. I don't think he really believes that Hermione is in any danger. But he's sent someone to check."

Ron closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, Harry was aghast at the depths of pain he could see. Without realising it, Ron had inadvertently exposed his true feelings for Hermione, and Harry could see just how much the possibility of Hermione being hurt could affect Ron.

"Harry. I think I need some time alone at the moment," Ron said in a wheezing, almost choked voice.

Harry nodded and took his clothes to the bathroom to get changed. He felt a glimmer of emotion (was it jealousy) as he thought of Ron and his feelings for Hermione. After a few moments dwelling on these unfamiliar feelings he dismissed them out of his mind. With Hermione missing, this wasn't the time to think about anything other than her safe return.

Once he had finished getting changed, Harry headed downstairs. He didn't have any idea what to do, but maybe giving Mrs Weasley a helping hand in the kitchen would be nice. It was always pleasant to help out in the kitchen in a wizarding house as all the heavy or nasty tasks in the muggle world could be easily done by magic.

Upon reaching the kitchen, Harry found that it was completely spotless and no-one was in sight. The kitchen remained as wonderful as it always was, a virtual paragon of the wizarding house as opposed to the muggle kitchen. Whilst it was small and cramped, it had a homeliness that had always been missing at the Dursley's. Harry felt comfortable there.

Harry looked at a small clock sitting on the counter. A shiny, silvery hand pointed to the heading "Time to Have Lunch". This was one of many times that seemed to be on the clock, including "Time to nap", "Time for breakfast" and, Harry's favourite, "Time for Quidditch". This was obviously a new addition to the house, possibly something Fred and George had bought the family with the money Harry had given them from winning the Tri-Wizard Tournament. A quick glance at the other family clock (with pictures of all the Weasley's on the hands pointing at various places on the clock), showed Ron "At Home", Ginny "At Home", Mr Weasley "At Work" and the others generally "At Home". For some reason, Fred and George's hands were pointing at a setting Harry had never seen before. "Up to Mischief". Ultimately, no-one was around so Harry decided to take a walk outside and see if he could find something to do.

Outside, Harry wandered away from the house. He knew he shouldn't go far, but he just needed some time to think about what had happened and what this could all mean.

After climbing a small hill near the Burrow, Harry sat down and looked out over the green rolling fields. With the sun out, it was pleasently warm, and as Harry stretched and laid back to look at the sky and clouds, he quickly dropped off to sleep.

As Harry slept, he dreamt. In his dream he drifted in a white fog. The world was a distant thing. His worries, hates and cares were things of the past. As he drifted there, peaceful and quiet, he heard a voice. A soft, almost angelic voice, calling his name.

"Harry. I love you, Harry," the voice said in a hesitant manner.

Harry looked for the source of the voice, but he could see nothing. He felt he recognised the voice, but it was so hard to remember anything at all. As he drifted further, he heard the voice again, speaking to him softly, telling him things that slipped away as soon as he heard them.

Slowly, Harry could feel himself beginning to wake up. He desperately wanted to stay with that voice in the soft white fog, but the harder he tried to stay, the further the fog, and voice, drifted away from him.

"Please don't go." Harry said as he felt himself emerge into the world of wakefulness.

Harry sat bolt upright as he woke. Soemthing had wakened him and he felt as if he had lost something precious. Further down the hillside, Harry saw Ginny approaching, concern on her face as if he had screamed or something when he awoke. As Ginny came closer, he tried to remember his dream. He knew he had dreamed of something, but the details slipped away from him, almost like fog in a strong wind.

"Harry, are you alright? You looked like you were completely freaked out when you woke up. I was just coming to get you for dinner," Ginny said as she looked at him with her bright brown eyes.

Harry stared at her, almost as if seeing her for the first time. He felt as if something had changed in him, while he was asleep, and he was seeing everything for the first time. But especially Ginny.

Harry lay on his back, on a small bed in Ron's room. It was late at night, and Harry was listening to the faint snoring that came from Ron's bed. It had been a very long day and Harry was exhausted, but he couldn't fall asleep. His mind replayed the events of the day again and again. The package, the attack, the strange figure and glowing doorway, the hounds and finally getting to the Weasleys.

A thousand questions flowed through his mind, each of them without an answer. Who attacked him? What were those hounds? Why try to kill him now? How did his enemies penetrate the wards and charms protecting him? Where were the Dursleys? And most important, was Hermione alright?

Finally, Harry quietly levered himself out of his bed and tiptoed to the door. Slowly, he opened the door, trying to ensure that the hinges didn't creak and wake Ron. With the door open, he slowly stepped out into the hallway and closed the door.

Harry quietly padded down the hallway and down the stairs, ending up in the lounge room. There, he sat down in a lounge chair and with a flick of his wand and a quietly uttered "incendio" he lit a fire in the fireplace.

With the flames casting shadows around the room, Harry felt almost like he was sitting in the Gryffindor common room.

Harry stared into the fire, repeatedly thinking of the days events. The flicker of flames soon had his eyes flickering closed, and Harry finally drifted off to sleep.

The dreamer drifted in a sea of white fog. Nothing was visible except for whiteness. There was no wind to stir the fog, but the dreamer knew that the winds of change were beginning to blow through the waking world. Conflicts were beginning again and darkness was beginning to shadow the world.

Slowly, the whiteness faded, becoming grey. Soon, the grey turned into black and the dreamer was shrouded in darkness.

A voice was heard. Softly at first, but growing louder. It was a hard, deep voice. It was familiar to the dreamer.

"...so far managed to elude us, however, it is only a matter of time until we hunt the traitor down. Once we capture him, we will demonstrate to your servants the fate of those who betray you."

A second voice, high pitched and cold.

"I'm running out of patience, Lucius. So far he has managed to evade you for weeks, and all you have delivered is promises. See that he is caught before the next full moon, or you shall share his ultimate fate."

"My lord, your will be done."

"Lucius, have your informants been able to tell you what happened in the Chamber of Secrets? We know it was opened 3 years ago, but no details of what occurred has come to light. How did POTTER defeat the Basilisk? He was more formidable than expected in the graveyard, and I wish to know exactly why. No-one with the level of power to defy me should still be at school."

"No, my lord. My informants have very little to report, except for .. after Potter returned from the Chamber of Secrets, I saw Dumbledore with Potter. A sword was also in the same room as them. A silver sword, covered in blood. It was very distinctive, and there was some sort of writing on the blade, though the sword was too far away for me to read it."

"A sword? A silver sword, with rubies embedded in the handle?"

"Yes, my lord."

"The sword of Gryffindor has been drawn then. This may change things slightly. I may need to .. obtain .. Dumbled .."

The voices faded and the darkness gradually faded to white again. The dreamer floated amongst the whiteness for a time, and then finally awoke.

"Wake up, Harry."

Harry slowly opened his eyes as someone continued to shake him. He was still in the lounge room, though now he had company.

Sitting next to him on the arm of his chair was Ginny, in a shabby looking dressing gown, likely to have been a hand-me-down. She gave him a small smile as he slowly sat up.

"What time is it, Ginny?" Harry asked groggily as he struggled to wake up completely.

"It's about two in the morning, Harry. What are you doing down here?"

Harry yawned. "Couldn't sleep. Came down here to think about things, but I guess watching the fire sent me off to sleep."

"You only came down stairs about 20 minutes ago, I heard you leave Ron's room, and when you didn't come back up, I thought I'd see if you were alright," Ginny smiled at Harry warmly, though inside she was frightened for him. She knew some of the terrible things that he had seen. He had fought against the forces of Voldemort for years now, and she wasn't surprised that he couldn't sleep.

Harry stared at the fireplace, feeling slightly uncomfortable. He was very conscious of the closeness of Ginny, perched on the arm of his chair. He had absolutely no idea what to talk to her about, his mind had gone completely blank.

Ginny finally broke the silence.

"Harry, I'm going back up to bed and I think you should do the same. If Fred and George find you asleep down here in the morning, then you're asking to be experimented on for the sake of their joke shop."

Harry gave a laugh and promised he was going to go back to bed.

Ginny spoke softly to him as she stood up. "Harry, there's something else I wanted you to know. If you ever need a friend, someone to talk to, then I'm here for you. Good night, Harry Potter," Ginny said as she quickly leaned in and gave Harry a small peck on the cheek. Blushing red, she quickly hurried upstairs, leaving a confused teenage boy to adjust his glasses and head back upstairs to his bed, a small smile starting to form on his lips.