Harry Potter and the Shadows of the Watchgate

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-*~| CHAPTER 16 - Trouble at Quarters |~*-
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They were on the Hogwarts Express heading back to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, where they were going to be picked up by Tonks and Lupin.

Harry was sitting near the window, lost in his own whirlwind of thoughts which were hammering each other inside his head. He had a pained expression like a teenager whose wisdom teeth came out early.

Harry hadn't told his friends about what happened in the Room of Requirement and they hadn't been too eager to ask either. An unseeingly coldness came between them from nowhere, as he kept on observing Ron and Hermione staring at him questioningly when he wasn't looking at them. Just a little unconscious glance which told him all, and Ginny, still didn't know anything about his shenanigans.

He felt guilty, he felt torn and bewildered on his own behavior. It was not like him at all... how could he have...?!

Cho had almost thrown herself at him and at first he was too shocked to even flinch but inside his mind something pounded his senses that made him extricate himself from Cho's grasp in a hurry. One part of him wanted to continue, while the resolute part of him wanted to run away.

Without saying anything, he had left Cho in the Room of Requirement and almost bolted straight to the dormitory.

He was too ashamed of himself to talk about it with his friends and every time he looked at Ginny or whenever she smiled at him, everything just shriveled up inside him in shame. It was like a secret talisman that he was hiding within, not strengthening him, but not leaving him alone either.

Crookshanks came over to him purring softly and folded himself in his lap. Harry was relieved by the distraction supplied by the ginger furry ball of a cat.

Luna entered the compartment and glared at Harry. "Are you feeling all right?" she asked, accusation trickling down her every word.

Harry gave a start. "Er... yeah."

"Is everything all right, Luna?" asked Ginny concernedly.

Harry knew that Luna somehow knew about whatever had happened and pleaded with his eyes, not to discuss it any further.

"Uh... yes. Harry just looked a little pale to me," Luna said evenly and went out of the compartment, slamming the door on its hinges.

"What's up with her?" Ron said incredulously, while the others shrugged and Harry thanked Luna's strange behavior, for preventing any further suspicion, pointed towards him.

They all said their good-byes to Hermione and headed for the barrier with a weedy looking witch and Lupin.

They traveled by the Knight Bus to Grimmauld Place. By the time they reached it, everyone was disheveled beyond recognition, due to the continuous displacement of luggage, seat, and guts, caused by the super speed of the bus.

"Bye, 'Arry!" said Stan the bus conductor, while Tonks glared at him vehemently.

Mrs. Weasley was already waiting for them. She grasped Harry in the entrance as soon as he stepped inside, giving him a super suffocating hug.

"Harry dear! I was so worried! You are all right, aren't you?" she said, surveying him closely.

"Yes, yes, Mrs. Weasley, I'm fine."

"Oh that dreadful Gateway! And those Death Eaters," she continued clenching him more. Harry looked at Ron pleadingly for a rescue.

"Mum!" Ginny came in between and hugged her mother, saving Harry from a big tirade, much to Harry's dismay.

It was just a small gesture of camaraderie but Harry wanted to kick himself. A feeling of guilt swept over him and he couldn't narrow down the reason as he fleetingly gazed into Ginny's sparkling brown eyes.

-*-

Christmas decorations at the Grimmauld Place were subdued and Harry noticed the extra cleanliness of the place, which must have been due to Dobby and Winky.

Try as he might, Harry couldn't ignore Ron's long stares forever and as dreaded, Ron at last cornered him at night after dinner, when they were all set for bed.

"Well?"

"Er... well, what?"

"You know what I am talking about, Harry!"

Harry sighed. "Well, I myself don't know what happened exactly...."

Ron huffed even more. "So, what do you know?"

Harry told him, truthfully what had happened and as he went deep into the incident--from Cho's throwing herself at him to the few seconds of the kiss they shared--Ron's eyes bulged out even more.

The finale 'Ron reaction' was so graphically pertinent that Dobby, who was in the process of entering the room, gave a loud squeak, about-turned and jumped outside, covering his ears with his long spindly fingers.

"Do you reckon she has some ulterior motive?" Ron asked, scratching his head.

"I dunno!" Harry almost whined. "I can't make up my mind, Ron. When I'm not with her, everything is all right and I don't feel anything. But when she comes near me... everything jams up. I can't think straight and just go... nuts!"

Ron surveyed Harry closely but, as people say, when truth is spoken, it speaks louder than words. Ron had to believe his friend for good.

"Tough luck that Hermione is not here or she would have explained the complex mind of girls," Ron said snickering.

"Yeah," Harry replied distractedly.

-*-

The Christmas came with Ron shaking Harry up from a dream of the same white shimmering light. Harry had the distinct impression that he recognized the voice but still couldn't figure out who it actually belonged to.

After freshening up, he at first went to see Buckbeak, who was looking more down than ever--his fur was shedding and he looked sick.

He can't be cooped up here forever; he needs to go out... I guess, he needs his wild life back, Harry thought.

A memory flickered past by ... God rest ye merry Hippogriffs...

He signed heavily. He suddenly didn't feel hungry anymore, the sinking feeling was back again, but before it could take over, he sprang up suddenly and giving Buckbeak a last pat on its beak, he headed towards the kitchen.

Almost everyone was congregated there and were busy opening their respective gifts. For Harry there was the usual jumper from Mrs. Weasley, a new Dark Arts book from Hermione, trendy dress robes from Lupin and an assortment of the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes and Honeydukes Chocolates from Ron and the Weasley brothers.

Dobby had again done the trick of 'HAVE A VERY HARRY CHRISTMAS' and nobody had corrected it, much to Harry's chagrin. Tonks followed his stare and gave him a meaningful wink.

Ron was busy gossiping with the twins. Ginny was helping her mother and Lupin was talking in turns with Tonks of clearing off all the strewn wrappings from the table.

Harry was still not meeting Ginny's eyes for some reason and it was evident from her posture that she also understood that something was amiss, because she had wished him Merry Christmas very curtly.

Did Luna tell her, whatever she knew?

George offered a pasty to Tonks audibly.

"Oh thanks, George," she said earnestly, not getting the joke.

Within a second Tonks turned into a toad. Everybody burst out laughing seeing the brownish toad with a pinkish top croak balefully at them.

Within seconds she turned back to herself and joined the laughter, and said very touchingly, "You could have just said so, George, I could have easily morphed into a stinking toad!"

Harry was laughing at the right time and saying, "Yeah," with the others but actually he was in deep thought, above all the vibrancy. What did that voice meant? What was it chanting--

There was a sudden silence as the fireplace glowed green and rose high. Kingsley Shacklebolt stepped out of the fire in a hurry.

"Sorry for crashing the party, everyone, but there is an emergency and no time to waste. There has been an attack by the Death Eaters at Privet Drive."

"WHAT?" was the general response.

"At my aunt's place?" Harry asked unbelievingly.

"Yes, so no time to waste. Tonks, Lupin let's go, shall we?"

Lupin and Tonks sprang up and headed for the fireplace when Harry bellowed, "Now wait just one minute. Why am I not going? It's supposed to be my aun-... uh... summer lodging place... er... I have to go too," Harry finished unsure of his sudden burst of emotions.

Lupin eyed him closely, while Ron piped up, "If he's going, then we are going too."

"Yeah! We rescued him twice from that dreary place already. We know it like the back of our hands," Fred said excitedly. George nodded in agreement.

"Moody wouldn't approve, boys," Kingsley said indignantly.

"I guess we can take them, Kingsley. They are getting their training after all and they'll have a firsthand practice."

"Nobody's going anywhere! Are you out of your mind, Remus? Taking children to a Death Eater party! No, no! I will not allow it," Mrs. Weasley yelled over the babble, getting redder with each uttered word.

"Molly, you know as well as I do how important it is to face your enemy? We cannot protect them all the time," Remus said gravely.

"Oh c'mon, Mum! We are not kids and it's Harry's aunt after all," Ron provided.

"Harry, I'm not your guardian but I can't let you go and stick your neck out for the Death Eaters to ... to-"

"Cut it off?" Harry said candidly causing Mrs. Weasley's lips to tremble. "Mrs. Wealey, please, I need to do this. Nobody can protect me from anything. Whatever will happen will come about and nobody can help it... if I could do anything to repay their debt on me... it would make things much easier," Harry finished pleadingly, trying to rationalize.

"Oh well... if you really want to go, then go, but you've got to stay out of trouble, not go looking for it," Mrs. Weasley said in hawkish manner, while Ron and the twins whooped with joy.

Before anyone of them could use the Floo powder, they were all hugged by Mrs. Weasley. "Be careful," she said giving a dry sob.

"Oh c'mon, Mum, we are not going on a war. We'll be back before you know it."

However, Harry did notice that her eyes were all misty and Ginny was patting her shoulder for comfort.

Ginny was not looking at him... Why did that bother him so?

"We can't go through their fireplace because it is blocked. So, why are we using the Floo powder?" Harry asked incredulously.

"We are going to Figg's. The address is number nine, Wisteria Walk."

Kingsley went first, Tonks followed and Ron and the twins queued after her. Harry glanced back and stared in wonder at the flicker of concern on Ginny's face. Her eyes glowed with apprehension in the reflection of the blazing fire. The contact, which was broken when Lupin nudging him forward, could have spoken louder than words, but as he glanced back again, her eyes were lowered and her face was set. But still, Harry felt a warm glow of determination surround him.

With that last glance, he said, "Number nine, Wisteria Walk," clearly and entered the fireplace.

He could never get over the super fast spinning of traveling by Floo Network. It felt like he was being sucked by a giant vacuum to nothingness. He closed his eyes tight from the overflowing soot and tucked his elbows in, against the numerous fireplaces' walls. And as he thought, he couldn't take it any longer, he fell face first into a moldy carpet, strongly smelling of cabbage.

"Hello, Harry," Mrs. Figg's anxious voice sounded.

He couldn't clearly see her because of all the soot on his glasses. But he sure recognized the furry feline doing rounds near his right leg--Mr. Tibbles was busy rubbing his neck on Harry's ankle.

"Hullo, Mrs. Figg," he replied, steadying himself.

While polishing his glasses, he took in the pacing figure of Mrs. Figg who was flapping about in her tartan slippers, wearing curlers minus the hairnet. Moody was poring over an old parchment and the pink cheeked witch he remembered from the advance guard as Hestia Jones, Kingsley, the Weasley trio and Tonks were all peering at the parchment in turns.

The flames grew higher as Lupin came out of the fire coughing. "Never get used to those."

Before anyone could say anything polite in return, Moody gave quite an audible growl noticing Harry. "What are you doing here, boy?"

"Er... I thought I'll be of some help."

And before Moody could retort any further, Lupin interrupted, "He is here now, Moody, and it's a high time that he makes his own decisions because usually we are the ones who make them for him."

Moody's both eyes fixed on Lupin for a second, as if assessing him, but almost immediately, the magical one started spinning its usual whirr and he waved his hand in a disgruntled sort of way.

"Now that everything's clear, what are we waiting for? Let's get into action," Kingsley announced.

After hearing the plan and seeing the magically enhanced planning chart, many gasps were stifled with artificial coughs.

"Oh my word... Abby was right! Never open a can full of Flobberworms," Mrs. Figg said nervously, while Hestia Jones giggled, not because of Mrs. Figg's comment but by the unusual attention showered by Mr. Tibbles, who was meowing to her non-stop.

-*-

When Harry reached Privet Drive, he had to re-adjust to believe that he was indeed standing on the same Privet Drive road, which had seen more action in the dark of nights, since Harry came to live there, compared to the rest of the years of its existence.

He had almost forgotten how Privet Drive looked in Winter, because he hadn't spent one since he was accepted in Hogwarts. Almost everything was covered by snow, from the rooftops to cars, from the once immaculate lawns to the bird baths. The calm Privet Drive was calmer than usual, almost eerily serene.

A white cat, almost the color of snow streaked past him. If it hadn't been for its unusually bright emerald eyes, Harry wouldn't have noticed it at all. A teenage girl with pink streaked black hair was rounding the corner of Privet Drive. From her overlarge leather jacket to the punky get up, it looked like she was heading to or coming from a rock concert.

Ron was standing beside him near the number four crossing, counting down the time in faint whispers: four ... three ... two ... one.

In a succession of seconds, many things happened at once.

CRACK

WHAM

CRACK

BOOM

CRAAASH!

Lupin and Kingsley had tried to Apparate near the gate of number four. The snow-white cat had tried to get near the house as well, but an invisible force had propelled all of them away from the house.

At the same time, an invisible pulse went through the area surrounding number four, like a booming earthquake, shaking them all and spreading a small avalanche of snow all over. Without even missing a beat, Lupin and Kingsley Apparated from the doorway again.

"Where do you reckon, they went?" Ron asked in a whisper.

"I think, they were successful in Apparating inside the house," Harry answered with a hunch.

He and Ron were the only one who couldn't Apparate, therefore they were left to cover the Privet Drive distance on foot. They both were nearing the main entrance of number four and there was no glitch in the plan, until almost ten Death Eaters materialized beside them, with the sound of the usual cracks.

Harry was getting used to many Death Eaters popping all over the place. Therefore, in a mechanical way he started dueling along with Ron, whose face was scrunched up in determination.

"Impedimenta!"

"Stupefy!"

"Obscurio!"

"Tarantallegra!"

If it weren't for the ambiguous situation, they would have laughed on the Death Eater for doing the dance.

They were soon joined by Moody and Kingsley, much to their relief. Harry noticed little bangs going off inside the house, but couldn't get a clear view. Moody shoved Harry and Ron in the house. "Better inside than outside," he growled.

Harry had the distinct impression that he was entering some other house, because of all the clutter and strewn furniture. All the un-natural squeaky cleanliness was gone; instead, the house was turned into a slob's perfect domain.

Hestia Jones was dueling two Death Eaters in the main corridor, Ron jumped in and Harry was about to do the same when he was distracted by a screaming Death Eater, who pranced in the corridor, clutching his face, which was filled with ugly boils. In a matter of seconds, another Death Eater whose head was missing, walked past blindly, followed by a fat ferret, but the most funniest was a rubber duck, which was squawking hopelessly with its plastic mouth and was almost stamped by the next Death Eater.

George's grinning face appeared at the end of the corridor, calling after the running Death Eater, whose backside was smoldering brightly.

"Hey you! Where are you running to? Don't you know your tail's on fire?!"

Ron and Hestia had stunned the two Death Eaters, and Harry had the clear way to reach the living room for any sign of the Dursleys. The scene that he saw could only be classified as being pathetic.

Vernon Dursley, the man who's never unhinged by anything (that is what he liked to suppose), was sprawled in a corner, out cold. Petunia Dursley, Miss High and Mighty, was crying over Vernon, clutching Duddly, Mister Muscleman Big D, who was whimpering like an injured whale.

His aunt gave a blood curdling shriek seeing Harry, which brought many Death Eaters' attention towards the living room.

Before he could react, he was hit by a spell which smashed him to the nearest wall. For a second, he totally blacked out, but as he opened his eyes, he came face to face with Lucius Malfoy, whose mask was askew and his wand was pointed threateningly at Harry.

"The game is over, Potter," he leered at him.

"No, it's not!" he said incredulously, but was soon compelled to gulp down all the choice words that were coming to his mind.

He was aghast to see his friends, being steered into the living room by a number of Death Eaters. They were all bound by ropes, one way or the other and there was no sign of Moody, Lupin, Kingsley, Tonks or Hestia for that matter.

~*~