The Second War

Chapter 5

The Incident at Regent's Park

Harry and Hermione rushed out into the old street. Ginny walked outside and followed them on to the yellowing grass. Ginny was proud of herself, feeling important to finally have been included in a mission without persuasion.

"I wish that we had a guard with us," said Hermione. "Imagine the sort of trouble we could be in if they knew we had left the Headquarters."

"We don't want the Order to know that Ron's left," said Ginny, walking hurriedly in the wrong direction. "It'll just make it worse on his part."

"If they find out that we're gone," said Harry, turning right with Hermione, "we'd be the ones with our heads on a stake."

"Now, now," said Hermione, who caught a glimpse of Ginny hurrying to their side. "No reason to be pessimistic." Harry stopped.

"Right," said Harry, glaring at a signpost. "Grimmauld, it almost makes you think he was meant to die..."

"Don't start believing in death omens, Harry!" said Hermione, pulling him forward. "It means that you've surely lost it."

"Right," said Harry sourly, glancing away hurriedly, only to be blinded momentarily by the late July sun. "Or it could mean that I won't live till sixteen. One day, Hermione. A lot can happen in one day."

"It's nearly one and you're not dead," said Ginny with exasperation. "Just live eleven more hours... Death Eaters wouldn't come out at noon, so you're alright for right now."

Harry glanced back at 12 Grimmauld Place, or where it should've been. From this distance, he couldn't even see the brass knockers in the shape of snakes.

"Come on, cheer up," said Hermione. "We're with you."

"Let's catch the Knight Bus," said Ginny, as she pulled out her wand hand. Harry thought immediately of the comfort he would miss out on if he stepped onto that blasted bus.

"Don't even!" said Harry and Hermione in unison.

"Oh, all right," said Ginny. "Let's just walk then."

"We are walking," said Hermione impatiently. Harry tripped over a piece of something mushy suddenly and he fell face first into the sidewalk. Ginny and Hermione picked him up off the floor and he rested himself against a grimy brick wall, which Harry was sure hadn't been properly sprayed since 1876.

"Are you okay, Harry?" said Hermione. Harry felt his chin on instinct and felt broken skin and blood.

"It's okay," said Harry. "I've had worse, remember?"

"I think you enjoy getting hurt," hypothesized Ginny. "Of course, what's my guess worth?"

"Come on, Ginny," said Harry. "It's just instinct for me to get myself damaged as much as possible, and I'm very sorry if I'm making you concerned."

"I'm not concerned," said Ginny.

"Well, at least you do a better job of hiding it than Ron," said Harry. He glanced at the street sign here.

"Phoenix Road," said Harry. "Peculiar..."

"Maybe they like mythology," said Hermione. A car speeded past them, spraying them in murky sewer water.

"Oh good," said Hermione excitedly, not taking the time to notice the state of her sodden clothing. "This is where the British Library is!"

"So, it only has Muggle books," said Harry, brushing off a piece of what he thought was rotten tuna.

"Puh-lease!" said Hermione, brushing some slimy substance away from her face. "It has a special area underground dedicated to the Dark Arts and the Light Arts, the ancient magic, potions, and there was this Arithmancy book that Professor Vector recommended for studying - in fact, if I were to write an essay on that, I'd probably get extra credit! I just hope Draco hasn't got it, he mentioned having full use of the Underground area of the British Library and he's taking Arithmancy, so he probably did! Drat! Unfortunately, any person could go down there, it is not very hard to find, but they'll take it for something like Wicca or some other Pagan religion. Not very many Muggles or Wiccans are even interested in that stuff."

"We don't have time to look at books right now anyway," said Harry, "but Malfoy is in Arithmancy?"

"Yeah," said Hermione. "Reckoned Trelawney was high on something. Wonder what he would find so interesting about Arithmancy, though; it doesn't make sense."

"Well, you have to anyway," said Ginny, looking down at her soiled shirt, which bore the emblem: No ripcord. "You can't just stay with Potions and all the other normal classes; you have to have some extra classes, like Arithmancy and Muggle Studies."

"What are you taking anyways?" said Harry.

"Arithmancy," said Ginny. "And Ancient Runes; I've always wanted to know how to do stuff like that..."

"I help her with that," said Hermione. "Oh there's Euston Station! Right, now we go down Euston Road and we should be there in no time!"

"Relief!" said Ginny. Harry could sympathize with Ginny at this moment; he was sure his knees would give way before they got all the way down Euston Road.

Harry looked behind him - he had the peculiar feeling someone was watching him. The sudden spell of cars that raced down the street obstructed his view and he could see nothing where he thought the something or someone would be.

"Is there something wrong?" said Hermione.

"No, nothing," said Harry.

Now I know I'm losing my mind, thought Harry.

Harry walked silently while Hermione and Ginny discussed the many joys of finding out one's fate with numbers alone. Personally, Harry could not see how Arithmancy was any better than Divination, but Harry knew that Hermione loved Arithmancy, and he would not dare contradict her.

A few minutes passed until they reached another mass of busy streets. A huge flurry of starved drivers drove past them before they were allowed to cross.

I'm going paranoid, thought Harry as he looked at a car; Harry thought the driver looked an awful lot like Alastor Moody.

"Did that driver look familiar?" said Hermione.

"Of course," said Ginny. "That was a Ministry car. I reckon Moody's doing some watching over you."

"Really?" said Harry, unsurprised. So I'm being tailed by the Order, he thought. Seems simple enough...

"Okay," said Ginny. "So this is Regent's Park?" Harry looked at the park, a semi-square surrounded by streets. "It's not very big, is it?"

"That too," said Hermione, pointing north at a huge expanse of land where boardwalks, lakes and an open-air theatre were nestled comfortably. At the farthest point of Regent's Park, as far north as possible without crossing a single street, was London Zoo.

"Whoa, wicked," said Ginny.

"So where would Ron be?"

"Regent's College is over there," she said, indicating a small building, "so I think he's somewhere close to the lake. Boating is my guess."

"Amazing," said Ginny. "I believe I have a bloody cramp!"

"What, your period?"

Ginny hit Harry hard across the shoulder and he winced in pain.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that," said Harry. "Truly sorry... oww!" Ginny scowled at him and rubbed her fist as if it were a treasured weapon.

"He deserved it," Harry heard Hermione mutter to Ginny. "Inconsiderate git!"

"I'm sorry - is that Ron?" Hermione turned toward the boating lake. A red-haired person, very lanky, was sleeping on a bench facing the lake.

"I think so," said Hermione. "Let's get him and get out of here."

"Why, you worried?"

"Wouldn't you be if you just saw Lucius Malfoy walking out of the loo?" said Ginny rhetorically.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" yelled a familiar voice, a once respectable name in society.

"Duck!" said another voice. Hermione, Ginny and Harry got down. Arthur Weasley got up from the bench, wielding his wand.

A green streak of light passed over them.

"STUPEFY!" yelled Arthur and a narrow beam of red light hit Lucius in the stomach; he doubled over and fell on the grass. From behind the bushes, two more Death Eaters appeared both wielding wands. Both were uncloaked, and Harry recognized the greasy-haired Death Eater, Algernon Rookwood, who had once worked in the Department of Mysteries. The other was Igor Karkaroff, back from the last night.

"CRUCIO!" yelled Karkaroff; Hermione and Harry pushed Ginny out of the way and it hit Arthur. He fell back while screaming and fell into the lake.

A group of Muggles had surrounded them, apparently in awe.

"They think this is some sort of show," said Hermione. "Get out of here! This is dangerous!"

This only seemed to make them even more interested. Crowds gathered among them as Rookwood and Karkaroff exchanged blows with Arthur, drenched heavily in water, his robes weighing heavily on him.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" yelled Karkaroff; Arthur jumped out of the way only to watch a Muggle teenager get hit by the same blast of green light that.

"Damn it!" yelled Arthur. "What the hell are you doing? These are innocent people!" He raised his wand at Igor. There was a loud bang as snake-like cords flew around the Death Eaters. The two were incapacitated for now.

Harry looked at the body of Lucius, who was completely comatose, and the bodies of Karkaroff and Rookwood, bound tightly by the snake-like ropes. He could not help but feel complete loathing of these criminals.

"Well, the Obliviators will be here soon," said Arthur tiredly, turning to Harry, Hermione and Ginny. "You'd best go home...I've made sure Ron is there, so you have nothing to worry about."

"Ron's back?" said Harry. Arthur looked towards a speeding car as it made way onto the park grounds. The crowd was moving away from the teen's still body as the car rode next to him.

"Yes, so go there," said Arthur grimly. "There might be some more Death Eaters--go with Moody, I trust that he's already taken Ron back safely."

The ride back to 12 Grimmauld Place was at best utterly eventless, unless you counted the many hands hammering on the hood from the scared and rampaging crowd who had seen the attack. Harry distinctly saw about twenty Ministry wizards Apparate onto the grounds to perform Memory Charms on the crowd.

* * *

The Dark Lord Voldemort walked onto the roof of the Malfoy Manor, and saw what he had expected to see. Three broomsticks hovered over the clouds, but Voldemort could see these pinpricks quite well. Creeping vines worked to ensnare the broomsticks; unfortunately, they could only reach six meters above the rooftop before they fell back to the sides of the manor. Long enough but not enough to do what he needed. He did not want to waste his time on the Hit Wizards, but right now, he had no choice.

"Avada Kedavra," he muttered as he pointed his wand at the first of the three broomsticks. Already, he could see three well placed curses coming straight at him.

His wand expelled a brilliant green light; he pulled his wand back, and the three beams neared. "Now..."

The vines extended to their full length and covered him, hiding him from view of the Hit Wizards and obstructing the path of their useless sparks. The beams exploded against the vines; the vines stood erect in place as the spells faltered against his armour-like protectors. All three remained. Voldemort didn't expect any less, as they would have seen his Killing Curse and had the time to pull away.

"You see the foolishness of your plan?" said Voldemort as the vines pulled away from him. "Your Ministry has failed you, and now you shall all die."

He had warned them, now they would pay for their Ministry's foolishness.

"Show them who shall be the conqueror of this world, who shall own a part of the world while the other shall serve or perish!" said Voldemort. "Show them that it will be my Death Eaters who will benefit for their service to the Dark Arts."

Three cloaked Death Eaters rose up from behind the mansion. The Hit Wizards acted true to form, as Voldemort had predicted. Three beams of red light surrounded the Death Eaters - instead, the Death Eaters evaded the beams and used their own wands to force two of the Hit Wizards off of their brooms. The third one pulled away and stunned one of the less skilled Death Eaters. This one, Rabastan Lestrange, fell off of the broom and fell fifty meters onto the vines, or rather, the vines caught Lestrange. Nevertheless, despite his rescue, he was unconscious. Another of the cloaked Death Eaters hit the backside of the remaining Hit Wizard and he fell through the poisonous trees onto an unseen area underneath the green growth. The remaining Death Eaters flew to the ground, one of them holding Rabastan's broomstick.

"You flew exceptionally," said Voldemort. "Bellatrix, Rodolphus, you have brought some light back to us. We've been on the losing side with all of Lucius's ideas, but I can trust that you will continue to surprise even me."

"My lord," said Rodolphus. "We live but to serve you."

"My lord," said Bellatrix. "We wish nothing more than to make you the supreme ruler of this wreck of an uncivilized planet."

"Do you know what I have just heard?" said Voldemort. "Lucius has failed me again. The brats continue to live and not one of the Order of the Phoenix's members has been killed. I can only hope that he does not fail me with the master plan that we have learned from him. I should hope he can handle an assassination."

"We do not expect much of him," said Rabastan, as Rodolphus pulled him away from the vines; he had been already Ennervated.

* * *

Hermione looked at the largest portrait in the bedroom. It was a tall blonde man, with blue-grey eyes, and a goatee to cover up a particularly weak chin. He glared at a point on the side of the portrait. She knew he'd prefer if a Mudblood was not in his descendant's house, but Hermione couldn't help but notice how he looked so much like Lucius. Maybe shorter hair and the goatee ruined it, but the impression that she was staring at Lucius Malfoy was there. Exceptwhereas Lucius had grey eyes, this man's eyes had a blue tint to them; a very light blue tint, like water over a grey street on a rainy day... the look on his face was dark, anything but rainy or sad, but it was probably because of her proximity to him.

"I would prefer if you didn't stare at me like that," said the man in the portrait finally; he had a very familiar drawling inflection.

The thought suddenly occurred to her: What if the Blacks were related to the Malfoys?

"Do you like him?" said a recognizable voice.

"No," said Hermione, turning to face Ron. He was wearing a shabby set of robes. "I just noticed that he looks a lot like Lucius Malfoy."

"Well," said Ron. "We're cleaning today. I've got to dust the living room, and you have to go help clean the kitchen. We're having a dinner party tonight."

Hermione remembered the last dinner with guests that had occurred here. It had been two days ago when Ron had run away and in the process of trying to rescue him, they had met several Death Eaters interested in getting at Harry.

"You think?" she said.

"What do you mean?" said Ron.

"It's Harry's birthday today," said Hermione. "Of course they are going to throw a party for him if they have him here for his birthday. And it's not like he ever has parties anyway."

"Right," said Ron. "I just forgot about it."

"You really have some problems if you can't remember your best friend's birthday," said Hermione.

"Who says we're still friends?" said Ron.

"Well, I just thought," said Hermione. "I mean he did go out and try to rescue you two times. That's pretty nice of him, isn't it?"

"Why does he bother wasting time on me?" said Ron angrily. "I can take care of myself! Does he think I need to be rescued because I'm some spineless rat who can't fend for himself?"

"Well, don't get yourself in trouble," said Hermione. "He does care for you."

"Yeah, well he's probably gay too," said Ron, failing to hide the loathing in his voice. "Yeah, and you'll end up with Vickie, or is Vickie gay too? Will Vickie and Harry marry, Hermione?"

"You are a little worm," said Hermione, glaring fiercely at his lanky form. Despite the fact that he towered over her, he looked puny compared to how she looked. "You are pathetic, and you are a poor excuse for a human being. Why Harry ever wanted to risk his life for you, I'll never know, but you are not worth it in my book."

"I - I hope - I hope that Krum's gay and that Potter's gay!" said Ron, backing up against the wall. "Both of them deserve each other and you deserve no one!" He ran out into the hall; she attempted to follow him, but a sudden burst of wind (apparently from Ron's fury) flung the door in her face and she fell backwards.

"Slime," she said.

"Actually," said the portrait with the drawling voice, "I think he has every reason to believe you deserve no one, you filthy Mudblood."

"I just saw Ron," said Harry as he flung himself into the room. Ginny was behind him.

"What happened?"

"Well, he's unconscious," said Ginny. "School owl flew right into his face."

"Owls," said Hermione.

"Excuse me," said Ginny.

"The exams," said Hermione. "We've got our exam results! Well, sorry, not you, but me and Harry."

"Ron's got one too," said Ginny.

"Don't mention that worthless scum!" spat Hermione, as she hurried down the stairs. Harry and Ginny shook their heads and followed her.

"That's my brother--!" said Ginny.

"He's not very nice either," said Hermione, as they got on to the first landing. "He called you gay, Harry."

"I don't care," said Harry, peering down at Ron's unconscious form. "I heard what he said about me, you and Krum; impossible not to, when he was screaming at the top of his lungs. Next time, just put a Silencing Charm on him instead."

"Those are the OWLs," said Hermione, indicating the letters on his chest by kicking him there. "It's time to see what we got."