Raised By Wolfstar: Slytherin Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows

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Chapter Eight: A Place to Hide

Everything seemed fuzzy, slow. Harry and Tracey jumped to their feet and all three of them drew their wands. Many people were only just realizing that something strange had happened; heads were still turning toward the silver cat as it vanished. Silence spread outward in cold ripples from the place where the Patronus had landed. Then somebody screamed.

'I love you,' said Tracey as Terence pulled her in for a kiss so brief Harry wasn't sure if their lips actually touch.

They then separated, and as the guests were sprinting in all directions, Terence joined those that were Disapparating; the protective enchantments around the Burrow had broken.

Tracey then grabbed Harry's hand and forcibly threw themselves into the panicking crowd.

'Alli!' Tracey cried. 'Theo, where are you guys?!'

As they pushed their way across the dance floor, Harry saw cloaked and masked figures appearing in the crowd; then he saw Tonks and Tulip, their wands raised, and heard both of them shout, 'Protego!' a cry that was echoed on all sides.

Harry tried to let go of Tracey and raised his wand to join the fight, to protect his friends and family, but he then slammed into Remus' body who had purposely blocked his path. ‘Go!’ he yelled, his face was a scary combination of full Auror mode and full father mode.

With great effort he pushed Harry away from where the main fighting was and shouted once more as loud as he could, 'GO!!!' before he forcibly grabbed Canini's arm and Disapparated her and himself away.

'Theo! Alli!' Tracey desperately called, half sobbing as she and Harry were buffered by terrified guests: Harry once more seized her hand to make sure they weren’t separated as a streak of light whizzed over their heads, whether a protective charm or something more sinister he did not know—

'Allison!' Harry joined in the call, he was now desperately regretting leaving her and Theodore's side.

And then there they were. Tracey grabbed Allison's hand and Harry caught hold of Theodore’s arm which caught his attention, and Harry felt him turn on the spot; sight and sound were extinguished as darkness pressed in upon him; all he could feel was Tracey’s hand and Theodore's arm as he was squeezed through space and time, away from the Burrow, away from the descending Death Eaters, away, perhaps, from Voldemort himself...

'Oh, no no no, we can't be here Theo!' said Allison's voice.

'I know, I know! I panicked!'

Harry opened his eyes. For a moment he thought they had not left the wedding after all: They still seemed to be surrounded by people.

'Charing Cross Road?!' said Tracey, now equally in a panic, and she was right, they were currently just feet away from the Leaky Cauldron. 'What do we do? Where do we go?'

'Walk!' said Allison suddenly very serious, she was taking charge. 'Walk south until we find a spot to get off the street.'

Harry and the others did as she asked, they knew when she got like this to trust her instinct and that she'd come up with a plan that'd work. They half walked, half ran up the wide dark street thronged with late-night revelers and lined with closed shops, stars twinkling above them. A double-decker bus rumbled by and a group of merry pub-goers ogled them as they passed; Harry and Theodore were still wearing dress robes, and outside the wizarding world Allison looked like she was going to a crazy prom.

'We need to get out of these clothes,' said Harry, realizing every ounce of attention they brought to themselves put them at further risk. 'Why didn’t I make sure I had the Invisibility Cloak with me? That was the one thing Dumbledore asked of me last year, to always have it on me.'

'Don't worry Harry, I have your Cloak, and I have enough muggle clothes for us to change into,' said Tracey. 'Just act natural until—'

'In here,' said Allison suddenly. She led them down a side street, then into the shelter of a shadowy alleyway.

'When you say you’ve got the Cloak, and clothes...' said Harry, staring at Tracy's purse. He knew she had said it had an Extension Charm on it, but items Harry had seen with this charm only doubled or tripled in space. He found it hard to believe she had at least several outfits in there.

'Yes, they’re all in my purse,' said Tracey as she rummaged through, and then to Harry, Theodore, and Allison’s utter astonishment, she pulled out a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt, some maroon socks, and finally the silvery Invisibility Cloak.

'How powerful of an Extension Charm is on that thing?' asked Theodore.

'I don't know, but it was Dumbledore who cast it, I haven't found a limit to the bag yet. I've put everything I think we could possibly need inside,' sad Tracey. She gave the fragile-looking bag a little shake and it echoed like a cargo hold as a number of heavy objects rolled around inside it. 'Oh dear, I think that was my copies of Standard Book of Spells, they'll be a mess now...Oh well...Harry, your potion is wearing off so you better put on the Cloak. Allison, Theodore, here are your clothes...'

'When did you do all this?' Harry asked as the others all changed.

'I said I had been packing and gathering supplies, what had you thought I meant. For the couple days I was home I had my dad get me muggle money, clothes, and chocolate. Then I practically cleared out Flourish and Blotts, Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, and the Apothecary as well as withdrew a lot of Galleons. While I was at Mold-On-The-Wold Cottage I took a few more things we might need, don't worry I'll return it. And finally I got each of your books, clothes, and inheritance from Dumbledore at the Burrow.'

'How did you afford all this?' said Theodore, astonished.

Tracey looked at him with a cocked eyebrow, 'My dad is the best surgeon at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, my mum is a high ranking legislator, and we own a three bedroom apartment in the middle of London. Did you think I was poor the last six years?'

Theodore turned a little pink. 'No...just middle class.'

Tracey rolled her eyes.

'Well, thank you for thinking ahead Trace,' said Allison.

'Thank you,' said Tracey as she pushed the dress robes into the bag. 'Now Harry, put the Cloak on, please!'

Harry threw his Invisibility Cloak around his shoulders and pulled it up over his head, vanishing from sight. He was only just beginning to process what had happened.

'The others—everybody at the wedding—'

'Going back will only make things worse for them,' said Allison in a quiet voice. 'They were after you at the Burrow, you being there would only put those who couldn't escape in even more danger. Right now the Order has deniability that you were ever there.'

‘It’ll be alright, Harry,’ said Theodore, who seemed to know that Harry was about to argue, even if he could not see his face. ‘Half the guests are part of the Order, they’ll keep everyone safe. I saw Hermione, Remus, and Canini Disapparate so they’re safe too. What about Terence, Tracey?’

‘Terence got out safe too,’ confirmed Tracey.

‘See,’ said Theodore in a falsely reassuring voice, ‘they will all be ok.’

Harry nodded, then remembered that they could not see him, and said, ‘Yeah.’ But he thought of the Weasley’s, and about Tonks and her unborn child, and fear bubbled like acid in his stomach.

‘I think we should get moving again,’ said Allison. ‘We need to go somewhere we can rest for a moment where no wizard would be. Anyone know any muggle locations close by?’

‘Everywhere I know is in the far end of Soho?’ said Tracey looking a little hopeless.

Realizing it would be up to him, Harry spoke up.

‘Actually I do know somewhere we can go, it’s south near here…but I’ll have to remove my Cloak when we arrive.’

Reluctantly they all agreed and Harry began leading them by quietly giving directions.

'Are we going to Grimmauld Place?' asked Tracey.

'No we're going in the opposite direction, there is a chase Snape can still enter it even if he can't bring fellow Death Eaters. Besides, can Allison even see Grimmauld Place?'

'Hey Allison, the Order's secret hideout is located at 12 Grimmauld Place in Islington,' said Theodore suddenly. 'There, now she should be able to. Before his death, Mad-eye explained to me that people who knew the secret before Dumbledore's death each became secret keepers themselves.'

'Well, thank you Theodore,' said Allison, and Harry now remembered being told something similar. 'When will be arrive at your safe spot, Harry.'

‘We’re almost there,’ said Harry as they kept walking. Harry hadn’t been to the store in exactly six years so he was worried he wasn’t going in the right direction or if it would even still be there, but after only a couple more minutes they were standing outside of Laghari's Convenience, and Harry took off his Cloak and told the others they had arrived.

The sign on the door said that the store was closed, but there were still a few lights on inside and Harry could see a man of Indian descent in his late sixties still inside. Harry opened the door.

‘Sorry, we’re close,’ said Mr Laghari who owned the store.

‘Mr Laghari, my name is Harry, I’m Sirius Black’s son, we met when I was eleven.’

The old shop keeper squinted at Harry as though trying to remember and then his face softened somewhat.

'Ah yes, I remember, it is nice seeing you Mr Black, but we really are closed.'

Harry didn't correct him on his surname, that wasn't what was important right now.

'Sir, I'm sorry to both you, but this is really important. We need a place to lay low, just for half an hour or so.'

His face darkened. 'Are you in trouble with the law, I won't harbor fugitives in my—'

'No, nothing like that. I can't explain but we just need a safe place to rest for a bit.'

'Well, maybe,' said Mr Laghari, he start reaching for a telephone and Harry suddenly became worried he was indeed about to call the muggle police which would only make things worse for Harry and his friends. Thankfully that wasn't the case. 'I do insist I call your father though. I know he moved to Cotswolds, that area code is 0128—'

'You can't call him,' said Theodore, getting frustrated.

'And why is that young man?' said Mr Laghari, clearly becoming more suspicious.

'Because he was killed,' said Harry bluntly, and Mr Laghari let go of the telephone. A second later Tracey burst out in tears, the events of the last hour had appeared to catch up with her.

‘Let’s see,’ said Mr Laghari, ‘I just finished restocking the milk, I couldn’t prevent you all from sitting on the empty crates while I finished closing up if that’s what you chose.’

‘Thank you sir,’ said Allison with a nod as they all started turning over four milk crates to sit on, Theodore and Tracey sat with their backs to the entrance, Allison faced it, and Harry sat parallel to it so he could only see the door through the corner of his right eye. ‘Tracey, we’ll be alright. Take some slow breaths.’

‘I-I’ll t-try,’ she said shakily.

‘I have a kettle in the back room, I’ll make you some Tulsi tea, Miss, to calm your nerves. Would anyone else like some or filter kaapi?’

‘I’ll have some kaapi,’ said Harry absentmindedly as his thoughts were on the attack on the wedding, although filter kaapi was his favourite coffee.

Theodore and Allison just looked at each other, probably trying to determine what Tulsi or filter kaapi even was, and just decided to go with the safer option in their minds.

‘Tea please.’

‘I’ll have tea as well, thank you very much.’

With their orders given, Mr Laghari left for the back room, leaving the four friends temporarily alone.

After a moment or two, and beginning to calm down, Tracey said, ‘Maybe I should put my witch attire back on and take a quick peak into the Leaky Cauldron after all.’

‘What? After we just escaped there? It’s not safe,’ said Theodore.

‘For Harry it definitely isn’t, and you and Allison might be recognized too, but I spent far less of my life in the wizarding world, I could probably get away with eavesdropping for ten minutes or so without being noticed, maybe longer if Harry lends me his Cloak.’

Harry thought this sounded crazy, but Allison seemed to understand slightly what Tracey meant as she had a pointed question.

‘Why do you want to be there?’ she asked.

‘To find out what happened to those at the wedding, and to maybe learn more about what happened at the ministry—‘

‘We know what’s going on,’ said Harry, his voice shaking with anger slightly. ‘Voldemort’s taken over the Ministry, what else do we need to know?’

‘It was just a suggestion on what to do,’ said Tracey quietly.

‘Sorry,’ said Harry with a sigh.

They relapsed into a prickly silence. Mr Laghari was humming a Jagjit Singh song, and Harry could hear the water beginning to boil. A huge blonde workman stopped outside and rested his back onto the storefront’s window. He was looking at something in his hand but Harry couldn’t see what.

Allison dropped her voice to a whisper.

‘When we leave here we should find another alleyway and Disapparate somewhere empty. A forest, a field, ghost town, just somewhere no one should be. There we should be safe to try and contact our friends in the Order.’

‘Do you know how to cast the messenger Patronus?’ asked Theodore.

‘No, but between the four of us I believe we could eventually figure it out.’

Harry now saw another workman arrive. He was wearing a ball cap that covered his face and he knelt down right in front of the entrance to tie his shoe.

‘Guys-‘ Harry quietly whispered, but the others were focused on the conversation at hand.

‘The Patronus might be our best option, but is it even safe?’ asked Tracey. ‘What if whoever we contact is currently being interrogated by Death Eaters and had just finished saying they have nothing to do with us when our Patronus appears and in our voices tells them we’re safe and thank them for their help, it could get whoever we send it to killed.’

‘We should get going then, I don’t like still being so close to the Leaky Cauldron, and I doubt the tea Mr Laghari is bringing us is black tea…although we should still pay him for his troubles. Tracey you said you had muggle money?’ asked Theodore.

‘I do, although I bet all the smaller bills fell to the bottom,’ sighed Tracey, reaching deep into her purse.

The follow couple seconds seemed almost to slow down. Harry saw the workman that was kneeling suddenly start to open the door with one hand and with his other hand drew a wand.

‘Down!’ Harry yelled as the two Death Eaters burst in.

Harry, Allison, and Theodore all drew their wands, but Tracey, who still had her hand stuck in her bag, couldn’t pull hers out fast enough, Theodore tackled her to the ground as the first round of spells went over all four of their heads. Harry could hear Mr Laghari yell in shock from back room. The force of the Death Eaters’ spells shattered the glass refrigerator doors where Tracey’s head had just been.

‘Ebublio!’ Allison yelled while aiming at the large blonde Death Eater.

He blocked it, but his focus temporarily on Allison, Harry managed to yell, ‘Stupefy!’

The great blond Death Eater was hit in the face by a jet of red light: He slumped sideways, unconscious.

His companion, now all too familiar looking in Harry’s mind, aimed his wand at Harry.

‘Expulso!’ bellowed the Death Eater, and the product isle behind which Harry was standing blew up: The force of the explosion slammed him into the wall, but he forced himself to his feet.

The Death Eater tried to cast more spells at them, but now with all four of their wands pointed at him he didn’t stand a chance.

‘Stupefy!’

‘Petrificus Totalus!’

‘Immobulus!’

‘Brachiabindo!’

It wasn’t clear which spell did the trick, or if all four contributed, but when the spells hit the second Death Eater he fell forward like a statue to land with a crunching thud on the mess of glass and smashed non-perishables.

‘What just happened?!’ Mr Laghari said, shaking as he exited the back room. ‘Why did those men attack, how did they cause this much damage, what are you all holding, how did you knock them both uncon—‘

‘Stupefy,’ said Allison suddenly, and Mr Laghari slumped over.

‘Why’d you do that?’ said Tracey. ‘He had been helping us.’

‘The next twenty minutes are going to be crucial if we’re going to survive the night, we couldn’t spend it explaining away the magic we’ve done and convincing him not to call law enforcement,’ said Allison stoically, and Harry knew she was right.

Harry climbed over all the debris to where the large blond Death Eater was sprawled across the entryway.

‘I should’ve recognized him, he was there the night Dumbledore died,’ he said. He turned over the darker Death Eater with his foot; the man’s eyes moved rapidly between Harry, Tracey, Allison, and Theodore.

‘This one is Dolohov,’ said Tracey. ‘He’s the one that cursed me back at the Ministry.

‘And blondey here is Thorfinn Rowle,’ said Theodore. ‘Not the brightest, he’s the one who accidentally killed one of his own bellow the Astronomy Tower.’

‘I don’t particularly care what their names are,’ said Allison. ‘I’m more worried about how they found us. Were we followed all the way from the Leaky Cauldron or did they follow us some other way?’

Somehow the panic of the situation seemed to clear Harry’s head.

‘Theo, lock the door, he said, ‘and Allison, turn out the lights.’

He looked down at the paralyzed Dolohov, thinking fast as the lock clicked and Allison used the Deluminator to plunge the connivence store into darkness.

‘So, what is your plan to deal with these two,’ asked Tracey.

‘I think you know the answer to that Tracey, your memory charms are the most powerful, and I think the two Death Eaters need a full wipe,’ answered Harry. Harry knew she wouldn’t like that answer. Tracey was pretty traumatized by memory spells from the time she cast one so powerful in self defense that it erased the target’s entire memory.

‘No, Harry, I shouldn’t, and besides we know Voldemort is able to break through altered memories, possibly even reverse the spell,’ Tracey tried to justify.

‘But it’ll take him time,’ said Harry, ‘time we’ll need to get far away from here. Time for Mr Laghari to grab his family and take a spontaneous extended trip to visit relatives in Jammu, which is something he much wake-up and remember to do while not remembering any of this happened.’

Realizing she had little choice, Tracey took a deep, calming breath, then pointed her wand at Dolohov’s forehead and said, ‘Obliviate.’

At once, Dolohov’s eyes became unfocused and dreamy. She then did the same to Rowle, and finally she cast a False Memory Spell on Mr Laghari.

‘Brilliant!’ said Harry, proud of her overcoming his discomfort with the spells. ‘The rest of us will clear up.’

‘Right,’ said Allison as she, Harry, and Theodore all drew their wands once more and with a couple mending charms, other than the three men laying motionless on the floor, it looked as though nothing had ever happened in the store.

Once all the spell work was complete they dragged the two Death Eaters into the back room, they placed Mr Laghari behind the counter where he was in line with the front door, Harry put back on his Invisibility Cloak, and then Allison returned the lights. Finally, just as he was closing the store front door behind him, Harry cast the Reviving Spell on Mr Laghari so that he would awaken and leave the store before anyone came looking for the Death Eaters and saw him begin to stir just as the door shut.

They began walking aimlessly again, although this time they never once stopped turning their heads to look behind them to make sure none of them were being followed.

‘Alli didn’t get an answer from earlier, how did they track us?’ Tracey asked.

Theodore turned to Harry.

‘Is it possible you still have the Trace on you, Harry?’

‘That’s impossible, said Tracey. ‘It is wizarding law, they have the spell enchanted to break at midnight the day of the person’s seventeenth birthday.’

‘However as of a few hours ago the Death Eater’s gained control of the Ministry of Magic in its entirety,’ argued Allison. ‘What if they found a way to recast the Trace onto someone.’

‘But after being broken Harry probably would have had to have had the Trace re-cast onto him in person, and other than those two idiots I don’t think he’s been in the presence of any Death Eater’s over the last twenty-four hours.’

The girls did not reply. Harry felt contaminated, tainted: Was that really how the Death Eaters had found them?

‘If I can’t use magic, and you can’t use magic near me, without us giving away our position—‘ he began.

‘We aren’t going anywhere,’ said Allison firmly, trying to pat him on the back but instead resulted in her looking like she was swatting at air.

‘We’re in this together Harry,’ affirmed Tracey.

‘What I wish we were in together was a safe shelter,’ said Theodore grimly. ‘Give us all time to recuperate and come up with plans and strategies.’

‘Grimmauld Place,’ said Harry.

The other three gaped.

‘We can’t, we don’t know how well Mad-eye’s anti-Snape jinxes will hold now that he’s dead,’ said Theodore.

‘What other choice do we have, we can’t go to the Leaky Cauldron or Tracey’s old apartment as they’ll look there,’ said Harry. ‘We know some of the protective enchantments on that building should hold, and we can add some of our own if we feel we need to. Besides, I swear, I’d like nothing better than to meet Snape!’

‘But—‘

‘Theo, where else is there? It’s the best chance we’ve got. Snape’s only one Death Eater, the others can’t enter. If I’ve still got the Trace on me, we’ll have whole crowds of them on us wherever else we go.’

He could not argue, though he looked as if she would have liked to. With nothing else to say they found another alleyway and Harry, Theodore, Tracey, and Allison turned on the spot and vanished into the compressing darkness once more.

Seconds later Harry’s lungs expanded gratefully and he opened his eyes: They were now standing in the middle of a familiar small and shabby square. Tall, dilapidated houses looked down on them from every side. Number twelve was visible to them, Secret-Keeper, and only them, and they rushed toward it, checking every few yards that they were not being followed or observed. They raced up the stone steps, and Harry tapped the front door once with his wand. They heard a series of metallic clicks and the clatter of a chain, then the door swung open with a creak and they hurried over the threshold.

As Harry closed the door behind them, the old-fashioned gas lamps sprang into life, casting flickering light along the length of the hallway.

‘Woah,’ said Allison in awe, as it was her first time seeing the centuries old building. To Harry though, it looked just as he remembered it: eerie, cob-webbed, the outlines of the house-elf heads on the wall throwing odd shadows up the staircase. Long dark curtains concealed the portrait of Sirius’s mother. The only thing that was out of place was the troll’s leg umbrella stand, which was lying on its side as if Tonks had just knocked it over again.

‘I think someone else has been here,’ said Theodore apprehensively, pointing toward it.

‘Yeah, but probably just Mundungus when he robes a few goblets and silverware last year,’ said Harry, trying to be reassuring.

‘How do we know if Moody’s jinxes against Snape are working?’ asked Tracey.

‘Perhaps they only manifest if he shows up,’ speculated Allison.

Yet they remained close together on the doormat, backs against the door, scared to move farther into the house.

‘Well, we can’t stay here forever,’ said Harry, and he took a step forward.

‘Severus Snape?’

Mad-Eye Moody’s voice whispered out of the darkness, making all four of them jump back in fright.

‘We’re not Snape!’ croaked Harry, before something whooshed over him like cold air and his tongue curled backward on itself, making it impossible to speak. Before he had time to feel inside his mouth, however, his tongue had unraveled again.

The other three seemed to have experienced the same unpleasant sensation. Tracey was gaging; Allison stammered, ‘T-that was a T–Tongue-Tying Curse. Mad-Eye’s spell for Snape!’

Gingerly Harry took another step forward. Something shifted in the shadows at the end of the hall, and before any of them could say another word, a figure had risen up out of the carpet, tall, dust-colored, and terrible; Theodore screamed and so did Mrs Black, her curtains flying open; the gray figure was gliding toward them, faster and faster, its waist-length hair and beard streaming behind it, its face sunken, fleshless, with empty eye sockets: Horribly familiar, dreadfully altered, it raised a wasted arm, pointing at Harry.

‘No!’ Harry shouted, and though he had raised his wand no spell occurred to him. ‘No! It wasn’t us! We didn’t kill you—‘

On the word kill, the figure exploded in a great cloud of dust: Coughing, his eyes watering, Harry looked around to see Theodore crouched on the floor by the door with his arms over his head, Allison covering her eyes with her hands, and Tracey, who was shaking from head to foot, ‘Oh g-g-good…It’s g-gone…’

Dust swirled around Harry like mist, catching the blue gaslight, as Mrs Black continued to scream.

‘Squibs, Half-bloods, blood traitors, filth, stains of dishonor, taint of shame on the house of my fathers—‘

‘SHUT UP!’ Harry bellowed, directing his wand at her, and with a bang and a burst of red sparks, the curtains swung shut again, silencing her.

‘I can’t believe…was that…’ Allison whimpered while Tracey helped Theodore to his feet.

‘Yeah,’ said Harry, ‘but it wasn’t really him, was it? Just something to scare Snape.’

Had it worked, Harry wondered, or had Snape already blasted the horror-figure aside as casually as he had killed the real Dumbledore? Nerves still tingling, he led the other three up the hall, half-expecting some new terror to reveal itself, but nothing moved except for a mouse skittering along the skirting board.

‘We should perhaps split into teams of two and double check that there is no one else here,’ said Theodore.

‘No need,’ said Tracey as she drew her wand. ‘Homenum Revelio.’

Nothing appeared to happened.

‘Er, did the spell do what it was meant too?’ asked Harry.

‘Yes, the silence is a good thing,’ said Tracey with the formation of a tiny smile. ‘That charm reveals if there are any humans present other than those in the casters immediate vicinity. We’re alone.’

‘Alone except for the grime,’ said Theodore in an attempt of a joke. ‘We spent an entire summer cleaning and Sirius and Remus cleaned for an entire year, but one full year without a good scrub and it’s covered in dust and mildew again.

His humour didn’t cause any laughter however.

‘We should go upstairs,’ said Tracey, still with a slight shake from the ghostly Dumbledore scare. She led the way up the creaking stairs to the drawing room on the first floor.

Theodore waved his wand to ignite the old gas lamps, then, seeing Tracey still shivering slightly in the drafty room, he went to the room’s large fireplace and cast a large flame to warm the room. Exhausted, Tracey sat down on the sofa. Allison crossed to the window and moved the heavy velvet curtains aside an inch.

‘I don’t see anyone on the street, Death Eater or muggle,’ she reported. ‘If Harry did have a Trace on him they’d be here by now, even if they couldn’t get inside the-Harry what’s wrong?’

Harry had given a cry of pain: His scar had burned again as something flashed across his mind like a bright light on water. He saw a large shadow and felt a fury that was not his own pound through his body, violent and brief as an electric shock.

‘What is it Harry, what are you seeing?’ asked Theodore, advancing on Harry. ‘Is he at the wedding, are the Weasley’s ok?’

‘No, I just felt anger—he’s really angry—‘

‘That could put him at the Burrow or the muggle store,’ whispered Allison. ‘So that’s what you felt, did you see anything too?’

‘No, I just felt anger—I couldn’t tell—‘

Harry felt badgered, confused, and Tracey did not help as she said in a frightened voice, ‘Your scar is hurting again? You can feel his emotions? What’s going on? I thought you closed the link that connects your minds!’

‘It did, for a while,’ muttered Harry; his scar was still painful, which made it hard to concentrate. ‘I–I think it’s started opening again whenever he loses control, that’s how it used to—‘

‘Then you have to seal that new connection,’ said Tracey, dead serious. ‘Even if it seems useful Harry, Dumbledore knew the true dangers the connection could mean for you and those you care about. You need to look over the Occlumancy books I got you, I brought them with us, otherwise Voldemort can plant more false images into your head.’

‘Yeah, I do remember, thanks,’ said Harry through gritted teeth; he did not need Tracey to tell him that Voldemort had once used this selfsame connection between them to lead him into a trap, nor that it had resulted in Sirius’s death. He wished that he had not told them what he had seen and felt; it made Voldemort more threatening, as though he were pressing against the window of the room, and still the pain in his scar was building and he fought it: It was like resisting the urge to be sick.

He turned his back on his friends, pretending to examine the old tapestry of the Black family tree on the wall. Then Theodore yelped: Harry drew his wand again and spun around to see a silver Patronus soar through the drawing room window and land upon the floor in front of them, where it solidified into a large wolf that spoke with the voice of Remus Lupin.

‘Family safe, wedding attendees safe, do not reply, there are eyes everywhere.’

The Patronus dissolved into nothingness. Theodore let out a noise between a whimper and a groan and dropped onto the sofa: Tracey sat next to him and rubbed his arm for comfort.

‘It’s alright, everyone is alive and safe. It’s going to be alright!’ she whispered, and Theodore forced a half smile.

‘Harry,’ Allison said, reaching an arm out towards him, but he took a step back, ‘are—‘

‘Of course I’m glad my family is safe,’ said Harry, sickened by the pain in his head. ‘I was worried about them too.’ He thought about Remus, Canini, Tonks, and her baby.

The pain in his scar was reaching a peak, burning as it had back in the garden of the Burrow. Faintly he heard Theodore say ‘I don’t think any of us should be on our own tonight. Tracey, did you bring any sleeping bags with Cushioning Charms on them?’

‘Yes, and I’ll get them out, but Theo I’ll need your help with something before you go to sleep. I brought all the ingredients for polyjuice potion, and I’d feel much more at rest tonight if it began brewing as soon as possible.’

‘Alright, take out everything you need for tonight and then leave me the purse and I’ll get started in the dining room. I’ll join you up here when the starting phase is complete.’

He heard them all mumble in agreement. Harry could not fight the pain much longer. He had to succumb.

‘Bathroom,’ he muttered, and he left the room as fast as he could without running. He barely made it: Bolting the door behind him with trembling hands, he grasped his pounding head and fell to the floor, then in an explosion of agony, he felt the rage that did not belong to him possess his soul, saw a long room lit only by firelight, and the giant blond Death Eater on the floor, screaming and writhing, and a slighter figure standing over him, wand outstretched, while Harry spoke in a high, cold, merciless voice.

‘More, Rowle, or shall we end it and feed you to Nagini? Lord Voldemort is not sure that he will forgive this time…I break your mind open for this, to tell me that Harry Potter has escaped again? Draco, give Rowle another taste of our displeasure…Do it, or feel my wrath yourself!’

A log fell in the fire: Flames reared, their light darting across a terrified, pointed white face—with a sense of emerging from deep water, Harry drew heaving breaths and opened his eyes.

He was spread-eagled on the cold black marble floor, his nose inches from one of the silver serpent tails that supported the large bathtub. He sat up. Malfoy’s gaunt, petrified face seemed burned on the inside of his eyes. Harry felt sickened by what he had seen, by the use to which Draco was now being put by Voldemort.

There was a sharp rap on the door, and Harry jumped as Allison’s voice rang out, it was full of concern.

‘Harry, are you alright in there, I-er-have your toothbrush and pyjamas. Do you want me to come in and give it to you?’

‘Um-no, leave them outside the door, I’ll get them when I’m done,’ said Harry, hastily he then added, ‘thanks.’

He could feel her reluctance to leave from the outside of the door, but after a moment he heard her put the clothes and brush down and walk away.