The Contract

Chapter forty – Safety





The Portkey released them in the cellar of Grimmauld Place. No one had been back since Harry had been found. The door was still in pieces and there was blood…everywhere. Draco took one breath and began to vomit until he collapsed. Harry did not allow him to touch the floor instead, holding him around the hips to keep him upright. The smell and gore was overwhelming his senses and memories.



When Draco was reduced to dry heaves and boneless, he fell into Harry’s arms. Harry could do nothing else but to carry him up the stairs and into the kitchen. Their shoes still had a bit of muck from the cellar and once Harry put Draco down, he quickly cast a cleaning spell on them both.



Draco curled on the bench, pulling his knees protectively against his belly. Harry got him some water and helped him wash his mouth out. They both stopped when they heard voices upstairs. With a silent nod of promise, Harry left Draco to see who was in his house.



Creeping slowly up the kitchen stairs, he heard the conversations, overshadowed by the hag in the hall that used to be Sirius’ mother. Grimacing, once he recognized the intruders, he went to the hall. “Shut the hell up!” He told her.



She looked out of her portrait at him. “Blood Traitor! Filth!”



“That’s all I need, a portrait that treats me like this… enough!” His concentrated his power into removing her portrait. With a hiss of Parseltounge, she stopped shrieking. Then her portrait turned black. Then the frame began to smoke. Then in another instant, the portrait, frame and part of the wall poofed in a puff of smoke. Had anyone been looking, they would have seen a room behind the part of the wall that had been destroyed.



Relieved, Harry turned to go back to Draco. Except the Weasley clan, plus a few extras were standing at the foot of the once grand stairway staring at him. “Hello everyone. Mrs. Weasley, could you join me in the kitchen? Mr. Weasley, would you please return the rest of the group to the living room and close the door?” Both nodded without question and his requests were followed.



On the way, Harry told Molly that Draco was with him but ill and he didn’t know what to do. “Why did you leave him there then, dear?”



“Oh, no, he is in the kitchen, I went upstairs only to be sure of what we had gotten into.” She nodded as they entered the kitchen. There was something wrong, horribly wrong in the room.



“Harry?” Draco squeaked. “I think I’m in labor… the babies?” His voice was one of terror.



Molly assumed what would one day be knows as “Molly Mode”. She immediately began barking orders to Harry, which began with sending Charlie through to get Poppy. He jumped and did as he was told. Arthur and Remus returned with him.



“Molly, we must get him to St. Mungo’s – immediately.”



“No!” Draco cried out. “I’m afraid to move. Please Harry, don’t let them…”



Harry knelt next to him, “ Shhhhh, love. We’ll do what needs to be done.”



Remus lifted the blonde and carried him up the stairs, through the living room and into the Floo. Harry made to follow him. Grabbing his arm, Ron said, “You can’t go. Not like that anyway. Shit… where is that bloody…”



The Floo came to life again. Auror Maples/Sirius Black stepped through looking grim. Before he could speak, Ron told him everything. Looking to Harry, he said, “Without questions, perform this spell: Revealous Ron Weasley. Say the words.” Harry did.



“Here are the wand movements.” A complicated bit of magic wand flashes which Harry copied on the first attempt, and there were two Ron Weasleys standing in the room. “Come on, I’ll take you through. Then you can help me find that Potter boy I am supposed to arrest if I find him.” The grin showed his love for pranks had not subsided a bit.



A quick flash of teeth, a whoosh of Floo powder and the living room had lost two more occupants. Staring at one another, Hermione told Ron that the thought of two of him was a little more than she could handle at the moment. And with a smile, she kissed him on the cheek with everyone watching.



While Draco was in the Floo, Tonks brought the orders back to Grimmauld Place and told everyone what she knew. “The boys are in trouble.”



Molly looked to her for a moment. “No they are not. Its high time this all ended. I believe we have enough proof to remove the Minister and the Headmaster from power and move forward to allow Harry to claim his birthright. Hermione, call that Looney girl’s dad and get him over here. Get Rita Skeeter over here as well.” Pacing, she began giving orders to the twins and Bill.



“Percy, you go to your office and find out what the devil that man is planning. Make sure the arrest warrant is delayed. Keep up with that slime that you call a boss. I will be wanting a go at him as well.” Percy nodded and walked to the front door opened and closed it, then apparated to the Ministry to do exactly what his mother wanted.



The blonde woman had not said anything. No one had noticed that she was there until Molly looked up. “Narcissa, glamour yourself as me and go to the hospital. Keep an eye on our boys, and remember – this gives you the hair to be the bitch you need to be to force your way to where you need to be. Do you understand?”



Smiling, she performed the spell. Hermione shuddered, as did Arthur. “I’ll be glad to be you Molly. I’ll be back with news as soon as possible.”



“I thought as much. Arthur, you go with her. It will be more convincing if you do.” Nodding and kissing his wife, the two Flooed out in an instant.



“Now, you two. This is probably the worst thing I can ask of you. Will you go back to the school and find out what is going on? Ginny probably knows and will be able to fill you in, but if she doesn’t do what you have to do to find out.”



Kissing his mum, they left, hand in hand, through the front door to Apparate back to Hogwart's. The twins returned shortly thereafter and were told to take their treasures and go to Hogwart's to keep their younger siblings safe. They nodded and left.



Smugly, she decided that she would be a good Military officer, should the need ever arise. But for tonight, she wanted her boys safe, Dumbledore’s schemes revealed and the rest of the world to stop for a bit.



Rita and Mr. Lovegood arrived shortly. Molly made a copy of the documentation, except for James and Lily’s wills, and gave them the interview of a lifetime. Lucky that Rita brought an extra Quick Quotes Quill, as the first one exploded when she told of Dumbledore’s plot against two young men so obviously in love.



From Grimmauld Place, Mr. Lovegood took the story and instead of publishing it in his own magazine, proceeded to make copies and owl them to every major publication in the Wizarding world. By seven in the morning, the world would know what Dumbledore and Lucius Malfoy were up to, and he didn’t even mind giving that attractive Skeeter woman the credit.



She found herself unable to rest as she sipped tea in the living room. She wanted to know what was happening. When she woke the next day, her world would never be the same.