Funerals and Weddings

For disclaimer, summary, story codes and other information, please see the prologue.

Chapter the Fifty-first: A Village in Ireland
17 January, late at night
Wizarding village just outside Dublin, Ireland

Harry shivered as he shifted his feet silently under his Invisibility Cloak. He was standing in the shadows between two houses; with his Invisibility Cloak, Harry didn’t have to stand in the dark, but Snape was using a strong Disillusionment Charm and the darkness would help mask any abrupt movements he might make.

Harry was hoping that Draco was all right in the Hospital wing at Hogwarts when his thoughts were interrupted by the loud popping sound of several wizards Apparating all at once. Looking towards the source of the sound, he saw at least a dozen torches flame into life. The torches began moving down the main road en masse, and soon the shouts and jeers Draco had heard in his vision filled the air.

Harry sensed Snape lean closer to him. “It is unusual that they are making so much noise; as one might assume, attacks are usually made in absolute silence for the element of surprise,” the older man whispered.

Keeping his voice as respectful as he could, Harry whispered back, asking the question that had been on his mind for some time. “Sir? I was wondering…why are the Death Eaters giving the villagers so much time to escape? I mean, doesn’t Voldemort usually like to kill as many people as possible?”

Snape paused before answering. “The headmaster and I believe that this part of the attack is merely a distraction to keep attention away from their actual goal of robbing the Potions store Mr. Malfoy saw in his vision.”

Snape’s answer tallied with Harry’s own theory, but didn’t answer his question completely. As he watched the Death Eaters gather in a ring around the tree, he pressed, “But sir, if the Death Eaters attacked in silence and started setting the houses on fire without warning, some people would surely be killed and it would still serve as a distraction, if that is what they are after. Wouldn’t it? Sir?”

Before Snape could reply, however, the members of the Order of the Phoenix rushed out of their hiding places, wands firing spells, just in time to prevent the Death Eater who had lifted his torch from setting the tree on fire. “Later, Potter,” Snape muttered.

Within seconds, the town square was alive with the sounds of battle and the jets of multi-coloured lights spat from wand-tips. Snape began a whispered commentary of the strategies and spells being used for Harry’s benefit.

“Potter—do you see Shacklebolt there? To the left?” Snape muttered to Harry. “Watch him…there! Do you see what he is doing?”

Harry kept his eyes trained on the tall, dark wizard who was engaged in a one-on-one duel with an anonymous Death Eater. He watched as Shacklebolt faltered and began retreating backwards. Without warning, Shacklebolt pivoted and struck hard, catching the Death Eater completely off-guard. “He’s fooling the Death Eater into thinking that he’s weakening and letting the Death Eater think he has him on the run…but he’s going to surprise him…yeah! Brilliant! The Death Eater wasn’t expecting him to attack that way.”

Although he kept it to himself, Snape was impressed by Harry’s insight. “Correct. You’ll see several of the Order employ this strategy—Shacklebolt is especially adept at it—because it is so successful. All Death Eaters share a few common traits—one of them being arrogance. Something you should be quite familiar with, Potter.”

Harry bit his tongue to keep from retorting to Snape’s swipe. He was about to ask what the other common traits were when he saw several of the Death Eaters Disapparate. They watched as one by one, all of the Death Eaters and Order members vanished from sight.

“So…are we going to follow them? Sir?” Harry asked. Dumbledore had left it up to Snape’s discretion as to whether or not he and Harry moved to the business district when the Death Eaters fled from the village square. Since the vision had been disrupted, it wasn’t safe to assume that whatever happened in the shop area—if anything at all happened—would mirror the events of Draco’s vision.

“Wait just a moment…I think…Yes! There it is.” Harry saw the silver form of a Patronus appear near the oak tree, then fade into mist.

“Apparate to the location I showed you earlier. Now!” Snape barked and Harry obeyed. He realised this was a pre-arranged signal between Snape and one of the Order. He thought the Patronus looked like a large bird, perhaps an eagle, and he wondered whose it was even as he materialised behind some hedges that ran alongside one of the village shops.

“Sir?” Harry whispered.

“Here,” came the reply from Snape, directly behind Harry. “It seems the Death Eaters are going ahead with their plan to attack the shops.”

Harry knew that the Weasley twins and Tonks had been stationed in this part of the village the entire time, on the chance that the Death Eaters would attempt to carry out this part of their plan even when the first phase failed. No one could be sure what would happen, since the Order’s appearance had derailed Draco’s vision, but everyone suspected the Death Eaters wouldn’t give up so easily. After all—the Death Eaters didn’t know that the Order knew about the second phase of the Death Eaters’ attack on the village.

“Bit of a nasty surprise to find some of the Order already here and others hot on their heels, I imagine,” Harry muttered, mostly to himself. He was surprised to hear Snape smother what was surely a snicker from behind him.

“Indeed,” Snape’s voice was as dry as dust.

Harry kept his eyes trained on a clutch of Death Eaters who were obviously trying to get at least one of their number past the Order and into the shop that Draco had seen them rob. They were having a hard time of it, though, and even if one of them managed to get near the shop, they would have to get through Bill Weasley, who stood guarding the front door. Harry suspected there was an Order member lying in wait inside the store as well.

His suspicions were confirmed almost instantly. There was a shout, followed by a loud bang and more shouting. Bill Weasley leapt away from the front door of the shop as it swung open. Harry squinted to make out the shadowy forms of people moving within the dark interior of the shop. They were obviously duelling, as Harry could see bursts of lights illuminate the doorway and windows.

“I thought the back door was being guarded,” Harry whispered to Snape.

“It was,” was the grim reply.

Harry’s stomach knotted in dread. If a Death Eater was inside the store, it meant that whoever had been guarding the back—Fred, George or Tonks—was injured, possibly dead. With effort, Harry shoved the thought away. There wasn’t anything he could do to help at the moment and he needed to keep focused on the battle waging in front of him. A part of Harry knew this was the kind of thing Dumbledore had wanted him to experience, to prepare him for his own future fight with Voldemort. In a battle with Voldemort, Harry could not allow himself to be distracted should something happen to anyone fighting alongside him.

Even knowing this, it took all of Harry’s willpower not to leap forward when he saw Remus Lupin go down. The Death Eaters seemed to have taken the upper hand in the fighting and every Order member was engaged in fighting at least one, if not two, of the enemy. Harry quivered with the effort to remain still and cursed his impotence.

“You must stay hidden! You cannot get involved!” Snape seemed to know exactly how close Harry was to casting caution to the wind and leaping into the fray.

“I know!” Harry hissed back. “But it’s driving me mad to stand here and do nothing! Doesn’t it make you crazy, just standing here, doing nothing to help?”

Harry hadn’t expected Snape to answer, so he was slightly surprised to hear the Potions master respond, in a tone of barely repressed frustration. “Yes, it does. But I made the same promise to Dumbledore that you did.”

Snape began his hushed monologue of pointing out spells and battle moves as Harry tried to watch everything that was happening at once. He shifted his attention to the right when movement caught his eye.

“Sir!” he interrupted. “Look over there—to the right. Isn’t that the old man Malfoy saw in his vision?”

Harry could visualise Snape’s intense expression as he obviously studied the man before replying. “Yes, it must be. Interesting…”

They watched in silence as the old wizard, clad in his dressing gown, rushed down the street unnoticed. He managed to Stupefy two Death Eaters and was taking aim at a third when the Death Eater he was targeting spun and hit him with a hex that knocked flat on his back.

The old man had lost his wand when he fell, and was scrambling around on the ground for it as the Death Eater who had hexed him approached, wand at the ready.

“Bellatrix,” Harry hissed. Snape was surprised to hear the venom in Harry’s tone, but said nothing as the Death Eater whipped off her mask to reveal herself as none other than Bellatrix Lestrange. Her evil laugh sent chills skating down Harry’s spine.

“I’ll teach you to try and curse me, you old fool!” Eyes lit with malicious glee, she pointed her wand and cried, “Crucio!”

Harry winced as the man began writhing and screaming on the ground. His hand clenched and unclenched uselessly on his wand as he darted his eyes about, willing an Order member to notice what was happening and rescue the man. Harry ground his teeth in frustration as Bellatrix lifted, then cast the curse yet again. “Fuck! I can’t stand it! Why doesn’t someone notice?”

Ignoring Harry’s language for once, Snape shifted behind him. “There’s nothing…wait…I think perhaps the tide of battle is finally shifting in our favour.”

Harry returned his attention to the main battle and was heartened to see that the Order was regaining control. One Death Eater lay on the ground, his robes smoking. Another fell, Stupefied, even as he watched. He sighed in relief as one of the twins—he couldn’t tell which one from where he stood—finally noticed Bellatrix and drew her attention away from the suffering old wizard by setting her sleeve on fire.

He was startled to hear Snape gasp behind him. “Professor?” he asked, turning in the direction of the invisible man.

“Blasted Dark Mark…” Snape hissed. “I’m being Called. The Dark Lord must know that the attack is failing. He must be Calling everyone back.”

When Harry turned back to the battle, he saw that Snape was right. More than one Death Eater was clutching their left forearm. One by one, the Death Eaters began Disapparating from the scene. When only a few remained—too deeply engaged in a duel to Disapparate, Harry guessed—he heard Snape speak urgently to him.

“Potter. I must go. I’m not supposed to be here, and this late on a weekday, I don’t have an excuse not to answer the Summons. The Dark Lord will be suspicious if I wait much longer. Stay hidden and wait here until all of the Death Eaters are gone. When you are sure it is safe, make yourself known to the Order—don’t startle anyone, or you might get yourself hexed. Am I clear, Potter?”

“Yes, sir. I promise, I’ll stay hidden until I know it’s safe,” Harry replied.

“You’d better,” was the only reply before Harry heard the *pop* that signaled Snape’s exit. He turned back to see that all of the Death Eaters were gone, save two that were lying on the ground. A few of the Order were magically binding them, while others were moving in and about the Potions shop. He was just about to make his presence known when movement to his right again caught his attention.

The local wizard was still lying on the ground where Harry had last seen him. The Order seemed to have forgotten about him. Harry was horrified to see Bellatrix Lestrange reappear out of thin air at the wizard’s side.

“No one gets away with trying to hex me! This will teach you to attack a Black!” Eyes alight with a fanatical glow, Bellatrix pointed her wand at the fallen man and hissed, “Avada Ked—”

Harry kept his wand raised as he moved quietly to another spot farther along the hedgerow. He watched as Bellatrix’s mouth kept moving, though no sound issued from it. Just then, Bill noticed her presence and shouted, “Death Eater!”

Mouth still working soundlessly, Bellatrix whirled, her face contorted in fury. Then, with a *pop*, she was gone.

Harry let his body slump in relief. Thank the gods Bill had seen Bellatrix. He wouldn’t have minded hexing Bellatrix into oblivion, but he knew he’d be in big trouble for it. Figuring it was probably safe, he called out, “Hello! Ok for me to come out?”

He saw several wands whipped in his direction and was glad he’d heeded Snape’s advice. “Harry? Is that you?” he heard Molly Weasley ask.

“Yes, it’s me,” Harry removed the Invisibility Cloak and, moving slowly, stepped out from the hedgerow. He was glad to see the wands lower.

“Harry Potter! Where’s Professor Snape? Don’t tell me he left you here alone!” Molly sounded furious.

Harry quickly explained the situation and managed to calm Molly, though she still didn’t look very happy with Snape. Harry watched as the rest of the Order went on about the business of “mopping up.” He was very glad to see Remus up and apparently unhurt, as he gestured uselessly at Tonks, who was kneeling at his feet and examining his knee, to leave him alone. Bill Weasley walked over to stand beside Harry.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” he asked quietly.

“What was me?” Harry asked, looking completely innocent.

“You who Silenced Lestrange,” Bill said. “It had to be. I didn’t think anyone else had seen her before I did.”

Darting a glance in Molly’s direction, Harry stepped closer to Bill. “Yeah, it was me,” he admitted quietly. “But you can’t tell anyone. Please. I wasn’t supposed to get involved and Snape—not to mention your mother—will kill me if I’m found out.”

Bill smiled. “No need to worry, I won’t tell anyone. Good one, by the way. You know you saved that man’s life, Harry.”

Harry shrugged and looked at the ground. “I just didn’t want anyone else to die if I could help it. I was tempted to use something stronger than “Silencio” on that bitch but I didn’t want to get caught and I figured it might buy some time. Do you think that man is going to be all right? And what about everyone else? Is anyone else hurt?”

Remus and Tonks joined Harry and Bill and it was Tonks who answered his question. “The man—his name’s Casey, by the way—should be all right. He’s been sent over to the Irish Wizarding Hospital in Dublin. Luckily, no one else was seriously hurt. Fred got Stupefied—he and George were guarding the back door to the shop and were attacked by three Death Eaters—but he’s fine now. George said one of them came up from behind Fred and got him while George was fighting with one of the others. I was inside the shop when all three of them rushed in, George right behind them.”

“Were they able to steal anything?” Bill asked before Harry could.

“Yeah, dammit. Me and George kept them pretty busy, but there were three to our two and they kept snatching things from the shelves whenever they had an opportunity,” Tonks replied, looking put out that the Death Eaters had succeeded at taking anything at all. “Dunno if they got everything they wanted. Doubt it. Shacklebolt’s going to have the owner do an inventory to see what’s missing, then ask Snape if he can figure out what they’re trying to make based on the ingredients they took.”

Just then Shacklebolt cut into their conversation by calling out, “OK, everyone, let’s pack it in. Everyone meet up as planned at Headquarters. We’ll work up our report for Dumbledore there. Er…any volunteers to take our unexpected visitor back to school?”

Harry rolled his eyes. He knew he couldn’t travel to Hogwarts alone for safety reasons, and he didn’t have any problem with that, but Shacklebolt made it sound like he needed someone to hold his hand.

Remus stifled a smile and answered Shacklebolt. “I’ll be glad to go along with Harry, Kingsley. See you at headquarters.” Harry smiled his appreciation at Remus for not making him sound like a helpless child.

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When they finally reached the door to Gryffindor, Harry offered his thanks to Remus. Remus wished him well and departed as Harry closed the portrait behind him. Harry was glad to see the common room was empty, even though he hadn’t really expected anyone to up at this time of night. Pulling out his Invisibility Cloak, he covered himself and waited impatiently at the door. He needed to give Remus a good head start before he headed out again—even if Remus couldn’t see him, Harry knew that the werewolf’s heightened senses of smell and hearing lingered even when Remus was human and he didn’t want to take the chance of Remus hearing the portrait close or sniffing him out. After an interminable four minutes, Harry eased open the door and slipped out, whispering an apology to the Fat Lady as he did. Silencing his footsteps, he hurried along the corridor.

Reaching the Hospital wing, Harry set about dismantling the locks and wards. He was glad he and Draco had snuck out the previous evening to practise, so it didn’t take it very long. Easing the door open a crack, he peered inside. All clear. Slipping inside, he re-set the locks and wards before walking over to the one occupied bed.

Draco was sleeping peacefully, and as Harry pulled off his Cloak, it struck him how similar this was to the first time Draco had kissed him. Smiling to himself, Harry leaned over to re-enact the scene in reverse by brushing his lips lightly over Draco’s. Draco stirred slightly, but didn’t awaken. Harry leaned over and kissed Draco again, but let his lips linger a little longer this time. He felt Draco stiffen a split second before his eyes shot open. Harry saw emotions flicker in rapid succession in Draco’s silvery eyes: confusion, followed instantly by surprise, recognition…then something else he couldn’t quite identify. Something that made his chest feel funny. He didn’t have any time to speculate, however, because Draco was pulling him down to kiss him properly.

Separating, Harry sat on the edge of the bed as Draco pulled himself up into a sitting position. Draco took Harry’s hand as he spoke. “Gods, I’m so glad you’re back! You’re all right? What happened? Was it just like my vision? Did they burn the village? Did they rob that store? Was anyone hurt?”

Laughing quietly, Harry covered Draco’s mouth with his free hand. “One question at a time! Yes, I’m fine. So is everyone else. Most of it happened just like you Saw.” Harry quickly summarised the night’s events for Draco.

Draco’s hand tightened on Harry’s when Harry told him about Silencing Bellatrix. “Harry! You weren’t supposed to get involved! What if she had seen where the spell had come from?”

“Draco, I don’t have the highest marks in Defence for nothing,” Harry replied patiently. “As soon as I cast, I moved to a new position. Besides, what was I supposed to do? I knew I was taking a risk, but it was the least obvious way I could think of to stop her. And if it hadn’t worked, I would have done whatever necessary to help, even if did blow my cover. I couldn’t just stand there and let Bellatrix kill that man—no one could!”

“I wonder if I…” Draco started, then cut himself off. Before Harry could question what he was going to say, Draco changed the subject. “Well, I’m glad you’re safe and back here. You look exhausted. You should probably try and get some sleep.”

“Yeah, I’m knackered. Don’t know how I’m going to stay awake in class tomorrow. So…I’ll see you in class, then?”

“Me and Snape—Potions first thing,” Draco smirked at Harry’s expression. “Thanks for coming by. Now go get some sleep.”

Harry leaned forward, intending to give Draco a light kiss good night. But Draco placed his palm on Harry’s cheek and held him in place, turning the quick peck into something softer, sweeter. Harry felt that strange feeling in his chest again as he pulled back.

“Good night,” he whispered, then covered himself with the Cloak before moving towards the door.

“Good night,” Draco whispered back. He visualised Harry working his way through the wards and locks. When the door opened and closed invisibly, he lay back down in his bed and rubbed at his breastbone absently with his hand. His chest ached the same way it had when he’d opened his eyes and recognized Harry leaning over him. Not in the mood to think about it too deeply, Draco rolled over on his side and decided to sleep on it. Closing his eyes, he was asleep within minutes.

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A/N: Many, many apologies for not updating in so long! Unfortunately, someone broke into my home and stole my laptop (while I was home, asleep in bed! Lucky for me, when the burglar came into my bedroom and I greeted him with a lamp cocked like a baseball bat and screaming my head off, he took off!). But when he stole my laptop, I lost several unposted chapters and some of my outline for the story. It took me a few days to get a new laptop and since then I have been frantically rewriting what I lost before I forgot it! I hope to get back on my usual posting schedule now, though. I appreciate your patience with the delay! Reviews would make my day!

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