Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ The End ❯ Somehow, This is Where They Arrived ( Chapter 2 )

The End

[Chap. 2 - Somehow, This is Where They Arrived]

The fast approaching Christmas break was ultimately weighing heavily on Neville. He had yet missed a Christmas with his grandmother. However, he couldn't just as well as blow her off and stay with Harry, where it would be spent either in the school or at the Burrow. After factoring in his annual visit to his parents at St. Mungo's Hospital and Harry's agreement to go with him, Neville finally sent an owl to his grandmother. He received a howler several days later from her, questioning whether or not he'd lost his mind. For the first time in Neville's life, he couldn't have been more sure of a decision he'd made, and sent another owl saying so. The next howler he received from his grandmother, Harry had taken and shoved into a wastebasket where it exploded five minutes later. Due to the amount of trash surrounding it, the shrieking voice of Neville's grandmother was muffled considerably. Though the brown haired young man still managed to hear the words 'bloody ingrate', which forced a nervous gulp down his throat.

"No worries," Harry had said with a smile.

Nodding, Neville flushed red before he and Harry disappeared from the Gryffindor common room and the prying eyes of three curious second years. That had been four days ago, now Neville woke up Christmas morning with a certain grungy looking cat staring down at him. With a smile he petted Croonshanks awkwardly before sitting up and stretching. Never in his life had he remembered spending time filled with the warmth that the Weasley's home contained. Yes, it was crowded with all the people that had decided to spend the holiday at the Burrow, but that in itself was greater proof of the love that filled the house.

Standing up from his knapsack on the floor, Neville stretched again and surveyed his surroundings for the thousandth time since he arrived at the Burrow two days ago. Due to lack of sleeping space, he had volunteered to sleep on the floor of Ron's room. Ron also slept on the floor as he had given his bed to Harry. Ron's brothers, Fred and George had also decided to spend the holidays at home and each slept in their respected beds. Downstairs in the den, Bill, who had arrived late the previous night, slept on the couch. Charlie and Percy had been the only Weasleys not to come to the Burrow. Percy for obvious reasons and Charlie had been delayed by a pregnant dragon who was due anytime now.

Hermione had come along, unwilling to spend what might be their last Christmas together, at home. She was sleeping in Ginny's room now, along with of course Ginny and strangely, Luna Lovegood. No one was really sure why the spacey blonde was at the Burrow. Supposedly, Ginny had invited her after word that Luna's father would be off verifying if Kulamos were really living in Iceland. Kulamos were of course another one of the many fictionist creatures Mr. Lovegood and Luna believed were real. Now, why Luna hadn't gone with him was still beyond Neville's understanding. And as he crept out of the room to the bathroom, it wasn't something that he was really interested in at the moment.

Except when he reached the bathroom and pushed the door open, he got more than what he bargained for. Inside, Ginny sat atop the sink's edge as Luna stood before her with her mouth very much on the red head's mouth. While they were clad in nothing but their pajamas, wandering hands were quickly pulled out of places they should not have been as they both looked at Neville with wide eyes. Unsure of what to do, he stood there stupidly as Ginny quickly stood and straightened her night gown. The trio remained in a disturbing silence for a long while before they heard someone coming down the stairs. Frantically, Ginny and Luna scrabbled past Neville in an attempt to escape before anyone else found them. Opening his mouth, Neville wasn't able to speak a word to them as they disappeared around the corner and the mystery person appeared behind him.

"Happy Christmas," Harry said, pulling off his glasses and cleaning them with the bottom of his shirt.

"Happy Christmas, love," Neville smiled, knowing that any sign of affection made Harry jumpy when they were so many people nearby.

"Neville, not here."

Harry had that worried look in his eyes but that didn't stop the brown-haired young man from taking his boyfriend's glasses from his hand. Squinting, Harry reached out a hand in order to get them back, to no avail. He was nearly blind without his glasses and Neville knew it. That was why Neville took the opportunity to place a loving kiss on Harry's lips before he placed he glasses in the messy haired young man's hand. Replacing his glasses with a deep blush, Harry watched his boyfriend wink at him before disappearing into the bathroom.

* * *

While Christmas day was spent peacefully at the Burrow, things were anything but at the Ministry of Magic. A recent report had just reached Ministry officials' hands. Words were shouted in unison as people scrambled to and fro preparing to leave. In the midst of all this, Percy Weasley finally was able to read the report, only to have it slip out of his hands as he bolted up from his seat. Hesitantly, he grabbed some floo powder and scowled slightly. With a heavy gulp, Percy swallowed his pride and tossed the powder into the flames of his fireplace. Taking a seat in front the now green flames, he crossed his arms and shouted, "The Burrow!" before sticking his head into the flames.

Meanwhile, at the Burrow, Arthur Weasley had just sat down in front of the fireplace. In his right hand he held a warm mug of butterbeer. The family had just finished dinner and most of them were also joining Mr. Weasley in the den. Suddenly, the flames became green and Percy's eerily, seemingly decapitated head appeared in the flames. Arthur Weasley choked on the butterbeer that he had just taken a sip of and dropped the mug onto the floor in surprise. Mrs. Weasley, who had just walked into the room began crying at the sight of her son.

"I have important information for you all," Percy's disembodied head said without any kind of emotion or consideration as to what he had just done. "The ministry has received word that Death Eaters have been spotted in your area and it's believed they might be heading for the Burrow."

Bill sprang up from his seat by the window. "What? They're heading here?"

"What's the miracle you've shared this information with us? ," Ron said angrily. The now very tall red head had never forgiven the betrayal his brother had done to the family.

"There was no order that I was not allowed to share this information with you. Therefore, I saw it fit to inform you personally before anything negative was to happen. I must go now."

Percy's head disappeared from the fire with a pop that brought Ginny, Luna, and the twins into the den. Fred walked in first, only to catch his mother who had just fainted. Upon seeing this, George poked her arm. "What happened? Either Charlie got eaten by a dragon or Percy was at the fire," He joked, looking up from his mother. Hermione quickly filled them in as Ron shook his father to snap him out of his still shocked state. Bill chewed his lip for a moment before taking charge.

"Everyone, whether or not he told the truth is a risk we mustn't take. I suggest we all get out of here just in case," He said, grabbing the pot of floo powder from the table by the fireplace.

No one moved as Mrs. Weasley slowly came to.

"Come on! It'd be best safe then sorry! ," Ginny finally spoke up and everyone seemed to agree.

"We'll go to Diagon Alley," Fred said.

"Yeah, we can be safe at the shop! ," George said.

"The young ones go first then," Mrs. Weasley said, snapping back to her motherly duties. "Ginny will go first, so she can lead the way to the shop, followed by Luna. Then Hermione, Neville, Harry, and Ron will go. The rest of us will follow." She smiled.

Ginny would've protested, but her mother placed a kiss on her forehead and gave her a hug. Glancing briefly at Luna and giving her a small nod, Ginny stepped up to her eldest brother and grabbed some floo powder from the pot.

"Diagon Alley! ," She said in a loud voice before throwing the powder into the fire and stepping into the green flames.

Luna quickly followed, as did Hermione with an oddly calm Croonshanks in her arms. However, as Neville reached for a handful of floo powder, an earth shattering explosion came from outside the door. Running to the window, Harry saw that several darkly robed figures were walking straight toward the Burrow. On the way, they blew up whatever seemed to be in their way. Whether it was a tree or flower, it was blown to pieces by the flick of a wand. The loud explosion had been caused by the explosion of Arthur's recently acquired muggle car.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley quickly pulled out their wands and made a beeline for the door in order to stall off the Death Eaters. Harry, Neville and Ron began to pull out their wands in order to help but Bill stopped them.

"No. Mum and dad are willing to hold them off in order for you three to get to safety. Just go and don't worry," He said in a stern voice.

Knowing how stubborn his brother was, Bill through a handful of floo powder into the fire and shouted 'Diagon Alley', before grabbing Ron and almost tossing him head first into the fire. "Sorry, mate," He said as he waved goodbye to his confused little brother. Turning toward Harry and Neville, he smirked. "Don't tell me I'll have to toss you two lads into the fire as well."

Grabbing floo powder, Harry sighed and said his goodbyes to Bill. As he was about to throw the powder, a woman's scream made him stop in his tracks. Turning around, they could see that one of the Death Eaters had made it past Mr. Weasley and was now about to place a forbidden curse on Mrs. Weasley. Fred and George came to the rescue, each shouting, "Impedimenta!" at the Death Eater and knocking it against the wall with a sickening crunch.

"Harry, go! ," Neville suddenly said, pushing his boyfriend toward the fire place.

"What about you? ," Harry asked, feeling panic-stricken.

"I'll be right behind you. Go!"

Tearfully, Harry tossed the powder, stated his destination and disappeared through the green flames.

"Hey, Longbottom! ," Fred said. "Take the key to the shop. If George and I don't come through right away, go to the shop and hide there."

Neville nodded and took the key just as another Death Eater forced his way into the house. He shouted the Crucio curse at the twins before they could lift their wands. Terrified, Neville grabbed a handful of floo powder from the pot that now lay on the floor where Bill had dropped it when the second intruder entered, and threw it into the fire. Somehow he managed to speak his destination as a third intruder entered the house and now fought with Bill. Stepping through the fire, he felt the familiar dizziness associated with traveling via floo powder. Then he was tumbling out of a fireplace in tears.

Rushing to him, Harry wrapped his arms around him and asked him what had happened. Coughing from the soot taste in his mouth, Neville held up the key and told the others what Fred had said. Standing in the main area of a shop in Diagon Alley, they waited impatiently to see if anyone else would come through the fire. However, no one did and they left reluctantly so the shopkeeper wouldn't become suspicious. Slumping behind the counter of the twins' joke shop, Neville filled the rest of his friends in on what happened after Harry left.

"Do you think they're all right? No one else came through the fireplace, so did something bad happen? ," Ron asked in a small voice.

Ginny hugged her brother in an attempt to comfort him, but it was clear that the tall red was scared beyond reason. Hours later, as the sun just began to rise in the horizon just as most of them had begun to finally fall asleep, the door of the shop clanged open. Peering over the counter, they were relieved to see George and Bill enter. However, there was a strange air of silence amongst the two. Even stranger was seeing George without Fred.

"Where's mum, dad, and Fred? ," Ginny asked fearfully, throwing herself into Bill's arms. "What happened to the Death Eaters?"

Neither brother spoke for a long time. Finally, Bill cleared his throat.

"Dad's dead," He said slowly, as if it were news to him as well. "I'm not sure what happened to mum or Fred. They were unconscious and bloody pretty badly when the Death Eaters carried them off."

At that point, George let out a choked sob and fell to his knees on the floor. Ron was quick to fall to his knees as well, wiping savagely at the tears that spilled down his face. The others wiped at their tears as well.

"How'd you get away? ," Neville asked.

"After you left, I disabled the Death Eater I was fighting. Dad called out for me to send an owl to Charlie. I don't know why he wanted me to do that with all that was going on, but he said it again. So I ran upstairs and scribbled a quick message to Charlie telling him that to come to here as soon as possible. I sent it with Ron's owl, who nearly knocked over his cage in excitement. I wasn't gone longer than five minutes.

"When I came back downstairs, I saw mum bloody near the door. George was protecting Fred from a Death Eater and dad was outside with two of those bastards. I figured I'd get mum out of there while the others were occupied, but the one that Fred and George had knocked out earlier came to and grabbed mum from me. The one fighting with George cast another Crucio curse on him and as he was screaming in pain on the floor, the bastard grabbed Fred. They turned tail and ran. I went after them but the two outside pointed their wands at me and . . . ," Bill paused, tears welling up in his eyes.

"They yelled out Aveda Kedava but dad jumped in the way and took the full blunt of the curse," George finished sadly.

"Yes. After that, they disappeared in a cloud of mist. I sent a letter to Dumbledore with Hedwig just as the Ministry pulled up to the house. We decided to leave before anyone asked questions. I reckon they were somehow behind the whole mess," The eldest Weasley finished with a small scowl.

"So what are we supposed to do now? Wait around until they come here and find us? This is because they're after me and I'm sorry for what's happened because of me," Harry said, a visible anger in his words.

"Nothing is your fault, Harry," Bill said.

"That's a lie and you know it, Bill. If I'd stayed at Hogwarts, then this could have all been avoided."

Neville grabbed a hold of Harry's arms.

"You don't know that for sure. We can't jump to conclusions just yet," Neville said, worriedly.

Harry jerked away from Neville's grasp.

"No, you don't know that! I do. That's the story of my life! Everyone thinks they know but they don't. They say it isn't my fault but it is. It's my fault that Voldermolt was able to regain his body. It's my fault that so many have died needlessly because of me. You don't know what it's like! ," Harry was shouting at Neville.

Something deep down in Neville snapped. Somewhere deep down in the brown-haired young man's soul, an unspeakable cry erupted and tore past his soul. It rushed through his whole being and forced Neville's hand to swing forward where it connected with his boyfriend's cheek. Not only did it take Harry and Neville by surprise, but everyone in the room felt the intensity of the raw emotion that had fueled the slap.

Then it all seemed to crash down on Neville, as quickly as it had engulfed him, it had spit him out. Neville Longbottom forgot who was around them and could only see Harry's stunned face. Tears spilled down his face as he pulled Harry toward him. His lips met surprised ones in a desperate kiss. For some reason, Harry could feel all of the despair and trouble that Neville kept hidden. While he couldn't understand all of it, the messy haired young man knew he had hurt Neville. That was something he felt strongly, though again, he couldn't understand why.

A heavy silence had filled the room as all eyes watched the couple. This was the first time anyone had witnessed the two kiss. Even more surprising to some was that until that moment, no had suspected any of what they were seeing. And what they saw was the love and betrayal of two young men, nothing more or less. While the others averted their eyes and coughed uneasily, minus three pairs of curious female eyes, Harry breathed a muffled apology through the kiss. Neville pulled away slowly, only looking down at Harry's chest at the realization of what had just transpired.

"We have to get out of here," Bill finally spoke up, hoping to divert the moment to something more important.

"Wouldn't it be wise to wait for Dumbledore's letter? ," Hermione asked without taking her eyes off the two brunettes in front of her.

"No. If or when the ministry of magic will show up here, I suspect we would somehow be excused of dad's death," Bill said with a frown.

"What makes you say that, Bill? ," Ron asked.

The eldest Weasley brother bit his lip and shook his head, his earring swaying to and fro on his ear. "Now is not the time for reasons or theories. My responsibility lies in keeping you all safe."

"I take it we'll be heading for Sirius' old house then? ," George asked as he moved to the back of the store and disappeared through a door to the back room. He reappeared with six broomsticks within seconds. "Sorry, but these are the only brooms that aren't jinxed," He said motioning toward a display of broomsticks near a sign that read 'Splinting Brooms'.

"But there's seven of us, one of us will have to find another means of transportation," Ron said, stepping up to his brother and claiming a broom as if to say it wouldn't be him.

"Luna and I are the lightest, we could share one," Ginny spoke up and smiled at Luna, who nodded in agreement.

George nodded his approval and handed a broom to his sister, then passed out the rest. It wasn't long before they were all flying above the clouds toward London. Except, they weren't alone. They hadn't been alone since from the moment they arrived at Diagon Alley. A close but safe distance away, someone was following and watching. This someone was the main cause behind all their pain and he was smiling wickedly as they approached the Order's headquarters.

*To be continued*