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Author: Sorting Hat Story: Between a Rock and a Hard Place Rating: Young Teens Setting: Pre-OotP Status: Completed Reviews: 1 Words: 30,061
Kill them both! Ron! Go without me you stupid git! No! KILL THEM! AVADA KED-- Harry woke up with a scream, his scar throbbing painfully. He reached over, grabbed his glasses and his wand and then got up and headed down the stairs. When he got there, he saw Ginny up already, cooking breakfast. "Up already Gin?" he asked. "Why yes, Harry. Nice of you to finally notice me." She turned toward him, and where usually Harry saw a beautiful redhead, he now saw a skull, and was sure that if a skull could hold an expression, hers would be one of sheer malice. Now, Harry really did wake up, screaming loud enough to wake half the Burrow if not for a silencing charm placed over him by Mrs. Weasley after his third nightmare during the night. Once he had finished screaming, Harry gave a weary sigh, grabbed his glasses and wand and trudged downstairs. A very haggard looking Mrs. Weasley greeted him. Harry could see rings under her eyes, and guessed she had been up most of the night, if not all of it. After Harry had related yesterday night's events to her, Mrs. Weasley had done nothing but worry about Hermione; so great was her concern that she had even allowed Ron to stay with her all night, after seeing how Hermione was clinging to him physically and emotionally. Harry greeted Mrs. Weasley and silently helped himself to a glass of pumpkin juice. Sitting down at the table, he reflected on his life, and those of his two dearest friends. According to Dumbledore, the attack on the Granger house had been led by none other then Lucius Malfoy. In the end there was nothing Ron or Harry or anyone else had been able to do for Hermione, except hold her while she cried and hate the Malfoys with all their hearts. Aside from being supportive of Hermione, the main emotion felt in the Burrow last night was fury, Harry recalled. Ron had gone as far as to say one day the Malfoys would pay for this, and Harry had felt that Ron was absolutely right. One day, the Malfoys would pay--even if it were the last thing Harry ever did. This morning Harry was a bit clearer headed about everything, and decided against outright killing of the Malfoy family. Instant death would be too easy for them. Setting these thoughts aside, Harry drained his glass and rose to begin breakfast. Normally he would leave the chore to Mrs. Weasley or Ginny, but he felt they had enough to worry about. It was a sign of Mrs. Weasley's distraction that Harry got so far as to set out sausage, eggs, and bread for toast before she stopped him. "No, Harry dear. You mustn't worry about breakfast. I'll-" Mrs. Weasley began. "It's no trouble, Mrs. Weasley. I don't mind, really. Besides, Hermione may be up soon and I'm sure it would be best for you to be unfettered if she wants to talk," replied Harry. Mrs. Weasley's look of protest vanished immediately at the mention of Hermione, to be replaced by one of gratitude toward Harry. "Of course you're right, Harry. I'm just not used to having willing help. Except for Ginny sometimes of course, but not often," Mrs. Weasley replied. "Well, I certainly don't mind," said Harry, cooking and beginning to spoon out portions of sausage and egg on different plates. The two of them said nothing further, until a noise made Mrs. Weasley gasp, then sigh. Arthur was awake. He didn't stay long, though, and neither did Percy, who was down next. Both of them were needed early at the Ministry today, and so didn't waste any time. After kissing his wife quickly and grabbing a bit of toast from the toast rack, Arthur disapparated. Percy didn't even wait that long. He just grabbed a bit of toast, nodded a quick thanks to Harry and was gone. The twins appeared together, each bearing somber expressions, which only deepened as Ron appeared. To Harry, it looked as if Ron hadn't slept at all, or if he had, his sleep had been fitful and restless. "All right Ron?" asked Harry. Ron just gave Harry a look, then nodded mutely. Harry wasn't surprised. Considering the events of last night, it had been a stupid question. "Thanks for breakfast Harry," said one of the twins, around a mouthful of egg; the other nodded, his mouth too full to talk. "FRED WEASLEY! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO TALK WITH YOUR MOUTH FULL?" roared his mother, the tension she felt finally finding a vent. "Sorry, mum," Fred replied. It wasn't long after that that Hermione arrived. She accepted a plate of breakfast without comment, and proceeded to poke at it, eating only when encouraged by Mrs. Weasley. Harry noticed Hermione had red rings around her eyes, and a sort of haunted expression about her face. "I can't help but worry about my parents," she said to no one in particular, and then she got up and wrapped her arms around Ron, with her head buried in his shoulder. She then rose and hugged Harry, and it wasn't long before she began to cry again. "It's quite understandable, dear," replied Mrs. Weasley. Soon, Hermione quieted, gave Ron a parting hug and started back upstairs, only to be met with a startled shriek and a crash. This was followed by an immediate apology from Hermione to Ginny. The two exchanged a few muttered words before Ginny finished walking down the stairs. "Morning, Ginny," said Harry, as she entered the room. "Morning, Harry," she said, blushing. "Thanks for breakfast, Harry. I hope you didn't go to too much trouble." "You're welcome, Ginny," Harry replied. "Oy, Harry," said Ron, "How about a bit of dueling practice later?" "Well…" Harry replied, hesitantly. An hour later, Harry found himself face down on the grass, in front of the Burrow. Flipping himself over and hastily aiming his wand, he bellowed "Vagitus!" and watched Fred crumple and fall to the ground, crying. Next to him, he heard a voice cry out "Rictusempra!" and saw Ginny jump out of the way just in time to avoid being hit with a tickling curse. Moments later, he heard her yell "Iverte Stati!" and a tree only a few centimeters from where Ron had been exploded. "Tarantallegra!" yelled Harry, diving out of her way. Then, rolling quickly to the right, he looked up long enough to see her feet locked in an intricate pattern of dance steps, before George sent him running again with a well aimed nausea curse. Harry heard several popping noises at the edge of his hearing, but didn't, but didn't register what they were until an unfamiliar voice yelled, "Crucio!" and Harry heard Ginny wail in pain. For a moment, Harry froze; then, moving quickly, he caught sight of her attacker. A man in a dark robe, wearing a mask stood over her raising his wand again. Before he realized what he was doing, Harry was rattling off curses he hadn't remembered he knew. In a solid stream, Harry yelled, "Purio! Rictusempra! Febris! Conglacio!" He took a moment to take a deep breath, and delivered his final curse with an enraged yell, "IACTO!" which sent the Death Eater flying into the side of the Burrow, rendering him unconscious. Silently, he praised all the trouble Hermione had taken when helping him learn his curses for the Triwizard Tournament. Now Harry could hear other things happening around him. He could hear Ron battling someone behind him, and the twins (Fred had been revived after George realized what was happening) were each fighting separate adversaries. Most impressive was Hermione, who had a personal score to settle. From the string of curses she was hurling, Harry was sure that who ever fought her was not having a good time of it. At this point, Harry heard a strangled gasp, and with a start, knelt down beside Ginny. Her breath was coming in painful gasps, and her whole body was trembling. Not knowing what else to do, Harry held her, trying to protect her with his body while at the same time scanning the area for more Death Eaters. The battle abruptly ended when Hermione threw her last curse, causing the wand of her attacker to explode when he attempted his next spell. At that point, the injured Death Eater grabbed the arm of another, and they all vanished. "Well, almost all of them," Harry thought. The Death Eater that Harry had knocked out still lie at the base of the wall. Hermione promptly cast a spell so as to tie him up, and slowly removed the black mask. Harry then saw Hermione smile grimly. Unmasked, at Hermione's feet, was Peter Pettigrew. Hermione wasn't called the cleverest witch in her year for nothing. Within moments, she had Pettigrew inside a magical barrier, so he couldn't transform and escape. She then levitated it into the Burrow to wait for him to awake. Harry looked at Ginny, who was still having trouble standing. She managed it finally, only to stumble and fall again. Harry looked at her, and then scooped her up into his arms and carried her into the Burrow. He paused a moment, setting her down in a chair, and then walked back outside to retrieve Pettigrew's wand. Then, Harry whipped around and walked back into the Burrow, straight to the fireplace. Here, he grabbed a pinch of Floo Powder, and yelled, "ARTHUR WEASLEY!" In a moment, the man's head was poking out from the flames, looking slightly alarmed at Harry's furious look. "Harry? What happened? Are you ok?" Arthur asked. "I'm fine. Death Eaters attacked us here at the Burrow. Ginny was hit with the Cruciatus curse, but she's ok," Harry paused as Arthur's face went purple with rage, and then regained a bit of colour as he heard his daughter was all right. "We have a Death Eater here. He's bound and Hermione is keeping an eye on him," said Harry, quickly, before Arthur cut him off. "Stay there. I'm coming home." With a flash, the flames were gone. A moment later, Arthur strode into the room. "Where is Ginny?" he asked. "She's in the kitchen. The Death Eater we caught was Pettigrew," said Harry. Arthur's eyes widened at this. At the moment though, he didn't have time to worry about it. He had more pressing matters to attend to. Arthur strode into the kitchen to find his daughter beginning to recover from the pain the curse had forced on her. Harry was close behind, and when Ginny's eyes locked onto his, he felt his stomach flip. This wasn't the time to explore that feeling, though, so he averted his eyes and contented himself with boiling water and handing her a cup of tea. She smiled gratefully, and then her eyes turned hard as she looked at Pettigrew. Before she could ask anything though, Harry went back to the fireplace, grabbed another bit of Floo Powder, and called for Albus Dumbledore. "Hello Harry. I wasn't expecting--" began Dumbledore, but Harry cut him off. "Professor, there was an attack on the Burrow earlier today. We have Wormtail here." The professor didn't even bother to reply. A few minutes later, there was a knock and Dumbledore walked into the room. At his heels was a dog Harry recognized. Dumbledore ushered Harry and the others out of the kitchen, and closed the door. Snuffles looked at Harry, who nodded. A moment later, Sirius Black was standing in the room. Seeing this, Ginny began to scream. It took several minutes for Harry, Ron, and Hermione to calm her down and convince her of his innocence. Once she had gotten over being scared, however, she was furious. "You've known all along that Sirius Black was innocent? Why didn't you tell me?" she screamed at Ron, then whirled to Hermione and began again. "You as well! You knew, didn't you?" Ginny raged. Then she whirled to Harry and…he looked so upset she couldn't bring herself to say anything. He looked as though he wanted to say something to her, but then closed his eyes and turned away. At this point, Dumbledore came out and took charge. After sending Mr. Weasley for some Veritaserum from the Ministry, Dumbledore calmly explained how Sirius had never been given a trial, and that the trio had acted for the best. Then Harry took over and explained that, now that Pettigrew was here, he could be taken before the Ministry and they would have to drop Sirius's conviction. By the time he finished the explanation, he was so giddy with anticipation that he could barely stand still. Soon, Arthur returned with the Veritaserum, and handed it to Dumbledore. Together, Sirius and Mr. Weasley left with Dumbledore for another room, leaving the four friends alone with their thoughts. Harry was about to ask Ron for a game of chess, to take his mind off of the day's events, when he saw Ginny turn and head up the stairs to her room. He shot a quick look at Hermione, and she nodded a silent agreement to keep Ron busy. After knocking on her door, and receiving a soft "Come in." Harry opened the door to see Ginny sitting on her bed, with a questioning look on her face, which brightened immediately when she saw him. "Hi." She said. "Hi," Harry replied, suddenly feeling very awkward. "Er. Are you all right Gin?" She flushed at this…no one ever called her Gin. Normally she was called Ginny, or Virginia when her mum was angry, but never Gin. She found she quite liked it. "Yes Harry, I'm ok." She hesitated, then, "thank you for saving me from Peter Pettigrew today." Her throat choked up and she couldn't continue. "You're welcome. I didn't want to see you taken by Voldemort again-oh! I'm sorry." Her face had darkened when he said Voldemort's name. However, she waved away his apology, and stood, moving closer to him, and wrapped her arms around him. Harry froze for a moment, and then returned her hug. "You know, this is twice you've saved me from Voldemort," Ginny said. Harry tightened his arms around her, and then to her surprise, whispered in her ear, "I didn't want to see you get hurt." Ginny smiled. "Shall we go back down then?" Harry asked, and then opened the door for her as she nodded, and proceeded to follow her out. When they got down to the kitchen, Ron and Hermione were nowhere to be found. Dumbledore and Mr. Weasley were still interrogating Pettigrew, and no one seemed to know where the twins had gone. Mrs. Weasley, having returned from an errand in Diagon Alley, apologized profusely for not having been home when the Death Eaters arrived, but seemed mollified by the fact that everyone was all right. "Would you like a cup of tea, Harry, dear?" asked Mrs. Weasley. "No, thanks. Any word on Pettigrew?" replied Harry. "Those three are going to the Ministry in a bit. They won't be back till later this evening." Here her face took on a dark look. "Though I'm sure that by the time the Ministry gets through with him, there wont be much left to send to Azkaban" Just for a moment, Harry held high hopes that what she said was true.
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