ꜱᴇʀᴘᴇɴᴛɪɴᴇ ꜱᴇʀɪᴇꜱ | ᴛᴏᴍɪᴏɴᴇ

The Dark Lord's Heir, ch. 2

Harry, Ron, and George crept to the front door with wands drawn. Ginny stayed back with Harmony-whether to protect her or keep her from running, Harmony wasn't sure. Her mind raced as she imagined who it could be and her heart leapt at the thought of Voldemort. But then again, she knew the Dark Lord wasn't the kind of man to politely knock at his enemy's door.

"Door opens on 'three' and we all Stupefy," Harry ordered. Ron nodded.

"Got it, mate," said George.

The three boys stood so close together that the tips of their wands almost touched as they aimed them resolutely at the door. Ron grabbed the knob and Harry started the countdown.

"One...two...three."

The door flew open and they all inhaled as one.

"Stu-!"

"Move aside, boys! Move aside!"

"Dad!" the Weasley's cried as the boys dropped their wands in relief. When they parted a pathway for him, Harmony saw a weathered and weary Arthur Weasley on the doorstep of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. However, he wasn't alone. With one arm draped over his shoulders, Rufus Scrimgeour drooped, looking less bloody but just as broken as when she last saw him in the Atrium. Mr. Weasley hauled his pathetic load indoors and Harmony noticed Lupin and Moody taking up the rear with their backs to them. Their heads twitched back and forth as they searched the street, making sure they hadn't been followed.

Once Mr. Weasley and the Minister-former Minister-were inside, Lupin slammed the door closed and waved his wand over it, muttering a protection ward. Mr. Weasley didn't notice Harmony as he hauled Scrimgeour past her down the hall and into the living room.

"What are you doing here, Dad?" Ron asked as they all followed him. "What happened to healing Scrimgeour at St. Mungo's? He still looks like hell."

"Cheers, boy," Scrimgeour moaned while Mr. Weasley gently laid him back on the couch.

"We got him a Healer quick enough. They did what they could." Mr. Weasley wiped beads of sweat from his brow. "Then St. Mungo's was infiltrated by Death Eaters. They dragged people out of their beds and forced Healers to fix their own instead. We couldn't risk them taking Scrimgeour back to Voldemort."

"I'd be a dead man if it weren't for your father here." Scrimgeour gave Mr. Weasley a grateful smile before letting his head fall back against the couch cushions in exhaustion. Although the blood was cleaned from him, his pallor was still white as parchment. On his hands, where the fingers were once missing, now had little stumps which would eventually grow back into normal fingers. Healers must have fixed his broken ribs in a heartbeat but Harmony imagined that the bruises remained.

Harmony had to remind herself that the former Minister was in that state because of Voldemort. The hands that had lovingly caressed every inch of her body were the same hands that ripped one of the strongest Aurors down into this pitiful mess. She had only been gone from his side an hour or two and it had driven him into a mad fit of violence. She could only imagine the state he was in now.

The moment Mr. Weasley's hands were free Ginny ran to him, leaving Harmony standing alone in the hallway. They shared a warm embrace, and then Ron and George came forward to join in. Seeing the family together made Harmony's heart ache for her parents. It had been so long since she'd seen them. Would they even recognize their daughter?

She overheard urgent whispers and her attention snapped to Lupin and Moody. They had just finished putting up the protection wards over the front door.

"Do you think we were followed?" Lupin asked.

"I know we were." Moody spoke in his usual gravelly tone that grated on Harmony's ears. "We can't stay long."