Order of the Phoenix
Breaking Point
By Ruskbyte
Chapter Twenty Five
~ Breaking Point ~
Molly Weasley watched silently as her only daughter trudged morosely up the crooked stairway to where her room was waiting. Obviously Ginny was feeling a little depressed at being separated from
Harry for the first half of the summer.
Truth be told, Molly didn't know whether or not to be relieved or sympathetic. Relieved that her baby girl was finally away from Harry, who despite everything was still a hormone-charged teenager. Sympathetic because Molly could remember feeling the same when she was younger and Arthur had to leave for work. She still felt that way, of course, but over the years had grown accustomed to the feeling, especially knowing that her husband would eventually be coming back.
"All right then," she said after a moment, having waited for Ginny to round the first landing and step out of sight. Molly turned to her three youngest boys and beckoned them follow her into the kitchen before going up to their rooms.
"Charlie!" exclaimed Ron as he entered, catching sight of his older brother.
Seeing their dragon-taming elder sibling at home was a surprise for them, since they had thought Charlie was still working in Romania. He had only arrived the day before, having kept his visit as a surprise for everyone.
Molly busied herself making a cup of tea while the four men caught up on what had been happening. By the time she had finished and sunk down into her chair at the kitchen table, Fred and George had just succeeded in making Charlie fall out of his seat for the third time in five minutes.
"Boys," she announced, drawing their attention as Charlie pulled himself up, muttering about pink Slytherins. Once she was certain she had their firm attention, Molly announced, "I'd like to talk to the three of you about Ginny and Harry."
Ron started with a horrified expression on his face, and the twins immediately began to look very uncomfortable. It was obvious that none of them liked the idea of discussing their baby sister's love life, especially with regards to their friend.
"Well..." George paused, obviously thinking about it, "They've been flirting since practically the moment we arrived at school. In fact I think they tone it down a bit when they're not alone."
"They've kissed a few times," admitted Fred, reluctantly, "but they don't make a scene over it. I'm pretty sure they haven't done more than that."
At this Ron shifted uncomfortably in his chair and a distinct blush graced his cheeks. Molly spotted his reaction and immediately turned to him. "Ronald? What is it?"
"Nothing."
Unfortunately Molly could always tell when her children were lying to her, especially Ron; only the twins were any good at hiding the truth from her. Deliberately she narrowed her eyes and fixed Ron with a look she had spent years perfecting. Soon Ron began squirming under her gaze but before he could speak they were interrupted by a blur of red.
Ginny seemed to explode into the kitchen, her hair flying around her as she crashed into the table, knocking Molly's cup of tea over the edge. The girl was out of breath and had clearly run downstairs from her room. One look into her panicked eyes stifled any reprimand Molly had felt brewing.
"Ginny, dear? What's wrong?" she asked, dreading the answer.
"Harry."
***
Arthur Weasley blinked once, twice, as the world faded back into being around him. One glance at the mayhem outside number four Privet Drive was enough to confirm his fears. Molly was flitting about in a flustered panic, much as she had after the Death Eater attack on Hogwarts. The twins, Ron and Charlie were standing in a tense knot nearby, alternately trying to becalm their mother and... Sweet Merlin... is that a sword?
Ginny, his youngest child and only daughter, was attacking the front door of Harry's home in an almost animalistic rage. With her wand firmly clasped in her left hand, (But she's right handed.) and a gleaming katana in her right, Ginny was yelling and screaming at the top of her lungs, which had attracted the attention of most of Privet Drive's residents.
"I didn't think your daughter would be able to cuss up such a storm," commented Mundungus Fletcher, who had Apparated at Arthur's side.
"No kidding," agreed Perkins, standing next to Fletcher. "If she went into a bar like this, even hardened sailors would start running for the hills."
"OPEN THE BLOODY DOOR!!"
Ginny's sword was cleaving through the air in a blur of steel, smashing against an invisible barrier that blocked the entrance to number four. Arthur knew some of the details of the spell Dumbledore had used and was amazed that Ginny was striking the shield with such force. Every strike was accompanied by a rain of sparks and the air actually rippled from the pressure she was exerting.
"OPEN UP, YOU MISBEGOTTEN BASTARD!!"
Obviously deciding that her sword was not making enough of an impression on the barrier, Ginny backed away several steps and switched from steel to wood. Arthur watching in amazement as she began hurling spell after spell at the front door of the house, all of them unbelievably powerful and some of the spells ones that Arthur had never heard of.
Great Maker, he thought as one of Ginny's curses actually managed to light up the entire protective ward that surrounded the house. When did she become so powerful?
"Miss Weasley," announced a calm and soothing voice, trying to catch Ginny's attention.
Everyone, except for Ginny who only continued her assault, turned to face the new arrivals that had Apparated in behind Arthur. It was Professor Dumbledore, accompanied by Professor McGonagall, Fleur Delacour and, to Arthur's surprise, Bill Weasley.
"Miss Weasley," repeated Dumbledore, stepping forward, "please calm yourself."
Ginny whirled towards the old wizard, her teeth bared in a snarl that actually caused Fletcher and Perkins to step back in fright. Ginny literally growled at Dumbledore before snapping. "NO! Harry's trapped in there, and I'm not going to wait any longer! Let me in!"
Dumbledore nodded benevolently, not in the least perturbed by Ginny's anger. "I understand fully, Ginerva. However the protective wards surrounding the house are complex ones. This particular barrier spell only becomes active if Harry's life is seriously threatened. It prevents anyone from entering unless Harry or myself accompany them."
"Well that's bloody stupid!" screamed Ginny, waving her wand and sword about. "How in the name of hell are we supposed to help him if we can't get in?!" She turned back to the front door and resumed attacking it with her sword and wand, shouting out spells as she sliced with the blade.
"Arthur," acknowledged Dumbledore as Molly and Charlie ran up to them. Fred, George and Ron remained close to Ginny, watching her continue to assault the shield barrier. "I see Molly was able to contact you as well."
Arthur nodded and indicated the half dozen witches and wizards he had rounded up on such short notice. "I brought who I could."
When Molly had frantically called his office only ten minutes earlier, Arthur had expected anything but what she had told him. Apparently, according to Ginny, Harry was in grave danger. Nobody really understood how Ginny knew this, but somehow she did.
While Molly and Charlie had been skeptical about this, Ron, Fred and George had not even hesitated for an instant. After working her mother into a state of panic, Ginny had run up to her room and collected her wand and sword.
She had then, impossibly, Apparated to Privet Drive.
Arthur had scarcely been able to believe it when Molly had told him this, especially as Ginny did not know how to Apparate. After hearing his wife's tale Arthur had told her to contact Dumbledore immediately, while he had gathered what help was available.
There was Jim Perkins, who worked with him in the department; Mundungus Fletcher, who had been visiting for some reason; Chrissy, a young Obliviator from the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad; and a couple of Unspeakables from the Department of Mysteries.
The last two, a pair of young women about Charlie's age, made Arthur slightly nervous. There was no denying that they were both quite beautiful, one with short red tresses and the other with long black locks. They were also talented, but unfortunately had a reputation for causing large amounts of collateral damage wherever they went.
"We're going to need more people," commented Chrissy, flicking a strand of her curly brown hair out of her face. Her brown eyes were surveying the scene and the large number of Muggles that had gathered outside to watch the spectacle. "Lots of witnesses. Your daughter's attracting a lot of attention, Mr Weasley."
Arthur sighed and nodded, acknowledging that Ginny would undoubtedly be in a great deal of trouble before this was over. At the moment though, she really did not seem to care about anything beyond getting to Harry. If anything, her attempts at entry, not to mention her screams, were growing in intensity.
"GOD DAMN YOU!! OPEN!!"
"Ginerva," said Dumbledore, his voice rumbling with an ominous tone that would have stilled even the most rowdy of students back at Hogwarts.
Ginny rounded on Dumbledore again, her brown eyes bright and glistening with moisture. "Open this thrice accursed door NOW!!"
"Miss Weasley!" berated McGonagall, hands on her hips. This was accompanied by that fierce glare that could melt stone, but Ginny did not quail.
"Arthur, you, Minerva and Molly will accompany me into the house. The rest shall remain outside and see that we are not disturbed," declared Dumbledore. Ginny opened her mouth to protest, but the headmaster raised a hand to silence her. "You may come as well, Ginerva. I doubt any of us could prevent you from doing otherwise."
With the quiet dignity and grace that was expected of him, Dumbledore led the way to the front door of number four Privet Drive and knocked politely. Arthur put his hand on Ginny's shoulder as she seethed impatiently at his side. She had, fortunately, sheathed her sword and handed it to Ron for safe keeping.
"Mr and Mrs Dursley?" asked Dumbledore, gently beginning to open the door. He had only opened it open a crack when Ginny pulled free of Arthur's grasp and pushed her way in.
Wondering just how he was going to apologise to Dumbledore later for Ginny's rudeness, Arthur followed his daughter and the headmaster inside. He immediately came to a surprised halt at the sight which greeted him.
Vernon Dursley and his wife, Petunia, appeared to be housecleaning. Vernon held a large, sopping mop in his hands and was sweeping the floor with broad strokes. Petunia was down on her hands and knees with a large bucket of water by her side. She held a wet cloth was in her hands and was vigorously scrubbing at the floor.
With a squeak of alarm at the sudden intrusion, Vernon dropped the mop and stared at them in what Arthur recognised as horror. The blood drained out of the large man's face and he could not form any proper words for several seconds.
"Mr Dursley..." began Dumbledore in a calm voice, but was interrupted as Vernon flew into a rage that rivalled the display Ginny made outside. He began bellowing at the top of his lungs, his face flushed so red it was almost purple. His language quickly degenerated into colourful cusses, but the general meaning remained much the same.
"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!"
None of the witches and wizards present could say anything. By now Ron, Fred, George and the black haired Unspeakable had also entered the house. This added intrusion only seemed to add to Vernon's fury and he bent to retrieve his mop.
How he planned to evict properly trained wizards with such a simple object was beyond Arthur, but Vernon was obviously not thinking clearly. Just before the large man could reach the mop and take it up, the object skidded across the floor to come to rest under the heel of Ginny's left foot.
"Where is Harry?" she asked, her voice soft yet laced with a deadly intent that only an idiot would fail to notice.
Naturally Vernon continued to bellow. "Get out of my house!"
Ginny's arm jerked up in a sharp motion, instantly followed by a loud crack. Her wand was clearly not in her hand, yet she blew the belligerent Vernon Dursley across the room. The startled man smashed into the far wall and dropped to the floor with a loud crash. Ginny took another step forward and bellowed in a manner that Arthur found frighteningly reminiscent of Molly.
"WHERE IS HARRY?!?!"
Accompanying Ginny's scream of rage the glass in every framed picture hanging in the entrance hall of Privet Drive shattered. It was not the intensity of her yell that broke the glass, but the wash of furious accidental magic that was rolling off Ginny in waves.
Oh dear, thought Arthur, she's getting angry.
Of their own volition Vernon's eyes glanced towards the cupboard under the stairs, even though he still declined to speak. Seeing this subtle indicator Arthur felt his own blood begin to boil as he recalled some of the horror stories Ron had told him about the Dursleys.
Arthur was about to stride over to the cupboard and open it, but apparently Ginny had also seen Vernon's eye flick to one side. Unlike her father, however, Ginny did not bother using her hands to open the cupboard.
With a crack of breaking wood the cupboard door was torn from its hinges and sent careening across the narrow room. The door smashed against the wall as the stairs leading up to the top floor began to splinter one after the other. The strength of Ginny's wandless magic was astounding and, Arthur realised, just a little terrifying.
Petunia Dursley has both crying and screaming at them, crouched over her fallen husband and trying to pull his bulky mass up. Hiding behind the two adults was their son, Dudley, who was clutching both hands protectively over his bottom.
"I'm going to kill them," breathed Ginny in a distracted tone. Her eyes were gazing vacantly at whatever sight lay hidden within the cupboard. Arthur could see the blood draining from her face as she dropped to her knees and reaching inside to pull Harry out into the open.
Arthur's blood, which was close to boiling, immediately ran cold as he saw the prone body of the Boy Who Lived. Despite his loud enthusiasm about the Muggles, and their plugs, there were still aspects of Muggle culture and technology that Arthur simply did not understand, nor did he think he ever would.
But he knew what a gun was.
And he could recognise the damage they inflicted on a body.
"I'll help," he snapped, turning his eyes to the Dursleys. His fingers gripping tightly around his wand as he glared daggers at the three Muggles. So that was why they had been so desperately trying to clean the floor.
They were trying to wash away the blood.
"Did you do this?" Dumbledore asked, his voice a hushed, barely audible, whisper.
Vernon sputtered about before attempting to make some sort of challenge against the professor. "Of course!" he snarled, sending Harry a vicious glare over Dumbledore's shoulder. "The boy's nothing but a complete waste! An abnormal freak like the rest of you! He should be thankful Petunia and I didn't drown him in a bucket the morning we found him!"
Dumbledore's face became livid and for an instant appeared truly terrifying. With a soft growl he leaned into Vernon's face, his twinkling blue eyes now as dark as a storm-tossed sea. He glared down at Vernon with a look that could almost kill and an aura of great power gathered around him as he slowly drew his wand.
Vernon, pale as chalk, wet himself.
***
Ginny had never felt so purely terrified in her life. Not even when Harry had so foolishly stepped in front of Avada Kedavra during the battle at Hogwarts. That had been different in so many ways. Harry had been down on the lawn, Ginny had been far away, high up on the Astronomy Tower.
And there had been very little blood.
Now there was a great deal of blood.
Pints of it. Everywhere. Harry's pale blue shirt was drenched in the dark red liquid, the blood oozing thickly from three places around his chest. The blood was matted in his hair and slowly trickled from his mouth and nose. His face was as pale as a porcelain doll and his lips were tinged blue, surrounded by red.
"Harry?" she asked, oblivious to everything around her save the boy whose head she lifted to cradle in her lap. She ignored the blood that immediately began to soak into her pleated skirt and gently shook his shoulder. "Harry?"
"But Hagrid," slurred Harry in a tired and almost childish voice. His eyes flickered open and looked blankly at her. "I can't play the piano."
Ginny blinked and then realized that he was probably delirious from blood loss and probably the shock as well. She ran a hand through his thick hair, ignoring the blood. "Harry? Don't worry, Harry, we're here."
He stared at her for several seconds, blinking slowly as a glimmer of recognition set in. His eyes shifted past her and he seemed to notice the others present. With a cough he turned his gaze back to Ginny.
"Get out."
"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry." Ginny shook her head, waves of guilt suddenly washing over her. She had tried to tell him everything would be all right with the Dursleys. This entire mess was probably all her fault and now he hated her for it. "Don't make me go, I want to--"
Another cough wracked his body and he grimaced in pain. "Get out of the house. Now!"
Her father knelt down beside them, reaching out to hold Harry's hand. "Harry--"
"Get her out of the house!" Harry yelled, blood spraying from his lips as his hand grabbed hold of her father's arm. A fit of coughs seized him and Harry convulsed where he lay.
"Listen Harry--" Mr Weasley tried to get Harry's attention and calm him down, but Harry resisted and interrupted once again, this time more vehemently than before.
"NOW! All of you, get out!"
Then Ginny felt Dumbledore's presence at her side and she looked up at the old wizard with pleading eyes, silently praying that he could reach Harry. "Harry--"
Again Harry interrupted, "All of you! Get-- Aaaargh!" Harry’s body spasmed, and a hoarse yell of agony escaped his lips as he thrashed violently in Ginny's arms. She heard a loud crack and a gasp of pain from her father and realized that Harry had accidentally broken Arthur's arm.
God he's in so much pain. Why doesn't he want our help?
"Harry?" she asked tentatively after he had fallen still, his breathing ragged and his eyes shut against the pain he was obviously feeling.
"Please... get out..." Harry begged, opening his eyes and looking imploringly at her, "get away... You're not safe here."
Dumbledore crouched down beside her, and Harry, placing a gently hand on Ginny's shoulder as he leaned forward. Her father had pulled free of Harry's crushing grip and was being seen to by her mother, as Dumbledore asked, "Harry, what's happening?"
Blood was dribbling from Harry's mouth and nose as he tried to speak. Unfortunately either the pain or the blood loss was preventing him for speaking clearly. All he could manage were gasped sentences between choking coughs of more blood.
"Can't stop it. Inside of me. It wants to break out. It's going to break out." Harry shook his head weakly. Ginny could feel his body tensing as she held him and his white, gold and red aura was fluctuating wildly. "Can't stop it. It'll get loose. So powerful. Savage. Mindless. Raw. Can't. Stop. It."
"Can't stop what?" asked Ron, kneeling at Harry's feet.
Harry arched his back and a scream tore from his throat as waves of energy radiated out from him, knocking everyone back. "I DON'T KNOW!!" he cried as the outburst slowly abated and he cried out in further pain. He glared at them, his eyes glowing with barely restrained power. "Get out!"
No, I'm not leaving you here alone.
Dumbledore considered for a moment and then nodded sharply. Her parents, McGonagall and the woman from the Department of Mysteries immediately vacated the premises, grabbing the cowering forms of the Dursleys as they went.
"Go! Go now! Leave me!"
The light from Harry's aura was now so bright that it had become visible to everyone watching and not just Ginny. Dumbledore took hold of Ginny's shoulder and tried to pull her up, but she refused to be separated from Harry.
"Dammit! Go!" shouted Harry, furiously, motioning at the others. Ginny tried to protest, but Ron, Fred, George and Dumbledore took firm grips and dragged her away. She struggled and fought tooth and nail, but it was no use.
As they hurried out the door and down the front garden to the street where the others were waiting, Ginny heard Harry cry out one more time.
"GO!"
And with a primal shriek of release that could be heard from one end of Little Whinging to the other, Harry Potter, and number four Privet Drive, ceased to exist.
TBC...