𝐄𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭

In the messy and dusty living room of the Black Manor sat the three pairs of youthful figures. Their faces showing serious and conflicting colors.

Harry's face held the troubled frown and deep calculating eyes, " An attempt on your life, you say ? How ?"

He looked at Hermione's downcast and somewhat fearful eyes, " We encountered them while making our way here. At that time, we were tired and hungry and stopped for a short rest in a desert cafe. They came in dressed as manual repair workers and started to throw curses as soon as they saw us "

Draco slowly scanned her face , searching for something , before asking, " Did you recognise either of them ? "

Pansy lifted her eyes to look at him and said respectfully, " Dolohov and Ralph "

A shuddering intake of breath sounded from Draco, his eyes alight with terror .

Harry sharply turned to face him, silently asking the cause of his fear. Their eyes met in the air and Draco said, " Death Eaters. More precisely, Death Eaters who were in Azkaban till yesterday "

Harry's eyes widened before he swiftly reined in the surprise. His eyes turned more grim, more dark now.

Each and everyone of them understood what this meant.

The ministry has fallen.

This said, the minister of magic might be already dead if not captured. Time is running like fine sand from their hands. With each passing day, the situation keeps getting more fatal.

Harry's eyes shone a ruthless light, he was angry, very angry.

" How ? " Asked Harry in a monotone voice.

No one answered. Their never nerves freezing from the cold anger directed towards them. With a scowl , Harry stood up.

" HOW ?! "

A stuttering gasp echoed Hermione's fear as Ron hurriedly said from her side, " I-it was me. I-i unknowingly called his name"

The rage and anger in Harry's eyes was overflowing, threatening to break out. How? How can he be so stupid ?! Calling that cursed name out loud even after knowing what it does !

Ron silently lowered his head, he was clear about his mistake and it's consequences on all of them. In the wizarding world, the name “ Voldemort ” was a taboo. A well known and justified taboo. He had no excuses for his stupidity.

A slender and fair hand touched Harry's shoulder and he , like a balloon blowing out air , breathed out all the burning anger suffocating his chest.

Harry looked at his side to Draco. This person , as cold and as biting as snow , inexplicably cooled his boiling anger from just a touch. He easily caught the wordless implication in Draco's eyes and slowly retreated to sit back down.

Draco calmly looked at Ron and asked,
" How did you deal with them ?"

At Draco's question, Ron let out a quiet but relieved huff and said, " Hermione obliviated them since killing them will draw too much attention. Before leaving, I erased all our traces of magic as much as possible "

" Hmm. They were probably aiming for Potter , having guessed that since you were there he might be as well. Good , that fortune was on our side this once " ; Draco acknowledged.

Harry continued, now cool and calm by Draco's deliberate grace, catching everyone's gaze one by one , slowly letting them understand his words and actions.

" What you did was good and well-thought with a quick response. But -" He paused before continuing with more emphasis and dominance, "- something like this should never occur again. There's too much on line, now. We can't afford failure "

Terse nods were seen through the room as Harry silently scanned and pried into them through their eyes, searching for the effect and importance of his words. Confirming that his words were inched deep in their bones, Harry looked at the still standing Draco and softly grazed the pale knuckles with his fingertips before gently pulling him down to sit beside him.

Now that the room was briefly silent , the small but clear voice of Theo, who was eerily silent since the very start, rang out, " I seem to have found something phenomenal here as well "

At once, the attention of everyone in the room was on him as he slowly continued, " Here, in the black mansion, there's a room on the first storey belonging to….to….Regulus Articulus Black "

Realisation flashed across several pairs of eyes . Harry and Draco looked at each other to see the same gleam of calculations shining on their faces. They effortlessly understood the other as if two bodies but one heart.

Harry had found out the note inside the locket at the Potter mansion. Soon, the news was relayed to the rest through the letters so as to let them keep a lookout for it as well. But never had they predicted that it would be Theo coming with the important piece of insight. Anyway, the slightly simplistic but proud look in Draco's eyes had told much of what he thinks about it.

Theo shortly continued, " If shortened , then it says- R.A.B "

Harry turned towards Theo, " Have you already searched the room ?"

" Yes. But there's nothing other that old garbage there "

Draco's eyes glowed as he said , " The note said that the real horcrux has been stolen and will be destroyed as soon as possible. But have they really did it ?-"

Before Draco could say anymore , a peculiar sound like the clanking of utensils was heard from the kitchen beside the living room they were in .

Without wasting time, Harry ran to the origin of it to reach a cabinet. With a flick of his wand , the wooden door was slammed open and the being inside restrained tightly , unable to escape.

Hoarse and cracking wails and exclamations rang out from inside .

Pointing his wand, Harry drew out the house elf , saying with clear disdain and disgust , " You've been spying on us , haven't you ?"

The still afloat elf flexed his thin and wrinkled arms, trying to break free before admitting defeat and saying, " Kreacher…..has been watching "

Pansy doubtfully looked at the old and withered house elf , saying, " Maybe he knows where the real locket is "

Harry lowered the elf on the ground and removed his restrain but still kept the wand tip pointing towards him.

Draco took out the locket from his pocket holding it out in clear sight. As soon as the elf caught the golden locked donning the styled and curved ‘S’ , his eyes widened with fright and he swiftly lowered his head refusing to look at the object as if even looking at it can curse you.

Harry's throaty voice alight with the promise of danger and threat , asked , "Have you seen this before?"

The bald head of the elf refused to rise still as his voice croaked , " A-aa-ah "

Green eyes narrowed casting a dark shadow on his eyes , making the green more gloomy . The voice grew darker and more dangerous as well ,
" Kreacher !"

Beady eyes hesitantly peered up as his body was half hidden behind the old mahogany table, " A-ah-it's master Regulus's locket..."

" But there were two , weren't there ? Where's the other one ? " Asked Draco in his smooth silvery voice.

The reluctant croak sounded , " it was here..... in this house "

" Where is it now ? Did someone take it ?" Came Harry's voice as his wand still pointed towards Kreacher inched further forward.

Kreacher's eyes glazed over as he reminisced the memory like a haunted dream , " He came...i~n the night….he took...many things... including the locket "

" Who did ? Who was it, Kreacher ?"

The fleshy pointed ears of the old elf flapped as he tilted his head to the side and spat with such hatred and resentment that Harry thought killing the said man wasn't above the elf.

His voice croaked and stretched, " M~undungus. Mundungus Fletcher "

Harry's eyes deeper with a deadly gleam as his wand slowly lowered.

" Find him "

Harry uttered ….no. He commanded. And Kreacher was reminded of his master Regulus . For once , a new hope rose in Kreacher's heart. Hope of salvation and of better future. Hope that he will finally be able to complete his master's last order. Hope that he will be able finally return to his master what he once owed him. Hope that his master's sacrifice won't be in vain. With a last look at the youthful face of his new master , Kreacher closed his eyes and disappeared.

In a room on the first storey , Harry silently sat beside Draco in the couch , relaxing for sometime before another problem comes to knock on their door.

He remembered how Draco's single touch calmed his down some time ago. And he realised that Draco's place in his life is somewhere so high that he himself can't see it.

Looking at him , Harry grateful albeit softly said ,
" Thankyou "

" For what ? " Draco asked with his eyes till closed.

" For helping me with the anger "

At this Draco opened his eyes and scanned Harry's handsome face before again shutting his lids to say
" I don't know what you are talking about , Potter "

Harry gave a deep amd amused chuckle , " It has been getting worse now a days, you know "

" Still don't know what you are talking about"

Another chuckle escaped Harry . Truly, Slytherins are Masters at politics , at getting what they want . Masters at getting their end of the deal . These cunning , ambitious , poisonous folks. But people often forget that a snake only bites when it's scared itself , it only attacks when it has no other option left.

Ron sat on the old chair in front of the grand dusty piano as Hermione sat beside him. She watched as he crudely played the tune of Für Elise, his fingers unused to being soft and gentle.

Chuckling , Hermione said, " That's not it . Here let me show you " before her small hand used to holding pens and wands came forward to play the soft tune of Für Elise .

Ron looked at the picturesque scene of a natural homely beauty playing a soft tune as a smile graced her lips. He was entranced before even noticing it.

Pansy sat at a distance , silently watching the enamoured look in Ron's eyes and the small smile on Hermione's face. And before she could stop herself , she stood up and walked towards the well structured back of the girl sitting in front of the piano.

She stealthily stood behind Hermione, almost touching her back. And as if feeling the burning warmth of her magic , Hermione flinched, jerking her hands back a little.

Ignoring the reaction, Pansy leaned forward , pressing her entire front on Hermione's back.

Even if Pansy was thin , her weight was something considerable , though not much for Hermione , only enough to make her slightly bend forward. Hermione felt the soft mounds of an ample chest and a warm body slightly more curvy than herself on her back. The warmth burned her as if ignited hot coal.

Hermione's mouth opened to let out a quivering breath, with a whispered voice she tried to say ,
" Pa-"

But before she could complete, a pair of hands so pale that they seemed to be made of wax , came forward . And Hermione feared. She feared that they would melt from the boiling heat of her heart.

The perfect and clear sound of Claire de Lune echoed through the living room. The silent , gentle but somewhat prideful and stern melody swirled and rippled in the air around.

Hermione stilled as she felt the body behind her lean more and more of their weight on her .

It just took a piece of her heart and a warmth encompassing her to straighten herself while still bearing the weight, willingly bearing the weight, to join her perfect melody and making it a little imperfect , intertwining them both to make an infinitely beautiful symphony .

It was enchanting.

The symphony as well as the fairies from whom it comes. The individual tunes as well as the mixed melody. The fingers who play as well as the heart which conveys.

All of them. Each and every one of them.
Beautiful

Beside them , Ron saw this scene as if a tapestry at Hogwards and quietly lowered his eyes. No one noticed but a watery shine glazed over them as his eyes lashes lowered , wishing to hide and conceal , wishing to forget .

He closed his eyes and focused on the melody and a smile as beautiful as a nightly blooming flower , incomparably breathtaking but shrouded in shadows , missed by all and noticed by none.

When he again lifted his face , the smile remained but the glassy shine was gone .

" That was beautiful , you know . Now I feel really stupid to even let you hear me play ! " Ron said , still smiling.

" Oh ! Off with it now . Now that you have heard me play , I expect better than those torture skills next time." Pansy said , taunting .

" Pansy !" Hermione said , looking at her in reproach.

Their banter went back and forth as Ron thought, 'She isn't bad . But instead she is better , isn't she ? She is better beside Hermione '

As he was lost in his thought, the sound of the back door in the kitchen opening reached their ears. Everyone in the house and them as well made their way towards it.

In came the figure of a fat and clearly disgusting man from the look on his face and deceit in his eyes. Kreacher sitting on his head , clutching his nose through the finger in his nostrils and Dobby holding on to his leg made it difficult to walk making his limp instead.

As soon as the young house elf caught the sight of Harry , he exclaimed , " Harry Potter ! So long it's been !"

The balance which already wasn't steady soon disappeared making the man collapse face on to the floor.

As he fell , A pan flew from Kreacher's hand to his head in a vicious attack. Kreacher walked to dutifully closed the opened door , saying all the while , " As requested, Kreacher has returned with the thief "

Ron , as the first one to notice the man drawing his wand , spells , " Expelliarmus !" The wand instantly flew to his hand .

Kreacher continued, " Mundungus Fletcher! "

Mundungus slowly walked around the dining table in the middle of the dining room , " What are you trying to do ? Sending these wretched house elves to kidnap me , are you ? "

Dobby simultaneously climbed on the long table followers by Kreacher behind him as his said , " Dobby was only trying to help. Dobby saw Kreacher in Diagon alley which Dobby thought was….curious . And-and then Dobby heard Kreacher mention Harry Potter's name "

Krecher who was behind him softly tried to come forward but was immediately pushed back as dobby continued in one minded focus , " A-and then Dobby saw Kreacher talking with the thief -"

Mundungus shouted , cleary enraged , " I am not a thief , you foul -" Harry's eyes gleamed at him and he tersely corrected himself , frightened by the cold sweat on his back " git "

Putting on a pitiful and innocent act he said , " I am a acquirer , prayer of wondrous objects "

Draco even though a drop or two might leak from his eyes.

Ron , not able to take anymore nausea, directly said, " You are a thief , Fletcher. Everyone knows it "

Dobby's face again bloomed like a sun in summer sky , with great respect and reverence , he said , "Master Weasley ! So good to see you again ! "

" Me as well , Dobby " Ron said .

Mundungus , clearly scared by six wizards and two house elves closing in on him , panicked and said ,
" Listen ! I panicked that night, okay ! It wasn't my fault that I fell off the broom and lost it "

Hermione sternly said, " Tell the truth " but took no other action against him.

But Pansy had enough , saying with a scowl and gritted teeth , " He won't listen like this "

She swiftly raised her wand with a swosh and threatened , " Spit it out ! "

Harry as the one foremost ahead , said , " When you turned this place over - don't deny it …. You found a locket . Am I right ?"

The rotten man , still said with a breed filled voice , " Why ? Was it valuable ?"

Hermione immediately followed, " He's still go it "

As the man tried to rise from the chair he had been cornered in two wands pressed on his skin. One belonging to Kreacher pressed his stomach while the other belonging to Pansy pointed to the forehead. Telling which one was more fatal was impossible but his gut told him that both were dangerous.

Behind them Ron said , " Bleeding , he didn't get enough money for it , Is it ? "

Finally, he slumped back down , " Bleeding, give it away , didn't I ? There I was flogging my way in Diagon alley and then some ministry aid comes up and asked to see my license. Said she wanna lock me up . But I've got children at home , I said . So she made it die with the locket "

Harry's eyes narrowed, " Who was she ? The witch ? Do you know her ?"

Mundungus held his bald head and said , " No . I - "

But stopped short when he caught the sight of a newspaper laying on the dirty floor beneath . At once he jolted up to pick up the newspaper. Roughly dusting it , he said with wide eyes , " This is it ! Look ! It's her !"

He turned the paper towards them to show the moving picture of a woman in pink clothes , pick hat and pink shoes , with a disgustingly sugary smile on her disgusting and ugly face .

Silence reigned for some shocked as tongue tied seconds.

With mouth still dropped , Ron said ,

" Dolores Umbridge "

The ministry road was as busy as ever . Men and women walked by in stiff suits and perfect fair . Their blankest expression ready to be seen as they walk .

Inside a smelly room , precisely a garbage deposit room , stood the figures of Harry , Ron , Hermione and Pansy. Accidentally exposing Draco who is supposed to be dead is not an option while Theo …. is a complicated case.

Well , how can you take a sweet shy boy and overall Draco's small pampered sworn brother out on a suicide mission ?

Harry felt a tingle of resentment in his chest. When talked about Theo , Draco vehemently opposed as if it was his own son . And Harry ? What about Harry ? Let alone opposition to putting him in danger , he didn't even blink an eye when sending Harry off ! On the other hand , Pansy , Hermione and even Ron got a personal caution warning from Draco ! But for him ? Not even a look , let alone a word !

Aiihhh ! Really hateful ! Really really hateful !

Getting out of his self inflicted hell , Harry looked at the four figures , two if wizards and two if witches, lying on the dirty floor, said , " Have all of you got your potions ?"

Four small bottles lifted up and as Harry gave his final nod . All of them emptied at once .

Pained moans and cracks echoed in the space which quietened down after some tough minutes.

For ministry officials , hesitantly stepped out of a door and onto the busy road and made the people passing by think .

Two men ...and two women…. stepping out of a room together ….with wobbly legs and crumpled clothes….

Ahhhh!!! Eithu !!!!

[ Eithu - the sound of spitting ]

Such dirty people ! Doing such immoral amd dirty deeds ! That too early in the morning ! And with four people together ! And by the looks and age , all of them might already be married and with kids !!

Eithu ! Eithu ! Eithu ! Let mother magic punish these dirty and disgusting lecherous people ! No shame they have ! What will their ancestors say ?! What will their children learn from such shamless devils ?!

So as they walked forward , the stinky eyes of people surrounding followed them all the way through . Feeling their eyes on him like creeping snakes , Ron bent sideways forgetting that he is shorter than Harry in this body and said , " Mate , why are they looking at us like that ?"

Harry's eyes scanned around but he wasn't affected by the stares and kept his calm , saying , " Honestly , I don't know and I don't want to know as well "

As they soon entered and queues for the ….toilet ….. Ron's head swirled and eyes twitched from thinking about how they were supposed to aparate.

Were … they... supposed to take a shit or something?

His face twisted with the thought. No ….not likely then what ? Ron couldn't think of anything else. Without even him realising his chance came to enter the ….toilet ….

Harry opened the door and entered .

And I side was the clean white marble made seat filled with clean water . Ready for him to use .

But ... how ?

Harry peered here and there . Maybe if he flipped the lid , he would automatically aparate .

So , he did .

Hmmm….let's see…

No. it's not that it seems . Then... maybe if he sat on the seat ? With pants on or without pants ? Pants up or pants down ?

Up or down ?

Up….or …..down….

Huh ? Such a hard question and no way to tell.

….

At the same time Ron entered as well . Now , what to do ? Shitting is not an option. So what ?

And for once in his life , Ron used his brain! Note this time and date people ! We need to make this the International intellectuals day ! What was today's date anyway ? Ahh ... nevermind.

Ron stood up on the seat on the toilet and peered on the stall beside him . Silently hoping for good luck and fortune so as to not see the hairy , fat and disgusting buttocks.

The tightly closed eyes slowly and hesitantly opened.

Hahhhh ! The relief ! No hairy oldman buttocks !

Ron delightedly and gleefully looked at how the fat man stepped….inside …..the toilet ….

Not so gleefully afterall .

The man then flushed and Ron was grateful that his toilet seemed to be unused to anything other than aparating.

The thunks and thumps from the stall on the other side caught his attention and rin remember that I was Harry beside him. So, like a good friend he was . He happily peered into the other stall .

….No….this can't be true …. No….hairy buttocks !!! Why ?!?

" Ahhh ! " Ron shouted before shutting himself up.

The middle aged man he was looking down at quickly pulled up his pants and looked up at him , " Who are you ?! What are you doing ?!?"

And Ron convinced himself with difficulty to open his mouth and not vomit but spell words.

His brows furrowed in desperation , he fiercely whispered, " Mate ! It's me ! Ron ! "

Recognition flashed in Harry's new and very common, wrinkled and mustached face , " Oh . It's you. Sorry...it just that ...you don't look like yourself "

Ron's brows were still furrowed , " What were you doing, mate ?"

Eyes widened , and Harry uttered , " I was trying to aparate actually "

" You are supposed to flush yourself in , mate . What did you think you had to do ?"

" I - well - nevermind . Let's get done with it. We are behind the schedule "

" We had a schedule ?"

" Just do it , will you ?!"

" Okay , okay "

Seconds later , the sound of the toiled being flushed and Harry and Ron flushing in it like stinking shit rang out from adjacent stalls .

Harry , Ron , Hermione and Pansy stood in front of the central statue of magic together. They looked at the statue . The huge boulder crushing bodies of men , women and children beneath as they try to get out but can't. The big ‘ Magic is Might ’ decorating the boulder.

He quietly asked Hermione, " Are those ?"

" Muggles ….in their …. rightful place "

" How long did you say this potion's gonna last ?"

" I didn't " , she sighed.

Magazine and wanted flyers flew past above their heads to neatly land in the table kept at the side. Harry could cleary read what it said -

Wow ! Now there was even a bounty placed on his head. Such an honour !

In front , a tall skinny man with half bald head stood and with him came none other than their primary target - Dolores Umbridge.

With a scheming smile , the man said , " Good morning, everyone . I am your new minister of magic Pius Thickeness . And as your new minister of magic , I promise you all to restore this temple of tolerance to its former glory . Therefore, beginning today , each employee will submit themselves…. for evaluation "

He paused as some death Eaters dragged a beaten up and bleeding man past him. Ruthlessly pulling him by the collar as the blood from the wound on this face dropped on the marble floor below .

He , then continued, with a even bigger happier smile, " But know this...you have nothing to fear...if you have nothing to hide"

From beside him, the vicious and poisonous giggle of Umbridge echoed , settling the fear deeper into the heart of the audience.

Getting into the elevator, the doors were about to close after them , when an old grey haired man stopped it before saying, "Cattermole !"

They instinctively turned around.

He scathingly continued, " My office is still raining and it's been two days , now"

Ron heavily gulped . He said in a quivering voice, "umm.. Have you tried an umbrella?"

The man's face remained cold as his voice took on a threatening tone " You do remember that I am going downstairs, don't you ?"

Ron's face scrunched in confusion, " Downstairs ?"

" To interrogate your wife "

The man's eyes narrowed and cold sweat dropped down Ron's back , " Now, if my wife's blood status was in doubt and the minister of law enforcement needed a jib doing … then I might just make that a priority. You have one hour "

And with this , the man turned around and left by the same steps he came.

The doors of the lift closed and Ron stood their stunned .

After some time , he said in a worried and shivering voice , " Oh my god ! My wife's all alone downstairs ! What do I do ?"

Harry : "…."

Hermione : "...."

Pansy : "...."

A hard slap sounded as a palm hit Ron's head . And astonishingly, it was Pansy .

" Ouch ! "

" Does this thing have rocks in side ? Or was the polyjuice potion defected ?" , Pansy said .

" Why did you hit me ?!"

Harry sighed with helplessness and Hermione said, word by word , very slowly and clearly , " Ron , you don't have a wife "

Ron : "..."

Ron : ( ಠ_ಠ )

Ron : " oh yeah… I don't have a wife "

Pansy looked at him and thought , ' Draco, why did you do this to me ? Did you hate me so much ? Wasn't I your sworn sister ? Why ? Why , Draco ? Why?'

Then her eyes drifted to stop on Hermione and she thought , ' But...consider yourself luckily Draco . Fortune is really on your side . If it wasn't , then you might have been already made into a meat pie by me long ago '

Little did she know that it wasn't Draco who was the Golden boy , the chosen one and the boy-who-lived.

Draco was just a boy who was loved by the golden boy , the chosen one and the boy-who-lived.

How will Harry let his beloved be unlucky when fortune , fate and destiny bowed at his feet since the day he was born ?

is this possible ?

No ! Obviously , it isn't !

TBC