Rescuing Harry
Hermione’s POV
As the group heads to the front door Hermione can see the silhouettes of two people in the window, and they appear to be arguing. Just as she is about to let the rest of the group know, they all stop as the yelling has started to get loud enough for them to hear.
“We can’t let him stay here, look what he’s done to Dudley” Vernon yells, frantically trying to convince Petunia that the boy needs to leave, for their safety.
“You already heard that awful letter, we can’t kick him out, the boy must stay with us, this is for our safety that he does.” Petunia’s voice cracks, not truly wanting to disagree with Vernon.
“Blast the whole lot of them, they brought whatever this is on themselves, we will just pack up, we will go somewhere they can’t find us” Vernon yells, even more frustrated.
“Vernon be quiet we don’t want the neighbours to hear” Petunia shouts.
Just then a third silhouette appears and it’s Harry’s voice that is heard next. “I’m not going to stay here, as soon as I figure out a way to get to safety I’m leaving, you don’t need to worry about that.”
Hermione knew that this was the right moment and proceeded to walk up to the door and knock, softly but with an urgency that she hoped meant the Dursleys would open the door. With the rest of the group behind her she waited for what seemed like several minutes. She was about to knock again when suddenly the door flew open and Vernon Dursley stood menacingly at the doorway, the first words out of his mouth a quick rush that Hermione almost didn’t catch. “Sorry about all the yelling, our nephew has caused us some great trouble and we can’t decide what to do with him,” he paused quickly once he finally saw who was at the door, it was none of his neighbours.
“Hello Mr. Dursley” Hermione stated calmly yet sternly, “I’m Hermione Granger, and these are the Weasleys, Arthur, Molly and their son Ron. Ron and I go to school with Harry. We would like to come inside and discuss the safety of Harry if you don’t mind,” and with that she walked right past the man who was now in too much shock to even say anything.
Petunia was in just as much shock, and stood there her mouth agape, as Harry ran to embrace Hermione in a hug. “How did you get here, all of you? How did you know I was in trouble?” Harry stumbled over the questions.
Hermione returned the hug as the Weasleys gathered behind them in the living room of the Dursleys. “Arthur was at the Ministry and overhead that you got a summons for using magic in front of a muggle. We can explain how we got here later, but for now we need to get you to where it’s safe.” Hermione quickly explained. “Ron, you and Harry go get all his stuff while we settle the Dursleys down. Arthur, maybe you should go with them just as an extra precaution, Molly, why don’t you go make some tea, I’ll check on Dudley, he seems to still be very shaken up.”
Harry, Ron and Arthur head up the stairs and they can hear things being tossed around and Hedwig hooting. Molly heads into the kitchen and magically begins boiling some tea, Hermione walks over to where Dudley is still mummering and rocking back and forth and hands him a chocolate bar. She’s always got a few on hand now that the Dark Lord has control of the Dementors. Dudley surprisingly takes it willingly and takes a bite, a bit of colour already returning to his ashen face. Petunia and Vernon look on, fear in their eyes.
“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, what happened tonight was not Harry’s fault, he protected Dudley from some very evil creatures, ones that if Harry had not used magic would have left Dudley in a trance, his soul sucked from his body, making him nothing more than a mere shell of himself. We do not know why these creatures were here in Little Whinging but they were, and now Harry is facing a lot of trouble with the Ministry of Magic. You could say they are the muggle form of police. We are going to take Harry to a safe place, and we would like to protect you as well. I will personally assist you in finding a new place to live until the war in the wizarding world is over. You have done enough by allowing Harry to stay here, it is the least I can do to thank you for keeping him safe,” Hermione explains to the two shell shocked Dursleys standing across the room from her. Her thoughts wandered to all the stories Harry shared about how the Dursleys treated him. Although it was the right thing to do, to offer them protection, she really just wanted to keep them away from Harry. She didn’t want him suffering anymore at their hands, and she knew that with all that had just transpired they would treat him even worse than before.
Vernon gruffly sits down and huffs out a sigh, the fear on his face easing a slight bit, while Petunia walks up to Hermione, her hands shaking, she takes one of Hermione’s into her own, “Hermione, is it? You can’t take Harry away from us, we won’t be safe unless he is within our house. I can’t speak on it, as I don’t know how it works, but what I do know is Lily,” Petunia sneered while mentioning her sister, “my dear sister, protected us, and this house with magic, that if Harry was to need to live with us, we would all be safe.”
A clatter of broken china is heard, as Molly had walked into the room just in time to hear the last bit of what Petunia Dursley had to say about Lily. “I am so sorry, let me just fix this right up,” Molly stutters.
“Molly, let’s try and not use magic in front of the Dursleys, they are pretty shaken up as it is” Hermione quickly said before Molly could do just that.
“Yes, you’re right Hermione dear. Now, Petunia, did I hear correctly that Lily placed a protection over this house?” Molly turned her attention to the still standing Dursley.
“I…I guess that is what she did. I know nothing about it, other than she said it would only protect us if Harry lived here with us. I got a letter, a red one, and it reminded me of that fact and now, I’m afraid we can’t let Harry leave. We won’t be safe” Petunia says as she looks between her son, who has now finished the entire chocolate bar Hermione gave him, and her husband who is grumbling under his breath, something about their kind and how he doesn’t want any part of this anymore.
“Petunia, I know you're afraid but Harry coming with us is the safest option for him, and yourself. If the Dark Lord was to find out that this is where Harry is living, he would stop at nothing to get to him, and that means ending your lives. He is a vile man, and no amount of protection will stop him. The only thing that we can do is offer you a safe house somewhere nobody knows where you are, except for what we call a secret keeper. You will be safe and can stay there until the wizarding war is over and then can return here if you choose to.” Molly softly explains as she takes Petunia by the shoulders and leads her to a chair.
Petunia sits and sighs as she contemplates what Molly has just said. Vernon has now looked up unsure of what is about to happen when suddenly Dudley stammers out: “let them take Harry, we all need to stay safe,” he sighs and slips deeper into his chair. “Whatever those things were, they didn’t care that I wasn’t their kind, they came after me too, and if they are on the side of this Lord Darkness then I can only imagine what he will do to us to get to him.”
“He’s right Petunia, your best choice for safety is to listen to Molly and be taken to a safe house, and for Harry to come with us” Hermione says, just as Harry, Ron and Arthur trampled back down the stairs.
“We’ve got everything, we need to get out of here! We’ve already been here for too long,” Ron blurts out.
“Ronald, now is not the time, Arthur, why don’t you take the boys’ and Harry’s things to the house we just came from, and let Hermione and I finish up here” Molly says. “We need to find a safe house to take the Dursleys to until the war is over.”
“Why do they need a safe house?” Ron asked angrily, while stomping towards the front door, carrying Hedwig’s cage.
“We owe it to Lily to keep them safe, Hermione and I found out tonight that Lily placed some kind of protection charm over this house, so long as Harry lived here, she wanted to keep her sister safe despite their differences, so we will keep them safe as well.” Molly calmly stated to the rest of them.
“Fine, but I won’t be helping them at all” Ron shouted as he stormed out of the front door, Arthur and Harry quickly following him, trying to calm him down.
“Petunia, Vernon, you need to pack anything of importance, and gather anything else you want to keep safe. Hermione and I will be back as soon as we can to move you and your family to a safehouse. Be prepared as quickly as possible, we can’t waste anymore time.” Molly stated firmly.
“Dudley, here is another chocolate bar, only eat it if you start feeling the symptoms again, and start getting anything you want to keep safe.” Hermione added, speaking directly to the youngest of the Dursleys.
“Thank you for helping us, I know Harry’s told you about the way he's been treated here. That other boy made it very obvious he hates us, and why would he if he didn’t know? I’m sorry for that and now that I know just what lurks out there, that may be after us and after you guys, I promise, to not be like that anymore. I would actually like to learn more about the world you live in.” Dudley said, shocking everyone in the room, especially Hermione.
“When the war is over, you can come and visit us, Dudley, and we will answer any questions you have, I promise. For now let me get you and your parents to safety.” Hermione says as she walks over to the door.
“I won’t thank you, not until you can tell us we are truly safe” Vernon said gruffly as he opened the door for the two remaining women.
Completely ignoring him, Hermione looked to Petunia and reminded her softly, “Pack only the essentials, and the things that mean the most to you, we will be back as soon as we can,” and with that, Molly, and Hermione left 4 Privet Drive and walked back to Arabella Figgs’ home where Arthur, Harry and Ron waited for them.
Once everyone was gathered in Arabella’s living room, they quickly decided that Arthur would apparate with the boys first, while Molly would apparate with Hermione and all of Harry’s belongings. They quickly shrunk Harry’s belongings to fit into a small bag making it easier to carry, they released Hedwig from her cage and let her know where they would be going. Before Arthur was able to leave, Arabella quickly mentioned, “Just what do you want to do about Mundungus, I won’t keep him here any longer.”
“I will take him back with us, I’ll take the boys and then come back for him, Molly, and Hermione you go ahead of us and let the other house guests know to be expecting an unhappy visitor,” Arthur said.
“Alright, Hermione, are you ready?” Molly asked as she linked arms with her, and with a nod they were gone. When they appeared in the front room of 12 Grimmauld Place, Sirius was there anxiously awaiting them.
Sirius’ POV
Without giving them a chance to speak, Sirius demands: “Where is Harry, were you able to get him, why isn’t he with you?”
“Calm down Sirius, it is okay, Arthur is coming with him in just a minute. He then has to return to Mrs. Figgs and bring back a surprise guest,” Molly explains.
“As long as Harry is safe that is all that matters to me, but who is this guest?” Sirius questions Molly with a look of concern on his face.
“It's Mundungus Fletcher, he was supposed to be guarding Harry when the dementors attacked him” Molly replied.
“DEMENTORS, WHAT DO YOU MEAN DEMENTORS,” Sirius screamed, “WHY WERE THERE DEMENTORS ANYWHERE NEAR HARRY?”
“Sirius, he’s okay, Harry cast a patronus charm that saved both himself and his cousin Dudley. Harry is safe,” Hermione says just as the three guys appear in front of them.
“Harry, are you okay?” Sirius asks as he runs to hug him, nearly suffocating him in his arms.
“Sirius, I’m okay, a little shaken up, I mean who would have thought there would be dementors in Little Whinging? And why were they even there?” Harry responds, his voice still a bit shaken up.
“Voldemort has control of the dementors, that's why there have been prison breaks. He probably sent them to look for you.” Arthur piped up, “I need to go back and get Mundungus, I will be back shortly.”
“In the meantime I need to go and find a safehouse for the Dursleys, we agreed to protect them until the wizarding war is over.” Hermione states matter of factly.
“Why should we protect them? They abused Harry.” Ron scoffs, still very upset at the thought.
“We should protect them because it's what Lily would have wanted,” Molly chided Ron.
“Lily, what do you mean Lily would want to protect them?” Sirius questioned, unsure of just what transpired at the Dursleys.
“Petunia informed us that Lily placed some type of protective magic over them and their home so long as Harry lived with them. We owe it to Lily to keep them safe, until Voldemort is no longer a threat to them, or anyone else,” Molly added.
“I will go and look at the notes I have about safe houses and find one that will be suitable for them, oh and Harry, Dudley would like to apologise to you for the way he has treated you over the years, as well as thank you for saving his life. He would also like to learn more about our world. I told him once the war was over he would be welcome to join us.” Hermione stated, hoping Harry would understand just how important this was to Dudley.
“Of course, he only treated me that way, because that is what he knew from my aunt and uncle, he was never allowed to treat me differently, though there were times that he tried, when we were younger. I want to have a chance to get to know him better.” Harry said, a smile on his face.
With that Hermione left the room, to look into finding the Dursleys a safehouse, and Arthur showed up with Mundungus shortly after. They all decided that it was best to let Dumbledore deal with him, so they left him bound to a chair in the front room while they waited for his return from the Ministry.
Harry and Ron followed Hermione up the stairs while Arthur, Molly and Sirius moved into the kitchen.
“What do we do next? Harry needs to know just how risky it is for him to be out in the streets. I think he should be kept home from Hogwarts, I don’t think the school will be safe.” Sirius remarks.
“He needs an education, Sirius, Dumbledore will keep him safe, you know that as well as the rest of us. If it wasn’t for Dumbledore, Harry would already be dead.” Molly said, her voice sounding exasperated.
“Let him choose, he is old enough to know the consequences. We just have to give him all the information so he is properly informed” Arthur added. Trying to appease both his wife, and Sirius was becoming a bit more difficult then he initially thought it would be.
“Fine, we will talk to him now before Dumbledore gets here and tries to push his way around,” Sirius grimaced as he thought of the old wizard, he still didn’t trust him completely.
“Harry, we would like to have a word with you. Can you come down into the kitchen?” Molly yelled up the stairs to where the three teens were currently looking through Hermione’s notes.