chapter 2
Harry's Journey Chapter 2

note: some of the punctuations went nuts on the site as seen at chapter 1.. i only managed to save some.. but some of them are still wonky.. anyway.. those wonky symbols rep --> ' or "... ok.. thanks.. er.. and i thinkk chapter 2 might be a bit of a disappointment. hahas.

Stepping out into the evening sun, Harry closed the door silently behind him. He felt as though his heart had not yet left where he just had. Looking across the street, he could have sworn that he saw Mrs Figg waving at him through the window of her house before disappearing behind the moth-eaten curtains Harry had once played with when he was seven. He could hardly believe he had once thought that he would never stop hating the Dursleys for neglecting him, leaving him with old Mrs Figg every time they felt like depriving him of something but now he had just left the house reluctantly, with a sad and quiet goodbye. Harry had not yet had the chance to thank her properly when she had turned up at his disciplinary hearing two years ago, helping him out of the tight spot when the Minister then had been determined to get him expelled from Hogwarts. Perhaps I should thank her before I leave, Harry thought. But Ron was already nudging Harry ahead as he munched on the chocolate he had managed to nick from Dudley's room before leaving the house.

The journey to London could not be any smoother. Ron had been particularly against Harry’s idea of taking the Knight Bus, thus they set off towards the London Underground. Although Harry did not think that any of them would be attacked in the crowded muggle street under the hot evening sun, he remained alert, keeping an eye on the people and things around him. The sun was setting soon and Harry knew that it would be dangerous if they only reached Diagon Alley late at night. The trio walked quickly in the direction of Charing Cross Road after alighting from the Underground to where Harry knew the Leaky Cauldron was situated as Ron continued to point out the ticket barrier and escalators along the way.

"You are quite like your father, you know," Harry grinned despite his irritation. Ron grinned sheepishly back and resumed craning his neck to look out for things he had never seen before. After a short walk, they reached the shop front of Leaky Cauldron. Pushing the door open, Harry led the way into the pub. It was, once again, as completely empty as Harry’s last memory of the place. Tom was still sitting at the bar, looking gloomy and positively worried. Whether it was for his business or for his family members, Harry did not know. Tom merely stared off into empty space, neither budging nor acknowledging their presence.

"You know, the way he's acting… No one would know if he's dead," Ron whispered.

"Ron!" Hermione hissed. "Don't say things like that. It's horrible." Harry said nothing though he privately agreed. Cedric had died with his eyes wide open when he had been hit with the Killing Curse.

The trio crossed the bar to the little courtyard where the dustbins stood. Hermione raised her wand and tapped the bricks that would open an archway to let the three of them through to the winding cobbled street. Once they were through, the three of them walked closer together, looking around warily as they proceeded to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

"Blimey," Ron said in a low whisper. All three of them were at a loss for words upon seeing the now empty and quiet Diagon Alley. Though Diagon Alley had become a quiet and dull street since the news of Voldemort’s return last year, it was nothing like this. Harry had never been in Diagon Alley during the night, not even when he used to stay in the Leaky Cauldron for days when he was thirteen, having left Privet Drive after blowing up his aunt. It may be Harry's first night out on the streets of Diagon Alley, but already he did not like the look of it at all.

Shops remained closed and the posters the Ministry of Magic had put up bearing security advice and photographs of Death Eaters were still pasted over the windows and doors of various shops. But the street was deserted. Not a single soul was in sight and Harry had the feeling that some shops had been uninhabited for a long time, judging from the dusty shop windows he had spotted along the way. The display of robes from Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions had disappeared from the display windows and it seemed like she had closed her shop. Flourish and Blott's had their signboard taken down, and for some reason, it seemed like a fight had broken out previously. The windows were smashed and Ron pointed out something on the door that looked horribly like blood.

Harry could not imagine what had happened to Diagon Alley within the year. He had expected people to be more careful after the news of Dumbledore’s death, but he had not expected such a huge change within such a short span of time. Harry seriously wondered whether the situation had been the same in the past when Voldemort was still alive-but Dumbledore had been alive too, then. The Death Eaters must have been active upon seeing their advantage. They could now have a clear field for what they had been planning for the past two years since Voldemort had risen again. The three of them could not help pointing out to each other the ominous signs of struggles or fights they had spotted along the way to the joke shop while walking through the thick swirling mist that Harry swore was caused by the presence of Dementors not long ago. He seriously doubted that the Dementors were there to search for the escaped Death Eaters and scowled at Bellatrix Lestrange's poster on the door of Eeylop's Owl Emporium. His immense hatred for that particular Death Eater had no, and would never subside when she had so brutally murdered his godfather with a deadly curse.

Harry felt a shiver down his spine as the chill of the weather increased the longer he walked along the quiet street. Whether it was caused by the mist or by the loud silence in Diagon Alley, he did not know. Darkness fell completely as they approached Fred and George’s shop. Harry was not surprised to see that their advertisement of U-No-Poo had been removed and replaced by one of the Ministry posters. At least Fred and George know their limits. He thought. With Dumbledore gone… They must know they have to be careful. Hermione reached for the door when it swung open so abruptly that she backed away, emitting a soft scream of terror that rang out through the silence in the street.

"Sshh!" It was Fred. "It's me. We saw you coming up the street. Why didn't you use your Invisibilty Cloak? It's already dark." He stepped aside quickly to let them in. Harry felt warmth sweep over his frozen hands as he stepped into the shop. Fred gave them a bar of chocolate each.

"Eat. The Dementors were here not long ago," he explained, upon seeing the quizzical look on Ron’s face. "Haven't you noticed?"

"Yes, we have, "Hermione said quickly. "Are your parents here yet?"

"Yes. So are some of the members of the Order. And we have one new member," Fred said, rolling his eyes.

"Fleur?" Harry asked, grinning. Fleur was engaged to Bill and their marriage would be held in about two weeks’ time. Harry was still having second thoughts about going.

"You got it," Fred replied, smiling slightly as Hermione’s eyes widened in surprise.

"Fleur? Willing to join the Order?" she asked, looking around as though searching for something that would contradict Fred in some way.

"Of course. I don’t know why you are surprised, Hermione. Fleur is already engaged to Bill," Fred replied. "I've been waiting for this ever since she announced their engagement."

"But…" Hermione began, but Harry interrupted her.

"Where are they?" Harry asked, popping the chocolate into his mouth.

"Upstairs. Come with me," Fred replied quickly, leading the way. "Turn off the lights on your way up, Ron. We don't want to attract attention if the Death Eaters come trudging in at night."

"Have they been raiding Diagon Alley?"Harry asked, though he already knew the answer.

"Oh yes. Quite a few times already. Noticed Flourish and Blotts? The shop got torn down and the owner was taken away," Fred said as he climbed up the stairs.

"By the Death Eaters?" Ron asked.

"No. By St Mungo's. He went mad, I heard. Wasn't here when the raid occurred," Fred said, opening the door once they reached the landing. Harry had a fleeting glimpse of the room before Mrs Weasley came hurtling out from behind a small desk and hugging the three of them tightly.

"Oh Ron!" she cried. "Harry and Hermione, dears. You three made us so worried! Why didn't you turn up in the afternoon? Don't go wandering around by night again!" She let go of them to allow them into the tiny room cramped with many boxes of the twins' inventions and people whom Harry had not met over a year. Mr Weasley, Lupin, Tonks, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Kingsley Shacklebolt and, to Harry's surprise, Ginny, were all seated on the two beds in the room. Lupin and Tonks stood up at once when the three of them entered the room.

"We had some… last words to say to Harry's aunt and uncle,"Hermione explained.

"How did they treat you?" Mrs Weasley asked quickly. "All three of you seem to have lost so much weight…"

"No, Mrs Weasley. We are fine. Really," Harry said firmly. He had been expecting this reaction when he first stepped into the room. "They have been better than usual."

"That's right, Mum. With Dudley Dursley around, you can never have enough food during every meal," Ron said, reaching out for the Chocolate Frogs on the table.

"Let them catch their breath first, Molly," Lupin said gently. "We'll be filling them in with details soon."

"What details?" Harry asked, crossing the room and sitting down next to Ginny. "And what happened to Tom?"

"Apparently, he got a shock because Death Eaters raided his bar to get to a couple hiding in the pub. He wasn't injured… Well… Not physically, at least," Tonks said grimly. "We're coming with you, Harry. Didn't Remus tell you in the letter?"

"Yes, he did," Harry said slowly. "But we want to go on the journey alone."

"I can't have that," Mrs Weasley said immediately. "It's too dangerous."

"Yes. We are all for the idea of going with you, Harry," Lupin replied. Harry looked around at all of them. Should he tell them what kind of mission he was embarking on? Dumbledore did not say he could tell, but neither did he say he could not. Anyway, Dumbledore had always advised Harry to tell those he trusted about what was going on. He trusted all of them, and most of all, Lupin and the Weasleys.

Harry knew perfectly well that none of them had gotten over Dumbledore’s death and that some of them wanted to be with him, to protect him, now that Dumbledore would not be able to do so. For the past few weeks at Privet Drive, he had been spending a lot of time thinking about Cedric, Sirius and Dumbledore, each dying one by one for Harry. Although Cedric's death had not been for him, it was he who had asked Cedric to take the Triwizard Cup with him. If only he had listened to Cedric and taken the Cup alone, Cedric might still be alive. The fact that Harry could see Thestrals after that horrible incident at the graveyard still disturbed Harry very much.

He looked at each of them in turn, before resting his eyes on Ginny. He knew that Ginny wanted to be with him to know that he would be safe, to know that he was all right. He wanted Ginny to be by his side, too. But he had made things clear to her at Dumbledore’s funeral that he could not be with her anymore or she would be subjected to the threat of the Death Eaters. He did not want to lose another person he loved so much, especially when his relationship with Ginny had just started… and ended. He could not have that. Neither did he want any of his friends to sacrifice their lives for him anymore. He had to learn to protect himself one day, against all Dark Magic, against Voldemort. The prophecy stated that only Voldemort could destroy him or, he, Harry, had to destroy Voldemort. No one could interfere even if they wanted to and past events showed clearly that they could lose their lives if they tried interfering. His parents, Sirius and Dumbledore… All of them had sacrificed themselves in order to help Harry survive. Voldemort would make sure it was he himself who would kill Harry in the end and would not care how many people he would have to kill to destroy Harry.

The room was filled with silence as everyone’s attention fixed on Harry, who was sitting on the bed thinking of how he should explain to them and what exactly he should tell them in order to persuade them in letting the three of them go on this journey alone. He could not seem to find the right words to start. Looking pointedly at Ron and Hermione for help, they each returned a helpless look and a shrug. But Harry knew that they would respect his decision no matter what. Whether or not anyone else was going with them did not matter so long as they could return safely from the journey. Well, no one else would be going with us and nothing could ever change my decision, he thought firmly.