Chapter thirty two: You what?!

"Right everybody! Chop, chop! That’s it Ron, over there. Harry! Harry, over there, yes ... No George!" Mrs Weasley shouted as the twins started to pop sweets everywhere but stopped as Snape loomed into the room. Snape stopped by the stairs to watch the children bundle around.

"Professor Snape," Mr Weasley ushered towards him, "notes…From the ministry, about the break in"

"Really?" Snape said in a quiet voice

"Yes"

"Where did you get them?" Snape asked curiously

"Well my friend Dartious Greg has been employed under a secret operation," he said in a curious voice, as exited as Snape’s own, "problem is, he works at the ministry at magical creatures and persons, sector 45. So why would they want him?"

"I see." Snape replied darkly. They where about to go on when Mrs Weasley rushed over

"Professor, we're ready to go" she said, now the room had gone quiet. Snape nodded and strode towards the fireplace, the kids moving away from his path

"We are using the floo network, aren’t we?"

"Yes professor" Mrs Weasley said to him. But Snape had a curious face upon him and span round quickly to face them. Ginny and Hermione flinched.

"Something’s not right," he warned them. The ice silence followed. Soon his voice was full of haste and worry as he strode to the nearby kitchen, "where’s the letter? I want to see it"

"Yes" Mrs Weasley stuttered and obeyed his command. Harry gave them a look as Mr Weasley stood by Lucy

"Hang on," he told them and walked away. The children followed.

"Here it is professor" Mrs Weasley said quickly, not wanting to argue with the man. Snape started to peer out of the windows and back door.

"Dad?" Lucy asked

"Lucy," he said suddenly, "you said McGuire wasn’t getting in the floo network with us, why?"

Lucy was struck back by her father’s impatience "I don’t know"

Snape walked back into the living room quickly, reading the letter

"There’s no reason for McGuire not to have a letter" he murmured. He looked very odd as a shimmer of light shone onto his side, making him look mysterious. Suddenly the clouds rolled across the sky

"What’s wrong?" harry asked. But suddenly Snape peered up to the Weasley’s clock, and all points were aiming at ‘impending doom’

"How long has that been like that?" He asked sharply, making them jump

"I don’t know, a while?" Molly shrugged.

"Floo networks an be intercepted" he said so quietly the place seemed to shudder. But Snape seemed to be staring right through the bunch of Weasley’s and into the outside of the drive. His eyes widened.

"What do you mean?" Molly Weasley asked

"GET DOWN!" Snape yelled and  dragged Lucy down to the ground. Lucy screamed as she plunged to the floor with Snape, the Weasley’s slowly copying. But all became clear quite soon.

The glass in the windows all smashed at once, lighting rolling into the clouds above. Wind swept up dramatically and the green in the fireplace swooped up into the air. Lucy looked around to notice Fred looking upon her, a look of worry on him. Snape grabbed her hand and Lucy felt her stomach turn inside out.

When she opened her eyes she was on a deserted road, where she did not know. She looked up to see Snape dusting himself off. She grabbed him in fright

"What’s going on!"

"Wait here, ok? Ill be back" he said quickly and apparated again. Lucy suddenly felt the coldness around her feet. Lucy swung out her wand as she looked around, a massive lake beside her. A wood was on the other side of the pavement and a subtle breeze was in the air. What had just happened Lucy did not know, but she hoped her father would keep her out of the shadows.

The place seemed too airy to be anywhere near the Weasley’s. The denseness was to cold and their seemed to be no one rolling down the road. The mountains loomed past the lake, and Lucy shudder at the sight. She picked her hopes up and ran across the road to the woods. Being curious, she wandered around for any life

Suddenly Lucy heard the snap of a twig. Lucy span round but there was no one there. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She couldn’t help but think back to Kingston, maybe it was him! Or was I a dementor? ‘Oh god’, Lucy thought…

The footsteps became louder now as they approached her. She aimed her wand into the woodland beyond and prepared herself for anything. But she needn’t have worried

"Lucy" Fred said in a clam voice, wand out beside him

"Fred," Lucy said relaxed and hugged him, "what’s happened?"

"I don’t know, dad apparated me here," he said in a shaky voice, "there were just lights. People. It was a bit of a scramble. They weren’t the people on the train though, they seemed much more organised than the other lot."

"You mean you haven’t seem dad?" Lucy asked worriedly

"I was running out the front door when he came back, he ordered my dad to apparate me here, but that’s it. Dad went back, and here I am"

The two turned at the sound of a second twig snapping. They both raised their wands nervously. Lucy, feeling she was probably the only mature one around, decided to walk forward

"Lucy!" Fred warned, but Lucy stepped forward anyway.

"Dad" she said meekly. She got no answer

"What was that?" Fred asked as the wind blew through the trees. The next two figures came out of nowhere

"Lucy!, Fred!" Hermione said quickly. Ginny smiled happily, but something was in their eyes

Fear.

Lucy felt much better after Ginny and Hermione arrived. They walked back over the road, hushed voices echoing in the eerily odd empty distance

"Have you seen my dad?" Lucy asked quickly

"Or mine?" Fred asked, perking up behind Ginny’s hair

"No, Mrs Weasley apparated us, we where upstairs and Snape came in and -"

"Why cant your dad tell us anything? No offence Lucy" Fred said in a hushed voice. They stopped at the lakeside and waited. And waited. But no one else came.

"Why isn’t anyone else coming?" Hermione said quietly.

"Don’t ask us" Fred said.

"I mean, they just appeared there! There was no need, maybe they were after Harry. Or Lucy..."

"But If they where after Lucy, surely they would have followed us?" Ginny replied

"This makes no sense, there’s no real reason for them to be attacking us" Hermione pondered aloud.

After a long time of arguing and moaning about homework still no adults had arrived. The sun was seeping over the mountains now and an odd chill was filling them all up

"Do you think there are bears here?" Fred asked them all

"No,why?" Hermione shivered

"Well, I didn’t want to get my guts ripped out" he replied. Ginny quickly sat next to him.

"We can't wait here all day" Lucy said

"I know, I can’t stand girls..." Fred started and then stopped at the looks of disgust he was getting.

At that point Lucy stood up sharply, that feeling was coming over her again. A feeling of control and sensibility. As soon as the sun would go down they could all be in trouble, and with no adult figures around with powerful spells, anything could happen.

"Right, here’s the plan," Lucy said, "we’re not going to stay here"

"But your dad said -"

"Yes, my dad says a lot of things, but he’s not always right. Sometimes, in times like this, we have to fend for ourselves, and we can’t always count on other people"

"Wow, what speech did you get that from?" Fred joked. But the girls had already walked of.

"So where are we going?" Hermione asked

"We’re getting a lift" Lucy said simply. She stopped in the middle of the road and waited. The wind whistled in the trees one more time "I cant believe I’m doing this" she whispered.

"Help! Help!" she shouted, Ginny giving her the most odd look, "I’ve been chucked out of my nan's! Oh isn’t there a place for a young witch such as me to -" but she didn’t finish as a purple bus came zooming along out of the distance. Lucy ran out the way as it skidded to a halt. Lucy felt the spatter of rain as the door at the back opened

"Want a lift?" the man asked