𝗙𝗔𝗩𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗖𝗥𝗜𝗠𝗘

ACT TWO, CHAPTER ONE
for the girl that has everything . . .

"GET UP, PENNY."

Penelope Lestrange's eyes slowly fluttered open. She was in the same place that she remembered ⁠ — the sofa in Andromeda and Ted's house, and her aunt and uncle were standing over her. They both had worried looks on their faces, though they tried to mask it with the tenderness they always supplied to her. The two of them had basically looked at her like that all night. She rubbed her eyes and sat up.

"What's the matter?" Penelope asked as she pushed a blanket off of her, her voice groggy. "I fell asleep?"

"You worked yourself up so much that you crashed," Ted Tonks explained gently. "We didn't want to wake you, but . . . they should be arriving soon."

Okay, let's rewind.

Harry Potter was being moved tonight from his aunt and uncle's house. Pretty much most of the members of the Order of the Phoenix ⁠ — which included Nymphadora, plus Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, Penelope's boyfriend — were going over there to complete this batshit crazy plan of taking Polyjuice Potion to look like Harry and then going to different safe houses. The only ones who weren't allowed to go were Venus Black (Harry's girlfriend) and Penelope — which she found completely unfair. So, instead, Venus was waiting at the Burrow while Penelope was stuck at home, which was the first safe house that Harry and Hagrid were coming to.

In short, she was pretty fucking stressed.

"You've been sitting in the same spot for the past two hours," Andromeda Tonks stated softly. "When I'm worried, I tend to clean." It was true — Andromeda had done nothing but tidy up the house, the worry for Nymphadora consuming her. "Would you like to help?"

Penelope shook her head. "I'd rather stress bake, but this isn't exactly the occasion for chocolate chip cookies. Besides, Harry and Hagrid could come any minute—"

As if on cue, there was a loud crash and the splash of water from outside. Penelope's eyes widened and her head snapped towards the door. Now legally seventeen, Penelope grabbed her wand, fully preparing to defend herself just in case anything had happened with the protective enchantments. She was the first one out the door, pointing her wand aimlessly, but there was no need.

Over in the pond by the garden, a motorcycle was in pieces on the ground. The large figure of Hagrid was laying on the ground unconscious. Harry, wet from the pond and blood trickling down his face, was stumbling towards Hagrid. He seemed to be extremely out of it.

"Harry," Penelope breathed out, starting to jog over there. "Harry!"

He turned towards her, barely recognizable from all of the blood of his face. "Hagrid."

His knees then buckled and he collapsed on the ground. Penelope rushed over to him, falling to her knees beside his body. She placed her hands on his shoulders and bent over him. Penelope tried to ignore the way her hands were shaking as she looked at his hurt figure. She was suddenly very grateful that Venus wasn't the one seeing Harry like this, because she was sure the girl would start to sob, and Penelope was pretty fucking close to that feeling as well.

"Oh God," Penelope whispered.

"Penny," Ted began. "Will you be okay taking Harry inside by yourself? 'Dromeda and I are taking Hagrid."

With no more words left to say, Penelope nodded. She lifted Harry up off the ground with great difficulty. Penelope made sure to grab his wand and place it in his back pocket along with her own. She put an arm around his waist and dragged him inside while Ted and Andromeda used magic to take Hagrid inside. Penelope set Harry down on the sofa, and she sat on the arm of it by his feet, watching him anxiously. Sure, she might've wanted to become a Healer, but she really didn't know any healing spells yet — Ted and Andromeda did, however.

Ted then came back in the room, his wand at the ready while Andromeda stayed with Hagrid. "I'll fix him up."

Penelope watched as Ted started to perform enchantments that cleaned the blood, mended Harry's broken arm, fixed his broken rib, and regrow his missing tooth. Her stomach churned as she watched it all happen. She had seen Harry beat up at the Department of Mysteries, but that was nothing like this.

Finally, after a while, Ted finished his enchantments. Harry finally looked like Harry again. Penelope lifted her gaze from Harry to the anxious glance of Ted. Both of them knew that something had gone terribly wrong with the plan. After all, Harry and Hagrid were supposed to arrive safely — and last time Penelope checked, broken and bloody was not the definition of safe.

"Hagrid?" a weak voice then questioned.

Penelope's head snapped back over to the boy on the sofa. She stood up moved to stand next to her uncle, crossing her arms across her chest.

Harry looked up at her. "Pen? What . . . where's Hagrid?"

"Hagrid's fine, son, the wife's seeing to him now," Ted reassured him. "How are you feeling? Anything else broken? I've fixed your ribs, your tooth, and your arm. I'm Ted, by the way, Ted Tonks — Dora's father and Penelope's uncle."

Harry sat up rather quickly, suddenly looking very sick. "Voldemort—"

"Easy now." Ted placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and pushed him back against the cushions. "That was a nasty crash you just had. What happened, anyway? Something go wrong with the bike? Arthur Weasley overstretch himself again, him and his Muggle contraptions?"

"No," Harry answered. "Death Eaters, loads of them — we were chased—"

"Death Eaters?" Penelope repeated, even more concern for Ron and Nymphadora and everyone else filling her veins. "I thought they weren't supposed to know you were being moved tonight."

"They knew."

Ted looked up at the ceiling like he could see the sky above through it. "Well, we know our protective charms hold, then, don't we? They shouldn't be able to get within a hundred yards of the place in any direction."

"Thank fucking Merlin," Penelope muttered.

"Language, Penelope."

"Sorry, Uncle Ted."

Harry then suddenly swung his legs off the sofa. Penelope moved forwards and took his arm, helping him in standing up a little easier. He had just stood up all the way when a door opened. Hagrid squeezed through it, his face covered in mud and blood and limping just a little.

"Harry!" Hagrid exclaimed. He knocked over to delicate tables and an aspidistra Penelope had been taking care of (you've got to be shitting her) to get to Harry, which he did in two strides. Hagrid then pulled Harry into a tight hug. "Blimey, Harry, how did yeh get out o' that? I thought we were both goners."

"Yeah, me too," Harry replied. "I can't believe—" Harry suddenly broke off when Andromeda entered the room after Hagrid. "You!"

He thrust his hand into his pocket like he was reaching for his wand. Penelope knew why — as her sister, Andromeda had a resemblance to Bellatrix. But Andromeda and Bellatrix were nothing like each other. Her hair was a soft brown and her eyes were wider and kinder. And, of course, Andromeda wasn't a psycho killing maniac.

"Harry, it's okay," Penelope told him. "This is my Aunt Andromeda." She then pulled his wand out of her pocket and handed it to him. "And here's your wand."

"Oh, I'm — I'm sorry," Harry apologized, looking thoroughly embarrassed.

"What happened to our daughter?" Andromeda inquired, looking a little haughty after Harry had yelled at her. "Hagrid said you were ambushed; where is Nymphadora?"

"And Ron?" Penelope added.

"I don't know," Harry responded. "We don't know what happened to anyone else."

Penelope felt her heart clench terribly. She glanced over at Ted and Andromeda, who had fear written all over their expressions. Harry looked incredibly guilty as he looked between the three of them.

"The Portkey," Harry announced. "We've got to get back to the Burrow and find out — then we'll be able to send you word, or — or Tonks will, once she's—"

"Dora'll be okay, 'Dromeda," Ted cut in. "She knows her stuff, she's been in plenty of tight spots with the Aurors. The Portkey's through here." He gestured to the bedroom. "It's supposed to leave in three minutes, if you want to take it."

"Yeah, we do," Harry voiced. He picked up his rucksack before turning to Andromeda, seeming like he was at a loss for words. "I — I'll tell Tonks — Dora — to send word, when she . . . thanks for patching us up, thanks for everything. I—"

"Wait," Penelope interjected before Ted could take them down the hallway. "Let me go with you."

Andromeda sighed and looked at her. "Penelope, we talked about this—"

"I know we did, but I want to go with them." Penelope stared at her pleadingly. "Aunt Andy, please. Ron's still in danger and the Burrow's the meeting place. I can't stay here, it'll drive me insane. Plus, I'll be able to tell you if Dora made it out okay."

They continued to look at each other. Finally, Andromeda let out another sigh and nodded. Penelope smiled softly at her and brought her aunt into a tight hug. She then followed Ted down the hallway into the spare bedroom.

"There you go, son," Ted instructed, pointing to a small, silver-backed hairbrush lying on the dresser table. "That's the Portkey."

"Thanks," Harry replied, reaching out to place a finger on it.

Ted then hugged Penelope. "Be careful, Penelope. Send a message about what happens, will you?" She nodded and also placed her finger on the hairbrush. "We'll send your trunk and Annabeth tomorrow."

"Wait a moment," Hagrid interrupted, looking around. "Harry, where's Hedwig?"

Harry's eyes started to fill with tears. "She . . . she got hit."

Penelope frowned. She loved Harry's owl, she would often see Hedwig and Annabeth next to each other at the Owlery.

Hagrid patted Harry's shoulder. "Never mind. Never mind. She had a great old life—"

"Hagrid!" Ted warned as the hairbrush glowed bright blue.

He had just put his finger on it in time. With a jerk behind the navel like an invisible hook and line had dragged her forward, Penelope was pulled into nothingness. She spun uncontrollably with his finger glued to the Portkey as she was transported away from home. Seconds later her feet slammed onto the ground. Penelope stumbled a bit forwards before gaining her balance. She placed her hands on her knees and took some deep breaths in effort to not be sick.

"I hate those fucking things," Penelope let out, ignoring the screams from somewhere. "Whose bright idea was that?"

She stood up straight. Sure enough, they were at the Burrow. She watched as Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, and Venus run down the steps by the back door. Venus was the first one to approach Harry, and once he confirmed it was really him, he sunk into his girlfriend's arms.

"Harry?" Mrs. Weasley cried frantically. "You are the real Harry? What happened? Where are the others?"

"What d'you mean?" Harry responded, pulling away from the hug between him and Venus and opting to hold her hand instead. "Isn't anyone else back?"

The answer was clearly etched in Mrs. Weasley's pale face. Penelope's heart sunk.

"The Death Eaters were waiting for us," Harry explained. "We were surrounded the moment we took off — they knew it was tonight — I don't know what happened to anyone else, four of them chased us, it was all we could do to get away, and then Voldemort caught up with us—"

Mrs. Weasley cut him off by bringing him into a hug. "Thank goodness you're all right."

"Haven't go' any brandy, have yeh, Molly?" Hagrid asked a little shakily. "Fer medicinal purposes?"

She certainly could've summoned it by magic, but she hurried back towards the house. Penelope knew that she just wanted to hide her face from them. Her and Harry then turned to Ginny for information.

"Ron and Tonks should have been back first, but they missed their Portkey, it came back without them," Ginny revealed, pointing to a rusty oil can lying on the ground nearby.

Penelope nearly felt her heart drop all the way into her stomach. Nymphadora and Ron were together . . . they had missed their Portkey . . . what if something happened to them?

Ginny then pointed to an ancient sneaker. "And that one should have been Dad and Fred's, they were supposed to be second. You and Hagrid were third and—" she checked her watch "—if they made it, George and Lupin ought to be back in about a minute."

Mrs. Weasley reappeared carrying a bottle of brandy. She handed it to Hagrid, who uncorked it and downed it in one giant gulp.

"Mum!" Ginny then shouted.

She was pointing to a spot several feet away. A blue light had appeared in the darkness. It grew larger and brighter until Remus Lupin and George appeared, spinning and then falling. Penelope could immediately tell something was wrong — Remus was supporting George, and George was unconscious with his face was covered in blood.

Harry ran forwards and took George's legs. Together, him and Remus carried George into the house and through the kitchen to the sitting room, where they laid him across the sofa. As the lamplight fell across George's head, Penelope gasped and her hands flew up to her mouth in shock. One of George's ears was missing. The side of his head and neck were drenched in shocking scarlet blood. Remus immediately dragged Harry over to the kitchen and started to yell about something, but Penelope knelt next to George as Mrs. Weasley bent over her son.

Rule number one of a Healer — stay calm.

(To be honest, Penelope didn't really know if that was rule number one, but she assumed it was.)

"What can I do, Mrs. Weasley?" Penelope questioned softly.

Mrs. Weasley sniffed, tears falling down her face. "The blood — we have to clean it—"

"Of course."

Penelope waved. With a nonverbal spell, she started to clean the blood off of George's face and neck. Meanwhile, Mrs. Weasley started to cast healing enchantments to help the wound. Penelope stood up once her job was done and moved to stand back by Ginny. She glanced over at her. The girl seemed speechless and her face was pale.

There was suddenly a scuffling from outside. Penelope whipped around, running out the door after Remus, Harry, and Venus. Two more figures had appeared in the yard, and as Penelope got closer, she saw that they were Hermione, now returning to her normal appearance, and Kingsley Shacklebolt. Both of them were clutching a bent coat hanger. Hermione instantly flung herself into Harry's arms, but Kingsley showed no pleasure at the sight of any of them.

Kingsley raised his wand and pointed it at Remus' chest. "The last words Albus Dumbledore spoke to the pair of us?"

"Harry is the best hope we have," Remus recited calmly. "Trust him." Kingsley then turned his wand on Harry, but Remus was quick to stop him. "It's him, I've checked!"

"All right, all right!" Kingsley responded, putting his wand away. "But somebody betrayed us! They knew, they knew it was tonight!"

"So it seems, but apparently they did not realize that there would be seven Harrys."

"Small comfort! Who else is back?"

"Only Harry, Hagrid, George, and me," Remus answered. "What happened to you?"

"Followed by five, injured two, might've killed one, and we saw You-Know-Who as well, he joined the chase halfway through but vanished pretty quickly," Kingsley revealed. "Remus, he can—"

"Fly," Harry finished. "I saw him too, he came after Hagrid and me."

"So that's why he left, to follow you! I couldn't understand why he'd vanished. But what made him change targets?"

"Harry behaved a little too kindly to Stan Shunpike," Remus voiced.

"Stan?" Hermione repeated. "But I thought he was in Azkaban?"

Kingsley let out a humorless laugh. "Hermione, there's obviously been a mass breakout which the Ministry has hushed up. Travers' hood fell off when I cursed him, he's supposed to be inside too. But what happened to you, Remus? Where's George?"

"He lost an ear," Remus admitted.

"Lost an—?" Hermione started to say in a high voice.

"Snape's work."

"Snape?" Harry yelled. "You didn't say—"

"He lost his hood during the chase," Remus continued. "Sectumsempra was always a speciality of Snape's. I wish I could say I'd paid him back in kind, but it was all I could do to keep George on the broom after he was injured, he was losing so much blood."

Silence fell between their group of six as they looked up at the sky. There was no sign of movement anywhere. Penelope felt her heart race against her chest in anxiety. Where were the others?

"Harry, give us a hand!" Hagrid called hoarsely from the door.

He obliged, dragging Venus along with him, obviously not wanting to part from his girlfriend any time soon. Harry pulled Hagrid free from the door before disappearing inside.

"You doing all right?" Hermione inquired quietly.

Penelope continued to stare up at the stars. "Nymphadora and Ron were a team. They're together, and they still haven't returned. I've felt like I've had to throw up all day."

"Did George really lose an ear?"

She nodded. That was the end of their conversation — now wasn't really the time for talking. Hagrid and Remus joined them. Remus placed a hand on Penelope's shoulder as he stood next to her. The four of them just stood there, shoulder to shoulder, glancing upwards in silence as Kingsley paced behind them. Nobody said a word when Harry, Venus, and Ginny joined them.

The minutes felt like years. Every little noise made them jump and turn around to see if one of the missing Order members had showed up.

And then it happened. A broom materialized directly above them and streaked towards the ground.

"It's them!" Hermione screamed.

Nymphadora landed in a long skid that sent dirt and pebbles everywhere.

"Remus!" Nymphadora exclaimed, staggering off the broom into Remus' arms, who looked unable to speak.

Penelope nearly cried out in relief. The familiar figure of her boyfriend was stumbling dazedly towards her.

"Ron, oh my God," Penelope let out.

She immediately flung herself into his arms. Hers were thrown around his neck, and Ron instantly wrapped his around her waist. He pulled her in close to him and held her tight. Penelope let out a breath of relief. He was okay, he was fine . . .

"'M all right," Ron reassured her, Penelope pulling back and placing her hands on either side of his face. "'M fine, P."

"Ron was great," Nymphadora admitted warmly. "Wonderful. Stunned one of the Death Eaters, straight to the head, and when you're aiming at a moving target from a flying broom—"

Penelope gazed up at her boyfriend adoringly and pressed up onto her toes, kissing him quickly. "You're fucking incredible, you know that?"

Ron's face flushed. "Thanks, P. Are we the last back?"

"No, we're still waiting for Bill and Fleur and Mad-Eye and Mundungus," Ginny responded. "I'm going to tell Mum and Dad you're okay, Ron—" she then ran back inside.

"So what kept you?" Remus demanded, sounding almost angry at Nymphadora — Penelope knew why, but once again, she couldn't say anything because that was Nymphadora's secret to tell. "What happened?"

Nymphadora cast a weary glance at Penelope. "Bellatrix."

Penelope felt like her blood had turned to ice. "She . . . she tried to kill you?"

"She wants me quite as much as she wants Harry, Remus, she tried very hard to kill me. I just wish I'd got her, I owe Bellatrix. But we definitely injured Rodolphus . . . Then we got to Ron's Auntie Muriel's and we'd missed our Portkey and she was fussing over us "

Penelope then let go of Ron and hugged her cousin tightly. "I'm just glad you're both okay. Also, thanks for injuring my father. I hate him, too."

Nymphadora then turned to Harry, Hermione, and Kingsley as Penelope went back to Ron, nestling herself comfortably in his side as he put an arm around her. "So what happened to you lot?"

They all recounted the stories of their own journeys, but the continued absence of Bill, Fleur, Mad-Eye, and Mundungus lingered between them.

"I'm going to have to get back to Downing Street, I should havebeen there an hour ago," Kingsley announced finally after a last sweeping gaze at the sky. "Let me know when they're back."

Remus nodded. Kingsley waved to others before walking away into the darkness towards the gate. With a faint pop, Kingsley Disapparated just beyond the Burrow's boundaries. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley then came racing down the steps, Ginny right behind them. Both parents hugged Ron, forcing Penelope to leave his side for a couple moments. They then turned to Remus and Nymphadora.

"Thank you for our sons," Mrs. Weasley told them.

"Don't be silly, Molly," Tonks replied.

"How's George?" Remus asked.

"What's wrong with him?" Ron interjected.

"He's lost—" Mrs. Weasley began.

The end of her sentence was drowned out in a general outcry, for a Thestral had just soared into sight and landed a few feet from them. Bill and Fleur slid from its back, looking windswept but seemingly unhurt.

"Bill!" Mrs. Weasley yelled, running forwards. "Thank God, thank God—"

However, the hug Bill gave her had very minimal effort. Penelope immediately frowned and looked up at Ron. The two of them shared a glance. Something was wrong.

"Mad-Eye's dead," Bill revealed.

Nobody spoke and nobody moved. Penelope suddenly felt like the ground was swept out from underneath her.

"We saw it," Bill continued. Fleur nodded, tear tracks glittering on her cheeks in the light from the kitchen window. "It happened just after we broke out of the circle: Mad-Eye and Dung were close by us, they were heading north too. Voldemort — he can fly — went straight for them. Dung panicked, I heard him cry out, Mad-Eye tried to stop him, but he Disapparated. Voldemort's curse hit Mad-Eye full in the face, he fell backward off his broom and — there was nothing we could do, nothing, we had half a dozen of them on our own tail—" Bill's voice broke.

"Of course you couldn't have done anything," Remus stated.

They all stood there looking at each other. Penelope couldn't believe it — the brave warrior, the mentor to Nymphadora, just gone?

At last it seemed it seemed to dawn on everyone that there was no waiting in the yard anymore. Without speaking, they all followed Mr. and Mrs. Weasley back into the Burrow. Once they got in the sitting room, Fred and George were laughing.

"What's wrong?" Fred questioned, scanning their solemn faces as they entered. "What's happened? Who's—?"

"Mad-Eye," Mr. Weasley responded. "Dead."

Fred and George instantly stopped laughing and their grins turned into grimaces of shock. Nobody seemed to know what to do. Nymphadora was crying silently into a handkerchief, being held close by Remus. Penelope rested her back against Ron's side, who rubbed her back softly.

Bill walked over to the sideboard and pulled out a bottle of firewhiskey and some glasses. "Here." With a wave of his wand he sent fourteen full glasses soaring through the room to each of them, holding the fifteenth aloft. "Mad-Eye."

"Mad-Eye," they all chorused.

"Mad-Eye," Hagrid echoed a little late with a hiccup.

Penelope drank the Firewhiskey in one go (don't look at her like that, she's been to Slytherin parties a couple of times.) She grimaced as it burned like it always did, but it seemed to get rid of the numbness she had felt and brought some feeling back into her.

"So Mundungus disappeared?" Remus inquired.

The atmosphere changed instantly. Everyone looked tense as they watched Remus, both wanting him to continue but afraid of what they might hear.

Bill went on. "I know what you're thinking, and I wondered that too, on the way back here, because they seemed to be expecting us, didn't they? But Mundungus can't have betrayed us. They didn't know there would be seven Harrys, that confused them the moment we appeared, and in case you've forgotten, it was Mundungus who suggested that little bit of skullduggery. Why wouldn't he have told them the essential point? I think Dung panicked, it's as simple as that. He didn't want to come in the first place, but Mad-Eye made him, and You-Know-Who went straight for them. It was enough to make anyone panic."

Nymphadora sniffed. "You-Know-Who acted exactly as Mad-Eye expected him to. Mad-Eye said he'd expect the real Harry to be with the toughest, most skilled Aurors. He chased Mad-Eye first, and when Mundungus gave them away he switched to Kingsley . . ."

"Yes, and zat eez all very good, but still eet does not explain 'ow zey knew we were moving 'Arry tonight, does eet?" Fleur snapped. "Somebody must 'ave been careless. Somebody let slip ze date to an outsider. It is ze only explanation for zem knowing ze date but not ze 'ole plan."

She glared at all of them, tear tracks still on her beautiful face, like she was silently daring any of them to argue with her. The only sound breaking the silence was Hagrid hiccupping behind his handkerchief.

"No," Harry stated loudly, and they all looked at him in surprise. "I mean . . . if somebody made a mistake, and let something slip ,I know they didn't mean to do it. It's not their fault. We've got to trust each other. I trust all of you, I don't think anyone in this room would ever sell me to Voldemort."

There was more silence after his words. Penelope nodded in agreement. She wholeheartedly trusted anyone in this room as well.

"Well said, Harry," Fred agreed.

"Yea, 'ear, 'ear," George added, glancing at Fred quickly.

"You think I'm a fool?" Harry demanded to Remus, who had an odd expression on his face.

"No, I think you're like James, who would have regarded it as the height of dishonor to mistrust his friends," Remus voiced. He then set his glass down upon a side table and addressed Bill. "There's work to do. I can ask Kingsley whether—"

"No, I'll do it, I'll come," Bill said at once.

"Where are you going?" Nymphadora and Fleur asked together.

"Mad-Eye's body," Remus replied. "We need to recover it."

"Can't it—?" Mrs. Weasley stared to say, looking at Bill.

"Wait?" Bill finished. "Not unless you'd rather the Death Eaters took it?"

Nobody spoke. Remus and Bill said their goodbyes and left. All of them now sat down. Penelope sat sideways on Ron's lap, his arm around her hips so she wouldn't fall and her arm around his shoulders. Her head leaned against his.

Harry remained standing. "I've got to go too."

Penelope blinked at him. "That's the dumbest fucking thing I've ever heard you say. Literally, what are you saying?"

"I can't stay here." Harry rubbed his scar. "You're all in danger while I'm here. I don't want—"

"But don't be so silly!" Mrs. Weasley voiced. "The whole point of tonight was to get you here safely, and thank goodness it worked. And Fleur's agreed to get married here rather than in France, we've arranged everything so that we can all stay together and look after you—"

"If Voldemort finds out I'm here—"

Venus then cut in, saying that Harry could've been in plenty of different safe houses and Voldemort had no way of knowing which one.

"It's not me I'm worried for!" Harry insisted.

"We know that, but it would make our efforts tonight seem rather pointless if you left," Mrs. Weasley explained.

"Yer not goin' anywhere," Hagrid ordered. "Blimey, Harry, after all we wen' through ter get you here?"

George sat up. "Yeah, what about my bleeding ear?"

"I know that—" Harry stared to say.

"Mad-Eye wouldn't want—"

"I KNOW!" Harry finally bellowed.

Penelope slightly recoiled. There was a long and awkward silence.

Venus then asked where Hedwig was, obviously trying to make him feel better. Penelope let out a small breath — the poor girl had no fucking clue. Harry didn't answer his girlfriend and instead downed the rest of his firewhiskey.

"Wait till it gets out yeh did it again, Harry," Hagrid announced. "Escaped him, fought him off when he was right on top of yeh!"

"It wasn't me," Harry stated flatly. "It was my wand. My wand acted of its own accord."

"But that's impossible, Harry," Hermione argued gently. "You mean that you did magic without meaning to; you reacted instinctively."

"No. The bike was falling, I couldn't have told you where Voldemort was, but my wand spun in my hand and found him and shot a spell at him, and it wasn't even a spell I recognized. I've never made gold flames appear before."

"Often when you're in a pressured situation you can produce magic you never dreamed of," Mrs. Weasley explained. "Small children often find, before they're trained—"

"It wasn't like that," Harry protested through gritted teeth.

He stood there for a moment longer before muttering something about fresh air. Harry set down his glass and left the room. Venus stayed in her spot, staring at the spot where Harry once was before following after him. Penelope let out a little sigh before standing up from Ron, the two of them holding hands as they left the house with Hermione. The three of them found Harry in the garden, clutching the garden gate in the darkness while shaking. They all shared a look.

"Harry," Penelope began quietly. "Hey, come on."

"Harry, come back in the house," Hermione whispered. "You aren't still thinking of leaving?"

Ron patted Harry back on the back. "Yeah, you've got to stay, mate."

Venus then asked him if he was okay, saying that he looked like he was about to be sick.

"Well, I probably look better than Ollivander . . ." Harry trailed off.

Harry then told them what he had seen. Apparently, Voldemort had tortured Ollivander because a different wand hadn't worked when dueling Harry. Penelope kept her gaze on the ground, lost in thought.

"But it was supposed to have stopped!" Hermione protested. "Your scar — it wasn't supposed to do this anymore! You mustn't let that connection open up again — Dumbledore wanted you to close your mind!" She then gripped his arm. "Harry, he's taking over the Ministry and the newspapers and half the Wizarding world! Don't let him inside your head too!"

Penelope leaned her head against Ron's shoulder. What an eventful night.

☆ 彡

welcome to act two!!!

WOOOO deathly hallows WOOOO

let me tell you I am SO excited to write miss penny in tdh :)