Chapter Twenty Two
"What?" exclaimed Harry, too stunned to fully comprehend.
"Absolutely not," said Malfoy. "Don't be ridiculous."
"I'm not," said Seamus, and started walking down the path.
"But," said Harry, looking back towards the house. "You can't, I mean...it's not..."
"We can help," said Hermione assuredly, and took Harry's hand.
Malfoy looked as if he wasn't sure if his anger or his incredulity was going to get the better of him. "This isn't homework!" he all but shouted. "This is serious!"
"This is dangerous!" cried Harry.
"Shh," scolded Seamus, turning around and walking backwards and indicating the house. "They'll hear."
Parvati clapped Harry on the shoulder. "You didn't think we'd abandon you did you?" She exhaled, then started walking up the path as well. Malfoy all but growled, then followed.
"You are not coming, over my dead body."
"That could be arranged," said Seamus over his shoulder.
Malfoy scowled as Harry caught up to him, Hermione still by his side but he'd dropped her hand. He couldn't bring himself to look at her right now. He wasn't all that surprised she wanted to help, but there was no way he was letting her come. What were they thinking?
"This isn't a joke, Finnigan," said Malfoy.
"Exactly," said Parvati. "Which is why the more help you can get, the better."
"We're not tagged," said Hermione as the group reached the end of the path, the same spot Sarah had been taken by Wormtail less than an hour ago.
"You're not trained either," said Malfoy. "And you only just found out you were a witch, what, five minutes ago?" He gave Harry a sideways look. He could tell he wanted to know more about Hermione being there, but Harry wasn't going to explain any more than he had to.
"Look," said Harry. "I know you guys want to help, and I'm really touched, but this isn't going to be easy. In fact I'm pretty sure it's going to be near impossible and we both might die."
"Or worse," added Malfoy ominously.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Thanks," he said dryly. "The point is I'm not putting you in harm's way."
"And I'm not leaving you with only Malfoy to cover your back!" argued Seamus, giving the Slytherin a disdainful look. "We know just as much magic as you, and surely five people has to better than two - what if you need to split up, or make a human pyramid?"
"If you don't trust me," said Malfoy, glancing at his watch on the hand with the scuffed knuckles. "Then that's your problem. We haven't got time for this."
"Harry," said Hermione directly to him. "Please let me help you, please. It's not that I want to go to a dangerous place, I understand these people are the bad guys, but I can't just stand by, not after what you did for me this evening." She shook her curls off her shoulders and held her hands up. "You've literally changed my whole life, I'll never be the same again."
"But you don't even have a wand," argued Harry back, feeling bad. "You don't know any spells!"
"She does now," said Parvati smugly. "I told you."
"Shut up Patil," said Malfoy. "A couple of first year incantations aren't going to do jack against half a dozen Death Eaters who'll no doubt recognise her much quicker than I did."
Hermione paled but her determination didn't waver, much to Harry's dismay. "So I don't know much magic, big deal. I have a Level 23 Paladin, so I know a thing or two about strategising I can tell you." She jutted her chin at Malfoy. "Not to mention field medicine, survival techniques, orienteering. I'm probably more equipped than both of you!"
Harry exchanged a look with Malfoy. He hadn't thought about any of those other things. He knew far better than to disregard Hermione's intelligence and know-how, maybe she could be an asset to them?
"Well it's not up to you," said Parvati in a prissy tone, folding her arms and not looking at Malfoy. "It's up to Harry."
"And I still say no," said Harry, shaking his head and dismissing his previous thought. "Look, I'm sorry, I really appreciate what you're doing but you have no idea what these people are capable of."
"And you do?" countered Seamus. "You've fought so many Death Eaters?"
Harry wanted to tell him how very true that was.
"I don't have a choice," he said instead, "My sister, my prophecy, my problem."
"Wrong," said Seamus. "What kind of friends would we be if we just let you do this alone? No one else can help, Malfoy said, anyone of age is tagged. We're your only option."
"No," said Malfoy pointedly. "Our other option is to go alone, and that's what we'll be doing. You'll only get in the way."
"Do you think my parents just let us sit and home and paint our nails for the past three years?" snapped Parvati, rounding on him. "I am not some illiterate child, I'll have you know I am excellent at Charms and Potions, and like Seamus said, Harry is our friend, we are not going to abandon him just because it's dangerous. Everything's dangerous nowadays."
"You can't argue with the numbers," said Seamus. "You're saying Harry has some special..." he waved his hands around. "Thing or whatever with You-Know-Who, that he's from some special bloodline and is destined to fight him?" He dropped his hands. "Sounds like codswallop to me, but whilst you boys are twiddling your wands trying to figure it out, mightn't it be nice to have a couple of extra pairs of hands to look for Sarah?"
Malfoy blew out a very impatient breath. "We'll be just fine," he said. "Won't we Potter?"
He looked at Harry for affirmation, but a doubt had flickered in his mind. If it came between rescuing Sarah or facing Voldemort, could he choose? Would he have the option to chose?
But what was he thinking, of letting them come just in case that happened? It was far more likely they would get into some life-threatening situation, what would they do then? They were so adamant all three of them about coming, not even a note of hesitation, but did they really understand the risk?
Hermione was so inexperienced, she knew literally no magic, the worst she'd had to deal with up until this point were school bullies. Yet he never would have got the Philosopher's Stone without her gall and logic back in their First Year. In his own world Seamus was fearless and Parvati tenacious he knew, and maybe as a team they would stand a better chance of coming out of this the other side.
But it was dangerous, he knew he shouldn't be considering their coming, it was selfish. It must have shown on his face, because Malfoy's grey eyes widened. "Potter?" he said, half a question and half a threat.
Harry made a snap decision. "We can talk about it more on the bus, we're wasting time." He took his wand and gave a single swoosh down with his full arm.
Malfoy let out an infuriated cry. "You cannot be serious!" he cried as the rumble of the approaching bus filled the air.
"Told you it was up to Harry," gloated Parvati.
Harry stepped away from the road, and pulled Hermione with him. "You might want to stand back," he said.
"Why, what's hap-"
Hermione's question was cut short by a triple-decker, violently purple bus exploding from thin air and screeching to a halt in front of them.
"Hang on, hang on!" cried Malfoy, turning away from the bus and pointing his wand at his head. "Novo Etcapillus." Within a blink of an eye, his hair changed from its usual snowy blond to black just as dark as Harry's. The contrast was astonishing.
"It just..." spluttered Hermione, almost swooning in shock at the bus' sudden appearance. "Came out of...where did it come from!"
The doors opened with the hiss of pistons and a familiar figure hopped out to greet the group. "Welcome to the Knight Bus!" said Stan Shunpike, the conductor of the bus in Harry's own reality too. "Emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. My name is Stan Shunpike and I will be your conductor this evening." He looked at the five teenagers dubiously. "'Ere," he said, his accent slipping now his spiel was done. "Ain't choo lot a bit young bein' out so late?"
"They're with me," said Malfoy with authority, producing some sort of identity card that Harry assumed to be fake if he was trying to prove he was old enough to be travelling after curfew. But it must have been a good one, because the lanky bus conductor shrugged and stepped aside.
"Fair 'nough, fair 'nough," he said, letting Draco on the bus.
"Come on," said Harry to Hermione, worrying she might give them away with her horrified expression.
But she swallowed and managed to keep her composure as she and Harry stepped up into the purple vehicle. "Single to London," said Malfoy. "Leicester Square."
"Right you are," said the driver, who was not the man Harry had met before, an Ernie Prang, but a rather large black man with salt and pepper hair and rectangular glasses clinging to the end of his nose by a millimetre. "Eleven Sickles."
Malfoy stormed off once he had paid for his ticket and immediately headed for the steps that would take him up a level.
"Er, two more for London," said Harry, very glad he had picked up his wallet. He waited as Seamus and Parvati boarded and paid as well, then followed Malfoy as the bus gave a loud bang and went on its way again. He really hoped he was doing the right thing.
"Where are the seats?"asked Parvati, looking around the first deck of the bus in confusion. She was quite right, there weren't any seats for passengers, but rather two rows of single beds, readymade and laid end to end, though unfortunately not bolted down lamented Harry as the bus veered round a corner and sent everything scooting along several inches.
"You've not been on the night bus before?" he whispered as the couple of passengers tucked under the sheets scowled at them from under their night caps. Malfoy wasn't anywhere to be seen, so Harry lead the group up to the second level on the narrow spiralling staircase.
"No," said Parvati, taken aback. "I didn't realise you had?"
Harry really needed to watch himself or he was going to put his foot in it; another reason to encourage Parvati and Seamus to leave. He had hardly any clue about their Harry's life, and it seemed they were going to be quick to spot any slip ups. But the thought of sitting alone on the bus with Malfoy for who knew how long made him glad they were still with him, if at least only for now.
"Er, yeah, once," he said, hoping to keep it vague. Malfoy wasn't on the second level, and there was only one other passenger who appeared to be asleep under his basset hound. "Let's go up again."
They managed to keep their balance as they rounded the stairwell, heading up to the final deck of the bus. There was a wooden door sealing off this one, and as Harry's trainers stomped up the steps it flew open. The peeved face of Draco Malfoy shot forward to meet him. "Come on," he hissed. "What's taking you guys so long?"
Harry didn't reply, just raised an eyebrow as he headed up the last few steps and onto the top level. There wasn't anyone in these beds, and Malfoy had already thrown his scrappy satchel and the old flower pot onto one of them. He ushered the others in impatiently, then slammed the door shut. "Colloportus," he said, locking it, though any half wit with a wand could open it again, they weren't dealing with Muggles here.
"Who do you think that will keep out?" asked Harry sceptically.
"It's better than nothing," snapped Malfoy.
Harry rolled his eyes, and without thinking pointed his own wand at the wood. "Protego Totalum," he said, moving his arm with confidence. "Though if you're expecting Death Eaters to come raining down on us, I'm not sure what spell could keep them out."
He turned back, and saw Seamus, Parvati and Malfoy all staring at him a little slack-jawed.
"What?" he asked, feeling like something was stuck in his teeth.
"Where'd you learn that?" said Seamus.
'That' was a fourth year Defence Against the Dark Arts Spell, and Harry was unnerved by how impressed they were with it. He rolled his wand in his hand. "Sirius taught me," he said, remembering something his dad had said just before they had left.
Oh, he thought, his parents were probably going ballistic by now. They were probably gearing up to come find Hermione and the others, they had to know they were missing by this point. But the Knight Bus had given them a good head start, and he still hadn't made his mind up whether or not to insist they head home or stay.
"What's the plan Malfoy?" he asked, hoping to deflect their attention.
"I'd rather you didn't call me Malfoy," he replied, rubbing his eyes.
Seamus pulled a face, like he'd caught whiff of a bad smell. "What else would we call you?"
Malfoy glared at them all, then blew out a puff of air and turned back to Harry. "When we get to the Leaky Cauldron, these lot can use the fireplace to travel home, then we'll head on our way."
"What's the Leaky Cauldron?" asked Hermione as Seamus and Parvati scowled, but rather than arguing, just looked to Harry.
"A pub," he said, just answering Hermione for the time being. "It connects Muggle London with Wizarding London."
She blinked and opened her brown eyes further. "There's a Wizarding part of London?" she asked, fascinated.
But Malfoy shook his hands irritably. "Finnigan and Patil can explain aaall about it when you have your little sleepover at whichever house has the least angry parents, I really don't care."
"You still don't get it, do you Malfoy?" said Seamus.
Malfoy clicked his teeth shut. "I don't get half the things you say with that leprechaun accent of yours."
"Wait," said Harry as the bus took another adventurous turn and they all grabbed for bed posts to grab hold of. "Let's just stop for a second. Malfoy," he said evenly. "They might have a point, they might be able to help."
"As what?" he demanded. "Bait? Cannon fodder?"
"Why do you think we're so useless!" screeched Parvati, and Harry half wished he'd put a silencer charm on the door as well. But the bus' engine was so loud he hoped they'd be okay.
Seamus stepped up to Malfoy. "We're not backing down."
Malfoy screwed up his fists and face, before calming just a little. "I'm not saying you're useless," he told them diplomatically. "I'm simply pointing out that you two only did a year and a half at school, and Granger here thought she was a Muggle until tonight. We might have to deal with some pretty nasty things, it's not safe and the more of us there are the slower we'll be."
It was a pretty diplomatic argument from him for a change, but it didn't dissuade the three tag-alongs anything much. "Harry's had just as much of an education as us," insisted Parvati.
Malfoy blinked and held up his hand to Harry's face. "He's the Heir. Of Gryffindor."
"So, what?" asked Seamus. "He's the messiah!"
"That doesn't give him special powers does it?" cried Parvati.
Malfoy threw up his hands. "Apparently it does, or something like it. That's what the prophecy says, something about bloodlines."
Harry shook his head. "That's not the point," and he meant it. That might have been why Voldemort had tried to kill him as a baby, but it hadn't helped him any of the times he'd faced him since. "Look, I've had more experience than you guys think," he said, trying his hardest not to give too much away. "Sirius, Remus, my parents, they've all been, um, teaching me and stuff. The point here is whether or not you three should come with us."
"I don't even understand why we're discussing this," said Malfoy as the bus popped up in another location and skidded to halt. Harry peeked out the window and saw they were in a narrow street of terraced houses, and all the parked cars had jumped up practically sideways on the pavement to make room for the enormous bus. A doddery old lady teetered towards the open door, and Stan jumped out to help her with her trunk and an empty birdcage.
As they didn't look to be in London, Harry turned his attention back to Malfoy. "Because, to be honest, I don't fully trust you, why should I?"
Malfoy glowered. "I'm on your side."
"So you say," said Parvati. "Actions speak louder than words."
"And I just gave up Wormtail to you!" Malfoy growled. "I've trekked halfway across the country, I left my home to come and be insulted by the great Harry Potter & Co!"
"I'm just saying," continued Harry firmly. "That I would feel better having some people I do trust around, to balance things out."
Malfoy sneered. "You're just too insecure to go anywhere without your little mates. I'm surprised Boot isn't here as well, wowing us all with his infamous wit."
"He's grounded," said Seamus. "Lucky for you."
Malfoy rolled his eyes. "What, so you two could beat me up, put me in my place?"
"We don't need Terry for that," said Parvati, a delighted sort of smile pulling at her mouth.
The bus lurched away again, and Harry felt like they needed to reach a resolution before they got to Charring Cross Road. "Stop threatening each other," he said sternly. "I don't want you two here for intimidation tactics, I just..."
Truth was he wasn't sure about Seamus and Parvati. He was deeply tempted by Hermione's intellect and practical know-how, but the other two were about as average as he was. It was more that they did seem to know this Malfoy better than he did, specific information from this reality that he was feeling could be of use.
"They could help in other ways beside with magic," he finished lamely.
"How?" asked Malfoy coldly.
Harry shrugged. "Well, I'm not sure exactly. If I knew where we were going-?"
Malfoy sighed and shook his head. "I literally can't tell you until we get there, I'm bound, the words won't come out of my mouth. So you'll have to trust me when I say they can't help, and they'll just be in danger. But do you know what?" He waved his hand and sat down on his bed. "I'm getting really tired of this argument. If you want to come, be my bloody guest." He laid down and covered his face with his arm, which Harry considered to be a very bold move with the daggers Seamus and Parvati were staring at him. "If you die a horrible, sticky death you will only have yourselves to blame."
And that was it. Harry looked between the others and Malfoy a couple of times, but Malfoy actually fell asleep before their eyes, his body going slack and his breathing getting softer.
Parvati and Seamus didn't seem to care though, they had already forgotten all about him and were just looking at Harry in anticipation.
"So," ventured Hermione. "You mean it, you'll let us come."
Harry shook his head in defeat. "I really don't get it," he said. "But if you promise me you understand that this could be treacherous, that you could get hurt, that we might have to fight for our lives..." He blew out a long breath. "Then I guess there's nothing I can do to stop you."