Make A Wish By: Rorschach's Blot 45 *Chapter 45*: Marriage Vows

"Yes," Percy replied hesitantly. "I think so, I'm really not sure what the Doctor wanted me to do."

"Then you are the new administrator. Your code name is . . . the Pencil Pusher." The Professor said proudly, he'd spent seconds of valuable time coming up it.

"Um . . . can't I just be Percy?"

"Fine," the Professor sulked. "You can just be Percy . . . who's the lovely girl?"

"This is Penny," Percy said. His face unconsciously going into a smile at the mention of his lover.

"Are you an administrator too?" The Professor asked nervously.

"I can be," Penny agreed.

"d.a.m.n . . . I only thought of the one code name . . . would the two of you mind sharing that code name?" The Professor said quickly, "one of you can be Pencil and the other can be pusher?"

"Why don't we talk about the details later," Penny suggested. "And why don't you show us to our quarters now?"

"I suppose that could work," the Professor agreed. "If I knew where your quarters were . . . Henchgirl."

"What?" Henchgirl stuck her head into the room and scowled.

"Where are the Pencil and the Pusher's quarters?" The Professor yelled back.

"Who?" Henchgirl shouted, "what have you done now you idiot?"

"Idiot?" The Professor screamed back, "would an idiot have invented a steam powered automatic hair brush?"

"Yes," Henchgirl ended the argument with her simple reply. "No go away and let me deal with the mess that I'm sure you've made of things."

"Fine," the Professor agreed. Percy and Penny watched in shock as the two strange people argued and again as the little man stormed off.

"h.e.l.lo," Henchgirl said pleasantly. "I'm Henchgirl, who are you?"

"I'm Percy and this is Penny," Percy replied dully. What had he gotten his family into?

"When are you going to have your baby?" Henchgirl asked. She had finally noticed Penny's swollen belly and had gone in to investigate. "I just love babies."

"So do I," Penny agreed. "I can't wait to have this one."

"You must be tired," Henchgirl said suddenly. "Let's get you to your quarters so that you can rest."

"That sounds like it would be a good idea," Penny said with a shrug. She was starting to get an understanding of these . . . people. "Come along dear."

Henchgirl led the young couple down a wide hall and to the residential section of the fortress.

"Here's your rooms," Henchgirl waved to a nondescript door. "It'll only let you and your child in, no one else can get access to your rooms."

"Thank you," Penny said with a grateful smile. "Is there a floo connection?"

"For calls only," Henchgirl confirmed. "We don't want anyone to come in except through the appropriate entrances."

"Thank you," Penny replied.

"Would it be possible for me to make a quick trip back to England?" Percy asked nervously, "the Doctor said that we could have our wedding here and I wanted to invite my family personally."

"You haven't had your wedding yet?" Henchgirl asked with a maniacal gleam in her eye.

"No," Percy said sadly. "I filed the paperwork but we haven't had a ceremony."

"Yay, I always wanted to help plan a wedding." Henchgirl said cheerfully. "You go do whatever you need to do in England, Penny and I will start planning the wedding."

"Are you sure?" Percy asked quickly.

"Yeah," Henchgirl replied quickly. "Go."

"Alright then," Percy agreed. As he left the room he thought he heard Henchgirl say something about a rocket powered wedding dress but he must have heard that wrong . . . right?"

Percy retraced his stepps back to the gate room where he and his soon to be bride had arrived just minutes before and found himself at a loss as to what to do next.

"h.e.l.lo?" He called out.

"Yes, what can I do for you?" The Professor replied.

"I need a round trip portkey to England," Percy said quietly. "Can I arrange that here?"

"Of course you can," the Professor agreed. "Any particular part of England."

"My parent's house," Percy said.

"Here you are." The Professor tossed a small wooden rod. "Have fun."

"Thank you," Percy said as he took the rod. "How do I activate it?"

"It'll activate on it's own in a few seconds," the Professor said with a smile. "To get back just say Fortress."

"Thank you." Percy felt the tug and reappeared in front of the house where he'd grew up. Taking a deep breath, Percy walked up to the front door and knocked.

"Yes?" Molly answered the door, her heart froze when she saw her estranged son. "Percy?"

"h.e.l.lo mum," Percy said in a subdued voice. "I . . . can I come in?"

"Of course," Molly said quickly. "This is still your house too."

"I'm sorry mum," Percy said quickly. "I came here to tell you that and to invite you to my wedding."

"Wedding?" Molly replied, her heart filled with hope.

"Penny and I already filed the paperwork but we haven't had a ceremony," Percy explained. "We're also going to have a baby soon and I thought you might like to come, I understand if you don't though."

"Of course I want to come," Molly said quickly. "I'm so glad to have you back."

"I'm not back mum," Percy said quietly. "That's why we're having the wedding, we found someplace safe to live."

"Safe?" Molly blinked, "does this have something to do with why you left?"

"Yes mum," Percy replied nervously. "I distanced myself from you and dad because I was afraid of what might happen to Penny. I did some research and I found that Ministry families that didn't take any part of things on either side in the last war stayed safe. I'm sorry mum but I gave up my family to keep my new family safe. I just wasn't brave enough to risk my wife and child, if it was just me I'd have stayed but it wasn't just me."

"You must think I'm a horrible mother," Molly whispered.

"Why would I think that mum?" Percy asked in confusion.

"You left the fight because it would keep your new family safe," Molly replied quietly. "Arthur and I jumped in without even thinking about the cost to you children."

"Everyone is at school or out of the house," Percy said quickly. He just had to think something that would calm his mother. "It's a completely different situation, if anyone is a terrible person it's me. I abandoned you and the fight because I couldn't stand the thought of coming home to a dead family and was willing to do anything to keep that from happening."

Far from their intended purpose calming his mother, Percy's statement just caused his mother to start crying. "My babies, I'm so sorry." Molly sobbed.

"Mum . . . don't cry," Percy said franticly. His usual way of dealing with Penny wouldn't work in this situation. The very thought of snogging his mother until they both forgot what they had been talking about turned his stomach. Running to the fireplace, Percy tossed in a handful of floo powder and called his father. "Dad, you there?"

"Percy?" Arthur's face appeared in the fireplace, "why haven't you come in to work? They say you've resigned and I've been getting odd floo calls from your girlfriend's family, are you ok son?"

"I'm fine dad," Percy confirmed. "But you need to come home."

"Why?" Arthur's voice turned serous, "what happend?"

"I came home to tell mum about my wedding and to apologize and she started talking about what a terrible mother she was," Percy said quickly. "I tried to tell her that she wasn't and she started crying and now I don't know what to do."

"Just stay there son," Arthur commanded. "I'll be through in a bit."

"Hurry," Percy begged. "I don't know what to do."

"I just have to take care of a few things," Arthur said calmly. "I'll be there in a minute." Arthur pulled his head out of the fireplace and mulled over what he'd just heard. On the one hand, Percy was his son. On the other . . . on the other, the boy had distanced himself from his family. As much as he hated to admit it . . .

Arthur took a pinch of floo and tossed it into the fireplace to call his older sons.

"What is it dad?" Charlie answered the floo.

"Can you get in touch with Bill?" Arthur asked quickly.

"Yeah he's right here, why?" Charlie replied with a nervous frown.

"I need the both of you to wait a few minutes and then go home," Arthur said. "There might be something wrong."

"We'll go over right now," Charlie said quickly.

"No," Arthur ordered. "Wait for five minutes and then go, I just have a bad feeling and I think it's best to be careful."

"What's happening?" Charlie demanded.

"Percy called me and he says that your mother is crying," Arthur answered. "I'm just worried about why she might be happening and what might be happening, I'm sure everything is fine."

"Like you said, better safe than sorry." Charlie pursed his lips. "Ok dad, we'll be over in a few minutes."

"Thanks boys," Arthur said with a smile. "If nothing is wrong then let's just say that I asked you to come because I thought it would help calm your mother."

"Then why not call the twins too?" Charlie asked, "just wanna keep our stories straight."

"When have they ever calmed your mother?" Arthur grinned, "and they're busy with their shop right now."

"Got it," Charlie said quickly. "Good luck dad."

"Thanks boys," Arthur said in reply and ended the call. Pulling his head out of the fireplace, Arthur checked his wand to make sure it was readily available and then with one last sigh . . . Arthur popped back home to meet his fate.

"Dad," Percy called out to his father when he heard the pop. "I'm so glad you're here."

"It's ok son," Arthur said with a smile. "I'm here now."

"Arthur," Molly flung herself on her husband and burred her face in his shoulder.

"Now why don't you tell me what happened?" Arthur suggested.

"I came home to apologize and to invite everyone to my wedding," Percy said quickly. "Then mum asked if I was going to come home and I said that we were safe so I was just going to have a wedding and we'd stay were we were."

"Where did you go?" Arthur asked calmly. "What else happened?"

"I got a new job dad," Percy said quickly. "And I'm not sure if I'm supposed to talk about it yet. Mum asked why I left and I told her it was because they didn't bother Ministry families that stayed out of things last time and because I was too cowardly to face the possibility of coming home and finding Penny and the baby dead and that's when she said that she was a horrible mother and started crying." Percy took a deep breath.

"I think I understand," Arthur said slowly. "Why don't you go wait in the sitting room for your brothers, I'll do my best to calm your mother and then the five of us can visit."

"Great idea dad," Percy said enthusiastically. "Thanks for coming . . . can I talk to you about being a father later? Penny and I are expecting."

"I'd be happy to talk to you about that Percy," Arthur's voice was choked with emotion.

IIIIIIIIIII

It was the bottom of the ninth and the bases were loaded . . . or they would be if it was a baseball game instead of a Quidditch game so no bases were loaded and the snitch had yet to be caught. It was the Gryffindor match against their arch rivals Slytherin and the score was tied at one hundred and fifty.

Ginny was in her element, the cheers of the crowd had faded to a dull roar in the back of her mind and a flicker of gold to her left indicated that the game might soon be over. Ginny turned her head to focus on the snitch and made a mad dash across the field to end the game. Taking her hand off the broom in antisipation of her victory, she smiled as the snitch got closer and closer. She was about three broom lengths away from the snitch when a light flashed behind her eyes and the world went black.

Goyl grinned stupidly at his beater bat still coated with a thin layer of his victim's blood. The slow witted boy ignored the screams of the crowd and the instructions of the referee . . . all that mattered is that he had followed Draco's instructions and won the game for Slytherin.

"What are you going to do about this?" Ron demanded. He felt sick to his stomach as he watched his younger sister get carried off the field.

"That was some of the dirtiest play that I have ever had the misfortune to watch," Madame Hooch replied in disgust. "But the league rules are very clear in regards to the penalty I am aloud to give in this sort of situation . . . three penalty shots."

"What?" Ron screamed in outrage. "You're letting them off?"

"I don't have a choice in this matter Mr. Weasley," Madame Hooch said in disgust. "I suggest that you call in an alternate seeker?"

"Fine," Ron growled. "But this isn't over."

Ron flew his broom to the Quidditch stands to find his two best friends.

"What did Hooch say?" Harry asked calmly.

"Penalty shots," Ron said with a shake of his head. "She said that she couldn't do anymore."

"You want me to come in?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah mate," Ron agreed. "After all that, there's no way I'm gonna let those dirty snakes win."

"You grab my broom," Harry commanded. "I'm gonna toss a uniform over this and be down shortly."

"Right," Ron agreed. The red headed boy flew his broom to where his sister had landed and picked Harry's broom up off the ground. "Guess it's a good thing Harry let you use his broom Gin," Ron muttered to himself. "We'll get 'em for you."

Shaking his head to banish the disturbing thoughts that threatened to take over, Ron made the short flight to the side lines where his friend was waiting.

"Thanks," Harry said with a grateful nod as he took his broom. "Let's get this over then."

The two boys flew up to to meet the rest of the team and Harry put hovered across from the opposing seeker.

"Looks like we're gonna watch two seekers get carried off the field in one game," Draco said in his usual tone. "A rare treat huh boys?"

Harry's only outward reaction to the other boy's mocking words was a small grin.

"I don't want to see anymore dirty play in this game." Madame Hooch glared at the Slytherin team. "Play has resumed."

Harry accelerated across the field with Draco at his heals with a grin on his face. He got to the end of the pitch then whirled to face the other seeker.

The Slytherin boy didn't have time to react to Harry's change in direction before Harry's boot smashed him across the face and threw him to the ground.

A hush fell over the arena and all eyes turned to stare at Harry as he sat calmly on his boom.

"Guess we owe them a penalty shot then," Harry said in an unemotional voice. His face was impa.s.sive as he watched Malfoy get carried off the field.

"Err . . . yes, two shots." Hooch managed to overcome her shock to make the call.

"b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l mate," Ron whispered at his friend.

"Who do you think'll get out of the hospital wing first?" Harry smiled at the listening Slytherins. "I'm guessing Ginny, I think I felt a couple teeth break when I hit Malfoy."

"If he gets out first then I guess we can just put him back," Ron replied with a grin. Sure that his friend was putting on a show.

"Best get back to your post mate," Harry suggested. "Looks like they found someone to replace Malfoy and it's time for those shots."

"Right mate," Ron agreed.

"Relax," Harry told the trembling first year that had been thrown in as Malfoy's last minute replacement. "If you play clean with me then I will play clean with you, if you want to play dirty . . ."

"I'll behave," the firsty said quickly. "Thank you."

"The thing about the houses," Harry continued. "Is that they don't really matter in the real world. Malfoy is a git, I am not going to treat you like him if you don't act like him . . . that goes for everyone in your house."

"I'll tell them," the firsty a.s.sured Harry.

"Would you like a little piece of advice?" Harry glanced behind the first year. "Something to make you a better seeker?"

"What?" The first year asked quickly.

"Keep your head on a swivel," Harry said with a smile. "You never know where the snitch will turn up."

The first year's head turned by reflex and his eyes widened when he noticed the snitch hovering just out of reach. Making a last minute lunge, the Slytherin seeker was beaten out at the last minute by the longer arms of his more experienced opponent.

"Good job," Harry spoke out of the corner of his mouth as the two neared the ground. "Better then Draco ever did but that might be because he had to buy his way onto the team."

IIIIIIIIII

The after game party in the Gryffindor party was a bit more subdued then it normally was. One of their own was in the hospital wing and it dampened everyone's spirits when that happened . . . unless it was Harry, he spent so much time in the hospital wing that people started getting nervous when he managed to stay out of it for more then a coupe months.

All eyes turned to look at the portrait when in opened and most of them widened in shock when Ginny walked into the room.

"Why aren't you in the hospital wing?" Ron demanded.

"Madame Pomfrey said that I'd be fine after a little rest," Ginny replied with a grin. "So I told her that I'd be able to rest in my own bed better then I would in the hospital wing."

"She bought that?" Ron asked in shock, "I wonder why Harry never tried that."

"She thinks Harry's made of gla.s.s and she doesn't like it when he's out of her sight," Hermione spoke up. "Speaking of Harry . . . where is he? I haven't seen him since the game."

"Um." Ginny looked nervous. "Harry hasn't been here?"

"No, why?" Hermione asked.

"Because Malfoy's goons are in the hospital wing," Ginny answered reluctantly. "Madame Pomfrey says that it looked like they'd fallen down a flight of stairs . . . are you sure you haven't seen Harry?"

"Not since the game," Hermione confirmed. "But I wouldn't worry about it, Harry wouldn't do something like that."

"Yeah," Ron agreed quickly. "Now get off to bed or I'll go down to the hospital wing to tell Madame Pomfrey that you've been up and about."

"Just let me grab a few snacks to take with me," Ginny agreed. "And I'll go right up."

"We'd better go make our rounds," Hermione suggested. "Let's go Ron."

"Good idea," Ron replied quickly. "Let's go."

The two friends walked into the hall and down the corridor.

"I don't see anyone," Ron said quietly.

"Do you really think that Harry put Malfoy's bodyguards in the hospital?" Hermione asked nervously.

"Maybe," Ron said after a few moments of thought. "I would have said no last year . . . or at least not without asking for our help. h.e.l.l, last year it would have been me asking for help and you helping Harry talk me down."

"But he's changed over the summer," Hermione spoke quietly. "And I'm not sure if it was for the better . . . he's so distant."

"Give him time," Ron whispered. "I think . . . I think that he might be trying to work through Sirius's death, maybe Cedric's too."

"What can we do?" Hermione was close to tears. "I'm watching him slip away from us and I don't know what to do."

"I don't know either," Ron admitted. "But I don't think demanding answers will help . . . you know how he can get."

"Yes I know how he can get," Hermione growled. "I think I know why Harry's acting the way he is lately."

"Really?" Ron asked quickly. "Why?"

"I bet that git is trying to protect us," Hermione spoke through clenched teeth. "He thinks we're targets for being his friends and he's trying to distance himself to protect us. That stupid git, what gives him the right to do this to us?"

"You could be right," Ron agreed. "You heard how he reacted in the Department of Mysteries when he thought you were dead, add that to what happened to Sirius . . ."

"That b.l.o.o.d.y b.a.s.t.a.r.d." Hermione was working herself into a rage, "what gives him the right to make our decisions for us."

"Same thing that gives everyone else to make his decisions for him," Ron suggested. "And need I remind you that our hands aren't clean in this matter?"

"I know," Hermione groaned going from rage to depression in an instant. "We never should have listened when they told us not to give Harry any news . . . what do we do Ron?"

"I don't know," Ron said quietly. "You're supposed to be the smart one, I don't think we should push him on this though."

"It would only make him dig his heals in," Hermione agreed. "He can be so stubborn sometimes. Ok, here's what I think we should do. We should remind Harry that we'll follow him everywhere and tell him how confident we are in his leaders.h.i.+p skills."

"Sounds good," Ron said quickly. "Now let's get back to the party."

IIIIIIIIII

Ron awoke the next morning and walked down to the common room to find Hermione waiting.

"Good morning," Ron greeted his friend with a smile.

"Is Harry awake yet?" Hermione demanded.

"I didn't see him in his bed," Ron said. "I a.s.sumed he was down here."

"I've been down here waiting for him for the last two hours," Hermione said. "I know he didn't get past me."

"He wakes up early sometimes," Ron explained with a shrug. "Especially after he gets back from a summer holiday."

"Oh . . . come on, we have to go find him so we can start rea.s.suring him that we'll always be by his side." Hermione dragged Ron out of the common room and to the great hall, "I was thinking that I'd focus on telling him what a great leader he is while you focus more on the loyalty and friends.h.i.+p." Hermione suggested, "with any luck, we'll have Harry back to normal before Christmas."

"Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley." McGonagall intercepted the duo at the entrance to the main hall. "May I have a moment of your time? I have a bit of news for the two of you."

"What can we do for you, Professor?" Hermione asked.

"You two have been excused from cla.s.ses to attend the wedding of one of Mr. Weasley's brothers," McGonagall replied. "Mr. Weasley's mother also made it a point of telling me that she would like Mr. Weasley to bring his girlfriend along."

"What about Harry?" Ron asked, "and Ginny?"

"I have already informed Mr. Potter and I shall tell your sister when she comes down for breakfast," McGonagall said. "If there are no more questions?"

"Which Brother?" Hermione asked quickly.

"Percy," McGonagall spoke quickly. "And Mr. Weasleys other brothers have asked me to instruct him that if he does not attend then they shall be forced to break both of his legs. Apparently there are some things that must be resolved in a face to face meeting. Anything else?"

"No Professor." Ron shook his head.

"Be in the great hall at the start of cla.s.ses, there will be a Portkey to take you to your location," Minerva instructed. The Transfiguration mistress gave each student a fond smile and then returned to her place at the head table.

"Girlfriend?" Hermione gave Ron an odd look.

"Sort of." Ron's face reddened to match his hair. "Hanna and I have been talking to each other this summer. Sorry, I haven't said anything but I wanted to keep it to myself for a while."

"She's nice," Hermione said after a moment of thought. "I think she'll be good for you."

"Thanks," Ron said with a shy grin. "I'm glad you think so."

"Let's go find Harry," Hermione suggested.

"Yeah," Ron agreed.

Ron and Hermione were soon joined by Ginny. The three of them searched the Great Hall all morning in vain and finally gave up as breakfast was coming to a close.

"Where is he?" Hermione frowned. "n.o.body's seen him since the game."

"McGonagall said she'd told him to come down here," Ron said nervously. "Do you think we should go looking for him?"

"Professor," Ginny called out as their Head of House entered the room. "Have you seen Harry?"

"Yes," Minerva replied. "I just spoke with him, he said that he just wanted to grab a few things and that he'd be right down."

"I'm here Professor," Harry called out. "Sorry I took so long."

"Quite alright Mr. Potter," Minerva said. The old woman pulled out a long strip of ribbon and held it out. "The portkey is this strip of ribbon, it is set to go off when you say the words Wedding and Percy's in the opposite order. Before you go, there is something I need to warn you about."

"What's that Professor?" Hermione asked nervously.

"The ceremony itself is being conducted in Mr. Black's home," Minerva said. "So I would not advise you to go wandering off or to break anything."

"What?" The four students asked in shock.

"I'm told that all will be explained when you arrive," Minerva said as she handed over the ribbon. "I suggest that you use this portkey soon. You wouldn't want to be late would you?"

"Of course not Professor." Hermione took the ribbon and made sure that everyone had a hold. "Percy's wedding."

The Portkey trip was the longest that any of them had ever taken. They finally arrived in a dark stone room in front of an odd little man and a taller smiling girl.

"h.e.l.lo," the tiny man called out. "I'm the Professor and this is my hench girl . . . Henchgirl."

"h.e.l.lo," Henchgirl waved.

"h.e.l.lo again Professor," Hermione greeted the little man. "Nice to meet you Henchgirl."

"Is this really Mr. Black's home?" Ginny asked hesitantly.

"Why yes, it is," the Professor replied.

"Is Mr. Black here?" Ron asked nervously.

"He could be," the Professor agreed. "One never knows."

"What do you mean by that?" Hermione asked, eager to learn as much about the mysterious Mr. Black as she could.

"Mr. Black could be anywhere," the Professor replied with a grin. "He could be standing right in front of you and you wouldn't know it unless he wanted you to."

"So he could be in this room right now?" Hermione looked around.

"He could be standing right next to you and you'd never know it," the Professor replied with a smirk.

"Could someone show me where the bathroom is?" Harry asked quickly. "I think I might be sick after that Portkey."

"Come with me," Henchgirl said with a perky smile. "I'll show you."

"Thanks," Harry replied gratefully and the two of them walked out of the room.

"So tell me," Henchgirl asked after the two of them were out of earshot. "Do you really need the bathroom or did you just want to talk to me?"

"I don't get sick anymore," Harry replied. "Not since . . . and portkeys don't bother me after all the ones I used this summer."

"Why don't we go find someplace private," Henchgirl suggested. "If anyone asks why it took so long, I took you to the hospital wing because I was worried about you or something."

"Sounds good," Harry agreed. "How has everyone been?"

"It's only been a couple of weeks," Henchgirl said with a grin.

"I know," Harry said. "But I've missed everyone."

"How's school?"

"Terrible," Harry said quickly. "I'm too b.l.o.o.d.y paranoid to sleep in my dorm, most of the cla.s.ses are too easy, and Defence Against the Dark Arts has turned into The History of Mr. Black."

"Really?" Henchgirl coughed to cover her laughter.

"Really," Harry confirmed. "I don't know if I can stay there all year, and I'm sure I can't stay for two."

"You'll manage," Henchgirl said with a shrug. "And if you can't, you can always come back here."

"Why is Percy getting married here?" Harry asked, changing the subject.

"Because he works for you now," Henchgirl replied.

"Ok . . .why is he working for me?" Harry asked in a low voice.

"Several reasons," Henchgirl replied. "One of which is that we owe him after what a couple of our agents did."

"What happened?"

"The twins decided that they needed to know why he left the family," Henchgirl whispered back. "Turns out he did it to protect his wife and unborn child."

"I suppose I can respect that," Harry agreed. "Why do we owe him?"

"The twins asked where his family was," Henchgirl replied. "So he bit through his tongue to keep from answering."

"I can respect that too," Harry said after a moment of thought. "Good work."

AN: McGonagall doesn't think that Harry is Mr. Black, she thinks that he's becoming an illegal animagus.

Omake by MisterQ

Deep underground, in the lowest level of Voldemort's hideout - er.. fortress, three death eaters plotted.

"Every time the Dark Lord sends people after Potter, they get killed by Mr. Black. This can only mean one thing!" said the first Deatheater, "This means that Mr. Black is Harry Potter's real father! Lily must have kept her affair a secret from everyone but our Dark Lord. There is no way The Dark Lord would target a defenseless baby unless it was the sp.a.w.n of Mr. Black himself!"

"That is stupid. Harry Potter is protected by Mr. Black because he needs to find out how to survive the killing curse. Once he figures it out, he will start the next phase in his plan for global domination." The second Deatheater nodded.

"Listen, you guys," the third Deatheater s.h.i.+vered in fear, "You two shouldn't talk about Mr. Black so casually. There is a rumor that he hears everything when people talk about him."

"Oh yeah, right! It's just a name!" The first minion reb.u.t.ted.

"Yeah! Like Mr. Black is going to do something to us just because we're talking about him? Ha! I'd like to see that!" said the second follower of Voldemort before he and the first one simply vanished - only to reappear with his friend, right in front of Harry Potter in the room of requirements.

The third Deatheater blinked and looked around the empty room. "h.e.l.lo? You guys, this is not funn...y..."

His two friends reappeared.. or to say more accurately, the remains of his two friends reappeared. The lone Deatheater looked from one corpse that was missing a large portion of his chest to the headless other body and started screaming. He never stopped.

Two days later, Harry was walking past the Headmaster's office when he heard Snape talking to Dumbledore. "The latest news is that two Deatheaters simply vanished from You Know Who's a most secure lair, only to reappear seconds later - dead. One of them looked like he got hit by a reducto curse point-blank in the head. As you know, that is one of Mr. Black's favorite spells..."

The voices trailed off as Harry walked away thinking.

"So you're saying that Voldemort never found out about the Room of Requirements?" Ron asked Harry the next day as they stood in the very room they were talking about.

"That's right. I asked Ginny, and as far as she remembers, the young Tom Riddle never knew of this place as of the time he made that diary."

"So... the power that he knows not is.." Hermione started to say.

"Correct. This room." Harry said and faced skyward before speaking in an authoritative voice. "I really need the severed head of Tom Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort... and also his right ventricle. My vampire side is feeling a little hungry."