"You impudent, flea ridden BUFFOON!" the angry voice of the dark lord raged at the cowering figures of Draco Malfoy and Peter Petigrew. The blood red eyes of the former Tom Riddle blazed dangerously, his pale body trembling with suppressed rage. "I practically hand you Harry Potter" he said, spitting his words at Petigrew, he rounded furiously on Malfoy, "And you, how the hell can you screw up capturing a blind, pathetic, MUD-BLOOD?!".
It was now two days after Harry and Hermione had left the mansion in the woods, voldemort had learned of Harry's return through Draco's message, he had been both angered and pleased. He knew that the young Potter boy must have been under heavy training of some kind in preparation for the true final battle. He knew Harry would have changed after his training, but he also knew Harry couldn't deny his emotions. It was obvious to voldemort that Harry would have searched for that buck toothed mud blood he loved, and voldemort had taken advantage of this knowledge. He sent Petigrew to find Harry and bring the boy before him. Draco had requested to go in order to get revenge upon Harry, voldemort had told him he wasn't to harm Harry, Draco made it clear he wasn't going to do anything to Harry for his revenge, his plans had been with Hermione.
Though Draco hated her with every fiber of his being he couldn't deny that Granger was indeed hot. During the battle two years before he had been made a promise directly from voldemort, that if he battled as a death eater, he could have Hermione as his own. Draco had been the one who had blasted Parvati off the broom, he had cursed himself a thousand times for not getting Granger.
Draco and Petigrew had reached the mansion the day before, a day after Harry and Hermione had left. They had searched the whole place for any clue as to where they might have gone, but they had found nothing, they had been utterly terrified when they realized they had nothing to give nor tell their master. And so now they were down on their knees infront of the great dark lord, who's regime had stretched all through out Britain and almost all of Europe. Draco was confident he would be safe from any punishment, he had volunteered, and had volunteered for a job other than getting Harry, he couldn't think of any reason voldemort would be angry with him, apparantly there was some reason.
"You have failed me for the last time" voldemort had returned to his gigantic, golden throne and was starring into space, Draco and Petigrew glanced at each other nervously, unsure to whom voldemort was speaking to. The two of them chanced a glance up at voldemort, who turned his murderous gaze down upon them immediately. They grimaced and starred down at the stone floor. Voldemort slowly rose to his feet and raised his wand, training it slowly on Draco.
Draco glanced up and saw this, his eyes widening in terror at what was surely about to happen. "Please my lord no, no I beg of you" he through himself at voldemorts feet, kissing the hem of his robes. "It was not I that failed you, it was that sniveling fool there" he pointed desperately at Petigrew who was turning very pale indeed at this. "He was supposed to bring you Harry…….." Draco was flung back roughly across the hard, cracked stone floor. He looked up at the horrifying figure of voldemort.
"Pathetic" he said slowly, "I have no intention of punishing you, young Draco, but I am sickened by your actions, at least your father, a true death eater, would have accepted his punishment like a man". Voldemort slowly lowered his wand, not glancing at Petigrew who appeared to be trying to slip away unnoticed. "Do you know why you are my head lieutenant Draco? Because I surely do not know why I would have ever appointed a weak, powerless coward like you to such an important position. WHERE ARE YOU GOING WORMTAIL". Petigrew froze where he stood, dropping back to his knees and crawling back to his master, apologizing profusely.
Draco, not very sure of what to do, slowly rose to his feet. He was suddenly struck with an idea, the only thing he knew for sure was that Harry and Hermione were definitely together, and he could find them. "Master" he said in a steady voice, voldemort removed his gaze from the graveling Petigrew and starred at Draco for a moment.
"Yes, what is it Draco?" he asked furiously. Draco cringed slightly at the tone of his voice, he didn't like it when voldemort was angry with him.
"Allow me to truly apologize my lord, send me to defeat Harry Potter, I will find them and I will prove to the world that he is no match for me, let alone capable of destroying you my great lord. And when I am done with him I will have will already have my reward, for I know that Granger must be traveling with Potter". Draco wasn't entirely certain this approach would work, his ability to slime his way out of a sticky situation rivaled Snape's, but he still was unsure if the dark lord would trust him with such an important job. Voldemort looked as though he were thinking hard, the idea certainly appealed to him, he knew, however, it was little more than an attempt to avoid punishment but he still liked the idea.
"A terrible idea Draco, I cant believe you thought you could worm your way out of punishment for failing me already" Draco's eyes widened in fear as he looked at the amused smirk on voldemorts face. "I think I have a better idea young Malfoy. You will track down Potter and Granger, you will prove to Harry that he is no match for you, my number one lieutenant, and you will bring me his head as proof of his death. Also, I wish you to bring me the mud-blood, I think I shall gift your success with the mud-blood, I don't see much personal use for her myself" voldemort looked as though the entire thing had been his idea, and Draco, not wanting to get the dark lord angry, grinned and eagerly nodded.
"You are indeed brilliant my lord, I could not have come up with a better idea myself. I shall leave at once master" and with that final word, Draco turned his back to voldemort and Petigrew and dashed from the room, drawing his wand from his robes.
Voldemort motioned to his guard to close the door, letting out a derisive laugh as he turned and marched past the still cowering Petigrew and headed toward his private chamber, stopping and glancing over his shoulder at Petigrew who was now on his feet.
"Dearest Peter" voldemort said in a silky voice as he opened the door to his private chamber, a voluptuous woman approaching from the shadows, a grin on her face as she entered chamber before voldemort.
"Y-y-yes my master?" Petigrew stuttered slightly, though not as badly as he normally would have, he could see voldemorts mind as already else where.
"Kindly find me a new head lieutenant, my current one will be dead in two days time." He grinned nastily at Peter before heading into his chamber, the door staring to close behind before he stopped and starred back at Peter for a moment, Petigrew now frozen in shock at his masters words.
"Actually Peter, I think you deserve a promotion, congratulations head lieutenant Wormtail" he grinned once more and slammed the door to his chamber shut. Leaving a both stunned, and elated Petigrew standing in the middle of the throne room. He looked around at the guards who all gave him the thumbs up at his new rank, though Petigrew was already feeling confused emotions about his promotion, as the head lieutenant he would be expected to battle Harry after Draco was gone.
"Ha, it will be no problem, taking down a child. He's not the only one who's been getting stronger" Wormtail laughed insanely as he exited the room through the door opposite voldemorts, the door to the head lieutenants quarters, he had some redecorating to do with his new home.
* * *
"So, do, you know where the resistance headquarters are?" Hermiones curious voice asked. They had been traveling almost non stop for two days now, and they were still in the forest, she was beginning to wonder if Harry knew where they were headed. She knew that you could pick a direction from the mansion and start walking and you'd be out of the forest after a day of walking, but they had been at it for two days already, and nighttime was approaching once more.
Harry made an impatient noise as he glanced back at Hermione, he didn't know why she was complaining, she hadn't exactly been the one to sit up for two nights to fend off the beasts that were in the forest while she slept. He shook his head and muttered to himself, he could have led her out of the forest the previous day but he preferred to wait for Hermione to regain her sight before they left the forest.
"For the last time Hermione, NO, I don't know where the hell the bloody headquarters for the resistance is. I have no idea, I should have asked Parvati but I had other things on my mind at the time. It won't be that hard to find someone who knows where the resistance is, so STOP WORRYING" Harry didn't mean to be so angry with her, it was simply becoming harder to control his emotions for some reason. Being with Hermione brought back so many memories and so many emotions that he couldn't resist them all.
Hermione stopped suddenly, hearing the anger in Harry's voice, she hated it when he was angry, especially if he was angry with her. All she ever wanted was Harry to come back to her, and now that it had finally happened she wasn't sure she wanted it anymore. Hermione heard Harry stop ahead of her, she couldn't wait until she could see again, that way she could glare angrily at him, with passion in her eyes once more.
"I think we should stop here, now. I don't feel much like walking anymore." Hermione said defiantly at his silence, and sat down, pulling her knees close to her chest and waiting for him to say something. Harry glared at her angrily for a moment before speaking.
"Get up Hermione, I don't have time to screw around now." He sounded irritated, as if having to put up with some bratty child who wasn't getting their way. It didn't do much for his mood when she responded.
"Don't have time to screw around? Oh, do you have somewhere important to be, it cant be the resistance since you don't know where it is. And unless your trying to circle the entire forest, we have nowhere to go Harry, your lost, just admit it. Even I could have made it out of the forest by now, stop being such a prat". Hermione turned smirked up at Harry, wishing she could see how angry she was making him at slapping the truth in his face. She didn't hear anything for several minutes and she began to worry a little.
"On your feet" he snarled at her, his tone shaking with rage. Hermione was both frightened and confused by this, what was with Harry lately, one minute he was being sweet and innocent like he had been back in school, the next he sounded like he was ready to attack her. Hermione tightened her grip around her legs and remained determinedly on the ground.
This didn't set well with Harry, he was in a bad enough mood already, he was constantly struggling with an inner battle, unsure of whether to accept his love for Hermione, or to allow his heart to finally sink into the permanent anger and rage that came with all the black magic he had learned. As long as he allowed his heart to love he would never be able to use his dark powers to their full extent, and he would always be holding back from his true power. On the other hand, if he allowed his heart and soul to be devoured by the blinding rage he had known in battle two years ago he would finally be able to use all his dark arts spells, and use them to their full potential.
He shook his head, deciding to sort out his feeling later, he glared down at Hermione and slowly turned away from her. "Fine Granger, stay here and get killed, see if I care, I came back to kill voldemort, I don't need you". And with that Harry started to walk away in the direction they had been headed before they stopped. Hermione gasped and listened as she heard the fading footsteps of Harry, dieing away as he did indeed leave her behind.
"H-Harry?" she asked pleadingly, she hoped it was just a trick to get her to her feet, and indeed she had jumped to her feet, facing the direction she had heard Harry's footsteps. "HARRY?!" she cried out desperately, she couldn't make it back to her mansion now, they had followed a very curvy and zigzagging path. She started running as fast as she could in the direction she had heard Harry leaving, screaming as she ran, trying to call Harry back, "HARRY WAIT, IM SORRY, HARRY".
She stopped and panted for a moment, listening carefully for any sound of a crunching leaf beneath a foot or the snapping of a twig, but there was nothing. She started breathing heavily, scared and angry now, how could Harry just leave her like that. She reached up and began to tear at the bandages over her eyes, it was dark enough now that the little light that was left wouldn't hurt her eyes. She tossed the bandages to the ground and looked around.
Her vision was extremely blurry, everything was dark, the many trees appeared as nothing more than darker spots, her eyes not wanting to adjust to the low light. She wasn't sure what she had intended to accomplish by removing the bandages, maybe if she waited till morning her eyes would be back to normal and she could find her way home, she was sure that she and Harry had left a trail.
After several more minutes in which she called out Harry's name over and over again she accepted that he was not coming back, she sank down to the ground and leaned back against a tree, pulling her knees to her chest once more, sitting there and crying. She cried for several minutes before she suddenly stopped and looked up, she had heard the unmistakeable sound of the crunching of leaves on the ground, definitely footsteps on the forest floor. 'it must be Harry, that jerk, making me worry like that' she leaped to her feet, quickly wiping her eyes on the back of her sleeve and starred at the approaching figure, he was nothing more than a blurred, dark blue object.
"Harry you prat, I can believe you left me like that, didn't you hear me screaming. What the hell is wrong with you?" she asked angrily as the dark figure still approached her silently, she suddenly had and ominous feeling about this person, she wasn't sure it was Harry after all. She took a step back, still staring at the dark figure, her vision suddenly decided to improve slightly.
She could tell the figure was around the same build as Harry, but most definitely wasn't Harry. She could make out shining, ivory blonde hair in the darkness, she gasped and stumbled back, tripping over a tree root and falling to the ground as she starred up at who must have been Draco Malfoy.
"Draco?!" she heard him give an amused laugh. "Wh-what do you want Malfoy?" she pushed herself hurriedly to her feet, but Draco now leaped forward, grabbing her arms tightly and pushing her back against an enormous oak tree.
"Well well well, if it isn't the disgusting little mud-blood bitch." He taunted as she struggled against his grip, screaming as loud as she could, hoping that Harry might hear her and come back. "Oh do shut up Granger, there's no point in calling for Potter, he's long gone by now. And who can blame him too, im surprised he put of with you for this long." He nearly let go of her arms to cover his ears as she let out another high octave shriek, causing his ears to throb painfully.
He grinned evily and glared into her eyes, "I think you should stop that now, but don't worry, I'll make sure you do plenty of screaming later, but it wont be Potter's name your shouting." He gave a cynical laugh as Hermione gasped and started to struggle against his grip once more. The mere thought of what Draco intended to do to her made her sick.
"LET GO OF ME" she shrieked in his face, wishing desperately she had pulled her wand on him before. Draco just continued to laugh as he shook his head, his black eyes now traveling across her body, which was showed off nicely due to her snug auror's robes.
"I think I might just have my prize right here, since your so insistent on screaming I'll give you a reason to scream." She began to thrash violently against him, causing Draco to stumble back, though he kept his grip on her so she came falling down on top of him. He glared up at her angrily and forced her off, rolling over on top of her and pinning her arms to the ground. "Smile Granger, this is a real honor, any girl would kill to be where you are right now".
"I don't think so" a new voice cried angrily as Draco turned his head and, just as in Hogsmead, saw Harry's angry face before his fist connected full force with his nose. Draco was sent flying off of Hermione and rolling across the forest floor, rising slowly to his feet and stumbling back against a tree to steady himself, reaching up and feeling his nose, wincing in pain, Potter had broken it.
Hermione looked up and saw the blurry image of Harry, standing angrily over her, she leapt to her feet and threw her arms around him, though he did not return the embrace. She let go of him and took a step back, staring at him for a moment, though her vision was still poor, there was no mistaking the gaze of pure venomous hatred in Harry's eyes as he starred past Hermione at Draco. Hermione took a look over her shoulder at Draco and turned back to Harry, reaching for her wand before Harry grasped her hand, shaking his head and motioning for her to step aside.
Hermione retreated behind Harry, resting behind a tree and watching the fight between the two old rivals begin. Her vision once again improving suddenly, she could now distinguish between the two boys easily, though her vision wasn't even half way back to normal.
Harry already had his wand out, he was glaring at Draco through the increasing darkness, he muttered quickly and pointed his wand to the ground, a bright light suddenly rising from the ground in a circle that stretched to include Draco. Draco drew his wand and looked at the circle of light curiously, he shrugged, not minding the gesture, it would be easier for him to battle if he could see what he was doing. Draco pointed his wand at Harry, ignoring the blood gushing from his smashed nose as he began to search his mind for the best spell to start with.
"Your making a mistake Potter, throw down your wand and come with me, perhaps if you beg for your life lord voldemort will spare you" Draco taunted Harry as he slowly raised his wand, Harry doing the same. Draco received no response so he shrugged and prepared for the battle. They slowly began to tread around the edge of the circle, as if daring the other to begin. It was Draco who fired first.
"You should have joined my master when you had the chance!! MAXIMUS REDUCTO" Draco's enraged voice echoed through out the entire forest, a narrow beam like blast erupting from his wand, headed straight for Harry.
Either Harry was moving extremely fast or time was slowing down, it seemed as though the green beam of light slowed before it could reach Harry as he waved his wand almost lazily down at the ground infront of him. "NECRO SAMENS". One of the most favorite dark spells in Harry's almost infinite arsenal of black magic.
But nothing came from Harry's wand as he shouted the incantation, instead it came from the ground infront of Harry. Suddenly, an old, decaying, still partially flesh covered skeleton erupted from the ground, rising infront of Harry, Hermione letting out a horrified scream from behind her tree. The green beam of light collided with the disgusting skeletal, zombie like figure and blew apart against it. The creature, if it could even be called that, turned to Harry, who nodded, and it promptly nodded back, suddenly collapsing into a pile of dust.
Harry grinned down at the pile of dust now blowing away into the wind, he looked up at the horrified look on Malfoy's face. "So what do you think, that's the first time I've had a chance to test that spell so far." He continued to grin at the look on Malfoy's face. "The Necromancer's follower spell. Though not the full spell however, the full spell summons a veritable army of these creatures, and they can do magic as well. But I though just one to block your spell would do."
Draco starred at the pile of dust at Potter's feet, he was terrified to say the least, he had not expected Potter to know spells like that, he hadnt even studied dark spells that advanced. He gulped and fixed a determined look of anger upon his face, glaring at Harry once more. "You think you can scare me just because you learned a dark arts spells? Well your wrong Potter, your still no match for me!". And with that he waved his wand at Harry once more screaming, "Now you die Potter, AVADA KEDAVRA", this time there was a giant wave of magic erupting from Malfoy's wand at Harry, who still didn't look the least bit unnerved as she swung his own wand at the green blast.
"YOUR GONNA LOVE THIS MALFOY" Harry screamed as he made a stabbing motion toward the green light as it reached him, his mind focused strongly on the shielding spell, though that wasn't the spell he shouted. "INCANTATEM REVERSO" as he shouted this he focused his mind more clearly on the shielding spell, seeing the shield infront of him, using his mind to bend the shield in a curved arch.
What happened next shocked all three of them, the green blast collided with the shield, the shield sparkling green for an instant before Draco's own blasted fired back out of the shield, headed straight for Draco. Draco and Hermione were surprised to know that such a move was possible, Harry was shocked that the move had worked at all, it was a spell that he had only studied, he had never tried to use it to block any spell before.
Draco let out a cry of surprise and disbelief as his own deadly curse slammed into his body, rocking his mind and sending him flying back and crashing into a tree, the hard wood splinting under the crushing force of Draco. Draco slid down the tree, his now lifeless eyes starring up at Harry, his last thoughts seeming to echo in Harry's mind, Well done Potter.
Hermione, unable to contain herself any longer, leapt from behind her tree and through herself upon Harry, who returned the embrace warmly this time, they remained entangled in one anothers for several minutes before Harry finally pulled back for her embrace.
"Listen, Hermione, im sorry for leaving like I did before Hermione. But you have believe me when I say that I know where im going ok? I was circled the forest, but I had my reasons, I was waiting for someone, possible attacker like Malfoy. I also wanted to stay in the forest until tomorrow when your eyes should have fully recovered, we would have been to open outside the forest, it would have been easier for voldemorts forces to launch a larger assault." Hermione thought Harry's apology sounded rather half hearted, as if he both did and did not think he was the one who should be apologizing. She smiled and nodded however, apologizing to him as well.
"Um, Harry? Are we going to set up camp here for the night?" She asked nervously, she glanced at the lifeless body of Draco Malfoy and shuddered, she didn't want to sleep so close to him, even if he was dead.
Harry too starred at Draco for a moment before speaking, "No, I'd prefer to sleep somewhere else for the night, come on" he turned and headed off into the night. Hermione followed for several minutes with out speaking, the circle of light fading in the distance and finally being swallowed by the darkness. They stopped after nearly a half hour of walking, Harry quickly setting up the wizard tent and making a small fire, cooking a bit of dinner for the two of them.
Hermione sat in next to Harry in silence for some time, starring blankly into the fire, the light not hurting her eyes as it had two days before. A though suddenly struck her mind, she hadnt seen her own eyes yet, she slowly turned to Harry and gave a slight tug on his sleeve. He turned his gaze upon her and smiled, "Yes Hermione?".
"Harry, I was just wondering, do you have a mirror or something so I can see my eyes, and my own face for that matter, its been so long since I could look in the mirror" she grinned sweetly at him and he reluctantly complied, pulling a square piece of glass from inside his robes and muttering something to her about leaving out a few minor details.
She didn't have to wonder what he was talking about for very long, as she starred into the mirror she let out a terrified gasp, her eyes, her once beautiful brow eyes, were no more. There was nothing there, simply pearly whiteness, no color at all. She glared at Harry who raised a hand so he could speak.
"Hermione, quick question, whats your favorite color?". Hermione starred at him for a moment, very confused by the question, though she did stop to think for a moment before answering. She cast her mind around on her favorite colors, her mind finally settling on a light purple, violet color.
"Violet" she said in an utterly confused tone, "But I don't see what that has to do with my eyes." She glared at him as if he were being stupid on purpose, but he suddenly grinned, his eyes shining with held in laughter, as he pointed at the mirror once more. She raised an eyebrow and glanced down into the piece of glass, gasping yet again.
Instead of seeing the slightly sickening sight of pure white eyes starring up at her, she saw a pair of gorgeous violet eyes starring back, her violet eyes. She grinned and looked back to Harry, her vision suddenly becoming perfectly normal once more, she couldn't hold back the tears as she threw her arms around him, thanking him over and over.
She still had the grin on her face as she fell asleep that night, Harry sitting outside by the fire, starring into the dancing flames, deep in thought about his emotions, he knew he would have to make a choice soon. He shuddered, knowing which choice he would have to make. He stood and looked around, confident nothing would bother them he went inside to get some rest himself.
A/N thank you to those of you who have reviewed, anybody who reads this story I would really appreciate it if you reviewed, even if you just say if you liked it or not, really means a lot to mean to have review, well thanks in advance for reviewing, see ya next chapter.