Unofficial Portkey Archive

A/N: Since life is treating me like it caught me in bed with its only daughter, I have not been able to keep my promised 10,000 words a week quota. Instead I have decided to update every 4-7 thousand words, as I see fit. This may mean an update every other day or maybe 1 a week or maybe 2. Life is like that, you know? Thanks for waiting while I sort through life as a college freshman. Heh, Ramen noodles get old after a while, ya know? ^.^

Chapter 9 was updated at the same time I posted this, so you might want to check it out if you haven't.

~~**~~

"Sir, everything is going as planned. We will be ready to proceed this coming Saturday night." The man spoke, voice hollow from years of lost emotions. Wormtail bowed before his master and waited for the response.

"Excellent." The voice of Voldemort replied. "Make sure they are ready."

"Sir."

Breath of Fire X

By:

Satashi

"Well what do you want me to do?" Ron asked throwing his hands up. "We're not even good yet. I can't just come up with words to this."

Harry sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I just want to have something cool, that's all."

Ron waved his hand and two small light beams appeared in his hands, which he spun like drumsticks. He moved his hand down and a straight line appeared in mid swing, making a noise.

"Magical drum set?" Hermione asked, stepping into the room.

"Yeah, I had mum to send it to me from home. It's cheap, but it does what it's supposed to." Ron agreed, while playing a small solo.

Hermione looked from Harry (who was holding his guitar) to Ron. "What are you two going to start a band or something?"

"Yeah." They both replied at the same time.

Hermione waited a few moments before letting out her feelings on the subject. "Hahahahaha!"

~**~

Harry stood in the spray of the shower, head titled slightly forward, letting the hot liquid rush over his tired muscles. On the outside of the shower room, Hermione was swimming around in the huge bathtub for prefects. Their dirty cloths were in the hamper and their clean ones on the bench by it. One would have thought it was a normal day, but there was one slight alteration; Harry's quidditch robes.

Yes, the time had finally come where quidditch members would once again be taxed. Their bodies pushed hard and skills sharpened. The captain of the team held no sympathy for the two members who were in the sorcerer's circle. Harry was pushed harder to make up for time lost while practicing charms, hexes and muggle martial arts.

Harry Potter, for this reason, had been in the shower for almost half an hour now. The room was full of steam and his tired muscles were now relaxed. Prefect, N.E.W.T.s, MMA, SC, and quidditch. This surely was a lot to place all on the shoulders on one teenage boy, but there were a few others in the school who knew what he was going through. They, with the assistance of Hermione, had formed a study group at night to help catch up on anything they might not understand. Tonight was cancelled, however, because of the Hogsmeade trip. Almost the entire school was going to head out. Even first and second years would leave the castle on a special field trip to see a master wizard show off some fancy spells.

"Harry, you almost done in there?" Hermione called out to him, peeking her head past the slightly cracked door. "Wow, it's steamy in here."

Harry looked up and leaned back, pulling the shower curtain back enough to title his head out of. "Hey, it feels good in here."

"Sure it does," she agreed, not really looking at him. "But you promised me lunch today and I skipped breakfast."

Harry gave her his lopsided grin and leaned out, taking her hand and pulling her toward him. "We can wait a little longer, can't we?"

"Harry!" She spoke in an alarmed whisper. "In the shower?" He arched an eyebrow at her, making her blush. "We can't. You know that. What, what if we get caught!?"

"Making out in the shower, nothing wrong with that is there?"

"What if someone comes in?" She asked again, still red.

"They won't. Come here beautiful." He tugged her, making her fall against him. A kiss cut off all other protest.

~**~

Draco yawned as he pushed open the prefect's bathroom door. "Man I'm sleepy." He spoke to himself, rubbing his eyes as he eyed the empty bathtub. A few subs were still on the bottom, as if it was just drained. "I think I'm going to take a shower today…"

~**~

Ron looked at Harry and then back to Hermione. After a few more glances, he looked over at Ginny, who seemed just as confused as him. She in turn, looked at Draco, who was sitting on the other side of her. Draco refused to make eye contact with anyone, especially Harry and Hermione. The five were on their way to Hogsmeade in a horseless carriage. Although normally there would be lots of talking and joking and jabs at each other from the three guys, today was silent.

"So, Harry, took a long shower this morning." Ron said, trying to fill in the total lack of words. "Quidditch practice is a killer, eh?"

"…"

Hermione looked even redder than before.

"What did I say?" Ron asked his sister, getting a shrug. The awkwardness of the ride was soon thankfully over as the group made it to their destination and stepped out. "I'm going to, um, go shop around." Ron waved lightly before walking off; thinking that whatever it was that went on would fade over the course of the day.

"Wait!"

Ron turned to see Harry trotting over to him. "I'll join you."

The red head nodded, assuming he needed some time away from the girls and Draco. "Sure. Let's go."

~**~

Harry's head jerked to the side as a loud explosion snagged his attention. "What the…?"

"Death Eaters!" Someone shouted out, fleeing in the opposite direction of the explosion.

Harry gave his friends a weird look. "They wouldn't…"

Another explosion rang out.

"They did." Ron said grimly. The next thing they knew they were running through a sea of people, pushing past villagers and young children...

"There!" Ron pointed at a small group of three people. They were wearing black wizard robes and a white mask. "Expelliarmus!" The hex shot from his wand and hit the center man, making him fly backwards a few feet. The red head caught the wand that flew at him gracefully and smirked as the people running suddenly stopped and looked at them.

"It's Harry Potter!" A girl cried out. "And Ron! We're saved!"

The two death eaters were helping their fallen friend up at the moment. Harry took this time to speak to the people around him. "Why are you running, huh!?" he demanded of them. "Scared? That's fine." He set his eyes on his opponents. "But sometimes you have to do things you don't want to." He held out his hand. "All of you guys protect the women and children." The death eaters were now all standing. " Windaga!"

The blast of wind sent all three into a wall, making them pass out from the force. Ron nodded at Harry and snapped the wand he held. "You guys take care of them."

"Ron!" Ron turned to look in the direction Harry was facing, but found himself hit by a spell and sent flying far away. Harry glared at the person who cast the spell. "You'll pay for that."

~**~

"Attacking Hogsmeade…" Cho whispered under her breath as she broke a wand she was holding. A group had already surrounded her and tied up the death eater she just took out. "What kind of idiot would attack a wizarding town?" She looked in the direction of the building that was on fire. She was in it when the fire charm was placed on it. "You-know-who must me losing his touch."

"Cho!"

Cho turned, seeing Recca and Ashley from the Hokage and Blitz teams. "Hey guys. Guess you know what's going on."

"You're calm about this." Ashley said, giving her a look.

"Watch out!" Recca tackled Cho, and turned so he would take the fall. The space she was just standing blew apart in dust and small debree. "Locomoto mortis" he said as soon as he could, making the death eater fall from the rooftop and land roughly on the ground.

"Imperio!"

Ashley suddenly felt very warm. 'Kill them....'

"Oh man…"

"Cho! Keep Ashley busy!" Recca turned to the death eater. "Diffindo!" The charm hit its mark and the mask covering the older man's face was split open, falling to reveal his face. "Well," Recca said, walking around him. "I don't know who you are, but I'm sure one person in this crowd does." He moved his hand around, showing the several people who stopped running in panic to watch the Hogwarts kids take on this threat.

The man glared. "Crucio!"

Recca jumped into the air, spun and landed on his toes, already springing into a lunge before his opponent had any chance to retaliate. Three punches later, he was out cold.

"Cho…?"

Cho looked up at Ashley, who was on top of her, wand at her throat. "Oh thank Merlin." She breathed out, letting herself relax.

"Up you go." Recca said, lifting Ashley up and then helping Cho to her feet. "You girls go help some of the people hurt and try to get that fire out. I'll try and find some other Sorcerers and let them know that these people don't have any training against martial arts." He nodded at them. "And don't let anyone not in the Circle fight. We don't stand a chance if we use magic against magic."

~**~

Harry bit his lip as he was flung against a wall. He felt it cave under the pressure and then found himself skidding across the floor as bits and pieces of sheetrock and wood hit around him. Slowly getting to his feet, he looked out the new window that he had just created and, steadying himself, leapt out of it.

"Harry, would you like to know why I'm named Ryoko?" The blue haired lady asked, perched on a building across the street. Her eyes went red as small wisp of smoke started to gather around her. "It's because I can summon spirits from anything under the sun."

The ghost like wisp flew at Harry, but was easily deflected. "Looks like you need to get some real power." Harry taunted, coving the fact that his back was killing him from his previous fall. "Such tricks can not defeat me."

"They can also be used like this." Ryoko raised her hand and the wisp gathered in front of her, soon forming into a large demon.

"What the…?" Harry breathed out as the transparent being formed in front of him. It looked like it was made of smoke, but had four glowing red eyes and claws for hands. Its feet looked as if they couldn't do any damage because of the smoke body, but the stones under it were cracked from an insane amount of weight it must have. "This is not good…"

~**~

Dean ducked under a spell and ran in close to the death eater that had shot it. Throwing a punch, the man doubled over and set the boy up for an uppercut, which he took full advantage of. The mask was thrown off and he lay unconscious on the road. Several people cheered for him, but his victory was short lived as a shout of "Crucio" taught him a new meaning of the word 'pain'.

"Dean!" Seamus shouted, running up and landing a drop kick on the person holding the wand that was cursing with energy. "Sodding bastard!" He raised his hand and slammed a punch on the new man's face and then stomach, before returning to his face.

"I'm okay." Dean coughed out, weakly standing with the help of another Hogwarts sorcerer student. "Just caught off guard."

"They can't defend against Muggle Arts." Recca said, stepping up to them. Behind him was a third death eater, mask removed and bound by a spell. "Let's split up and find others who are fighting. Avoid all spells being cast, they play dirty."

"Right." The two other boys nodded.

~**~

Ron sweep kicked a man in black robes and, somehow, managed to jump straight into the air to avoid a hex. He landed neatly on the fallen death eater's stomach, making him cough, spit blood, and pass out. Turning to see his new opponent, Ron set his face in a frown. "It seems they small fry are getting taken out." Ron taunted, moving his hand in a beckoning motion. "You must be one of the leaders." He smirked. "Care to take me on?"

"Avada kedavra!"

Ron leapt to the side and ran forward, hand posed as to punch. His fist met air, however, as the man he was fighting seemed to apaprate behind him, clipping Ron with a blast of energy that made him fly forward into a group of scared spectators. "It seems you bunched me with this group of losers." The man spoke through his mask. "I'll warn you not to make that mistake a second time."

The red head male was struggling to his feet, wiping blood from his nose as the man went on talking. "They call me Jandor." He informed, voice cool. "I will be your executioner."

Ron's body seemed to blur at the speed he put on. The next moment, his fist was in the gut of Jandor, making him double over and receive a round house to him temple. "My name is Ron." He spoke, mimicking Jandor's voice. "I will be thwarting your dumb ass."

~**~

Ginny danced to the side of a spell that was shot at her and immediately moved in the other direction to avoid another. Draco then appeared behind the two men firing at her and caught both of them in a blazing blue fire before they could turn around.

"You're late." Ginny pouted at him as Hogsmeade citizens moved to apprehend the fallen people.

"I ran into a little trouble." He replied.

"And you'll soon find more, boy!" A new voice called out as Draco found himself flying through the air. His body crashed into a large granite pole in front of a fancy looking house. Blood escaped him his mouth as he slid down it.

"Draco!" Ginny ran to him and helped him up. "You okay?"

"A few broken ribs." He said through grit teeth, looking at the tall man walking forward at him though hazed eyes. He was wearing a long black cloak and a solid black mask. The long haired teenager then smiled at Ginny. "I'll take him; you go help people who are hurt."

"But-!"

"Ginny!" He said firmly. "You're a great fighter, but you're healing skills are what is needed right now." He stood up, mouth in a tight line. "Go. People need you." Draco's school robes were unclasped and took flight in the wind blowing. His hair floated behind him as he lunged forward and met him in a grip lock.

"Give up boy." The man growled at him. "You're a hundred years too young to take me on."

"Father…"

~**~

Harry jumped onto the top of a house, narrowly avoiding a rather powerful swing from the monster he was fighting. "Aim between its eyes." Celestial whispered to him in his mind. "That is where the power is being concentrated."

Harry nodded, jumping into the air and dodging a few more attacks. Wind was blasting under him fiercely, keeping him afloat. He used this power to make a suicidal dive to the monster, wand called into his hand and a sword of wind coming from it. "Take this!"

The summoned demon seemed to attack out of nowhere, slamming him hard on his side with a large hand. Harry hit the ground roughly and bounced twice before stopping. "This…" He whispered through the pain. "Is not my day…"

"It would appear so." A voice said behind him.

Harry weakly rolled over to see who had spoken to him. "Who..?"

"Polly juice potion really is a wonderful thing." The voice spoke, helping him up with a small healing spell.

"Sirius!?"

"Shh, not so loud." He told his godson. "I heard about this attack when I was spying. Sorry I couldn't get here sooner."

Harry stood, now more confident about himself. "All right. We'll talk later. Right now we have some business to take care of."

~**~

Ron set his face in a frown as he avoided yet another Crucio spell sent at him. Obviously what made the death eaters so strong was their total disregard to the wizarding rules of restriction. "Stay still damn you!" Jandor shouted, casting another hex, which made Ron suddenly feel very sluggish.

"I… can't move."

"Yes, that is the idea." Jandor commented, stepping up to the frozen boy who was in mid stride. "How do you feel now? Crucio!"

Ron screamed in pain as he felt the lightening like energy course through him. Glass ran through his veins and fire licked his flesh. 'It's not real pain.' He told himself as his voice kept yelling. 'It's not real.' The people watching could only hold their breath and cover their ears, too scared to make any move to stop it. 'Ron!' His mouth closed tightly, refusing to yell anymore. 'Ron! Pull yourself together!'

Ron's mind shot to all the times Harry saved his life. 'You're not some weakling!' He told himself as the pain increased. 'You're Harry's friend because you know you can handle the danger it brings!' Ron opened his eyes. 'So show it!' He grit his teeth. 'Prove that you are worthy of being called his friend. Prove you can protect people like he can!'

Ron screamed.

"What!?" Jandor looked in shock as Ron stood up straight, green crackling energy all around him. "Impossible!"

"Is it?" Ron asked, calmly walking forward. "What is magic? The manifestation of one's will to make someone else perceive it and its effects."

"What are you talking about!?"

"The Imperious Curse can be over come through power of mind." Ron told him, still walking. "And the Cruciatus Curse can be overcome through willpower. When I realized that it was all in my mind, and my actual physical body wasn't being hurt, it was easy." Ron slammed a fist into Jandor's stomach. "Is that all the power you have, Jandor?"

The death eater leader slowly sank to his knees, and then fell forward, eyes rolling into the back of his head.

~**~

Draco smirked evilly as he flip kicked his father over him as he fell back. Lucius, however, landed quite neatly on his feet with the help of a balancing spell. "Impressive." He spoke calmly. "Is that what they teach you at that school of yours? How to use pathetic muggle means of defense?"

"No, I chose to learn." Draco shot back, glaring.

"Draco, you poor foolish boy." His voice dripped with sarcasm and hate. "The lord will give you another chance. Come, return the ring and you will be welcomed back into the fold!"

"Back? I was never a part of it!"

"Then, what is on your arm, boy? Surely not the dark mark you received when put under the Cruciatus curse the first time that night?"

"What mark?" Draco asked slyly, pulling down his sleeve to show a bare arm. "You mean the one that I took off?"

"How!?"

"Go tell Voldemort to go fu-"

"Draco!"

'Hehe.'

"Die, boy! Avada Kadavara!"

Draco did the classic Sorcerer jump to avoid the spell, and pulled a nice twist in his body, angel wings shredding his shirt as they came from his back. Midnight black feathers flew around them as he glared. His long blondish white hair turned to a deep shade of red, so dark it almost matched his wings. "You want me back so much?" He asked voice light and feminine. "Then come and get me."

"Fool!" Lucius held out his wand. "Crucio! Avada Kadavra! Hari Kari! Explosion!"

Draco batted away the first curse, dodged the second, and sped forward. By the time the last curse was called, his face was only a centimeter from his father's. "Is that all?" he asked him as the older man staggered backwards.

"The ring is controlling you, boy." He told his son, eyes wishing death upon him. "You're not yourself."

"Who says we aren't working together?" Draco's voice seemed to be his own, but that of Christina as well. They spoke at the same time, perfectly in sync. "Our powers are too much for you. This attack was a failure."

Lucius chuckled twice before throwing his head back and laughing full force.

"I don't see what's so funny." The two voices spoke at the same time.

"Hehehe..." Lucius put his hand on his face, still laughing.

"He's gone crazy…"

"You think the point of the attack was to terrorize?" Lucius suddenly asked, voice hard and cold, no longer having any traces of laughter in it. "Poor pathetic boy, can you not even think!?" Draco set his face stern and emotionless. "The lord would not attack unless he had a reason. Why else would he send such weak people with only three leaders of the attack?"

Draco's eyebrow twitched lightly; the only expression that showed he heard.

"Figure it out, boy!" And with those words, he appareted away.

Draco turned and began to walk away, but saw his reflection in the glass of a building. The area he was in was deserted, as they had all gathered to help put out the fires of the two or three buildings damaged. What he saw made him smirk. On his face he had a triangular strip on both sides of his cheeks and his hair flew back in strands and spikes. Black wings that could carry him into the air if he wanted. "So this is the result of an Angel and a black heart?" He looked into his glowing blue eyes. "Heh."

He turned and walked away.

~**~

"That was surprisingly easy." Harry spoke, watching the body of the demon he was fighting fade away. Turning, he looked around. "Where is Ryoko?"

"You don't have to worry about her."

Harry blinked. "Eh?" He looked over at Sirius. "Why not?"

"Watch out!"

"Because she is behind you." Harry gasped as he felt two hands grab his head. The next thing he saw was lightning flash before his eyes and the sound of his godfather saying that, "Yes, it truly is amazing what polyjuice potion could do."

"Voldemort…" How? How did he find out Sirius was a spy? That he was his Godfather….

Harry potter blacked out.

~**~

Ginny looked up at the burning building as she was casting a small healing spell that he learned from madam Pomfrey. Although potions and such were the main healing properties of magical medicine, certain spells could slightly mend bones and cure burns. Also, there was a high class spell that could even close cuts and make blood flow better. She, luckily, understood enough to be able to cast that very spell. Now, after doing it several times, she was glad of her knowledge.

"Is everyone okay?"

Ginny turned and gaped up at Draco. He looked like some sort of astral warrior. Biting back questions that might strike a nerve on his appearance, she forced herself to look back at the building. "There may be more inside."

"My baby!" A woman suddenly cried as there was a small explosion of glass and collapsing wood. "My baby is still in there!"

"I'll go." Draco flapped his wings, sending ash grey feathers flying.

Ginny picked up a feather and blinked at it. "Weren't they black?"

The people outside waited with their breath held when Draco flew through a window. The woman who had called out for her baby was chocking on tears as she struggled to breathe as she waited. Almost thirty seconds had gone by since he went in. The window of the three story building was being looked at by all eyes. Slowly flames took over the window and there was an eary quiet that took place. It was shattered next by the sound of wood breaking and another small crash.

"No!"

Draco then suddenly appeared, jumping from the window as it, too, collapsed. He beat his wings twice before landing softly. "Your baby is fine." He held out a small bundle in sheets. "Don't worry."

"Thank you…" She took the child and looked at him, eyes shining. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you!"

Ginny watched as the people cheered for him, not letting him walk away. Slowly she smiled as she watched people pat his shoulders and congratulate the boy. She then noticed that his wings were slowly fading to a less grey and more whitish colour. 'They react to his feelings and mood.' She realized with a smile.

"Draco!"

The boy turned to Ginny, and ever so slowly, a smile came to his face. "Hi."

She grinned and walked up to him, placing her arms around his neck. "You're sexy like that." She told him before standing on her tip toes and planting a kiss on his lips before he could pull away. Several people cheered for their new hero and his getting a kiss from the other hero who had saved so many of them today. After a few moments Ginny slowly pulled away. "How was that, Draco?"

"Tasted like ash." He admitted, borrowing Harry's lopsided smile.

"Heyyyyy…."

Everyone laughed.

"Geeze, that was cheesy." Recca said, sitting with his back against an unharmed building, watching them. He was covered in black ash from head to toe, complete with dirt and a little blood.

"I swear." Cho agreed, arms crossed and frowning. She too was covered from her fights. "And here we are with all of these people." She jabbed a thumb back at the fifteen plus death eaters, moaning in pain and agony. "Where's my kiss?"

Recca looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh don't even think about it!"

"Humph. Spoilsport."

~**~

"Harry!" Hermione shouted, running up to the boy and shaking him. "Harry! Harry! Speak to me! Harry!"

Harry groaned and slowly sat up with her help. "Ugh, my head…"

"Harry, what happened?"

"I… I don't know…One thing I was fighting and the next, someone got me from behind." He stood. "I'm okay now. Are the death eaters caught yet?"

"Yes, they were all rounded up. Almost twenty in all. Recca and Cho are taking care of it. Ginny and Malfoy are helping with repair of buildings and any hurt."

Harry nodded. "Good. Come on," He helped her up. "Let's go see if they need our help."

~**~

"So this is the power of the ring?" Voldemort asked, watching a pennisive of Lucius' mind. He froze the play on it and walked around a frozen image of Draco, leaning forward in flight an inch from the ground. "Interesting indeed." He examined the hair and the wings. "Almost a complete transformation. However, it is not full just yet…"

The play continued until it came to the part he wanted.

"Who says we're not working together?" The lord froze it again.

"Working together, eh?" He pondered, inspecting the glowing blue eyes and triangular black strips on his cheeks. "I estimate only a fifty percent bond with the ring."

"What does that mean, my lord?" Lucius spoke for the first time.

"It means, simpleton, that he will only get stronger in time. If allowed, he will be as strong as a star seed, if not more so. Tell me, Lucius, have you ever fought an angelic warrior before?"

"No, my lord?"

"I have." Voldemort spoke. "The battle lasted over a month, and that was because she was savoring it. If she had been serious, not even I would have survived."

"My lord!?"

"I did not lose; I bound her with a spell that would…Oh."

"Lord?"

"Something has just come to my attention."

"Sir?"

Voldemort laughed without humour. "I should have known. I have only cast that spell twice. Once was with a dragon and the other on the angel. I thought it would turn them into a chunk of metal or silver. Obviously I was wrong." He smiled darkly. "Lesson learned. Inspect battle fields after done to make sure the spells do what you think they will…"

~**~

"It would appear that the time has come to take a stand against Voldemort." Dumbledore spoke, casting his voice across the multitude of people. They were in the town square of Hogsmeade, a few hours after the attack. It was getting dark now, but lights were set up hastily for this matter. "We must unite our powers and stop this rain of terror once and for all."

"Yeah, but how!?" One person asked from the crowd.

"I'm afraid a war is going to take place." Dumbledore said sadly, eyes losing their twinkle. "I fear the only way to stop it is to make sure Voldemort is killed once and for all…"

Quite a few people mumbled at this, but the speaker went on after it quieted down a bit. "These students were the main cause of the arrest of the twenty three death eaters that attacked." He moved his hand, motioning toward the several chairs that were up on the small quickly put together stage. "Most of you know them from Hogwarts' Sorcerer Circle. Others know them as friends. We all know them as the brave few who took action when others were in danger." Several people cheered at these words, making the students blush.

Dumbledore moved his hand to ask for silence, and was granted it. "These students know how to act, and don't hesitate when time calls for it. Will you follow their example? Will you protect your loved ones?"

"You bet I am!" A man screamed, calling attention to himself. "Come on guys! You-know-who won't stand a chance if we all bond together! What do you say!?"

"YEAH!"

~**~

"Harry?" Hermione asked, looking over at him as he sat on his bed. "Are you okay? You've been…kind of spacey ever since the attack today. Is anything wrong?"

"Eh?" He looked up. "No, I'm just kind of tired, that's all."

Hermione looked skeptical, but accepted it non-the-less. "Okay then. Should we go to sleep then?"

"Yeah." Harry sat on his bed and waved. "Sweet dreams." And then he closed his curtains.

"….Harry?" Hermione looked at the closed curtains sadly a moment before walking over to her bed and laying down in it, pulling the ribbon that held open her curtains and letting them fall. The brown haired girl sighed as she sank into her soft mattress. 'Is something wrong?' she asked herself, hugging her pillow. 'You can talk to me about it, you know.'

~**~

Harry sat up. Three in the morning now, perfect for what he had in mind. Swinging his feet out from under the covers, he slid out from his curtains and glanced around the room before moving to the door and slinking out. The boy looked both ways before leaping from the balcony and floating down to the common room, where he then flew (toes almost dragging the floor) to the door and literally went through it.

Glancing around, he took off down the hallways, leaning forward and flying a few inches from the ground. Turns were made sharp as he explored. 'Where is that stupid door?' he asked himself as he flew. 'It should be around here somewh- Ah ha!'

Harry landed without a sound and looked at the stone gargoyle in front of him. Reaching into his pajama pants, he pulled out a wand and tapped it to the stone, prepared to crack the password.

"Harry!" Harry turned quickly, coming face to face with Ron. "What are you doing man?" He asked, looking at him strangely.

'Why is he wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night?´ Harry pondered, looking over him.

"Not even under your cloak? You could be caught!"

"Cloak?"

Ron sighed. "You must have been hit harder than you thought man." Run put his arm around his friend's shoulders. "Let's go back. You need to rest. Tomorrow you need to go to the Wing and get examined."

"I'm fine." Harry threw off his hand and stalked off on his own.

"Geeze, what's up with him?" Ron asked himself as he walked away.

"Guess we'll go back together after all, huh?"

Ron turned and smiled at Lavender. "Sure. Close call. Harry would never let us live it down if we were caught out like this."

~**~

"Hey Harry." Ginny greeted wrapping her arms around his neck in a friendly/ playful good morning hug. "Ron tells me you need your head examined. No surprise there, we've known it for years."

The Gryffindors are the breakfast table laughed merrily at the joke, making the boy glare at them. "I'm fine." He shifted, giving a clear sign for Ginny to let go. "I don't need you pestering me about things that you don't know about."

Ginny looked hurt, but smiled anyway with a weak laugh. "Sorry then."

Ron looked at his sister, who was silently picking at her eggs. It was clear she was upset. "Yo, Harry mate, want to play some quidditch after breakfast?"

"I have something to do."

Ron looked over at Hermione for some help, which she quickly gave. "Oh come on, it'll help you relax."

Harry glared at her. "I said I have something to do."

"Don't be so mean about it, Harry." Ginny spoke, giving him the glare that made even Draco learn his place.

"Sod off." Harry stood and walked away, sticking his hands into his wizarding pants.

Ginny watched him walk away and slowly felt tears ring up in her eyes. "What did I do?" She asked nobody in particular. "I was just trying to help…"

"It's okay…" Hermione comforted her, watching Harry's retreating figure.

Suddenly on the other side of the great hall, a loud clang could be heard. Looking over, they saw Draco stand and stalk after Harry.

"You think he heard?"

Ron frowned. "Knowing Malfoy, he was probably listening. He has a habit of glancing at Ginny during meals.

~**~

"Potter!"

Harry turned and smirked at Draco. "Yeah, Malfoy?"

"What is up with you man!?" He demanded, swinging his arm in frustration. "You go apologize to Ginny right now or I swear I'll…"

"You'll do what?" Harry challenged with a confident air. "Fight me?"

Draco glared. "I might."

"Bring it."

Draco walked past him and stopped. "I don't need to waste my time on a loser like you."

"Oh?"

"Yeah."

Draco turned his head slightly sideways to look at him. "I could beat you without using ten percent of my power."

"Liar."

"You'll never know." He started to walk away then, but soon fell to his knees after a shout of 'crucio' behind him. "Cheeeee….." He closed his eyes and gripped his robes, fighting down the pain.

"Harry!" Suddenly the pain was gone and he was able to cough and gasp for air. As soon as he could, he turned to see Ron holding Harry's wrist and pressing them against the wall. "What the bloody hell are you doing!?"

Harry snorted and kicked Ron in the shin, making him let go. "Looks like I have no other choice." He took off into a run back to the great hall. 'Damn, he made me reveal myself.' He thought as the doors broke open. All four tables turned to see Harry literally fly forward down the middle. "Prepare to die old man!" He raired back his hands and formed two large balls of pulsating raw magical energy.

Dumbledore simply raised his hand and formed a shield around him, blasting back the offensive force and making Harry fly back several feet and land smack on his back.

"Harry!" Hermione ran to him, but was shoved away. She tried desperately to hold onto him, but only succeeded in ripping off his necklace as he made another attack. This time, he was subdued by a collective effort from the teachers. 'Cecilia?' she thought, scared. 'What's wrong with him? …Cecilia? Celestial!?' She looked at the necklace. "It's a fake!"

~**~

"Ughhh…." The sound escaped the man's throat as he woke up from a forced sleep. "Wha..." His mouth was dry and his wrist hurt. He vaguely realized he was hung from some type of shackles. "Where…..where am I…?"

"Ah, the boy wakes."

Harry weakly brought up head. "Vole…..mort…?"

"That is what they call me." He replied calmly. "It seems you are not as strong as I gave you credit for. I put too much effort into capturing you."

Despite his situation of not knowing where he was or even how he got there, Harry smiled. "Took you long enough, didn't it? Put a little more effort into it and you could have saved a year or two. Hehe..."

"Still the smart eleck, eh, Potter?" Voldemort asked, looking at him with his slitted red eyes. "I'll have you know that I-"

"Lord Voldemort sir!"

Voldemort turned. "Can't you see I'm busy!?" He yelled, pulling out his wand and pointing it toward the person who just barged in on them. From the new light in the room, Harry could tell he was in some sort of stone cell. There was a window high on the far right wall and a wooden door to his left, where the man came in.

"My lord, Ryoko has been discovered!"

Voldemort growled. "I should have known better than to trust such an important job to that hot headed little….No matter, we still have the real Potter here. The assassination didn't work out as to plan. She knows we won't come for her."

"Sir. Should I tell the others to eliminate all her data, sir?"

"Yes, do that."

"Sir." The man bowed and left the room, leaving the two alone again.

"You took me hostage and replaced me with a spy?" as asked, impressed. "Nice plan. Too bad it didn't work. I'm a hard person to copy."

"The spell copied you down to your exact skin tone." Voldemort snapped.

"Yeah, but did you make my hair right? Did you think to make the person wear mostly muggle clothing? Did you put in my personality, Tom!?"

"Silence!" Voldemort slapped the boy.

"Hehe….What was that?" Harry asked, amused. "Did a mosquito just bite me?"

"Boy!" Voldemort punched him in the stomach and hit hi macros the face.

"Hehe… that tickles."

Voldemort glared at him. "Crucio."

Harry's eyes went wide as the pain hit him. His mouth was open and he knew he was screaming, but he could hear nothing but the searing pain in him. Green lightening scrambled through his body, coursing in his blood, making it boil. His mind demanded release from the pain, but he could do nothing but endure it.

'Hang in there Harry.' A voice told him, worried but still confident. 'Something like this won't beat you!'

Harry closes his mouth and grits his teeth, refusing to scream anymore. The pain, however, did not stop for a long time afterwards.

"My my." Voldemort said, amused. "Two full minutes under the curse and you're still alive? Not one of my men can last over twenty seconds, and here you go, disproving all known magical laws and facts." He watched the panting, sweat covered teenager in front of him. "Won't you reconsider joining me? This of all we could create. Or destroy. Causing the countless deaths of millions. It will be grand."

Harry took a steadying breath and lifted his head to retaliate. However, in his hazed and pain stricken mind, he could only come up with a muggle line he heard throughout being beaten on my Dudley and his bully friends. "Yo mamma!"

Voldemort didn't understand exactly what he meant by saying his mother, but something about the gleam in his eye told him it was something that was meant to make him mad. For this reason alone, Voldemort once again held out his wand. "Crucio."

~**~

"I must say that that was the worst assassination attempt I've ever seen." Snape said, looking at the blue haired girl in front of him. "Was your only mission to kill Dumbledore?"

"Maybe." She replied sarcastically.

"That doesn't matter." Lupin said, looking over at him. "Tell me, Ryoko, Where is Harry at this current moment."

"Take a wild guess."

"With Voldemort obviously." He sighed. "Ryoko, will you cooperate with us? If you do, the court will go easier on you."

"Go to hell."

Snape snorted. "So original." Reaching into his pocket, he took out a vile of a clearest white mixture. "Don't worry, Lupin. I have wanted to try out this new truth potion for a long time now." He grabbed Ryoko's cheeks with his right hand and squeezed. "Unfortunately, it appears to be extremely painful and mind raping… Get my drift?"

"I….I'll talk…"

~**~

"Harry? Harry are you awake?"

He groaned, trying to shift, but remembered he was hanging. 'Stupid little…. He could at least cuff me to the ground you know?'

"I'll take that as a 'yes'"

'Yeah, I'm awake. Nice to see you too.'

"We need to get out of here."

'I agree.' Harry looked around the small cell. 'How about the old fake sick and take out guard when he comes in?'

"Personally, I don't think they could care less if you're ill."

'Good point.' He racked his mind for some ideas while Celestial fed him her stored up power. 'I'm glad you can do that. I feel a heck of a lot better now.'

"It's the least I can do for draining your energy constantly."

'Okay. How about I make a lot of noise and when the guard comes in to shut me up we take him out?'

"You use your wand for spells." She told him gently. "It's not with you."

'What about Dragon's Breath?'

"You would bring down this entire place on top of you."

'…Yeah, I knew that.'

"Sure you did sweetie."

'If only there was some way… Yes!'

"Hey! Hey guard!" He shouted out before Celestial could ask him what his plan was. "You better run fast because I'm about to escape and I'm not in a happy mood!"

The door opened and in came a man dressed in a dark robe. "Oh? Just how are you going to do that?" He stood in front of him and crossed his arms. "I don't see how you could possible manage what you claim."

"Oh?"

"I think you're too cocky." He drew his wand. "A quick crucio will take care of that."

Harry kicked his unbound foot forward and connected with the man's hand, sending the wand flying. Using his other foot, he placed his shoe on the man's shoulder, using it as leverage. Quickly, before the man could realize what was going on, Harry slammed his right foot against the wall, making a blade slip from the end of his shoe. "Now." He brought the blade to the man's neck, using his other foot as a balancer. "How about getting me down?"

~**~

"My house!?" Draco asked, alarmed, as he quickly stood up. The chair he was sitting on tipped back from the sudden movement.

"That's what she said." Professor Lupin confirmed. "Why would he be brought there, do you know?"

"We have a rather large basement." Draco said dryly. "Complete with bars. A few places on the walls look like windows, so the person would think they were not under ground. That way they wouldn't think of a house in a town."

"I see. How well guarded is this place?" Draco gave a light smirk. "This won't be easy will it?"

"It will with me there."

"Oh no, you're not coming. This is too dangerous."

Draco frowned and opened his mouth to reply, but someone else beat him to it. "I thought this was a time we were to join together?" Turning, Draco saw it was Ron who spoke. "Professor, you know as many passages in this castle that leads out as I do. I'm going if you say I can or not."

"And me." Hermione spoke from beside him.

"And me." Ginny agreed.

Draco turned. "You know I will."

Lupin sighed. "I should have known…" He looked at them. "Ron, get the cloak. Hermione, Ginny, you two are going to be the head group. You're faster than the guys. Hermione, wear the shades. I'll wear the other pair." The teenagers all gave bright smiles. "Since we're out of Hogwarts for this, the shades will give a line art of whatever area you are on. It'll be rough, and no secret passages will be revealed, but it will show us where people are and allow us to stay in contact."

Draco looked at them all ."You know this will be hard. My house is huge and crawling with death eaters."

"Yeah."

"So?"

"I'm getting my Harry back."

"I agree."

Draco stared at them a moment before closing his eyes. "Heh." He smiled at the ground. 'So this is what friends are for, huh?'

~**~

Harry looked around a corner slowly and ducked back behind the wall when a guard walked past. Seeing his chance, the boy darted behind him and clipped the person at the base of his neck, knocking him out. Dragging him to a dark corner, Harry let him lay there and continued on his way out of the dungeon or whatever it was that he was in.

Rounding another turn, Harry came face to face with another death eater. Having no other choice, Harry gave him a swift punch to the stomach before he could call for help. A right hook later, he too was out cold. Harry sighed and drug him out of the way. So far nobody knew he had escaped. As long as the people behind him didn't wake up and do some kind of alert spell, he would be okay.

The boy ran a few steps up and then a few back down. This continued for a few minutes before he realized he was in the exact same place he started at. "This place is a maze." He thought aloud to himself. "This sucks."

~**~

"This is your house!?" Ginny shrieked in a whisper as the group snuck up to the gates around the Malfoy manor.

"Was, yeah." Draco replied, glaring up at the place he hated so much. "Trust me, it may look big and fancy but on the inside, it's dark and cold. A real bad feeling always hangs in the air."

"Shush." Lupin told them, leaning against the stone gate. "Ginny, Hermione, you two are the fastest among us. You go and take out the people guarding the entrance on the gate. Remember, be silent."

"Yes."

"Yeah."

~**~

Harry groaned as an alarm sounded. It seemed like his sneak time was over and now the entire house would be looking for him. Choosing another door at random, Harry broke through it and gasped when he realized there was a stairway in front of him. Running up it, he found another type of door on the ceiling. Jumping, He managed to grab a hold of the ring that would normally be pulled to open it. His weight, along with gravity, broke the lock and he found himself staring into a starry sky. 'YES!' his mind screamed as he leapt out of the dark dungeon and onto grass. 'Finally, I'm out!'

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? An escapee, huh?"

Harry slowly turned and came face-to-chest with someone. The boy-who-lived bent his neck back and looked up at who had found him. The person was at least eight feet tall and built muscular. "Hi." He tried lamely, as if he didn't just bust out of a death eater nest.

"Hi." The man replied with a grin. "I don't suppose you'll calmly go back down would you?"

"'Fraid not." Harry replied, taking a few steps back to distance himself from the man.

"Looks like we'll fight then." The man cracked his knuckles and then his neck. "My name is Cho." He informed, getting into a fighting stance. "I was recently hired by Voldemort to work for him."

"You said his name." Harry noticed, also crouching into a stance. "And your accent…."

"I'm from Hong Kong." Cho told him just as he threw a black object at the boy.

Harry reacted fast enough to catch the object, and then realized it was his wizard wand holder, complete with his wand. "What gives?" he asked, putting it on but keeping his eyes trained on the man.

"I don't fight dirty." Cho snorted. "I'm working for the dark lord for the money. I need it for my family back home."

"Then why must we fight!? You can get a job as an auror! You can fight for good!"

"Cho!" Harry and Cho looked sideways at a group of seven or eight death eaters, all wearing mask. "Cho!" The man called again. "We'll take it from here, no need for you to-"

"Shut up!" Cho demanded in a voice that clearly spoke confidence and authority. "Me and Harry here shall have a little fight." He looked over to Harry. "If you win, I'll let you go."

"And if you win?" Harry asked, once again getting a serious look on his face.

"If I win, you'll go back to your cell."

"Agreed."

"But…"

Cho glared at the death eater that went against him, and all of them backed off at the look.

Both once again crouched. It was then that Harry noticed the man also wore a wand holder on his right arm. This fact became insanely obvious as he reared back his massive fist and punched, sending a gigantic ball of magical energy flying at him.

Harry barely had the time to drop to the ground and roll under the blast. Quickly getting to his feet, he made a dash forward and threw a punch. His eyes went wide as a hand twice the size of his caught the attack easily. He was even further surprised by the sheer amount of lack of power it took to throw him into the wall, cracking it.

His mind blazed with pain as his body registered the cracked bones. Celestial quickly calculated the damage done. "Your ribs all have a hairline fracture, try not to take any body hits or they'll break. You hit your head pretty hard and your internal organs almost all have bruises."

'Okay…Ow.' Harry thought as he scampered to his feet. Shaking his head, he cleared his mind and held out his hand. "Sword of Light that I do Release!"

The blast of whitish blue energy whipped across the space between the two fighters so fast Cho didn't have a second to think of a defense. Taking the blow full on, he let out a grunt as he flew back and dug a trench in the ground with his body.

Harry sighed and sagged to his knees. "That spell takes so much energy….."

"Then you shouldn't have casted it."

Harry's eyes went wide as he heard the voice. Cho was walking to him with a smile on his face. "Quite a punch, though. I'll feel that one for weeks."

Harry couldn't help the smile that came to his lips. "You're a tough one, you are." He felt dragon energy flow into him from his necklace. "Truthfully, I can only shoot that spell twp more times before I'm drained."

"Well then." Cho smiled back. "Let me show you my special attack!" He moved his hands to his side and almost instantly a ball of black and red magical power formed. "Magic can be used to do many different things." He spoke as the ball grew larger. "In Hong Kong we are trained to use our bodies to fight and our magic to back us up. That is why I am being paid so much. No one else around here knows how to fight…"

Harry steadied himself with a defensive shield. "Energy blasts are more effect than a curse, I think."

"Ah." Cho agreed. "No sample my power!" He thrust out his hands and sent the ball forward. "Renses kokoru ha!"

The blast cracked against Harry's shield, making his feet dig into the ground. A few moments later he knew his shield could not last against the energy and then leapt to the side, getting his legs clipped as the shield broke. Harry rolled a few times on the ground before springing back to his feet. "Nice." He admitted. "But such power..."

"I can only do it once more."

"That's what I thought." His eyes narrowed, but a smile played at his lips. This was a nice fight, and it excited him to fight someone who did spells he never saw before and could obviously fight hand to hand as well.

"Let's see who's more powerful." Cho offered, also smiling. The death eaters on the side were discussing things amongst themselves, most of which were along the lines of how out of line Cho was. "Your magic power against mine."

Harry set his feet. "Ah! Sounds fun!" The dragon energy flew into him, leaving Celestial drained.

Before anymore words could be said, Cho shot out his attack. Harry grit his teeth, amazed at how fast the energy was gathered. 'He can't win.' Cho thought as the magic ripped from him. 'His attack cannot win against mine. It'll swallow his power whole and still hit him.'

"Sword of Light!" Harry called, holding out his hand. "Rapid fire!"

"What!?"

The bluish white rip of energy flashed around Harry as the ball of power shot from him. The power of Cho, being so close, was blasted fully but not destroyed. The second blast ripped from Harry's body a half second later, this one going straight through Cho's magic.

Cho's eyes went wide as the blue magical energy slammed into him. Harry, however, was still hit by Cho's blast, sending him reeling.

~**~

"Where is he?" Hermione demanded as Draco and Ron took off the invisibility cloak.

"He's not in the dungeon." Draco replied, thinking. "He must have escaped."

A loud blast shook the room they were in. "That's got to be him!" Ginny shouted, running to where the noise came from.

"Ginny, wait!" Lupin called, but was forced to chase after the girl as the rest of his group ran out as well.

~**~

Harry slowly got up and shook the dirt from his hair gently. "Owww…." He moaned as he stood and looked around. "That hurt."

"It sure did."

"Cho!?"

Cho took a few steps forward and smirked. "I'm not out yet."

Harry smirked back. "You used all of your magical powers."

"But you're drained as well. We couldn't light up a room if we tried right now."

"Ah." He agreed. The magic part of himself was completely drained.

"We are normal men for a while." Cho stated. "But the fate of you resides on this battle."

"Yeah."

"So we can't quit now."

"Yeah."

"Have you ever fought on a Razor's blade?"

"Huh?" Harry blinked in confusion. Celestial was too weak to talk to him, so he was forced to ask himself. "Explain."

Cho reached into his boot and took out two daggers. He then walked over to Harry and stabbed one into the ground. Turning, he stabbed the second not far from it. "We each put one foot on the blade." He said, sitting down and taking off his boots. "You cannot move that foot, no matter what. If you do, you lose."

Harry watched Cho as he stood and placed his right heel onto the blade of the dagger in the ground. Well, they were daggers to a man of Cho's size, but to Harry they almost looked like short swords. "Okay." Harry finally said, kicking off one shoe and then lifting the other foot and pulling it off and tossing it over his shoulder. He walked to Cho and placed his right heel against the other blade. Each was close and had their left leg bent at the knee for balance. As it was, their kneecaps were touching.

"Ready?"

"Ah."

"Go!"

Harry instantly started attacking with everything he had. Punch after punch was landed on both of them as they fought. No defense was put up, but they both didn't care. It was their pure power and will that would decide the winner of the match.

A sharp right hook rocked Harry to the side, but he quickly countered with a hard shot to Cho's stomach, making him grunt as his foot dug onto the dagger it was resting on. Harry's own foot was cut deep, but he no longer felt the pain from it. All that mattered was getting the big man to fall down.

Cho's eyes went sharp all of a sudden, showing Harry that he was about to do something that would finish their game. He saw it coming, but did could do nothing to stop it. Cho's head reared back right before it was slammed onto his.

"That's it!" A death eater watching shouted. "Nothing is harder than Cho's head! He's won!"

Stars shot across Harry's vision and he felt himself get woozy. He was sure his skull had a fracture from the blow, and knew that Cho's did too. Harry felt himself swerve backwards, but he forced himself to not fall down, suddenly realizing the pain his foot was in. Cho, however, looked at him a moment right before smiling and his eyes rolling into the back of his head.

Cho hit the ground.

"Never underestimate the power of my hard head." Harry said woozily, pulling his foot from the blade and sitting down. He instinctively tied his sock around the wound to stop the bleeding.

"Get him!"

Harry's head snapped u pas the group watching them ran forward, wands out. "NO!"

"expelliarmus!"

"diffindo"

"Fernunculus"

"Impedimenta"

"Reducto"

Five of the death eaters were floored by the attacks, and the two left were so confused by what just happened, they didn't have a chance to realize Cho had woken up and was on his way over to them. "Didn't I say he could go if he won!?" he demanded before grabbing their heads and cracking their skulls together, making them pass out.

"Harry!"

Cho turned to see a group of people he didn't know surround the boy he just fought. "You're something, Harry." Cho said to himself, turning and walking toward the opening in the gate. "You taught me that there are better people out there. Maybe I should earn money in a more honest way…"

~**~

"Thanks… for coming and getting me." Harry said as Lupin carried him piggy back style to town where their carriage was waiting. It was well past one in the morning and everyone felt tired from the ordeal.

"You would have done the same for us." Ginny answered with a smile.

"We'd never leave you, mate." Ron confirmed.

"Are you sure you're okay?" were Hermione's words of choice.

"What happened?" Lupin asked, ignoring the others.

"They know… about Sirius." Harry said softly. "Wherever he is, you have to get him out of there."

Lupin nodded and turned a serious face forward. 'Sirius. This is Remus, where are you?'

Draco looked at the group for a moment before turning back to see in front of him. If he had gotten in trouble he knew no one would risk their lives to save him. These people were so close they didn't even think twice about it. In the back of his mind he was aware of Ginny taking his hand and holding it, but his thoughts were more along the lines of defining friendship and how it was different then what he thought it was. Every time he was with this group, he always gained so much to think about…

~~**~~

A/N: If anyone watches Yu Yu Hakusho, you'll know where I got one battle from this chapter. Many apologies go out to Jandor, Paladin of righteousness, for using his handle without permission. On a bad guy at that! In return, this chapter is dedicated to all my friends on Battle.Net.

Like I said before, I will finish this fanfic. I know updates have been sparse lately but don't worry, I WILL finish it. Although I may have to cut out one of the Marauder's battles. I haven't decided yet. If I do, I'll make make an extra chapter after the fic is finished about the battle if it was skipped. Right now I just want to get this thing finished. I've had the ending planned for a while and I'm itching to write it.

Please review.

Untill next time!