Unofficial Portkey Archive

Well, ladies and gentlemen (and anyone else reading this)... this is the chapter a lot of people have been waiting for. I know, I'm early... hope no one minds. As you can already tell, no doubt, it's quite long, and will probably take quite some time to get through. It is the equivalent length of three of my normal chapters rolled into one, after all.

I have put in breaks in two different places, in case you feel you need one. They are marked quite clearly, and I'm sure you'll all know what I mean when you come to the first one - provided it isn't removed in html, that is.

I won't lie to you - this was not an easy chapter to write, and the length has nothing to do with that. If anything, I was tempted to make this quite a bit longer, and opssibly break it into a couple of different chapters, too, but I'm sticking true to my original design for that one. There is an awful lot going on here, though, so be warned of that.

Oh, I had a complaint a short time ago that this fic really didn't have anything that would make it necessary to rate it with an R rating. This chapter changes that, trust me. I actually asked a few friends to make sure I wasn't overstepping those bounds, too, but they all seem to feel that it still fits in this rating category.

That said, I feel it prudent to remind you all of something I said several chapters ago now... there is a cliffhanger at the end of this chapter. One that will make you think there were no other cliffhangers in this story before this point. I've written a lot of scenes involving character death and other such depressive happens, but I kid you not - this was the hardest one I've ever written. So be warned, and don't threaten to kill me. At least I gave warning, right?

On another note, in the last chapter I mentioned a couple of authors whose work I feel stands out, but I did leave someone off that list, and for that I apologise. That's not to say there aren't other very good writers out there - but these are the fics I've been following for some time, in case anyone cares. The other author is shaz124, who has written a piece that, thus far, I have enjoyed quite a bit. Thanks.

Alright, enough ranting and raving before the chapter begins. Please, enjoy it, take your time, and let me know what you think! That's what the little review box is for, after all, right?

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Chapter Thirty Eight: Did You Find Freedom?

"Say that again?" Harry asked incredulously as he sank slowly to one of the two chairs in the Room of Requirement. Hermione was pacing in front of him, holding onto her own butterbeer cap necklace, even as he turned his over and over again in his hands.

"Quintons, Harry, remember?" Hermione repeated. "Luna said she gave us Quintons as a link to our necklaces!" At his continuing blank stare, she sighed and sat in the chair across from him. "Remember Care of Magical Creatures, and Ariasal? Oh honestly, now..."

"Of course," Harry said quickly. "She is a little hard to forget."

She held up the necklace again, and pointing to the green link that looked like a rock rather than a butterbeer cap. "This is a quinton," she explained. "Which means if I hold this, and you hold yours, we should be able to hear each other's thoughts... or something like that, anyway."

"So we can talk to each other through these things, then, right?" he asked, clasping his tightly. After a second or two, he released it again. "Look, I'm still not sure that I understand..."

"Luna has a butterbeer cap necklace, too, Harry," Hermione explained quickly. "And I'm pretty sure Ron has one two, under his robes."

Harry leapt to his feet quickly at that, clasping the quinton firmly in his hand again. "We could talk to them through this?" he asked.

"That's what I've been trying to explain!" Hermione said with a sigh. "You said after the match that you thought you knew where they were, but you wanted to try to contact them first, right?"

Harry responded by leaning down and capturing her lips with his own for a long, drawn out kiss. "'Mione, you are a genius!" he cried as he stood back up and turned towards the fireplace. "I've always said it, but this proves it again!"

"Hold on a minute, Harry," Hermione warned him. "There could be an issue, though. If these four quintons aren't in synch with each other, then we won't be able to hear a thing. We never did really test them out before, did we?"

"No time like the present," Harry said softly, holding up the necklace and clasping the quinton tightly again, closing his eyes. *Any idea how this is supposed to work?* he purred to her as he focussed on the stone in his hand.

*No one really could explain it to anyone else,* Hermione purred back, standing up to put an arm around him as she held onto her own quinton. *But they all say that it just works...*

Both stood silently before the fireplace in the Room of Requirement, eyes closed to concentrate on the stones for quite some time before Hermione finally released the breath she had been holding and opened her eyes again to look up to Harry. He had the grim look of determination that she knew meant he would never give up, but there was the chance that this simply wouldn't work. There was also the strong chance than neither had their necklaces anymore, too.

"They could be sleeping," she offered quietly.

Harry nodded and turned to her slowly. As he opened his mouth to speak, however, a soft groan came to their ears. "Ron?" Harry asked quietly, almost afraid that he had imagined the sound. "Is that you?"

Another groan, and then there was a sharp intake of breath. "Harry?"

"Ron!" Harry said, looking to Hermione in relief. "Yeah, it's me mate!"

"What's going on?" Ron's voice asked. "Where are you? How did you get here?"

Harry winced to himself and shook his head before answering. "Long story, Ron, but I'm not actually there yet," he explained. "I'm not even sure where you are just yet."

"But... I can hear your voice," Ron said softly. "I can't be dreaming this again, can I? Please... I can't take it again..."

"No, Ron, it's actually me," Harry said quickly, trying to keep his friend's resolve up. "I'm talking to you through the quinton in your necklace. Hermione's idea, you know."

They both heard a soft chuckle, followed quickly by a rough cough that went on for longer than either would have liked. "Mental, that one," Ron managed after a minute.

"I'm here too, Ron!" Hermione said, a smile despite herself. "And you have no idea how good it is to hear you call me that again!"

"It's... not important right now," Ron said, coughing again. "Look, they usually come back soon, so what can you tell me? Anything good?"

Harry and Hermione looked to each other before looking back to the stone in Harry's hand. "We were hoping you could tell us, mate," Harry explained. "We need to know where you are before we can come after you."

"You can't!" Ron said quickly. "They know you're going to try, and it's all set up!"

"We're not leaving you, Ron Weasley," Hermione said fiercely, tears in her eyes. "We've been through too much, the three of us, to give up now!"

There was more coughing, and then the desperation in Ron's voice seemed to kick in. "We don't have much time left, Harry," Ron said softly, talking directly to Harry as though he could talk him out of it if Hermione didn't interfere. "But if you're coming, it had better be soon."

"What's going on?"

"Aside from a lot of curses and a bloody painful poison?" Ron managed with a weak laugh. "I'll live... for now. But Luna's worse off than me... Harry, Hermione, I think she's..."

"We'll save you both, Ron," Hermione said, cutting him off before he could utter his fears. "That's a promise from both of us."

"Malfoy knows," Ron said. "Said he was home when he came to laugh. Merlin, I wanted to strangle him for the way he looked at my Luna!"

Harry suddenly held up a hand to keep Hermione from speaking, and appeared to be listening closely to something as he closed his eyes. Taking his queue, she listened hard, too, but didn't hear anything. She then saw his lips moving slowly, as though repeating what he was hearing.

"They are going to come for us. They are going to come for us. They are going..."

He swallowed hard, and opened his mouth. What emerged were not words, however, and caught Hermione completely off guard as odd crackling sounds broke the silence.

They both heard movement then, and Ron's voice sounded again. "Luna? Are you awake again, love?"

"Harry... he's here?"

"He's talking to us both," Ron whispered to her. "They are going to come for us, Luna."

"I know," she whispered back. "That's what I've been saying all this time..."

"We'll come as soon as we can," Harry promised them both. "But look, if it'll help, just tell them whatever they want to know, okay?" he suggested. "I don't care what secret's they're looking for, if it will keep you two alive, just tell..."

"No!" Ron and Luna both said in a stronger voice than either had heard thus far. Ron then continued. "No, Harry. We aren't about to betray you... no matter what the cost."

"But..."

"We only have our lives, Harry," Luna whispered, cutting him off effectively. "There is nothing left for them to take. Please... be careful."

"Don't worry, we..."

"What's going on in here?" Harry and Hermione looked to each other in surprise as a third voice came to their senses. "Who are you talking to? Alright, you're both coming with me, and we'll sort this out the old fashioned way!"

"Bloody hell!" Harry cursed as the connection was suddenly lost. He turned and threw the necklace in his hand hard towards the fireplace, and watched in slow motion as the quinton shattered magnificently on the hearth. He stopped when he felt Hermione's arms around him again, and felt her sobbing against him.

"They're alive," she whispered eventually. "They're alive..."

"And we know where they are," Harry whispered back. "Mia, we can save them... it's just going to take some planning." He pulled out his DA coin before sighing and simply pressing the badge worn prominently on his green cloak, signalling to the rest of the DA. He then looked to Hermione carefully.

"Go," she said with a nod. "Maybe he'll tell you what we need to know. I'll deal with everyone else," she explained. He nodded, thankful for her understanding, and then strode from the room as it started to expand so all those who were about to enter would fit comfortably.

He had to speak with Dumbledore. The time crystal that was stolen, the knowledge of where Ron and Luna were being held... there were at least a couple of things Harry had to talk with the Headmaster about, and he had the strong suspicion that it would not be an easy conversation.

As luck would have it, a Saturday afternoon when most people in the castle were either still celebrating Gryffindor's victory over Slytherin or just relaxing in the joyful atmosphere, the route from the Room of Requirement on the seventh floor down to the Headmaster's office on nearly the other side of the castle was mostly deserted, so Harry only ended up telling off three students for trying to talk to him. He didn't really know who any of them were, but when he heard the word Congratulations, that was the end of that.

Standing in front of the gargoyle statue, Harry looked at it for a moment, trying to come up with the appropriate candy item that would open the way. It didn't take long, however, for him to notice that the gargoyle seemed to be looking back at him.

"I don't suppose you'd just let me up without having me stand here listing off all the candy I can think of, would you?" Harry asked quietly.

The gargoyle shook his head slowly. "The Headmaster is busy right now, Potter," it said in a gargled voice. "Head in the fireplace, if you know what I mean."

"I could care less," Harry snapped back. "I have to talk to him now! This is a matter of life or death!"

"Isn't it always, with you?" the gargoyle droned. It then bowed its head slowly. "Very well... but if he gets upset with you for disturbing him, don't blame it on me, okay?"

"Sure, fine," Harry said, a little surprised by that. He hadn't really expected the gargoyle to move for him, especially given what powerful artifacts and parchments were probably held in that office. He had expected security to be a little tighter than that. "Thanks."

"My pleasure, Mr. Potter. After all, if I didn't open for you, I'm sure the Headmaster would be down to get you later at any rate."

After conceding that point, Harry stepped back to allow the gargoyle to swivel around, revealing the spiraling staircase ascending upwards into the ceiling. Quickly, he stepped inside the alcove and watched as the gargoyle hide it from view once again before starting up the stairs. He felt confident, somehow, that this conversation wouldn't be a whole lot better than his one less than a year ago now... after the expedition to the Ministry of Magic.

For once, Harry stopped at the door without listening for the voices inside the office and knocked harshly on the old wood. The muffled voices suddenly stopped, and a few seconds later, Dumbledore came to the door to let him inside.

"Ah, welcome Harry. Most impressive catch yesterday," Dumbledore said calmly as he took his customary seat behind his desk. "Even if it was a bit... unplanned."

"These things happen," Harry said, waving the praise aside. There were more important things to talk about, after all.

"And the bludgeoning of Mr. Malfoy in the game... these things happen, too, do they?"

Harry could only shrug to that, and found himself repeating words that had been told to him when he first started playing Quidditch. "Dangerous game, Quidditch. But no one's died in years, so no worries."

"Hmm," Dumbledore said pensively, nodding slowly. "Indeed. Thankfully, that trend has been allowed to continue. Dare I ask what provoked such a tirade of hatred for your opponent, Harry?"

"Dare you... what?" Harry asked, caught off guard. "It doesn't matter!" he said loudly. "That's not what I'm here to talk to you about!"

"Fawkes has missed you this year, especially after the events of last year," Dumbledore said in his calm voice, motioning to the phoenix behind Harry. In response, the bird opened his mouth and three soft, soothing notes filled the room.

"Phoenix song is a wonderful thing," Harry said shortly. "But I'm not about to be distracted, Professor," he explained. "You brushed me off before the match, and I need answers now."

Dumbledore sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Indeed you do, Harry. Indeed you do. And, while it may have been unfair of me to hope you had forgotten about such a thing, I should have known better the moment you started towards my office."

"I want that truth you promised me, sir."

"Of that, I am sure," Dumbledore said softly. "And it does not surprise me, either. I just wish I had more to tell you than I do," he explained. "Voldemort has managed to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic."

"I kind of figured that," Harry pointed out. "He's got spies everywhere, and it's not that hard to figure that much out. Who they are may be more difficult, but we know he has spies."

"That's not quite what I meant, but it is true, nonetheless," the Headmaster explained, taking off his half moon spectacles and pinching the bridge of his nose before putting them on again to look around at the portraits in his office. "But we are working on that."

There was a pause, and Harry leaned forward. "What did you mean, then?"

"As you are aware, the Order of the Phoenix has been guarding a good many things recently. In fact, we have been spread quite thin because of that, unfortunately. This made for an easier time for Voldemort's factions to move."

"The Time Room in the Ministry," Harry said.

Dumbledore nodded. "That is correct, Harry. He stole a small crystal... a little larger than a Divination Crystal Ball, actually, though this one is blue. Beyond that, there is little I can tell you about it."

"Why not?" Harry asked. "Surely you know something about it, right?"

"I cannot divulge all secrets, Harry," Dumbledore said softly. "And this is one of them that I cannot give you. The fear and panic that the public would face knowing he has this crystal is far too great a risk."

"And what about Ron and Luna?" Harry demanded. "They're at risk, too!"

"A fact that we have little control over," he replied, shaking his head. "Despite our best efforts, we have been unable to locate them while keeping a low profile. Voldemort cannot discover our spy, and so it is difficult."

"Why can't Snape just take a risk and find out anyway?" Harry snapped. "They can't last much longer, sir!"

Harry was sure that it was no trick of the light that made Dumbledore look as old as he did suddenly. "War is a terrible, horrific thing, Harry, especially a war of good and evil, light and darkness."

"Professor?" Harry said slowly, gritting his teeth against making any further comment.

"We have to take all the facts into account. Sometimes... for the sake of the greater good..."

"Greater good be bloody damned!" Harry snapped. "Ron and Luna are being tortured, Professor! We have to act now!"

"If I only had the strength to do so, Harry, I would. We cannot risk..."

"Then I will!" Harry shouted, standing and knocking his chair over onto the ground with a crash. "Malfoy knows where they are being kept, he's even seen them, sir! I can't believe you'd..." He cut himself off as he spun around to storm to the door. "They're at Malfoy Manor! No doubt about it! And they can't be left forever, got it?"

He didn't wait for an answer before slamming the door behind him, the wind billowing forth shunting many of the painting to a crooked position. In his large leather chair, Dumbledore sighed and closed his eyes.

"I must say, Albus, that you at least have to admire the boy's spirit." The Headmaster looked up to find Phineas looking down to him. "He may be a little headstrong, but he's got the ambition for the better house."

"And that is what worries me the most, Phineas," Dumbledore explained. "More than anything else, that is what worries me."

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Harry stopped the minute he stepped inside the Room of Requirement. Gone was the comfortable atmosphere of the large oversized chairs and roaring fireplace. Gone were the large bookshelves with row upon row of books explaining about Defense Against the Dark Arts. Even the enemy detection devices - the foeglasses and sneakoscopes - where gone!

In their place stood a series of globes and every part of the walls were plastered with large scale maps and blueprints. Hermione was in the middle of the room with a clipboard in one hand - certainly a muggle invention, but well worth using to take notes standing up - and was talking rapidly to Ginny and Dean about something he couldn't quite make out.

Complete silence echoed through the room the moment he let the door shut behind him, and then everyone scrambled together to form the teams again. Ginny, Neville, and Dean were all standing still, facing him, while everyone else had taken a seat at the only table - a round table, to his own personal amusement - and seemed to be waiting for some sort of instruction.

Hermione, on the other hand, stood up from the table quickly and strode over to him, putting an arm around him for support. Apparently she could see the stress wearing on him already. "Professor Dumbledore..." Harry started, but then stopped as his eyes fell to Ginny, who was looking more hopeful than he had seen her in a long time. He cleared his throat to start again, and watched as Kailyn leaned back in her chair to mutter something to the youngest Weasley.

"What's going on, Harry?" Dean finally asked, breaking the silence. "Hermione said you know where Ron and Luna are, right?"

"Malfoy told me," Harry said slowly, letting go of Hermione to tell her that he was under control again. She glanced up to him, and he met her eyes briefly, letting her work her magics on him to calm him down before turning back to face everyone. "Before the match, he said something that got me thinking."

"He knows where they are?" Ginny demanded, standing suddenly. "How long has he known?"

"I don't know," Harry admitted. "But I don't feel like finding out, either. I think you understand my request of Kirke and Sloper now, though."

Ginny's eyes darkened as she sat down again. "I don't think I'm happy letting him off that easily," she said loud enough for everyone to hear her.

"We'll worry about that later," Harry explained. "For now, we've got plans to make. Judging by the maps on the walls, I think you've already started a few. `Mione?" he said, turning to her.

Immediately, Hermione picked up her clipboard again and looked down to the parchment listed there. "I haven't told them where they are being kept just yet, but we have started discussing different things. Given that I doubt anyone here has ever visited the place before, we are going to be going in rather blind. Hence all the blueprints - we are hoping to figure out the best mode of attack given any building plans."

Harry nodded and looked to the table, where a variety of supplies had been laid out for making potions. It was with that thought that he looked up again and met Hermione's eye. "Dobby," he whispered to no one in particular. When no one said anything in response, he repeated the name in a louder voice.

"Yes, Harry Potter, Sir?" Harry looked down to find the little house elf adorned in a knitted sweater, wearing about four house elf hats Hermione had made last year. "What can I do for you?"

"Dobby, we've known each other for a long time now, right?" Harry said, kneeling so he was at eye level to the house elf. Dobby nodded enthusiastically, and Harry couldn't help but smile. "That's why I know that this isn't going to be an easy request for you."

"Dobby would do anything possible to help Harry Potter and his friends!" Dobby said firmly, standing up tall.

Harry smiled and closed his eyes. "Who were your former masters, Dobby?"

The effect of his question was instantaneous, as the happy, bouncing house elf scrunched in on himself, making himself as small as possible. "The... the Malfoy's," Dobby whispered the name so quietly that everyone in the room had a hard time hearing him.

"I'm sorry, Dobby," Harry said softly. "I'm really not trying to upset you. I need to know about their house... the Manor," he explained.

Dobby looked up slowly, his eyes big and round, obviously frightened by the question. Seeing the determined look in Harry's eye, the little creature shrunk back again. "I is sorry, Harry Potter, sir, but a house elf is not allowed to betray secrets..."

"Not even of former masters?" Dobby shook his head violently, and then looked back to Harry again. "Well... could you do one thing for me, at least?" Harry asked, motioning around the room. "Could you put together the blueprints here that come close to resembling the Manor, then?"

Dobby seemed to be thinking quite hard on this request, and finally nodded slowly. "I... I think... I think that I could..." he said softly. "But Dobby not know until he tries," he explained. "Why does Harry Potter need this done?" He must have suddenly thought about his question, because he started looking around as though trying to figure out a way to punish himself for asking.

"You are allowed to question me, Dobby," Harry said quickly. "Please don't punish yourself for that, okay?" When Dobby finally nodded, Harry sighed. "Ron and Luna are being held in Malfoy Manor."

Over the past five, almost six years Harry had spent in the wizarding world, he had seen his fair share of chaos. Not only that, but given his cousin's huge birthday parties that he had been forbidden from ruining, he knew something about chaos beforehand, too. Nothing from his past, however, prepared him for the results of his words in the Room of Requirement.

Not only was Dobby popping in and out by the walls, darting all over the room inspecting everything he could find, but everyone at the table was starting to talk all at once again. Ginny was by far the most vocal, and in truth, Harry even agreed with her idea of sending a care package up to the infirmary for Draco Malfoy. To sidetrack her, Harry agreed, and asked her to take her team to come up with something, but to make sure it couldn't be traced back to them.

With Ron's sister dealt with, the rest of the group was a little easier to handle. Despite wanting to head out immediately to rescue both of their friends, Harry managed to convince them against it. In fact, given that it was now fully nighttime and well passed curfew - a fact that none of the prefects in the room, nor the Head Girl herself seemed to notice, he thought he did quite well when he put his foot down.

"I want to go after them now," Harry explained in the sudden silence after his wand had shot out sparks to the ceiling to get attention. "But I learned my lesson last year after trying to go off without a clue to rescue someone. We want to get them out, without leaving anyone behind. For that, we need to plan and get ready."

"When, then?" Dean asked. "How long do we need to get ready? We've been practicing for weeks now, waiting for the chance, remember?"

"I know," Harry admitted. "But right now, I doubt we'd get out of the castle in the first place. Dumbledore's going to be watching closely to make sure we don't leave," he said sharply. "Something about the greater good. I don't agree with that - we are saving them. But we have to prepare, and plan things out. While I know that's usually Ron's department, he's one of the two we have to rescue, so we're on our own for this one."

"What's the timeline, then?" Neville asked. "If we're making a plan, we're going to make a good one. When do we leave?"

"Next Friday, during lunch," Harry explained. "I'm sure Dumbledore will try to stop us then, too, but it is such a bold move that he won't be able to until it is too late. That will also give us the time to look over the blueprints Dobby is putting together and make enough sap bombs to cover the whole school, which should be plenty for a Manor, too, right?" At the solemn looks he received, he nodded to everyone. "In one week from today, Ron and Luna will be standing among us again."

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It was a real treat Monday morning to head down to the Great Hall for breakfast. There was a fast flying rumour about odd things happening to the only patient in the Hospital Ward, which meant that Malfoy would not be present for a while. It also managed to brighten everyone in the DAs moods for a short while.

If anyone noticed the furtive looks and quick, hurried whispers being passed around all of Sunday and thus far in the morning during breakfast on Monday, no one said anything. The fact that one section of the Gryffindor table appeared to be empty was odd - but in fact was just a separation for the Gryffindor house and the whole of the DA, who were sitting at one end of that table.

In the middle of that end, spread out under the plates and mounds of food, was a large map of a field with a building in the middle. Although quite strange for a tablecloth, they all knew that Dobby had had a hand in it's creation, so they knew they were actually looking at an aerial view of Malfoy Manor, and took to the beginning stages of their plans.

Before any teacher could say anything about it, however, Hermione had copied the map onto a smaller parchment and then Harry had tapped the table three times in quick succession, causing the map to vanish again, to be replaced with a picture of a large sock. Harry laughed out loud at this, and then left with Hermione to head down to Potions.

Unfortunately, here was where the morning took a drastic turn for the worse. Thanks to slow feet, Harry and Hermione managed to be the last two students to enter the Potion dungeon, and Snape whirled on them the moment they stepped foot inside.

"Potter?" he said harshly, causing Harry to draw himself up in surprise even as Hermione sat down next to him.

"Yes, Professor?"

"You will be serving a detention with me tonight," Snape said. "One hour after supper ends. Am I clear?"

His good mood vanished almost instantly, and Harry pulled himself out of his chair slowly to stand and face the Potion's master. "On what grounds... sir?"

"You are breathing too loud, Potter," Snape said back, turning to point to the blackboard, causing a list of ingredients to appear. "And unless you sit down this very instant, you will lose twenty five points from Gryffindor, too."

"Breathing too loud?" Harry repeated, not sure he had heard properly.

"That's pushing it too far, Professor!" Terry said quickly as Hermione nodded.

"He's allowed to breathe!" Hermione added.

Snape waved his wand across the classroom, and instantly all sound ceased. "I am your Professor, and you will listen to me," he said firmly. "Detention, tonight, at seven. Am I clear? Simply nod your head, as no sound will be heard anyway."

"Actually, I think I had better just leave now," Harry said in an equally firm voice. "Before I do something I might regret!" He shook his head subtly at Hermione, who looked ready to stand to follow him, and she nodded slowly as she eased herself back down.

"Get back here, Potter!"

"Save it, you great greasy git!" Harry snapped back as he slammed the door to the classroom open, letting the wood crash against the stone in complete silence. "Oh, and for the record, it appears that your silencing charm could use some work!"

He stormed from the classroom, furious with what had just happened - both with the Professor and himself. He knew he needed to have better control than that, but a detention for breathing? That was a bit much even for Snape!

Rather than completely waste the time, however, Harry made his way down the corridors, only to stop in front of the painting of a bowl of fruit to go down to the kitchens. "Dobby?" he called. "Any chance at getting a bit more to eat?"

He knew the words were disaster in the kitchen at Hogwarts, but he wasn't exactly thinking clearly. It wasn't long, however, before he found himself sitting at a table with a mountain of food on it, and about seven goblets of pumpkin juice surrounding him, held up but various house elves.

"I is sorry, Harry Potter, sir," Dobby said earnestly as he finally appeared before him. "But calling such a thing down here is not usually a good idea, as you can tell."

"And I knew it, too, Dobby. I'm sorry, I just forgot," he said, shaking his head. "I just needed a place to calm down and think, and thought I'd get a little more to eat, too."

"Is something else troubling Harry Potter?"

"Just Snape," Harry said with a shrug. "But I figured I might as well talk to you about that map, too," he added once the other house elves started to get back to work. "We need to know about wards..."

Apparently - and if he was honest with himself, he had expected it - Malfoy Manor had a lot of wardings surrounding it. Aside from the normal anti-apparation wards to keep unwanted visitors out, there were also severing wards, salesmen wards, and anti-muggle wards among the least to be concerned about. The severing wards would be the most dangerous of that bunch, but he was confident that someone in the DA would know the counter charm to deactivate such a thing. Since they weren't selling anything, nor were they muggles, they didn't have to worry about the other two.

The worst ward they had to worry about, however, was the mal-intent ward. This was a high classed warding done by someone who really knew what they were doing, without a doubt. If someone visits with the intent of causing harm to the owners of the house, then that pain is inflicted back upon them before they even get a chance.

Thankfully, there was a catch that happened to involve not using the main walkway or hiding behind four of the five bushes near windows. One bush had been left untouched by the ward, so it would be an ideal hiding place for one group before entry.

The inside of the Manor remained a mystery when Harry finally looked up and found Hermione just coming inside to take him to Charms. After thanking Dobby, the two left the kitchens quickly.

"Snape's a bit upset about what happened, isn't he?" Harry asked in a whisper as they hurried through the halls.

"Honestly, Harry, that's an understatement if I've ever heard one," she replied. "Calling him a greasy git in front of the whole class? If he wasn't truly acting like one before, you can bet he's going to now!"

"Hey, he said he had cast a silencing charm," Harry explained with a shrug. When she stopped and stared and him, he sighed and turned back to her. "I'm sorry, Mione," he said softly. "It's just..."

"He was being completely unfair and deserved more than you gave him?" Hermione finished for him when he trailed off, a small smile on her face. "I know, Harry, I know. But there are better ways of getting even, and you know it," she said.

*You really are just a miscreant now, aren't you?* Harry purred to her, his smile too broad to actually allow for normal speech. Before she could reply, he reached out and took one of her hands. *You're simply amazing, Mione.*

*And you are simply Harry,* she replied with a purr of her own as she reached up to kiss him quickly before they started out again. *So... are you going to go to the detention?*

Harry looked to her in surprise. "Of course," he said in English again. "Don't have much choice in the matter, do I?"

"Well, like you said he was being completely unfair. Detention for breathing, honestly, couldn't he have come up with anything better? I mean, nothing against you, Harry, but he could have just waited until halfway through class and then given you a more valid one."

"More valid? Like what, making a mistake on a potion?"

"That's better than for breathing, isn't it?" she pointed out. "It sounds like he's just trying to get an excuse to drive you into the ground in the dungeon when no one else is around to hear it."

It was Harry's turn to stop suddenly, and she looked back to him in surprise. "It's just an excuse," he breathed softly.

"Of course it is!" Hermione said, shaking her head. "You can't get in trouble just for breathing!"

"He wants to talk to me," he explained in a rush. At Hermione's questioning look, he shook his head as though to clear it and then looked towards the dungeons, despite them being on nearly the other side of the school. *Willow, he wants to talk to me. He knows something...*

*If we put it together with what we know," she purred slowly.

*We put it with our own plans, and it'll be a snap to get there and back without harm!* Harry meowed, pulling Hermione into a hug. *I'll even ask him for some advice if I think it would be worth it...*

*He was right about the Protego,* Hermione purred into his ear just before they pulled apart to keep moving. They were already late, but they weren't about to miss the entire class - there were members of the DA involved, and they might think that the two of them had left without them. *I love you, Harry.*

*I know, Mione,* Harry purred back as he pushed the door open to the classroom. "Sorry we're late, Professor," he said normally, looking to the front of the class to the diminutive Professor Flitwick.

"Prefect issues," Hermione explained quickly. "Unavoidable. Some younger students being picked on, I had to intervene, and Harry was there to help," she said. When their Professor nodded and turned back to the board, Harry winked to Hermione and then they took their seats to take part in the lesson.

----------------------

"Breathing?"

Harry sighed as he stopped at the exit to the Gryffindor Common Room. "Yes, Ginny," he said wearily. After an exhausting Defense Against the Darks class, followed by a lesson with Kailyn right before supper, he was already beyond tired. "Breathing. He said I was breathing too loud."

"And you're just going to go to the detention anyway?"

"I don't have much choice in the matter, do I?"

"Well, couldn't Hermione or I, or even Colin do something? Talk to McGonagall?"

Harry shook his head and looked up to her. "This is something I have to do," he said softly, pulling the hood up on his green cloak as a way of ending the conversation and then turning and leaving before she could say anything else.

The walk through the corridors of Hogwarts had never seemed so lonely, really. Hermione was in the library with Julia, but they weren't studying for Arithmancy this time - though that was the illusion that they wanted to show. Instead, they were pouring over books dealing with ancient wardings, to do everything they could to find a way to deactivate the wards surrounding the Manor.

Even seeing a single member of the DA on the way to the dungeons would have put a bounce back into his steps, but he knew that wouldn't happen. Half of them were probably in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom brewing the necessary potion to solidify into the sap bombs, and the rest were all going over blueprints in their common rooms - hence why Ginny had been in the Gryffindor one.

He felt like a general before a giant war, and he didn't like it one bit.

He stopped before the wooden door leading into Snape's office and took a deep breath before knocking firmly and then lowering the hood to his cloak. "Enter."

Harry pushed the door open and found Snape sitting behind his desk, though he stood up immediately upon seeing who it was. "I'm here for my detention, Professor," Harry said after shutting the door.

Snape walked around in front of his desk and leaned against it as he crossed his arms to look at Harry. "Do you take me for a fool, Potter?"

He knew he shouldn't rise to it... but what choice did he have? "No, sir, I take you for a greasy git," he explained. "I thought I said as much earlier before I left the class."

"And I supposed your mud..." Harry tensed quite suddenly and rather visibly, and Snape trailed off for a moment. "Your... well, I'm sure Miss. Granger told you what I said about you afterwards, didn't she?"

"We have better things to talk about than what goes on in your classroom, Professor."

Snape raised an eyebrow at that statement, and then unfolded his arms as he stood up tall again. "Have a seat, Potter."

"I'd rather stand, thank you," Harry replied.

"It would be best for all parties concerned for you to sit down!" Snape bit out forcefully, pointing at the chair in front of him as he walked around and sat behind his desk again. "But I doubt you'd even sit down for that blasted elf if you didn't want to, right? You still have your father's arrogance, Potter, and that won't get you anywhere!"

Harry took a deep breath and let it out through his nose slowly, trying to calm down before he said something he would actually regret. "My father has nothing to do with this, does he?" Not giving the Head of Slytherin a chance to reply, Harry took the seat that had been offered to him and kept going. "So for once in your life, can't you leave him out of it when talking to me?"

There was a rather tense silence until Snape finally leaned forward. "I called you a sniveling coward for running away, Potter," he said.

"You can say what you want," Harry heard himself say, even though it wasn't what he was really thinking. "But I am no coward, and you know it."

"I also know that you were witness to an action the last time I was within Headquarters," Snape pointed out. "An incident involving that elf and myself, were you not?" He shook his head as he leaned back again. "Do not bother denying it, Potter. Your words to me directly following that... conversation... left no room for doubt in my mind."

"I'm surprised there is room for doubt in there, actually," Harry said, also leaning forward and putting a hand on the desk. "There doesn't seem to be much room for anything else, is there?"

Snape paled slightly in his anger at such a statement before getting himself under control again. "Despite what you might think, I did not assign you detention just so you could insult me the full time. That is thirty points from Gryffindor."

"Well spent points."

"I do not have time for this!" Snape snapped, standing up in a flourish and turning away from the desk. "And neither do your friends, Weasley and Lovegood!"

All humour at the previous situation vanished instantly, and Harry stood up to face his Professor. "What do you know about them?"

"They are alive," Snape explained. "Lovegood is much worse off than Weasley, but both have received a healing of sorts, as well as a deadening of pain from me." At Harry's surprised look, Snape shook his head. "I do not have time to go into detail, and I don't think you'd want to listen anyway." He turned back to the desk suddenly and threw two wizarding pictures down on the desk.

Harry picked them both up quickly. The first one was revolving around a glowing blue crystal that seemed to be pulsing with energy. It was held on a silver pedestal, but nothing else was clear. The second picture was another view from above Malfoy Manor, moving around. This one was different from the one Dobby had provided, however, in that it showed the various Death Eaters moving about outside before they returned inside again.

It also showed that the house had grown a good deal.

"That is the Crystal of Guidance," Snape said quickly. "If you want a better explanation, ask Miss. Granger, she seems to have an answer for everything."

"You can bet that I will," Harry promised.

"That is also the crystal that the Dark Lord stole from the Time Room in the Ministry. The one the Headmaster would tell you nothing about, Potter."

"Why are you showing me this?"

"The Crystal on its own is nearly worthless, but there is a sacrificial ritual involved which would grant the bearer incredible power. Power to, for example, smash through the protections surrounding Hogwarts and turn the castle to dust!"

Harry sat down hard in the chair and flipped back to the picture of the crystal. "Voldemort has this?"

"I thought I told you never to speak his name in my presence!" Snape roared at Harry, making him flinch backwards. He went on in a calmer voice. "Of course he does. I am sure even your addled brain can figure out what the sacrifice entails, right?"

"Ron and Luna..." Harry breathed. "That's the poisoning, isn't it?"

"You are well informed, aren't you, Potter?" He then pointed at the pictures in Harry's hand, and they burst into flames before Harry could have done anything to stop it. "You can not be caught carrying those around."

"We could have used the picture of the Manor!"

"I had assumed you knew where they were being held by now," Snape said, an odd, almost pleased tone to his voice. "You won't have the time to look at it anyway."

"You keep saying that we are running out of time. What's going on? What time are we talking about?"

"The final stage of the sacrifice has to take place at least a full month after the poisoning begins - your friends are fortunate that that time frame saved them. It must also take place on the night of a full moon. The last one was about ten days after they were captured in the first place."

Harry suddenly had a sinking feeling in his stomach as he swallowed hard. "And the next one? When is that?"

"You have two days, Potter," Snape said. Before Harry could even start to turn and get moving, Snape called him to wait. "When there, you will also have to destroy the Crystal to free your friends of it's continuing poisons. I am sure you realise by now that my cover as a spy is worthless thanks to my healing of Weasley and Lovegood," he explained. "There is nothing I can do to help, and the Headmaster will not be able to act on this information in time, I am afraid."

"The Crystal will be destroyed, don't worry," Harry promised. "But we're on our own, aren't we?"

Snape held out a long arm slowly, and Harry looked down to find two vials in the Potion Master's bony fingers. A red one and a blue one. "Both contain one dose of the Draught of Stability. I prepared the red one myself, while the blue one was made by both you and Miss. Granger. I suspect Weasley will survive without it, but I have my doubts about Lovegood."

Harry took the vials and pocketed them quickly. "Thank you, sir."

"I wouldn't thank me just yet, Potter," Snape said as he sat down and picked up the goblet that Harry had barely noticed sitting on his desk. "When you return, you will be serving a detention with me for trying to poison a Professor." Without any further ado, Snape drank the full contents of the goblet and then collapsed on his desk, a soft snore following shortly thereafter.

"When we return, I will be glad to be able to," Harry muttered to himself as he closed the door to Snape's office slowly. Then he took a deep breath and let it out even slower before reaching into his pocket for the leading DA galleon. With his other hand, he took his badge off his cloak and then closed his eyes for a brief moment before sprinting from the classroom.

As he ran, he was constantly activating both the coin and the badge repeatedly, despite the pain he felt in his left hand for holding the now burning hot coin. By the time he had run the entire length of the castle and flown up the stairs, he had been joined by half a dozen others, all of whom tried to speak with him, but he ignored them all. He would tell everyone at once what was going on.

When he reached the Room of Requirement, he held a fist up and pushed backwards to keep everyone back so he could create the room. Focussing hard on what they might need, he paced back and forth as fast as he though it safe and took a deep breath as the door appeared.

Opening it, he motioned everyone inside. Hermione gave him a questioning glance as she passed him, but he shook his head, telling her that he would explain in a minute. He was the last one inside, and shut the door with a bang behind him as he stopped and looked around.

The walls of the Room were lined with clothing this time - all black, of course. There were cloaks and robes, dragonhide jackets, boots, and gloves, and a pile of hats in one corner. In a pile on the desk in the middle of the room were two invisibility cloaks, but that appeared to be the limit of such a powerful magical item the Room was able to create, so they would be of little use. The foeglasses had returned, as had the sneakoscopes and a large scrying glass.

Aside from that, there was a table next to the fireplace - that had also returned - that held a couple dozen goblets of a thick pink liquid.

"We're leaving in the morning," Harry said after a moment of silence. "Because if we leave it any longer than that, there won't be any point in mounting a rescue at all."

"What?" Ginny asked, first to leap to her feet.

"Wednesday night is a full moon," Harry explained. "And that is the night both Ron and Luna are to be sacrificed, if we don't intervene first."

"Can't we get some help, then?" Dean suggested. "Dumbledore? Talisien?"

Harry shook his head. "Dumbledore believes in something called the greater good." He spat the term out before continuing. "And won't be able to get ready in time. And Talisien told me earlier that he will not be venturing into the domain of Voldemort. This is not his war - but that doesn't mean he couldn't train us."

"So you want us to get some sleep tonight and leave in the morning?" Lavender asked. "There's no way I could get any sleep now!"

"That's what the dreamless sleep potion in the corner is for," Hermione pointed out. "We do need to get some sleep, but we've got to get everything else ready first. Kailyn, how are the sap bombs coming? Do we have any ready?"

"The batch we were making won't be ready until Thursday," she replied, shaking her head. "But I have half a dozen already, left over from home."

"Looks like that'll have to do, then," Harry said easily. "Did we get the full blueprints from Malfoy Manor yet?"

"Dobby has given us all he can," Dean offered. "Mumbled something about already treading on thin ice, so I think asking for more now wouldn't be much good."

"And they've been looked over?"

Dean nodded and a short silence fell over the group before Cho spoke up. "It looks like we're as ready as we'll ever be, Harry. Just one question first... how are we going to get there? Do we ever know where Malfoy Manor is?"

"Leave that one to me," Kailyn spoke up before Harry had a chance to. "I know just the thing, but I'll have to find them first..."

"Alright, it's in your hands," Harry said with a shrug, meeting Hermione's eye with a questioning glance. She didn't seem to have any idea what the half elf was talking about either, but they figured it best to trust her. "For now, I'd like everyone to break off while I have a word with Dean, Neville, and Ginny." Hermione immediately pulled her clipboard out of her bag and sat at next to the fireplace. She knew that she was included in those he wanted to stay behind.

Harry moved over and sat next to her to wait for everyone else to do as asked. Before anyone left the room, they all took a set of clothing from the side of the room and a small sip of potion to help them get to sleep.

"So far, we've decided on the distraction method," Hermione explained to Harry before he could say otherwise. "It isn't the safest for the distraction team, but it is very important. Hopefully, they can draw enough attention to give everyone else a clear path inside the Manor."

"The other three teams will be split up as well, though. There is a side passage on the northern side of the house that the Oaken Shield will be dealing with," Ginny offered. "Once inside, we'll work on securing an easy escape path."

"The Dark Warriors and your team will be in charge of searching for Ron and Luna," Dean explained. "As soon as they are found, the order to evacuate will be set off through a magical resonance charm, and we can get out again. That, I think, will be the largest challenge."

Harry nodded after a moment, lacing the fingers of his right hand through Hermione's and holding her hand tightly. "Alright," he said softly. "So, Prince is going to attack the main gate, then?"

Neville nodded. "We'll be alright, though," he said quickly. "I don't intend on kicking it there, don't worry."

"I'm going to worry," Harry said easily. "There's no stopping that. Just keep yourself safe, alright?"

"Once we've caused the issues, we'll be hopefully slipping inside to find Ginny and her team," he explained.

Harry didn't say anything right away, and Hermione gave his hand a squeeze. "There's something else, isn't there?" Harry nodded. "And it's not good, right?"

"That's uncanny," Dean muttered under his breath, and both Neville and Ginny nodded along with his statement, but neither Harry nor Hermione seemed to pay him any heed.

"Snape told me about the sacrifice because he's worried about the crystal being activated. It was stolen from the Time Room in the Ministry of Magic... it's called the Crystal of Guidance," Harry said in a hushed voice, despite the fact that the five of them were the only ones there.

Dean, Neville, and Ginny all looked to Hermione almost instantly, and were surprised to see her eyes wide with shock. "What's it do?" Ginny asked.

"No one was really sure when it was studied almost five hundred years ago," Hermione said. "They determined that it held a lot of dark magic inside it, but beyond that, no one could tell anything. It was created before the time of Merlin, and was apparently used as a crystal ball and scrying glass by numerous wizards and witches of that age before they all mysteriously died."

"It requires a sacrifice," Harry said tonelessly. "And it's not something it's going to ever get. I promised Snape that I would destroy it before leaving the Manor." No one said anything for a moment, and he nodded. "So, we're ready, then?"

"We just have to deal with getting out again," Ginny reminded him. Harry just shook his head, though.

"Let me deal with that. We're covered, don't worry." He then met each of the other leaders' eyes, and saw his own worry mirrored back. "This will not be a safe trip, nor will it be pleasant. Your jobs will be the most difficult, too, having to lead the others. Get some sleep," he suggested, standing up again. "We'll all talk in the morning before setting out."

Once Dean, Neville, and Ginny had left the Room of Requirement, Harry waved a hand towards the door, and watched in amazement as it not only locked itself, but vanished quite entirely. He then turned back to Hermione and held a hand out to help her up. As he did so, he was quite amazed to see one of the large comfortable chairs like from the Gryffindor Common Room suddenly appear next to him, and he pulled her down to sit in his lap in it.

There wasn't time for any words to be spoken before her lips found his firmly, and all sense of dread and worry vanished from his mind as he focussed on kissing Hermione. The urgency from before was still present, though, so the kiss did not remain chaste for long before he welcomed her probing tongue into his mouth as he started to explore her own.

Although his hands actually started on her back, they didn't stay there for very long as she hunched her back, making her front easily accessible despite their position. Usually, he was quite gentle were caressing her breasts, but that was quickly abandoned in the moment as he grabbed her almost roughly, hungrily, unable to control himself.

*More,* she snarled during a brief separation of their lips, and then she reached down and started tugging at the edge of his robes. Leaning forward, he let her pull his belt off and felt her work her hands into the folds of fabric so she could push his robes off his shoulders, too. The clasp for his dark green cloak got in the way briefly, and to his amazement she didn't stop running her hands across his chest to deal with it.

Instead, she reached down and used her teeth and tongue to pull the clasp apart, letting it fall open as she leaned in to capture his neck and work her way back up to his lips, leaving a trail of slow, wet kisses as she went.

Bare from the waist up - save for his medallion from Hermione - Harry couldn't help but feel that the situation was a little unfair. Through the mad liplock they were sharing, she must have understood his sentiments, because she suddenly pulled her hands away from him and pulled her own belt off. He whimpered slightly at the sudden separation as she stood up, but could only stare in shock as she let first her cloak fall to the ground, and then her robes as well, leaving her in only her bra and knickers.

Her bra joined the pile of clothes on the ground as she leapt on him again, and the feeling of her breasts squashed against him sent shivers up and down his entire body. Their necklaces seemed to dance together as they twisted around each other, though they never pulled at either of their necks - as though both were enchanted not to, which was a fair possibility. He could feel her grinding into him with her hips, and was amazed at how far she had spread her legs apart to be able to do just that.

It was Hermione's turn to whimper when he pulled away from her lips and started in on one of her breasts instead. The other breast was being massaged by a hand, but her left one had been attacked by his lips, sucking and pulling hard at the nipple. After a moment, he even bit down on the hardened nub, and was rewarded by a low growl and long, drawn out hiss from the woman in his arms.

Switching to her other breast with his tongue, lips, and teeth, Hermione closed her eyes and groaned in the air above him, unable to keep herself any quieter. His other hand was firmly on her hip, and she twisted suddenly to force him a little closer to the heat that was threatening to consume her.

Harry didn't object to this at all, and turned his hand to cup the warmth completely, and pressed against her with his fingers. A loud meow escaped her lips, and Harry pulled away from her breast in surprise to look up to her. She didn't give him time to question her, though, before shooting down to capture his lips again as she pushed against his hand the best she could given their position.

Hermione's hands were still both on Harry's chest, but one suddenly shot down and pressed right along his hardened length that was still covered by his robes. That effectively froze Harry right where he was, and Hermione pulled back a little to look him in the eye. He seemed scared suddenly, and so she pulled away from where she had landed and put her hands back on his chest before she started kissing him softly again until he started to respond.

Once the ferocity of their kissing had been regained, she started rubbing against Harry's hand that was still holding her firmly between her legs. She purred into his mouth as the kiss continued, and she could feel him grinning in response before purring right back.

The feeling was building more and more intense for Hermione, so much so that when one of Harry's fingers slipped on her slick, wet knickers and ended up literally inside her most secret of places, she didn't have a chance at containing the loud combination of a scream and meow as she erupted. For his part, Harry had pulled his hand away fairly quickly after slipping, and could only watch as she pulled her head up and started panting heavily as little convulsions rippled through her entire body.

*Are you okay, `Mione?" Harry purred softly to her as she practically collapsed against him, curling up in his arms in her practically naked state.

*Okay?* she purred the word as a question in response. *Okay doesn't begin to describe it, my Harry... not even close...* She was still breathing rather heavily, and she closed her eyes as he looked down to her. *That was simply... amazing...*

*What happened?* Harry purred, obviously not reassured yet. *You suddenly screamed and started shaking.*

*Just... the effects... of your... hand...* she purred back, catching the offending hand in one of her own so she could turn it towards him. He looked surprised to see the sticky sheen on his palm and the drop of liquid on the finger that must have put her over the edge. *Down here,* she added, guiding the hand back to where it had been.

*So... it's a good thing, then?* he purred, and she couldn't help the smile that suddenly lit her face even more broadly than it had been before.

*Very good.* When she released his hand, he pulled it away from her again, only to bring it up as he wrapped his arms around her to hold her close. She didn't say anything as one of their cloaks was suddenly draped over both of them, covering her near nudity and keeping them both warm beneath it as she closed her eyes slowly and started to calm down.

Although she might have wanted to talk to him a bit more about what had just transpired between them - not her orgasm, necessarily, as that was a bit awkward to talk about - but his comfort level, she found as she was coming off her incredible high that she didn't seem to have much energy left. She couldn't find a reason to care, however, as she snuggled into his embrace a little closer, enjoying the feeling of their skin contact as she felt her consciousness lead her to the world of dreams.

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Harry woke up a few hours later a little unsure where he was. He had a bit of a kink in his neck, but that was the least of his concerns when he realised the position the two of them had fallen asleep in. Looking around the Room of Requirement for anyone who might have entered inadvertently, he then remembered that he had vanished the door before the beautiful witch in his arms had leapt at him last night.

Last night.

Those two words brought back of rush of memories to Harry, and he forced himself to take a deep breath and close his eyes to keep from moving otherwise. Hermione was still asleep in his arms, still wearing just as little as she had been for most of their... er... make out session. At least the cloak covering them was warm - and Harry made a mental note to thank Talisien for them later again. It had covered them just when he thought of it.

A sudden change in Hermione's breathing pattern alerted her that she, too, was waking up, so he gave her a small squeeze. Almost at once, he felt her arms reach up around him and she was leaning up to give him a quick kiss before pulling away.

*Time to wake up," he purred softly.

*Everything okay, Harry?* she purred back, looking a little worried.

Harry nodded. *Yeah. Better than okay, really... I mean, this morning, I wake up to find a beautiful witch practically naked in my arms. What could I possibly complain about?*

Hermione squealed as his fingers found her side, and she pulled herself up and out of his lap, looking around from her clothes. *We didn't... go too far or anything, did we?* she mewed softly. *I mean...*

*It's okay, Mia,* Harry purred. *You pulled back when you thought you went too far, and... well... it was good, don't worry.*

*I love you, Harry,* she meowed in a full voice once she had her bra done up again. As she picked up her robes to pull them on, she looked up and met his gaze.

*I know, Hermione,* he meowed back, the use of her full name catching her off guard. It was only then that she realised he was holding something in his hands suddenly, and she looked down to see a small wooden box. *By Merlin's beard and Morgana's betrayal, I know you do...*

*But you don't love me?* She hadn't really meant to ask the question, because she knew he did beyond any and all reproach, but it just slipped out. *I mean, can't you say it to me just once? We are about to leave to save Ron and Luna, but there's no guarantee that one of us won't die, too! I don't want that to happen knowing I never heard the words from you...*

She watched the life drain out of Harry's ocean green eyes slowly, steadily, as he stood up, the box held firmly in one hand. "But that's precisely why I can't tell you," he said in plain English.

*What?*

"If I tell you now, just before we head out... you could die on me," he whispered so softly that she could only hear him thanks to her kneazle enhanced hearing. "And I couldn't live through that..."

*That's nonsense and you know it!* Hermione growled back at him. In some part of her mind, she realised that he was speaking English while she was still speaking kneazle, but it wasn't exactly the first thing she had to think about. *There's no difference except the chance that I might never hear it from you!*

Harry sighed and sank back into the large red chair. "You know how I feel, Mione," he whispered. "But all other arguments aside, if I were to tell you now... to say the words that I know you want to hear... then Voldemort wins again."

It was probably the first time in Hermione Granger's life when she really had no idea what Harry meant. The word actually slipped out of her own mouth before she could catch herself. *Huh?*

"The only reason I'd tell you now and not earlier is because of the danger we are about to face," Harry explained slowly. "Because of Voldemort. I don't want to do anything with you because of... because of him!" He looked angry as he said that last part, and then he pulled his robes back up to cover his shoulders, though he left them loose, still showing the flesh of his chest beneath the fabric. "You are too special to me for anything to happen because of him."

Hermione had heard some amazing things in her life - especially after finding out about magic, wizards, and witches - and had heard of some powerfully romantic things in books and in gossip thanks to her roommates... but none of it seemed to compare to the moment that she suddenly found herself in, and she couldn't stop the tears from coming to her eyes. Harry seemed to understand what the tears where about - or he thought it was because of his refusal to heed her request, she really wasn't sure which - but he held his arms out to her and she rushed into the warm embrace again.

"I do have something for you, though," Harry whispered into her ear after planting a soft, gentle kiss on the top of her earlobe. Separating again, he held out the box a second time. Hermione took it gingerly and opened it, her hands shaking more than she had expected.

Inside the small, carved wooden box sat two simple golden rings. To say they were simple, however, wouldn't quite be accurate, given the jewels and gems that were slowly materialising on both of them. One, the smaller one, had a large diamond cut sapphire that was surrounded by tiny rubies that made the centre of the sapphire actually glow a soft purple as the two colours mixed.

The larger of the two rings was almost the inverse of the smaller one, gem-wise, but the ruby was slightly larger and practically flat - an emerald cut - and the smaller sapphires were all diamond cut surrounding it. Two rings... obviously for two different people.

"The final vow of the elven ritual," Harry said in a soft voice, causing her to look away from the shocking jewellery and back up to him. "The bracelet, representing commitment and protection," he explained, holding up his left arm to show the golden band adorned there. "A necklace, representing the bonds of family and their willingness to step forward in case the worse comes to past." Hermione's heart fluttered slightly as Harry pulled his robes aside again to show his golden medallion with a lightning bolt emblazed upon it. He then pointed to the box in Hermione's hand. "Finally... a ring. It represents the feelings of the heart, the love we share with each other." He paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "I want you to have your ring now, Mione. So, even though I can't say the words you want to hear... you'll have proof of how I feel anyway."

Hermione nodded through her tears and pulled the smaller ring out of it's place in the box. Harry took it from her then, and before she could even have reacted to that action, he had slid it onto her ring finger of her left hand. He then got down on one knee and kissed the back of her hand gently before standing again.

She didn't know where he had found the rings in the first place, but there were obviously magics at work in them, as the ring fit her perfectly and didn't seem to be too loose or too tight. "It's perfect," She whispered to him. "Thank you."

Looking down to the box again, she figured that the rings must have been elven make, given the box looking almost exactly like the... the one that Kailyn had given him for his birthday! Rings! Of course...

She reached into the box and pulled out the other ring, letting the wood clatter to the floor in the otherwise silent classroom. "You don't..."

"If the next words about to come out of your mouth are `have to,' you had better just forget it," Hermione said, cutting him off with a smile. "I know I don't... but I want you to have your ring, too." Before he could object any further, she had taken his left hand - which was clean once more - and slipped the ring onto his ring finger, too. She then pulled his hand up and kissed it in the same fashion he had done for her. "I love you, Harry Potter."

Harry smiled a little sadly to her and pulled her into an embrace, breathing deep of her scent. "I know, `Mione. And I'm thankful every time I think about it, too."

When then finally pulled together, Hermione looked over to the fireplace while Harry clapped his hands and took a deep breath. "Well... I think it's getting close to time." He lifted his hand up to where the door had been earlier, and it reappeared just as it had been before. "Wish I knew about that last year," he said with a grin to Hermione just as the door opened.

"I knew there was a reason it wouldn't appear earlier!" Ginny said with a smile as she stepped over the threshold. "You two have a good night?"

"You're unusually chipper for this morning," Harry pointed out.

"Colin cast a cheering charm on me when I came into the Common Room," she explained with a shrug and a grin. "It'll wear off in about an hour. Any idea how we're getting there, yet?"

"Kailyn's dealing with that," Hermione replied as Harry walked over to the still open doorway and looked up and down the hallway.

"No one noticed that our beds were empty last night?"

"I think a lot of people noticed several strange things yesterday," Ginny replied. "But there's not a lot that can be done about that now, is there?"

"We are going to save them today, no matter what happens," Harry replied with a nod. He then reached into his pocket and activated the DA coin. It took a total of ten minutes for the entire group to show up, dressed, prepared, and looking more than a little nervous.

"I think we could all use that talk right about now, Harry," Neville said, casting his eyes slowly about the room. Lavender was right beside him, and he had an arm around her, but didn't seem to be paying much attention directly to her. "I don't know about everyone else, but I'm not too much of a coward to admit to being scared."

Hermione turned and walked over to stand amongst the rest of the DA, leaving Harry standing on his own in front of everyone. He could see their fear easily... Merlin, he could practically hear it through their loud heartbeats... or maybe that was his own...

"I don't know," Harry said slowly before trailing off for a moment. He then turned away from everyone to face the fireplace that was quietly consuming an ever-burning log. "I don't know what's going to happen," he explained. "I'm not much at Divination. We are about to embark on a journey with more danger than many of us in this room have ever even dreamed of."

He paused again and took a step away from them, closer to the burning flame. No one said anything in response to his words, and he could tell they were waiting for him to go on. Rather than do so right away, however, he knelt in front of the fire, still watching it.

"Lord Voldemort and his loyal followers, the Death Eaters, have taken two of our own captive. He has tortured them and poisoned them for fourty three days. If we do not take action immediately, then in two days' time, Ronald Weasley and Luna Lovegood will be dead." In a move almost too fast to follow, Harry had caused the fire to roar to life in the fireplace, making the flames lick out at the edges, and then had turned back to face everyone. "I don't intend on letting that happen."

"I am now going to close my eyes," Harry said softly. "After I count to ten, I will then open them again. If anyone wishes to back out now, feel free to do so. No one among us will think any less of you - for make no mistake, witches and wizards... this is a matter of life and death, and a real chance to meet your own end."

Harry closed his eyes as he had promised to do and started to count slowly. He heard movement in front of him, but did not open his eyes despite that. When he reached ten, however, he finally looked at the sight in front of him.

Dean, Neville, and Ginny had gotten their teams to fall in behind them, and Hermione had come up to stand next to him. Everyone in the room had brought their left hand up in a fist to cover their own heart, and were all watching him directly. The fear that had been present earlier was still there, but to a lesser degree.

"The dark forces are very powerful," Harry said in a soft voice. "Once within Malfoy Manor, many of us will face dangers and perils that I can not explain to any of you. All I can ask is that none of you give up. You have to keep trying, and do everything you can to survive."

"As long as you keep moving forward," Hermione whispered, though her voice was heard by everyone. "You can always find radiance."

"It is that radiance that we are fighting for," Harry added, surprisingly moved by the depth of his girlfriend's words. After a pause, he bowed his head. "Hold nothing back. This is a war we are about to fight... a war fought on enemy grounds. Hesitation will kill any of us."

"At the end of the day, there are only going to be two types of people," Kailyn offered, and Harry's eyes snapped to her in surprise. Talisien had said the same thing to him before... and as Kailyn met his gaze, he understood. It was not just words to her - it was a way of life for the elves who had faced so many battles in the past. "Those who are alive, and those who are not."

"One more thing," Harry said into the silence that followed her statement. "If anyone comes face to face with Voldemort... I want you to run. You have no chance of survival otherwise." He was only moderately surprised when no one tried to argue that point with him, but he was certainly relieved at that fact.

"Remember," Dean said as they started to head outside at Kailyn's suggestion. "This is the DA - the Defense Association. We are doing this to protect our friends, our family, and our Hogwarts. Let's make it count."

Slipping past the students just waking up and heading down to the Great Hall wasn't their largest challenge, but it wasn't exactly easy, either. A group of students travelling in a tight pack, all dressed in what could only be described as combat gear did kind of stick out. It was actually only thanks to Kailyn's hurried instructions that they managed to avoid being seen by almost anyone.

Once on the grounds of Hogwarts, it was a mad dash to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Fifteen pairs of dragonhide boots made odd squelching sounds in the dew filled grass, but aside from that, they moved swiftly and silently, stopping as Kailyn did right next to the woods. As was often the case in early morning Hogwarts, the grounds were filled with a soft fog, further aiding in their ability to stay unnoticed.

"Alright, I need everyone to pair off," Kailyn whispered, her voice still carrying to all of them. "One of each partner has to be able to see this," she added, holding up an odd looking black feather. There was no doubt in Harry's mind just what creature the feather had come from - aside from the oddly scaled look, it seemed that few of them could actually see it, which was a definite telltale sign.

"What are we looking at?" Denis whispered to his older brother. Oddly enough, Colin seemed to be able to see the feather, while Denis could not.

Neville, Ginny, Hermione, and Harry all caught each other's eyes at almost the exact same time, but none said a word about the creatures Kailyn had found for transport. "These are spirit riders," Kailyn said softly. "Only those who have seen the transition from one world to another will be able to see them," she added as an odd whinnying sound caught their ears.

The eight who could see them - Harry, Neville, Dean, Colin, Susan, Terry, Julia, and Kailyn - all watched as the winged, black scaled, serpent like horses emerged from the woods. Knowing Lavender and Parvati's unusual devotion to the art of Divination, none of those who knew the creatures' normal name said a thing.

Harry immediately stepped forward and held a hand out to one of the creatures, refusing to let his mind wander to the last time he had seen them. Once it seemed accustomed to him, he vaulted onto it's back and held a hand out for Hermione. She mounted a little more tentatively, given that she couldn't actually see it, and once on wrapped her arms about him quite quickly for a sense of security.

"Make no mistake about it," Harry said firmly as he patted the side of the thestral's head to reassure it and looked down at those still standing on the ground. "This is not going to be easy. I won't lie and say that any of us will be safe - in fact, I'll go the opposite direction. However... I think everyone here is ready. You are all better prepared than some Aurors - at least, according to my Auror Training Manual..."

There were a couple of scattered, nervous chuckles at that, and then Neville mounted one of the creatures, helping Lavender up to ride behind him. "This is it, isn't it, Harry?"

Harry shook his head slowly. "No," he replied, a sense of an eerie calm enveloping him as he spoke. "No, this isn't it. The plan is to get in, rescue Ron and Luna, and get out again. No one here is ready for a final confrontation. Not even me." In his mind, that sounded conceited, but he knew how the DA would take it - most of them saw his magics and his luck as nearly infallible in these situations, and if he wasn't ready, then none of them were. "However, there is one thing I want from everyone here before leaving... one final test."

"Isn't it a little late for that now?" Cho asked as she vaulted up - nearly missing her invisible target - and was caught by Dean. "We're about to head out..."

"I'm the leader of this group," Harry said softly. "And as such, I have to make sure everyone is ready, no matter what time constraint we're facing." He took a deep breath and put one hand over one of Hermione's that was so tightly wrapped around him. "Everyone here must speak his name. If you can't even do that, then there's no way you're ready to face Death Eaters."

Hermione was the first to speak up in a voice loud and clear enough to be heard, but she wasn't first by much. Neville followed right afterwards, and Lavender said is after he did. Dean and Cho looked to each other and said the name, though softer than those before them. Colin said it defiantly as he helped his brother up into place behind him, and Denis was next, though not as strongly as his brother. Susan and Ginny both looked right at Harry as they spoke, both in place on a creature as well. Terry, Parvati, Julia, and Padma all said it at the same time, and then all eyes turned to the last member of the DA, the one who would be riding alone.

"Voldemort has no power over me," Kailyn said softly as she pulled herself onto her mount. "His skills may be terrifyingly powerful, and his actions evil to the core... but I will not back down in the face of that. My lineage will not allow it, and neither will I."

Harry nodded as he closed his eyes, satisfied that he had done all he could. He knew he'd need the help, but now that it was time, time to lead those he had trained into deadly territory, he couldn't help the bile that seemed to be building in the back of his throat, the worry that had settled in his stomach. "Stay safe, and stay alive," he said softly, meeting each members' eyes before he was willing to go on. He then leaned forward. *We need to reach Malfoy Manor, girl,* he said directly in the thestral's own language. If anyone thought that was strange, none of them said a word. Those who could see the creature saw it nod before spreading it's massive wings.

Just as most of the school were taking their seats at the breakfast tables in the Great Hall, fifteen students disappeared into the fog and mists of the early morning, heading south on a long journey from which there was a chance none of them would ever return. Two people watched them leave - one from the main gates of the Castle, and one from the edge of the forest a few feet away from where they had been moments earlier.

Both were left with the hope that they were doing the right thing by keeping quiet and letting children head to war before their time should have come. Talisien turned from the edge of the forest and walked into it's depths, hoping for a chance to ease his unusually shaken nerves, while Severus Snape turned back to the castle and pushed the doors open, thinking he probably should have made the sleeping potion last for the full 24 hours so he wouldn't have to think about what was to be happening on nearly the other side of the country later that day.

------------------------

Once leaving the wards of Hogwarts, Harry directed everyone to descend once more so disillusionment charms could be activated. From there, the flight was a silent one with two breaks part way through for heating charms and quick bites to eat - the thestrals didn't seem to need either food or water, though. Harry remained stoically silent to everyone on these stops, though they could all see him checking his pockets again and again, as though worried that he might lose something.

Kailyn had brought a small pack that was strapped to her side, and it was filled with odd wafers. A single small wafer seemed to be enough to fill anyone's stomach easily, and during both stops no one asked for any more. At the second and final stop, she removed the pack and left it on the ground where they landed - they needed nothing extra that could get in the way.

To say Harry was silent for the entire journey would be wrong, however. He spoke with Hermione almost constantly while they were in the air, both to help relieve some of her fears of flying in the first place as well as to reassure himself as to what they were doing.

The final stop was just outside the range of the protective wards surrounding Malfoy Manor. Night was starting to fall, and the nearly full moon made seeing in the darkness relatively easy. Although they hadn't gotten a chance to actually look at the Manor, Harry figured that that was probably just as well - he knew what it looked like, and how different it was from what they were expecting, and if the others had seen it, it would have only caused for confusion.

Almost as soon as they dismounted and Harry had thanked the thestrals, they took off into the night once more, returning to the north. The small group of students from Hogwarts could hear the crashing of waves, telling them that they were near a shoreline, though they couldn't actually see it.

The nerves had been building all day, but there was no turning back now. Harry motioned to Neville, Dean, and Ginny, and they all were at his side instantly. "Everyone know what to do?" he asked in a whisper, despite the fact that they were completely and utterly alone. Three separate nods reassured him again. "Good. Good luck, Neville. I expect to hear a whole pile about plants I've never heard of when we get back to the castle, alright?"

"Sure thing," Neville said solemnly, reading that comment for what it was - a request to come back safely.

"Dean? We need conversation aside from Quidditch in our dorm, and football's enough to catch our interests, you know..."

"Hogwarts really needs more sports than just Quidditch, doesn't it?" Dean replied with a small grin. He, too, could read Harry's words clearly. Being a leader of a group was no easy task, and he knew it.

"And Ginny?" Harry said, a grin playing at his own lips now as he looked to her. "There's no way I'm going to rescue your brother, only to lose you, is there?"

"You got that right!" she said proudly. "Besides, I don't want my other brothers to have to come after you, now do I?" She paused for a moment, and then actually stepped forward to hug Harry. "You come back too, hear?"

"Sure, Gin," Harry said with a deep breath as the four broke up. He returned to Hermione's side and gave her a large hug and a quick kiss. Seeing a few of the other couples doing likewise, he turned back to Hermione.

"Don't bother," she whispered before he could even open his mouth. "Don't even bother trying to tell me not to worry..."

"I wasn't going to!" Harry said honestly. "Actually, I was going to ask that you not stop worrying," he explained. She looked confused for a second before remembering their conversation quite from quite some time ago.

"I love you, Harry," she said softly.

"I know," he said, taking a deep breath and holding her to his side with one arm. "Trust me - it's been what's kept me going for quite some time now," he added. Dean, Cho, Susan, and Parvati walked up to him and nodded solemnly, and he looked to the others. "Good luck, everyone."

The six of them watched as Neville's group and Ginny's group disappeared into the night as they started towards Malfoy Manor first. No words were shared amongst the six as they waited a few minutes before starting to follow on their own, as well. Six wands were pulled out almost simultaneously, and Harry looked to Hermione once more before looking forward again at the sudden outcry of noise from ahead.

It had begun.

---------------------

"There's the main walk we have to avoid," Lavender whispered to Neville as they crept along the edge of the tree line, the large black Manor now in sight. It looked ever bit as impressive as they had suspected it would, and they could see two guards on the roof pacing back and forth, watching the skies. It had been a good thing they hadn't tried to get a look at the place first.

"Yeah," Neville whispered back. Julia and Terry had deactivated the severing wards just seconds earlier, but there was no time to rest. He then lifted a finger and pointed to the opposite side of the walk, and then motioned to Terry, Julia, Lavender, and Denis.

"Got it," Terry whispered back.

"Are you sure you'll be alright on your own?" Lavender said in a hushed voice. "We have no idea what's by the main gates yet!"

"Trust me," Neville said firmly, thinking of his alternate form. "I'll be fine. But it's you four who're going to give me the support to get clear again, okay?" When she nodded, he looked back to the other three.

Denis braced himself against Julia as Terry knelt down to pick him up by the waist. A moment later found the young boy being thrown through the air to land on the other side of the wide marble walkway. He scampered over to the tree line on that side quickly, and a moment later found Julia floating through the air from a levitation spell cast from Denis's side. It was always easier and more stable to bring a target to you rather than away from you, after all.

Once Neville was on his own on the one side, they all started forward again. The already impressively sized Manor only seemed to swell as they got closer. It was easily five or six stories high on the outside, and with the strength of inner-expanding charms, could easily be two or three times that on the inside, too. There were almost no Death Eaters to speak of outside at all, but the cool chill that was suddenly biting at the air told them that it was still protected by powerful creatures nonetheless.

Neville tapped his wand to the back of his hand, and the other four felt the resonance of it through their own hands, telling them to stop. The main gates were clear now, and so were the guards. It wasn't just dementors - that would have been too easy, Neville figured. No, aside from the large dementor (larger than any he remembered seeing a few years back, anyway), were two large mountain trolls, complete with massive clubs.

If that dementor manages to get away, then we're in trouble, Neville thought to himself. It'll just bring more, and we'll be out numbered by dementors before we know what's going on...

Noise and distractions were one thing, but bringing an army of dementors on site was a little more than he had been hoping for. And a Patronus would always chase off a dementor... Wait...

Pointing over to the bushes where he knew the others were, he concentrated hard on Lavender. "Accio Lavender," he whispered, hoping the summoning spell would bring her fast enough that she wouldn't be seen. He also hoped she would feel where the pull was coming from, and know not to cry out.

She landed on top of him a split second later, sending them both careening to the ground in a tangle. They said nothing as they helped each other up from the ground, and then Neville tapped the back of his hand once as he motioned forward to the guards.

Lavender nodded and pointed her wand towards the soul-sucking creature. She waited until she felt Neville tap the back of his hand for a third time before letting loose the powerful silver apparition - a large rabbit in her case - and sending it straight at the dementor.

The effect was immediate with a loud squealing outcry from somewhere inside the dementor as it turned to flee in the opposite direction. However, as it did so, Terry Boot's own Patronus - a large raccoon, of all things - blocked its path.

Without waiting to see the outcome of the battling Patronuses and the dementor, Neville leapt towards the mountain trolls. He started to change before his front foot had even landed on the ground during his rush, and by the time he had fully emerged from the darkness, he had become completely animal.

The large dog bear was almost half the height of the mountain trolls - which themselves stood well over ten feet tall - but that was only his size to the shoulders. Throwing his weight into the attack, Neville, as Prince, slammed hard into the first troll before it even had time to lift it's club into the air. The almighty crash as both careened into the main wooden doors echoed through the night.

All bets were off instantly as Prince landed on all fours on the ground again, only to push off at once to attack the fallen mountain troll. As he bit deep into the neck of the creature, he was torn off by the other one and thrown down the walkway. With a slight whimper, he pulled himself back to his four feet and shot to one side to get off the marble under foot, only to attack the other troll from the side a moment later.

The first troll lifted a hand slowly to its neck and pulled it back, revealing it covered in green slime. Not entirely sure what that meant, apparently, it hauled itself to it's feet in time to take the brunt of the crash from both Prince and the other troll falling into it. This time, the first troll's head caught of the stone and split open on impact, even as Prince landed on the same ground, only to find no traction on the ground anymore and fall to his side.

It was that very act that saved him, though, as the second mountain troll had just lifted his club to smash it down into the ground where the dog bear would have been, had he stayed upright. Instead, the large stone club connected with the chest of the fallen troll with a sickening crunch. Before he had a chance to pull the club back again for a second attempt, Prince had pulled back into himself to become Neville again. He pulled out his wand quickly and pointed it straight up at the wound he had inflicted on the chest of the troll.

Although trolls were even more resistant to spells than giants - a fact made up with lack of brain power - a simple cut was enough to open the floodgate on even the simplest of spells' effectiveness. "Petrificus totalus!" The mountain troll's arms snapped to his side so fast a crack was heard as a bone broken under the strain, and then it toppled over backwards, unable to move at all.

Neville stood gingerly, not wanting to slip of the leaking remains of the first troll, and shook his head to regain his senses the rest of the way. He nodded his thanks to Julia as she cast a Scourgify on his clothes, wiping the last of the remains off him before looking to the others.

"I don't know how you did that, but it was pretty wicked," Denis said with a grin.

"What happened to the dementor?"

"Oddest thing," Terry replied. "Once Denis added his - a hawk, thankfully, as it cut off the flying escape route - all three corner it, and it sort of... well, I'd be tempted to say it died, but I didn't think it was possible. Julia checked it out once we sent away the Patronuses, but there's nothing there."

"Deal with it later, then," Neville said, feeling a bit light headed suddenly. "Is troll blood poisonous?"

"Not violently so," Lavender replied, lifting her wand up to point it at Neville. "But it'll make you sick for a day or so if I don't clean it out. Vagnasum," she added softly. A light, gentle green flowed from her wand and coated Neville's throat for a moment before he turned and spat on the ground as a vile taste came to his mouth. When he turned back, Lavender was handing him a small bottle of water. "That should clear out the taste," she suggested.

Once he had gargled bit of a the water and spat it out, too, he handed the half full bottle back to Lavender. "Thanks," he said, turning back to look at the gates. "Now let's do this right," he said softly, looking up to the still sealed gates. They were expected to cause a distraction - while surely they had already done so to quite a large degree, it had to be a total route of enemy forces, to leave the path clear for everyone else. Pointing his wand firmly at the gates, Neville took a deep breath before uttering the only spell he could think of strong enough to blow them apart at the hinges. "Kotes!"

------------------------------

Ginny, Colin, Padma, and Kailyn had made it a bit ahead of Neville's group, and were crouching next to a door at the side of the Manor. There was an open window some fifteen feet above them, but otherwise nothing that could do them any good. The side of the Manor didn't look much more inviting than the front, either, but there was nothing to decidedly say that it was the hideout for the most powerful dark wizard in the world.

Well, there were no signs that read as such, but it was fairly obvious otherwise. Although none of them actually voiced the question, they were all more than a little curious about the fact that no one had thought to look here just yet.

Ginny, as leader of her group, felt the taps from Neville's wand on her palm, telling her that he was getting his own group into position to strike. There was nothing from either Harry or Dean's group, but she figured they'd be a few minutes anyway, since hers was supposed to be the first inside, with the others following on the other side a few minutes later.

"Alohomora," she whispered, pointing at the oddly intricate looking lock. There was a bit of a rattling sound, but otherwise, nothing happened. She looked to the others with a questioning glance. "Any ideas, then?"

Colin waved his wand over the lock and whispered the same spell before looking back to her. "Yeah," he said easily. "It's been charmed to not react to any magic at all."

"Meaning what?"

"We need the key, or it won't open."

"What about opening it from the inside?" Padma suggested. "Would that work?"

"Most doors aren't locked from both sides," Colin said with a shrug. "I would have to assume it would open."

"So we have to get inside to unlock the door so we can get inside?" Kailyn asked. "They actually thought this through, didn't they?"

"No surprise there," Ginny pointed out. "What is strange is that this door is essentially muggle now, and Voldemort and the Death Eaters hate anything to do with muggles, remember?"

"Dark Lord's aren't restrained from not using what they don't like," Kailyn explained. "They do whatever it takes to succeed, even if that means using the one thing they hate most." She then looked back to the door, and took a couple of steps back to look up to the window. "If we could get up there, we'd be able to open it, right?"

"No problem," Ginny said easily. Before any of them could question that bold statement, she pulled in on herself and leapt into the air. Her feet and legs seemed to follow much faster than should have been possible, but by the time they realised what that meant, she had already vanished, to be replaced with Gem. She chirped to them softly and then flew up to the window.

Perching on the ledge, she looked inside carefully before entering, just in case someone was watching. Thankfully, despite how high up it was, it was still the same floor as the entrance, but there was an extremely high ceiling in the hallway that extended until the bend up ahead. There was no evidence of anyone at all.

Just before she could fly inside, a resounding crash made her almost loose her balance, and she clasped the window ledge with her talons hard to keep from falling. A loud outcry from inside told her that Neville's group must be causing that distraction. Hoping that it would work and draw off anyone who might have been near the corridor, she flew down inside and changed back into herself, landing silently on the ground in a crouch.

She stayed there for a moment, breathing hard and listening carefully. Upon hearing nothing but the sound of her own breath, she stood again and turned the latch of the lock, opening the door.

The others came inside quickly, and Ginny shut the door again, locking it behind them. "We'll try to use this as the escape route," she suggested. "So we can't give them any indication that we even know about this path."

"Hold up," Colin said softly before she could turn to keep moving. "What was all that about?"

"What?"

"The bird, Gin," Colin pointed out. "When did you learn how to do that? How?"

"Long story, Colin," she replied easily. "And now's not the best time to tell it. The night's quiet and we're in too much of a hurry to stop for a friendly chat!"

"I could solve that quiet night problem," Kailyn pointed out. "Actually, that might cause some confusion, too, right?"

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked in surprise. "Go outside and make noise?"

"No," Kailyn said, shaking the question off. "Of course not. But a good lightning storm would work, wouldn't it?"

"You can summon a lightning storm?"

"Well... there'll be rain, too," the half elf replied before turning to face the locked door again. She was spreading her arms silently before anyone could say otherwise or ask any other questions, and they knew it was too late. A spell with power to summon a storm should never be interrupted part way through. The side effects would be completely unknown and potentially fatal to both parties.

Kailyn was muttering under her breath, so no one could actually make out the words she was saying until she finally looked up again. By this time, several minutes had past and the main gates had been shaken at least once more, if not completely torn from their hinges, but none of Ginny's group really cared about that right then.

Finally, she opened her eyes and pointed both hands skyward. "Lessan tebarewe!" Lightning and clouds seemed to pour from her outstretched hands and shoot right through the window. Mere seconds later, claps of thunder were clearly heard, along with the splattering of rain drops against the window, and then Kailyn suddenly collapsed to all fours.

"Kailyn!" All three of the group crowded around her to try and help. It really wasn't a good thing that their healer suddenly seemed to be in trouble, and was having trouble breathing.

"I'll... be okay..." she gasped through struggling breath. "I just need... a minute to re... recover... that's all," she managed. "I've... never cast a spell... that strong..."

"And you figured you'd test it here and now?" Ginny asked incredulously. "Are you trying to get killed?"

"Do whatever it takes to succeed," Kailyn whispered as her breathing started to get under control again. "I'm not going to kill myself, but if something I can do can help, I'm going to do it..."

"You're completely mad," Padma said softly.

"We don't have time to wait here," Colin pointed out, looking down the hall with a bit of worry. "They could start searching at any minute, and if we want to use this route as an escape, we can't be caught sitting here waiting!"

"Right," Padma replied. She was actually taller than Colin by a few inches, and she looked to him for a minute before looking back to Kailyn. "I'll carry her." No one had a chance to argue before the tall Ravenclaw had bent over and scooped the half elf up into her arms and was starting down the hall again.

"Come on," Ginny suggested to the shocked Colin. "We've gotta find my brother still, remember?"

--------------------------

"Alright, looks like that door's been left open," Dean whispered in a hushed voice to Harry. The group of six had stopped behind the only safe bush that surrounded the massive Malfoy Manor, and both leaders of the groups were looking ahead at the large black building. "Should we make a break for it?"

"No better time, is there?" Harry pointed out. "Neville and his group have already started... anyone who's going to investigate will have already left." He then nodded to Hermione and held out a hand to help her up off the ground where she had sat down with the others.

"You know your first objective, right?" Hermione whispered to Dean. He nodded, and looked behind them from where they had come at an inhuman shriek. "Let's get going!"

Four identical black cloaks moved in the darkness, led by two dark green ones. Harry and Hermione both had their hoods up, but the others had them down so they could see better - they weren't used to wearing cloaks full time by any means.

The first clap of thunder overhead caught them all off guard, and they rushed inside and closed the door quickly behind them as the rain started, trying their best to avoid getting wet so as not to leave footprints. No sense leaving a trail to be followed, after all.

"Wonder where that storm came from," Cho said, shaking her black hair out once she had the door closed. "It was a clear night earlier."

"No time to worry about that," Parvati hissed, pointing her wand beyond the others. "Stupefy!" The red jet shot forth from her wand and struck a tall man dressed in black with a white mask just as he was about to pull his wand out to attack them. He went down like a sack of bricks, and his four comrades immediately pulled their wands to return volley.

"Protego!" Harry said in a loud, determined voice as he stepped in front of everyone else. His wand flicked upwards in a curved arc, and he held it pointing steadily towards the four Death Eaters approaching their position as three stunners and four full body binds careened towards them.

Parvati and Susan both stepped forward the moment the lights shot off away from them, and Hermione stepped out from behind Harry, where she had ended up after he had stepped forth to protect everyone. She knew it had been deliberate - he had done the same thing countless times in DA practice, and there was really no stopping it right then, either.

"Expelliarmus!"

"Stupefy!"

"Stupefy!"

Harry dropped the shield in an instant to add his own stunner attack as he waved a hand behind him. The message was clear to Dean and Cho - find them a way out of their current mess, before it got a lot worse!

Harry's shield went up again almost instantly, seconded by a mere second by Hermione's as well. There was a random ricochet of spells as they bounced from side to side before crashing into the wall almost soundlessly.

"Lumos!" Dean shouted suddenly, lighting his wand to full intensity before hauling back and throwing it as hard as he could. The apparent ball of light flew forward and shot right through the Protego shields of the Death Eaters, striking the closest one on the forehead. It had little effect - it was more for distraction than anything - but it was enough. "Accio wand!"

"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted the word just as Dean's wand whizzed passed his ear. The wizard in front was blown backwards by the power of the spell, crashing into those behind him and knocking them all hard against the wall behind them.

"Stupefy!" The look of triumph was wiped from Harry's face suddenly as the red jet of light shot towards him from the wizard he had just knocked down. When the spell struck him, he was knocked backwards, but caught his footing before he fell. There was a lot of power behind the spell, but it apparently had little effect otherwise, as he kept his consciousness.

Apparently, he managed to catch the four Death Eaters just as off guard by such an act. Rather than attack directly, though, he pointed his wand at the high ceiling. "Kotes!" he shouted. A burst of white shot from his wand so fast it was nearly impossible to see as it vanished high above them. A loud rumbling told of the spell's effectiveness, however, and Harry motioned to everyone to run quickly before it was too late.

Harry vaulted over the four Death Eaters quickly, and paused as he waited for the others to pass him. Hermione was next, followed by Dean and Cho at the same time. Before Parvati or Susan could start, one of the fallen wizards groaned and started to get up.

"Punctum!" Harry said deftly. It was a simple Stinging Hex, but it caught the Death Eater in the back of the neck with a pain sharp enough to render him unconscious again. He nodded to both girls as they leapt over the four, and then they all turned to keep moving as the ceiling started down behind them.

Harry arrived at a point further down the path where Dean had halted the group. They had stunned an unaware Death Eater, and were trying to figure out what to do with him. Wordlessly, Parvati pulled out a simple spool of thread and started wrapping it quickly around the man. Once the full spool had been used, she pointed her wand at him and muttered something under her breath.

Instantly, the thread doubled and then tripled in thickness, nearly hiding the man beneath the now heavy cords binding him in place. "A simple transfiguration," Hermione said with a smile, nodding to her roommate. "Nice."

"Sometimes the easiest way works best," she replied.

"We'll go left," Dean offered, pointing to the fork in the hallway. "You guys check out right."

"You remember the call to get out?" Harry asked softly.

"Five pulses in the back of the hand, yeah," he replied. "We'll all feel it." Harry nodded and then stepped to the side as the four from Dean's team went quickly and quietly on their way.

"Looks like it's just you and me now," Hermione whispered to him.

*Yeah,* Harry hissed back, switching instinctively to the language that no one else would be able to understand. *Let's get going.*

The two moved in practically complete silence, able to thanks to the intense training they had received from both Talisien and Kailyn. Although not to either of their teachers' abilities, they were a lot better than they could have been otherwise.

*How big do you suppose the inside of this place really is?* Harry purred when they stopped to check around a corner before going on. So far, the place had been surprisingly empty, with not even a table or painting in any of the halls. *It feels like we've been in this one hallway forever already...*

*Voldemort sure likes his space, doesn't he?* Hermione purred back, a small grin on her face as she tried to relieve some of the tension they were both feeling. *What wand are you using right now?*

*My normal one,* he explained easily. *I'm more used to it for now.* He suddenly held up a hand suddenly, and she stopped instantly. He was looking for complete silence, so he could listen carefully, and she knew it. She wasn't sure if he was trying to hear heliopath again, as she now knew he had while they were talking to Ron, or if it was something else entirely...

"Come on!" Harry said in a normal voice, motioning them forward as he started out in a run, disregarding the noise he was making suddenly.

"What's going on?" she asked, listening carefully herself. With sharper hearing than he had, she could easily hear the sounds of several duels going on somewhere ahead of them, but not being completely used to the added bonus made it harder to judge the distance right then and there.

They came to a full stop as their corridor suddenly ended, opening up to a massive centre chamber. Along the edges of the chamber were three other paths, all of which had people in them already. Directly across from them was Ginny's group, and Neville's was standing in the corridor to the left.

To the right, however, was a slew of Death Eaters, and it looked like half of them were going to guard that passage while the rest emerged to deal with the two groups who had been there earlier.

"I've always thought your parents would be happier with their son beside them!" Harry pulled Hermione back into the shadows as the lead Death Eater stalked forward, even as Neville emerged from his passage on his own, as well. The Death Eater was walking with one arm hanging limply at her side, and Harry recalled Talisien's words suddenly - he had clipped her in the arm, but had been unable to kill her before she had vanished. Both the words he heard and that evidence screamed at him the identity of that Death Eater.

Hermione caught his arm before he could move forward to engage her as well. *We've got to worry about getting past them!* she hissed, motioning to the blocked corridor. *Let Neville get his revenge against her first!*

"Crucio!" Bellatrix LeStrange's high, harsh voice echoed in the large chamber, and Neville crumpled to the ground with a scream, halting all other thought processes. The Death Eaters at one side and the DA at the other, all staring in apparent shock at the two duelists in the centre of the chamber.

"Scutulatus contego separo!" Kailyn cried as she darted out from behind Ginny and into the main room. The silvery mirror-like shield shot out in front of her, and then twisted and flew across the room to end up in front of the writhing, screaming Neville with a loud crash.

LeStrange cut her spell off in surprise at seeing such a thing in front of her, and Neville pulled himself to all fours as he tried to regain control of his breathing. His heart was racing and the terrible pain was still recent in his mind... but he knew he didn't have a chance to just lie there and recover, either.

Behind the safety of the shield Kailyn had thrown at him - and he was vaguely aware of the fact that others had no joined in the fray, both Death Eaters and DA members - Neville focussed his thoughts inward once more. Surely she'd taste better than trolls, right?

With a near inhumane roar, Prince bound forward, knocking the semi-permanent shield out of existence as he leapt at his enemy. The large dog bear's sudden appearance seemed to be cause for concern as most of those left to guard the corridor emerged to help.

From the safety of not being seen just yet, Harry knelt down to the ground and touched his wand to the back of his hand, pointing an arrow in the direction of their destination. Across the way, he could see both Ginny in the middle of a duel with a Death Eater and Colin at her back start slightly before firing a powerful stunner to end it.

Pulling at Hermione's hand to tell her of the plan as well, both members of the duo team shot out of hiding at the same time towards the goal. Using modified Protego shielding charms - thanks to Snape once more - they made it without interception far enough down the corridor for the noise of the battle to start to fade.

Harry then paused for a moment and looked behind him. Hermione was right next to him still, pressed up against the wall with him, partially behind a large statue of a rather ugly old wizard. Across the darkened corridor were Ginny, Colin, Terry, and Julia, all pressed into a small alcove which made it easy to stay out of sight.

Harry's heart was starting to sound very loud in his ears as the crash of thunder echoes from somewhere outside. He looked back to Hermione slowly, and then at the ugly wizard statue, and then back to Hermione again. *We'll check to the right, and Terry and Julia can check left,* she hissed to him.

Harry immediately spun around, his wand out. "Stupefy!" he said clearly, sending a stunner at one of the Death Eaters who had followed them.

"Go!" Ginny shouted as she and Colin leapt out from the alcove. "We'll hold them off here!" Harry saw Terry and Julia dart down a passage to the left up ahead, and ran after Hermione as she went to the right.

He passed her in the hall as he practically flew forward. He stopped at the first door they came across, not bothering to even look further before kicking at the knob. The brass bent at the impact, and a second kick ripped it off it's placing, letting the door open.

"Ron!" he practically shouted the name, even though some part of his mind told him that there was no question about finding them right where they had. He rushed across the room as his best friend looked up in surprise.

"Harry?" Ron's voice was hoarse and even it sounded sore. He was tied to the wall, with both his feet and hands bound as well, and had several large bruises on his face. One of his arms was twisted at a terrible angle, but the worse part of him was his skin - it had taken on a pale green tinge, making him look even worse off than he probably was, which was really saying something. "Her... mione?" He didn't seem to believe his own eyes, and struggled to sit up.

"Yeah, we're here Ron," Harry reassured their friend. "Mione, can you help him any?" he asked quietly, looking over to her. She was in the other corner of the room where he knew Luna would be, and didn't look up at his words.

"Go..." Ron managed. "Help her first..."

"We're going to get you both out, Ron," Harry promised as he rushed over to Hermione and Luna. He had to bite back the sudden overwhelming urge to spew as he knelt next to his girlfriend, whose hands were currently glowing white as they hovered over the unconscious form of Luna Lovegood.

He had always suspected that they wouldn't be in good shape upon their rescue - he'd have been suspicious of what Voldemort had been planning if they had been. He just hadn't been quite expecting this, especially given Ron's condition.

Luna's robes weren't anywhere in sight, and it was easy to count every rib she had without question. She had never been a large girl, but Harry had the distinct impression that Hermione as Willow would weigh more than her. She had long red welts up and down her back, and both her legs were, without a doubt, broken badly. From the laboured sound of her breath, either the poison was getting really bad or she had at least one broken rib as well, if not more. Where Ron's skin had been a pale green, Luna's was even moreso, and much more noticeable next to the dirty blonde hair, too. Speaking of hair, though, there was very little of it left in her head - there were great strands of it on the ground around her.

"Harry!" Harry managed to pull his eyes off Luna with more than a little difficult at the insistence in Hermione's voice. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," he said tersely. Even in my dream months ago, she wasn't this bad... "What can I do to help?"

"I was trying to tell you earlier," Hermione said, obviously still concerned about him, but knowing there were more important things at hand. "I don't think I can heal this, Harry." She was whispering, as though she didn't want Ron to hear what she was saying, but the desperate tone in her voice was impossible to miss. "I think she's..."

"No," Harry said, cutting her off as he fished into his pockets. "No, she's not going to die on us now," he said firmly. "Not after going through so much." He held out a red vial to Hermione. "This is the Draught of Stability..."

Without waiting for any other words, Hermione snatched the offering from his outstretched hands and pulled the stopper out of the end. She let three drops fall into Luna's open mouth, and then moved the vial away and continued to pour, letting it drip over the top of the unconscious girl's head and then down to the neck, stopping finally with the last three drops in the vial over her heart.

The effect was almost faster than the application of the potion. Before the glass vial had even shattered against the stone wall as Hermione tossed it aside, Luna's legs pulled themselves straight and her arms snapped to her side as total rigidness enveloped her small frame from head to toe.

"Locomotar Luna," Hermione muttered, pointing her wand at the girl and lifting her off the ground. "How's Ron?"

"He insisted we treat Luna first," Harry replied.

Harry waited as Hermione fussed over Ron for a moment, arguing with him briefly before she simply stopped telling him what she could and could not do for either of them and just started treating him the best she could. It was decidedly eerie to watch a body float behind someone as though it was simply meant to be there, but he wisely said nothing.

"Let's get going," she said softly as she stood up. Harry helped Ron to his feet and pulled on of his friend's arms over around his neck to give him support to walk. "We've still got to get out of here for any of us to `be fine,'" she whispered as they made their way slowly to the door.

Outside the room, Harry touched his wand to his hand four times in quick succession, and the sound of running footsteps was heard instantly. "You found them?" Terry asked, despite being able to see them. He held an arm out to support Ron from the other side. "Our passage just had a set of stairs at the end, and before we had a chance to start down, you called us back."

"Just as well," Julia added, taking over the spell for Hermione, effectively relieving both of the two DA members. "You alright, Ron?"

"Best I can be all told," Ron managed in a weak voice. "Luna had it worse than me. Are you sure you guys are actually here?"

"She's taken a potion to keep her as is until we can get out," Hermione explained quickly as Ginny and Colin joined them.

The loud sound of spells being fired off down the corridor they had originally come told them of the dueling still continuing. A tremendous roar suddenly shook everything to silence, followed by the sound of people running quickly.

"You found them?" Neville called, firing a stunner over his shoulder. One of his own arms was hanging limply now, but even as they moved, Lavender appeared to be working on fixing that problem.

"I'll take my brother," Ginny said firmly to Terry, looking carefully to Ron. "I wasn't sure if I'd ever see you again," she whispered to him.

"Makes three Weasleys Harry's saved now," Ron hissed through clenched teeth.

"Don't talk for now," Ginny said, tears running down her cheeks. "Even though I really want to hear your voice, and prayed for weeks just to hear you annoy me, don't talk just yet... we'll get you out of here."

"Where's Kailyn?" Harry asked, noticing that everyone else had gathered in the dark corridor by the ugly wizard. Dean, Lavender, and Hermione all had Protegos up to protect the group as they figured out their next move.

"She disappeared in the middle of the fighting out there," Denis offered quickly. "We don't know where she went."

Harry closed his eyes, trying to shake the sense of impending dread that seemed to be building on his shoulders. "Alright, we've got to hope she's on her way out now," he said. "Neville, I need you and Ginny's team to get out of here with Ron and Luna."

"What about the rest of you?" he asked. "We're going to have a hard enough time getting out once - you guys are going to be facing a blockade!"

"We've got no choice!" Harry insisted. "Get down to the shoreline and wait for us there," he urged. "We've got a crystal to destroy if we want to rescue them properly!"

Neville held Harry's eyes for a moment before nodding and backing down. "Let's go," he said firmly, motioning to Ginny as well. "I'll provide the distraction again, everyone else bolt down the way Ginny's group came."

"Hermione! Dean!" Harry called firmly. Both shields dropped in an instant as they pulled back and followed Harry as he started to run down the passage Terry and Julia had started down earlier. "Get out while you still can! We'll meet you down there!" he called after those left behind.

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Dean and Harry were in the front of the group as they raced down the stairs at such reckless speeds that, were they are Hogwarts, they'd have been given a week's detention for sure. The door at the very bottom swung open before they could reach it, but neither stopped at the sight of three more Death Eaters waiting for them.

Bowling them down, Dean spun around and threw the sap bomb he had been given earlier. It struck true target as it erupted with the overpowering spell of tree sap, coating all three Death Eaters even as the rest of the group appeared in the doorway.

"Scourgify!" Hermione shouted from behind them before they could even try the spell themselves. The sap hardened almost instantly to near rock, coating all three of them in the clear solid. It was obvious that they somehow had air to breath and were still conscious, but they were completely unable to escape at the same time.

"Nice timing, Mione," Harry said with a grin as he stood up from where he had landed after the crash.

"You two were just lucky beyond words!" Parvati said before Hermione could reply. "Are you trying to get killed?"

"We've run out of time," Dean snapped back. "And if we want to get out at all, we're going to have to use some of our luck now!"

"There'll be time to argue later," Cho urged, pointing her wand at a nearby statue, animating it to leap into the path of an oncoming disarming spell. The stone blew apart as it was struck, only to have Susan send a stunner through the dust, sending their assailant to the ground in a heap.

"Stunners aren't enough!" Dean said harshly, pointing his own wand at the Death Eater. "We learned that upstairs, remember?" A loud crack echoed up and down the hall as he muttered a simple Reducto spell, with only enough power to break both the man's arms before turning to continue.

I don't know if I should be pleased or not, Harry thought to himself as they walked over their fallen enemy. On the one hand, he's doing just as I asked... but he doesn't seem to care about it, either. Am I just making them all into brutal warriors?

*We're all doing what we have to do to get out alive,* Hermione purred from next to him, as though sensing his concern without him having to actually voice it. *Nothing more.*

*Thanks,* he purred back, bringing his mind back to the task at hand.

Harry pushed open the set of double doors at the end of the corridor slowly, and looked up and down them. There was a sealed door right in front of them, as well as a passage down either side.

"This place is just mad," Susan said softly. "It's nothing like the blueprints, and there doesn't seem to be rhyme or reason to it! The place is emptier than a crypt, too!"

"There doesn't have to be any sense, though," Harry replied. Unlocking the door in front of them with the usual spell, he pushed it open too, only to suddenly bathe the corridor in a soft, pale blue light. He kicked the door open the rest of the way, revealing a small pedestal in the middle of the room with the glowing crystal they were looking for perched atop it.

"Great!" Dean said enthusiastically. "Parvati, if you would," he suggested, calling on his team member with the most skill in curses.

"Reducto!" she said sharply, pointing her wand at the crystal even as Hermione tried to stop her. The spell doubled back almost instantly, and it was only thanks to Harry's seeker reflexes - reflexes that had only been honed sharper by training of several different kinds - that he managed to push her aside and get out of the way of the blast himself.

Turning to follow the path of the beam, they saw it blow apart the double doors they had just come through before fading out. "Hermione?" Cho said her name calmly, though was obviously wanting an explanation.

"Normal spells can't break it," Hermione explained. "No spell that they knew of could, either," she added.

"What?" Harry asked in surprise. "When were you planning on mentioning that?"

She met his furious gaze easily enough, and he felt his anger being pulled out of him despite himself. "Your dagger should do the trick easily enough, Harry," she said calmly. "There's no worry or reason to mention it before, because you were always the one we had planned to destroy it, remember?"

Harry didn't answer her as he returned his wand to its place on his magical belt and drew his dagger. Stepping into the glowing room, he paused for a moment as he heard voices start to speak all around him. He couldn't understand what they were saying at all - which was really strange, considering his lyra abilities - but he knew what they were trying to do. They were calling to him, trying to entice him to the crystal with a pull so strong that he barely understood anything else for a moment before remembering what he held in his hand.

With that thought, the Oakrium glowed a soft white in the otherwise blue room and he took another step forward, lifting it up slowly. The voices were getting more frantic now, and he knew that they weren't directly affecting his mind, which made it even harder for him to protect himself. The closer he got to destroying the Crystal of Guidance, however, the more scared the voices sounded. Finally, one came through his senses loud and clear.

"Please... end it now..."

He drove the dagger home hard, point cracking through the orb in front of him as though it wasn't even there. It split in two slowly, and he twisted the buried dagger to crack it open fully. There was a scream of power and energy, and then the blue suddenly began to fade before a wave of... something flattened Harry against the ground after knocking him off his feet.

He found he couldn't move for a minute or two before he noticed other sounds. Sounds of rock and wood cracking, and terrified screams from above. He hauled himself to his feet with tremendous effort and sheathed his dagger again to help the others back to their feet as the ceiling started to crumble above them.

"Harry!" The entire group whipped around almost as one at the sound of his name being called, wands drawn once more. "It's Kailyn! Harry!"

The railing to the stairs shook suddenly and collapsed with a crash behind them. Harry looked to Dean and nodded firmly. His roommate hesitated for a second before nodding as well, and then motioned to the rest of his team to follow him. They ran up the stairs as fast as they could, leaving Harry and Hermione at the bottom of the Manor as it was apparently starting to collapse.

"Come on," Hermione said, running in the direction that Kailyn's voice had come from. "Let's find out what she's doing down here."

"Funny, aren't you usually the one who tries to analyse the situation first?" Harry asked as he ran alongside her. "I'm the impulsive one, remember?" She smiled and stuck her tongue out at him as they rounded the bend and stopped just before running into the half elf.

"I can't think of anything else to try!" Kailyn sounded completely exasperated as she turned and started back the way she had come, ignoring the falling plaster and wood chips that had settled in her hair already.

"What are you trying to do?" Harry asked, thoroughly confused by her behaviour by now. First running off in the middle of a duel, and now...

"Harry..." He turned to Hermione quickly at the hesitant sound in her voice, and saw her looking into the room Kailyn had just stopped by. He turned and saw a small bedroom with a pink, silver, and black colour combination, and a line of stuffed animals along the top on shelves. There was a large four poster bed with silk curtains, but that really wasn't what caught Harry's eye. Nor was it the animals falling from the shelves as the whole house seemed to shake thanks to having the foundation rocked by the destruction of the crystal.

It was the young girl sitting on the edge of the bed, rocking back and forth. She couldn't have been older than ten, if even that, and she was clutching a worn stuffed rabbit tightly in her arms, muttering to herself.

"Who is that?" Harry asked.

"She won't say," Kailyn replied. "She won't answer anything I ask, and she won't leave now. All she keeps saying is that she's safe in that room, and isn't allowed to leave."

"She's not safe in there anymore!" Hermione pointed out. When she tried to enter the room, however, something got in her way - some invisible force was keeping her from entering. "A shielding charm?"

"Best I could come up with," Kailyn offered. "But it won't hold if this whole house comes down on top of it. I tried to physically pull her from the room, but there's some charm in there that's making it impossible for me to try."

"So she really is safe in there?"

"From people," Harry said softly. "She's safe from people. Voldemort cast the spell to protect her in exchange for using the Malfoy house."

Both Kailyn and Hermione looked to Harry in surprise, but he shook his head. "No... no, that makes no sense. He wouldn't do anything to help his followers..." There was another pause, and he sighed. "The house won't stand this! If you don't come out, the room's going to come down, and you aren't safe from that!"

"Harry, what's going on?"

He shook his head, and nodded towards the girl. "Alright, fine..." he said slowly. "I'm going to cast a spell on the room, alright? It should keep the room together even with the house coming down... no, I don't know if she's alive or not, sorry." He pulled out the wand Hermione had given him, his time wolf wand, and pointed it at the ceiling of the room.

There was a soft pop as Kailyn's charm dissolved, and he muttered something under his breath. A second later, a shimmering bubble appeared to encase the room. "Bubble charm," Harry explained. "I figured that this wand seems to disrupt other things, so maybe it'll be enough to keep her safe."

"How were you talking to her?" Hermione asked, not understanding what had just happened. She jumped as part of the wall behind them started to give way, and turned with Kailyn and Harry towards the way they had entered the cellar in the first place.

"I'll explain it later," Harry promised, sheathing the wand at his side again. He was right about his wand - spells cast with it seemed to have odd effects at times that he didn't expect, and he had never had the chance to fully test it and be happy with it.

"It's time to get out of here!" Kailyn suggested, running and leaping over the pile of rubble at the base of the stairs. As she stepped onto the first one, however, it split beneath her foot, and she crashed through the next three.

"Kailyn!" Both Harry and Hermione rushed towards the unmoving girl, and turned her over gingerly. "Looks like a crack to the head and a good cut along the arm," Hermione said softly, putting a hand over the blood and concentrating.

"Don't push yourself too much healing," Harry suggested. "We still have to get out of here, remember that, okay?"

"I'm fine," Hermione said firmly, though she was breathing harder than he might have liked. "The blood loss has stopped, anyway," she added, wiping her hand on her robes and leaving a dark streak behind. Harry then stooped over and lifted the halfling girl up into his arms.

"Let's get going then," he said, skipping the first couple of steps and waiting for Hermione to follow before racing up again. Although she started out quite light, it wasn't long until she felt like a sack of bricks instead. Hermione was now in the lead and had her wand out blasting falling debris before it could get too close to hitting them, and so he forced himself onward.

Apparently Malfoy Manor had been abandoned by the Death Eaters, as they met no resistance as they burst through one of the crumbling walls after a powerful Reducto curse from Hermione knocked a hole in it. The storm overhead was still raging heavily, and a crack of lightning served to light up the now cloudy and dark sky. The shore was across a wide field, but neither let that stop them as they raced straight across it.

Harry collapsed to his knees upon reaching the rest of the group, and set Kailyn down next to Lavender and Neville. Shakily, he reached into his robes again and pulled out a small wooden box. "Alright, this is a teleportation stone," Harry explained.

"Less talk, more getting out of here!" Terry said loudly as several pops around them told of new arrivals.

"Make sure everyone's touching someone!" Harry replied as he dumped the dark blue stone out into Ron's hands. A glow immediately surrounded the group, but before it could activate, Dean suddenly cursed and pulled away from the rest of them, firing a stunner before running into the muddy field.

"Don't leave!" Harry shouted, only to watch as Cho raced after him.

"That's him!" she cried. "That's the one who killed him!"

"Bloody hell, I'm not leaving anyone behind!" Harry cursed, pulling away from the group as well to run after both of them. With a sudden whoosh of air, the members of the DA vanished into the night just as Hermione pulled away too.

"I've still got a portkey!" Harry said quickly as they started after Dean and Cho, dodging flying spells as they went. A quick round of stunners sent from both of them seemed to drop more people than they had expected, but both stopped and stared at the duel going on between Dean and another Death Eater.

A Death Eater with a silver hand.

"Reducto!" Dean's spell shot at Wormtail, who spun aside of the blast, letting it blow apart a boulder that had been behind him. "Expelliarmus!"

Again, Wormtail dodged the attack, and then pointed his wand forward in a jabbing motioning. "Doxer nifer!" A black smoke misted forward and surrounded Dean even as he tried to summon a shield that could protect against it.

"What... did you... do?" he struggled to speak as he collapsed to his knees, pulling at the collar of his robes with both hands as he dropped his wand into the mud at his feet.

"A simple weakening spell, mixed with a poisonous gas," Wormtail replied easily. "There's no escaping it now, mudblood."

It sounded odd in Harry's ears to hear someone other than Hermione called by such a term, even though it was fact. Dean was a muggle born.

"I'll... take you... with me!" Dean said fiercely as he fought with himself. He then abandoned his attempts and reached down for his wand.

"Avada Kedavra!" The green scream of energy erupted from Wormtail's wand struck Dean full in the chest, knocking him lifelessly backwards.

"No!" Harry shouted despite himself, and Wormtail turned to face him. "No!"

"A friend of yours, Harry?" Wormtail asked in an almost conversational tone. "No matter... you'll join him soon enough, don't worry." He then raised his wand towards Harry, only to be met with Harry bringing his up, too.

"You owe me your life, Peter Pettigrew!" Harry spat fiercely. "A wizarding debt that cannot be abandoned!"

"And you would kill me for it, would you Harry?" he asked, lowering his wand. "Your father wouldn't be very proud of that, would he?"

Harry took one step towards the Death Eater slowly, well aware that Hermione was right behind him, watching their backs as he watched their fronts. "I think my father would be proud of your death," Harry said in a harsh voice. "But I won't grant you a death today, Peter!" he added. "That would be far too easy for you!"

"No?" Wormtail asked, bringing his wand back up instantly. "Well, I offered my debt to you. There's no holding back now!"

"What about your debt to me, Wormtail?" All three of them turned quickly to find Cho standing in the muddy field, her wand raised and held steady on the Death Eater who had killed two of her boyfriends now. "What about my debt?"

"I owe you nothing!" he spat. "Avada Kedavra!"

"Kotes!"

The green and white energy shot past one another, neither wavering from their target. Harry had the time to take one small step towards his ex-girl friend and the Head Girl of Hogwarts before the energy stole the very life from within her, causing her body to collapse with a splat into the mud.

He had to bite back the bile in his throat a second time in the evening, however, when he turned to see what Cho's spell had managed to do to Pettigrew. She had never been able to pull it off in the DA before... trust her to get it right when it really counted.

When Harry cast it in the club, it easily turned bones to dust - a difficult procedure to repair, but a necessarily lesson for the healers nonetheless. However, he was always careful to only go for arms to keep the damage to a minimum. Cho was not so considerate of her opponent.

Wormtail had been struck fully in the chest by the powerful bludgeoning spell, and had taken the blast completely. It looked like he didn't have a torso at all - he was just a mess of blood and limbs. A crash of lightning overhead illuminated the scene in front of them to reveal what remained of his heart and lungs - all damaged beyond salvation, even if the rest of him had somehow survived. The red streaks against the brown and mirrored surfaces of water in the field painted a gruesome picture that Harry doubted would ever fade from his memory, no matter what happened.

He doubted it was a painless way to go, but it certainly was quick.

Hermione suddenly grabbed at his arm, and he looked down to her with a weary nod. His blood ran cold, however, as he looked around them. Wormtail - or rather, his remains, completely with obvious silver hand - was plastered to the ground. Cho and Dean were both dead, and they were surrounded by stunned Death Eaters.

Harry whirled quickly and fired off three stunners and two disarming spells into the darkness of the night, and was rewarded with a squelching sound of someone collapsing into the mud.

"Stay behind me," he whispered as he drew his dagger as well just as a soft clapping started from a distance. Both Harry and Hermione turned to the sound, and froze at the sight before them.

Red slits of power were clearly visible even from the distance, and only became more obvious the closer they got. Coupled with the rapid lightning now going off as Kailyn's magical storm was starting to draw to an end made it clear what was going on.

Walking through the mud - or rather, gliding just above it, strangely enough - was the one person they had hoped beyond anything else to avoid seeing that night. With red slit eyes like those of a snake and a pale, drawn face, there was no other that it could possibly be.

He was shrouded in a black cloak, as they had expected, and had black robes on underneath as well. His wand was held loosely in his right hand, and he lifted it slowly towards them. "So it comes to this, Potter," the Dark Lord said in his high, cold voice. "Just you and a mudblood against me and my most loyal followers."

Twin pops of apparations brought a brief moment of hope to Harry's heart before having it crushed again as he realised who had appeared - just as Voldemort had promised, unfortunately. Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix LeStrange, both in their Death Eater garbs minus the hoods, were flanking the Dark Lord.

Harry could clearly remember his dream now, the nightmare from before Christmas where Hermione was taken from him by those standing before him now. Despite this fear, though, he stood as firmly as he could, trying his best to keep her behind him. "No one calls `Mione a mudblood and gets away with it!" Although he was tempted to throw the Ancient line out that he had used before, he decided that he wanted real life to be decidedly different from the nightmare, so he held his tongue.

"Oh, ikle Potter's found a girlfriend!" the unmistakable insulting voice of Lestrange said from behind the Dark Lord. "Can I, my lord?"

"I believe Lucius has more of a say to her than you do," Harry said even as Voldemort turned to speak to his servants. The darkest wizard of their time turned back quickly and looked at Harry coldly again.

"You dare access thoughts from my mind?" Voldemort cried. "You dare speak my own words in front of me? Potter!"

"I will be leaving here today, too, along with the witch behind me. We will both live through this as we escape you yet another time... Tom."

*Are you trying to get him mad or something?* Hermione hissed from behind Harry, but he shook his head subtly to keep her from saying anything else.

Voldemort took one step forward, lifting his wand a bit higher as he did so. "So, Potter... think you've attained the power to face me in a real duel, have you? Calling me by that disgusting muggle name by father gave me? You must bow before me!"

Although Harry was sure he was supposed to feel some sort of urging to do just that, the dagger in his hand must have blocked it out entirely. "I think I'd rather not, actually."

"You defiant little halfblood!"

"Tisk tisk, Tom," Harry said, a sense of calm enveloping him that he in no way actually felt. "Calling me a term like that would make others believe you aren't the same. Half blood Tom... maybe people should start calling you that!"

"Impedimenta!"

"Protego!"

Although Harry put the shield spell up, the strength of the freezing curse was such that it tore right through his protection and froze him on the spot. "Now that Potter is unable to do otherwise..." Voldemort said slowly, looking to the two behind him. "Lucius... if you would..."

"With pleasure, my Lord," came the reply as the senior Malfoy strode past him. Hermione stepped out from behind Harry's still form to meet the advance firmly. "You have stood against me for the last time, girl!"

"Really?" Hermione asked, taking Harry's cues from earlier the best she could. Any time to stall, she realised, was more time for the Order to finally show up and get them out. "I stood against you before, did I? Honestly, it didn't make that big an impression on me..."

"Do not mock me, mudblood!" He stopped a few steps away from her and raised his wand menacingly. "I think the full power of what that fool Dolohov should have used on you before is in order... Shiec thrin!"

"Scutulatus contego!" Hermione replied instantly, sending her wand forward in a corkscrew motion. The silvery see through shield formed in front of her with a loud clang as the spell struck it, only to be banished immediately as she lowered it again. "Kotes!" It seemed to be the spell of the hour, in any case. The spell caught Malfoy senior in the left shoulder, sending him spinning backwards to land hard in the mud at Voldemort's feet.

"Enervate!" Voldemort shouted, pointing his wand to the sky above them. Hermione heard movement behind them instantly, and she turned to deal with it.

"Crucio!" Surprisingly, the spell didn't seem to have been aimed at her, but the sound of Harry screaming as it tore him free of the bindings of the Impedimenta wasn't much better.

"Stupefy!" she shouted, pointing at the Death Eater who was casting the spell, only to have him collapse instantly. His mask flew off his head, however, to reveal that this time, she had stunned Dolohov rather than just silenced him.

Hermione was suddenly struck by a banishing charm sent by Harry, knocking her out of the way of several bursts of green energy that would have killed her instantly.

"Can't win on your own, can you?" Harry shouted, whirling back to Voldemort and holding his wand and dagger firmly. "Have to call on your help to finish us of, do you, you sniveling coward!"

"If anyone asks, I'll lie," Voldemort replied with a sneer, pointing towards them both again. Harry turned to try and tackle Hermione to the ground, but knew it wouldn't be in time.

More than a dozen jets of green light shot towards her, screams of energy making it impossible to think, let alone dodge. Harry's voice left him entirely as he watched Hermione get struck several times before it was over, and she fell lifelessly to her back on the ground.

His knees buckled beneath him as he stared at her unmoving, dead form in disbelief, and he landed in the mud without even noticing. His mouth was hanging open and the rain coming down from above was getting in his eyes now that his hood had fallen backwards, but he didn't care.

How could he care about anything, anyone, when the only one worth it was gone?

His dagger fell with a plop into the thick mud at his feet, and he blinked almost in slow motion as his view of Hermione was temporarily obstructed when Malfoy bent down to retrieve the weapon with his right hand, his left being useless at the moment thanks to Hermione. He then passed it over to Voldemort for inspection.

Harry didn't react at all to the sudden, exploding pain in his right hand as his wand blew apart without any explanation. The phoenix feather core seemed to have little effect on staunching the loss of blood or the pain that he felt, but he didn't care.

He heard words being spoken, but didn't know what was being said. The rain drops were bouncing off Hermione's cooling cheeks, getting into her still open eyes... the deep, brown expressive eyes that he knew no longer held anything. He didn't know if there were tears running down his face or not... he couldn't bring himself to care either way.

He looked up slowly as Malfoy was standing in front of him again, the dagger back in his hand. "And now, you join the mudblood, Potter!" Harry started in surprise at the roar of pain as his own dagger was stabbed into the centre of his chest up to the hilt. Malfoy let go of it slowly, and Harry looked down as though inspecting the handiwork. Very little blood was escaping from the wound given how it hadn't moved at all from the deepest possible penetration, but the pain was unbearable.

"Mudblood?" he said in a harsh whisper, unable to manage anything greater than that. "You dare... mock her... even after death?" Harry had known anger before in his life - he had thought he had even understood rage at one point. He now knew otherwise, knew that this was the feeling erupting from deep within himself... he know understood just what rage felt like. He was dying, he knew it... but that didn't mean he couldn't take out the filth in front of him while he was at it.

He forced his legs into action, putting one foot squarely on the ground before pushing himself to his feet. The pain flooding through him only fueled his burning emotions, and as the dagger shifted with a ragged breath, he felt the blood starting to run down his bare chest inside his robes.

Harry didn't even think of reaching for his wand. Malfoy seemed surprised to see Harry standing, and starting towards him again, but Harry held up a hand that stopped him in his tracks. Green lightning was crackling to life all around him, jumping from his hands to the wound in his chest to his eyes and everywhere in between as he forced his emotions to take magical form.

"You will do nothing else, Potter!"

He heard the cry of Voldemort even through the rush of blood in his ears, even above the pain echoing through his entire being... pain from the dagger being minimal compared to the pain at Hermione's death. "Xitep ardkah!" Harry hissed out the words in the Ancient tongue, it being easier to speak that English suddenly. You will fall here.

A eruption that started from his eyes and rebounded from the wound in his chest and his outstretched hands blew from him, green lightning crackling with untapped power. To say it caught Malfoy in the chest would be most accurate, but after it tore through the pinpricked hole it first caused, it devoured him layer by layer - skin, muscles, bones, organs - until all that was left was a mess of missed blood and flesh.

The energy wasn't nearly finished there, however. It tore apart the Killing Curse that Voldemort had sent at Harry, leaving it as less than a scream before striking the raised wand of Voldemort. The holly and phoenix core erupted into green lightning as each were laced with the energy from Harry and the most feared wizard of all time cried out in pain as it grabbed hold of his arm and started devouring it, too.

With a loud pop, Voldemort vanished, leaving the green lightning with no outlet save the ground to tear into. By this stage, however, Harry was no longer watching it. He wasn't watching the disbelief of the Death Eaters around him, either, nor did he even notice the apparations of the members of the Order of the Phoenix.

Collapsing to all fours, he was completely aware that now he was crying. He crawled through the mud and muck - the remains of Malfoy mysteriously burning up at his presence - and managed to get over to Hermione despite the increased difficulty in breathing and the building pain that was crippling his entire body.

Once he had straddled her, he leaned down and watched as his blood dripped down the hilt of his dagger onto Hermione's stomach, her robes having moved aside as though welcoming the touch of the crimson life flowing from him. He then leaned down and kissed her cooling lips gently, closing his eyes so he wouldn't have to look into her dead ones as he did so. He felt his tears run along his nose and fall off to splash onto her own face.

`I'm sorry,' he mouthed to her, unable to find the strength to talk any longer. `I didn't want this... I can't stop it now. I didn't want you to die... not before I told you that...' He stumbled slightly and rolled off her, landing in the mud beside her. `Never... want you... to die...'

He fumbled for her dead hand, weaving his fingers with hers tightly as he closed his eyes to his own pain, it slowly becoming a distant memory for him as he thought about the time he had spent with the only girl ever worth it. "I love you..." He forced the words past his dying throat and out into the air. Even if she could no longer hear him, even though she could no longer reply to the words she had begged him to say... he knew it had to be said at least once before he closed his ocean green emerald eyes slowly and breathed out the only breath he had left in his entire body.

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Well, I figured I'd end this chapter with another brief Author's Note - I won't explain everything that I'm sure people will be curious about, but I wanted to touch of spells briefly.

Punctum - Harry uses this spell at one stage, and I called it the Stinging Hex. He used it before on Snape during his `Remedial Potions' class, but there was no incantation given with it. This is literally latin for `sting.'

Scutulatus Contego Separo - Kailyn uses this spell to first summon the shield that Talisien taught the advanced class, and then separate it from her to protect Neville with it. Fairly self explanitory, but I thought I'd mention it just in case.

Lessan Tebarewe: A spell that some might recognise from very early on in this story cast by Talisien... the catch being Kailyn's version of this involved a rather lengthy precursor, expanding the power and length of the spell itself. Rather than a concentrated lightning cloud like Talisien used, Kailyn summoned an entire storm. No wonder she was tired afterwards!

Shiec Thrin: Another old spell that did not have an incantation earlier - this is the purple flame spell Dolohov originally used against Hermione. Of course, this time she was prepared...

That's about it as far as that goes. On special note, however... there is a line in this chapter taken from an interesting series called Record of Lodoss War. It doesn't belong to me either (in otherwords, here's a disclaimer for it). Thanks.

Again, please don't be too upset about the ending of this chapter. The next chapter will be up as soon as I finish writing it and having it gone over for editting, too. Until then...

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Until the sun sets upon a broken world...
The Shadows

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