* * *
Harry slung the backpack into the open passenger door on the last car of the Hogwarts' Express as the train picked up speed. He and Hermione ran hand in hand through the steam cloud, very nearly too late to catch the train. They wove back and forth through the throng crowding the long platform, nearly losing each other and the train itself from time to time. They ducked past a waving family and closed in on the doorway as the train picked up speed. Harry dropped Hermione's hand, instead taking her waist in both hands and hoisting her into the doorway in one smooth move. Hermione squawked in protest, but caught the polished brass grip rail and managed to board without stumbling.
After a handful of running steps, Harry made an abortive jump toward the open doorway and missed as the train continued to pick up speed. He put his head down, and tried to run just a bit faster. It seemed like the train was mocking him, pulling the wrought iron platform and brass handrails just inches out of reach as he tried to close the distance.
"Harry," Hermione called out. "The wall!"
He looked up, and sure enough the brickwork of the station curved around to come within a handspan of the side of the train, completely blocking the boarding platform some fifteen yards ahead. And Harry was running headlong at it.
Harry's breath nearly left him and he tried not to think about how much he could use his broom, shrunken down and tucked away inside the backpack already aboard the train. He tried a little harder, digging deep for some more speed. He was nearly out of space before he slammed into the wall. With a tremendous effort, Harry leapt for the rear platform of the caboose.
He missed.
With a stomach-churning lurch, Harry jerked sideways, barely clearing the brick wall and shooting out over the tracks. He hung in midair, canted crazily sideways and hurling along behind the train. Harry looked up, into the white and wide-eyed face of his girlfriend. It took a moment before he realized she had her wand out, and from the look of sweaty concentration on her face, was holding him a foot off the rail line and some few feet out of reach.
"Thanks," Harry called shakily.
Hermione yelled back. "Ron!"
"No, Harry," he called over the shrill double-blow of the train's steam whistle.
"No, Harry," Hermione yelled back. "Ron!"
"Ron?" Harry's response was almost inaudible over the rattling as the train barreled over the first bridge on the way north out of London. He looked down, and saw green tinted water below the steel girders whipping along past him. "What about Ron?"
"What about me?" Ron poked his head around the doorway, summoned by Hermione' shouting. "And where's- what? Harry, what are you doing off the train?"
Harry glared furiously. "What does it look like I'm doing?"
"Would both of you shut up!" Hermione interrupted their tete a tete in a near panic. "I can't hold Harry much longer."
The bridge disappeared behind Harry, some buildings whipped past, and then another ancient steel bridge clattered under his feet. "Wait! What?"
"Bugger." Ron paled. "Where'd they keep a rope on a train? Think!"
Harry winced at this. "Ron! Are you a wizard or not? 'Cause I could call for Luna, you know!"
Harry dropped sharply, and pulled his feet up smartly to avoid loosing a toe or five. Hermione gripped her wand with both hands and sank lower as she tried to keep her boyfriend airborne and following along with the rocketing train. "I don't think we've got time." Her voice shook as she spoke.
Ron wasted no time in drawing his scuffed wand from his dungarees. With a wave and a twist, a length of rope shot from Ron's wand and twined about Harry, pinning his arms to his sides.
"Ron!" Harry called. "Not helping!"
Ron very clearly debated some snarky response, but kept silent as Hermione dropped lower as she tried to hold Harry aloft. Instead, he quickly twined the trailing end of his conjured rope about his forearm and braced a worn trainer against the rail. He pulled hard, and the end looped about Harry's middle dragged him in toward the train. But he kept sinking even as he was reeled into the train's landing, finally swinging like some great pendulum from the edge as Hermione's spell faltered. He looked down at the track whizzing past his face, and felt the edge of the platform hard against his back.
With a lurch, Ron dragged him up and onto the platform. Harry tumbled, fetching up against his clearly exhausted girlfriend as Ron sank against the open doorway. Ron dispelled the magical rope, and patted his friend on the shoulder. "Always something with you, isn't it?"
"At least it wasn't a flying car," came Harry's response.
Harry could hear the affectionate irritation in Hermione's voice. "Can neither of you do anything the easy way?"
Ron chuckled. "Not actually."
After the adventure they had simply boarding the train, it took them some time to make their way to a compartment. Fortunately, Ginny and Luna had saved a bench, or else they might not have found two seats in the car. Although there were fewer students coming to Hogwarts this year, the train seemed just as crowded as ever. Hermione idly wondered if the train was charmed to be just as large as was needed.
The three of them dropped heavily into the compartment, and Harry tucked their backpack full of belongings under a bench as Hermione slid the door shut. Ron and Luna shifted around until she ended up sitting on his lap. Ginny sat on the other end of the bench from them, shooting nauseated looks at the two off-kilter lovebirds.
Hermione and Harry took the bench opposite the three of them, holding hands a little tentatively. The first hours of the ride to Hogwarts were full to the brim with talk, trading stories of the summer just past. Hermione took the lead in telling their friends about the summer spent studying and failing miserably to get a first date together. From the other three, Harry and Hermione found that the although the Death Eater attacks continued, they hadn't staged another widespread assault like the one in the first moments of Harry's birthday. Ron and Luna disagreed on the cause, however. He felt they needed time to plan and prepare for another large-scale attack, while she pointed out that if nargles had infested their headquarters, then all the Death Eaters would have a hard time concentrating long enough to plan much beyond lunch runs. But everyone was relieved to know that no one they knew had been hurt or killed in the most recent attacks.
As the conversation wound down, Hermione leaned over to her boyfriend and whispered
in his ear. "You know, we could use the Welcoming Feast as our first date, Harry."
He whispered back. "That doesn't seem very romantic."
Hermione smiled widely. "Harry, the feast is magical. Literally. How much more romantic do you need?"
"Fewer sugar chewing eleven-year-olds would be nice."
"Fair point." Hermione tipped her head, he cloud of curls obscuring her face from the other side of the compartment. "I'll sweeten the pot. Afterwards we can put that cloak of your to good use. Fancy a moonlit walk around the grounds?"
Harry smiled back. "That sounds good."
"It's romantic, it's terribly date-like." Hermione shrugged. "What do you say?"
Harry's smile turned mischievous. "I'd say I'm shocked you're encouraging me to break schools rules."
"Well, if you can summon all of that academic interest on my behalf, I can certainly manage a certain willful indifference for school rules for you."
Harry laughed. "Fair enough. We'll do it, then."
Hermione leaned in towards Harry, but he never got to find out what she was going to do. Instead, they were interrupted by a soft hem-hem from the opposite bench.
Harry looked up at Ginny, brow furrowed. "Do you have to make that noise? You sound like that toad, Umbridge."
"Works at getting your attention," she said cheekily. "I was wondering if I could steal you away for a minute?"
Harry managed a sidelong glance at Hermione, looking for her frown and not finding it before answering. "Sure."
Ginny opened her mouth, then shut it as she looked around to see the whole compartment gone silent as they waited for her. She pinked, and stood abruptly. "C'mon, I don't need my prat brother as an audience."
"Oy," Ron called out as Ginny dragged Harry out of the compartment. "That's uncalled for!"
Harry turned long enough to offer an apologetic shrug to his friends as the small redhead pulled him in tow. Once in the hallway, Ginny closed the compartment door, then turned to look at al the open doors running the length of the train car. She abandoned her plan to drag Harry, and instead spun him around and started pushing him toward the back of car.
He half laughed as he looked over his shoulder to where Ginny was steering him down the narrow, rocking corridor. "Ginny, I just barely jumped on a minute ago. I don't really fancy getting shoved off now."
"Ha, ha," was her only response as she steered him away from the landing and instead steered him toward the water closet at the back of the car. "Is this better."
"No, not really." Harry stumbled as she shoved him in against the sink. She tumbled in after him, and slid the door shut behind them.
Ginny held up a hand to forestall any further complaints. "I know, lousy timing and a worse spot for a talk. Just hear me out."
"I was mad at you last year. I was mad at you even after all of us went to Malfoy Manour to rescue you. That's why I avoided you so much. I couldn't say anything nice to you, and every time I tried, it just came out bitter and ugly.
"Then Ron and I got Hermione's note in the middle of the night. We flew the family brooms to Grimmauld, since the Floo was shut off there. We... I thought you were dead."
Harry looked pained. "Ginny, I-"
"Don't! I need to get all this out first." Ginny waved him to silence. "I'm trying to say that I had a couple of hours of freezing wind and dark where I thought you were dead, and I couldn't stand to think that you'd died before I could stop being mad at you, or ugly to you, or even try to be happy that you were happy dating someone. I'd forgotten that Mister Harry Potter doesn't like to live by the rules, and so I didn't think I'd get a second chance to do this. So here goes.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't notice you weren't happy dating me, and I'm sorry I was awful to you and Hermione after we broke up. And I'm sorry I stopped being your friend there for a while, and I'd like to give that a try again. Okay?"
Ginny favored him with an earnest and hangdog expression, and for the first time Harry saw more family resemblance between her and Ron than just their hair. It made his decision infinitely easier.
Harry waved her off. "Everything's okay, Ginny. You weren't all that bad when we broke up, and I can't blame you for being ticked at me for how I went about it. I'm sorry I didn't just talk to you about how I felt, instead of running off like that."
"Apology accepted," Ginny said before worrying her lip. "Just answer me this one question. Why did you dump me?"
Harry's mouth stuck open at this, and Ginny continued hurriedly. "I want to know 'cause I'm going to start dating again, and I don't really want to have everything blow up in my face all over again. I don't want to make the same mistakes again. And I know it's got to be something I missed, because I thought we were doing really well at the exact same time you were figuring we were over and done with.
"So, can you help me out on this?"
"Um, Ginny..." Harry thought the WC walls were closing in on him. "We- or rather, I-"
Harry's rambling was interrupted as the bathroom door opened and Hermione squeezed in next to Ginny. She pulled her hair back into a messy knot, and looked back and forth between Harry and Ginny. "You know, locking yourself in a lavatory with your ex looks terribly suspicious."
"Um, Hermione..." Now Harry was certain the walls were closing in. "I- or I mean, we-"
Ginny dissolved into giggles, and Hermione smiled. "Never fear Harry. I trust you. I'm terribly sorry, but sometimes you're too easy to wind up."
"Sometimes?" Ginny snorted. "When is he not?"
"Well, he does sleep sometimes." Hermione smirked at Ginny. "Not that I don't enjoy tweaking your nose, Harry, but I came to let you know what's going on before you try walking to the compartment."
The dull confusion left Harry's green eyes, replaced instantly by a hard, sharp clarity. "What's going on?"
"There are Aurors all over the train." Hermione looked uneasy. "And Dawlish is leading them, so it would be a good thing to keep you two apart."
Harry's brow creased. "Well, it is even odds whether we'd just insult each other or actually start throwing curses. But I think stationing Aurors here to protect the students from Death Eaters is a pretty good plan."
"That would be a good plan, Harry." Her brow wrinkled worriedly. "Unfortunately that's not what they're doing."
Ginny beat him to the punch. "What are they doing?"
"They're... Oh Harry, they're searching the train for Professor Snape, they're trying to arrest him again. And they want to question you about... what happened on your birthday. I've put a Notice-Me-Not charm on the lavatory, and they should be gone in a moment, but I wanted to make sure-"
"That I didn't go walking right out into the middle of our Un-Welcome Party," Harry finished for her. "Thanks."
Ginny shifted sideways a little, bumping into both Harry and Hermione. "Not that I'm not thrilled with the accommodations in here, but how long do we have to stay locked in a privy together?"
"Not too much longer, I should think. Ron's supposed to- Ah, there it is." Hermione reached into her pocket and pulled out a seemingly solid gold Galleon, now vibrating softly. Clearly the Protean charms Hermione had placed on the Defense Association coins years ago were still both strong and dead useful. "That's the all clear signal."
Bumping into both of the other two people squashed in the lavatory, Hermione managed to turn about and draw her wand. She lifted the Notice-Me-Not Charm and unlock the door. Unfortunately though, she threw the catch as the train rumbled over a rough part of the track, and all three teens were unceremoniously dumped into the passageway. Hermione fetched up against a thick, broad chest and pushed herself upright. Ginny caught herself on Hermione, and Harry barely managed to keep from collapsing over Ginny. All three looked up into Vincent Crabbe's smirking face.
"Heard you had a fing abou' getting your kit off'n bathrooms, Potter." He ran a short fingered hand over the bristly hair on his head. "Didn't know you was inter menageries. Think you can give lessons on that in the DA?"
The three Gryffindors flushed as the implication hit home. Hermione was beaten to the punch by Ginny Weasley. "Now see here, you- you- you hydrocephalic flobberworm! If you ever-"
"If I ever," Crabbe interrupted as he pulled himself as upright as he could manage. "I'd like ta think you'd be speechess after, know wot I mean?"
"Yes, disgust and vomiting do leave a girl speechless!"
Crabbe elbowed Hermione and jerked a stumpy thumb at Ginny. " I like her. 'S a bit like winding up yer ex, only wif good bits ta look at."
Hermione's jaw dropped open at this.
Crabbe found himself pushed as far to one side as a wizard as wide as he could be in such a narrow passageway as Goyle shoved in. "Not'ta put a crimp on the witty repartee, but we don't got time fer this!"
Harry pressed in at this. "What's wrong?"
"It's Pansy," Goyle said worriedly. "She's gone all evil mastermind, I figure."
Harry blinked, and caught Hermione's eye. Hermione snorted first, and that set Harry off into gales of laughter. Hermione leaned against the passageway wall and held a hand to her mouth to cover her own giggling fit. "Pansy Parkinson is an evil mastermind? Pansy?"
Harry poked Hermione in the side, only to have his hand slapped away by a ticklish girlfriend. "Watch out everyone, it's Pansy!"
"I'm not kidding," Goyle continued. "She's got herself minions she 'as."
This was enough to distract Ginny from eyeballing Crabbe menacingly. "Minions? Pansy has minions? You mean she has Pansy Minions?"
This restarted Hermione's giggles. "Oh, I don't even know how to make fun of that. Pansy Minions?"
Harry looked perplexed. "Where did she find anyone dumb enough to be her minion?"
"Not to put a damper on anyone's comedy club routine," Goyle said truculently, "But the bint's taken the Dark Mark."
This sobered everyone up just as quickly as the tall Slytherin had hoped in would. "Oh, everyone over the case of the giggles?"
"What's she doing right now?" Hermione was suddenly very intense and focused.
"Right now, nuthin'." Crabbe gnawed a nail off and spat it onto the worn carpeting. "I mean, the Portkey targets don't go off for a while, and it's not like she needs to do nufink to 'em now she's placed 'em all up and down the train."
There was a moment of silence, disrupted only by the wet ptish of Crabbe spitting out another sliver of fingernail. Hermione shot a horrified glance at Ginny, who'd gone even more pale than usual.
Ginny spoke first. "If you enchant an item right, a Portkey can hit a moving target-"
Harry slipped past Hermione and Ginny, and bulled his way past Crabbe and Goyle, managing to bounce both of the very large Slytherins off the passageway walls as he went. A moment behind him, Hermione shoved her way past the two huge goons. Crabbe pushed himself vertical after she past him, and tugged his robes straight as he looked Ginny Weasley up and down.
"So, 's your turn to man'andle me, Red. Be gentle wif me, I'm delicate."
Ginny rolled her eyes and pantomimed gagging. Crabbe's retort was cut short as Goyle grabbed him by the scruff and dragged him after the rapidly disappearing Gryffindors. Ginny followed along as close as she could without bumping into Crabbe.
The three of them made their wending way through the throngs of students filling the passageway, in large measure due to Goyle forcibly clearing a hole. They arrived at Pansy's compartment to find the sliding door gone without a trace and Theodore Nott crumpled in a bloody heap under the cracked window. Harry and Hermione were in a tense standoff, wands held on Parkinson, who had an unsorted firstie clutched in front of her, her wand dimpling the soft skin under his jaw.
"Pans," Goyle gasped as he slid to a halt arms out to bar Ginny and Crabbe from interfering. "You don't wanna do this. I saw this bloke pull a tower down onna coupla Eaters. You know, for shits. You don't wanna do this."
Pansy blew a lock of errant raven black hair out of her face, quickly throwing a glance over her shoulder at the rocky terrain of the Scottish Highland sliding by outside. "What I don't want to do is fail the Dark Lord."
"Yeah," Goyle said with a shrug. "Speaking of, the Boy Wonder over here blew a hole bigger'n me man-tackle in his back."
"And still he lives," Pansy's eyes lit at this. "Nothing can stop my Lord."
Harry drew a very careful bead on her forehead as Pansy's pocket watch chimed. "I don't think the same can be said for you, Pansy."
"It doesn't matter, you twit!" Pansy laughed. "You're too late. Reinforcements are here!"
Harry's wand snapped vertical, and he grabbed it with both hands and concentrated as hard as he could. He had no reason to think this would work, but it was all that he could think of. "Iacto Portkey Targets!"
Pansy's watch shot by her head like a golden bullet, and she released the young student as she fought to keep it from flying through the window behind her. The boy bolted past them and away down the corridor as all along the train came the sounds of breaking glass and splintering wood as dozens of seemingly innocuous items suddenly launched themselves away from the train. Pansy managed to pull the pocket watch halfway back into the compartment before it activated.
In a rush of light and color, three Death Eaters appeared by Portkey. One landed in the compartment, one tumbled across an unconscious Nott, and one plummeted shrieking past the shattered compartment window.
Through the windows, Goyle caught sight of at least two more groups appearing suddenly midair at more than a hundred kilometres an hour, far from the train. Some managed to Apparate away, some didn't. The still, black robed shapes were left behind almost instantly.
Then the compartment exploded in fire and lightning, spells hurtling forth and being blocked at arms length. Harry held both masked Death Eaters and Pansy off with an array of shields and summoned bits of wreckage intercepting Unforgivables, while Hermione pounded them with Reductors.
Goyle fell back from the shower of white hot sparks and wooden shrapnel from the heated spell work, a suddenly bloody hand in front of his face providing his only protection. Next to him, the woodwork exploded as a deflected spell narrowly missed him. The next volley drove him to the ground, and he pulled Ginny down with him as three red blurs skittered down the passage at head level.
Crabbe thundered past him with a bellow. Forsaking his wand, the shorter Slytherin crossed his arms over his face and hit the one masked Death Eater as hard as he could with a full body check. Magical shielding intended to halt spell fire crackled and died as Crabbe hit like a bull elephant, pitching the man halfway out the wreck of the compartment window.
The Death Eater still slumped over Nott turned his wand on Crabbe in a desperate effort to save his partner. Crabbe's leg snapped in a series of loud crunches under the blue coils of a Bone-Breaker Hex, and he dropped to his one good knee with a howl.
"Supare!" Hermione yelled out, and the prone Death Eaters wand and wand hand dropped to the rubble strew floor. Beads of seat dotting his bright red face, Crabbe grabbed the legs of the Death Eater hanging halfway out of the window, and finished defenestrating him.
A quick spell from Harry dropped Pansy in a heap over Nott and the Death Eater fumbling desperately to staunch the wound where once his hand had been. Crabbe fell back onto the floor, leaning up against of the benches.
Ginny rushed into the compartment, and started casting charms to freeze Crabbe's leg in place, so the broken bones didn't do more damage as they shifted about. Looking nauseous, Harry stopped the bleeding of the Death Eater on the ground, and then stunned him twice. Pansy was also stunned again, but after a quick check, nothing more was done to Nott.
Goyle shoved in alongside Ginny, and hunched over Crabbe, grabbing his hand. "That was an ace hit, mate."
Pale and sweaty, Crabbe smirked nonetheless. "Noticed that, didja? Not a bad bit o' business."
"You did good." Goyle ran his free hand through his short, curly hair before patting Crabbe's hand. "Everything'll be fine. You'll be just fine mate."
Crabbe looked up at his friend. "I'm gone cold, Vincent."
Goyle sniffled. "'S'Okay, I 'spect. Just yer body healing an' all. You'll be right topper in no time."
"Are you two dense?" Ginny snapped at them. "You're cold because there's a bloody wind coming in through the bloody hole in the bloody wall!"
"Ginny! Language," was Hermione response.
Ginny looked back and forth between the two Slytherins, then slowly looked down to where they were still holding hands. "You do realize Crabbe actaully is going to be alright, don't you? I'm nearly done here, though Madam Pomfrey really should have a look."
Crabbe looked up hopefully. "Really?"
Ginny snorted. "Really."
Goyle dropped his friend's hand as though it burned. "Right then, I'l just go, uh, clean up the train a bit.
Crabbe coughed. "Yeah, I'll just cop a rest fer a bit."
Ginny pushed herself upright, and stifled her laughter until she moved out of the compartment. It was a fantastically hard thing to manage. Instead she tracked Harry and Hermione to where they were leaning up against the scarred and smoking wood paneling of the passageway. "You two were brilliant."
Harry looked drawn and pale. " I killed Ted Nott. I didn't mean to, he just..."
"Harry," Hermione began soothingly, "he was a Death Eater, and he was trying to kill everyone on the train. What else could you have done."
"Nothing." Harry looked up. "It doesn't change the fact he'll never see the other side of eighteen."
"I'm just glad you did it," Ginny said evenly, drawing a brief, bald glare from Hermione.
"I just wish no one ever had to," was Harry's reply. "Listen, Hermione. You make sure the train keeps going 'til it reaches Hogwarts. I'll try to get a message to Dumbledore, let him know what happened. Ginny, round up the DA, and see if they can't get the train fixed up, or half the school'll have a hundred sick eleven-year-olds with all the cold wind."
"And try to calm them down," Hermione interjected, a hand on Ginny's arm. "I imagine they're half hysterical by now."
Ginny shrugged. "Sure. Sorry, but I guess your date's kind of wrecked for tonight."
Now both Harry and Hermione glared at her, and Ginny toed the rubble-strewn passageway floor. "Uh, not that you were even thinking of that right now, because of the Death Eaters. I'll, uh, get going."
Ginny turned and left in a hurry, not staying to watch the other two trudge off to do what more they could.
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