The wind was brisk as they flew below the cloud line. Intelligence reported that Bellatrix most likely relocated to somewhere south of Liverpool. It seemed counter-intuitive for her to move away from the tower, but who were they to question the genius of a madman? True to his word, Harry led the unit out on first light in pursuit of the Horcrux. Although his unit knew they were accompanying the trio, they didn't know the contents or objective of the mission. Everyone in the unit had their own broom and Ron was allowed one as well since they knew he was a decent flier. Neville was riding with Seamus and Hermione with Parvati. Although Harry had reservations of pairing Hermione with one of their least experienced fliers, Hermione insisted on flying with Parvati.
"So where exactly are we headed?" Neville asked Seamus.
"Intelligence says that there's been a lot of movement south of Liverpool. Considering you guys blew up their last camp, it's reasonable for us to check it out. They also say that Batebox might be in there as well," Seamus answered.
"Batebox?"
"You know - Bates. The guy with the tattoos."
"So someone confirmed that Bates is alive then?" Hermione asked from her nearby broom.
"Another unit spotted him. It's a bit difficult to miss the guy," Seamus shrugged.
"What about his leg?" Hermione frowned, "Malfoy blew it out with a Redcutor. Has Malfoy been found yet either?"
"Apparently, Bates was walking on some sort of iron limb," Padma answered, "And there's been no sign of Malfoy anywhere."
"How does he survive all these things?" Ron curiously asked as he floated alongside the conversing group, "I remember someone telling me that Malfoy set him on fire when they attacked the Hollow."
"They say he's half-troll," Seamus guffawed.
"You can't be half-troll," Ron blankly stated.
"Why not?" Hermione countered, "Hagrid's a half-giant, so why can't Bates be a half-troll. It would certainly explain his seeming immunity to everlasting pain."
"Hermione," Ron said with a tone of a parent condescending a child, "There can't possibly be something that's half-troll."
"As Hermione said, why not, Ronald?" Padma agreed with her fellow female.
"Think about the logistics of it. You know - how could a troll ever…" Ron made a hand motion that caused Neville to shake his head.
"Ron! That's disgusting!" Hermione shrieked.
"I'm just saying! A troll's - you know - wouldn't be able to fit into…"
"End of conversation!"
Padma agreed and veered them away from Ron's continuous questioning of a troll's ability to impregnate a human female. Neville could only shake his head as Seamus and Ron continued to argue the semantics of someone being a half-troll. As Ron and Seamus continued their banter, Archer hovered over to them and stared at them for a bit.
"Cheerio, Archer. You mind not being creepy for a little while? You're scaring off the birds," Seamus chirpily addressed the masked man.
Archer didn't seem to care whether Seamus was referring to actual birds or the three females flying with them. He just pointed to his eyes and then waved his hand in a circular direction.
"Keep a lookout and keep the formation tight. We're approaching the target area," Archer said in his usual garbled distortion.
"You know it wouldn't hurt you to lighten up a bit," said Seamus as he maneuvered his broom so he was closer to the pack.
"It would probably hurt you," Archer responded.
As Archer floated away, Seamus turned to Neville, "Was that a joke?"
Neville could only shrug, not quite understanding Archer's sense of humor - if he even had one. He took a moment to lean back and tighten his jacket around his shoulders. For some reason, the air seemed to chill around him and a shiver ran through Neville as he looked around for the source of the wind.
"Bit chilly," Neville muttered, "Where's the wind?"
"It's not wind," Seamus cursed proficiently and jerked the broom to his left.
"DEMENTORS!"
Neville couldn't remember who yelled the warning. Once he spotted the cloaked figures, his mind started to shut down and his nerve endings numbed, a side effect of the deathly creatures.
"Come around!" Harry ordered from the front of the formation, "Package in the middle!"
Seamus moved his broom so he was situated in the middle of a rotating circle. Padma repeated the movement as well while Dean motioned for Ron to do the same. The rest of the unit moved in a rotating circle around the center group, their wands ready to summon their respective Patronus.
"Start the descent, wait until they're close!" Harry pitched his broom down slightly, leading the group into a gradual descent as the Dementors came closer.
The Dementors finally arrived, hunting down their targets with ruthless abandon as they swept over, around, and under the group of wizards. Neville watched as corporeal Patronuses erupted from several wands and harried away the soul-eaters. An almost silver dome protected the trio, Seamus, and Padma. They kept their descent at an even pace, not wishing to pitch their brooms too far lest they lose the shape of the group and allow a Dementor to break through their lines. A brilliant stag whirled around Neville as it fought a Dementor.
Neville could only watch, unable to even procure his wand from the inside fold of his jacket as he held on for dear life. Vicious words and voices attacked his head and he shut his eyes, hoping to prevent any sort of attack from Voldemort. Mocking cries rang in his head and he started to yell, desperate to drown out the morose tones and antagonistic voice of someone desperate to break into his mind. But Neville was concentrating too much on closing his mind and forgot to hold on to Seamus. His hand started to slip, inch by inch as his grasp loosened.
"Neville!" Hermione yelled as she watched him tip off the broom.
The feeling of weightlessness freed Neville from his imprisoned mind, but it was too late. He swung his arms in the air, flapping in the wind as he fell off the broom and hurtled to Earth. As he fell, Neville could feel the Dementors chasing after him, wanting to feed on the easy prey. Neville stuttered, unable to produce a Patronus as the Dementors gave chase to the falling boy. The Dementors couldn't see the silver stag bull rushing through them and reaching Neville just before a Dementor opened his mouth to steal Neville's soul.
Saved by the stag, Neville regained his senses and saw a tiny blot come closer and closer as it hurtled down to him. As the blurry figure came closer, Neville deduced that it was Harry who was racing to save him from imminent death. Harry twisted to and fro, expertly avoiding the Dementors as he came closer and closer to Neville. The timing had to be perfect for if Harry overshot Neville's trajectory, he would have to race back up and face the Dementors all over again. Even Harry couldn't withstand so much pressure from the ghastly creatures.
Luckily for Neville, Harry's trajectory was true and he latched onto the other boy just before he reached the ground. Grabbing Neville's arm, Harry yanked his broom upwards, anticipating that the added weight of Neville would cause the broom to slightly dip and making it more difficult to pull out of the death dive. The twigs from the tail end of the broom scraped the ground, but they successfully stopped Neville's terminal drop. Yet they were still in trouble. The Dementors refused to give up as it followed Harry and Neville through the winding streets of an unnamed town.
It was an odd sight to watch; Dementors were chasing Harry while a silver stag was chasing the Dementors. They flew through the small streets, no doubt alerting the Muggles who dared to remain in their houses. Neville held on tight despite the feeling of impending dread. He could feel when the Dementors would get closer as the voices in his head rattled his skull yet again. Harry could also feel the effects of the Dementor and urged his broom to go faster and faster. As Harry spun through an archway, he pulled up, almost pulling his broom into a hundred-eighty degree climb.
"NOW!" Harry yelled.
Harry's unit dropped from the sky, their Patronuses in tow as they sandwiched the Dementors between Harry's silver stag and the rest of their guardians. The Dementors shrieked and twisted their unshapely bodies away from the spell. Sensing defeat, the Dementors fled the area, leaving Harry and the rest alone. Neville, though, could not stop the clattering of his teeth or the visible shakes in his arms. As Harry set his broom down, Neville collapsed - the voices still ringing in his head.
------------------------------------------
Neville was aware of someone touching his cheek as he was prone on his back. His eyes fluttered open and his heart jumped to his chest as he realized that it was Hermione who was feeling his cheek and forehead. As soon as she realized that he was awake, however, she immediately stood up and walked away.
"He seems to be fine," she said.
The pain in Neville's chest was acute as he sat up, but it wasn't from any actual, physical pain. The pain was solely tied to a form of heartbreak.
"You okay there mate?" Seamus asked him as he pulled Neville to his feet, "Gave us a bit of a scare when you fell and collapsed. We were afraid - well, you know."
Neville indeed knew what they spoke about. Harry had his wand out warily as Neville stood on his feet but lowered it once he realized Neville wasn't a threat to the people around him. Only Archer stood near him, still regarding him carefully through his white mask. Seamus clapped him in the back with a wry grin.
"One helluva fall. You never keep it dull around here, Neville," Seamus grinned.
"Glad I can be your source of entertainment," Neville muttered, "Why aren't we on the move again?"
"Skies aren't safe," Archer said, "We have to stay on the ground."
"They're expecting us," Harry said with a grim face.
"Well - shouldn't we turn around?" Ron asked as if it were the most obvious question in the world.
"No point now," Dean shrugged, "They know we're coming so we should strike while we know where they are."
"Come on," Harry interrupted, "Let's get moving. Hermione, Ron, Neville stay in the middle of us and don't get caught out."
"We don't need to be babysat," Neville clearly didn't appreciate the sentiment.
"You're still the asset," Harry responded, "We keep you safe."
That was the end of that particular conversation as the unit encircled the trio. Neville had never seen them so grim and so serious before. Their eyes were constantly tracking as they walked through the winding alleyways of the town. It seemed as if Harry was heading for a bell tower on the other side of the town as their destination. For now, there were no disturbances as they kept their pace speedy but not exhausting.
"So what's the plan here?" Hermione nervously asked as her eyes skittered about.
"Find Bellatrix," Harry said as he waved his wand a bit.
"And then what? Just ask her for the Horcrux?" Ron implied that the question would not be received well.
"I'm sure she would be delighted to give it to us," Archer suddenly spoke up.
Seamus leaned over to Neville and Ron and whispered, "See? Another joke. This can't possibly be Archer."
"Where did you say you found him again?" Hermione was looking at Archer's back with a hint of curiosity.
"Harry just showed up with him one day. Told us not to ask any questions about the mask or where he's from and we just took it like that. He may be a creepy bloke, but he's never let any of us down," Dean answered.
"Except for the fact that he does the dirty work," Thorn carefully interjected.
"We do what we have to, Thorn," Seamus looked resigned to Harry and Archer's tactics when it came to dealing with Death Eater prisoners.
"What kind of dirty work?" asked the ever inquisitive Hermione Granger.
"The kind of things we don't talk about."
Seamus ended the conversation abruptly as he forcibly turned away from them with more than a hint of "don't ask anymore." Hermione, Ron, and Neville looked curiously at Archer, wondering what kind of supposed dirty work he would be involved in. He certainly looked the part of a psychopath, but none of his actions so far suggested him to be one of malevolent intent. After all, he did save them from the dragon at Bellatrix's previous camp. Lost in his thoughts, Neville didn't notice Harry suddenly freeze as he spotted something into distance. He almost ran into the Captain of the unit but caught himself in time to see what the hubbub was about.
Neville spotted someone sticking their head out of a window and waving them over. Harry signaled for the rest of them to stay back as he approached the signal caller. The moments were tense as they awaited Harry's verdict. So far, he was struck with neither a curse nor a Muggle weapon, so the prospects looked bright for the green-eyed boy. After what appeared to be an animated chat, Harry waved them over, signaling that the coast was clear.
As the whole unit came closer to the formerly abandoned building, Harry introduced the stranger to them, "This is Michael Henry. His girlfriend, Lisa, is inside and they've been hiding from Death Eaters and Mixers for quite a while."
Neville easily surmised that the young man was American by the tilt of his voice.
"Thank you," Michael said skittishly as his eyes darted about, no doubt checking for any signs of movement, "You don't know how long we've been stuck here."
"It's alright," Harry ushered everyone inside, "Thorn - take first lookout."
Thorn nodded and pulled his gun into a ready position as he placed himself in a window that overlooked the outside of the building. The rest of the unit followed Michael through a series of doors and makeshift barriers. As Neville hopped over a fallen bookcase, Michael explained the disarray inside the shop.
"I think it was a bookstore," Michael explained as he lifted a wooden beam out of the way, "Jimmy, Lisa, and I found it while we were running away from those big Death Eaters. We hid in the very back, going out occasionally for supplies. It's too dangerous though, that's how Jimmy…"
Michael trailed off and gulped when he said his friend's name. His eyes misted over but no tears spilled as he continued to venture further and further into the back of the shop. Wrenching open a final door, the unit crowded in and discovered a female of around the same age as Michael. She was holding a shotgun but looked mightily scared as she inspected each and every wizard.
"It's okay, they're the good guys," Michael eased the shotgun down and looked at Lisa with a purposeful look.
"If you say so," she whispered.
They both looked worse for wear, their hair matted and dirtied in several spots and their clothes in a state of unfit fashion. However, there was plenty of food and rations stored along the shelves of the back room. They were obviously prepared for the long haul.
"We were just traveling through here," Michael heaved himself onto a couch and exhaled loudly, "It was supposed to be just backpacking through Europe. You know - the usual thing for us to do. Then the tower business happened and we're suddenly out here, running away from fucking trolls and hoody things and Death Eaters."
Michael spat out the magical creatures with an avid hate as he told the story of their existence post-tower.
"Holed up in this shop for a little while. Jimmy went for some rations one day and never came back. We were…too scared to look for him," Michael ashamedly admitted.
Lisa, in the meanwhile, was oddly quiet, still staring at the wizards and witches with an air of suspiciousness and fear. Neville smiled at her, attempting to ease her discomfort, but it only served to seemingly startle her as she ducked her head and avoided his eyes.
"It's okay, she does that to everyone," Michael excused his girlfriend.
"So," Harry cleared his throat, "I don't mean to be crass, but have you seen any movement around here the past couple of days? Our…people…picked up heavy movement around these parts."
"None more so than usual," Michael shrugged, not meeting his eyes.
"Are you sure?" Harry pressed, "We'd really appreciate any help you have."
"Positive."
Archer suddenly stepped towards Michael, which caused the American to scoot further away from the masked man. Michael eyed him wearily and Neville could see his hand twitching for the sidearm on the table. Neville knew that Michael would never reach the gun before Archer would stun him.
"What's he doing?!" Michael asked in panic.
"Archer…" Harry warned.
Archer still had his wand tightly gripped in his hand as he turned to face the Captain, "He's lying."
"About what!?" Michael asked, scrambling to his feet and backing away from the other wizards. The tension was suddenly palpable in the room as Lisa's fingers tightened around the stock end of the shotgun.
Harry looked at Archer with an impervious look. Archer nodded back and kept his wand tight in his hand. Turning to Dean, Harry flicked his eye towards the front of the shop.
"On my way," Dean scrambled out of the room, presumably to check with Thorn.
"Look - I don't know what you guys think I know. I knew it was a bad idea to let you in here!" Michael said as he picked up his handgun.
"Put that down," Harry warned, not moving his hand to his wand in any way.
"Can't trust any of you!" Lisa suddenly spat, "Fucking wizards with your damn wands and magic. Why couldn't you just leave us alone!?"
Neville shifted slightly, trying to conceal the procurement of his wand. As he was about to retrieve his wand from his robes, Neville felt a feminine hand grab his wrist. Hermione subtly shook her head and pointed with her eyes. The rest of Harry's unit already had their wands out behind their back or sliding down from their wrist holsters. They were well prepared to handle the situation.
"Just put the gun down and no one will get hurt," Harry warned again, holding up both his hands to reveal he didn't have a wand.
Dean burst back into the room, breathing heavily and hunching over. Lisa and Michael swiveled their guns over to him, but Dean paid them no mind. He looked straight into Harry's eyes.
"Thorn's gone."
Quick as a flash, Archer disarmed both of the Muggles fairly quickly. Their guns clattered against the ground as the unit trained their wands on the two Americans. They clung to each other, their eyes darting around fearfully as they saw the business end of very angry wizards.
"Where'd you take him?" Harry said in a deep, threatening voice.
"I'm sorry," Michael pleaded, "They made us - they made us…"
"Who?!"
"I'm sorry…" Michael said with desperate eyes as he wrapped his arms around Lisa.
A slight tremor shook the building, causing the dust between the floorboards to rattle and shake as the tremors grew. The unit exchanged weary glances, standing stock still as the building continued to quiver. The ominous rumble suddenly stopped as quickly as it started.
"What was that?" Ron whispered.
Neville felt the sizzle of magic a second too late. Fortunately, Harry felt it much earlier and yanked everyone to the ground with a shocking amount of wandless magic. Neville felt something pull at his navel as he clattered against the ground, his knees registering pain in the process. His brain couldn't process the pain, however, as he was shocked by the sight of the roof being tore off it's hinges. Lisa screamed as spells suddenly fell upon them like raindrops.
Harry threw his hands into the air from his kneeling position and conjured an umbrella of protection from the raining hellfire. His expanded Protego protected them from the initial volley, but he was quickly straining under the pressure.
"Dean! Seamus! Get them out of here!" Harry yelled as he held up the shield.
Neville felt Dean grab him by the arm and haul him into the corner of the room where the roof was still protecting them from the Death Eaters. He watched Michael and Padma exchange fire with some of the attackers as Harry continued to hold up his shield. He felt Dean twirl on the spot and heard the boy curse.
"Apparition wards…" Dean muttered as he aimed at a Death Eater and blasted him out of the sky.
Archer was dragging Michael and Lisa over to the corner as the Death Eaters attempted to break through Harry's shield. Currently, they were unsuccessful in their endeavors but even Harry couldn't hold up this piece of astounding magic forever. They needed a way out and it looked like Archer would be the one to provide the answer. Pointing his wand into the neck of Michael, Archer said just one word.
"Talk."
"I don't - I don't know! Get us out of here!" Michael said as his eyes were fixed on the Death Eaters riding on brooms.
Archer shifted his wand and pressed it into the throat of a surprised Lisa, "Talk."
"Archer!" Seamus yelled but made no move to stop him.
"Don't do anything! Please!" Michael pleaded as debris started falling on them from the aftershocks.
Archer twisted his wand into Lisa's neck which caused her to scream out in agony even though he didn't say a spell.
"Stop it!" Michael rushed towards Archer but was held back by a desperate Dean as Lisa continued to scream, "Make him stop!"
"Just tell him!" Seamus begged as his eyes flicked back towards the battle.
Harry was down on both knees, his hands quivering and the sweat on his forehead visible as he struggled to hold up the shield. Padma, Su Li, and Michael Corner were doing their best to pick off Death Eaters in the sky but there were too many. The trap was effective as the Death Eaters brought numerous forces to counter Harry's unit.
"The crazy lady - she mentioned carrying a safe with her at all times! She didn't want someone called Longbottom to get near it!" Michael dropped to his knees and begged for Archer to release Lisa.
Once the Muggle spilled his guts, Archer eased the pressure off Lisa and ran away from their shelter in the corner. Dean ducked a falling brick as he nimbly hopped over to their spot behind a crushed desk.
"What now?!" Dean yelled at Seamus.
"We should…" Seamus trailed off as he watched Harry finally buckle under the pressure. The blue dome flickered ever so slightly, disappearing from view for barely a second. But a second was enough to strike Su Li with an unknown curse and send her spiraling into a wall. Harry quickly brought up the shield again and yelled over to their corner.
"Emergency Portkey! Queue it up!"
Harry was interrupted by a high pitched laugh. Neville looked up and felt his heart hammer even faster in his chest as he spotted Bellatrix sweeping in for the kill. She maniacally sped into the building and fired curse after curse at Harry. Harry held the shield, but Neville knew he would tire soon. Neville stood up and revealed himself to Bellatrix by shouting her name and pointing his wand at her.
"Neville, no!" Hermione yelled as she tried to yank him back but failed.
Even Bellatrix looked slightly surprise at Neville's sudden appearance in the middle of Potter's unit. Neville took that spit second moment to aim a spell at her, keeping his aim true and accurate. The cutting spell missed Bellatrix, but Neville wasn't aiming for her. He had spotted the tiny, black safe kept around her neck as soon as she flew over the group. Bellatrix tried to grab the falling object, but it slipped out of her fingers and tumbled straight to Neville.
"Accio!"
Hermione and Bellatrix incanted the spells at the same time and the tiny safe froze in mid-air, stuck in a tug of war between two invisible chords. Neville hit her with a momentary Stunner, disrupting Bellatrix's concentration long enough for the small object to fall into the ground. Neville scrambled over fallen objects and a shower of debris as he tried to retrieve the possible Horcrux. Archer beat him to the spot and reached the miniature safe just in time.
"Portkey's ready!"
The unit started retreating to Harry, firing spells at the Death Eaters from underneath his shield. The comatose Su Li was being levitated along until everyone huddled around Harry. He was breathing hard, his hands still held in the air to keep the shield afloat. At the last moment, Michael and Lisa crawled to them, begging for forgiveness.
"We're sorry! Please take us back! You can't leave us with them!" Michael Henry pleaded.
Archer only looked at them, the Portkey ready in his hand.
"No."
In the blink of an eye, Harry's unit disappeared, leaving nothing but two Muggles and several angry Death Eaters.
---------------------------------
Neville landed in a messy heap. As he untangled himself, he noticed that they were in a large area surrounded by a chalk of circle in Hogsmeade. Several other people rushed to them once they realized that the emergency Portkey was activated.
"Why don't we just use Portkeys all the time?" Ron groaned.
"If you ever paid attention, you would know that Portkey's can only have one destination and both locations must be set up prior to the activation of the Portkey. You can't just go on conjuring Portkeys to take you wherever you want," Hermione groaned as she cracked her back.
"Su Li's okay!" a mediwizard yelled as he checked her vitals.
Harry's unit was in a strong state of disarray as they climbed to their feet and dusted themselves off. Su Li and Harry looked to have taken the brunt of the damage; Su Li from an errant spell and Harry from holding his shield for so long. He swayed on his feet and Hermione grabbed him by his armpits and gently laid him down in her lap.
"Shhhh…you're okay," Hermione brushed the fringe of his hair out of his eyes.
"Let me take a look at him," said a soft, female voice.
Cho Chang was wearing the white robes of the mediwizards as she knelt besides Harry and ran her wand over his body, checking for any curses and jinxes. Hermione pursed her lips tightly and visibly held Harry tighter but said nothing to the older girl.
"Everything looks fine," Cho murmured, "Just used a lot of magic…"
Cho continued to conduct tests and Neville tore his eyes away from the spectacle. It was bad enough that Harry was already the object of Hermione's affections but judging from the way Cho stared at Harry, she wasn't quite over him either. Neville didn't feel like being the petty fourth wheel, so he marched up to Archer, who was still holding the miniature safe in his palm.
"Give it here," Neville demanded.
Archer pulled it back into his fist and looked back at Neville, "No. What is it?"
"None of your damn business," Neville said through gritted teeth.
"Archer," Harry gasped from Hermione's lap, "Give it to him."
Archer's stature looked none too pleased with this request and he made his rebellion evident as he kept the safe to himself.
"I think we should all have a look at why we're protecting Longbottom and his little gang and voluntarily walking into traps for them," Archer said in his garbled voice.
"No," Harry said more firmly, "Give it to Neville."
Neville held his hand out expectantly, expecting Archer to obey Harry's orders. But Archer had other plans.
"No."
He twirled the wheel at the front of the safe and pulled it open with his thumb and index finger.
"Archer. No - you don't know what -" Neville leaped towards him but it was too late.
The miniature safe exploded in his face and set him ablaze. Archer howled, his voice losing the distortion as it reverted to a high pitched scream. He swung around, the flames continuing to eat at the protective layers of his robes.
"Fiendfyre!" Cho yelled, "We have thirty seconds to get him out of there or else he's going to burn!"
The fire took the form of a snake as it circled around Archer, threatening to wrap him in flames forever. It was only the quick thinking of Hermione that could probably save Archer. Hermione pointed her wand at Archer and levitated him into the air. She swung her wand in the opposite direction and Neville watched as Archer flew through the air and landed in the Hogwarts lake. The rest of the mediwizards ran over to the lake to retrieve Archer, but Neville stayed back.
Kneeling down, Neville looked at the small safe closely. The Fiendfyre seemed keyed to cursing the person who opened the safe. Inside the safe, a tiny version of Hufflepuff's cup lay melted in a small, black goo. Neville didn't need to verify whether or not it was the real Horcrux. He could feel it within him as soon as Archer opened the safe and activated the trap. That was the real Hufflepuff's cup and it did indeed contain a piece of Voldemort's soul. It appeared that the price to destroy that particular Horcrux was very great. Neville turned around in time to see Archer being rushed up to Hogwarts on a trolley.
"They're taking him up to the hospital wing," Seamus said as he ran along the trolley.
Neville ran after them, the familiar sights of Hogwarts not registering in his head as he continued after Archer. They finally made their way into the familiar ward and Neville was surprised to see not Madame Pomfrey, but Ginny Weasley rush out to meet them.
"What do we have?" Ginny said in a strict voice as she strapped on magical gloves.
"Fiendfyre," Hermione said as she watched Archer continue to writhe in agony from the after effects of the burns.
"Dammit," Ginny cursed as she peeled off Archer's robes, "The burns don't look too bad here but…."
Ginny looked at Harry, "I have to take off his mask, I can't help him otherwise."
Harry looked hesitant, clearly not wanting to reveal the identity of Archer. It was only Archer's loud moan of pain that pushed Harry into the right decision. Harry just nodded wordlessly, unable to communicate his hesitancy at Archer's reveal.
Ginny cut around his mask carefully, not wanting to peel it off in case there was substantial burn damage to his face. Even through the peeled skin and the slight burns, there was no mistaking the familiar face of 'Archer.' She gasped, unable to help herself as she inspected the cold eyes and upturned, aristocratic noise.
"Malfoy?!"