Stepping over the Edge

"You want me to kill the enemies of Jappos, I'll kill the enemies of Jappos... Rebs, The Sioux, The Cheyenne... For $500 a month I'll kill who-ever you want. But keep one thing in mind, I'd gladly kill you for free." - The Last Samurai

Chapter 7 - The End of His Run

He could hear them calling after him, begging him to stop, but he didn't care. He had to get away from them. They thought that they could actually stop him, that out-numbering him would make him come back without a fight. How wrong they had been. Cornering someone as desperate as he was right now could only lead to fighting, and when you didn't care what happened to yourself, you had the advantage. They could never understand that, for they had never been in his position.

They had never fought for their freedom in the way he was right now. Sure, Dumbledore and Lupin had probably fought for their lives a number of times and Ron and Hermione hadn't been on the lazy side either, but that was different. They fought for their lives, he fought for his death.

As long as he was with them they would do anything in their power to protect him. He was their saviour, whether they would admit it out loud or not, and all of them were too much Gryffindor to put their own safety before the whole wizarding world. Harry understood that and therefore knew that he had to run away from them.

His mind was so full of emotions and desperate solutions that he didn't hear the soft 'pops' behind him. If he had then maybe things would have gone different, but as it was Harry Potter, he didn't have the time to react before his world went dark.

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They stood in silence as The-Boy-Who-Lived ran away from them, leaving them with thoughts of confusion and defeat. Everyone had been able to see what was on his arms when Lupin had pulled up his sleeve and it had shocked them more then they would ever have thought. Lupin could never have imagined that Harry would cut his own wrist; even if he had been the one who saved him when Harry had jumped from the Astronomy Tower. It had never been an option for him. Harry had always been so strong, always the hero protecting everyone else. Why couldn't he protect himself?

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Hermione was the first to break the silence when she whispered a quiet "Finite Incantatum" and pointed her wand at the still form of Ron lying on the ground. He quickly jumped to his feet and stared in the direction Harry had disappeared.

"Harry, wait!" he called and was about to run after him when Hermione put a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to face her and saw the tears running down her cheeks. "Hermione?" He looked at her confused. "Are you alright?"

She looked at him for a few more seconds before she throw herself at him and started to sob into his chest. "Oh Ron, why did he do it?"

Ron was even more confused at this and looked up at Dumbledore and Lupin for some explanation but they were both staring in different directions and seemingly not even noticing the crying girl in his arms. "Hermione, it's alright. He probably just needed some air." Ron knew that it wasn't the truth but he didn't know how to handle a crying girl. Little did he know that he was trying to comfort her all for the wrong reason.

Hermione looked up at him puffy eyes. "You didn't see?"

"Didn't see what?" Ron asked, more confused.

"His arms," Hermione said with a sob. "You didn't see his arms?"

"I was in a full Body Bind on the ground Hermione. You don't see much from down there," Ron said little irritated.

Hermione started sobbing into his chest again and he hardly heard her words. "He's cutting himself Ron."

He stared at her in shock, the meaning of her words slowly sinking in. "Bloody hell," he muttered. He pulled her closer and let a single tear fall down his cheek.

The time passed slowly but no one seemed able to move or talk. There were too many thoughts in their heads, too many emotions and unanswered questions. The sky slowly darkened and when the rain started to fall Dumbledore finally got himself back together enough to speak. "We should get back to the castle before we get soaked."

The others didn't even nod, just followed him quietly back to Hogwarts. Not even Fawkes, who still sat on the Headmasters shoulder, let out a sound.

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Harry let out a soft moan and silently cursed his head for being able to hurt so damn much. He slowly opened his eyes and realised that he was lying on a stone floor in a dark room and the only source of light was the moon that shone in through a small opening in the ceiling. He rolled over on his back with another moan and lifted his head a little so that he could get a better view of the room. There wasn't much to see. Except from the opening in the ceiling, the only thing that stood out from the stone walls was a heavy wooden door.

He pulled himself up from the floor and walked towards the door. He knew it would be locked but he couldn't just sit there without checking. Inevitably, it was locked. He walked into the darkest corner, where no light reached, and sat down again. So, he finally got his wish. Voldemort had captured him, which would surely lead to Harry's death. OK, so it would probably mean a little torture first, but he could stand that. He would be free soon. He slipped his hand down in his pocket and wasn't really surprised to find that his wand wasn't there. What kind of kidnappers would they be if they let him keep his wand?

He heard footsteps outside the door and for a reason; he could never figure out, he squeezed himself closer to the wall. A hesitant opening of the wooden door followed after a soft whisper of "Alohomora". Harry stared at the man who entered and his blank expression was replaced by pure hatred. "You," he hissed.

Pettigrew flinched and looked into the dark corner, it was clear that he hadn't seen Harry at first. "Potter," he said with a tremble in his voice and a scared look on his face. "I'm here to take you to the Dark Lord. He demands your presence."

If he thought that this would lead to a reaction in the young boy in front of him, he was sadly mistaken. Harry just stared at him with the same anger without looking away or even blinking, making Pettigrew more nervous by the second.

"We need to go, before my Lord gets impatient," Pettigrew said after a pressing minute, his eyes darting back and forth without ever looking at Harry for more than a second.

"Do you suppose that I'll go willingly or are you going to make me?" Harry asked, still staring at Wormtail.

Wormtail looked like he would rather be anywhere else then here right now. "It would be easier if you could come with me without me needing to curse you," he said finally.

Harry let a small smirk cross his lips. "Not much of a Death Eater, are you Wormtail?"

Pettigrew glanced back at the door with a scared look. "I really don't want to curse you Harry."

"How nice of you," Harry spat out sarcastically. "And I'm sure you didn't really want to send Voldemort to my house to kill me when I was just a baby. It just turned out that way, right?"

It looked like Wormtail had to put in all his efforts to prevent himself from running out of the room. He was scared; of the Dark Lord and his own actions. He owed Harry his life, whether he liked it or not, and taking him to the Dark Lord wasn't the best way to repay him.

"Are you scared Wormtail?" Harry got up from the floor and slowly started walking towards the man that had condemned his life to misery. "Scared of your own Master?" Wormtail brought up his wand and pointed it with a shaking hand at the boy who slowly approached him. "He doesn't give a damn about you, no one does, and he would kill you without a second thought."

"Stop, or I'll have to curse you!" Wormtail said trembling.

Harry smirked. "I might not live to see the day, but trust my word Wormtail. Before this war is over you will rot in hell, whether it's the Light side or your own Master that kills you."

"Stupefy!"

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