The End

Additions to Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has anything to do with Alias, which was created by J.J. Abrams. This chapter title is lifted from the song "All These Things That I've Done" by the Killers.

Chapter 11: Nowhere Else to Run

The following weeks passed in a blur of fits and starts, as the group waited for an opportunity to put their plan in motion while simultaneously stepping up their preparations. Despite their initial resistance to Michael's idea about entering under disguise, the Muggles managed to convince Harry, Ron, and Hermione of its use, and Hermione charmed some of their clothing so that it looked similar to what the Death Eaters wore, giving them some hope of blending in.

At the Muggle's insistence, they also set about trying to create communication devices. Using the two way mirror that Sirius had given Harry in his fifth year as an inspiration, the group managed to charm three more small mirrors to work in the same way, but they discovered early on that Sydney and Michael couldn't activate them. Even worse, a few experiments with a fourth mirror revealed that sometimes the messages could be intercepted. They nearly abandoned the mirror idea after that, but when four more days of work yielded no better results, they agreed to use the mirrors, but only if it was absolutely necessary.

Harry and Ron spent most of their free time combing the library for any jinxes they didn't know yet or helping Sydney and Michael learn to act more like wizards. One of the more challenging problems they had to overcome was the possibility that Sydney or Michael might be forced to prove their Wizarding skills in a duel. Since it was impossible for them to actually use their wands, Harry and Ron explored the possibility of someone doing it for them vicariously. When pressed, Harry had once been able to use his wand even though it wasn't in his hand, but this had been done under the gravest need and he had never been able to duplicate the effect. Thus, whenever Ron tried to use Michael's wand over a distance he was met with extremely limited success.

Eventually Ron tried attempting to work his own wand remotely; something he hoped would yield more promising results. He could often be found sitting at a table in the substitute teacher's common room, contemplating his wand, which was lying in front of him.

During one such session, Hermione came up, and after studying him for a minute, whispered, "What are you doing?"

"Shh," Ron said quietly.

Hermione sat down on the corner of the table to watch just as Ron said, "Lumos!"

The wand rolled over and off the table, not the effect Ron was hoping for, but an effect nonetheless, which was progress.

"This could work!" Ron exclaimed, after he'd caught his wand and stood up to hug Hermione. However, as soon as she stood up the table made a soft noise of wood against stone. Confused, she touched the corner of the table where she'd been sitting and it moved slightly under the pressure.

"The table has a short leg," Hermione said slowly, as though taking some time before breaking the news would make it easier on Ron.

"So?" Ron asked, his excitement slowly fading away as he observed her.

"So when I sat on it I made the table tip," Hermione replied carefully.

"And that's what made my wand roll?" Ron sighed, sounding horrified.

"Probably."

To be sure, Hermione even laid her own wand on the table and repeated the experiment, achieving the same effect. It was several days before Ron could look upon the upcoming mission with any optimism.

These weeks were tense for everyone, despite their best efforts to stay calm. Even their CIA training didn't do much to help the two agents steady their nerves, because, as Michael put it, "Spying 101 never covered this."

It was a blessing and a curse when a barn owl showed up one late afternoon carrying a rushed extra edition of the Daily Prophet. Harry's heart both leapt then plummeted when he read out the headline: "Group of Suspected Death Eaters spotted in London." The details were sketchy; outskirts of London, wizards in black robes and hoods, unknown number. Apparently a building had been set on fire and Ministry Wizards were dispatched to the scene to try and contain the situation and catch the offenders.

"That's nice how they said it might be Death Eaters," Hermione muttered. "Randell hasn't learned anything from Fudge, has he?"

Politics aside, this was exactly the sort of thing that the group had been waiting for: a time when the number of Death Eaters in Malfoy Manor would be decreased.

"I guess this is it, then," Ron sighed.

Apparently, no more needed to be said. Wordlessly, they went to their rooms for their bags, then outside to the broom shed.

Harry handed Sydney his Firebolt and a map, explaining that it had been enchanted to chart where they moved and guide them to Malfoy Manor. Ron gave a similar device and his broom to Michael. The Wizards saw the Muggles safely off the ground on their unstable brooms then walked to Hogsmeade so they could Disapparate.

***************

Sydney and Vaughn flew with all the speed they could muster and did not allow themselves breaks, but it was still several hours before they arrived, stiff and frozen, on the roof of Malfoy Manor. After over a month at Hogwarts, they'd thought that they were ready for almost anything, but that didn't stop Sydney from having to stifle a yelp of surprise when she saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione standing on apparently nothing a few feet above the roof. The Wizards had to explain that they'd charmed an invisible platform so they wouldn't have to risking slipping from the slanted roof and assured Sydney and Michael that it was solid for Muggles as well before they were willing to carefully lower themselves onto it. Even after that, Sydney and Michael often gave nervous glances to their feet, as though they were worried that the invisible surface would suddenly give out from under them.

"Those are our chimneys," Hermione said, pointing out three brick stacks among the many that protruded from the roof.

Sydney took the map and moved closer to make sure, but Hermione grabbed her back a moment later.

"The platform doesn't extend out in that direction."

"Right," Sydney muttered, deliberately choosing an attitude that would belay the rush of fear she'd experienced at the possibility of falling three stories. "I guess I agree, then."

"Is everyone clear on what's going to happen?" Michael asked.

Everyone nodded, so Harry said, "I guess this is it, then, good luck."

Harry's sentiments were echoed all around and the groups split up and made for their respective chimneys.

"I'm not sure you should have brought that," Hermione whispered as she guided Sydney along the invisible platform.

"Brought what?" Sydney asked, fairly certain that she already knew the answer.

"Your gun," Hermione replied.

Sydney's initial reaction was to ask how Hermione had known she'd brought that particular piece of equipment along, but she chose the more practical response instead.

"It's standard procedure to bring a defensive weapon when going into hostile situations."

"You'll have me," Hermione pointed out.

"If I can't fight then why did I come along?" Sydney retorted as Hermione conjured ropes for them.

"I thought you were trained in hand to hand combat," Hermione replied coolly.

"And how much good do you think that's going to be against magic?" Sydney said. "If we get into a situation where I have to use my gun, I promise you, the mission will have already gone badly enough that it won't matter if the Death Eaters know I'm a Muggle."

"Very well," Hermione replied, passing Sydney a rope. "Are you ready?"

"Let's go."

***************

It was fortunate that the room Harry emerged into was deserted, for his exit from the fireplace was clumsy enough that he would have been of little use to defend himself for nearly thirty seconds, a statistic that wasn't helped at all by the fact that the slide down the narrow chimney had left his robes gathered around his neck.

Once he'd scrambled to his feet and straightened out his robes, Harry lit his wand as brightly as he dared and set about checking the corners of the room for hidden company. On the third corner he saw something human shaped and nearly cursed the thing into oblivion before he realized that it was a Slytherin Quidditch uniform, arranged in a glass case like a trophy. Smirking, Harry made his wand light a bit brighter. He was standing in Draco's room. Dobby's map hadn't mentioned this particular perk. Harry narrowly resisted the urge to break something valuable, but couldn't stop himself from dusting the soot off his robes all over the room. Feeling that their mission was going better than expected already, Harry moved to the door and cracked it open, peering carefully into the hallway.

***************

Ever since they'd agreed that Ron and Michael would enter Malfoy Manor through the fireplace in the kitchen, Ron had been excited to have a look at the place, something which even Michael's constant reminders that the mission was more important than satisfying curiosity wouldn't deter. Worried that his companion's eagerness might prove troublesome if there were Death Eaters in the room, Michael insisted upon slipping down the chimney and entering the room first. However, the room's only occupant was a tiny, pillowcase clad House Elf who was overseeing the cooling of a batch of tarts and threw herself to her knees immediately upon noticing her company. Michael, who's only experience with House Elves in Hogwarts hadn't gone anything like this, looked to Ron for help. Of course, Ron didn't have much more knowledge of how to deal with House Elves than Michael did, but he wasn't prepared to admit it.

"Could you do us a favor and not tell anyone we were here?"

"Of course, sirs!" she squeaked. "Datty won't tell a soul, sirs."

Ron looked at Michael and shrugged.

"Are you sure she won't tell anyone?" Michael asked.

"No," Ron admitted. "It's strange, though, usually House Elves won't listen to people outside of the family they serve. I wonder what they did to her."

"Should we tie her up?" Michael suggested. "Make sure she can't run off to tell anyone?"

"It wouldn't help," Ron replied. "House Elves have really powerful magic, she'd just break free."

"Oh," Michael sighed.

"Tart?"

Michael gave Ron a "get serious" look and turned to the door.

***************

Hermione couldn't see Sydney's exit from the fireplace, but knew it had to be far more graceful than anything she was capable of, a fact she managed to prove a moment later when she tripped over the cast iron log holder and landed at Sydney's feet. Hermione cried out in pain, but Sydney quickly muffed it by clasping a hand over the Witch's mouth.

Sydney pulled out a flashlight and ran it over the scene, asking, "What happened?"

Hermione couldn't reply around Sydney's hand but pointed to her leg.

As soon as Sydney pulled Hermione's robes up to her knees the trouble became readily apparent. The offending piece of metal had been kicked clear as Hermione fell, but somewhere in the interim it had left a long gash down Hermione's calf.

"This looks deep," Sydney said, examining the wound. "Maybe you should go back up to the roof."

"No way," Hermione whispered, batting Sydney's hand away and sitting up. "I can fix it."

"Are you sure?" Sydney asked skeptically. "Can you really do Magic on yourself like that?"

"Sure I can," Hermione said huffily, raising her wand. "It just isn't usually a good idea."

"Well you don't need to risk it," Sydney replied.

"I already did," Hermione said. Her voice sounded pained, but not a mark remained as evidence of her injury.

Suddenly, Sydney extinguished her flashlight and forced Hermione back to the ground. Anyone besides Hermione would have demanded an explanation, but the clever Witch was nearly as quick to notice the shadow in the light under the door as Sydney.

No one moved for nearly a minute, then the investigating Death Eater stepped away from the door, apparently satisfied that he hadn't actually heard anything.

"We should go get him," Sydney whispered as the pair stood up.

"Just in case," Hermione agreed.

Sydney pulled the door open and Hermione burst into the hallway. The Death Eater was stunned before he even had the chance to turn around.

***************

At last, Harry located a staircase and scampered down. His experience in Malfoy Manor had been uneventful, but not for a lack of Death Eaters. Harry had been tempted to thin their ranks a little, but the group had agreed to leave the rest of the Death Eaters alone if possible in favor of getting to Malfoy first, afraid that if too many Death Eaters went missing the others would become aware of their visitors and hoping that if Malfoy were captured the rest of the Death Eaters might surrender. Whenever Harry heard someone coming he'd duck into a side room or pull on his invisibility cloak, but each time it was harder to watch the Death Eaters walk by and do nothing.

However, Harry encountered his first snag at the bottom of the stairs in the form of a door that refused to open. It wouldn't be budged by spell or brute force. Since this was a back stairway he didn't have many options to try, and the three other doorways that connected to this hallway yielded the same results.

Cursing, Harry closed his eyes and tried to think of another path, but it was useless. The only other way to get from the third floor to the second was by the staircase Hermione and Sydney were to take. Now Harry had to use that route too, but not only would it take him time to get there, but it completely undermined their plan for a three sided assault, and he had no good way to tell the others about the modification to the plan without risking telling the Death Eaters about it too.

In desperate need of some way to vent his frustration, Harry raced back up the stairs and stunned the first Death Eater he saw. As he was hiding the unconscious man, two more Death Eaters happened along and attacked him from behind, but Harry managed to gain the upper hand over them as well and when he finally moved on he was in a much better mood.

***************

Hermione was foraging forward along a hall, slipping stealthily between shadows. She was so intent on her destination that she didn't notice when a Death Eater fell into step behind her. He raised his wand so it was pointed directly at the back of her skull and was about to cast his spell when suddenly the tip of his wand dropped to the floor, cut off by a sharp disk that Sydney had found on a table. What was left of his wand fizzled and backfired, and the Death Eaters collapsed to the ground. Hermione heard this and whirled around, a wave of adrenaline surging through her.

"Wow," she said, suddenly short of breath. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Sydney replied. "If you stay up against a wall or check behind you every few seconds that won't happen."

"Thanks," Hermione said again.

***************

Ron and Michael darted around a corner and stopped dead. There, strolling leisurely down the hall, was a Death Eater. His surprise at seeing them there was evident, but unlike the other guards they had seen that night, it didn't take him long to recover and take off down a side hallway.

"I'll get him," Ron said, taking pursuit, "you keep going."

Ron caught up with the Death Eater as he was passing through a study, stopping him with a numbing curse to his leg. Ron had expected him to collapse, but instead he merely staggered a little, then spun around on his good leg and raised his wand. They exchanged a flurry of spells, Ron slowly gaining ground as the combination of the Death Eater's injured leg and powerful spells began to wear him out.

Ron was about to deal a final stunning spell when the all too familiar pain of a thousand tiny needles, all white hot and acid covered, stabbed into his arm. He gasped at the pain, but forced himself to drive it to the back of his mind and complete the spell. Just as the spell should have erupted from his wand the pain returned, but this time it seemed to cover his entire body, ten times more powerful than it had been a moment before.

Ron cried out in agony and crumpled to the floor, his wand slipping from his limp hand. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't see, he could barely think, but the Death Eater was getting away, and he couldn't let that happen.

With that he grabbed his wand with his tingling left hand and performed the spell, another painful wave of energy coursing through him. Through his blurry vision Ron, could see the spell hit the doorframe a few inches from the Death Eater's head. It scattered a few books of a nearby shelf but did nothing to slow the Death Eater down. Ron would have let off a string of swear words had his teeth not been so tightly clenched against the pain.

He felt himself losing consciousness, but fought it off. He forced himself to his feet, left hand holding his wand and deadened right arm to his chest, and practically doubled over, he staggered back to the hallway to catch up with Michael.

When Ron found him, the Muggle was peering around a corner, attempting to determine the best way past the two guards nearby. Ron leaned against the wall and sank down to the floor next to him, shaking uncontrollably.

"I've done a stupid thing," Ron said. His brain felt fuzzy and his tongue numb. Everything seemed to take much longer than usual for him to say.

At first Michael was utterly unconcerned. It seemed a bit immature for Ron to start joking around in the middle of such a serious situation, but he understood that the Wizard was simply attempting to ease the tension. However, one look at Ron's shaking form and pained expression changed all that.

"What happened?" Michael asked. "Did he get you?"

"No," Ron stammered. "I had an attack, worse than ever, I collapsed."

Michael grabbed Ron by the shoulders, but Ron winced with pain, so he let go and said, "Did you get him?"

"No," Ron said again. "No, he got away. I couldn't stop him, I tried, I really did, I missed. They know we're here."

Michael peered back around the corner as Ron was talking. A third Death Eater had joined the other two. They were all looking particularly murderous and glaring in Ron and Michael's direction.

"Sydney!" Michael called, touching his earpiece, but the only reply was static. He hadn't expected it to work, they were too deep inside. "Ron! Use your mirror, we've got to warn them!"

But Ron was making less sense by the second: he was babbling incoherently and nearly oblivious to all around him. "I could have stopped him, I should have..."

Michael reached into Ron's pocket and pulled out the mirror, "Come on, buddy, stick with me, you know I can't make this work, you have to. Just say Harry or Hermione and I'll take it from there."

"I was so stupid! How could I let him escape! Just because of a little pain. Harry's scar hurt him for years on end, but he never let it stop him, most of the time you couldn't even tell..."

That was all Michael needed, as soon as Ron said "Harry" the mirror fogged over then cleared to reveal the inside of Harry's pocket.

"Harry!" Michael called as loudly as he dared. He watched as a hand reached inside the pocket and grabbed the mirror. Harry's face in front of a darkened room filled the mirror.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, lifting his head every few seconds to check for approaching guards.

"You've got to get out of here!" Michael called back. "We've been made. Ron had...well, he called it an attack, and one got away. The Death Eaters will figure out where you are any second."

"Where are you?" Harry asked. "We'll come get you."

"Not a chance," Michael replied. "They're all around us, I can hear, them. If you come rescue us, you'll be captured or worse."

"We're not going to leave you here," Harry cried.

"Harry, I do not want to get wherever we're going and find you there too, just find Sydney and Hermione and get out of here," Michael said. "It's over for us, save yourselves."

"Just tell me where you are!"

Instead of a response, the mirror went blank. Harry's insides were filling with ice, but he forced himself to believe that Michael was right, he couldn't do anything for them now. That didn't stop him from hating every bit of it, though.

Harry could hear footsteps almost at the door, so he opened it suddenly, fired a few spells and the approaching Death Eaters and took off in the direction of Hermione and Sydney, dodging spells as he ran.

"Hermione!" he called into the mirror.

"What!" Hermione called back, obviously in the heat of battle as well.

"Ron and Michael have been captured, we've got to get out of here," Harry replied.

"Why aren't we rescuing them?" Hermione asked, the mirror revealing that she and Sydney were running.

"It's too late, we'll be dead soon if we don't get out of here," Harry yelled.

"Up the chimneys?" Hermione asked skeptically. "There's no time."

"I know," Harry replied. "We're Apparating."

"Apparating?" Hermione demanded. "We might be able to if we can get out on a porch, but what about Sydney?"

"I'll take her," Harry replied.

"Harry!" Hermione yelled, falling into her old schoolgirl know-it-all tone. "You know that's the most dangerous thing a Wizard can do, it almost killed you last time and that was with another Wizard, and he was uncon..."

"I know!" Harry cried, cutting her off.

"You don't know what'll happen if you try this," Hermione argued.

"I've got a pretty good idea what'll happen if I don't," Harry replied. "This is the only way we're going to get out of here."

Harry, Hermione, and Sydney rounded corners on opposite ends of the same hallway and met up in the center.

"There's a deck over here," Hermione called, opening a door and running into the next room.

"Go to the roof, Hermione!" Harry said, the he grabbed Sydney by the arm and started running with her towards the window, saying, "I need you to clear your mind completely, then when I say to, think of the place where we went over the map, every detail you can remember. Imagine yourself actually being there."

"Why, what are you going to do?" Sydney asked.

"I'm going to take you with me when I Apparate," Harry replied.

"Are you sure?" Sydney said. Harry knew she'd been listening in on his and Hermione's argument and found it a bit annoying that she was trying to reopen the debate now.

"No," Harry said, "but there's no other way, and unless you do exactly what I say when I say it we could both end up dead."

Hermione reached the deck and Disapparated with a faint pop.

"Get ready!" Harry called, grabbing Sydney's other arm as they too reached the landing. "Now!"

Just as they would have run off the far edge of the deck they Disapparated with a crack like thunder.

They reappeared on the roof a moment later. Sydney managed to catch her balance, but Harry dropped to his knees, utterly exhausted. Hermione moved to help him sit down and Sydney followed suit, apologizing profusely.

"I'm so sorry, is he all right? I must not have concentrated hard enough."

"No," Hermione corrected her, sitting down next to Harry and pulling him in to lean on her. He looked like he was asleep. "He knew this would happen and was willing to accept the risk. There's nothing you could have done besides what you did. Every spell takes a little bit of energy from its caster, the more complex the spell the more energy it takes. Aside from the inherent risks of Apparating in general, it takes energy, although usually not enough for the Wizard to notice the difference. Taking another person increases the danger and the energy required a hundred fold, which is why only a few

Wizards have ever tried it, and Harry is one of the few Wizards who have actually succeeded."

"It's not going to take them long to figure out where we went," Sydney said, "we need to keep going, can he be moved?"

"Yeah," Hermione replied, "he'll be fine, but he'll have to fly out of here."

Harry wasn't moving much, but was clearly still conscious, so Hermione and Sydney helped him to his feet and guided him to his Firebolt. He nodded his thanks and then took off.

"I know flying a broom is difficult for you," Hermione said, "but if you can, keep an eye on him, make sure he gets back alright."

"Consider it done," Sydney replied, mounting Ron's broom and following Harry into the air.

Hermione watched them fly until she heard footsteps coming up the stairs to the roof, then Disapparated.

***************

When Harry and Sydney arrived at Hogwarts a few hours later, Hermione was waiting for them by the front doors. Harry was still having trouble standing, but was no longer in an exhausted daze. The solitary hour away from battle had given them all a chance to ponder the events of the evening. Hermione had repeatedly tried to analyze the battle for weaknesses in the Death Eater's strategy, but constantly got hung up whenever she came back to the fact that Ron was now captured or dead, at which point she would invariably lose her train of thought and have to start over. Harry was merely angry, at himself, Malfoy, Voldemort, and the whole situation, or at least as much as he could be, exhausted as he was. Sydney fell between the two, but carefully concealed her emotions. Quietly, they helped Harry up the stairs and into bed.

Sydney was just about to leave Harry's room when he called her back. He looked a little uncomfortable and slowly tossed a shoe between his hands until it slipped out of his limp hand and he didn't bother to retrieve it. "Erm, Michael didn't get a chance to say much to me over the mirrors, but I could tell he was really concerned about you. He cares about you very much."

Just like that, Sydney's calm CIA issue facet crumbled and tears began rolling down her face. "Thank you," she managed to croak out, then a little stronger, "I'd better let you get some rest."

"Wait," Harry called. "Why don't you stay here, Hermione too. I don't think any of us should be alone right now."

"Sounds good," Sydney sighed.