Twilight

Twilight

L.S. Song

Chapter Six - Of Duels and Death Eaters

Harry and Hermione were packed, ready to leave. Dumbledore had just apparated to Godric's Hollow, and alerted them that they had fifteen minutes before they were taken back.

"Harry, could you come here?" asked Lily.

This was the part that Harry had been dreading more than anything. Saying goodbye to his parents would be the most painful thing he'd ever have to do.

A muggle saying flew into Harry's mind as he walked numbly towards his mother. "Better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all." Only now did Harry realize the truth in it. Despite the fact that it was not romantic love, he was glad that he had spent this month with Lily and James.

James, Lily and Harry Potter stood wordless. None of them could think of anything to say. Finally, the three of them locked in a tight embrace, that lasted several minutes.

"Harry..." sniffed Lily.

"We want you to know," said James, also looking like he was struggling to control his emotions.

"We're proud of you son... More than you could imagine..."

"Do not be scared, and do not be sad, when you return to your time Harry. The future of the wizarding world lies with you. Show Voldemort what it means to be a Potter," said James.

Lily, whose tears were now sliding rapidly down her face, stuck an envelope in Harry's pocket. "Read it when you need us Harry."

Harry lost it. For the first time he could remember, he cried. Cried in joy of finally getting to know his parents, cried in pain for losing them again. Again, Lily had locked her son in a hug.

"Bad time?" asked Sirius, who was standing a few feet away from them. "I wanted to say good bye to Harry..."

Harry finally had the chance to say good-bye to his beloved godfather; something had been stuck inside Harry for more than a year.

"Sirius... thank you for everything... I never got a chance to say goodbye at the Department of Mysteries... I'll miss you just as much as I miss my parents..."

Harry couldn't take it anymore. He walked slowly away from his parents and godfather.

"One minute Harry," called Dumbledore's voice.

"Harry... we love you," said Lily and James together.

Sirius nodded and said, "That goes for me too."

"Goodbye Harry."

"Goodbye Mum, Dad, Sirius... I love you all too."

And with a jerk, Lily and James Potter, along with Sirius Black, were no more.

Harry collapsed in Dumbledore's office, tears running down his face.

The grandfather clock in Dumbledore's office read 8:20.

Hermione had pulled Harry into a hug awkwardly, and Dumbledore just looked on.

By lunchtime, Harry had calmed down. There was no evidence to show that he had been crying except his now slightly red eyes.

Harry obviously had not given much thought to the fact that in real life, only a minute had passed. Seeing a disgruntled Ron, and Ginny next to him, Harry ran towards them and pulled them both in a hug, saying, "I missed you two so much!" Harry remembered too late that Ginny wasn't happy with him.

"Err... right Harry. You just missed one History class, it wasn't that long apart," said Ron, looking at Harry as if he was slightly insane. "Why did you skive off History anyway?"

"Have you been crying Harry? Your eyes look awfully red," said Ginny.

"HA! The famous Harry Potter was CRYING? Oh my god, I need to get a picture of this one," said Colin Creevey.

"Sod off Creevey, take your camera somewhere else."

"No wait... my camera broke when I last took a picture of you... capturing you in its lens must've caused it to burn up..."

"Go away, you slimy git."

"You know what? I know why Malfoy always hated you now. You just strut around all day..." Colin was stopped there as his teeth and chinbone disappeared, and the bottom half of his face slumped.

Harry, pocketing his wand said, "I told you to sod off Creevey. Go run to the hospital wing, before you do something stupid and make me mad again."

Colin fled, clutching his face with his left arm. Harry caught a bit of black as Colin lifted his arm up a bit too high. Harry also noticed too late that Colin's eyes had a deadened look in them.

Harry gasped. It was the Dark Mark.

"That was uncalled for, Harry!" yelled Ginny.

"Ginny, he's a Death..."

It was no use. Ginny tore after Colin, leaving Harry very miserable indeed.

"Did you see what I thought I saw, Harry?" asked Ron.

"The Dark Mark... Colin?" said Harry, Hermione, and Ron at the same time. "But what about his eyes... they looked deadened... like the imperious curse..." pondered Harry.

"I have to see Professor Dumbledore," continued Harry.

"No, we have Care now. You can see him afterwards."

Harry grumbled, but followed Ron and Hermione as they trudged off to a session of Care of Magical Creatures.

Hagrid had not changed one bit. Still as loud and as big as ever, the only difference was that there were lines of worry on the half-giant's face.

"Hey Hagrid!" greeted Harry enthusiastically.

"All righ' there Harry, Ron, Hermione?"

"All right," they responded.

As the rest of the Gryffindors and the Slytherins appeared, Hagrid began his class.

"I've got a real treat for you seventh years. This project will last your entire year, and count for your N.E.W.T.s. There are fourteen eggs in here, one for each of you. In there are seven different species. Your task for the whole year is to let your animal hatch, and to raise it; you may keep the creatures as pets when you graduate, or you can give them back to the school. There will not be any classes, but I'll be here if you have any questions," said Hagrid.

"Line up to pick up your egg."

Everyone ran into a line, no one wanted to be left with one of the two sinister looking black eggs that were shaking violently.

Harry was about sixth in line, and he picked a small egg with a red and gold pattern. It felt warm in Harry's hands. Immediately he felt glad that he had chose the egg. It had an aura of warmth around it.

With that, the seventh years left Hagrid's hut. Harry looked at Hermione and Ron's eggs. Hermione's was a brown egg with specks of blue, and Ron's was a plain gold colored egg.

Hermione immediately went to the library to check on different types of egg, and hopefully to find out which species hers was.

Harry went to Dumbledore's office, only to find that he wasn't there. Harry left a note with Fawkes.

Professor Dumbledore,

Urgent discovery, can I see you after Professor Moody's class?

Harry and Ron sat down at Gryffindor table in the Great Hall to plan out their Quidditch strategy for the year, and who to ask to join the team. Ginny was to try out for Chaser for sure, but she was the only person that was definitely trying out. The Gryffindor team was composed of Harry, Ron, and two beaters called Andrew Kirke, and Jack Sloper, for now, and they would hold tryouts tomorrow evening.

"Ron, why is Ginny going out with that creep Creevey?" asked Harry out of the blue, after an hour of discussion.

"I don't know... Colin wasn't that bad a guy until recently... since when do you care who Ginny dates anyway?" asked Ron suspiciously.

"Ron, you know why."

"Sweet Merlin, Harry, why now? Why couldn't you have done this two years ago?"

"I was stupid, alright Ron?" Harry sighed.

"Is this irony or what? My sister pines after Harry Potter for god knows how long, ever since Mum read her the story of how you 'conquered the Dark Lord', she tries to get you to notice her for more than three years at Hogwarts, and about two years later you reverse roles."

"I knew it. I KNEW IT! You're trying to steal my girlfriend!"

"Nice to see you got your teeth and chin bones back, Creevey, are you coming to lose them again?" snarled Harry.

"What's going on here?" asked Ginny who had just come up behind Colin.

"Potter here was discussing with your very own brother how to steal you away from me!" pronounced Colin.

Harry stood, as he was more than a head taller than Colin, this was an impressive move. "We discussed no such thing."

"Liar!" spat Colin.

"I don't lie, you worthless Death Eater."

"Better a Death Eater than a liar and a coward like you."

"Who's a coward?"

"You. If you aren't prove it. I challenge you to a Wizard's duel at midnight, inside the Dark Forest. Meet outside Hagrid's hut."

"You're on, Death Eater, my second is Ron, who's your second?"

"Ginny. Although I don't need a second to beat you two."

"Ginny wouldn't be your second, would you Ginny?" said Ron.

There was a long pause as three pairs of eyes burned into Ginny, fiery green, ice blue, and mud brown.

Ginny said, "Has it occurred to any you that I might not want a part in this at all?"

Ginny ran, and Colin soon followed her.

Harry stared a hole into Colin's retreating back, "You don't mind backing me do you, Ron?"

"Mind?" asked Ron incredulously. "I wouldn't miss you kick that little Death Eater's arse for anything... well not unless you were kicking Malfoy's arse..."

"Speaking of Malfoy, has he been sent to Azkaban?"

"Yeah, Dad told me last week. The problem is, there's nothing guarding Azkaban anymore. The dementors have all sided with Voldemort, all that's stopping all the criminals in Europe from escaping is a vast ocean and an anti-Disapparation jinx."

It was with a dark mood that Harry, Ron, and Hermione went down to Moody's sword dueling class after dinner.

"Today's topic is dueling, the in form of fencing. The sport of fencing developed out of the formalized sword duel. The duel of honor, which first became prevalent in the early 16th century, may have had roots in both the single combats of the medieval tournament and in the notion of 'trial by combat', which dated to Norman times. The weapon most commonly associated with early dueling, the rapier, also originated in the 16th century. The rapier had a narrower blade than the medieval broadsword, and was optimized for thrusting attacks although it could also be cut with. Contrary to popular conception, rapiers are not any lighter than broadswords, as they tend to be very long, and usually require the wielder to have some additional device like a small shield or parrying dagger in the off-hand to use for defence. With changes in technique and fashion-- the swords were essentially gentlemen's sidearms, worn as much for style and status as for defence-- the rapier was gradually lightened and shortened into the smallsword of the 18th and 19th centuries. The smallsword was quick enough to be used for both attacking and parrying, eliminating the need for a separate parrying device. The fighting styles developed for the smallsword are the direct ancestors of modern fencing techniques. Killing in a duel had long been outlawed by the beginning of the 1800's, and by the 1820's the wearing of swords had passed out of fashion-- fencing was moving into the realm of sport. Sport fencing was originally done only with the foil, the blunted practice sword used to teach the basics of swordsmanship. In the second half of the century, the lightweight dueling saber gained acceptance as a sporting weapon. The practice of duelling continued to be found through the late 19th century and into the early 20th century, though by this time duels were rarely fought to the death. The thrusting sword often used in these duels was heavier and stiffer than a foil, and the nature of the weapon and the duel required a somewhat different set of techniques and tactics than used in bouts with the foil. This weapon eventually became standardized into the fencing epee," lectured Moody.

"However, a fencing epee is not a weapon one would use in a real swordfight, so we will start off by learning with the real killing sword, the Longsword. Of course, your swords should be blunted, and an impact-absorbing charm shall be placed on each of you before you duel."

Colin looked particularly nasty at this comment.

"Now, get into partners and we'll see how you can do without instruction," growled Moody.

Ron grabbed Hermione, and smiled at Harry. "Tough luck, mate."

Harry turned to Ginny at the same time as Colin.

"Gin?" Harry asked.

"Come on sweetheart, don't bother with famous Potter."

Ginny found herself torn again, but this time she made a choice. Harry's eyes pleaded with her, and she snapped out of something, as if Harry's look broke a charm that Colin had on her.

Ginny walked to Harry, and said, "Come on."

Harry grinned like a Cheshire cat, and whispered, "Thanks Gin."

Colin shot Harry a murderous glare. "All the more reason to kill you tonight," he hissed. "You treacherous excuse for a human being Weasley, consider our 'relationship' over and done with. You chose Potter, now you have to accept the consequences," said Colin, raising his voice.

Harry grabbed Colin by the collar, and smashed him against a wall. "Threaten Ginny again and you won't even have time to dread the consequences. You'll be dead like this." Harry snapped his fingers.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Potter, let that boy down."

Harry walked over to Moody. "Look through his shirt, at his left arm."

Moody turned around, looked and gasped. "That's a Dark Mark, boy. I'm going to go see Dumbledore immediately... end this lesson for me, Potter. Don't do anything stupid. Damn, I should've looked through every student...I never thought Creevey would be initiated... he's a muggle-born, never thought Voldemort would want one of them... never in all of his history has he initiated a muggle-born witch or wizard... but that's it! Who would suspect a muggle-born?"

With that, Moody swore and hobbled out at an amazing speed.

"Everyone, lesson is canceled, go back to your dorms. Hermione, Ginny, Ron, come here for a second."

Everyone filed out besides for Colin, who had a shrewd look on his face.

"Funny I don't remember your name being Hermione, Ginny, or Ron."

"Oh don't worry, I don't want to breathe in the air that you pollute with your presence any longer than I have to. Just seeing if you decided to chicken out on our wizard's duel or not."

"It's not every day I get a chance to kick Death Eater arse, Creevey. I'll be there, the question is will you be there?"

Colin nodded once, with a sick look of satisfaction on his face and left.

"Hermione, Ginny, one of you should come under the invisibility cloak to call for help in case this is a trap. It's not big enough to fit both of you enough so you can run if you need to. Ron, stay in Hagrid's hut with Hagrid, use his fire to call Dumbledore if there's something wrong."

"I'm going," stated Ginny. "Plus, Hermione can't be caught out - she's head girl, think what that would look like."

"But what about Harry? He's head boy!" spluttered Hermione.

"Since when have rules applied to Harry?" smirked Ron.

"I'm going under the cloak, Hermione. You can stay with Ron if it makes you feel any better."

"Harry? Who would you rather have go?" asked Hermione, pulling Harry into a trap.

"I don't care. Flip a coin."

"What?" asked Ron and Ginny.

"It's a muggle way of deciding who gets something. There are two sides to each coin, each person chooses a side and whichever side faces up after flipping the coin into the air and landing wins."

"Got a coin, Mione?"

In response, Hermione took out a sickle from her pocket, flipped it and called out heads. The coin span around and around and landed on tails.

"Damn. Ginny you win, you go with Harry."

Ginny smiled, "Damn, I'm good at this."

Harry's plan was set in motion, when Ron, under the invisibility cloak, ran to Hagrid's house. Harry just saw Ron and Hermione materialize and give the thumbs up sign through the omnioculars, when he grabbed his wand and said, "Accio Invisibility Cloak." Harry didn't see it, until it smacked him right in the face.

Handing it to Ginny, they made their way down to Hagrid's hut.

Halfway there, Ginny said quietly, "Harry... I'm sorry about the whole thing with Colin... and err... I want you to know that I..."

A loud crack stopped them both in their tracks.

"Decided to show up, huh Potter?"

"Creevey."

"Come on, we're going deep into the forest... where's your second?"

"I decided that I don't need one, I don't plan on dying today."

"Funny thing is, Potter, I agree with you. I don't plan on dying today either."

Harry and Colin now stood in the clearing that Hagrid's giant brother Grawp had made during Harry's fifth year. Strangely, none of the creatures that inhabited the forest had been seen or heard by Harry so far.

Harry felt a pair of lips through his invisibility cloak graze his cheek, and a voice whisper, "Good luck."

Harry hoped Ginny had enough sense to stay out of the way.

"So... now we duel."

From a bird's eye view, a tall black haired boy and a short brown haired boy could be seen circling around, holding their wands in attack position, ready to strike.

"On the count of three, Potter?"

"Three..."

"Two..."

Colin bellowed, "CRUCIO!"

Harry fell to the floor, letting out one shout in agony. White-hot knives pierced every bit of his skin. Harry wished for death, so he could see his parents and Sirius again... but then he remembered a certain redheaded girl standing invisible, probably silently screaming at the sight of her friend on the floor, yelling.

Filled with emotion, the Boy-who-Lived did something that had never been done before. He stood up, and shook the Cruciatus curse off.

Rage was burning in his eyes again. "You filthy little maggot. Figures a Death Eater would cheat on a duel of honor... it was my fault I suppose that I forgot that you lost all your honor when you joined Voldemort, Creevey."

"DIFFINDO!" yelled Harry. "SHOW YOUR MASTER'S DISGUSTING LITTLE TATTOO!"

Colin's left sleeve was severed from his robe, and Harry saw the Dark Mark on his skinny upper arm.

"Enough of this Potter. AVADA KEDAVRA!" Colin roared.

Harry rolled out of the way, and yelled, "Skeledestructo Totalus!"

His spell went a bit to the left, and missed Colin.

"Good, mudblood, you served your purpose," a new voice said.

"Lift the imperious curse, son. Let Potter see whom he's really been arguing with. We can put it back on later... this mudblood may be of some use yet."

Harry glared at the intruders, and then at Colin.

Colin Creevey looked puzzled, then horrified, and then he slumped to the floor as a voice yelled, "Stupefy!"

Harry swore.

"Well Potter, I guess its me that gets the pleasure of delivering you to the Dark Lord. I told you that you chose the wrong side Potter, on our first train trip to Hogwarts... remember that Potter?"

It was Draco Malfoy, who was bent over Colin Creevey, apparently examining any traces of injury. That meant that the other Death Eater was Lucius Malfoy.

Harry found himself outnumbered two to one. He remembered Ginny was in the area, and tried to think of some way he could communicate with her. He thought of the communication charm, but he remembered that he had to at least know the location where Ginny was at, when he felt a hand prod him.

Well he had the location now.

"Before you think of doing something hopelessly heroic and stupid, remember that there are two of us, and just one of you. If you even start the incantation to stun one of us, the other one of us will kill you... oh how we've all waited for this day to finally come, the great Harry Potter fails at last..." gloated Malfoy senior.

Harry whispered, barely moving his lips, 'Inteltransverto."

Ginny, can you hear me? If yes, tap me on the shoulder once.

Harry felt a tap.

Ginny, at the count of three, stun the Malfoy on the left. Don't settle for one stunner, shoot as many as you can... better safe than sorry. I'll get the one on the right. Tap me again when you're ready.

Immediately, Harry felt another tap.

One...

"Are you listening, Potter? It's not very polite to ignore your captors..."

Two...

"Enough of this, come here now Potter, drop your wand on the floor where you are now."

Draco Malfoy, who had just stood up and looked behind Harry, and gasped audibly. "FATHER, THERE'S SOMEONE BEHIND POTTER!"

NOW!!!

"STUPEFY!" roared Harry and Ginny ten times in succession - there was no need though, the first two hit their targets.

The Malfoys, with no time to react, fell to the floor.

"Thanks, Gin. Now come on, help me get these three up to the castle... and just to be safe..."

Harry walked over and took all three of their wands, before saying, "Mobilicorpus!"

Harry and Ginny ran out of the Forest, with the floating bodies of Malfoy, Malfoy, and Creevey in front of them.

"RON, HERMIONE, HAGRID!" yelled Harry.

The three sprinted out of Hagrid's hut, but not before Dumbledore had reached them.

To Harry's surprise, he was absolutely livid.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING? YOU COULD'VE KILLED HARRY! YOU SHOULD'VE CAME STRAIGHT TO ME!" roared Dumbledore.

"Professor Dumbledore. I wasn't aware of any of this... Creevey challenged me to a midnight duel and..."

"Did it not occur to you, even after spending a MONTH with the one of the best Aurors of the century that it might be a TRAP?"

"Yes it did... that's why I had Ginny come under the invisibility cloak..."

Dumbledore now calmed down and sighed. "Harry, you must not keep risking your life like this, one day you might not be lucky enough to come out alive."

"I know, but this was something I had to do. For personal reasons."

"I understand Harry. Now let us try to get some information out of these three..."

"I have an idea."

Everyone turned towards Harry.

"Place a memory charm on the Malfoys, so they can report back to Voldemort with bad information... but Colin... Colin was under the imperious curse. They won't need him anymore, so he'll have to be kept safe."

"Yes... yes. What type of trap to set though...? Hmm..." pondered Dumbledore.

"Professor? What is my punishment for being out of grounds and persuading others to join me?"

Dumbledore sighed again. "No punishment, Harry. You did a good deed tonight; just don't keep pushing your luck any further. Now, go back to the Head Boy and Head Girl dorms for tonight. Good night."

Harry walked back up to the castle silently, with Hermione, Ron, and Ginny in tow.

"Stinking Malfoy!" cried Ginny, when they had gone through the portrait hole. "I'm so stupid, this is all my fault! I should've known that Colin would never have acted that way towards me..."

"What way?" asked Ron and Harry simultaneously, jolting out of their reverie.

"He wasn't Colin... He was sweet, romantic, comforting... it wasn't natural! How could I not have seen?"

Ginny slumped to the floor.

"Gin, everything is alright now. Colin will be protected here at school and they'll deal with the Malfoys."

"You don't understand, Harry... it's my fault I didn't see... its my fault that Colin suffered a whole YEAR under the curse... it's my fault he has the Dark Mark now..."

"Ginny." Harry's voice was hard now. "Remember your first year? How you suffered the whole year under the influence of Voldemort? Do you blame me for not figuring it out until it was too late? Do you think it's my fault?"

"No, of course not... don't be silly... but..."

"Then Colin won't blame you, and this isn't your fault either. Even Moody didn't notice Colin. Stop blaming yourself, it's not your fault."

"You don't understand... I was practically a DEATH EATER'S GIRLFRIEND FOR A YEAR!"

Harry opened his mouth but found that no words came out. Despite himself, Harry felt jealous of Colin.

Harry stood up, apparently to go up to his dorm, but turned around and instead of voicing the question he dreaded to hear the answer to, he asked, "Remember when I blamed myself for things that happened in the past?"

Ginny nodded slowly.

"I needed some time to let it go, to mull it over, eventually learn acceptance and self-forgiveness, so time is what I'll give you, but when you're ready, you know you can talk to me. Good night, Ginny," said Harry softly, pulling her into a hug, then walking away.

Harry caught her eye once more, seeing endless emotion in those deep brown orbs, and walked up the stairs to his room.

Meanwhile...

"Severus, please administer the Veritaserum to these two."

Severus Snape walked to the motionless forms of Draco and Lucius Malfoy, and placed three drops of the clear liquid each of their mouths.

"Ennervate."

"What are your names?" questioned Dumbledore immediately.

"Lucius Malfoy," said the blonde on the right.

"Draco Malfoy," said the other one in a toneless voice. Dumbledore noticed that both of Draco's eyes were magic rolling eyes - someone must've ruined his real eyes with a conjunctivitis curse.

"How did you two escape from Azkaban?"

"Our master freed us a week ago, by breaking into Azkaban."

"How, why and when was Colin Creevey put under the imperious curse and initiated into the ranks of the Death Eaters?"

"Filthy mudblood wouldn't have been suspected. Our Lord had a plan to watch Potter all year, observe his social life, to find a weakness and strike. Creevey was also to watch the muggle lover Dumbledore. Draco put the imperious curse on Creevey a year ago when he sent him a note, supposedly from Potter to meet him down at the Quidditch field," Draco and Lucius Malfoy continued tonelessly.

"When was Voldemort planning to attack Mr. Potter?"

"I don't know."

"What instructions have been given to Creevey?"

"To spy on Potter and observe Dumbledore, and to cause trouble for Potter any way possible. The mudblood was supposed to get into fights with Potter at any small excuse."

"What has Colin Creevey found out and reported?"

"Potter has feelings for the Weasley girl."

Dumbledore looked shocked for a moment, but then said, "What is Voldemort going to do with this information?"

"Kidnap the girl, and use her as bait, if he could not get Potter tonight."

"What was your plan tonight?"

A stupid smile came over Draco's face. "Our lord sent us to collect Potter from Creevey at midnight, under a ruse of it being a wizard's duel. Creevey was to lead Potter deep into the forest where me and my father were waiting..."

"Why were there not more Death Eaters awaiting?"

"Our master said that our presence must not be revealed until the plan has been executed."

"Why didn't you just stun Mr. Potter and take him?" asked Dumbledore curiously.

"Potter ruined my life... I wanted him to suffer and be humiliated before we took him to the Dark Lord."

"Where is the Dark Lord now?"

"London, England, in Knockturn Alley."

"What are his plans?"

"Nothing at the moment, just waiting for the opportunity to strike at Potter or Dumbledore."

Dumbledore nodded. "Thank you Draco, Lucius, that will be all."

"Severus?"

Snape nodded.

"OBLIVIATE!"