Will You Ever Return to Me?

Chapter 7.

Caesars Palace Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada.

After they checked in, Harry and Ginny went up to the room they were assigned and opened up two suitcases that Ron and Hermione had in their car. Inside each were several anti-magic grenades General Sharp mentioned at the briefing, an invisibility cloak (Harry gave his own, which he thought was better, to Ginny), a broomstick that shrank when put in the suitcase and popped back to full size when you took it out, and a small device that looked like a Sneakascope that could also sense where the trouble was coming from. The devices started whirling about, not settling on any particular direction.

"This is Vegas," Ginny said when Harry commented. "There are plenty of unscrupulous types, but I think they'll be able to pinpoint someone with mass murder on his mind."

"Unless he is too good of an Occlumens," Harry said. "I don't like this."

"What?"

"Waiting for a riot to start. Reacting to Hund."

"What else can we do?"

"Find someway to disrupt his plans. If I was Sharp, I'd try to cut power to the city. Hund's followers would have trouble keeping their disguise as Muggles."

"That'll keep the magical world secret," Ginny said.

"That's not the point, and you know it."

"Yeah... and it may hurt more people than it helps. Hund may be expecting something like this."

"Doubtful."

"Harry," Ginny whispered.

"Huh?"

"I'm afraid."

"So am I."

"No, not for the usual reasons. I think Helen Gertrude liked pretending to be me. She might want to extract revenge personally."

"She won't fool me. Not again."

"That's not what I'm afraid of."

Their cell phone rang. "Harry," Hermione said as soon as he picked it up, "you and Ginny better come downstairs. We have trouble."

XXX

The others were waiting for them at the casino. "What's going on?" Harry asked.

"The riot started," Hemmings said. "And when General Sharp's teams attempted to enter the hotel, we discovered there were anti-wizarding wards around the hotel."

"The special forces soldiers managed to enter, but the wizards accompanying them were stuck," Padma said.

"So what now?"

"Hund must have expected it. Since he must have known about our wards, he's probably already in the hotel."

Ginny gasped. "So it's up to us?"

Hemmings looked around and then said quietly, "They're going to try to get in using underground tunnels. Maybe he forgot to place wards all the way."

"Not likely," Harry said. "Can we break the barrier from the inside?"

"I can," Hermione said. "Should we do it in those underground tunnels, so Hund's people don't know about it?"

"If you can get in there," Hemmings said. "Security--"

"I'll get you in," Lydia assured them. "It may be too late--"

"I'll go with you," Ron said.

Hemmings nodded. "Padma and Anderson via one route, me, Harry, and Ginny via another. We're heading to the roof."

XXX

Hermione attached a small electronic device to the lock on the service door. "Lydia?" she asked on her phone.

"Is it in place?"

"Yeah. Can you--"

"Child's play," she replied. The green bulb on the lock lit up. "You're in. Take the transmitter with you," she said.

Hermione pocketed it and closed the door behind her. Ron led the way down the staircase into the secure area of the hotel. Every few feet, one of them stopped and sent forward a spell to disable the surveillance cameras. It seemed like a large labyrinth, but Fifty-One had the schematics down to the last detail, and Hermione studied them. "Left," she said. "Right in forty feet, there's another stairs there."

"Another camera?"

"Above and below the stairs."

Ron went forward, and Hermione heard the sound of the spells, followed by a gunshot. "Hey!" Ron yelled. "We're on your side!"

Hermione rushed downstairs. "Who are you?" the Special Forces soldier demanded.

"Your backup," she said. "The wards extend all the way here?"

"As you see." He pointed behind him, where two wizards stood, unable to move forward. They were accompanied by two more soldiers.

"Tried the anti-magic grenades?" she asked.

"Of course," one of the wizards said.

"In that case--" Hermione waved her wand, and a series of glowing red, green, and purple lines appeared on the walls, floor, and ceiling. "Interesting," she muttered.

"Hermione?"

"It's the ward pattern, but it's very unusual--Agio!"

A high pitch came out of her wand, followed by the bright lines suddenly turning orange, yellow, and finally white before flashing out altogether. And then, immediately, a rumble seemingly shook the foundation of the entire building, and the ceiling above them cracked.

"Hermione!" Ron shouted, grabbing her to pull her back. "Run!" he managed to yell at the rest of the Special Forces team before the ceiling collapsed and a wall of rocks separated them.

XXX

Harry, Ginny, and Catherine Hemmings were heading up towards the roof in an elevator, when the building slightly shook and the lights went out.

"Great," Hemmings said. "A power failure--"

"A deliberate--"

"Now, now, Mr. Potter. I assure you I had nothing to do with this. I want everyone to have their comforts."

They looked for the source of the voice. It was a glowing replica of Hund's head that hovered at the top of the elevator.

"Greetings, Mrs. Malfoy," the head said. "Hi, Cathy."

"Reducto!" Harry fired the spell at the head. It dodged the curse and shook.

"That wasn't very polite."

"And trying to resurrect Voldemort was?"

"That was Bella's obsession. I couldn't care less. You know that."

"But you are causing the mayhem out there--"

"Really? Helen Gertrude can do that well enough--"

"She's your Bella," Harry said. "Worships the ground you walk on. Can't figure out why--"

"Because she understands my plans," the head said.

"Take over America, and then the world? I understand that too. I just don't approve of either the goal or the methods."

"Too bad. It would be nice to know each other. We are quite alike, Mr. Potter. You're in denial. But I have no time to cure that. Nobody interferes with my plans and lives." With that, the head vanished, and they felt the elevator plunge down.

XXX

"Lydia!" Hermione yelled into her phone. "Are you in contact with Fifty-One?"

"What of it?!"

"Tell them not to try to break the wards on the hotel! If we do, we may do Hund's work for him!"

"Got it! You okay?"

"We're fine. Captain Davis broke a leg, but he'll be okay. We're taking apart the pile here--try to have at least one entrance that wizards can get in."

At that moment, the building shook again with a very loud crash.

"What was that?

"I lost contact with elevators two and eleven."

"What's that--hold on, there's something behind us. I'll check it--"

A portion of the wall fell down into the corridor, and two people climbed out. "C'mon," Harry said. "It's over."

"Harry!" Hermione shouted.

"Hermione! Help us, Catherine is hurt."

"I'm fine," Hemmings insisted.

"Even with a strong Cushioning Charm, a two-hundred foot fall for a Muggle is nothing to laugh about," Ginny said. "Come on."

"Hold on." Hermione aimed her lit wand into the opening. "Elevator eleven. Harry, how did you cut that wall?

"Plastic Curse," he said. "Right at the wall. Why--"

"Right here." She pointed. "Elevator two is down also. It may be--"

Harry didn't need to be asked twice. He raised his wand and fired off the spell into the wall of the passage. Within two minutes, a portion of the wall fell down and revealed another crashed elevator cabin.

"Abrio," Harry said. The doors swung open. Padma was sitting on the floor, looking at Sergeant Anderson, who wasn't moving.

"Is--"

"He's breathing," Padma said. "I think it's a shock. My Cushioning Charm wasn't strong enough."

"Come on, let's get him out of there," Hermione said. "We're underneath the hotel, where we tried to break the wards--"

"Hund sent some messaging system--shaped like his head--into the elevator," Padma said as they carried Sergeant Anderson and helped Catherine Hemmings back towards the wall of debris and stone that blocked the passage after the collapse of the ceiling where the ward was. "It taunted us, and--"

"We know, he did the same to us," Harry said. They lowered their injured friends against the wall.

Ron had already moved enough out of the way to climb through and look at the other side.

"You're alive!" a voice shouted.

"Mitch!" Captain Davis, the one Special Forces soldier who was on their side of the collapse, tried to rise despite the broken leg.

"I'm alive," Mitch said. "So's Jim. But the two of them--they tried to hold the collapse down by magic so we could escape, and got crushed."

"Damn," Davis cursed. "The whole point of breaking the ward--"

"Did they have equipment?" Hermione demanded.

"What? Yeah, they did. What of it?"

"Broomsticks!" she yelled. "We can get up to the roof through the elevator shafts!"

"There's only two. Against Hund--"

"Harry," Hermione said.

"Ginny," he called. "Let's go."

"Can you tell them to head up here with backup?" Hermione asked Captain Davis as Harry and Ginny picked up the broomsticks and headed for the empty shafts.

"We should take different ones," Harry said.

"Right," Ginny said."

Harry leaped on the broomstick and flew pas the crashed elevator cabin up the shaft. Several seconds later, he whipped out his wand and sped out of the elevator door at the top of the hotel. He saw Ginny do the same, training her wand on him--and nothing else.

Harry landed and got out the phone Hermione gave him. "Hermione, he isn't here."

"What?!"

"The roof is empty--" A bright red flash blinded him. Harry turned to see where it came from and saw the MGM Hotel towards the other end of the Strip. Harry stood firm, then cast a spell to give himself a quick burst of telescopic vision--doing so for too long was dangerous, as it was nearly impossible to navigate normal distances while it was active. He only needed one look to confirm it. It was Hund. Hund was sneering.

"Hermione, Hund's on top of MGM. He must be targeting--"

"Harry, don't do anything--except maybe attract his attention."

"What? Why?"

"Captain Davis will get in touch with headquarters," she said. A few moments later, she continued, "Right. A sniper will--"

"Wait--" Ginny shouted into the phone, but at that moment, Hund's figure on top of MGM flapped his arms and collapsed.

"--take him out," Hermione finished. "What happened up there?"

Harry carefully looked at the MGM roof, where there now was a quickly moving figure in a gray cloak. "It was a decoy," he said. "Polyjuice--"

"Our sniper--"

"Our sniper is dead," Harry said with absolute certainty.

"God damn it!" Harry heard Hemmings yell. "Why are people willing to take Polyjuice Potion for him if they routinely get killed doing it?"
"Perhaps they are well paid," Ron suggested. "We've got to get there."

"It'll take forever to get through the riot. He could set off ten hotels by then," Padma said.

"Ginny and I are going to keep him too busy to set off anything. Try to get through on the ground and join us. Catherine, you okay?"

"I'm fine. So is Sergeant Anderson. Just do your part."

"We will." He turned to Ginny. "Are you sure?"

"Harry, for the last time. WAS. HUND. RIGHT?"

"No," Harry said, and the both took off.

The riot was going in full temp on the street below. Harry had the urge to drop down and help... but he knew the best way to help was to stop the source of it all. He continued flying towards MGM.

"Do you think they'll make it?" Ginny asked. "In time--"

"That depends on how much time we can buy."

'Well, I did face Hund before, and held my ground."

"Yeah, but he could have held back. For all we know he might have done that with me, too."

Hund waited for them, smiling. Harry aimed his wand at him. He had no compunction about killing this man. "Avada--"

Hund waved his wand, and Ginny tumbled off her broomstick, falling onto the roof. Another figure--a copy of Ginny--appeared next to him. Hund raised his wand, and spun the two around each other, so fast that Harry could hardly make them apart. He then landed them down... and Harry realized he didn't know which one was real. He landed and studied the two figures. They looked identical, had hair in identical styles, wore identical clothes... He couldn't risk attacking either one,and he doubted he'd succeed if he Stunned them both and tackled Hund one on one.

"Well, this is amusing," Hund said. "You can't fight me now. It's a bad idea to turn your back onto the unknown."

"Ever think to follow that advice, Alan?"

Everyone--Harry, Hund, and the two Ginny's--turned to the voice. At the entrance to the roof elevator, wand raised, stood Samuel Hund.

XXX

Harry, for the first time, saw Hund in shock. "This... is... not... possible," he muttered. "You died in Vietnam!"

"Potter died in Azkaban. Helen Gertrude died in a parachuting accident. Your point?"
"How--why--"

"I lived as someone else. Why? You threatened my family. Did you think I'd stand for it?"

"Am I not your family? I did this all to avenge you!"

"Don't lie. And even if I did die--this isn't how I'd want you to react!"

"The Muggles must learn--"

"No. You must learn. And I'm considered a good teacher." He sent a hex at Hund.

Alan blocked it and laughed. "Is that the best you can do? Then again, I had always been better than you at duels--"

"That was over thirty years ago," Samuel said, sending several more spells at his brother. "I've learned a lot since then."

Alan blocked all attacks and fired off his own barrage. "So have I."

"Expelliarmus!"

"Protego!"

Harry turned to see the two Ginnys begin a duel of their own. He could only watch, not knowing which one he should help. Unless...

"Finite Incanta--"

"Lubrio!" one of the Ginnys yelled, and he slipped. That cost him the site of the girls for a moment, and he couldn't tell which one it had been when he got back up. Alan Hund laughed.

"Don't you know Polyjuice is not something you can undo by that spell, Potter?" he said.

"Maybe he's not trying to do that," Samuel replied. "Protego." He blocked another of his brother's curses.

"Oh yeah? What then--"

Harry, striding over towards the Ginnys, once again shouted, "Finite Incantatem!"

One of the Ginnys' dresses reverted from green to black. Before either one understood what happened, Harry aimed at the one in the green dress. "Expelliarmus!"

"Incarcerous!" the real Ginny yelled. The impostor was bound by ropes and pinned to the ground. "Petrificus Totalus!"

"Are you okay?" Harry ran up to Ginny.

"Yeah. Let's help Sam."

Harry and Ginny fired two Stunners at Alan Hund, who blocked one and dodged the other. But then, Harry tossed an anti-magic grenade, which exploded right at Hund's feet. Samuel recovered from the blast first, and hit Alan in the shoulder. He winced.

"Give it up, Alan," Samuel advised. "You don't have a chance."

"There's always a chance," Alan retorted, retreating from the three of them and constantly forcing them to block his curses. But all three relentlessly advanced.

Suddenly, he conjured up a glowing creature that Harry had never seen for real before... thirteen feet tall and heating up everything around it... a fire demon.

"Aguamenti!" Ginny tried.

"It's no use," Sam said. "Protego!" He conjured up a shield to stop the stream of flame.

Harry aimed at the demon. "Imperio!" he said. "Get lost."

The demon looked round and... vanished. Alan Hund, not prepared for this, wasn't ready for the surprise his brother sprang on him. "Expelliarmus!" His wand flew out of his hand, and he was flung back, over the edge of the roof.

They rushed to see what happened. Alan Hund was hanging on to the edge, legs dangling thirty stories above the ground.

"Give it up, brother," Samuel said again. "You can let go, and die, or you can come with us, and live."

"Yeah. If Potter doesn't kill me. If the MLEA doesn't sentence me to death. They're afraid. Afraid of me, afraid of the truth--"

"What truth?" Harry demanded.

"It's life--" Samuel said.

"You and I have very different definitions of life, Sam," Alan said. "But then, you were always content to follow orders, weren't you? Even enlisted in the Army?"

"Or maybe I just cared for something other than myself, than my own power."

"If I die... I'll die fighting. And I'll take you with me!" Alan yelled, and then his nose extended into a gray trunk and grabbed Samuel. The elephant Animagus, holding Sam, plummeted below.

"No!" Harry yelled, and leaned to look. The elephant landed, splattering blood all over the place

"My god..." Ginny whispered.

"I don't believe it. His own brother..."

"Come on, Harry. Let's take--"

Their other prisoner, still stunned and bound, began to transform. Harry rushed over, expecting Helen Gertrude.

It was Tamara. "But... Gertrude?" Ginny stammered.

"If this was Tamara,"--Harry looked at Ginny-- "...where's Gertrude?"