The Wizard Hunt

Ginny felt her head swim and nearly fell on the still figure of the strange man. She saw him seem to slacken, if such was possible when held by the Full Body-Bind Curse, and she knew he was now senseless. She put her hand to her head as she straightened up. The movement was a bad idea. Her head suddenly throbbed painfully.

She looked up and Hermione was already bustling over to Ron, who was attempting to bend over and pick up his wand. Ginny gasped when she saw the ruin that was his upper lip and nose. Feeling suddenly sick, she sat down to calm her overtaxed body.

Concern flooded Ron's eyes as he saw her thump down in the middle of the street and, grabbing his wand from the ground, he began to move towards her. Hermione grabbed him instead, and waived her wand over his face. Before Ginny's eyes, Ron's split lip mended itself and his nose straightened. He still looked like a nightmare, being all covered in blood down the front of his robes and his face being terribly bruised, but he no longer appeared to be actively bleeding.

"That's all I can do here to stop any further immediate damage. We will need to get you someplace safe where I can finish it up," said Hermione, a note of concern in her voice as she cupped Ron's cheek.

"M'alright," he mumbled in a nasal, cracked voice. He was waiving off Hermione's concerned ministrations, but was obviously still in a lot of pain. "Check Harry. I'll live."

Hermione nodded and ran over to check on Harry. Ginny looked in the direction Hermione was walking and saw a crumpled form on the ground with a knife sticking out of his thigh.

"Oh my God!" Ginny exclaimed and tried to rise to her feet. Her body would not respond properly and she only managed to scoot forward a bit. Ron walked towards her and began to sit next to her on the street.

"Sit tight, Gin," Ron said. He thumped down beside her heavily. "Harry will be all right." He didn't sound convincing. "Bloody Muggle just kicked our arse a bit."

As Ron scowled at the Killer Muggle on the ground, Hermione quickly searched Harry's incoherent form. She felt under his arm, and gingerly pulled the knife out of his leg. Muttering a continuous string of, "Oh Dear's," and, "Tut tut's," Hermione began waiving her wand quickly, but efficiently, over Harry's crumpled body.

"Ron, Malfoy must have run off during the fight," said Hermione. "You know he will be coming back with help." She said all of this distractedly as her wand was a blur over Harry's limp body.

"Okay, 'Mione," Ron replied. Then to Ginny he muttered under his breath, "Hermione studied up on loads of healing this summer." He was trying to assuage Ginny's concern. "I bet she could give Madame Pomfrey a run for her money these days."

Ginny heard the pride and confidence in Ron's voice, and her worry began to ebb. She closed her eyes and shook her head a bit to clear the cobwebs that still hung there. That was another mistake as the motion made the throbbing return in force.

Ginny felt a hard gaze on her shoulder and looked up at Ron as she rubbed her temple with her finger. He was still concerned, but there was a look of indignant anger in his face. He opened his mouth to say something.

"Later, Ron. Later," said Ginny wearily. She did not feel like explaining her presence just then to her overprotective oaf of a brother.

Ron's face reddened, and Ginny braced herself for the explosion. Just before he could begin his rant, however, a dim and distant wailing sound reached all of their ears.

"Sirens!" Hermione hissed. That would mean muggle police and a lot of embarrassing questions if they did not get out of there quickly.

"He's bad off, Ron," said Hermione, her wand-hand hanging exhaustedly at her side. She had obviously done everything she could for Harry under the circumstances. "I'm not sure we should move him."

"We'll have to move him," Ron said, rising again to his feet. "We cannot be here when those Muggle police arrive."

The wailing was getting closer. Ginny noticed a flash of movement in a window along the street. Obviously, there were some Muggle witnesses to tonight's events, as well.

"I know, I know," Hermione said absently, obviously thinking fast. "And we need to get out of Bucharest before Malfoy returns with more Death Eaters. Do you feel up to apparating?" She looked up at Ron. He thought for a second and then nodded.

The wailing was much closer now.

"Ron, give me a hand getting Harry up. Ginny, can you apparate?" Hermione asked.

"Ennervate!" Ron said, waiving his wand. He tucked his wand in his cloak and bent to help up a suddenly wakeful, but weak, Harry Potter.

"I think so," said Ginny softly as Hermione extended her hand and helped Ginny to her feet. This time wasn't so bad. Ginny only felt like she would fall over for two seconds instead of ten. "If I can keep my head clear for a minute." Ginny's eyes searched for Harry's.

"Analgesio!" said Hermione forcefully. As the spell struck, Ginny felt her head clear as the pain in her temples receded to a distant ache near where the masonry had hit the back of her head.

"I'm good, now," said Ginny, smiling thankfully. "Where are we going?"

"Oh yes!" said Hermione looking at the Killer Muggle. "Ginny, you have never been there. How silly of me! I could describe it to you, but that's dangerous. I'll just have to side-along both of you."

The wails of the sirens were closer, now, but still at some distance. Ginny tried to catch Harry's eye to no avail. He did not look in her direction, and leaned into Ron as if that was the only thing in the world that kept Harry from crashing to the pavement. It probably was.

"Hermione, I can take Harry. You don't have to take him. You take Ginny," said Ron.

"What?" said Hermione distractedly, and then glanced at Harry. "Oh yes...of course...Harry. Right."

"Where are we going?" asked Ron. Ginny thought she heard a note of apprehension in his voice.

"We have to go to Mitreni," said Hermione firmly. "To the safe house there that Bill showed us."

"I don't like that place," said Ron with frown. "The Gringots wizards haven't used that place in a couple of years. It smells like cow dung. Besides, we were supposed to go to Rome, weren't we?"

Hermione looked like she was wearing only a very thin veneer of patience. "I don't think we should go into Rome without a plan and...some more information." At this she glanced at the prone Muggle, again. "I also don't think that we could make the trip just now; not in our condition. Despite your confidence, I am not a very good healer, particularly without proper potions."

Despite his pained expression, Harry was starting to look a bit annoyed. Ginny could tell from the strained tones of Ron and Hermione that a fight was brewing. Ginny did not want to watch Hermione and Ron have a row right as Muggle police began pouring into the street.

"So we have to stay in a dung-heap, then?" asked Ron petulantly, looking muley.

Hermione stamped her foot. "We already decided this, Ron! Mitreni is not as populous as the other parts of Romania near the Danube. We can hide for a few days and then...we can cross the border..."

"Yeah, but I didn't know we were actually going to have to go there. I bet you'll love it," sneered Ron.

"Look, it only makes sense. I don't want to go there," Hermione's face was reddening as her voice rose in anger and hurt. This had obviously been an ongoing argument with them. "Do you want your face to scar that way? You were the one who decided to attack a killer Muggle."

"Oh ho! So this is my fault, is it?" Ron said, pointing an accusing finger sideways at Ginny, while his voice became a yell as he faced off with Hermione. "I was the one who made Ginny decide to show up uninvited and get herself killed by that Bastard!"

"Excuse me?" said Ginny indignantly. "He saved me, if you must know! You were the prat who got him to try and kill you, not me."

Ron turned towards her, his face purple with bruises and flushed anger. Hermione stamped her foot again in frustration, looking on the verge of tears. Ginny heard the sirens getting ever closer.

Harry's voice was small, but it held the three of them as he whispered, "Hermione is right, Ron. We already planned to do this if any of us got hurt here. We need to go somewhere where we know people we can trust."

"Hah!" snorted Ron, but he looked ready to acquiesce.

"Look, Ron," said Hermione plaintively, obviously distraught by Ron's reaction. "I don't know enough about healing, yet. I can keep us from dying, but we need to heal for a couple of more weeks unless we can find proper healers." Hermione cast a dispirited glance at the petrified Muggle lying nearby.

Ginny was very confused at this point and asked, "What do you mean? You can heal us, right? We can apparate to wherever you want to go, right? I don't want to stay at a dung barn, myself."

Hermione looked relieved that she could explain this to someone besides Ron. "We don't know the place where we are ultimately going...across the border..." at this point Hermione eyed Ron as he exhaled sharply and busied himself adjusting Harry for side-along apparition.

Ginny heard the sirens drawing even closer, and Hermione glanced at the Killer Muggle and then away again quickly...almost too fast for Ginny to notice.

"I only know our ultimate destination by name. We have never seen it, so we cannot apparate there. To answer your other questions, I can heal, but it's only like First-Aid. I can make a few simple potions to help, as well. But I cannot make us good as new in a single night; not like a proper healer. We need to go to someone we can trust."

Hermione looked very annoyed at her inadequacy, as well as the loud grunt Ron issued at that point.

"We need to heal up naturally for a week, maybe more," Hermione continued to Ginny while looking pointedly at Ron. He refused to meet her gaze. "We need a safe place with proper healers to check on Harry. I think he has a broken rib near his heart, and that can be deadly. I don't want to meddle with things I am not sure of. If we stay tonight at the safe house, we can take a short ride on Muggle transport to cross over to a town called Tutrakan in..."

"Bulgaria!" Ron spat disgustedly. Hermione sniffed and looked at Ron with a mixture of sadness and anger. Despite his rough voice, Ron gently checked Harry's cloak for something. "You okay, Mate? You still got IT, right?"

"Yeah," whispered Harry. Ginny's heart went out to Harry to hear him in so much pain. Ginny was completely for Hermione's plan if it would help save Harry from a life-threatening injury. Ron could be damned.

The sirens wailed. They were only a few blocks away.

"We need to go. Now," grunted Harry.

"Bloody Bulgaria..." Ron muttered, then he and Harry turned on the spot, and disappeared with a loud cracking noise.

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

I feel like I have died. I am wrapped in Sorcery. I am coated with evil. I swim in and out of consciousness, and hear the distant shrieks of demons calling to me.

Come and get me, Foul Creatures. You will find that I am no easy meat.

I must be dreaming, because I feel Satan's followers lifting me. They say nonsensical things about "apparition" and Bulgaria. I am like a piece of wood - stiff and immobile.

My head clears suddenly at the mention of a name. It shoots through me like lightning and brings me to awareness in a heartbeat. Hatred burns within me, and the Lord's vengeance. I am His instrument.

A red headed girl said a demon's name. I think she looks a bit like...no I will not think of that now. But she had said, "Voldemort."

I try to move and my muscles do not even strain. I try to fight the sorcery, but I am helpless. The marks on my arms burn with my mental effort, but my body moves not a hair.

Foul sorcery! God save me and protect me!

"Ginny, we have to take him," the bushy-haired girl says plaintively. "He can help us! I know it. Look at his arm!"

"This muggle can help us kill Voldemort, Hermione?" Ginny asks incredulously. "I know he is a powerful Muggle...but Voldemort?"

Electricity burns through me at the mention of the Demon's name. They want to kill him! These sorcerer's want to fulfill my life's mission! God save me, but they do!

"Look, we have to go, Ginny!" says Hermione. "Just trust me. If I am right, and I think I am, this Muggle's only ... purpose ... is to kill wizards like Voldemort. He is in an Order...well I cannot go into that now. I'll explain later."

I realize that the screams that I thought were demons, are instead the wail of police sirens.

"Well," says Ginny, "I hope you're right. Ron is going to have kittens when we arrive. You can apparate with both of us?"

"I'll have to, won't I?" says Hermione.

Hermione and Ginny are holding me. I feel my thumb twitch as they get a better grip on me. I begin to feel a demonic squeezing sensation as we turn on the spot and the world disappears.

I know, as immersed in foul sorcery as I am at this moment, that I should be horrified.

I am not horrified.

I want to laugh.

Not because movement is returning to my limbs, though I thank and praise my Maker for it.

But because Hermione is wrong.

The reason I am: It is not to kill Voldemort. The dark ones and the Demon are just...first.