Krum Do I Love?

Krum Do I Love? - Chapter 9

The Powers That Be

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The end of chapter 8:
With another successful curse, Draco's vision had begun to blur. Ron's shouting had stopped, and so had the flashes that had previously shot past him, aimed at Ron. He barely managed to ward off two more curses when the third hit him in the head, and he knew no more.

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"Harry! Something's going on up there!" Hermione wriggled out of his arms and sat bolt upright, pointing at the ceiling. Her cheeks were flushed, and her hair ruffled, but she seemed to have forgotten her previous activity, and gave her full attention to the continuous sound of blasts that shook their dungeon prison.

She watched Harry sit up as well, looking somewhat disappointed. "I think that Ron and Draco may be in trouble," she said in an attempt to shake him out of his dazed state. That worked better than she had expected. Harry jumped to his feet and approached the dungeon door. The little Seeker on his boxer shorts jumped to attention as well. He watched with interest as Harry unsuccessfully tried the doorknob.

"It's locked," he said, no surprise in his voice.

"Try using this." Hermione held out the battered phoenix feather she had found in his robes.

Harry took the thing that was more a stalk than a feather and tried to stick it in the keyhole.

"Not like that," scolded Hermione. "Use it like a wand."

Harry gazed at her and then at the object in his hand. It was nothing more than a crooked twig with a few red and gold threads hanging from it. "This is not a wand," he said in a sombre voice.

"Harry, you used it to ward off the Avada Kedavra curse! It doesn't get more magical than that." Hermione almost shouted the words. The explosions heard from above them came at a nerve-wracking rate. "Just try it," she implored.

Harry pointed the remainder of the feather to the door, and without much conviction said, "alohomora".

Nothing happened.

"You see, it doesn't work. This isn't a wand."

"Of course it won't work if you don't believe it will. Remember how long it took you just to transfigure a match to a needle? You've got to believe you can do it."

Harry remembered his first Transfiguration lessons well. Hermione was the first in the class to make that magic work. He was the last. Well, next to last. There was also Neville. He just hadn't believed he was really a wizard. He raised his hand with the thread-decorated straw and pointed it at the door. "alohomora," he said in a manner as effective in its quiet manner as an approaching tsunami.

The door flew open, taking the guard who'd been standing outside with it.

"That was lucky," Harry said, stepping over the unconscious masked guard. He noticed that Hermione wasn't with him, and wheeled around in search of her. He thought she was the one in a hurry.

"Er - Harry," Hermione said from the inside of their open cell. "You'll probably want to put your robes back on before we charge to the rescue."

Harry turned deep scarlet. Better than to have found out later, he told himself, but that wasn't much consolation. He took his robes from Hermione and pulled them over his head. The clotted blood made the front of the robes stiff and rough against the skin of his chest. At least they were no longer wet.

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"Padfoot, are you sure you're all right?"

"Yes, Mummy."

"Sirius. I'm not joking." Arabella stepped in front of him, blocking his way. "You don't look too good."

"Don't make me stop," Sirius moaned. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get started again after I stop?"

"Then don't. Stay here," she practically begged him. "We'll get the kids and come back for you."

"You've heard what Remus said about them having some kind of gathering. You're going to need me if you want to get the kids out."

"You will be in no condition to help us!" She was annoyed to the verge of shouting. "We will be getting into hostile territory any minute now, and then we'll have to carry you!"

"You will not have to carry me," Sirius growled. He pushed Arabella aside and resumed his laborious walk. He mutely cursed Snape, gritting his teeth against the pain. Why couldn't he have come in a moment earlier, before the guard shot his legs? It was just like Snape.

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Harry led the way with Hermione close on his heels. They ran up a steep staircase that seemed to drag on forever. They eventually emerged into the side of a corridor. Harry stopped short, unable to decide which way to go. He kept jumping in one place, adrenaline rushing in his veins.

"Left!" called Hermione, and ran right past him. He followed suit, and almost ran into her back when she stopped in front of a heavy oak door. "Here," she gasped. "This is the lounge that's attached to the ceremonial room. I think the explosions were coming from here."

Harry gave her a dumb look and made an effort to listen. So did she, but the blasts that shook the entire construction had now stopped. Harry touched the door with his feather residue. "Alohomora," he whispered.

The door opened with a bang, revealing two figures sprawled on the floor, surrounded by an inconceivable number of Death Eaters. There was no mistaking the pair on the ground. Red hair on one, platinum blond on the other. Some of the Death Eaters were pointing their wands towards those two, but most of them turned to face the opening door and had their wands aimed at Harry and Hermione.

Harry drew back and hid behind the wide doorframe. Hermione was cemented to the spot, and so he dragged her with him. He propped his head against the wall and gave the stalk in his hand a bemused look. "There are too many Death Eaters there to fight off with a straw."

"A phoenix feather."

"Whatever. At least Voldemort isn't here."

Hermione winced at the sound of the name.

Harry dared a peep into the room, and used the opportunity to release a curse inside. "It seems that Ron and Draco gave them quite a fight. There's a group of hurt Death Eaters in the corner, and I just saw another one being dragged there." He shot another almost blind curse into the room. "This thing actually works," he said, amazed, raising the battered feather.

"Of course it works."

Two Death Eaters came running out of the door and got a taste of Harry's curses point blank. They both fell to the floor, unconscious.

Hermione bent over to examine them. "They're alive, but barely," she said. She picked up the wands the two were carrying, keeping one and handing Harry the other. Harry took it with thanks, but pocketed it, and kept the feather ready. He offered Hermione an embarrassed smile, but she gazed at him gravely. "Harry, what curse did you use on them?"

"The stunning curse," Harry said, a little surprised by the question. "Didn't you hear me?"

"As a matter of fact, no," stated Hermione. "You didn't say anything."

"Sure I did." Harry stepped over one of the bodies and released yet another curse into the room. Two more Death Eaters came running out, and met the same fate as the first two, only now Hermione had a hand in it. "Didn't I?" Harry asked, beginning to doubt his own sanity.

Hermione only stared at him.

Harry took another peek into the room, but this time no curse left the tip of the feather.

"What happened?" asked Hermione.

"It's - he's -" Harry stammered. A loud explosion shook the building, and then another and another. They were all coming from inside the room. Harry stepped in front of the open door, and just stood there, watching.

"Are you mad?" Hermione hissed at him, but she noticed that he remained standing, unharmed for several seconds. Has he become immune to all curses? she wondered. As she thought that, a few more explosions were heard, and she was sure Harry wasn't responsible for any of them. Not that she thought he wasn't capable of creating a full-scale explosion. By now she was willing to believe practically anything about him, but he just looked too stunned to have done so.

She stepped up beside him and bathed her eyes on the sight in the room. Many of the Death Eaters were now lying on the floor, taken completely out of action. The others faced a small group that were coming through the room's other door. Hermione understood Harry's expression. The invading group was composed of Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Lee Jordan, Arabella Figg and Mundungus Fletcher. The latter two she'd met on yet another one of Harry's brushes with death. The five were giving the remaining Death Eaters a living hell.

Harry snapped out of his state of shock and joined the fight, and so did Hermione. With their help, the battle was soon over. Six of them rushed to the prone figures of Ron and Draco. They were bleeding horribly, but were still alive. They were hit with so many concurrent reviving spells that their bodies jumped as if they'd been galvanized.

As Arabella tended to their wounds, Harry looked around for Sirius. He let out a strangled scream when he finally found him. Sirius was lying by the door, blood pooling under his legs and his entire body limp and seemingly lifeless.

Arabella followed Harry's frenzied dash with her eyes. She felt a chill going through her when she saw what it was that made him shout. Somehow, she wasn't surprised. She knew Sirius couldn't hold on with his wounds. She was amazed that he'd managed to get this far and even help with the battle.

Arabella sighed and fastened the bandage over Ron's arm, taking measure of his new Dark Mark in the process. That was his last visible gash. Draco was already on his feet, searching woozily around the room, but there was no sign of either his father or Saitaina. Arabella gently turned Ron over to see that she hadn't missed any wounds. When she felt he was reasonably fixed, she went over to Harry and Sirius.

Sirius had somehow managed to regain semi-consciousness, and was foolishly trying to sit up. Arabella pushed him back to the floor, not being very gentle about it. Harry jerked forward and caught Sirius' head just before it hit the flagstones, as Sirius lost consciousness again.

Arabella removed Sirius' blood-soaked bandages and applied new bandages to his legs. That helped stop the bleeding.

Harry knew Arabella was very familiar with medical spells. "Why don't you cure it with magic?" he asked.

"That's a curse wound. I need to know the exact counter-spell to stop it." She sighed. "It's not a very sophisticated curse. If he would just lie back for a few hours, it'll go away on its own." There was a great deal of anger in her voice. "Come on, help me put him on one of these couches." She took Sirius' legs and waited for Harry to grab his upper body. They loaded Sirius onto a leather lounge by the fire, making sure his legs were raised. Harry sat by him and waited. He rubbed his scar as a useless remedy against the bothering ache it seeded in his head.

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A very slight movement disturbed the stillness of the room. A small, hunched figure moved slowly in the shadows toward what seemed like the darkest area, right at its centre.

"It is done, Master."

Something moved inside the dense blackness. Something even darker than the room. There seemed to be someone in there, someone tall and not entirely human. The darkness was pouring out of his sheer existence. "Good, Wormtail. Did you do exactly as I ordered?"

"Yes, My Lord. They have all escaped. They suspect nothing. They think they did it on their own powers." Wormtail's face could not be seen, but the smirk was well heard in his voice.

"Good."

"It was easier than we expected, Master. Potter and the girl managed to escape their cell without our help. All we had to do was to get out of their path."

"Oh, really?" The words were accompanied by the sound of gritting teeth. "Maybe this was too easy." The master paused, perhaps to consider. "I do not want them to think we are weak. Send some of my minions after them. Order them to aim especially at the Potter boy. Make him hurt, but make sure he isn't killed."

"Who should I send, My Lord? We have lost quite a few of our numbers in this display."

"Have we?" asked the master, sounding truly bored. "That hardly matters. Soon, Potter will turn to our side, and then there will not be a single wizard or witch in this country who will fight us. Now go."

Wormtail left the room the same way he came in, facing the same direction. He made a point of never turning his back to his master. One could never know.

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Arabella sat down by Harry, watching Sirius with a concerned expression. "He should have been up by now. He's been out for nearly two hours. I think we have the entire floor cleansed of Death Eaters by now. Maybe he's lost more blood than I thought." She placed her hand on Sirius' forehead, pushing his hair aside, and wiping the sweat off his brow.

"Don't worry," Harry calmed her. "I've placed him under an enchanted sleep."

"Enchanted sleep? Why?"

"Well, you said he needed to rest," said Harry matter-of-factly. "He wouldn't have had his rest otherwise."

"True," agreed Arabella. "But I think you can remove the spell now." She moved away from Sirius, allowing Harry some room to cast the spell.

"What's that in your hand?" she asked, as Harry casually pointed what was left of the phoenix feather at Sirius' chest.

"That?" Harry said, a bit embarrassed. "Er - It's a wand core. Don't worry, it works just fine. Ennervate."

Sirius opened his eyes. He met Harry's gaze and grabbed him by his left arm with brutal force. Before Harry realised what was going on, Sirius used his other hand to slide up Harry's sleeve. Harry's Dark Mark was exposed, causing him to wince. Sirius let go of Harry hand as rapidly as he had grabbed it, and closed his eyes.

"Tell me I didn't just see that," he breathed.

"I have no idea how it got there," Harry bemoaned.

Sirius was so surprised that he opened his eyes to give Harry an incredibly incredulous glower. "Oh, really?" he mocked.

"This is why I came here in the first place," Harry tried to explain. "I want to find out who did this to me, and why. And I want to know how I can get this removed." He stared straight into Sirius' dark grey eyes, trying to appear as believable as possible.

"Good," said Sirius with a touch of cruelty in his voice. "In that case, you're coming to Dumbledore with me. If anyone can do anything about this, he can."

Harry knew there was no chance he was going to Dumbledore with this. Not at the risk of being expelled. But the expression on Sirius' face suggested that now was not the time to argue about it. He gave Sirius a noncommittal nod and moved slightly aside. He was pushed further away by the approach of Remus and Mundungus.

"Hey Padfoot, finally decided join us?" scoffed Remus. "Or did you decide to park on the leather couch for the night, like in the old days?"

Sirius chortled. "This does resemble the old common room, doesn't it?"

Harry looked around, surprised. This was nothing like the Gryffindor common room. There were no green lamps and silver snake-shaped decorations in there. Also - "There are no leather couches in the common room. There are overstuffed purple couches," he told Sirius.

Remus and Sirius exchanged uncomfortable glances. "There are, mind you," came a voice from behind Harry's back. He turned to see Draco standing there, looking somewhat fragile. "In the Slytherin common room, that is."

"Yes, but Sirius wasn't in Slytherin, was he?" Harry said, refusing to accept the evidence that indicated otherwise.

Sirius' face fell. "Didn't you know Remus and I were in the same house?" he asked sadly.

"I did, I thought he was a Gryffindor too -" Harry trailed off. The implication of Sirius' grave expression was beginning to sink in.

"You didn't really think there was a place for a werewolf in any house but Slytherin?" mocked Draco. He seemed extremely cheerful at the idea that he, Harry's nemesis, had more in common with Harry's beloved than Harry himself.

Harry was so white he looked like he was about to collapse. "My father too?"

Sirius and Remus nodded in accordance.

"And my mother?" Harry stammered. "I thought she was a Gryffindor."

"She was," said Sirius, as if happy to give Harry a straw to hang on to. "That's why your parents got together only in their last year. Didn't you know they were Head Boy and Girl together?"

"That, I did know. But what does that have to do with anything?"

"You can't have both Head Boy and Head Girl from the same house, can you? That wouldn't be fair to the other houses."

"That should have told you that they're not from the same house," jeered Draco with unhidden glee.

Harry stepped away from the group. He needed time to consider the new information he had just been given. "Why couldn't he have been a Ravenclaw?" he muttered under his breath. He sat hard on yet another one of the leather couches in the room and sulked.

Harry was so consumed in his thoughts, he didn't even notice the masked wizards who stole into the room and spread about it. None of the others noticed them at first either.

In a very rapid motion that took Mundungus completely by surprise, Sirius rammed him out of the way as he jumped from his leisured position on the sofa. He readied his wand as he did so.

Every eye in the room followed the sudden red light from Sirius' wand to its white-masked target. Lethal curses began flying around, produced by numerous wands and one thing that was once a feather. In an instant, the small quiet space had turned into a battle-zone and evil had the upper hand.

The curses hit every object in the room - people, chairs, walls, one even hit the fireplace, causing it to produce thick yellow smoke, but mainly, the curses hit Harry. He fought them off well, and had much help from Sirius and Hermione who both stood abreast of him, but there were over a dozen Death Eaters who were completely concentrated on hurting him, and they were reasonably successful.

Harry was brought down to his knees, which matched Hermione's position. Her legs had surrendered to a vicious curse a moment earlier. Sirius gave them a grim glance, and came to a decision. He still had the package he had taken from Snape along with the map. He took it out of his pocket and opened it. As he had suspected, the package contained Floo powder.

"Take a pinch," he instructed both Harry and Hermione. "Go to Diagon Alley. The rest of us will be right behind you."

Harry hesitated for one brief moment, and then took the powder. Hermione followed suit. On wobbly, hurting legs, they approached the fireplace. It was still oozing thick smoke from the curse that had hit it. He let Hermione go first and watched Sirius approach the others with the small bag, as she disappeared in the flames. He threw his own dose of powder into the hearth and stepped inside. As clearly as he could manage, Harry said, "Diagon Alley."

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Harry stepped out of the fire, almost knocking into Hermione as he went. Hermione knew better than to stand in the way when someone was using Floo powder, nevertheless, she stood stock still, dumb with shock and disappointment. The room they were in looked identical to the one they had just left, minus the occupants. They hadn't reached their desired destination, but at least this room was empty.

Ron came out of the fire, successfully smacking into Harry. Harry took a forced step forward, and fell with Ron on top of him, as Draco came out of the hearth and bumped into both. He just managed to avoid tripping as well.

"If you're quite done making out," Draco indicated Ron and Harry, "you might consider getting as far away from here as we can."

"We're waiting for the others," said Harry. He heaved himself off the floor and brushed his robes. That was quite a pitiable motion, considering their shabby condition.

"They're not coming," Draco stated dryly. "Let's go." He turned towards the door, but was stopped as Harry grabbed the hem of his robes.

"What do you mean, they're not coming?"

"I saw the fireplace explode as I left it. They can't use it." Draco brutally released his robes from Harry's hand. "As I said, they're not coming."

"Maybe they'll use another fire to get here." Harry tried to maintain some hope.

"They can't," said Draco. His voice now had turned from mere cold to utterly cruel. "If you haven't noticed, we're not in Diagon Alley, despite what your dear godfather suggested. Each fire is set to one destination only. The one we used was set to here. Any other fire they use will take them someplace else." He started for the door again. "That is, if they manage to get to another fire."

For an instant, Harry thought that he couldn't care less. They were all Slytherins, after all. He felt horrified by that thought, and immediately drove it away. Of course he cared. They weren't any different just because he had found out something about them. Sirius had saved his life enough times to prove that he was no less brave and chivalrous than any Gryffindor. He possessed these qualities just as much as he possessed the cunning and slyness of the Slytherins. And Harry loved Sirius. With all his heart. Even if he was a - the thought was unbearable.

Harry followed Draco out to the hall. The far wall was decorated with a small window. Outside was completely dark except for a few hovering points of light. A more careful look revealed these to be the tops of several turrets and towers. As many as five of them were visible through the narrow window. Harry wondered how many more this construction held. They were obviously inside a very large castle.

Draco turned his back on the sight and opened another door, leading deeper into the castle. "Malfoy, you're going the wrong way!" Harry called after him. "To get out, we have to go that way." He pointed at an unremarkable green door by the window.

"Unless you want to walk all the way home, we need to get brooms first," sneered Draco. "This is the way to the brooms chamber." He kept going in the same direction.

"Oh yeah?" Harry called after him. "And how would you know that?"

"I've been here before." The tone in Draco's voice indicated that he didn't want to say anything more about it.

"Right." Ron grimaced in mock disgust. "We almost forgot you're one of them."

"I was." said Draco heavily. "May I remind you that my own father just tried to kill me?"

"Well, I would too, if you were my kid." Ron pretended to shiver of the sheer thought. "But I would have done so much sooner."

Surprisingly, Draco didn't lunge at him. He just stared grimly.

"That was really cruel, Ron," said Hermione. She moved to put her hand on Draco's shoulder. "Forget about it, Draco. Your father only did what You-Know-Who had ordered him to. He's an evil Death Eater -"

"I'm a Death Eater too, mind you," Draco cut her off rudely. He moved away from her touch.

"He is," said Ron, without any glimpse of courtesy he'd ever been brought up to employ.

"So are you!" Hermione shouted. She pulled Ron's sleeve brusquely up, exposing his arm to the shoulder, and on his forearm, was his new vivid Dark Mark.

It was Harry's turn to glower. "Ron!" he breathed.

"Oh, what are you staring at?" Ron redirected his assault to Harry. "You've got one just like it. So now there are two of us who need to get this thing removed." He strode after Draco, who was gaining distance from the group.

Harry took Hermione's hand, and the two of them followed.

A few curves and turns later, Draco came to a stop in front of an ordinary-looking beech door. "The brooms are kept here," he announced succinctly. Harry reached for the doorknob. "Don't touch it," Draco ordered haughtily.

"Why not?"

Draco plucked a hair from Ron's head to loud protest and dropped it on the knob. Harry would have never guessed that a single hair could create such an explosion. It hissed angrily and threw red and yellow sparks in all directions.

"Thanks," Harry said, thinking that it could have been his hand. "So how do we get it open?"

"We need a password."

"That's nice," said Ron. "And what is it?"

"I have no idea."

"Great. I must say, Malfoy. This is certainly one of your most cunning plans ever."

"Shut up, Ron." Hermione was beginning to get annoyed with Ron's bellicoseness. True, Draco was no angel, but he had done absolutely nothing to provoke Ron since they got free, and Ron was being plain nasty.

"I think that if we all try to spell the door open together, it could work," Draco suggested.

Hermione approached the door, wand ready in her hand. Ron and Harry took pattern by her. Draco snickered when he saw Harry's beaten feather. "What's that, Potter?"

"Shut up, Malfoy. It works just fine." Harry glared at Draco, knowing that Draco had a good reason to mock him. "On the count of three. One, t-"

"Wait!" Draco stopped him. Only then Harry noticed that he still hadn't produced his wand. "It's not that simple. "There's another protection on this chamber. If we break open the door, an alarm will go off."

"But you just suggested that we break it!" cried Ron.

"And I still think we should," Draco said quietly. "But we need to be prepared. We have to get in, get the brooms and get out as quickly as we can. With any luck, we'll be out of the castle before the guards get here."

"And if we don't get lucky?"

Draco shrugged. He pointed his wand at the door, and waited.

"One, two, THREE!"

All four of them shouted "ALOHOMORA!" as one.

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Sirius watched the fireplace explode a second after Draco stepped into it. He didn't hear the boy give the destination command, and was extremely concerned that he didn't make it. They would have to check the smoking rubble for a body, but that would have to wait. Right then, he had too many Death Eaters to worry about.

Mundungus etded his way towards Sirius, sporadically firing curses as he progressed. The moment Harry was gone through the grate, the Death Eaters became a degree more interested in the rest of them. Mundungus was careful to avoid the curses - those produced by the Death Eaters, and those Sirius had created.

"We need to get out of this room," he breathed as he reached Sirius. "Find another fire and Floo ourselves to a more civil place."

"What about Draco Malfoy?" Sirius demanded. He knew the answer to that question, but wanted someone else to say it.

"You don't know he's here." Mundungus pointed to the ruins, providing Sirius with what he needed to hear. "Even if he is, we can't afford to stay here just for a body, or we'll have more than one body to worry about."

Sirius turned his back to the fight, and pointed his wand at the collapsed grate. "Wingardium leviosa," he bellowed.

"You can't be serious," muttered Arabella from her hiding place a few feet away. "This rubble must be- Wahh!"

She cut off her reproach as several tons of heavy blocks rose into the air. Even the Death Eaters stopped throwing curses and watched in awe. The raised rubble remained hovering for a few seconds and then collapsed back in great thunder.

"I didn't see any body," panted Sirius, beads of sweat popping on his forehead and rolling down his temples. "Did you see anything?"

Mundungus shook his head, the ability to speak still lost on him.

"Good," said Sirius, "Then we should go." He jumped to his feet and raced out of the room before the Death Eaters fired the first curse at him. The others followed suit quicker than the Death Eaters could react. The first curses shot their way hit the room's rapidly closing door, guaranteeing everybody's safety.

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The wards on the door must have been extremely powerful, because it barely rotated on its hinges. Yet, that was enough. It was no longer locked. Unfortunately, the alarm was set off. The walls all around them lit up with a weird azure light produced by thousands of previously invisible tiny torches. The light became a darker shade of turquoise the closer it was to them, pinpointing their exact location.

Draco kicked the door open the rest of the way. Sparks shot from the wood, but he seemed unharmed. "Death Eater boots were designed for nasty jobs," he explained as the other three fixed puzzled stares on him.

The open door led to a spacious room. The walls were all lined with brooms of the top class. Harry didn't waste any time. He walked straight to the Firebolts Mark Kappa, took one of them, and stepped outside. Hermione was right behind him, carrying an identical broom. Draco took a bit longer to join them, but he eventually did, another Firebolt Mark Kappa in his hands.

"What kept you?" Harry asked, somewhat irritated. The turquoise light had grown stronger, and distant footsteps could be heard with vivid clarity.

Draco opened his mouth to defend himself, but frowned before the first syllable escaped his throat. "Where's Weasley?" he asked instead.

Harry whirled frantically. Ron was there, struggling to release another one of the state-of-the-art brooms. Harry ran inside to help him. He grabbed the broomstick and pulled vigorously along with Ron, but the broom wouldn't come free. He snatched at another Kappa at random, but despite Ron's help, it remained stubbornly in place. Thinking that the Kappas might have been enchanted, Harry rushed to a different section on the room, and tried to release a broom from there. It was a simple, faithful Nimbus 2001, but it came free, and that was the most important quality he needed in a broom right then.

"Here!" he shouted at Ron. Ron saw the two brooms in Harry's hand, and rushed to him. Harry handed him the Kappa and kept the Nimbus for himself. They could hear shouts from outside the room. Some of the voices belonged to Draco and Hermione, but not all.

Without thinking, Harry mounted his broom and zoomed out of the room, missing the door by mere inches. The images that came into view were of Draco and Hermione pushed to the hallway wall, huddled there by a group of threatening Death Eaters. He bent over the handle and rushed into the group of dark minions like a well-aimed bowling ball into the standing pins. And the Death Eaters fell like bowling pins. Not severely hurt, but momentarily out of action.

"Come on!" Harry shouted at the others. Ron and Draco had already managed to get on their brooms, and Hermione was just getting there, making an obvious but vain effort not to shiver too violently.

Harry led the way, flying through the castle corridors, the other three close on his tail. They passed several Death Eaters rushing towards the origin of the alarm, unaware that the cause of the alarm was coming their way. Unfortunately, one of these Death Eaters managed to grab the twigs of Hermione's somewhat wavering broom. He skied several feet along the hall, holding on to the tail of her broom, until he managed to make her drop off of it.

Harry heard her scream and the thud of Hermione's body hitting the flagstones shortly after it. He rounded his broom almost in place, barely missing Ron and Draco who zoomed past him, and then he retraced their route. He saw a masked wizard raising his wand above Hermione's head. He prodded his broom and jammed the Death Eater hard in his mid-section. With nothing to stop his trajectory, the Death Eater was tossed the entire length of the hallway, skidding the last few meters of the way on an unrecognizable part of his body.

Harry brought his attention back to Hermione, who had staggered to her feet. "Are you able to ride a broom?" Ron and Draco had joined them. They both offered her concerned looks.

Hermione nodded gingerly.

"Are you sure? We can ride together," Harry suggested. That sounded like a good idea for more than one reason.

"That'll just hold us back," Hermione refused reluctantly. She mounted her broom and rose to match the height of the three hovering boys.

"You shouldn't ride in the back," Draco stated dryly. "I'll ride last, and Weasley will ride before me. You should be second, right after Potter." Then he added with a mutter, "I wish there were more of us."

"Are you done arranging us?" snarled Ron.

"Yes, I am," said Draco. His eyes lit with a dangerous grey fire that suggested he should be taken very seriously.

Ron took the suggestion and assumed his designated position. He had to admit, if only to himself, that it made sense.

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"What now?" asked Remus. He was the last one to step out of the fireplace, and assumed the others had already formed a plan.

"Look around for the children, I assume?" Sirius answered, sounding a tad hesitant.

"This isn't Diagon Alley, if you haven't noticed," said Arabella. Despite her attempt to sound sure of herself, she gave the impression of being rather frightened.

"Too much for one day?" said Sirius softly, placing an arm around her shoulder.

Arabella wanted to sneer at him, but couldn't find the strength to do so. She just sighed. "I don't think the kids are here," she said. At least, she hoped they weren't. She looked at the dark walls, bearing snake-shaped reliefs that seemed to suck every bit of light in the room. They also looked like they were moving, but every time she focused her eyes on a single serpent, it seemed to freeze, while at the edge of her vision others still moved.

Bronze brackets also designed as snakes held torches all around the room, but there was no fire in them. Arabella wondered if they ever harboured real fire, or if they were placed there just to evince the lack of it.

"I don't like the thought of the kids running around a place like this," Arabella said. "I think we should go find them."

"I'm afraid we need to find ourselves first," Sirius said grimly. He looked around him, but stopped at a creaking sound. He turned his head along with the others towards the door from which the sound came. The door opened slowly, until it showed the wizard who was struggling to open it. The wizard held in his hands a large cauldron, from which sickening purple vapours were rising. He was pushing the door with his back, having both hands on the cauldron, and thus had his back turned to the room. When the door was sufficiently open, he turned, and saw the five intruders watching him with their wands drawn.

Despite the fact that the wizard's hood was drawn back in a casual manner, he was wearing a very formal white mask. "A Death Eater," Lee muttered, hatred creeping into his voice. The Death Eater stopped to consider his situation for no more than a second. Then he hurled the cauldron as far in their direction as he could manage, and dashed out of the room.

Purple splashes sprayed them all. Sirius and Lee, who stood closest to the door, absorbed the most liquid. They watched the purple smudges, as if waiting for them to eat through their clothes and their skin, eventually realising that the worst that had happened was that their clothes needed a good wash. Sirius exchanged looks with Mundungus, and seemingly they had both reached the same conclusion at the same time, as they both sprinted out of the room, shoulder to shoulder.

The Death Eater was easy to track - there was a trail of purple droplets leading to him. It took two turns of the corridors before Sirius and Mundungus cornered him. The terrified dark wizard backed up against a wall, dropped his wand and raised his hands in surrender. "Please don't hurt me," he snivelled.

"We won't," growled Sirius. "We just want to know where we are, and how we get out of here."

The Death Eater eyed them suspiciously. "If I show you, you'll let me go?" he asked.

"Yes," promised Sirius.

"All right, I have a map of the fortress." The Death Eater reached into the inner pocket of his cloak, mumbling something unintelligible under his breath and pulled out a wand. The tip of the wand was shining with a hex as it appeared in his hand.

Without thinking, Sirius grabbed the wizard's hand and pulled it up forcefully. The curse hit the ceiling of the corridor, and showered them with a mixture of shimmering sparks, dust and plaster. One large chunk of stone dropped from the ceiling and hit the Death Eater's head, sending him cascading to the floor.

"I think his neck's broken," said Mundungus after examining the fallen wizard.

Sirius cursed with feeling and kicked the prone body lying on the flagstones. "I shouldn't have dropped a house on him," he muttered.

"But it seems that he had a map after all," added Mundungus, pulling a folded parchment from the dead wizard's pocket. Both he and Sirius smiled. Mundungus unfolded the map and the two of them watched the markings intently.

"Hmmm," said Sirius.

"Hmmm," Mundungus repeated after him.

"I think we'll be giving this to Moony soon."

"My sentiments exactly."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The four brooms advanced persistently in the pitch dark, led by a relentless Draco Malfoy. Draco had insisted that he knew the way even, and especially, during the night, and that they had to get as far away from the dark-dominated areas as they could. And so, they flew until the first cold rays of the sun made the crack of dawn.

Hermione looked down as soon as there was enough light to see what was beneath them. She noticed, with some horror, that they were flying over a forest, only inches above the tallest trees. To her great relief, Draco pointed his broom downwards at the first forest clearing they reached.

"Where are we?" Harry asked the instant his feet touched the ground.

"The Forbidden Forest," answered Draco.

"The Forbidden Forest!" squealed Ron. Images of the last encounter he had there floated in front of his eyes.

"At least we're out of You-Know-Who's backyard," Draco said coldly. ""We can rest here for a while and then head back to school, we're only a few hours away from there."

"I'm not going back to school," Harry declared in a voice that dared anyone to argue with him.

Hermione ignored the warning. "Of course you are," she said, sounding a lot like Professor McGonagall on her third explanation of the same Transfiguration process.

"No!" Harry said defiantly, and then lowered his tone back to normal. "Look," he tried to explain, "between the accident with Cho, the article in the Daily Prophet, and the fact that I do have the Dark Mark." He stopped to steady his voice before going on. "If I go to school now, I'll be kicked out before I have a chance to say two words."

"I think Dumbledore will give you a chance to explain," Hermione said, still sounding didactic.

"Maybe," doubted Harry. "And then he'll send me off. I'd rather come with some proof."

"Like what?" Hermione challenged.

Harry sat down hard on the nearest rock. He put his head in his hands, but perked up after a moment. "The Pensieve," he said. "If I bring it with me, it'll prove that I'm still on the right side. Then, Dumbledore may be more willing to listen to my version of the story."

"What an amazing idea," Draco intervened with a jeer. "Too bad you don't have it."

"He's right, Harry," Hermione added scornfully.

Harry seemed to be offended by her mocking tone. "Then I'd better get it," he said with a voice an octave lower than normal.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said very genuinely. "I don't think that's such a good idea. We now know who snatched you. It was You-Know-Who. And if he's got the Pensieve, then there's really nothing we can do about it."

"I'm with Harry," Ron interrupted. "I don't see any other way to prove I didn't want this." He exposed the fresh mark on his left arm. "You-Know-Who can't be guarding it himself all the time, he must have it somewhere, having a few Death Eaters to watch over it."

"We can take a few Death Eaters," Harry joined in.

"You're unbelievably conceited," Draco put in. "How can you say that without even blinking? Do you really think you're invincible?"

"He took the Avada Kedavra curse twice!" Ron jumped to Harry's defence. "And from the darkest wizard in the last hundred years. You-Know-Who can't touch him!"

"I don't -" Harry tried to interject, but the heated argument was out of his hands.

"He was lucky," Draco told Ron in a voice colder and sharper than an icicle. "He had a core matching You-Know-Who's wand."

"He didn't have it as a baby!"

"You don't know that!"

Hermione sat down by Harry and watched the two boys fight. She allowed her head to rest on Harry's shoulder as he placed his arm around her waist.

"If you had that core, you'd still be dead!"

"No I wouldn't! The feather's what saved him. Not some amazing magical power!"

"Oh, yeah? Wanna bet? I say he has twice your MQ!"

"You're on," Draco said with a sly smile.

"Oh, no," Harry murmured.

"I didn't mean 'twice' literally," Ron retracted, making Draco smile wider. "But I'm sure his is higher than yours. I'll put a galleon on that."

"Why not make it ten galleons?" Draco suggested. "Oh, I'm sorry, that's your dad's yearly income, isn't it?"

Harry was quick enough to jump off his tree-trunk and grab Ron from behind before Ron could punch Draco.

"Do me a favour, Harry," Ron spat the words. "Take this MQ test and show the arrogant Death Eater how much better than him you are."

Harry shook his head, his mind racing in an attempt to think of a convincing counter-argument.

"We'll all do it," Hermione said. "Just like we planned to before - everything."

Harry felt outnumbered. "All right," he relented.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The map showed no less than twenty-six fireplaces and zero exits. Each of the fires had a direct link to some place or other, all sounding as horrible as this place.

"Where does this fire lead?" asked Mundungus, placing the tip of his wand on the map.

"This? Hmmm... nocens oculus," Remus answered absentmindedly.

"Is that good?" Lee asked, trying to conceal his excitement.

"Not particularly. It means 'evil eye'"

"Oh. How about this one?"

"Bone Fragments."

"And this?"

"Blood bath."

"This is rapidly turning into something extremely frustrating."

"Yes it is," agreed Remus, scanning the map for tiny grates they might have missed.

"What does this one say?"

Remus followed Arabella's pointing finger. "Nothing," he said.

"Nothing?"

"Yes. It says absolutely nothing about where this one is leading."

"Then I think this is the one we should take."

"Maybe what's beyond it is so terrible they couldn't even write it?"

"Worse than - what's this one? 'Flesh tearing rotating blades'? Somehow, I doubt it."

Remus looked at the faces around him. Sirius looked indifferent, Lee was trying to control his tremor as Mundungus and Arabella both agreed on the unmarked fire. "All right, then," he said. "It's this way." He folded the map to show only the relevant section of the castle and stepped out of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry smiled to himself. It was unbelievable that despite everything they'd been through in the last two days, Hermione had managed to keep her notes about the weight each of them should lift. Draco was just getting ready, flexing his fingers and wiping his wand on the edge of his robes. Hermione muttered the last words of a spell, and something appeared between Draco and the rock he was supposed to lift. That something looked like a distorted bright blue squid with the figure zero carved on one of his arms.

"What is this?" Harry asked.

"This is a very precise timer," Hermione explained. "It sends tendrils to everything involved in the measuring. It'll start the timer when the rock leaves the ground and stop it when it is down again." She turned to Draco. "Is that all right with you?"

"Looks like a perfectly standard timer to me," Draco said.

"All right then, begin when you're ready."

Draco took a few more seconds, aiming his wand at the rock and then lowering his hand several times. Eventually, he pointed his wand at the rock and kept it there. The rock began to tremble and after a few shaky attempts, left the ground. Harry watched the timer as the digits changed - three, four, five - Draco's hand began to tremble with effort - eight, nine - beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. Harry had never seen Draco sweat before, not even when playing Quidditch on a hot day - twelve, thirteen - his entire body appeared to be trembling from the muscle tension, but his face remained completely emotionless - fourteen - the rock also began to shake violently - fifteen - the rock dropped to the ground with a thud, stopping the digits tendril on one-five-point-one. Draco collapsed beside it, panting heavily.

Draco lifted his eyes to the timer and would have jumped if he had the strength. "Fifteen point one seconds? An MQ of a hundred and fifty one? That's impossible!" he bellowed. "I couldn't have lost an MQ point. This timer is defective!"

"Relax," Hermione scolded him. "You know there's an error margin. Two or three points here and there don't count."

"All right, then if Potter has less than five points advantage, it counts as a draw."

"Beginning to get scared, are you?" said Ron. His eyes weren't smiling as much as his mouth. Draco's score was much higher than he had anticipated.

"Just making sure I don't lose on a technicality."

"Ron, you're next," Hermione stopped the argument before it became heated. "I've adjusted the weight for you."

Ron was much worse in disguising his effort than Draco was. Ron never had a problem sweating, and by the time the counter reached seven, his robes were drenched. At nine, both he and the rock were trembling so hard, that Harry considered taking cover, in case Ron lost control over the rock and sent it zooming their way. The rock crashed to the ground a few seconds later, stopping the timer on one-three-point-eight. Ron, despite sweating heavily, remained on his feet, his hands leaning against his knees as he was gasping for air.

"A hundred and thirty eight," drawled Draco. "Not bad for a Gryffindor."

"Oh, shut up," Ron panted.

"I'll go next," Hermione said. "Do you want to check that I've set the weight correctly for my age?"

"No, I trust you," Draco offered. Not a dash of his previous drawling could be heard.

Without much pre-arrangement, Hermione stepped in front of her rock, and lifted it with her wand. She dropped it before her muscles began to shake, stopping the timer on one-one-point-two. She sat hard on the ground exactly where she had been standing.

"A hundred and twelve is not bad for a Mudblood," Draco said, offering Hermione a hand up, and ignoring her glare at his choice of words. "But I think you can do better. You hardly even tried."

"It's between you and Harry," Hermione said, neither confirming nor denying Draco's observation. She took his outstretched hand and kept holding it even when she was on her feet. "I'd better set the weight for Harry," she whispered. She reluctantly let go of Draco's hand and set to work on the rock.

Harry swallowed hard. In less than a minute, his magic would be put to the test. What if the Dursleys had been able to stomp the magic out of him as they had intended? What if he scored lower than average? He didn't care about Ron's bet as much as he was afraid that he would be utterly humiliated.

"Are you ready to show Malfoy what you're made of?" Ron asked as the two of them watched Hermione work.

"Not really."

"Don't worry," Ron placed his hand on Harry's shoulder. "You'll walk all over him."

"How does it feel?" Harry asked. "I mean, when you're holding the rock up, what is it like?"

Ron hesitated, not knowing if he should tell Harry the truth and frighten him, or let him find out on his own and then have a nasty surprise at the most crucial moment. He decided to go with the former. "Difficult," he said. "Like trying to lift Hagrid without magic. Those almost fourteen seconds felt like fourteen hours."

"Oh," said Harry, not putting much feeling into the word.

"Ready!" Hermione called to them.

Harry assumed his position and raised his wand. He tried to clear his head of the frightening thoughts of a glorious failure. He made the rock hover in the air without much effort. That's not so bad, Harry smiled to himself prematurely and then felt his body jolt with the attempt to keep the rock steady. He tried to watch the timer from the corner of his eye, but that only made him almost lose control over the rock. His back began to ache, and drops of sweat fell from his forehead and singed in his eyes. He fought the urge to wipe his glasses, which were covered with steam. Ron was right - this did seem like a very long time. Every bone in his body was shouting to him to let go of his wand and let the rock drop. He knew he wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer. He made a final effort to make the rock hover even higher, so it would take more time to hit the ground, and collapsed to the forest floor, allowing the rock to fall freely.

Harry had expected the others to talk about his score, but dead silence hit his ears. He lifted his eyes to the timer, afraid of what it would show him. If it's less than nine point five, I'll just die of shame, he thought. Three digits were carved on the tendril - one-zero-zero. Harry breathed in relief. Average. He had held for ten seconds, and he gave it his best effort. He was now officially an average wizard. He didn't know why that made him so happy, but couldn't help but smile.

The others still looked stunned. "Why are you staring at me?" Harry asked merrily. "Haven't you ever seen a completely normal, average wizard?"

"What?" Hermione stammered.

Ron's response was a dull "Huh?" and Draco said absolutely nothing, but he looked a tad paler than normal.

Harry looked at the timer again. There was something very odd about their responses. Were they so deeply disappointed they had lost the ability to speak? The timer still showed the same result. Nothing too extraordinary about that, except that it was the lowest result among the four of them. "WHAT?" Harry cried, frustrated.

"It's the -" Hermione began and trailed off.

"You held -" Ron didn't manage a full sentence either.

"Weird," Draco made his contribution.

"So what," Harry said, beginning to suspect that maybe he'd scored below average after all. "Ten seconds is fine by me."

"Ten?" Hermione shrieked.

Draco fell to the ground laughing, holding both hands to his stomach.

"Not ten," Ron said, looking incredulous. "A hundred. You held it up for a hundred seconds. There is no such score. This is a physical and magical impossibility."

The colour drained from Harry's face. So much for being normal. He looked at the timer again. There were still only three digits on it. "You're wrong," he held on to a straw. "See, it says ten. - ten point zero."

"Harry, there's no decimal point," Hermione said in a very sympathetic tone. "And anyway, we've watched the counter progress, it went through all the numbers until it reached the hundred. There's no mistake."

"Are you sure the weight was correct?" Harry insisted.

Hermione nodded her head, but was moved aside by Draco. He pointed his wand to the rock and made it levitate. The timer was reset, and commenced a new count. After six seconds, Draco made the rock land and wiped his forehead with his sleeve. "The weight's just fine," he said. "It's you. Something is terribly, terribly wrong with you."

"Shut up, Malfoy," Hermione said angrily. "Harry's fine. He's just a little different."

From then on, without Hermione as a mediator, she, Ron and Draco lashed into a heated argument about Harry's ability and whether or not he was abnormal and needed to be kept locked up for his own safety. Harry ignored them. He found a nice flat boulder at the rim of the clearing and sprawled on it, ignoring the loud voices of the others. Just the complication I needed in my life, he thought before dozing off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mundungus and I will go first, Arabella, you'll come after us, and Moony, you and Lee will go in last." Sirius gave the orders, still feeling light-headed with the ease with which they had made their way here. They'd only had two incidents, and neither was much of a challenge. "Just don't take too long," he went on. " Get in right after Arabella leaves, there may still be some Death Eaters in the vicinity."

Sirius handed the small pack to Remus, taking some Floo powder out of it first. He put his hand on Mundungus' shoulder as he tossed the powder into the hearth. They both stepped in, stating "Diagon Alley" very clearly, just in case the fire wasn't pre-set to anywhere in particular.

They stepped out into a very familiar office, to very familiar people waiting for them with their very familiar wands pointing to their very important body parts. A moment later, Arabella walked into their backs, followed by Lee and Remus. The three joined them in a group gape.

Sirius blinked first. "Headmaster?" he ventured.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the time Ron and Draco stopped fighting and managed to convince Harry to get off his boulder, it was already high noon, and none of them had any sleep or food for nearly a day.

"Are you willing to go back to Hogwarts now?" Draco asked impatiently.

"No," Harry said with finality.

"I don't care what you MQ is, you're acting like a grown baby!" Draco lost his cool. "You have no idea where the Pensieve is, and what's worse, you don't know who or what is keeping it there. You'll get us all killed with this stupidity."

"You are more than welcome to relieve us from your presence, Malfoy," Harry fumed, drowning out whatever it was that Hermione was trying to say.

"You know very well that I won't let Hermione wander off alone with you two Death Eaters." Draco drawled.

The idea was so funny, that despite his deep melancholy, Harry burst into a big laugh, accompanied by Ron and some chortling from Hermione.

"What's so funny?" Draco blinked at them.

Harry turned serious almost as instantaneously as he had began to laugh. "You," he told Draco grimly. "You're the only real Death Eater here, and you'll come to rescue her from us?"

"I'm not the only real one here," Draco replied. "May I remind you that you almost killed Cho because your Dark Mark made you do it?" Ron looked from Draco to Harry with shock. He noticed that Harry wasn't moving to contradict him. "Don't look so stunned, Ron," Draco went on with his lashing. "What kept you in the brooms room, huh? Can you honestly tell me that your mark didn't cause the delay?" Ron lowered his eyes and stared fixedly at his dust-beaten shoes.

"And I think that the fact that my father tried to kill me proves I'm no more one of them than any of you," he concluded.

"We've heard enough 'my daddy tried to kill me' whining for one day," Harry said. He was angry, he was depressed, he was fed up with Draco raising the subject over and over, and he wasn't thinking straight.

"Well it didn't bloody happen to you!" Draco shouted at Harry.

"No, it couldn't have happened to me," Harry said in a voice that could freeze Prometheus's fire.

Draco realised what he had just said, and winced, but didn't take it back. "We still don't know where to start looking for your precious Pensieve."

"Actually, I may be able to help with that," Hermione managed to squeeze in a word. The rest of them gaped at her. "I brought a book with me," she began searching her kit bag, eventually drawing out a yellowing tome. "It's about finding magical objects, oh, and retrieving them," she added.

Harry peeked at the title over her shoulder. The peeling golden letters on the cover read, 'Finding Magical Objects, Oh, and Retrieving Them'. Harry blinked and turned his attention back to Hermione, who was in mid-sentence, explaining her plan.

"- and after you have the key to the object you're looking for, you can lock the amulet on it, and it'll take you to the original object. Simple."

"Oh yeah, and how will you create the key?" Draco sneered at her.

"It's Dumbledore's Pensieve. I'd say that's pretty unique," Hermione retorted.

Draco's shoulders sagged. "All right," he said, "But if we get to it and it turns out it is too heavily guarded, we forget about it and return to school. All right?"

The other three nodded, some more enthusiastically than others.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ginny sat by Cho's bed in the infirmary. She had told Viktor to take a break, a suggestion which he had accepted, mainly because Cho had gone to sleep. Ginny had been spending much of her time here since Cho had come around two days before. A year with Harry, who had always had a soft spot for Cho, had made Ginny develop warm feelings for the older girl as well.

Cho was thrashing her arms in her sleep. Ginny used a moist cloth to wipe the wet hair off her forehead. This seemed to have a relaxing effect on the sleeping girl. She kept caressing her face with the cloth a while longer.

"This is extremely nice of you," said a man's voice, coming from behind her back.

Ginny jumped, first with a start, and then with great elation. "Lee!" she called, rushing to hug him. "What are you doing here?" She took a step back and examined him critically. "Except for your hair, you seem fine," she declared happily. "Have you found Ron?" Before he had a chance to answer, she sealed his mouth with a kiss.

"Hmmm... yes and... hmmm... no," Lee murmured in between kisses.

"What do you mean?" Ginny looked worried as she let go of him so he could answer her question.

"We've found him," he said, "But then we've lost him again. He used Floo powder to go through a fireplace, and the fireplace was set to a certain location and we don't know what that location was."

Ginny's expression darkened. "Why didn't you go after him?" she asked.

"We couldn't. The whole construction collapsed right after Malfoy went through."

"Malfoy?" she shrieked.

"Draco Malfoy. It seems that he and Ron were working on some plan to get Harry and Hermione out, and the plan went horribly wrong."

Ginny's head was swarming with questions. "Working together? Malfoy? Get them out of where?" What where they doing there in the first place? How did you get here? Where is - hmmm"

She shot question after question until Lee had no choice but to shut her up with a kiss. Lee released her gingerly, only to kiss her again as she opened her mouth to continue the flood.

"If you keep... mm... asking questions... mm... I will just have... mm... to go on kissing you."

"That... mm... will be... mm... terrible."

Their kisses became increasingly passionate. Ginny stumbled to the infirmary bed beside Cho, dragging Lee with her. She had intended to sit on the bed, but almost instantly found herself lying on her back, pressed under Lee's weight, her legs still touching the floor, but only barely. She knew he had a lot to do with getting into her current position, but couldn't remember exactly what, and also, she couldn't care less.

Lee's stubble scratched the delicate skin on her neck as he worked his lips downwards, one hand caressing her rich hair and the other holding her waist, pressing them even closer together.

Ginny tilted her head backward and failed to stop a tiny moan from escaping her lips. This is the way life should always be, she thought. There is nothing more important than this. Or is there. One very plausible option popped to her mind.

"Ron!" she cried. She sat bolt up right, pushing Lee away from her. "Where's Ron?"

"Right," said Lee while willing his heartbeat back to normal. He tried to push his dreadlocks backwards, completely forgetting that he didn't have them any more.

"And what happened to your hair?" Ginny added with a grimace.

Lee told her everything from the moment he went up to Dumbledore's office to the moment they found themselves back at the same office, leaving out the fact that Ron now had the Dark Mark.

Ginny tried to make sure she understood everything. "So Professor Snape notified Dumbledore that his office was linked to You-Know-Who's network, and all the professors were waiting for you there?"

"Yes."

"And what did they say when you came out instead of Death Eaters?" she asked as she glanced at the sleeping Cho.

"They thought we were Death Eaters disguised with Polyjuice Potion."

"And they held you at wand-point for an hour?"

"No. Apparently there are strong spells that make it last for longer. Sirius took Veritaserum to prove to them that we were really us."

"Really? Sirius took Veritaserum?" Ginny had a wicked smile. "Tell me what he said."

Lee matched her smile. "When I left, he was just busy declaring his undying love to Arabella." Lee laughed at his mental image. "You should have seen him try to gag himself."

Ginny thought that was rather romantic, and told him so, to which he responded with a steamy kiss. A tawny owl that landed on his shoulder stopped them from taking this kiss any further.

Lee took the rolled up parchment from the owl, who fluttered his wings twice, and disappeared through the window.

"It's from Oliver Wood," Lee mumbled as he read the note. "He says he went to see Percy about standardisation for racing brooms." Lee stopped talking in order to read on. "He encountered something in the Ministry. He wants to show it to me personally. He asks that I Apparate to his place right now."

Lee put the letter down. "Ginny, this sounds serious. I have to go."

"I don't like this. Let me come with you."

"You can't. You don't have your Apparation licence yet. From his letter, it sounds urgent."

"You're right. You should ask Professor Lupin to come with you." Lee looked hesitant. "You went with him when he needed help," she pressed on. "And you know you can trust him."

"All right!" Lee raised both hands in the air. "I'll ask him," and he kissed Ginny one, long, lustful kiss and left.

A few minutes later, when Viktor Krum stepped back into the infirmary, he found Ginny just as he'd left her, gently wiping Cho's face, looking only a bit more flushed than he remembered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took Hermione no more than an hour to prepare the amulet, and would have taken less if the others hadn't insisted on helping her. It pulsed in a soft silvery light pointing eastwards, and that's where they were going, heading towards one of the less travelled trails of the forest.

A mere moment before the group passed there, Neil Ward crossed the path, wearing nothing but his knickers, on which, embroidered in golden threads, was a flying Ford Anglia. The car, suffering from a severe tree-fixation, was utterly intimidated by the woods. It was unsuccessfully trying to hide in the silk lining of Neil's knickers. All this did not concern Harry, Draco, Hermione and Ron, as they arrived a moment too late for the spectacle. They did, however, encounter the creature that was making Neil escape unclad through the woods.

[A/N: Relish the moment, because this is the last piece of underwear you'll see in this fic]

The four of them stopped in mid motion when they spotted the creature. It was standing in their path, indifferent to their presence. Draco shifted his weight uncomfortably. The white creature noticed the movement and turned to face them.

Hermione made a visible attempt to conceal her smirk. Ron and Harry made no such effort. They snickered happily at Draco's embarrassment, until the furry thing jumped on Hermione.

"Augh! Get it off me!" she cried. "It's hurting me!"

"Oh, come on, Hermione," Harry laughed. "It's just a ferret."

"But it's biting me!" She shook her arm vigorously, but the little white creature held on with its teeth and refused to let go of her finger.

Draco came from behind her and put one strong hand around her waist. With his other hand he held her arm steady, so she could no longer shake it, and then led it slowly towards the ground. The minute the creature's legs touched the ground, it released its grip on Hermione's finger and dashed towards the trees. They could hear it gaining distance, crunching the forest's vegetation under its feet.

"You all right, Hermione?" Draco asked after the two of them straightened up again. He still held her in the restrictive manner he used before, and raised her bruised finger to eye level. "You're bleeding."

"It's nothing," Hermione said, well aware of his proximity. A whiff of carnations and mint filled her nostrils as she pulled away from his arms. She held her breath for as long as she could, not to let go of the scent.

"Are you sure you're all right?" asked Harry, giving her a concerned look, while flashing a glare at Draco.

Before she could answer, the ferret emerged from between the trees and stared at them from a few feet away. She and Draco made a small, strangled sound.

It took Ron and Harry quite a while to convince the other two that the little ball of white-yellow hair was harmless. They had to admit that they, too, were annoyed by the fact that it followed them, but they were willing to pay that price to see Draco acting hunted.

During the daylight hours, Harry kept a distance from the rest of the group. The argument they'd had in the morning still echoed in his head. Then, the sun dropped behind the trees, and shortly after, it became so dark that they had to light up the tips of their wands to see the trail.

Several times Harry found himself alone in the woods with only the ferret's pink eyes to keep him company. Each of these times he felt a cold hand squeezing in his chest before he managed to catch up with the group. "What do you say we stop for the night?" he suggested the next time he spotted them.

The other three agreed immediately. They were all pushed beyond exhaustion, and were just waiting for someone else to bring it up first. They sat at the edge of a clearing and had small rations from the dry food Hermione so smartly brought with her and then turned to arrange a campsite. Ron and Draco used large stones to create a circle for the circle-ward charm, while Hermione worked to clear the inside area. Harry just sat with his back to a tree-trunk, his legs folded to his chest and his head resting on his knees. He kept his eyes closed, shutting the rest of the world outside his mental self.

A small light shone over his head and forced Harry to open his eyes and look up. The holder of the lit wand was hidden in the shadow, but his voice was very well heard. "Don't you think the all-mighty wizard should help move the rocks?" Draco sneered.

Harry lifted his wand and made a few stones fly in the air and join the forming circle. This act won him the worst look of contempt he ever got from Draco.

"That's great," he drawled. "I think you should form the rest of the circle the same way while I go look for water." He turned his back to Harry, trying to decide which way to go.

Harry heaved himself from the forest floor with some effort. His heavy heart seemed to have added weight to the rest of him as well. He gently pushed Draco from his way, as he moved towards the circle, and then it happened.

A black sphere swallowed the two of them. It was the same sphere that had isolated them from the rest of the world twice already. Harry pulled his hand away hurriedly. The sphere only faltered, but remained intact. He could feel the fear that filled Draco magnifying his own sense of horror. Draco's inside chill poured into the sphere, and with the lack of warmth from Harry's side, the temperature around them was rapidly dropping.

What now? he thought to himself.

We try to move apart and see what happens, I think, he heard Draco's voice in his head. His eyes opened wide and met Draco's silver sneer. Yes, Potter, I know what you're thinking and might I add, I never knew you felt that way about Finch-Fletchley.

"What way?" Harry grumbled out loud. He wasn't even thinking of Justin. He was trying very hard not to think about his last time alone with Hermione. As always in such cases, this was the only thing he could think about.

I see, Draco thought in a manner that made Harry's blood curdle. He took a step back to where the sphere did not exist, causing it to shatter. Only when it was gone did Harry realise he had felt Draco's presence inside his head. At least he was sure the other boy could no longer hear his thoughts. Immediately, he was able to stop thinking of Hermione.

Draco's eyes were still boring into his soul as he said, "I'd better search for that water now." With a blink of an eye he was gone.

Harry trudged towards Ron and Hermione, only to hear Ron stating that he would go look for water. Harry didn't bother telling him that Draco had gone with that intent as well. "Step out of the circle," he ordered Hermione in a low voice.

Hermione seemed like she wanted to say something but rethought it when she saw Harry's state. She simply moved away from him and stood by an already built section of the stones setting.

"A little further," Harry said.

Hermione took a few more steps back, until Harry signalled her that she was far enough. He raised his wand and began moving the stones around the campsite. At first, he only raised a few of them, sending them into a little odd dance, but soon the dance developed to a full scale tornado that was centred around Harry.

When the storm quieted, and the cloud of dust finally sank, Hermione couldn't recognise the place. White stones created a perfect circle a foot tall, surrounding a completely clear patch of grass with Harry standing in its centre, his hair and cloak grey with dust.

She stepped over the new circular fence, wanting to reach him, but before she had both her feet inside the patch she saw Harry collapse to the grass. She ran to him and held her lit up wand above his head, afraid of what that outburst of magic might have done to him. To her relief, as she sank to her knees beside him, he held out his hand and touched her. He was alive.

Harry propped himself on his elbows and pulled Hermione to him. Hermione was tired and worried and did not resist. She buried her face in his chest and made herself comfortable. She felt his hand playing with her hair, separating each tendril and smoothing it, only to make it jump right back when his hand reached its end. At some stage, Harry placed his other hand around her shoulder, but she was only half-aware of that, as she had fallen asleep.

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The boy sat on a fallen tree trunk a few hundred yards from the camp. He looked around him to make sure he was alone, when he saw the little ferret watching him. He smiled a crooked smile and continued his scan. Aside from the pesky creature, he could see no one.

He pulled up his sleeve and looked at the vermilion mark on his forearm. The snake seemed to slither out of the skull as he rolled his hand from side to side. He played with it a little before pressing his finger on the mark.

The mark immediately turned black. The boy twisted his face with pain, but he kept at his preparations. He gathered a few twigs in front of him, and with his wand, set fire to them. The Dark Lord's head appeared in the flame, turning it to a bright shade of green. The boy kneeled and bowed his head before the presence of his Master.

"Yes," Voldemort said impatiently. "What do you want?"

The boy raised his eyes timidly. "My Lord, I have interesting information for you concerning Harry Potter."

The head in the flame perked up. "Talk," he ordered.

"I saw him take an MQ test, master. His score was -" the boy hesitated, not knowing what was the best way to break the news. "Extremely high, My Lord."

Voldemort's serpentine face looked even more sinister as he smiled. "I suspected as much," he said. "All the better. More force to us when he switches over to our side." He noticed the boy's distress and added, "How much did he score?"

The boy lowered his eyes and his voice shook as he said, "A thousand, Master."

Voldemort's smile faltered. "A - thousand?" he hissed, astonished. "That's -" he looked for the right word, but couldn't find one. "Unusual," he settled eventually for the most suitable option. "This makes it even more crucial that the boy is turned."

"I'm doing everything I can, Master," the boy said hurriedly. "It is complicated -"

"I do not want to hear excuses!" The Dark Lord said in his shrill voice. "Use Aude Centeno to help you."

"Who?" The boy forgot to state his submission.

"Me," said a feminine voice by his ear. The boy turned to look. Where the ferret had sat, there was now a beautiful girl, a year or two older than he was. He blinked at her. "Didn't you suspect I was an Animagus? The way I stayed around you all day?" she sneered at the boy, who only shook his head.

"Do you understand what needs to be done?" Voldemort addressed both his minions.

"Yes Master," they answered in tandem, and the boy added, "Get Harry Potter to kill someone, and leave the rest to you. It will be done, My Lord."

"Good," approved Voldemort. "And preferably, he should kill that Mudblood he is travelling with. That will make his conversion so much easier."

"As you wish, My Lord."

The smile returned to the Dark Lord's hideous face. "I thought you fancied her," he said, testing the boy's reaction.

"I did, My Lord, but I don't any more."

"Very good," Voldemort was pleased with the response. "Is there anything else?"

"Just one more thing, Master," the boy said hesitantly. "How is Saitaina Moricia?" he slurred.

"Not dead," Voldemort said, and fading from view he added, "Yet."

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