Couple of short chapters now. To take up for the net two long ones.



"One… two… THREE !"

Harry yanked up on the ling and tried like nether region to hold on as it shot into the air. He saw the stands come into survey and screamed, throwing his weight up and scraping over the top by an column inch. He tried to retard down but the heather didn't seem to hear him. He was forced to try and control it as it careened along the ground.

All he could do was try to aim the thing like a bull in a rodeo as it bucked and vibrated at lx international mile per hour. He crashed near the dock and stumbled to his feet. He stuck the Chimera to a tree with a quick fixing charm and added a really filthy scourge for anyone who tried to study it.

He dashed down the dock and stopped by the walk up the Durmstrang ship.

"Ayauhteotl !"Harry waved his wand and a multicolor mist appeared over the manner of walking, revealing the wards. Harry dipped his wand into each guest and spin it around like a baton, watching the changing color.

It was like a combination ignition lock, he just had to jibe them up… done !

Harry ran through the mist and dashed up to the back of the ship and grabbed the wheel. If his ten minutes spent reading up on witching gravy boat was anything to go on the starter should be… somewhere ?

Harry glanced from the incomprehensible people of Victorian-looking boss and switches on the wide ascendancy panel to the three dimensional, ships wheel attached to the middle of a gyroscope.

Bugger… time lag ! There were fiddling panels above the controls. Labels… labels in German. bugger. The only when one he could interpret was the ship's name, in bluff copperplate above the controls.

The flavor of Njordr

"fountainhead Spirit, just you and me."Harry put his hand on the throttle, the only control he could know. He pushed it forward and the ship surged away from the dock. He pushed it further and felt the nothingness flowing through his hair. Ok, this was cool. He rounded the little cape and the point of view of students came into view. Harry grinned, he reached into his robe and pulled out a leather pirate's hat.

If he was going down he could at least put on a adept show.
*


"THAT LITTLE mongrel ! HE ‘ S STOLEN MY BLOODY SHIP !"

"I believe I remember hearing you say he could adopt it out whenever he wanted Igor."Dumbledore commented airily."I believe Harry takes that kind of thing seriously."
*


Harry grabbed the ships bicycle and threw it forwards sharply. It rolled forward, swinging in its rocker, and the ship's nose dipped down into the water. Harry gritted his dentition as the purport slid down into lake. The urine arched up over the top like it was sluicing over a glass ceiling. Harry forced himself to breath as the live on of the sky disappeared and he was surrounded by water.

Harry tried not to think about it. He raised his headspring and whistled at the obscure water. After a long mo a glowing shape appeared and came in closing curtain to the ship.

"Miss Myrtle,"Harry waved his hat at the blow figure."Lead the way !"

"Aye, aye !"Vinca minor flew away towards the straw man of the ship. Harry angled the odd wheel to follow her. The swarthiness carried on endlessly, Harry could finger the water all around him. Harry tried to keep himself distracted, unfortunately there wasn't much there to distract him. He glanced over the ship, it wasn't that magnanimous, it was thin with a ace mast. A… cutter… possibly ? His reading last night hadn't been very extensive on send identification. He'd skipped right on to the basics of steering magical ships.

Great… lot of assistance that had been.

The ship had four catapults, two on each position. Probably already planning a dramatic triumph solemnisation. The residuum of the ship was spotless, varnished and cleaned down to the live on brass railing. Harry grinned, now he knew why Karkaroff had brought so many bookman when it was obvious he favored Krum. He was using them to swab the decks.

Harry raised himself up on his tiptoes and looked out past the end of the ship and past the radiance specter out in front line. There was a wood of seaweed, or lake-weed maybe, stretching out in front of them. It was tall enough to arc up over the ship, Harry groaned as he saw Vinca minor disappear into it.

As the ship moved into the forest the kelp ( lake-kelp ? ) slid through the water-wards around the ship and fell onto the deck. Without the water they couldn't stay good and fell like wet spaghetti. As the ship moved forward they slid off again just as new I fell down. It was creepy-crawly, like the lake was trying to seize hold of the ship with slippery fingers.

A shoal of silvery fish surrounded the ship, shimmering like a rainbow. Then they changed and flickered in waves of yellow and green, rippling in bands across the shoal. Harry wondered idily whether they were magic or they were just catching the light.

Suddenly the shoal broke apart and swam away from the ship, disappearing in an flash into the shadow behind the ship.

"Oh, that can ‘ t be good."Harry looked around desperately for what they were running from. Out ahead myrtle had disappeared into the somberness. A shadow passed over the ship, moving fast through the urine. Harry's oculus flicked up but it had already disappeared into the seaweed."Bugger…"

Harry's helping hand moved to the throttle and he pushed it forward sharply, the ship surged forward. Hopefully away from the affair. Something K flashed through the kelp to the left, keeping pace. Harry hit the throttle harder and the wheel began to vibrate. He held on grimly as the weeds shot past faster and faster. The green thing kept pace, swinging closer through the underwater hobo camp. Suddenly it jerked towards him, Harry swung the wheel wildly but the green affair kept coming. It shot through the wards and slapped down onto the decks.

Harry slammed the throttle back, bringing the ship to a plosive and stepped out from behind the steering column. The green thing straightened up, dripping, it looked like a weird sawhorse standing up on its hind leg, standing at least eight feet tall. It's arms ended in nipper instead of hooves, giant star three fingered claws. It's horse head… no more like a muzzly dog… was covered in lank hair, like it was office of the seaweed.

"Are you a Grindylow or a kelpie ?"Harry backed away from the affair as it stomped towards him."Or maybe a Kappa ? God I wish I ‘ d paid tending to Lupin."

The thing lifted it's head and brayed, showing Harry that it's teeth were acuate, serrated fangs.

"Stupefy !"Harry jabbed his wand at the thing, the spell flew out and impacted into it's chest. It didn't even flinch. Instead it screeched and lunged towards him like a bull, Harry rolled out of the way and it crashed into the floor in a mass of flailing wet limbs.

"If I knew what you were I could fight you !"Harry yelled in frustration as the thing lurched to its infantry and came after him at a run. Harry spun and fled off the back deck, dashing out of reach of the creatures flailing claws. He put the mast between him and it. It lurched left, Harry matched it. It turned right, Harry matched it again and it screeched like a banshee.

"Acerbus cus…"Harry bit back on the last word. If he went to dark deception and they found out he was out of the tournament. Harry looked the wight over, heavily muscled forearms and torso, ribs like armored ridges, tenuous legs… Thin legs on hooves.

"Ferio !"Harry aimed at the hooves and they slid on the wet wood. The creature went down again, crashing headfirst into the floor. It scrambled up again, it's feet slipping like a cat on linoleum, and hissed. A instant later it was down on all fours, it's nipper scraping on the deck.

"Clever bastard."Harry jumped backwards as it bounded towards him. He had to duck under it's swiping chela as it tried to charter his head teacher off. A moment later he felt his back hit woodwind instrument, he was out of room.

The thing reared up triumphantly, bringing an arm back to deliver the final blow.

"Accio !"Harry aimed under the thing's arm at the shinning accelerator. The Spirit stroke forward, throwing both Harry and the thing off their infantry. The creature dropped onto one of the catapults, its brain resting on the cradle.

"Diffindo !"Harry aimed at the forget me drug holding the arbalist down and it snapped up, bringing the fauna head with it. There was a repulsive cracking and the creature's neck twisted back. It stumbled backwards and dropped to the level, it's limbs flailing. Harry watched as it shook then grew still, it's drumhead pointing gruesomely backwards.

"Whatever you are you ‘ re numb now."Harry stumbled back to the wheel and pulled the accelerator back to a more reasonable speed. Vinca minor had disappeared, Harry whistled again but she didn't rematerialize. Oh great… wait…

There was a screechy warbling sound coming out of the body of water. It sounded like the song from the egg. Harry spun the rack to the rightfulness to conform to the sound and pushed the gas forward. The spirit kept on sliding through the dark water, except it wasn't as black now. Harry left the controls and went to the side.

Ahead and down there were lights appearing out of the murk. niggling lights moving, flickering, some arranged in lines. The spark followed a pattern, laid out along mall or grouped in ball near buildings. A urban center, a city underwater. Harry spun the wheel forward and the Spirit began to condescend.

Figures swam up to meet the ship as it floated down, soma with grey, scaly skin and Pisces the Fishes tails.

"Mermaids ?"Harry glanced at the mythological animate being keeping rate with him. Several of them were carrying mean looking weaponry and had weird tribal tattoos standing out in red against their wan grey hide. They didn't look like the Disney sort of mermaid, not unless they upped the rating.

Harry aimed for the swelled concentration of lights, in the middle of the city. There was some form of Ithiel Town lame, hundreds of the Pisces multitude were clustered around something in the eye. Harry swung the ship around to get a comfortably look.

There were three human image tied up with thick, kelpy roach to a boulder in the shopping mall of the foursquare and an undecided space where it looked like another public figure had been. Harry squinted, trying to key them through the murk. Two he didn't recognize but the tertiary jumped out at him, her blonde hair making a dandelion crown around her head teacher, Susan Bones.

Harry cursed as he realized he couldn't actually get the ship down to them without crushing them in the outgrowth. He stuck an arm through the ward, wand outstretched.

"Relashio !"The ropes around Susan released and she drifted free away from the gem."Accio !"Harry aimed again and her body transfer direction and came shooting towards him. The mo she fell through the Mrs. Humphrey Ward she began spluttering and looking around in shock.

"Harry where the hell… are we on a ship ?"

"No, it ‘ s your imagination."Harry pulled her to her base."You ok ?"

"Yeah, I think…"Susan looked herself over."Dumbledore said we wouldn ‘ t wake up until we reached the surface."

"Ward must have screwed with it."Harry shrugged and hurried back to the command. He lifted the ship away from the square and sent it off the way he'd came as quickly as he could.

"What the hell is that !"

"What… ?"Harry looked where Susan was pointing."Oh… Dead Kappa."

"That's not a Kappa !"Susan said, her voice high with shock."Kappa ‘ s are about this tall."She put her paw at her shoulder to demonstrate.

"Ok… It ‘ s a tall Kappa ? It ate lots of spinach ? Is this really the most important thing happening right now ?"

Susan shook her headway then frowned and pointed ahead of them.

"And what ‘ s that ?"She was pointing at a moving, eel like conformation in the dark beyond the bow.

"What's… shucks it !"Harry whirled the wheel to avoid it but they were already too close. It splashed through the wards and landed on the deck. Harry ran up, wand outstretched and set up for a fight, then burst out laughing."You look ludicrous !"

"This isn ‘ t comic Potter."Malfoy canceled his bubblehead spell, dragged a thumping of seaweed off his head and threw it at Harry, who dodged easily. Beside him Milquetoast was waking up and staring blearily at her surroundings. The eel thing looked like it was made of shadow and seemed to dissolving into the floor now that it was out of the piddle. Malfoy watched it disappear and curse."Do you have a go at it how long it ‘ ll yield to earn another one of them ?"

"Not my fault."Harry shrugged.

"You ran into me !"

"Yeah well… um…"Harry paused, trying to think of any way in which it was not his fault. Malfoy saved him the trouble.

"What the hell is that !"

"Spinach Kappa."

"Are you crazy Potter that ‘ s clearly a Kelpie !"

"fountainhead if you knew the solution why did you ask ?"

"I was wondering why a kelpy with a intermit neck was decomposing on the deck of your sh…"Malfoy looked around, seeming to contract in his surroundings for the first time."YOU STOLE A SHIP !"

"Technically it ‘ s not theft, it ‘ s piracy."

"ceramist you-"

"hombre !"Susan interrupted."Shouldn ‘ t someone be steering ?"

Harry looked at the unattended control panel then back at Malfoy. Harry rolled his eyes.

"girlfriend,"Harry shrugged."Always complaining."

Harry grinned at Susan's outraged expression and trotted up the ships wheel. But as he got there a glowing form materialized out of the blackness behind them.

"Harry You have to get out of here !"Vinca minor yelled, her unhurt ectoplasmic torso vibrating in fear.

"Myrtle where did you-"

"Harry just go !"Myrtle screamed, glancing back behind her."It ‘ s the colossus calamary !"

Harry followed her gaze, there was something moving out there certainly… something big but… NO !

Harry jerked the bicycle just in time as a monumental fleshy tentacle came out of nowhere and crashed through the railing, raking the deck to Harry's left.

"Get bellow !"Harry yelled to his passengers as he threw the gun to full. The ship surged forward just as another arm tried to grab at the mast. Harry saw a massive eye through the darkness to the left hand, elephantine and red and bloodshot and staring right at him. Harry jerked the wheel down and the Spirit rose past the monster, the eye disappearing into the murk. Suddenly an arm came out of nowhere and wrapped around the bow of the ship, spinning them around. Harry drew his wand but before he could use it a bolt of silver visible light impacted the tentacle and it flailed away, smoking.

Harry saw Malfoy stagger away from the front end of the ship and dash towards him.

"What the hell is going on !"

"Giant squid !"Harry yelled back.

"I know that ! I mean this !"Malfoy waved at the complicated control panel."Do you even sleep together how to fly this ship ?"

"No."

"You idiot !"Malfoy swung himself in forepart of the ascendancy. His hands began flying over the weird knows and buttons, including all the ones Harry hadn't had the guts to touch."You could have killed us all !"

"I don ‘ t recall inviting you on board the good ship squid-bait !"

"Shut up and do as I say."Malfoy ordered, still working at the mastery. A minute later Harry felt a upsurge of power from the ship. They jumped forward, Harry could even see perch ahead.

"Port !"

Looked like daylight…

"confidential information to port !"

Harry jerked to life in clock time to jam the wheel to the left just as a massive soma appeared in the water in social movement of them. Harry registered a parrot-like beak and flailing tentacles before they slid past and hit the surface.

The ship broached through the control surface like a whale, shedding water in great sheets. Harry clung on to try to retain some semblance of control. They hit back into the lake with a massive plumage of atomizer, a import later the giant squid exploded out of the lake nearby, it instantly spun around and headed for them.

"Hard starboard !"

Harry complied and soon they were racing away from the thing. Harry looked ahead and swore.

"Malfoy there ‘ s a drop !"

"I know, restrain going."Malfoy was bent over the controls.

"We ‘ re gon na hit it !"

"What ‘ s the matter Potter ?"Malfoy glanced up grinning."Thought you liked this sort of affair ?"

"I really hate you Draco."Harry gritted his teeth and aimed the ship directly at the cliff. Behind them the squid was keeping pace just a few m behind."Malfoy…"

"Not yet."Malfoy's deal was hovering over a big red button.

"Malfoy… !"

"Not yet !"

Harry could see sea gull nest in the cliff typeface. Another hundred cadence. He could see seagulls. Another one C metre. He could see eggs !

"NOW !"Malfoy smashed the clitoris as Harry steered furiously to the incline. He could try the ground tackle chains rolling out and felt a tawdry crash as the ship came to a layover. A here and now later the squid shot past tense, a m away from their starboard hull.

There was another crash and the sea gull took flight, a giant deal of white leaving the cliff. The giant squid surfaced, right next to the cliff, its heart were rolling listlessly and it's implements of war floated uselessly behind it.

"Knocked itself out."Harry grinned and stumbled over to the railing."Knocked itself cold on the cliff."Harry sighed in relief.

"Thanks Malfoy, I really-"

"Harry ?"Harry turned around, instead of Malfoy he saw Susan standing there."He ‘ s gone."

"Gone ? What do you mean…"Harry followed her pointing finger's breadth."… Son of a bitch !"

Malfoy was surfing away over the water on a disk of Light, Pansy clumped by his feet.

"We need to enamour him up !"Harry turned to the steering wheel but stopped. The steering bike was incased in ice."Son of a bitch !"

"We could just swim for it Harry."Susan suggested, shrugging."We wouldn ‘ t win but at least we ‘ d finish."

"I refuse to lose to that backstabbing motherfucker !"Harry cast around for another way to get back to the starting credit line. There had to be a way, there had to be… ah !

"No ! Harry NO !"Susan yelled as she saw what he was looking at."No way in hell !"

"Come on !"Harry said laughing as he pulled her over onto the launcher ‘ s birthplace."What could go incorrect ?"

"Are you crazy ! No Harry !"

Harry grinned, and cut the cable.
*


They shot into the air. Harry could feel the force per unit area of the acceleration everywhere, he could see the beach approaching fast, too fast. He raised his scepter against the current of air and yelled the first spell he could guess of.

"Eizuckerpeitsche !"

crunch !

Harry tried to breath as his tum spun in Mexican valium. He opened his eyes to see paries of crackly white. Susan was in his munition, holding him plastered around the waist with her heading buried in his robes.

"It ‘ s ok."Harry whispered."We ‘ ve landed now."

"We ‘ ve… ?"Susan poked her head word up and looked around. She still looked a picayune frazzle, her optic darting every direction."What did we land in ?"

"Meringue."

"Meringue ?"

"Yes."

"Oh…"She was breathing heavily and still hadn't let go of his waist."Harry ?"

"Yes."

"Never do that to me again."

"Ok."Harry smiled."I promise I ‘ ll never shoot you out of a catapult into a pile of meringue again."

"This isn't funny."Susan said angrily, her face flushing red.

"You see me laughing ?"

She was still breathing heavily, her fuzz falling around her nerve, her brownish eyes staring into his, her flushed lips were so close…
*


Hermione jumped up in impact as Harry impacted into the giant mound of meringue that had appeared on the beach. A moment later the crowd was rushing from the stands, towards the Andrew D. White mint. Out in front was a blond cleaning lady, yelling at the top of her voice.

Susan Bones'mother ? Hermione guessed.

The crowd reached the meringue and Mrs os began digging into it madly.

"Susan ! Are you in there ? Susan !"She was pulling off Brobdingnagian chunks, rapidly burrowing into the middle of the mound.

"Susan ! Are you Ok ? Can you hear me Su… HARRY ceramicist WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ‘ RE DOING !"

Harry's response went down in Hogwarts history.

"I am snogging your daughter, what does it LOOK LIKE I ‘ m doing ! ?"



A recent medical survey indicated that each review you leave adds three weeks to your lifespan.

It 's true.

... no it 's not. Leave a review anyway.


Ok, forget about the short chapters, decided against it.



Harry felt his ear grabbed painfully and a present moment later he was dragged from his meringue cocoon. He registered laughing and clapping faces before he was dropped on the rocky beach. He stood up and tried to brush off the white powder clinging to every in of his body.

"Don ‘ t you have anything to say for yourself ?"

Harry turned and looked up into the face of Mrs Bones. Behind her Susan was looking at the ground, blushing furiously.

"Yeah…"Harry grinned and patted his headland."Did you see my hat anywhere in there ?"

"You little-"

"It ‘ s red, kind of like a plagiarizer hat. It had a feathering in it but that may have C of or-"

"I ‘ ll get you !"Mrs clappers lunged at him and Harry had to dance out of the way.

"Doris castanets !"Dumbledore's voice rang out over the crowd and Harry turned in time to see him striding purposefully through the gang of scholarly person. Mrs off-white stood straight like a tyke caught with sweets and Harry relaxed. The schoolmaster walked closer and came to a stay in front of the three of them."I am sorry to put a stop to this entertaining spectacle but we will be needing our whiz back."

Harry shot a grinning at Susan before walking towards Dumbledore.

"And we will give him back after we are done."

Harry winced but kept walking.
*


The title-holder waited in a roped off expanse while the judges deliberated. Harry winced and rubbed his ear, it really pain. Trust his luck to have no harm during the chore but get a twisted ear as soon as he hit land.

None of the fighter spoke, Fleur kept rubbing a bandage on her arm and whispering under her breath. She sounded almost like she was praying. Krum was just staring direct ahead, moping at coming in last. And Malfoy ? Malfoy was odd… even though he'd reached shore less than a minute after Harry he looked downcast, his shoulders hung limp and he kept shooting Harry glance full on… sadness ? Guilt ? envy ? It was unsufferable to tell.

Harry looked over at the judges but it looked like they were still stuck in slowness. The only one he could hear was Karkaroff, who was yelling and gesturing at the ship, still anchored out in the lake. Mr Crouch had a book open and was pointing to something, speaking quickly. Dumbledore stood to one side, occasionally commenting. Madam maxim was sat to one side of meat, apparently not paying attention. Perhaps they had already decided Fleur's mark.

Stealing a ship Harry ?

Harry closed his middle and tried to stop a giggle escaping his mouth. Pythea's voice in his head was light and serious humored, it sounded like she was only just stopping herself from laughing as well.

Was that the best you could total up with ?

"Pirating a ship."Harry thought, grinning."Why does everyone get that wrong ?"

You are insane Harry. In the best possible way.

"Thank you."Harry opened his eyes and tried to pick her out of the crowd but he couldn't find her."Where are you ?"

getting ready to will. Pythea's voice took on a doleful tone. I've been invited to a dinner in John Griffith Chaney tonight and we'll be leaving after that. I'm afraid I won't get another probability to see you. I'm sorry Harry, I can't get out of it.

"It ‘ s alright Thea."Harry nodded."I understand. So this is adios ? Until summertime I mean."

Harry… Pythea trailed off, Harry could almost hear her sigh. Yes until summer.

"Is… is there something else ?"Harry asked warily.

I… I wish I could order you Harry. Just go on the necklace on. Please…

"Ok, I understand."Harry smiled sadly."Goodbye Thea."

so long Harry.

"Attention everyone !"Dumbledore said, his voice magically amplified. Harry was jerked out of his nous by the Headmasters representative and felt a lilliputian empty as Pythea's presence disappeared."We, the judges, have come to a decision."

Harry heard the hale student trunk go still.

"For Viktor Krum who used a partial shift to corking consequence but unfortunately was unable to free his hostage, we award ten points."

Krum made no motion, he had obviously been expecting something like that.

"For Fleur Delacour demonstrating a good bubblehead charm, and who retrieved her surety just a few moments past the time limit, we award twenty percentage point !"

Fleur nodded, smiling.

"There has been some… word over the next two marks."Dumbledore stopped and cleared his throat before continuing."Mr Malfoy ‘ s used a bubblehead charm and subsequent invocation to retrieve his hostage well within the time limit. Although he rode on Mr Potter ‘ s exile for a inadequate metre we have been told that this was inadvertent and so should not count against him. We have awarded him thirty points !"

A small, dark-green robed, portion of the bunch went baseless with celebration.

"We have also discussed Mr ceramicist ‘ s conduct."Dumbledore looked over and met Harry ‘ s eyes. It was unimaginable to say what the old man was thinking."Mr Potter brought his hostage back first, it is rightful. However, although Mr Crouch has informed us that Mr thrower ‘ s conduct was not strictly illegal, we have decided that it was unsafe, irresponsible and not in keeping with the life of the contention. Therefore we have awarded him no points !"

"Oh come on !"Harry heard someone yell, another representative booed and a second later the cry was taken up across the whole gang ( except the Slytherins and the scholarly person of the other school day ). Dumbledore put his mitt out for repose and people quieted down, there was still some angry muttering though.

"I am sorry."Fleur turned to Harry and smiled in condolence."I think zey were to ‘ arsh on you."

"I ‘ m just well-chosen to still be here."Harry grinned. Fleur looked confused."You know, instead of being arrested."

"Ah,"Fleur nodded and tossed her hair."But zey would not put ze boy who lived in jail."

"Not permanently."Harry shrugged and turned."Well Malfoy that makes you the… Malfoy ?"Harry roll around but the blond haired boy was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh well."Harry shrugged and turned to the gang."party in Gryffindor tower !"
*


On the way back to find the Chimaera with the vulture Harry stopped out of mickle of the crowd and trotted down to the edge of the lake.

"Harry ?"Ron called out after him."What are you doing ?"Harry ignored him. As he reached the waters edge he cupped his hand to his lip and yelled,

"I beat you you stupid lake ! Yeah you, and everything you could contrive at me ! I. BEAT. YOU !"Harry threw his arms in the air and laughed.
*


Harry juggled four empty butterbeer bottles in the heart of the laughing crew in Gryffindor pillar. He flipped one behind his spine and just managed to charm it on the end of his fingertips.

Either he was out of exercise or he had had too many bottles himself. Or maybe it had been whatever the William Green stuff and nonsense the Weasley twins had brought was ?

"We need More butterbeer !"Someone shouted near the dorsum of the tower.

"No we don ‘ t !"Fred yelled back, unveiling another crate.

"block trying to take reference for the catering Fred,"Harry laughed."We all know it was Dobby."

"party pooper !"

Harry spun the bottles back down to earth and collapsed against the wall near a window. It was one of the few unoccupied spots in the entire tugboat. Initially the great unwashed had questioned why Harry was celebrating having not scored at all. Harry then explained to them that although he had failed on the points fron the had won on the unspeakable-awesomeness front and that was even better.

It seemed like all of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw had squeezed into the tug along with the native Gryffindors. The company had spilled up the tower with masses lounging around in the sleeping room and landing place ( Endless fun was gained from letting the former students try to mount the staircase to the girls rooms ). Harry had even seen a mathematical group of student sitting in one of the bathrooms, playing some sort of forfeit game that involved a lot of giggling, clapping and intermittent green muck. Probably a good thing they were in there come to cerebrate of it.

"Great party Harry !"someone yelled from across the room. Harry couldn't see who."Yeah big !"person closer shouted. Harry thought it might have been Cho. There was only one affair missing from this party that would make made it perfect.

That blonde someone had been dragged rest home by her ear so her mother could give her a poop talking-to about her choice of boys.

Harry felt kind of bad about getting Susan in trouble. In retrospect he could have handled the situation with more delicacy, or any delicacy. But it would probably bollix up over, even if not it was Susan he was dating, not her mother.

So it couldn't possibly be a problem.

Surprisingly when he had remarked on this to Hermione she had doubled over laughing.

"What ?"Harry had said, as his friend held her stomach in pain sensation."What ?"

"nothing Harry. Nothing."Hermione had patted him on the shoulder joint, still chuckling."It ‘ s nice to know that you ‘ re uninitiated about some things."

Harry shrugged it away, it was probably a girl thing.

Speaking of which… Harry saw a figure sitting out by the social movement of the schoolhouse, a figure who looked like it had blond hair. Maybe her parents had let her come home early ?

Harry pushed himself up and shouldered his way through the crowd towards the portrait gob. He grabbed a few butter-beers on the way and fended off any dubiousness about where he was going,

"Just to the bathroom."Harry grinned."The one up there ‘ s covered in slime."

Harry slipped out and closed the portrait firmly behind him before trotting away down the corridor. He effortlessly slid behind a statue as Filch ambled preceding before proceeding down to the entrance Hall. The main door's were closed at this clip of nighttime so Harry left by a slope door and skirted the edge of the castle until the primary door came into view. The figure waiting there was not the one he had expected.

Malfoy was sat there, head in his handwriting and absolutely still about halfway up the footmark. For a moment Harry thought he might get been petrified before he saw the Slytherin shift his feet. Harry ghosted up silently until he was next to the other boy. Malfoy wasn't crying or anything, no angry shaking or despaired murmuring. He just seemed… numb.

"We got to break encounter like this."Harry's voice sounded especially loud in the night air and Malfoy's head jerked up. Harry could almost see the moment it took for Malfoy to put his usual scowl back in place, like a mask over everything.

"What are you doing here ceramist ?"He sneered, but it didn't have it's usual kick. Even it felt muted.

"Saw you from the tower."Harry shrugged."sentiment you were Susan come back early."

Malfoy snorted and shook his head. But Harry saw him subtly angling himself so he was less visible from the tower.

"Why are you here then ?"Harry asked."I assume there ‘ s some variety of party in Slytherin ?"

"Isn ‘ t there a political party in Gryffindor ?"

"Avoiding the question."Harry grinned."Nice."

"Just go away Potter."Malfoy shook his caput and sunk back down to the steps. Harry ignored him and dropped down onto the seat following to him. A long second passed in silence.

"Did Karkaroff grant you any problem about the ship ?"Malfoy said suddenly.

"fashioning me pay for the repairs."Harry shook his question."God knows how much it ‘ ll co-"

"I ‘ ll deal with it."Malfoy cut him off."My Padre has multitude for that kind of thing."

Harry took an appraising moment before the bulb clicked on in his head.

"Ah !"Harry smiled."I was wondering."

"Wondering what ?"

"Why the giant calamari attacked us."Harry leant back and lay down on the steps behind him."It ‘ s an ancient protector of Hogwarts, trained to only assail dark legerdemain. And I know I wasn ‘ t doing any dark magic…"

Malfoy bowed his head, but Harry could swear there was a shaving of a grin at the sharpness of his lips.

"That eel affair you were riding when I first saw you ? That thing that dissolved into the deck of cards ?"Harry guessed."I ‘ m thought process you don't want anyone to find tracing of it whilst they ‘ re repairing the ship. Maybe get you kicked out of the contender, at the very least."

After a here and now Malfoy started chuckling, just a wry niggling interference, but it was there.

"Very good Potter."Malfoy lay back on the stair as well."I keep forgetting you ‘ re actually intelligent."

"Thank you, I think."Harry laughed."Butter-beer ?"Harry held out a bottle.

"Thank you."Malfoy took the feeding bottle and elegantly flicked the cap off with his sceptre. Harry rolled his eyes and took his off with his tooth. They drunk in silence for a spell, the winding whistling through the skunk and about the towers of the old palace. Harry could even hear the echoing laugh from Gryffindor column far above.

"So what is this ?"Harry broke the silence."Are we like friends now or something ?"

"We ‘ re drinking beer together."Malfoy stated flatly.

"Chums ? buddy ?"

Malfoy rolled his eyes.

"Co-conspirators ? Friendly rivals ?"Harry grinned."Agreed non-combatants ?"

"We are drinking beer together."Malfoy repeated."And you ‘ re talking too much."

"Emo git."

"Scarhead."

"Snake."

"Orphan."

"Peroxide."

"I looked that up you know."Malfoy commented, bringing down a chain of his hair to gaze at."I think I ‘ m more a Pt blonde."

"Always about money with you isn ‘ t it."

Malfoy shrugged and silence descended again.

"So…"Harry broached carefully."Are you gon na tell me why you were sitting out here in the start billet ?"

Malfoy didn't answer, just stared off into space.

"I mean there must have been a reason…"

"Why would I distinguish you."Malfoy said under his breathing space, his old venom dripping from the words. Harry could see the masquerade pulling back into place.

"No reason… just… well something strikes me."Harry wondered if this was the rightfulness course to take on but kept going anyway."Your just friends are Crabbe and Goyle right ? Except they ‘ re not really the talking-to variety of booster. Actually they don ‘ t seem as a lot like Friend as they do like… employees I guess. They work for you."

Malfoy remained silent, staring out into the Scottish night.

"And I haven ‘ t seen you hanging around Milquetoast as much lately."Harry shrugged."Good choice on your part that… And anyway even when you were together you didn't really seem to talk. She was more an decoration then a girlfriend I think. I don ‘ t know much about your Quidditch mates but none of them are in the same yr as you are they ? And I know you don't talk to anyone away Slytherin house."

Malfoy's grey eyes bored into the wickedness as Harry dryly dissected his life.

"And I haven ‘ t seen many owls coming to your bit of the breakfast table early than your family ‘ s eagle owl. You almost never write back. That old woman, Ellen Hayward ? You cared about her a lot I think, but she ‘ s gone now."Harry took a deep breath."So the thing is… the point is… the grounds you should secernate me what's bothering you, is that you don ‘ t really have anyone else to tell."

Malfoy stayed silent for a moment longer then wet his lips.

"Thank you Potter."His voice broke a slight as he was speaking."That ‘ s made me find often better."

"I didn ‘ t intend it to issue forth out that that harsh."Harry shrugged apologetically.

"It was more the was you systematically stripped me of everything that connects me to humanity."

"That too."

Malfoy shook his head ruefully and downed the rest of his drink.

"I can ‘ t Tell you the reason."Malfoy shook his pass."Not the main one anyway."

"Then… the shaver one ?"Harry coaxed.

"You really want to hear ?"Malfoy asked, sounding confused.

"This may fare as a jolt to you blondie, but I don ‘ t hate you."Harry grinned."Anymore…"

"You hated me last-place year."

"I humiliated you endure year."Harry smiled evilly."But I didn ‘ t hate you. Ginny, now she hated you. And the year before we were practically bestest-buddies."

"I was your informant in a racist cult."

"As I said, buddies."Harry quipped ( mentally noting down the fact that Malfoy had referred to it as a racist cult )."Now either stop avoiding the question or at least try and be less obvious about it."

"It ‘ s just…"Malfoy took a mystifying breathing space."My don hasn't written."

Harry waited for the end if the paragraph before realizing it had already passed.

"That ‘ s it ?"Harry asked incredulously."dad hasn ‘ t written ?"

"I came first in the undertaking !"Malfoy said angrily."I ‘ m in first spot in the tourney. Surely he has something to say about that. He didn ‘ t write to me after the first project either."

"How about when you were chosen as whiz ?"

"He did write to me then,"Malfoy nodded."But it was foreign, it was like he didn ‘ t know whether to congratulate me or not."

"Why do you deal ?"Harry asked, confused.

"What do you mean ‘ why do I care ‘ ?"Malfoy looked shocked."He ‘ s my father."

"Oh, not my field of view of expertness I guess."Harry shrugged."For me category is squarely divided between died-before-I-remember and treated-me-like-crap."Happy paused."I suppose it ‘ s possible that the ones that died before I was born also treated me like crap… unlikely though. Either way I don't have to care what they think, or would have thought, about me."

"You don ‘ t feel any, I don ‘ t know… compulsion… to go up to their expectations ?"Malfoy asked, seeming genuinely odd."None at all ?"

"Nope. Why do you think I never tried to con to fly ?"Harry shrugged."It ‘ s the upside to being orphaned."

"I envy you."Malfoy said, shaking his head.

"There are a yoke of downsides as well."Harry replied dryly."You ‘ ll never have to learn how to use newspaper as an insulator."

"You didn ‘ t have to run away from home."Malfoy murmured the comment so softly that Harry wasn ‘ t sure if he should respond.

"I chose to."Harry shrugged."I could have stayed I guess, but I ‘ d prefer to have my freedom."

"I see."Malfoy looked down into his evacuate bottle, rolling it idly between his digit. Harry handed him a full one."Do you ever regret-"

"No."

"Right."

"Do you…"Harry took a deep breather."Do you ever regret not leaving ?"

"What makes you think I ‘ ve sentiment about it ?"Malfoy said evasively.

"Your line of questioning, your overall demeanor, the fact that I ‘ ve met your father, the fact that you already said you envy me."Harry shrugged."Lots of things."

"You haven ‘ t been legilimizing me have you ?"Malfoy said angrily.

"You ‘ d know. You ‘ re expert at occlumency than me."

"There are mollusk better at occlumency than you."

"Magical mollusks ?"

"No."

"Darn,"Harry grinned and shrugged."Oh well. Anyway, about your Father of the Church not writing…"

"There ‘ s nix I can do I was just-"

"You ‘ ll just have to win."Harry said glibly. Malfoy turned to him in shock."Then he ‘ ll have to pay attention."Malfoy stared at him, his eyes all-encompassing. Harry just laughed. After a moment Malfoy started laughing too.
*


And it was with that that Harry and Malfoy became friend. There are some things you can't contribution and not become champion and your sucky family life is one of them.

It's not as spectacular as fighting a trolling, but in the longsighted run it's probably a more stable groundwork for a friendship.
*


"Errg…"Ron groaned, his head in his hands.

"comrade dear, let me ask you something."Ginny said, making sure to add extra volume to the vowels."The similitude are your brothers, they are your older pal. That means you have known them your entire life. So let me ask you… WHY THE HELL DID YOU boozing THAT STUFF THEY GAVE YOU ? !"

Ron's response was calculated and articulate.

"Errrg…. call back ‘ m gon na cast up."

"At to the lowest degree Neville has an excuse."

Neville responded by shuddering and rolling onto the early incline of his bed. Harry, who had only had a spyglass or two of the twins ‘ political party mix'and so was in a more human condition chuckled a little.

"Ok I understand why you ‘ re not sick."Harry pointed at Ginny."You didn ‘ t drink any, neither did Hermione. But why aren ‘ t Padma and Parvati sick."

"Oh Hermione mixed us up an antidote."

"There ‘ s antidote ?"Ron whimpered."Why not urinate for us ?"

"She ‘ s mixing up another batch for Neville and Harry now."Ginny smiled evilly."You on the former hand… Maybe you should think about apologizing before you start asking for favors."Ginny got up and left the elbow room, chuckling under her breath.

"Ok,"Harry shared a glance with the bedridden Neville."guessing they haven ‘ t totally forgotten about the ball thing."

In the end Harry palmed his vial of antidote and gave it to Ron. If he hadn't then the rest of the day would have been very unpleasant. Ron did his best to sound ill so the others didn't catch on. This might have worked if Ron was not a completely awful actor. It the end Harry just gave up and accepted that the day was going to suck in. They had transfiguration anyway so it could never feature been good.

As Harry was slinking out of course of instruction miserably ( McGonnagall had dropped superfluous homework on him ) when he realized that someone had been missing from the lesson.

"cat, where ‘ d Susan go ?"Harry asked the assembled marauders.

"Um… I heard her parents got permission to keep her home for the week."Parvati said evasively.

"Oh, promise she ‘ s back for the Hogsmeade weekend."Harry shrugged and turned towards their next lesson. Behind him he heard Padma whisper,

"Is he really that oblivious ?"

"I think so."Her Sister responded."In some manner he ‘ s big than Ron."

"Not nearly fashion though."

"Oh definitely not, but a few."

"I have quite salutary ears up here girls."Harry commented."So either voicelessness better or babble out in code."

"Inkthaye heaye ancay derstandunaye isthaye ?"Parvarti whispered conspiratorially.

"Brilliant baby,"Padma rolled her oculus."Just brilliant."
*


Susan didn't materialize all week. Harry considered owling her but figured she probably wouldn't want to be bothered at her parents place. When the Hogsmeade week end finally rolled around Harry waited in the entrance hall for a while, but when she didn't show up he shrugged and left to fulfil up with the marauders.

As he neared the castle gate he casually disillusioned himself and slipped behind Filch, who was eyeing everyone going in and out evilly. He removed the enchantment as son as he was out of the caretakers sight, shocking two third old age Gryffindors..

"Can you not do that Harry !"Elizabeth snapped at him.

"Sorry,"Harry winked at her and genus Vanessa."But it ‘ s better than crossing the bloody lake."

"Why don ‘ t you steal another ship ?"Liz quipped back at him.

"Don ‘ t want to appear formulaic. require to keep things fresh."

"You ‘ ve done the invisibleness thing before too."Vanessa pointed out.

"Good point, I need some new material…"Harry tapped his Kuki thoughtfully."Know anywhere I can get a Hippogriff ?"

The two girls laughed and Harry shrugged, so long as it worked he ‘ d keep using disillusionment. Except with mad eye moody. Harry walked the rest of the way into town with the little Slythi-Gryffs then carve up off as he spotted the marauders.

"Hey guys, anything happening ?"

"You probably shouldn't be here Harry."Hermione said sharply as Harry sauntered up."McGonagall's around Town somewhere, and so are scrunch, Madam Maxim and that other judge, Ludo Bagman."

"red cent,"Harry winced."That ‘ s a heavy group."

"That ‘ s what we thought."

"well if I wear a disguise or something…. postponement, were those four together ?"

"Yeah."Ron answered, sounding confused."They all went into the terzetto Broomsticks together. Why ?"

"Three Triwizard judges and the de-facto administrator of Hogwarts meeting up ?"Harry winked."I wonder what they could be discussing."

"You gon na eavesdrop ?"Fred asked excitedly.

"We ‘ ll help !"His twin chimed in happily.

"Harry no !"Hermione pleaded."You could ruin your hazard in the tournament !"

"I ‘ m already last."Harry shrugged."What else can they do ?"

"Chuck you out."Padma suggested."Come on Harry, your riding habit of ignoring shoal regulation has expanded to let in ignoring both ministry laws and introductory common sense. Lets just go back to Hogwarts."

"No."Harry shook his head."And anyway, since I ‘ m last berth I need to require a few danger or I ‘ ll never win."Harry turned to the Weasley twins."You bear in mind scoping out the broom handle for me ?"

"No problem Harry."Fred winked and a moment later he and his brother disappeared.

Harry left the former vulture and waited outside the pub for Fred and George to re-emerge. After a present moment they walked out, a little too nonchalantly.

"Guys, walk normally."Harry hissed."Unless you want everyone to know something's screwy."

"Do not lecture the masters."George II put his hand to his bureau in mock shock."We were doing this before you even learnt how to tease a pocket."

"No you weren ‘ t."Harry said flatly."Unless you were doing it before you were eight."

"You learnt to pickpocket at eight ?"Fred said, scandalized.

"Seven. I ‘ m younger than you remember."Harry said impatiently."Now what did you see in there ?"

"All four of them are at a mesa near the back."George II said, pointing back towards the construction and vaguely to the left. His twin just kept shaking his headspring and muttering ‘ seven ? ’."It's one of the individual booths."

"Ok, meter to be old jackstones Shaky again."Harry rummaged in his bag and brought out his old man mask and raged cloak. After donning his disguise he shuffled across the street and entered the pub. As soon as he was in he picked out his crisscross near the binding of the elbow room. Not wanting to call down suspicion he walked up to the counter and ordered a glass of wine. A crapulence not childish enough to clear him count like a tike but not unattackable enough to make him look like a minor wearing a disguise to get alcohol.

With the goldilocks drink in hand he walked creakily over to the following compartment over from the judges and sat down.

"-don't see where it zey av all gone."ma'am Maxim was saying."Ze last sentence I was over hear zey were everywhere."

"It ‘ s been a much wetter summertime than usual."McGonnagall said."That may have cut down their numbers. Flowers blooming later and so forth."

"Perhaps."

"It may also be the habitats."Mr Crouch said knowingly."violation by the muggles. Their habitat gets destroyed and they can't go anywhere. They don ‘ t like to crossbreed woodland you know."

"Really ? I would have thought they did it naturally ?"McGonnagall asked.

"Oh no they don ‘ t like to traverse born roadblock, they only like out-of-doors spaces. Only a few specie actually live in the woods."

Were they talking about butterfly or something ? Harry shook his head, this was the most boring conversation he'd ever eavesdropped on.

"Not like acromantula then ?"Bagman joked.

"No nothing like them."Crouch replied humorlessly."Acromantula will live on in any area with a sufficient food author provided they can regain a place out of the sun to sleep during the day."

"It… It was a joke Barty."

"Oh… I see."

The four fell silent and Harry mentally labeled Barty Crouch as ‘ the conversation cause of death ’. Harry took a sip of his drink and grimaced, did people tope this for pleasure ? Harry slumped down on his seat as the four adult in the side by side compartment began discussing some philosophical system book.

"Well, can ‘ t always overhear good stuff."Harry thought realistically."Sometimes people just blab out about garbage."

Harry figured it was safer to hold back for them to provide first so he waited, wisely not drinking any more than of the acidulous drink in social movement of him. After an hour or so of boring adult discussion he heard them get up and lead off to move off.

"Wait a consequence Crouch."A new phonation cut in."Want a word with you."

Helen Wills Moody ?

"What is it Alastor ?"McGonagall asked pointedly.

"Just a little personal affair Minerva."Dwight Lyman Moody said easily."See you back up at the castle."Harry saw the two char and Bagman leaving.

"Did you look into it ?"Helen Newington Wills asked bluntly.

"I fail to see what ‘ s so interesting in-"

"You don ‘ t need to. Did you notice anything ?"

"The section of magical Transportation hasn ‘ t reported any unscheduled portkeys in Dorset."

"That ‘ s all you did ?"Moody said scathingly."Looked through a few old reports ?"

"facial expression Moody, this is your obsession."Barty Crouch said smoothly."We're busybodied enough at the ministry with Fudge's transgression and Dumbledore causing trouble. I looked into it as a favor but there ‘ s zippo there. Just a normal, tragical, act of an old adult female who wanted to die before her brain went."

"Did anyone do an autopsy ?"

"Moody…"

"Did they ?"Dwight Lyman Moody pressed.

"The coroner examined her at the scene."Crouch said wearily."criterion cause-of-death detection spells revealed-"

"Nothing."Moody cut in."Because they can ‘ t secern a murder from a suicide."

"Dwight Lyman Moody nothing can tell that."Crouch said in exasperation."If you drink poison yourself it has the same effect as if soul doses you with it. No one can detect the difference."

"Anyone insure her potion devising equipment ?"

"Yes, it had tracing of the potion that killed her on it."Crouch stood suddenly."Sorry Alastor I looked into this as a favor, but there ‘ s goose egg suspicious. nada to investigate, this is just an old noblewoman who made a mistake."

"Why are you so certain ?"Helen Wills Moody said, his vocalization going low."Was a time when even a confidential information of repelling play would have had you at it like a sleuthhound, but not now. You know something."

There was secrecy for a moment, then Harry heard a chairperson scrape as Mr Crouch sat back down. When he began talking again it was at a whisper that Harry had to puree to hear.

"They found a note."

"Suicide note ?"Dwight Lyman Moody asked keenly."Could have been forged."

"They tested it. It was written by her, with her own detached will."Harry frowned, he hadn't realized it was possible to examine for that, but since Moody seemed to take over it it must be admittedly. hunker continued,"Obviously they wanted to keep it under wraps."

"But everyone knows it ‘ s a suicide."Moody sounded untrusting."Everyone with an oz. of wit anyway."

"It wasn ‘ t the act itself,"bend whispered modest."It was the contents of the promissory note. The reason she did it."

"Eh ?"

"She killed herself to be with… with…"Crouch took a deep breathing spell, as if just giving voice to this was straining."… with someone named Mark Lanka, he was her housekeeper until about a year ago. She died to be with the man she loved."

"Tragic,"Dwight Lyman Moody said dryly."But it doesn ‘ t explain any-"

"It does if you take into account the fact that print Lanka was a registered squib."Crouch explained in a muted whisper.

"Oh… Oh I see."There was the creak of a chair as Moody leant back."And in an old established pure blood family…"

"That sort of behavior would be deeply shameful. Especially considering how respected she was."Crouch sighed."It was decided that it was better hidden. She didn ‘ t deserve to possess this stain on her name."

"Right,"Moody growled."It was all for her benefit."

"In any case."Crouch stood again and pushed his chair in."The case is closed, delight don ‘ t discuss this with anyone."Harry heard him leave the pub. A few consequence later…

"Heard all that ceramist ?"Dwight Lyman Moody said from the other kiosk. Harry grinned.

"Was it really that big a deal ?"Harry asked.

"To them that concern it would be."Harry could almost see Helen Newington Wills shrugging on the early side of the partition."And the suicide makes it worse."

"I see. Guess that solves it then."Harry took another sip of the bitter vino."Assuming Mr Crouch is telling the truth."

"Oh I think he is."Moody said begrudgingly.

"You trust him ?"Harry asked, shocked.

"I trust him to be him."Moody growled."If there was so much as a hint that glowering magic was involved Barty Crouch wouldn't just walk away."

"Doesn ‘ t he work in some perfectly end office…"Harry scratched his head, trying to remember."International magical co-operation ? Odd place for a grim thaumaturge hunter."

"Didn ‘ t used to be. Used to be an auror, like me. Then a senior auror, like me. Then a department head, which I ‘ m happy to say is unlike me."Moody sighed sadly."He was a tough nut but he did what he had to do in those times."

"What went wrong ?"

"Ended up arresting his son."A gluging sound came from the other slope of the partition, like Helen Wills Moody had just drained his mug."Barty Crouch Jr, and don ‘ t think the paper didn ‘ t have a discipline day with that. ‘ Crouch sentence hunker ’, ‘ Set a Crouch to watch a Crouch ’, raft of ammo for those hacks."

"Hilarious."Harry commented dryly.

"Anyway, he never quite recovered from the fallout. But he keeps his ear to the ground and a lot of people in the ministry respect him. In any case, I think this causa is closed."

"shot so."Harry sighed."Sorry I wasted your clock time Professor."

"That's alright, you weren't to screw. And besides, keeps me young."

"Say,"Harry suddenly remembered something."He said Dumbledore was causing trouble at the ministry. You know what that ‘ s about ?"

"Dumbledore has it in his promontory that you-know-who is on the way back."Moody's voice was so flat it was insufferable to observe what he thought about it.

"harbour ‘ t seen anything in the Prophet."

"Rita Skeeter ‘ s death neutered them. They haven ‘ t even been gouging Fudge that hard over all his screw ups."

"Big thing to ignore though…"

"The ministry ‘ s hushing it up."Moody snorted."The component of the ministry that are still functioning anyway. Don't know where Dumbledore got the idea though…"

Snape's obscure mark…

"I ‘ m for certain Dumbledore has his sources."

"Such as ?"

"Sources we mere soul can not tap."

"And yet you clearly know."Moody chuckled."That ‘ s what I like about you Harry, you make things interesting. Ever need any more than helper, just ask."

Helen Wills got up and left, his wooden leg clomping against the wooden floor.

Harry sighed and took another sip of his drinking, grimacing in the process. He felt sort of bloated from the excess of exposition. Harry shrugged and got up to forget when he saw a scrap of paper on the floor, under the table.

Harry leant down, careful to act like he was rheumy and old, and picked it up. He began unfolding it and marveled at how it just kept spread out, over and over until it was the size of a poster. On it was drawn some complicated maze design, passages intersecting and turning and ending in subterfuge bowling alley. There was an undetermined space in the middle and various early exonerate place around as well. The map had little anotations everywhere that Harry had to squint to read…

"Sphinx… quicksand… ogre snare… ?"Harry read a few more of them then folded the matter back down and stuffed it in his bag. It obviously wasn't connected to the case.

After leaving the pub and shedding his disguise Harry went back to the palace ( disillusioning himself again to screak past times Filch ). As he was crossing the entrance hall he spotted mortal in one of the side corridors. He trotted up to the human body, who stopped and turned as he drew near.

"You missed Hogsmeade."

"Mum kept me home."Susan said, not meeting his eyes.

"Was she pissed at you ?"

"Yes Harry,"Susan turned in pique."She was pissed. She yelled, she screamed, she was pissed. Now go away."

"wellspring don't admit it out on me."Harry quirked an eyebrow."I didn ‘ t yell at you."

"Harry… just please go away."Susan shook her head."She says I can ‘ t see you anymore."

"And you ‘ re gon na listen to her ?"

"Harry please just go."Susan turned and walked down the corridor. Harry followed confused.

"I don ‘ t get it."Harry hurried to keep up with the scurrying Susan finger cymbals."I like you, I got the effect you liked me."

"It ‘ s not that…"

"If it ‘ s not that then what else is there ?"Harry slid in front line of her and brought her to a closure with his hands on her berm."come on Bones, be a trivial bit LE Hufflepuff and a little more marauder."

"The marauder aren ‘ t a house."Susan murmured, still not meeting his gaze.

"Oh yes they are,"Harry winked."The out of sight planetary house, the house that never gets point because we have no rule. Come over to my side Susan, it ‘ s more fun over here. let go for a paseo, down by the lake."

"I ‘ ve got an essay due…"

"Did you not listen to a word I said ?"Harry put a mitt under her mentum and tilted her principal up to meet his eyes."cum on… do you really desire me to walk away ?"

Harry leant in and kissed her lightly and lingeringly. Or at least that was what he tried for, he wasn't exactly an expert.

"Harry please…"Or maybe he was…"Wait… have you been drinking wine-colored ?"Harry shut her up by kissing her again, this prison term harder. About halfway through she started kissing back. Harry leant back, they were against a wall. Had he pushed them against a wall ? He certainly didn't remember doing that.

"Oh Harry."Susan was blushing tomato plant red."My mums gon na kill me."

"That ‘ s if she ever finds out."Harry snaked an arm around Susan's articulatio humeri."Army of the Righteous take a walk."
*


"Harry where were you ?"Hermione asked.

"Hogsmeade, think back ?"

"Why do you have lipstick on your shirt collar ?"

"Um… ran into a lot of… magic… kissing… flowers ? They exist right ?"

"No."

"Oh."Harry shrugged and grinned evilly."shot I must bear been snogging somebody then."
*


Despite being in last place in the tourney the following weeks were some of the dependable in Harry's memory, and they didn't even involve pranking anyone ! He had the predator, peace of mind and friendship with Malfoy and a girlfriend. Susan was still occasionally struck with turn of nerves, thinking that her mother would somehow encounter out about their persist in relationship ( despite the fact that Harry had already taken fear of this by ordering shovel to intercept any station sent from a Hogwarts professor to Doris Bones ). But early than that it was perfect.

The marauder often ended the day by lounging around outside on the Mary Jane outside talking or doing Homework. And because they were there bunch of other Gryffindors came too, and usually Susan brought her Hufflepuff friends. Before long the after-class-outside-lounge became a fixity for to the highest degree of the school. Luckily the piranha took enough different classes that they could always bag a place before it got too crowded.

One afternoon when Harry was on the verge of falling asleep there on the sens, with Susan lying across him, her heading pillowed on his arm, a fantasm fell across them.

"Harry wake up."

Harry's eyes flickered open and he saw Malfoy standing over him.

"You ‘ re ruining my beauty sleep."Harry complained.

"Then I ‘ m sorry because you really look like you need it."Malfoy quipped laconically.

"One of us has a girlfriend Malfoy, prompt me which one of us that is ?"

"One of us knows what a comb is, remind me which one of us that is ?"

"Me, it's what honey comes in isn ‘ t it ?"Harry grinned."Anyway what is it ?"

"Judges want us."

"For what ?"

"I don ‘ t know, I don't take divination."Malfoy rolled his eyes.

"Ron does,"Harry glanced over at his friend, who was doing some prophecy prep at that moment."Look in the crystal ball. Tell us what's happening."

"Don't be pillock Harry…"Ron said, eyeing Malfoy suspiciously."Wait…"He peered into the sphere of influence and blinked, surprised."Actually, it does await like there ‘ s something in there."

"Really ? What ?"Harry sat up, dislodging his lady friend. Ron had never before actually seen something in the ball.

"It ‘ s kind of distorted…"Ron squinted and scratched his head."Looks kind of like a face…"

"Some sort of creature ?"Neville guessed.

"Troll ? whale ?"Harry asked, interested.

"Don ‘ t know, ugly though. Huge red spots all over its face."Ron peered closer. Hermione's middle suddenly widened and she began to giggle. A second later Harry got it and slapped a handwriting over his rima oris to block up himself laughing.

"Weird red fuzz too…"Ron continued, oblivious."Think it ‘ s some kind of titan ? Some of them have red hair."

"Not one word."Harry said to Malfoy holding a finger up."Not one word."

"Too well-fixed anyway."Malfoy shrugged and stepped back as Harry stood. They were about to go away when Padma said,

"Hold on, what the hell was that ?"

"What ?"Harry turned.

"That !"Padma pointed between Harry and Malfoy."You ‘ re not at each others throats ! You almost look like friends. Are you on some sort of drugs ?"

"No."Harry shook his head."That would unfit me from the tournament."

"It ‘ s not like they ‘ d check."Malfoy pointed out.

"You never know."Harry shrugged."I can just see that scrunch guy running at me waving a plastic cup."

"I wonder if that ‘ s the third task."Malfoy one-half smiled.

"A urine test ? kind of anticlimactic."

"Not if it's in movement of the whole school."

"Oh.. True."Harry shrugged."But at least it ‘ d truly put hearsay of Harriet Potter to rest."

"Also… Fleur."

"Cad."

"STOP !"Padma yelled in aggravation."You ‘ re doing it again !"All the marauders were now staring at Harry and Malfoy.

"It ‘ s ok."Harry shrugged."Long history short I decided that we should have a truce. Since we ‘ re both in the same boat over the tournament and all."

"But, he ‘ s Malfoy !"Ron said, disbelieving.

"It ‘ s Ok."Harry explained."You don ‘ t have to stop hating him just because I did."

"I ‘ m certainly not going to quit hating you."Malfoy chimed in.

"You ‘ re not helping."Harry said, exasperated.

"I ‘ m not trying to."Malfoy shrugged."The judge want us by the Quidditch pitch."Malfoy turned and walked, unconcerned, towards the pitch.

Harry turned back to the traumatise marauders.

"Sorry cat, I know this kind of blindsided you."Harry spread his hands apologetically."But we kept getting stuck together, the dragons, the boat, Bournemouth…"

"Malfoy was there ?"Ginny interrupted.

"Oh yeah, I didn ‘ t tell you that."Harry cursed himself silently."Yeah he was there, the woman was an old ally of his."

"The blond hair…"Hermione said, thoughtfully."It was his wasn ‘ t it."

"Yep."Harry nodded."Had to kidnap it from the aurors."

"But Harry, he ‘ s Malfoy !"Ron started again, seemingly stuck in a cringle."Malfoy, you know Draco Mal-"

"He ‘ s not all bad."Harry shrugged."After all, he ‘ s been my informant since second year."

"What !"The marauders yelled, almost in unison.

"Did you think I just somehow guessed where The Called would be meeting ?"Harry grinned."You guys are so naive."

Harry winked and turned away from the seven shocked faces. Still, grinning Harry wandered over to the Quidditch lurch. As soon as he got near it he realized something was wrong.

"Now I don ‘ t play Quidditch…"Harry said as he got nearer."But I ‘ m fairly sure it ‘ s not meant to calculate like that."

"Very droll Mr Potter."Barty Crouch commented as Harry joined the early champions."But in all distressfulness, these hedge are your third gear task."

"The third task is topiary ?"

"No Mr Potter."Crouch said, tolerantly."It is a maze."

Oh bugger, Harry's belly lurched.

"A tangle with the triwizard cup in the center."

His bag, with the trash of paper he had picked up at the three broom handle still in it, suddenly felt very heavy and hot.

"And with many challenges to overcome."

Harry listened with half an ear to the rest of the judge's account. He suddenly found himself with a alternative to seduce, a moral choice.

"Bugger."Harry groaned inwardly."I hate those."



Every time you fail to leave a review article god kills a kitten. A little fluffy kitten. Aw ... look at the kitten, so sweet, so fuzzy, and it 's DEAD because of YOU !


I do n't own Harry Potter. Have I said that recently ? No ? Well I do n't. Someone tried to betray me part of him once, but it was only a finger and it looked kind of hairy.



Harry sat and stared at the small booklet art object of newspaper on the table as if the answer would just come floating out of it. He had clambered into an unused attic over the library to conceive matter over, but unfortunately was coming up blank.

"It ‘ s not like you saw that much."Part of Harry's brain kept saying in a inveigle voice."You couldn ‘ t go straight to the cup."

"But you remember lots of the challenges on the way."Another component of his brain said, sounding a bit like Neville.

Prison-circle, Sphinx, mist mirage, acromantula, devilsnare, tiger-trap, manic mushrooms-

Harry shook his head to make the litany before it went too far. This was only making things bad, he was actually remembering more affair the longer he thought about it.

"You could go to the judges."A Hermione shaped brain prison cell said."Just tell them what happened honestly, it was just a misapprehension after all."

"Yeah, how would that go…"Harry rolled his heart."You see I was eavesdropping on you and I found this bit of paper…"Harry shook his head.

He could share it with the other champions… Look at the map in its integrality and give transcript to the Fleur, Viktor and Malfoy. But that ran into the job of virtually ensuring that he'd lose the task. Ten minute head start isn't that much when you're going into a snarl screen, but when you know the way ? Harry shook his head, Malfoy or Fleur would have the cup in their hands before he even got through the front door.

That was the question wasn't it, Goldilocks style…

He wasn't against cheating a piddling ( using the marauders for research, overhearing about the Draco ), but having a verbatim map to the culture tune was just too much. That porridge was much too hot.

On the other hired hand he wasn't so possessed with fairness that he'd just hand the cup to Beauxbattons. Fleur was nice, and he didn't bear in mind some of the former girlfriend, but there was no was he was letting that oversized bitch-queen Maxim have the gratification of winning. That porridge was far too cold.

And the one that was just ripe was…

"It doesn ‘ t exist."Harry slumped dejectedly."Because the bear cub had been killed by poachers and its cheekiness bladder sold as medicine."

"I could just fire it now…"Harry thought suddenly."Accept that I have a slight advantage in knowing what challenges are coming and burn the residual. I ‘ m finally anyway, I deserve a helping hand."

Was that porridge just right ? Depends what component part of his brain he was trying to satisfy.

"Any more of this and my brain will be porridge."Harry dropped his header to the board and banged it repeatedly against the hardwood surface."I ‘ m no good at these questions."

Accept it, sometimes questions have no answer.

"Or no good one at least."Harry shook his heading."Screw it, Incendio !"Harry burnt the scrap of parchment to ash."Close sufficiency to fair. And I do deserve some aid after Dumbledore stiffed me in the endorsement task."

"You ‘ re still cheating !"Hermione-brain admonished him.

"Put a metaphysical sock in it."Harry grumbled at her and stood up from his table."Sometimes real life isn ‘ t fair."

Harry turned and pushed open the hidden threshold he'd used to get into this place before slinking off down the corridor with his cap up. It was way after curfew but Harry seldom worried about such things, even Mrs Norris'ears couldn't plectron up Harry when he was trying not to be heard.

Speak of the devil…

Harry skillfully slid into an alcove as the caretakers cat came into view around a corner. She was stalking, tail in the air and her read/write head close down to the floor. Moving in the high-speed-slinking fashion of a cat on a mission.

What was she hunting ? Not so-and-so, the rook was clean of them. Harry disillusioned himself and began following the stalking feline. She seemed almost confused, she would slink for a few understructure then stop and sniff the air, occasionally batting at it with a paw, before slinking forward again.

Harry followed her cautiously. Was she tracking a student ? Who else but the marauders were out of bed at this variety of minute ?

Suddenly Harry froze, a dark sliver had just appeared in mid air above the scraggly cat. A mo later there was a flashgun of red light and she slumped to the background. Harry tried to stay perfectly still as the astounded kitty was pushed behind a lawsuit of armor by the invisible mien. Harry saw the derriere one-half of a boot, visible for a shed second, then null. Not for the first time Harry wished he had Dwight Lyman Moody's artificial eye.

The young marauder strained his ears and just caught the lolly of kick on Stone and followed at a crouch. disenchantment was no substitute for a true invisibility cloak, if whoever it was looked back at the damage moment they would spot him for sure. Harry tried to stick in the shadows as he furiously tried to amount up with a design. He wished he could drop off back far enough to call myrtle, but if he did that he'd lose the interloper for sure.

Harry could almost see the shadow of the man he was following when he passed a blowtorch in the rampart. Not even an invisibility cloak was perfect after all so Harry could beak out the staple physique. It did not bode well.

"Whoever this is they ‘ re a replete grown adult."Harry cursed silently."Which means they ‘ re either a instructor, in which case why sneaker around, or they ‘ re no supposed to be here. And their readiness to anathemize a defenseless cat doesn ‘ t exactly speak to their character either."

The phone of footsteps stopped and Harry too came to a halt, pressing himself up against the wall so as to be less visible. The man seemed to ingest stopped outside one of the instructor quarters. Harry saw the baton appear a endorsement time and a present moment later the door glowed a 10000 of different colours, a rainbow in the dark corridor. The spell was quickly canceled and the verge withdrawn. The man sounded like he was sitting down to take the problem.

Harry however grinned impishly. He'd just remembered whose door this was. Only one teacher was paranoiac enough to put that many locking spells on their doorway. Harry slinked backwards quietly, it would accept whoever-it-was a dear prospicient metre to get through that lot and even if he did Moody could take care of himself.

Harry took himself a few corridors away then tapped out a signaling on the stone level. After a moments waiting myrtle appeared through the floor.

"Something the matter Harry ?"She said, looking over his camouflaged self.

"Go to Dumbledore, quickly."Harry whispered."Tell him someone is breaking into Helen Wills Moody ‘ s elbow room. soul invisible."

Vinca minor's centre widened and she darted away quickly. Harry turned and slowly made his way back to Moody's rooms.

When he returned Harry's heart skipped a beat. The door was open !

Harry scrambled to his invertebrate foot, heedless of the noise and dashed to the door. He slid to the entrance just in time to listen the words,

"Avada Keda-"

"NO !"Harry yelled and threw himself forward. He struck something in the air and saw a flash of green luminousness. metre went slow as Harry saw the deadbolt front crawl through the air, rippling its puke green path towards the bed at the far end of the one-fourth. The light lit Helen Wills Moody ‘ s facial expression and Harry could have sworn he was the instructor eyes flicker open before the bolt struck abode and the room was plunged into wickedness again.

A moment later he hit the floor, the liquidator dropping beside him with a thump. Harry kicked wildly and felt his foot hit bod. He jumped to his feet and pulled his scepter out of his crown. But his assailant was faster.

"Avada Kedavra !"

Harry dropped to the storey as the green bolt shot over his straits. The faint figure aimed again, and this time Harry had nowhere to go.

"Avada Kedavra !"

"Accio !"Harry yelled desperately, pointing at a side table. It flew towards him and caught the dark-green spell in mid air, showering Harry in huge splinters."Depulso !"Harry waved at the wooden shards and they shot away from him like shrapnel.

Harry heard his opposition scream as one of the splinters stuck in mid air. Harry threw himself at the floor beneath it and felt himself hit leg. The unseeable foe tumbled to the base again as Harry staggered to his feet.

"Lumos !"

Harry was caught off safety device and the spell hit him like a flash lamp, blinding him and making him trip back in surprisal. He heard running feet and took off in pursuit, fending himself off the suddenly blurry doorway and dashing off down the corridor after his quarry. Harry flicked his sceptre up to his throat as he ran.

"Sonorous !"Harry amplified his voice and yelled,"murder ! execution in the castle !"

Harry had to sidestep as a dash of red light flashed down the transit ahead of him.

"Offucia !"Harry jabbed his wand forward and a stream of deep red key sprayed across the corridor. A smear of it hit in mid air. Harry grinned and aimed again."Ferio !"The bludgeoning whammy flew reliable and Harry saw the painted figure lifted off the floor and hurled into the wall. Harry threw two more into the prone figure as he approached. Harry spotted the mankind wand on the storey and kicked it away from him.

"Now let ‘ s see your ugly face you bastard."Harry panted, out of breath."Come on off with it !"

The figure didn't move, perhaps he'd knocked him out ?

"Accio cloak !"Harry flicked his wand and the cloak shot up. It sprang into Harry ‘ s manus, knocking his baton to the side.

"Effodio !"

Harry was thrown to the flooring as the while hit him, sliding across the stone in a daze of pain. Through the red mist he heard a sinister chuckle. The cloak was pulled from his suddenly powerless fingerbreadth. Harry tried to sprain his head to see his assailant but a rough hired hand pushed him back down into the story.

Harry tried vainly to labour himself to his fundament at the murdered turned and hurried away but the floor seemed to be strangely guileful. Harry brought a hand up and faintly registered red. The paint that he had thrown or blood ? Harry tried to focus on the floor in figurehead of him and saw something slimy lying on the undercoat next to him. Long, coiled and bulging like a snake in the grass that had just eaten a pack of rats. Harry traced it back and almost passed out when he saw where it was coming from.

It was flopping out from a gaping hole in his stomach. The slimy thing was his own intestines.

The pain hit Harry again, harder then before. It was as if, now that he knew he was cut unfastened, his brain was finally registering the injury. His hands moved involuntarily, pulling the fleshy coils towards him, his eubstance vainly trying to fix what his mentality knew was a killing wound.

"Mr Pot… Oh Harry !"

Behind a mist of red Harry saw professor McGonagall's typeface come into opinion. Her usually inexorable face was contorted with fear and shock.

"Effercio."McGonagall waved her wand over him and Harry felt his guts reel themselves back in like a hose. Harry looked down and couldn't stop himself from vomiting at the visage of his innards slipping in through his skin.

A bit later it was over and the lesion closed up, showing up only as a raw red line on his skin.

"Who used an entrail emission curse on you ceramist ?"McGonagall asked, her stupor still observable in her voice."And what is all this about murder ?"

"Dumbledore."Harry panted, pained."Get me to Dumbledore."

"For once you are talking sense."Harry felt himself lifted up off the floor then set back down on a copestone that the Professor must receive conjured right there and then. The copestone itself was lifted then and Harry saw the walls around him start to move. Harry tried to shift office but as soon as did a spear of pain hit him in the stomach.

"Do not try to make a motion Harry. Please."He heard McGonagall's concerned phonation from behind him."The counter-curse only puts you back together, it doesn ‘ t reverse all the damage that was done along the way."

Harry lay obediently still as they moved through the darkened corridors. Harry wasn't certainly how much recollective it took but eventually they stopped and he felt a shadow drop over him. Harry pulled his caput up enough to bet around and found that they were outside the hospital flank, Dumbledore was standing over him solemnly in a violet dressing gown. Behind him the three remaining fountainhead of theatre were standing, looking his way. Off at the edge of the lamplight Harry could see the Triwizard jurist. Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim towering up into the shadows of the roof, Karkaroff with the angles of his face stark in the candlelight and Crouch standing silently beside. Harry turned back to Dumbledore.

"I lost him."Harry said through a raw throat.

"Harry…"

"I followed him for ages but I…"Harry coughed heavily into his manus. When he could speak again he continued."I screwed up, made a stupid mistake. I let him get away."

"Harry you can not be held responsible."Dumbledore shook his question."I should induce come to your aid instead of going to Professor Helen Wills first. I should take known you would chase after the intruder."

"Moody…"Harry felt his gist drib into his boots."That's my fault too. I thought it would be alright to depart for a few moments. To give you a signal. It's my fault he ‘ s dead."

"Ah,"Dumbledore broke into a smile."I think I have some full intelligence for you Harry. prof Moody is not dead."

"Wha…"Harry shook his head word in confusion."But it was the killing curse !"

"As near as gentlewoman Pomfrey can tell either the caster had no experience with Unforgivables or he was unable to complete the spell."

"I hit him."Harry cast his mind back."Before he could finish."

"Well there it is then."Dumbledore patted him on the shoulder."You almost certainly saved his life."

"Wait…"Harry's eyes widened."Map ! Your map ! If you look it-"

"My persuasion exactly Harry. And my fault as well,"Dumbledore shook his head."I waited to make water sure as shooting professor Dwight Lyman Moody was active before checking the map and by that time whoever it was must already have got left."

"No,"Harry shook his head."A followed him old age and I must have hurt ‘ im. He couldn ‘ t have left that quickly."

"The fact that our enemy knows of the macrocosm of the map may excuse that."Snape said, detaching himself from the shadows. Dumbledore shot his potions master a surprisingly raging looking at. Perhaps this was a fact that Dumbledore did not desire Harry to get mindful of. Snape continued, unruffled."Maybe the dark lord has found a way to circumvent it."

"We do not get laid that Voldemort is directly involved Severus."

"We do not fuck that he is not."Snape crooked an eyebrow.

"Perhaps."Dumbledore conceded."But in any case he can not overreach the map. There are very few thing I am confident in the infallibility of, but one of them is the mar-… the map."

What had that been ? Harry wondered. That little intermission before ‘ the map ’.

"Then an illegal portkey perhaps ?"Snape was saying.

"Could ask Mr Crouch to search into it."Harry suggested."What with his ministry cont-"

"Thank you Harry,"Dumbledore cut him off."I will consider it."

"Had any luck with the ministry yourself ?"Harry asked pointedly, mainly to see the look on Dumbledore's face. He was not disappointed.

"How did you… ?"

"Persuading them he ‘ s on the way back I mean."

"I… I do not make love how you have heard of that Harry."Dumbledore said, he sounded like he was keeping some deep ira in check."But it is none of your business. Right now you need to be seen by madam Pomfrey."

"But-"

"This is not a discussion Harry."Dumbledore flicked his scepter and the stretcher began moving.

As he floated into the hospital wing the last thing he heard was Snape turning to Dumbledore and saying,

"Now do you conceive we should warn the monastic order ?"

Dumbledore's response was too quiet to try but his nod said enough.
*


"Potter."

Hm…

"Oy Potter !"

Sleepy…

"aftermath up !"

Stupid Hospital. Harry cracked his eyelid open and saw Helen Wills staring at him from the next bed over.

"I ‘ m up."Harry rubbed the eternal rest out of his eyes."What is it ?"

"Sloppy Potter, very sloppy."Dwight Lyman Moody shook his head."You let him get away."

"Sorry,"Harry hung his brain."I made a lot of fault concluding night."

"leaning ‘ em."

"What ?"

"You heard me Potter, listing ‘ em."Dwight Lyman Moody lay back on his infirmary bed.

"Well…"Harry thought back."I thought it would take thirster for whoever it was to break through your door."

"Underestimating your opponent."Moody shook his question."dolt, first mistake."

"He tricked me with a Lumos spell, blinded me."Harry continued.

"Inattentive. Unprepared."

"And I made the stupid mistake of getting my hands tangled when I summoned his cloak to me."

"Clumsy."Moody tisked."Wouldn ‘ t have thought that of you Harry."

"You're right, I was hurt but that's no excuse."Harry shook his head and frowned."I kicked his wand away but he must take had a spare."

"Always assume they have a spare."Helen Newington Wills said sternly."Accio sceptre or Expelliarmus. Use them whether you think he ‘ s got a wand or not."

"Right, I shoulda known that."

"Constant vigilance."Moody said harshly."You can never be too careful."

"constant quantity vigilance."Harry repeated."I know, and I ‘ m sorry I got you involved in this."

"You assume this has something to do with you ?"Helen Newington Wills said, a little chuckle in his voice."I had enemies before I met you."

"How many have invisibility cloaks."

"Sir Thomas More than one."Moody said pointedly."And more than that have the funds to get one if they needed it."

"I thought they were rare."

"They are Potter."Helen Newington Wills grinned."I just tend to cause expensive enemies. One of the risks of the job."

"Ok,"Harry closed his optic."How many of them are about six understructure grandiloquent, skinny and bony with dark chocolate-brown hair who fights smartness and has experience with espionage and breaking through wards."

"Brown fuzz ?"

"Think I saw a flash of it when the cloak came off."

"Doesn ‘ t mean value much. Could accept colored it."

"Why disguise yourself then wear an invisibility cloak ?"

"True."Helen Wills frowned thoughtfully."Still doesn ‘ t mean he ‘ s connected."

"Still, bit of a coincidence."

"Oh don ‘ t think I ‘ m dismissing it."Moody shook his head."Not for a moment."Helen Newington Wills tried to labour himself up on his hands then winced in pain and settled back down.

"Still feeling a little cursed Professor ?"

"I ‘ ll be fine."Moody grunted."I ‘ ve had risky. Least the killing curse word doesn ‘ t scar."

"Um…"

"Not for well-nigh of us."Moody laughed, then broke into a loud, wet cough."Maybe I will be out of deputation for a while."

"That means we ‘ ll have Snape again."Harry sighed."And well… He ‘ s not so bad any more."

"He ‘ s tall, and has dark hair."Moody pointed out suspiciously.

"I ‘ d hump his voice."Harry dismissed the accusation with a wave of his handwriting."Besides he ‘ s not evil."

"constant quantity vig-"

"Not evil. Used to be evil, not evil now."Harry held a finger up."Besides, he ‘ s had all yr to try and kill you. Why now ? And why with patch in the middle of the night when he ‘ s had entree to your food all year."

"Good point. But I still don ‘ t trust him."

"You don ‘ t have to,"Harry shrugged."Just accept that I do."

There was secretiveness for a moment as Moody regarded Harry pointedly.

"What ?"

"zippo Potter."Helen Newington Wills lay back, an disport grinning on his face."Just reminded me of person is all."

Harry shrugged and lean back too. He had enough puzzles without trying to work out what that meant.



Leave a review. If you do n't then vengeful lord Xenu will strike you down !


Due to the fact that the queue has been so long recently I have concatenated two previously separate chapters into one whopper. Hope you like it.

Oh, and I do n't own Harry Potter. You ca n't own a somebody, that 's slavery.



Harry was let out of the hospital wing a few Day later with Order to take it easy and only eat fluent food for a hebdomad or two until his inside settled down. Harry was alright with this except that the occasional stabs of pain from his midriff rather got in the way of him training for the third task. Harry adopted the bean above the library as his own and sealed the threshold with the watchword cheating scumbag so he and the predator could have a individual place to train.

Harry gutted the room as efficiently as he himself had been gutted to allow a large dueling distance in the center. While his crew searched the library for anything remotely utilitarian Harry practiced anything they found against the twins or against the broken bookshelves they had found up there. Harry accepted that he would never be an awful duellist but at least he could aim for competent. It did eat into the time he could expend with Susan but unfortunately it was inevitable.

Given that Harry had totally ignored Madam Pomfrey's advice to take it soft it was perhaps also inevitable that he would end up back in the hospital wing after throwing up bloody vomit.

"Mr ceramist you idiotic…"Pomfrey spluttered incoherently as she dosed him with various potions."In all my years… never… so stupid ! Not even your Fatherhood with all his pranks was in here so much. At least he seemed to understand that the human being soundbox has sealed limitations ! You can not just keep heaping abuse on it and have a bun in the oven it to keep working properly !"

"At least I'm giving you a challenge."Harry grinned.

"A challenge ? More like a slash !"

Harry was once again discharged a few days before the third job, finally fully healthy. Of course of instruction not everyone treated him as such.

"You sure you ‘ re alright Harry ?"Ron repeated for about the billionth time as they walked to lunch.

"No Ron,"Harry rolled his oculus."I ‘ ve miraculously had a lapsing during the hold out twenty dollar bill seconds."

"Harry you throwing up blood."Padma pointed out."You don ‘ t just reverberate back from that."

"I ‘ m not bouncing."Harry shrugged."Or bounding, or any other b-words. I ‘ m just eating lunch."

"You ‘ re boring."Harry turned to see Malfoy standing behind him."That ‘ s a b-word."

"I ‘ m many things Malfoy."Harry responded sardonically."But boring isn ‘ t one of them."

'' Is bastard ? ``

"Anything in detail bothering you Malfoy,"Harry asked."Or did you just amount to insult me ?"

"Yes,"Malfoy grew serious again a moment later."Mind if I speak to you in private…"Malfoy jerked his read/write head towards an abandon classroom.

"This isn ‘ t going to be one of those good discussions is it."Harry hung his pass dejectedly.

"No I don ‘ t think so."

Harry sighed and followed the blonde Slytherin into the empty classroom.

"Meet you in Charms."Harry nodded to the occupy looking marauders before closing the door and turning to his fellow champion.

"Anyone perfectly ?"Harry asked bluntly.

"Not yet."

"Ominous."

"You don ‘ t know the half of it."Malfoy shook his forefront."I finally got that letter from my father."

"I assume that ‘ s not the last of it."Harry sat down at a desk and braced for the worst.

"He told me to lose. Worse, he told me to progress to sure enough you win."

Harry leant back against the desk and covered his face with his paw. Sometimes all this was too much.

"What exactly did he say ?"Harry rubbed his temples."Or bettor yet give me the letter."

Malfoy handed over the missive. Harry flipped it give and read the curt message within.

Draco

I know that you are to accede a maze in the third task. You will make every effort to halt the forward motion of Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour. Use the charm I taught you if necessity. Do not worry about the consequences, I will protect you. spend a penny sure the Potter boy wins the tourney. You do not bear to understand to obey.

There was no signature. Harry handed it back, resting his head on his arm.

"The turn I taught you ?"Harry asked tiredly.

"dark magic."Malfoy answered, sounding just as worn out."He means don ‘ t be afraid to hurt them. ‘ You do not consume to understand to obey.'”

"What does that mean ?"

"It was one of his favorite thing to tell me when I was young."Malfoy shook his drumhead."It tended to end discussions."

"Why ?"

"Because it told me that he wanted the discussion to end."Malfoy snapped.

"aspect Malfoy I don ‘ t know what to do with this."Harry admitted."I ‘ ve already got enough on my plate."

"I know what that feels like."Malfoy sat down beside him and bowed his head teacher, making his floppy blond hair miss down and hide his face."I don ‘ t know what to do."

"What do you-"Harry jerked back in shock."You ‘ re not thinking of listening to him are you ?"

"He ‘ s my father !"

"He ‘ s a git who makes you paltry !"

"You don ‘ t understand."Malfoy snapped angrily."You just don ‘ t. Maybe if you had a Father-God you ‘ d get it, but you don ‘ t so shut up !"

"If you ‘ re trying to get rid of me it won ‘ t work."Harry crossed his arms."Or at the very least you ‘ ll have to try harder."

"But you don ‘ t understand."Malfoy said more reasonably, but still with an boundary of desperation in his interpreter."I ‘ m sorry Harry but you just don't. This isn ‘ t about getting a bloody pat on the fountainhead. This is about menage. It ‘ s about phratry honor."

"No, family honour would be getting your epithet on that cup. Family honor would be seeing the headline ‘ Malfoy wins triwizard cup ’."Harry shifted closer."But forget about that, how about your own purity. Can you hold up with knowing you could have won the triwizard tournament, but gave it up ? Can you live with that ?"

"The family is what ‘ s important."Malfoy shook his head."Sometimes we have to do matter we don ‘ t like. You don't have to understand-"

"You ‘ re like a parrot."Harry interrupted, changing tack to go for a riskier plan."Aren ‘ t you tired of repeating his crap ?"

"You don ‘ t understand !"Malfoy yelled, pushing him back violently.

"Oh great,"Harry scoffed."The cry the moody teenager. Nice to love you ‘ re like everybody else."

"shtup you Potter !"Malfoy stood angrily, his fists bunched at his incline. Harry could see the swoon glistening argumentation of tears of his cheeks.

"You gon na cry about it."Harry slouched back, chuckling."Way to bear on the Malfoy honor."

"Shut up !"

"Is this what you did with that Ellen cleaning woman ? Cry into her apron ?"

"I told you to shut up !"Malfoy drew his wand and held the shaking period to Harry's neck. Harry just laughed.

"Like you ‘ d actually do it."Harry rolled his eye."You ‘ re too much of a Sir Noel Pierce Coward to-"

"Praefoco !"

Harry was thrown backwards as the patch hit him and was left gulping for air as the torment closed his airway. From behind a fog of floating smirch Harry saw Malfoy stalk off out the door. Harry managed to grab his wand and get out a throttle finite before collapsing on the floor and trying to refill his lungs in neat gasps.

"You deserved that."Harry looked around for the beginning of the disturbance. A present moment later Myrtle floated slowly up through the floor."You definitely deserved that."

"I know."Harry croaked out, managing a half smile."What are you doing here ?"

"The others sent me down because they were worried about you ?"Myrtle put her paw on her unreal rose hip."You really were incredibly insensitive."

"All function of the plan."Harry winked.

"How so ? You don ‘ t even know what he ‘ s going to do."

"I know one thing he ‘ s not going to do."Harry grinned."There ‘ s no way he ‘ ll let me win now."
*


The day of the third chore finally arrived. Harry got out of bed and dressed in a sort of odd trance. People said and did things around him, patting him on the back and speaking to him but it was almost as if the macrocosm had become screen background dissonance, though background to what he couldn't say.

His mind was… well not dummy but certainly not thinking along normal lines. It was almost as if he was floating in a mist that blurred out his thought into the air. Instead of the crisp, semi-schizophrenic, edge they usually had they were vague and cloudy. Primitive, he decided, was the best word for them. A throwback to when humans thought with tactual sensation and pictures instead of words.

Also he was being introspective, he was never introspective.

"Are you sure you ‘ re very well Harry."Someone asked him. Harry had to concentrate quite hard to work out it was Neville.

"I ‘ m delicately Nev."Harry nodded slowly."Just in a bit of an odd property mighty now."

"You look sort of… Well remember last twelvemonth when you kept skipping through time ?"

"I remember."Harry shook his headland."That ‘ s not this. conceive me, I ‘ m fine."

As the other rival went to the great hall to meet their families Harry wandered back up to the loft over the library and flicked through the like Word of God he had been going through for the past few weeks. It was form of pointless really, Hermione always said that last minute revision didn't joint in your mind like it should. Not that she didn't do it anyway. Harry sat down on the cracked floorboards with the Christian Bible strewn around him and tried to pull his thinking together.

He failed utterly.

"Enough."Harry growled at himself."Get your promontory together."

"have you been moping up here all morning ?"Harry's head flicked up and he saw Susan finger cymbals standing in the doorway.

"I have not been moping."Harry said, from his position on the base."I have been studying."

"You never study."Susan smiled.

"I never study schoolwork."Harry grinned."My independent studys however are middling extensive."

Susan walked up to him with her manus behind her back coquettishly and sat down beside him. Harry flicked his ledger closed and shifted closer. He momentarily wished for a piano floor.

"You know studying at the go bit rarely helps."

"You have something you ‘ d rather I be doing ?"

"Yes."
*


As it was Harry almost missed the task. It was only the auditory sensation of movement from the floors below that prompted Harry to push his lady friend off him and scramble for his drinking glass. Rushing downstairs he managed to managed to blend into the crowd without looking too conspicuous.

"Nice hicky Harry !"

Damn.

Harry flicked his collar up and kept walk, throwing an vicious glare at the snickering students. As he walked towards the stands he felt an chemical element of the old fuzziness slipping back into his mind. He shook it off, a full snoging academic term had been just what he needed to make for him back down to solid ground. He noticed Malfoy making his way to the quidditch pitch shot alongside an older blond cleaning lady. His mother ? So his beginner hadn't turned up. Interesting.

Harry pushed his way through the crowds to where the other champions were waiting.

"Well this looks fun."Harry grinned up at the towering hedges.

Fleur shared a smiling with him. Krum just grunted and stayed silent. Fleur's eyes flickered to his collar and after a moment she laughed quietly. She drew her scepter and beckoned him closer.

“'arry, inclination down."Harry obliged and she tapped her sceptre on his neck where the purple bruise disappeared with a quick popping

"Use that one a lot ?"Harry teased.

"Any man who bruises my skin does not touch it again."Fleur replied haughtily.

"I mean on other people."

"Oh,"Fleur winked cheekily."Then yes, quite often."Harry laughed.

Harry watched the arm of the maze as the fat evaluator ( bagman ? ) explained the rules. Harry listened with half an ear. The lead was picking up, making the hedgerow shift ominously. Harry closed his oculus and tried to marshal everything he'd learnt over the yesteryear few weeks. scraping that, over his entire life.

Harry heard a tin whistle sound and felt the campaign of the air as individual ran past him. It must throw been Malfoy. Harry lowered himself to the ground, sitting cross legged on the grass.

Another whistle sounded. Fleur.

Prison-circle, sphinx, Humphrey DeForest Bogart, mist mirage, flagrante curse, acromantula, devilsnare, tiger-trap, manic mushrooms. Harry went through the list in his head along with the defense reaction against them.

one-third whistle, Krum.

Harry lay back on the supergrass and blocked out the audio of the crew. He was going to win, then he was going to sieve out everything else. The crew was chanting, ‘"Seven ! ”,"Six ! ”,"Five !"…

Harry breathed deep.

"quatern !"

This wasn't so hard.

"Three !"

Ok it was hard, but it was doable.

"Two !"

On the other script this pasture was pretty comfy.

"One !"

Oh well, here goes…

"Go !"

Harry shot to his feet and dashed directly into the duskiness of the maze. The noise of the crowd was gone almost instantly and he was totally alone. Well, alone except for the sphinx and acromantula and bogarts, but they weren't there yet. Harry drew his scepter and tapped his foot.

"Theseus."Harry said clearly. The sole of his shoe glowed. Harry dropped it back to the floor and saw it make a glow red footprint."full point me."Harry held his wand flat and saw it spin to aim vaguely forwards.

Harry sent prayers of thanks to Zeus and Hermione before setting off at a run down the blue passage. He reached a juncture, looked behind him to check out that he was still leaving a lead, then did the gunpoint me spell again and ran off down another passage.

He was moving so fast he almost didn't see the leave of absence covering a parcel of the pathway. Harry skidded to a hitch just before it, his boot scraping at the sharpness. Harry carefully lifted a minuscule offset and looked down into the dark pit underneath, it seemed like the backside had been coated with something glutinous and goopy. dearest ? Nah… they wouldn't have filled the pit with honey, plus he would be capable to smack it. Something like that though. Harry carefully replaced the branch incase another champion happened by and skirted around the outside before continuing on his way.

Another good turn landed him on a long consecutive stretch that went generally in the mighty direction. Harry followed it to the end then realized that he might possess gone all the way past it. Harry cursed and holstered his wand before pushing his arms into the hedging and lifting himself off the level. He climbed up until he could put his head over and scout out the center. Almost due north. Harry scrambled back down and set off at a run.

Another junction passed without case, then another, then ano- Damn it !

Harry rolled under the massive hand as it swatted the air above him. Harry took one look at the hulking winged animal that has swung at him, ( looking something like a cross between a round, an gator and an eagle covered in ivy and slime ) and decided it wasn't worth fighting. Harry sprinted away to gain some length then spun and yelled,

"Eizuckerpeitsche !"The chasing thing disappeared in the expanding testicle of bumble egg product. Harry grinned and kept running.

Harry reached the next junction and slowed to a crawl. Two of the entrances had strange arch over them. Harry stopped, he didn't remember this from the map. He hadn't recognized the mutant beast either, perhaps this was part of the map that he'd just failed to look at.

Harry cast the point me spell and groaned as it pointed almost directly at one of the arches. He cast a revealing charm over the archway and found respective tripwire jinx. Harry picked up a nearby outgrowth and brushed them away like spider entanglement, ignoring the pa and flashed of the while as they triggered. Then he threw it aside and stepped through. cipher happened. Harry grinned and stepped forward before stopping and looking back.

It shouldn't have been that easy.

Harry stepped back up to the arch and realized what was wrongfulness. His red footsteps began at this archway like he'd appeared out of thin air. Looking back into the articulation Harry saw his footmark trailing up to the other arch.

"Ah, tricky."Harry grinned and knocked the tripwires from this arch as well before stepping through it back into the courtyard and walking through the other arch.

The stage me spell told him he had indeed guessed right and he walked on. He was beginning to get worried though. This was taking longer than he had thought it would. He turned a turning point and was met with a shocking sight.

Draco was down on his knees with his back to one of the hedgerow. He seemed to be trying to grovel back into it, his brake shoe scrabbling ineffectually against the ground. Advancing on him was Lucius Malfoy in full back robes, a atomic number 47 scull mask hanging around his cervix. The Fatherhood and son were locked onto each eyes neither of them looking away. Harry wasn't for sure either of them were even blinking.

"Ferio !"Harry shot his favorite hex at Lucius. But somehow it just flew through him like he was mist. Lucius turned on Harry and he saw the marvellous wizard riffle before he was incased in a tower of water.

Some role of Harry's encephalon screamed that it was a boggart, that tried to force him to speak the spell to ostracise it. But the rest period of him was panicking as hard as it ever did and wouldn ‘ t listen. He gulped in a hanker mouthful and felt himself choking.

"Ridiculus !"

Harry fell to the reason as the piss became party balloons. Harry looked up to see Malfoy, still crouched on the level, with his scepter out.

"Thank you."Harry croaked out.

"How in Merlin's name did you survive the second job ?"Malfoy said breathlessly.

"blind arrogance."Harry forced himself to his invertebrate foot and offered a hand to help Malfoy do the same. Harry dusted himself off and set off towards the goal. Malfoy fell into footprint beside him.

"Did you fulfil the Bugbear."Malfoy said, glancing behind them to see whether the boggart was following.

"Nope."Harry shrugged."Met what I think was a Jabberwocky though."

"Really ?"Malfoy seemed impressed in his dry way."What did you do ?"

"Encased it in meringue."Harry grinned, then frowned."I ‘ ve noticed you ‘ re not cursing me. go clip we spoke you were cursing me."

"Oh that, did you really think I ‘ d fall for that for long ?"Malfoy shook his head."I worked out what you were doing the minute I got back to my common room."

"Guess I ‘ m not as smart as I thought."Harry shrugged."So does that have in mind you ‘ re going to… what was it… arrest the progress… Of Fleur and Krum ?"

"haven ‘ t met either of them."Malfoy replied, then added dryly."It ‘ s like a snarl in here."

"Oh ha bloody ha."Harry rolled his middle."Well if you… stop walking."

Harry threw a hand out in front of Malfoy, who stopped instantly, raised his wand and began scanning the corridor of leaves they were walking along.

"What ? Where ?"Malfoy asked tersely, glancing around.

"You hear that ?"

Scrit… scrit…

"That little… metal… phone ?"Malfoy stepped back, nigher to Harry's back.

Scrit…

"Like person sharpening a knife ?"

Scrit…

"Yes."

Scrit… scrit…

"Oh great."Harry tried as hard as he could to pinpoint the sound but it seemed to be coming from everywhere."I think there ‘ s more than one."

"More than one what !"Malfoy's headspring was now jerking from position to side like a dog watching a tennis match.

Scrit… scrit…

"stoppage still and take heed !"Harry gritted his dentition. The noises sounded… high ? Harry's oculus flicked up to the highest branches. Not for the starting time time he wished he had Moody's eye.

Was that a fanfare of motility ? Harry concentrated, it was like trying to see through that cheep one-way looking glass. The hooey that's just regular meth with strips of mirror threaded through it. There was a trick to it, you just focused behind the glass… behind the leaves.

"Oh bugger."Harry's eyes widened."RUN !"As soon as Harry moved the hedgerow exploded.

Darts rained down, peppering the two fleeing boys. Harry screamed as the needles hit his flesh and jerked his hood up over his head. It didn't help much.

"Waito imps !"Malfoy yelled, following behind him."shucks ! … Ow ! … Bloody ! …"

Harry dashed away, the litany of swearwords following close behind. He at least try out to direct towards the shopping centre of the snarl but it was hard when running at full tilt.

Scrit !

"Aaah !"Harry cried in pain as a dart stabbed into his cheek, the item going straight through. Harry pulled it out with another angry cry."the right way ! That DOES IT ! Malfoy, back to back !"

Harry felt the Slytherin movement into position.

"INCENDIO !"Harry slashed his sceptre in a wide wrapping, burning the dry branches.

"Incendio !"Malfoy yelled behind him.

"No !"Harry held up an arm to blank out another volley of flit aiming for his point."You shield !"

"Protego !"Malfoy made no attempt to argue, a fact Harry truly appreciated.

"Incendio !"Harry cut another wrapping through the outgrowth and apparently hit something this clock time as a mad squeaking cry went up and another dark rainbow of darts flew up to drop on the two teenagers. Harry forced himself to confide Malfoy and made no endeavour to block them. Instead he aimed directly at where they had come from.

"Confringo !"Harry saw the curse word hit the burn branches and explode in a ball of fire, raining sparks down on them. Both the sparks and the darts bounced easily off Malfoy's shield. The screeching grew gaudy and more panicked ( like a violently squeezed guinea fowl pig ) then grew fainter as the imps retreated, scurrying and swinging through the hedgerow like Edward Gibbon. Harry's shoulder sagged and he let his wand arm drop to his side.

"That was a good plan."Malfoy said breathlessly."thoroughly plan."

"well you know my shields couldn ‘ t restrain off rain let alone this."Harry pulled a flit out of his upper arm where he hadn't noticed it."You think these are poisoned ?"

"Unlikely."Malfoy shook his heading, still trying to catch his breath."Waito imps aren ‘ t really that smart. Cruel, but not smart."

"Smart enough to use a whetstone, these darts… woah…"Harry had glanced down the hedged corridor and spotted what was at the end, sparkling on a pedestal.

The triwzard cup.

"We made it."Harry breathed."And I only had to get my brass pierced."

The two of them began to walk forward, not speaking. Neither of them wanted to think about what they'd do once they reached the cup.

Unfortunately the universe provided a beguilement for their quandary in the form of something infinitely more awful.

They both saw her at the same moment, blue devil gown falling over her svelte frame and her blonde tomentum spreading out in a fan around her. She was sprawled at the far English of the clearing, one paw stretched out towards the cup as if she had been reaching for it as she fell.

Fleur ...

Harry moved first, pushing her up on her side and putting two fingers to her cervix for a pulse. He waited there a long time, the twinkle draining out of his eyes as it already had from hers. When he finally turned back to his fellow it was almost too much attempt to speak.

"She ‘ s dead."

Absolute silence reigned for a moment.

"No… no she can ‘ t be."Malfoy shook his heading."You did it wrong."

"Malfoy she ‘ s not even warm."Harry rolled her onto her front and crossed her branch across her chest. He eased her hair off her face, breaking the caked on dirt, and closed her centre. Harry closed his heart too, it didn't even seem real.

"Half an hour ago she was healing a love bite off my neck."Harry could still see her wink in his brain."She was smiling."

"This isn ‘ t happening."Malfoy interrupted behind him, shaking his psyche manically"It ‘ s… it ‘ s like a deception ! It ‘ s the utmost challenge before we take the cup."

"THEN proceeds THE BLOODY CUP !"Harry raged out, feeling hot snag streaking down his look as he spun around to face Malfoy."Just take it so we can get out of here !"

"I…"Malfoy stepped back hurriedly, then turned to the cup."But don't you want it ?"

"I wan na go home."Harry said, a minuscule pathetically."Just take on the cup. Please."

"N…no."Malfoy stepped back."You take it."

"Draco…"Harry shook his head."Don ‘ t listen to your father, for once just… take something for yourself."

"You deserve it more."

"I cheated."

"So did I."

"I cheated more."Harry shook his head, the crying coming freely now."I had a map."

"You ‘ re trying to roleplay me again."Malfoy said, still sounding panicked."If you ‘ d had a map you ‘ d have got here quicker."

"Just take the bloody cup !"Harry wailed."Can ‘ t you see I don't want it anymore !"

"I…"

"Here !"Harry grabbed his arm."Like this !"

Harry pushed the Slytherin's paw onto the cup and suddenly the reality disappeared. Instead it was replaced by a swirling vortex of colour and light.

Portkey ! Oh god oh god oh god.

Harry just about had time to gain how badly he'd screwed up when he was dumped on a frigidity stone floor.
*


Harry pushed himself up on ail munition and looked around. He was in the middle of a mansion, marble floors and chromatography column, all in dim and white marble. Even the dandy doors at either end were black, ominous vena portae twice as tall as a individual. The only color in the room came from the vase of rosiness on a table near the room access, and a massive tapestry that hung up one massive rampart. It was a kinfolk tree he realized, must bear stretched back C, fancifully decorated with snort and dragons and other images. Harry took all this in in a moment but still only had one thing to say.

"I just wanted to go home."

"The strange affair is Potter."Draco said warily."I am."

"Eh ?"

"This is Malfoy manor."

"Quite chastise young Malfoy."

Harry whirled towards the sound of the phonation but a spell took him in the chest and he was thrown back down to the laborious stone floor. Through the fuzz of tears he saw three robed figures approaching from the top of a staircase.

On the left knot lopped, his fell eyes trained on Harry. On the right, Lucius Malfoy, absentmindedly fingering a long blanched baseball mitt he was wearing. And in the middle…

"Oh my god."Harry put his hand to his backtalk."You ‘ re back."

"Yes Mr ceramist I have returned."Voldemort smiled his reptile grin."I said I would did I not ?"

"I believe a told you to come back prettier."Harry said, slowly raising himself up from the storey."I see you failed to drive that to heart."

"A noncompliant sentiment that would be perhaps more heroical if your face wasn ‘ t lined with tears."Voldemort stepped towards him, passing his two servants. As he brushed by them Lucius gave a little shiver and rubbed his gloved manus. A whale snake, like a python, curled on the footing nearby but made no motion to follow the dark lord. Voldemort reached the floor and stopped, he made a straining motion in the air and Harry's sceptre skittered across the marble tiles and jumped into his hand.

Harry cursed under his intimation, he hadn't even realized he'd lost it. It must feature been knocked out of his hand when he fell.

"heroic don't interest me."Harry found his feet, his eyes already darting around. Trying to find an loss."But you could at least have fixed the nose."

There were the two immense doorway but he'd be dead before he reached them. A smaller threshold by the stairway but that meant running straight towards them. The staircase itself didn't bear thinking about. Harry's eyes flicked to Malfoy, frozen on the flooring, his nerve an unreadable masquerade. Voldemort followed his regard and turned to the Slytherin.

"I am surprised to see you here young Malfoy."The night overlord said, towering over him."You were ordered to make him choose the cup, not to contain it yourself."

"Ung…."Malfoy swallowed, his back talk working wordlessly.

"cum now, you have nix to fear."Voldemort bent down, bringing his head closer to Dragon's."You have done me a majuscule service."

"He… he… he wouldn ‘ t take the cup."Malfoy stammered."He must have thought something was up. I had to grab his arm and pushing him into it."

Harry prayed that none of the black robed sorcerer had noticed who had been hanging onto who's arm when they had tumbled to the floor a moment ago.

"Why do you imagine he suspected ?"Voldemort was staring directly into Malfoy's eyes.

"We found Fleur."Malfoy said, still apparently wintry to the floor."She was lying short next to the cup. He thought it must suffer been the cup that killed her, some kind of curse."

Not bad Malfoy, not bad at all.

Voldemort stared into the male child grey eyes for a moment longer, then nodded, apparently pleased.

"Our agent at Hogwarts must bear had to vote out her to stop her taking the cup."Voldemort placed a yearn finger under Malfoy ‘ s mentum then stood, bringing the boy up with him."A shame he could not throw away of the consistence but I suppose he was having to operate from outside the maze. And in any fount the event is the Sami, Harry ceramist is here. You have done your master a bang-up Service young Malfoy, almost as great as the one your beginner performed for me."

Again that twitch towards the baseball glove. Maybe some kind of weakness he could exploit ?

Voldemort turned to Harry and he suddenly felt Legilimency like he'd never felt it before. It was like an axe was being applied to the book binding of his brain.

combat back ! He screamed at himself. If Voldemort worked out that he and Malfoy were anything other than unsound enemies then the blond would die along with him. Harry tore his heart away but a present moment later his face was jerked back forwards. Voldemort was holding him with magic somehow, his straits felt like it was stuck in a vice.

blank shell idea ! Harry repeated to himself. Blank ! His hand found the eggshell necklace under his gown and he hung onto it in desperation, pouring every thought into the little nub of whiteness. Slowly, ever so slowly, the tongue receded.

"Amateurish Mr Potter."Voldemort released him and he slumped to the floor."But unfortunately effective."

"Screw… you… snakeface."Harry panted.

"It does not matter."Voldemort dismissed it with a wave of his hand."Your childish john will not save you this time."

"antic like stabbing you through the centre ?"Harry grinned evilly."I never got a hazard to state ya, but when they squished all this staring slime came out. Honestly, it was like popping two immense blackhead. Squish…"

"And yet I live."Voldemort spread his work force."And will continue to do so. I am immortal Harry potter. All you did was soften me and push me back to being a bodiless soul."

"Squish…"

"I had to pull through again by possessing lesser creatures. animate being beneath me, vermin and Snake River. Until Reb found me, sniffed me out in the wilds of Albania."

"Squish… squish… pop…"

"Realizing I needed a more competent retainer I had him impart me to Lucius, my servant of old."Voldemort glanced back at the Malfoy patriarch, still standing on the stairs."Who did me three great services. low he was able to make me a number 1 potion that restored me some tier of forcible manikin, but one that was wretched and weak. A disgusting and disfigured travesty of my previous power."

"So you did come back prettier."

"Secondly…"Voldemort ignored his quip like a tolerant father while smiling a grin that never reached his eye."He made me aware of another retainer I could use, one that would be able to-"

"Infiltrate Hogwarts."Harry interrupted."Put my public figure in the cup ?"

"Five dot to Gryffindor Mr potter,"Voldemort drew his wand."But minus ten for interrupting. Crucio !"

Harry had metre to steel himself before the botheration hit and rode it out without too much bother. It still left him gasping and horse but his thinker was shed light on of the common shadows and confusedness left by the uttermost pain. At least he was well practiced at that.

"It all becomes clear."Harry said, picking himself off the level."So you ‘ ve been here, frail, the unharmed sentence. At Malfoy manor."

"Until Lucius was able to fill in the second potion, a few month ago."Voldemort smiled."And he was able to furnish his about personal service."

The twitch to the glove was not even subtle this time. Suddenly Harry had a thought.

"Ellen Hayward."Harry saw all eyes, especially Draco's on the floor, motion picture to him."That was you wasn ‘ t it. She was a booster of this sept. This god forsaken family."Harry added, in causa anyone started wondering how he'd come by this information."The form that pops by unheralded. Did she pop by at the wrong time ?"

"Yes, a fact I regret."Voldemort shook his head, though Harry would be dammed if he saw a hint of self-reproach on that sprain face."She was of a true pure profligate house, and an insane asylum in her own right. She will be sorely missed."

"I ‘ m sure you ‘ ll shed a tear every twelvemonth on the day you poisoned her."Harry spat back, then smiled a another neuron fired."And Rita Skeeter ? She was looking for a scoop on the triwizard champion. Tried to sneak in."

"Was that her name ?"Voldemort twitched his drumhead to the side as he smiled self indulgently. It struck Harry as a wholly serpentine gesture."I do not cease to ask the epithet of insects I kill. And besides, in her case I did you a favor. You should thank me."

"I ‘ ll send some flowers."Harry replied acidly.

"And now I am finally make to come out of the darkness."Voldemort said rapturously."And I have just one question to ask you."

"Boxers."

"You have been a stimulating foe Harry."Voldemort held out his hand."And the Potter family is old and lofty. Your mothers profligate is an effect but… not an insurmountable one. I can tender mightiness beyond your wildest dream Harry, if you join me."

"Ok."

"You… what ?"

"Ok. The robe comes barren right, I don ‘ t have to buy it ?"Harry began to chuckle, unsuccessfully hiding it behind his bridge player."Got good promotion prognosis ? Where do you see me in three years ?"Harry began laughing in earnest, the only strait in the deadly mute hall.

"So I take it you refuse."Voldemort said coldly.

"Yes, you snake faced, impotent, wanker !"Harry choked out between giggles."Did you honestly believe my result would be yes ? And anyway, what demented logical system makes me thwarting you a good qualification for joining your social station ?"

"I thought you might be persuaded to see reason."Icicles could suffer grown on Voldemort's words.

"well Tom, I guess we were both wrong."Harry grinned."Oh no waiting ! Just you."

"What did you call me !"Voldemort stepped forward, bristling with anger.

"What… Tom ?"Harry smiled."Tom Marvolo Ri-"

"Crucio !"

Harry hit the flooring but blanked his mind at the Saami sentence. He watched his body writhe dispassionately from a point behind his middle. After a long, long time the writhing stopped and he allowed himself back in.

"Don't try to speak."Voldemort was saying."I took you almost to the demarcation of what a nous can take."

"That was the demarcation ?"Harry pushed himself up from the base. He knew it was masochistic but…"Then why not go for the record… Tommy."

"You… !"

"Tommy boy."Harry grinned."Is that really the best you got ?"

"Crucio !"

Harry couldn ‘ t Lunaria annua say how long he lay there behind his own centre. foresighted than the initiatory clip certainly. But eventually the pain stopped and he allowed himself back in. It took him a few moments to reorientation himself, his muscle ached and his pharynx was raw. His consistency had suffered even though he'd managed to buffer his mind.

"You see my friends."Voldemort was saying, his back to Harry."I have broken his nous just as I will break the wizarding populace to my will."

Harry tried to suppose whether he had a weapon on him, with the snake's back turned he might have a chance.

"sire ! He ‘ s awake !"Rebel barked. Damn werewolf eyes.

His covert broken, Harry slid up onto his knees and looked up into the take aback red eyes of Voldemort.

"I… hav…"Harry couldn't get the Son out. He licked his sass and tried again."I have been burned by clock time itself, Tom Riddle. Don ‘ t ever think you scare me. Not ever. You ‘ re nothing."

The room was pestilent soundless. Voldoemort stared at him, disarray evident on his face, then smiled and let out a little laugh.

"Oh how melodramatic."Voldemort mimed clapping."Quite well done, I could almost call up you had some power over the cruciatus. But you don ‘ t do you, you ‘ re simply using occlumency. Sealing the painful sensation away, or sealing yourself from the pain. Very well done, I didn ‘ t think you had that stage of skill."

"Your mistake."Harry tried to smile but the muscles in his back talk didn't seem to want to so he settled for a rictus grin."You make a lot of fault don't you Tommy ?"

"Do not say-"

"And that ‘ s the other reason I can ‘ t work for you."Harry did handle the grin this fourth dimension."I ‘ d get tired of incompetent management."

"Really."Voldemort's part was silk over razors."Then perhaps I should demonstrate you the true power of God Almighty Voldemort. Perhaps I will evince you that your will means nix !"The give-and-take nothing cracked like whip and Voldemort drew his wand. Harry felt his arm pulled forward against his will.

"Let me gift you something you can't cylinder block out."Voldemort stabbed his wand down onto Harry's arm."Morsmordre !"

Harry stared at his arm in jar, at first base there was nothing, just a darkening of the pelt. Voldemort stepped away, smiling. Then, slowly but surely, the home run faded out of cipher. Growing blacker and more defined by the moment. Then Harry felt his hand clench, the mark seemed to twist on his forearm. He watched as the darkness gap, like tentacles down every vein, making his manus look like it was encased in ignominious ivy.

The darkness advanced, following the blood up his arm. Harry couldn't plosive speech sound himself from scratching at it furiously, trying to slack its forward motion. Voldemort laughed. The black ancestry came up his articulatio humeri, across his chest. Then they hit his spine, and the agony began.

Rods of hot iron, tongue of ardour stabbing into his back. Reaching higher and gamy as the expletive curled up into his learning ability. Couldn't block it out, it was coming in under everything. It was everywhere. Harry saw spiderwebs grow across his middle as the curse worked its way into the tiny mineral vein. The botheration was everywhere now, pulsing up his rachis and into every screaming little synapse. It couldn't be stopped.

Harry escaped the nuisance the only way he could see how. He lowered himself down and smacked his forehead against the trading floor as hard as he could.

He heard Voldemort laugh before it all went black.
*


Severus Snape leant back in his chair and considered the lunacy of an entire school day, guests, ministry functionary, press and assorted other hangers on turning up to stare at a hedge.

"It ‘ s not as if they can even see anything."Snape muttered under his breath.

"Eh, what was that Severus ?"Flitwick turned to him from the fanny to his left.

"I said I was wondering how a good deal prospicient Mr Malfoy intends to keep us waiting."Snape said, without missing a beat.

"Still pinning all your Bob Hope on your own business firm ?"Flitwick said slyly.

"wellspring why wouldn ‘ t I ?"Snape rolled his oculus. He had reconciled with the potter boy but that didn't modification the fact that he was a Slytherin to the core.

"I personally think thrower will beat him to it. Not a student like him."Flitwick said proudly. Snape rolled his heart, hearing Flitwick crow about Potter's magical spell ability was a ceaseless irritation.

"What is taking them so long ?"Professor Vector said from the other side.

"The fact that it is a maze and not a foot race ?"Snape said irritably."There are obstacles in there you know and in any case it has only been…"Snape pulled his arm up to wait at his watch.

"What is that ?"Filius leant his tiny underframe over.

"A wristwatch. They are… quite useful."Snape said faintly.

"Oh… But shouldn ‘ t you be looking at the other side ?"

"Other side…"Snape stared at his wrist, the watch forgotten as his eye bored into the pitch-dark shape standing proud against his picket skin."No… no no no."
*


Harry came to lying in something embarrassing. Blood or vomit ? It was beige and it looked like it had peas in it. Probably vomit.

Harry raised his aching point and looked around. His methamphetamine hydrochloride were lying a few inch away, he reached for them and drew them up to his face. Be blinked a few prison term, at firstly he though he had gone cross-eyed, then he realized that there really were Sir Thomas More than three appareled form in the room.

They were all around him, arranged in a circle, all with destruction head masks on except for Voldemort himself. Harry's optic found Dragon, standing a footling outside the circle, he seemed to be expending a lot of exertion hard to keep his face blank.

Harry turned back to Voldemort and tried to urinate his sass work.

"Still not as bad as the Torrent."A darkness mutter went up from around the dress circle. Harry found a dry role of the base, set his hand against it and pushed. He managed to raise himself luxuriously enough to jerk a ft up and lay it flat on the floor. Slowly, surely and against the protests of his aching muscleman, Harry stood.

"Well done Harry."Voldemort folded his weaponry."And I thought you would be all out of dramatic, noncompliant and pointless gestures."

Harry's leg spasmed and he was almost tipped back onto the floor. He staggered for a import then found his animal foot again. He lifted his arm and stared at the mark on his arm before letting it drop to his side.

"That means nothing."Harry shook his pass, causing shooting nisus to run up and down his spine."You put a pretty tattoo on my arm it doesn ‘ t mean anything."

"It means I own you Harry Potter."

"I ‘ ve got a Magyar horntail on my thorax does that signify it owns me too ?"Harry grinned, his mother wit of mood was coming back. He couldn't stand up straight but he could one-liner for England. Harry looked down at his shaking body."I notice I ‘ m not deadened yet ? Do you still actually think I ‘ ll seed over to your English ?"

"You are still alive for one ground only."Voldomort drew his wand."To state me something."

"I already told you boxers."

"Crucio !"

botheration. Block. attenuation. Floor. Blankness. Time…

"Well…"Harry stood again, working the kinks out of his shoulder."We ‘ ve established that you don ‘ t learn quickly."

"potter I have humored you thus far."Voldemort stepped tight."It stops now, how practically does Alasor Helen Newington Wills have a go at it ?"

The interrogative sentence caught Harry off guard.

"Wha ?"

"Crucio !"

Harry waited then sunk back, finding that this time he'd landed with his face squarely in the vomit puddle.

"Lovely."Harry wondered if it was deserving standing. It was fairly clear he wasn't leaving this way animated, unless by some miracle Moody, Snape, Dumbledore or maybe the ministry found him. He certainly couldn't leave by his own steam, not the soma he was in. Not without a verge. In that case the Best thing he could do was drag one's heels the psycho in front of him for as long as possible, and that meant…"cargo area on, I ‘ m getting up…"Harry lurched to his feet.

"I know Moody was investigating misfortunate gentlewoman Hayward ‘ s death-"

"Her murder."Harry corrected.

"Cru…"Voldemort raised his wand angrily, then let it come, the curse not even fully formed. He hissed in soreness."I know he was investigating it. I know he was doing so at your urging. How much is he aware of ?"

"Why the hell would I tell you snakeface ?"Harry shrugged."We ‘ ve already established that you ‘ re incapable of torturing me."

"Really, well let us see how you cope with this."Voldemort smiled evilly."Imperio !"

Harry felt the curse enter into like a parasite, shooting into his brainiac and wrapping it in candy-floss. He tried to block it out but it was tricksy, it found disruption in his cube. Little wiggling tendrils like theme, finding a slight interruption then growing, splitting his brain apart.

William Tell me everything.

Harry tried to shake it away, vainly,

How much does he know ?

Why not state him ? Harry drew his hand up to his head, he knew that vocalization was wrong but he couldn't remember exactly why.

Tell me.

William Tell him ?

Tell me.

"Don ‘ t !"The Neville voice in Harry's judgment broke through the blur. Waving it's little mental arms and shaking it's school principal."It ‘ s Voldemort Harry ! Voldemort !"

You will secern me !

"Are you being intentionally dense Harry ?"Hermione shouted at him from the other side.

But the squeamish man wants me to state him something. Harry blinked like an owl and rubbed his eyes, too a great deal was happening in his head.

Tell me now !

"It ‘ s Voldemort Harry ! VOLDEMORT !"Padma hissed in his ear.

How much does Alastor Moody know !

"He killed your parents !"

William Tell ME !

"Can ‘ t you see him ?"

YOU testament TELL ME !

"ALL OF YOU diaphragm yelling !"Harry shouted and dropped to his knees. The voices disappeared and Harry was just left as he was. A frighten away stripling in a room full of murderers.

"All of who Potter ?"Voldemort said in his slimy patronizing voice."No one is talking."

Harry just stayed on the storey and tried to breath.

"What is the issue Potter."Voldemort slid closer."No gag, no witticisms ?"

top dog feel like concrete.

"Maybe now you will assure me what I want to know."Voldemort stepped up so he was right on top of Harry."Maybe now-"

"Please."Harry muttered through clenched teeth.

"What was that Mr thrower ?"Voldemort leant down.

"Please no more."Harry shook his headway and held a mitt out towards the iniquity lord.

"Are you ready to secern me ?"

"Yes… yes…"Harry stretched his arm out foster, pawing at Voldemort's robes pathetically."I ‘ ll tell you… THIS !"

Harry's finger's breadth clamped down on a skinny leg and he pulled, putting all his weight behind it. Voldemort fell backwards, his look contorted with rage and anger. Cries of repulsion came from all around but Harry ignored them. He grabbed up and caught Voldemort's wand out of the air and yelled,

"AVADA-"

Harry was hit from all sides by curses and was thrown back into darkness.
*


Snape's head snapped to the position as he saw a shining lynx spring through the wall.

"He ‘ s not at any have it away localisation from the live on war."Shacklebolt's bass voice came from the patronus."I ‘ ll maintain looking."

Dumbledore shook his head and lowered himself back down behind his desk.

"We should be doing something."Minerva was pacing back and forth across the floor of the headmaster's office. If she had been transformed her nates would give birth been twitching irritably.

"She is right."Snape shook his head."I could answer the bidding, maybe chance a way to warn-"

"No."Dumbledore shook his head."We have discussed this."

"And you have unreasonably dismissed it !"grab snapped."You clearly intend for me to spy for you in the hereafter anyway so why not-"

"Severus ! I have made my decision."Dumbledore stood sharply, slamming his hands down onto his desk. In the background Fawkes trilled sadly."We need to reconvene the order. Minerva, see if Alastor has recovered yet and contact the Weaseys, Lup-"

"For what ?"Snape interrupted."So we can hold even More people sitting on their hands while Harry dies ?"

"Severus…"

"No Dumbledore. No…"Snape stood to face the old wizard and crossed his blazonry."You have ten seconds to give me a oblige grounds why I should not go to the boy 's aid. Otherwise I am leaving."

"Severus there is no need-"

"Nine."

"Threats will not-"

"Eight."

"You are being unreasonable."

"As are you. Seven."

"I forbid it !"Dumbledore said through gritted teeth.

"Six. It is not yours to forbid."

"You are risking your biography !"

"It is mine to risk !"Snape snapped cutting his hand through the air like a scythe."And you are down to five."

"This could ruin everything Severus."Dumbledore said, suddenly seeming panicked."If we truly have war on the way I will need eyes among the death-eaters. By doing this you risk exposing yourself."

"Also my pick to ready. Not yours."Snape shook his head."And have you thought of how will the personnel casualty of the boy who lived consequence this war ? Perhaps spared a thought to what it would do to the great unwashed ‘ s team spirit to see the living evidence of Voldemort ‘ s mortality die ? Have you thought of that ?"

"Trust me Severus."Dumbledore's voice was harsh and low, with dangerous undertones."That the fact that Harry gives people hope is never far from my thinker. But-"

"By rights you ‘ ve had ten seconds by now."Snape interrupted."But I ‘ ll give you one final chance."

"Severus please…"

"Not good enough."Snape turned and stalked towards the door.

He kept expecting to be stopped, some magical spell or last ditch parameter, but none came. He closed the door behind him and allowed the moving staircase to take him down. As it moved he summoned his patronus, it's little designate head teacher and it's flyspeck forficate tongue sniffing the air.

"I ‘ m about to do something very dangerous."Snape said to it softly, pushing his Son into it."I don ‘ t know if I ‘ ll return, but it ‘ s something I feel I must do."

Snape licked his rim, this wasn't going well. He should just keep it short.

"I love you."Snape cursed his bluntness."I realize this is a unknown time to make for it up but… but… well I just feel like it should be said."

Snape waved the snake away and it sparkled through the wall, heading Confederacy towards London.
*


"Albus ?"Minerva asked softly after the Potions master had gone. Dumbledore hadn't moved or verbalize, he was just staring off into space."Albus ?"

"Look in on Alastor."Dumbledore repeated."And contact lupine. I will do the rest."He was still staring at the room access, his incisive eyes boring into the old wood.

"I understand."McGonagall stepped towards the room access, then paused. This was not light to do but…"Albus…"

"Hmm ?"

"He ‘ s not wrong you know."Dumbledore stared at her. McGonagall couldn't wait that gaze for long and turned to entrust the room.
*


"Potter… Oh Potter… prison term to abide up again."

Harry's eyes cracked open and he looked up into Voldemort's look. His all trunk ached from the level cake of curses that he had suffered over the terminal time of day. Or was it foresightful ? He had such a shaky grasp of time when he was unconscious. Harry managed to raise his principal and flavor around.

Yep, still in the same place, surrounded by nasties. Or… wait… was there one more of them than before ? Harry's eye's scanned around the forget me drug of moody robed figures. Maybe it was his imagination. That or the pain was making him hallucinate.

There was one conflict, Draco was no longer lurking idily behind the lines. He was standing in the center, just a few paces from Voldemort. He was facing Harry and he had his wand.

"Come on Potter."Voldemort urged."Up ! Up ! Where's that Gryffindor spirit ?"

"I ‘ m not a Gryffindor."Harry muttered."I ‘ m a marauder."But apparently Voldemort didn't hear him.

"Now we can ‘ t have you lazing around all day Potter. Up !"

Harry felt himself lifted off the floor and dropped back onto his feet. His stifle buckled and he stumbled, only to be pushed erect again by the invisible force play. He fell the other way, his hands coming up to stop himself but again he was caught and flung upright. He tottered but managed to hold in his equaliser on shaking legs.

"That ‘ s better."Voldemort said indulgently.

"Why the hellhole haven't you killed me."Harry groaned weakly."Is it just sadism ?"

"Oh you will die Mr Potter."Voldemort smiled."There was never any dubiousness of that. I intend your death to be the final sign to the world that I have returned, the seal of approval for my immortality and retribution for what happened on Halloween 14 days ago."

Seal for my immortality.

Seal for my immortality ?

What the hellhole did that mean value ? Harry filed it away for later.

"So yes Harry you will be killed. I was going to give you the gift of a painless death, and I would have killed you myself after your ill advised escape attempt."

"Murder attempt."Harry said darkly."I never expected to subsist. Just hoped to take you down."

"The Gryffindor purport returns."Voldemort smiled."But you would be all in except for one thing. I would still like to know how much the old auror knows. And youth Malfoy here seems to think he can take a crap you tell me."

Voldemort stepped back and let genus Draco get along forward.

He has a plan. Harry overrode all uncertainty in his mind. Every little sly voice saying that Malfoy had betrayed him was squashed in an second. It didn't matter if he was wrong, it didn't issue if he was being too trusting, because if he was wrong he was beat anyway. Harry decided he would rather hope.

"You really should tell him Potter."Draco said."You know that. I don ‘ t really want to do this to you."

"Just do what you have to do."Harry dropped his head to his chest and waited for whatever was coming.

"Depulso !"Harry flew through the air and impacted onto one of the marble walls with a painful thump."Adhaereo !"Harry sagged as the sticking charm took effect, hanging a clear foundation above the floor.

"comrade Potter ?"Malfoy smirked as he sauntered over."I think a bit of payback is in order."

He has a plan. He has a plan.

"Bullabazooka."

The bubble head charm ? What the he… Oh no !

"Augmenta !"Malfoy stuck his wand through the bubble and Harry felt weewee begin to fill the shimmering sphere.

"What are you doing boy ?"One of the death eater called out harshly. But Voldemort silenced him with a undulation of his hand.

The water was up to his nose and Harry was beginning to panic. He jerked his head word frantically, trying to free the bubble. But it didn't piece of work and the H2O closed over his capitulum sending him spiraling into insanity.

He tried desperately to keep some shred of will power or sentiency as he breathed in the water in great gulps. But anything he had went out the window as waving of pain coursed out from his chest, settling into every cell of his organic structure. With his mind in tatters he was unable to block it out.

A second later the house of cards popped and Harry was left coughing and wracked with pain.

"You see I had this brilliant idea."Malfoy was saying cheerfully."Just because you an closure out the cruciatus curse word doesn ‘ t mean we shouldn ‘ t use it. It just means we have to find some way to soften your mind. A honorable Venus's curse of paralyzing fear for example."

Harry didn't corporate trust himself to speak. He just cling there and panted.

"So just tell your God Almighty what he want ‘ s to know and this suffering can end."

Why not ?

"Just enjoin him !"Malfoy yelled."amercement then, lets try this again !"

Harry screamed as he was drown then plunged into a earthly concern of pain once more. By the end he couldn't even move. Didn't have the will. He really was betrayed, all hope was gone.

"I don ‘ t want to bear to do this Potter."Malfoy smirked."But you ‘ ve insulted my master copy, and I take such matter seriously. After all, this is a true old pure rake house."

A light came on in Harry's brain. That last phrase, ‘ old pure roue home ’, why use that phrasal idiom ? Where had he heard…

When he'd hit the wall… had it sounded a little… hollow ?

Harry breathed deeply. If he was right he would have to trust that willpower could replace strength and mulishness, muscle because in a few minute he would own to run. Harry tried to move his legs as much as he could on the wall, working the muscle spasm out in preparation.

Why hadn't Malfoy done it yet ? Harry lifted his pass up. Malfoy was just standing there waiting.

He needs a reason, Harry realized. He can't just do it out of the blue, he needs a reason.

"Malfoy…"Harry licked his lips."Old pure stemma house ? That 's a joke. Your Church Father did n't tell apart you ? Your mother was a whore."

"Reducto !"

Harry braced himself and screamed as the spell hit his chest. The marble sheet behind him shattered and he was thrown into the enactment beyond.

motion NOW !

Harry found some muscles and, as swearing started sparking against the wall above his straits, started to run.



Review, please. Or I 'll kill this small fluffy animal. No not that one the other one.


"Where is Harry !"Ron yelled."Why the hell won ‘ t you tell us ?"

"Mr Weasley calm down."prof McGonagall spread her hands calmingly. The marauders had ambushed her out of doors Dumbledore's office. Normally she would have taken business firm points for the bad language, but this seemed like an special setting."If I knew I would tell you."

"You ‘ re trying to find him though."Neville asked desperately."Dumbledore ‘ s doing everything he can ?"

"Everything that can be done is being done."McGonagall answered."No get out of my way-"

"Please Professor."Padma stepped in social movement of the instructor."We ‘ re not useless. Look at all we ‘ ve done. We know this is serious. We know this is awful, Fleur is already bushed. We know you ‘ re trying to help but so are we. And we ‘ re not useless. So use us."

McGonagall took a deep breath, ready to lecture them. fix to brush them aside.

"Please,"missy Weasley pleaded."There must be something we can do."

"We just want to help."Padma added with the others nodding behind her."We need to do something."

McGonagall took another breathing spell, this fourth dimension to ready herself.

"Go to the infirmary wing."She could see the lights come on in their eyes."If Dwight Lyman Moody is able to be moved have him taken to the headmaster office. Then corral the prefects together and help them get everyone back to their common rooms."

"Is that it ?"Ron asked hurriedly.

"Yes."McGonagall paused, in for a penny…"No. Mr or Miss Weasley, one of you go to my post and flue your parents. tell them Dumbledore needs them. assure them it's for ‘ The Order ’."

"Dad ‘ ll be at work."

"Get them wherever they are."McGonagall snapped."shuffle nuisances of yourselves until you get them. You know how to do that. And observe Viktor Krum and ascertain him. He was the only other one in that maze, if he tries to run off. Stop him."

"Got it."Ron nodded and McGonagall strode off. As she went she could hear them breaking themselves into groups to take the different tasks.
*


Harry's foot skidded on a bottle as he pelted down the dusty corridor holding his aching chest.

"Which way ‘ d he go ?"

"tear up !"

Harry slowed down enough to become silent and ducked under a low light beam. He took another round. And another.

"Another bloody maze."Harry thought as he reached a pocket-size stairway down. It ended in a massive underground entrepot room, piled gamey with boxwood and crate. There was a courtship of armor, everlasting with brand, in one corner and what looked like a stuffed alligator shoved up against the back rampart. Even alien things were piled haphazardly all over the shoes, strange gimmick, giant off-white and artifacts covered with motheaten dustsheets. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust.

Harry managed to get behind a box and collapsed down on the floor. He couldn't run anymore, not without passing out again. The words of Madam Pomfrey floated out of his subconscious…

The human body has certain limitations. You can not just keep heaping vilification on it and ask it to proceed working properly.

He had reached those terminus ad quem. He had passed those bound. Harry leant his headspring back against the rough wood. Unless he found a way out of here soon and got some medical exam attention there was very real hazard he would die anyway. If there was a way out of here. If he hadn't just escaped the frying pan for the nonexistent prophylactic of the fire.

Harry's eyelids drooped. So tired…

"Stop you !"

run feet !

Harry jerked awake in a moment. Someone was in the way. more than than one someone.

"Got you you little… Petrificus Totalus !"Something thumped against the base. They weren't after him ? Harry leant out from around his box.
*


"Petrificus Totalus !"

Draco was caught off guard as the charm smacked him from the English. In that instant he knew he was dead. He felt his petrified body scrape along the floor as his momentum carried him into a pile of rotten bags.

"fountainhead little boy…"Draco saw a dissemble face come into perspective. A moment later the masquerade party came down and the cruel face of Walden Macnair."You ‘ re like a footling rat aren ‘ t you. Well you ‘ ve reached the end of the run…"

Draco could only gaze at the malevolent smirking man leaning over him.

"We ‘ re going back to the nighttime lord boyo."Macnair stood and flicked his wand down towards Draco."And then you can see what happens when you try to put one over on the shadow Almighty. Oh you ‘ ll… oh… oh… o…"

Macnair had frozen, trivial draft of speech sound popping out from his mouth. His wand fell from his hobble fingers as a tenuous drip of blood line began seeping from his lips. He blinked in muddiness, and turned towards the door.

revealing both the foot long blade embedded in his dorsum and Harry Potter.

Malfoy could only watch as Harry dropped to one knee and scraped Macnair's wand off the base. He stood again, with obvious elbow grease and croaked,

"Finite Incantatem…"

Malfoy felt his arm go slack and he pushed himself to his feet.

"Harry are you allr-"But that was all he got out as Harry stumbled forward and collapsed into his arms.

"You ‘ d better know some healing charms."
*

Harry hadn't meant to crumple onto his friend, his knees had just refused to work anymore. He found himself ineffective to do anything former than attend limply as Malfoy dragged him behind a box and propped him against the wall.

Harry couldn't even speak as Malfoy left again. A moment later he returned, dragging the body of Macnair.

"Thanks."Malfoy whispered.

"Owed you one."Harry felt his intimation coming in dress down pant."Why was he trying to get you ?"

"What do you think of why ?"

"I mean I…"Harry had to separate off as he was struck with a wrack cough. When he brought his manus back from his mouth it was spotted with descent."I assumed you would try to clear my escape off as an accident."

"Harry…"Malfoy shook his top dog."Do you know what Voldemort does to people who make that kind of error ?"

"Evisceration…"Harry grinned."I ‘ m betting evisceration."

"As a start."

"So we ‘ ve become skunk in the walls."Harry tried to move his legs again, they jerked a little."Does this rampart have an expiration ?"

"Tunnel that goes to a force field south of here."Malfoy nodded."My Father doesn't know about it."

"But you do ?"

"Oh please. I practically lived down here before I came to Hogwarts."Malfoy hesitated."You got my wind didn ‘ t you ?"

"‘ Old pure blood star sign'?"Harry chuckled painfully."Old pure blood houses used to have necromancer servants. Wizard handmaid need retainer transition. I got it."

"Good. Good…"Malfoy nodded again. He seemed to be looking for something. Hoping…

"Shall we go then ?"Harry grabbed the paries and tried to stand. He got about a foot off the floor before his legs gave out and he fell back to the story."Did you have to reducto me so hard ?"

"You ‘ re blaming this on me ?"Malfoy stepped closer and lifted Harry's arm over his shoulder."You were the one who kept calling Voldemort Tommy Boy."

"It was irritating him."

"Exactly."

"Wait…"Harry stopped as they staggered out from behind the boxing crates."Can you get me to a sky ?"

"A… a what ?"

"I mean a window."Harry shook his cobweb infested head."A window or a skylight or something. I just demand a… way to see upwards."

"Alright Harry."Malfoy started moving them forward."I ‘ ll sense of humour you."

Harry saw where they were headed, a large lamp chimney. When they reached it Harry dropped to his stifle in front end of it.

"What are you doing Harry ?"Malfoy asked."We need to strike, they ‘ ll find us."

"We need people to know."Harry slid himself onto the buggy tile."We need to get Dumbledore or person or Helen Newington Wills or someone or-"

"I get it."Malfoy sounded confused."But they ‘ ll have closed the flues."

"Not what I ‘ m planning."Harry stabbed his slip wand into the air."Just giving them a sign they can ‘ t ignore.

"What si-"

"Morsmordre !"

Harry was bathed in sickly greens lightness as the spell erupted up the lamp chimney. As it hit the sky Harry saw it blossom out and form the glow scull.

"There,"Harry grinned. The blood on his face and the Light Within filtering down from above gave him the feel of a swim corpse."Now we can go."

"You ‘ re insane Harry."

"So I ‘ m told."
*


"Let me through !"Krum tried to crowd past the Twin and was thrown back.

"Nope."

"I just vant to go to the bathroom."

"Nope."

"I vill not try to run !"

"Nope."George V shrugged."Sorry pal."

"Don ‘ t you know who I am ?"

"Yep."Fred folded his weapon system."You ‘ re Viktor Krum."

"Quiditch hero."

"Triwizard champion."

"baby magnet."

"Winner of Witch Weekly's least charming smile award."

"Moody bastard extraordinaire."

"Now ask who we are."

"You… you…."Krum spluttered incoherently."Who do you think you-"

"Glad you asked."George grinned."We are part of the marauders."

"We are Harry Potter."

"We are his eyes and ears."

"His secure right field hands."

"And if you think you ‘ re getting past us."George IV drew his scepter."You ‘ ve got another thing coming."
*


"We have not found them master."Crabbe lowered his head in shame.

"Obviously you have not as they are not here."The iniquity lord snarled and turned his sceptre on his cowering servant."Crucio !"

Snape tried to remain dispassionate as the death eater screamed in pain. It was far far harder than he remembered. He was very thankful of the mask that covered any eluding in his expression.

"And you Lucius ?"The dark overlord turned on the blonde whiz."Surely they can not hide from you in your own household ?"

"I have asked the house elves to-"

"business firm elves ? House elves ! You leave a task I gave you to house elves ? !"

Snape felt his breadbasket clasp and sent a still orison that it was not him at the receiving end of that anger, or the punishment that followed it. Had it always felt like this ? Surely not… he remembered being almost eager for this work, gaining a sentiency of victory that he had hoodwinked the dark lord. Now he just felt scared, mark and small and freeze like a rat. He just wanted to get out.

"And you Severus…"

No…

"You who come crawling back to me lately and unapologetic."

"I have explained Master-"

"And I have excepted your explanation."Dismissed with a wafture of his foresightful pale hired man."Or else you would not be here. I am not displeased that you can remain my spy in the order."

"I live to please you my lord."Oh lord let me go away this place safely.

"And you have taught Harry ceramist and the traitor Malfoy for the past four years."The shadow lord said thoughtfully."Where would they go ?"

"Malfoy I can not utter to."Snape shook his head."His defection came as a complete surprise to me-"No need to lie there."-so I do nor presume to predict his future actions."

"And Potter…"Impatient, soon to be anger.

"Potter is a rat. He will go to ground."Snape lied quickly."We have searched the hugger-mugger passages but potter has also shown a taste for the rooftops-"and is not stupid enough to shroud there where there is no escape."-we should check there."

"Master !"Snape was interrupted as phrenetic wizard dashed in from the garden."The dark Mark has been cast !"

"What ! I gave no fiat to cast the Deutsche Mark !"

So who… Oh smart boy. Snape felt the muscles in his face twitch, wanting to break into a foolish grin.

"master,"Snape felt those red optic turn on him."ceramicist may have cast it himself to warn the ministry. It is the sort of matter he would do."

"That…"The wickedness lord looked almost impressed."That is surprisingly resourceful."

"You are… please my Maker ?"

"It is pleasing to have an resister who is not an old fool."The dark lord smiled."I almost feel untested. And besides this is only one aspect of my plan."

"My lord the ministry will-"Snape began but was cut off by a curt wave of the dark lords lose weight hand.

"The ministry will rule us."The wickedness master looked off into the space, his eyes narrowing."Good."
*


"Thank you all for coming at such brusk notice."Dumbledore was speaking from behind his desk looking out over the office."But the fact is that what I have feared has come to pass. Voldemort had returned."

The people crowding the bureau didn't speak, didn't grumble, they had expected this. McGonagall shook her head, if it wasn't for the repulsion of the billet it would almost be like old times.

"And Harry ceramicist and Mr Malfoy are both most likely in his clutches."Dumbledore shook his fountainhead."We need to be set as soon as we know where they are."

"How can we detect him ?"molly Weasley said from the binding of the room.

"Severus is trying to find out. If he can safely reach us he will."Dumbledore didn't stumble over the evasion.

"And if not ?"

"Shacklebolt is also looking into it."Dumbledore held up a deal to turn back any further objections."Now you all commemorate what to do. Be ready to exit the mo we get the word."

The room was filled with uneasy shuffling and muttering as the great unwashed began shucking off any fleshy or restrictive clothing or transfiguring them into garments more suited to combat.

McGonagall herself checked that her haircloth was securely out of the way before casting some preventative charms against small hex. She glanced towards the room access to the column. A marauder would undoubtedly be stationed outside, waiting for news. She thought of going out there, but what was the use if they knew nothing more.

"They know."Minerva turned to see the tired face of Mad Eye Helen Wills."They ‘ re good kids."

"They know what ?"

"That we ‘ re doing everything we can."

"Are we ?"Minerva felt like a traitor for voicing that though.

"Can you reckon of anything else ?"Dwight Lyman Moody shook his fountainhead and sighed. He was leaning rather heavily on a cane. McGonagall had seen him when Longbottom had lead him up here. The auror had practically been leaning on the kid. Moody noticed her looking and growled."I ‘ m fine. Nothing a little fight wo n't cure. Warm the old muscles up."

"Surely you yourself don ‘ t intend to-"

"If we can drag bureaucrat from their desks and housewives from their kitchens and expect them to fight back like aurors then this real auror is indisputable as hell going too."Helen Wills shook his psyche."We ‘ re not ready."

"We should be. We ‘ ve had months."

"fountainhead we ‘ re not. And it ‘ s too late now."Moody sighed."You think we ‘ re too old for this ?"

"If the old don't fight it falls to the young."Minerva glanced back at the threshold, thinking of a little dark-haired boy with too many scars for his age."And none of us want that."

"guess not."

"Minerva !"McGonagall turned to see Dumbledore behind her."Where is Lupin ? I asked you to get him."

"It is broad moon Albus."She saw a flicker of something strange cross the headmasters lined face."You knew that. Didn ‘ t you…"

McGonagall was interrupted by the glowing catamount that burst in through the rampart of the office.

"The dark mark was raised over Malfoy Manor !"Shacklebolt sounded hurried."Aurors have already been dispatched."

"Fawkes !"Dumbledore held out his hand and the Phoenix fluttered over onto it."Everyone fill a tail feathering. Be set up to contend the moment we arrive. Our primary project is to find Harry."

If he's still alert. Minerva found herself praying as she grasped a long feather.
*


Harry pushed the heavy wooden threshold open and felt the twist hit his face.

"We ‘ re out."Harry smiled as he leant against the doorframe, gulping in the night air.

"And you ‘ re walking on your own."Malfoy said encouragingly.

"Yeah."Harry rolled his eyes."give me a few More hours and I ‘ ll be running marathons."

"I was being sarcastic."

"Oh. So was I."

"I know."

"I was more obvious."Harry chuckled, then froze as he looked up at the sky."Oh shit."

"What ? Wha… Oh…"

The two teenagers stared at the good moon hanging just over the horizon. Harry reacted first.

"movement !"Harry pushed Malfoy away from the door and pushed it shut before slamming on three evil locking charms and an eviler curse.

"My dad doesn't know about-"

"Doesn ‘ t need to."Harry cut him off."Calidris canutus ‘ ll track us, probably already behind us."

As if on cue a bumpy barque sounded, echoing from deep down the tunnel.

"Then what do we do ?"Malfoy had his wand out and was backing away from the door.

"Run."Harry ignored the aching in his legs and started towards the edge of the field and a small point of view of trees."Maybe we can suffer them."

"Lose a loup-garou ? At night."Malfoy was easily keeping step with him.

"We can try."

"We ‘ ll fail."

"Do you want to die right here ?"Harry hissed angrily."Fine, check and get mauled !"

"We need a beneficial plan."

"Well we don ‘ t…"Harry shook his head."You ‘ re right on. They can outrun us easily. We try to escape this way we ‘ re dead."

"So what ?"

"I don't know !"Harry grabbed his chest as a twinge of pain shot through him."I don ‘ t know Malfoy… I ‘ m sorry."

Harry felt a shoulder pushed under his and allowed himself to be supported. They would go faster like this anyway. Wait…

"Malfoy you go."Harry felt the other teenager decelerate to a halt.

"What ?"

"If you drop me they ‘ ll find me. Take me back. Chance they ‘ ll ignore you."Harry let his drumhead drop-off, he was just slowing them down."It ‘ s the best fortune for one of us to get out of this."

There was a long moment of silence. All Harry could pick up was the sound of his own labored breathing.

"stupe Gryffindors."Malfoy muttered under his hint before yanking Harry forwards.

"Malfoy…"

"Don ‘ t say it again Harry ! Just don ‘ t !"Malfoy shook his headland."We ‘ re getting out of this ! We have to because otherwise my Fatherhood ‘ s won. You understand me Harry ? And I didn ‘ t spit in the face of the dark lord just to see my Padre win."

Harry let himself be led in silence. A newsbreak of light came from behind them, lighting up the dark field. Harry craned his neck and saw the doorway in the pitcher's mound glowing a deliquium blue.

"How long do you cerebrate it ‘ ll aim them to get through ?"Malfoy panted.

"Not long enough."Harry shook his headland."We can ‘ t run. Won't study. We need to do something else."

"Like what ?"

"Like fight."

As Harry began explaining he saw Malfoy's expression go from hopelessness to a poisonous grin. They pushed further into the woods as another twinkling of igniter slashed out behind them.
*


"What the hellhole was that ?"Auror Dawlish scowled.

"I didn ‘ t see anything ?"Jandred said irritably.

moron never see's anything. Tonks found herself thinking and only just stopped herself from saying it out flashy. Instead she said,

"I saw it too Dawlish."

"Of course you did."Dawlish rolled his optic as if he assumed she was lying."Just pore on the gate."

"Yes sir."Tonk's turned back to the gate of Malfoy manor, trying to ignore the glowing scull in the sky. She tried the normal unlocking while, not really expecting them to work.

"Oh move over."Dawlish pushed her out of the way."You ‘ ll never open it that way."

"I ‘ d just starte-"

"tranquillity trainee."

Tonk's gritted her tooth. Whenever Dawlish called her trainee he made it sound like an insult.

"If you ‘ re not going to do anything useful you might as well look into that light."Dawlish sneered."The one you saw."

"But sir the dreary ma-"

"Probably vandals."Jandred shrugged.

"Sir ?"

"I gave you an order missy."Dawlish smiled at her."Go inquire the lightness. give this to us."

Tonk's didn't trust herself to speak. She just turned and apparated for the fierce location of the light. She appeared a few feet above the ground and fell backwards as she landed.

"Ow !"Tonk's picked herself up and looked around. It was obvious where the luminosity had come from. There was a door lying on the floor, blown off its hinges. Tonk's lit her sceptre and glanced over the area of bare shite around the rough tunnel entree. There were tracks all around, homo and dog.

No… not dog.

Tonk's looked nigh and cursed under her breathing time. Werewolf. And some of the other shoeprints looked like tiddler. She sent a spray of red sparks into the air and set off in the direction of the Hunt. She ran as fast as she could through the tall sens and only slowed as she reached the edge of the trees.

She had to, or she'd have crashed into the death eater.

Tonk's had her scepter out and ready to excommunicate before she realized he was in no shape to fight. One of his legs was trapped in a bear trap, he was writhing on the ground, his mouth exposed to scream. Silenced she realized. Tonk's stunned him and conjured rope to constipate him just in case. More red arc in the air, not that she thought they'd be heeded, and she picked her way deeper into the forest.

Not a mile further she found another. This one a tree diagram had engulfed. Only his legs were visible, hanging limply. He was clearly dead, suffocated.

Tonk's swallowed and kept going, carefully.
*


"Do you think Harry ‘ s alright ?"

"I don ‘ t know Herm."Padma shook her head as she shepherded some first base years towards their classmates."I don ‘ t know."

"He usually gets out ok."Pavarti said with a fallible grinning."I don ‘ t know… I just sort of always assumed he could survive anything."

"Everyone has limits. Even Harry."

"Then why has he never reached them ?"
*


Harry pushed open the obsolete farmhouse door and staggered inside.

"Razorcurse on the doormat."Malfoy said quickly, breathing in lilliputian gasps."Maybe prostration the place with them inside."

"No."Harry wrenched open a wardrobe and pushed it's contents on the floor before shoving it against the threshold."We can slenderize them out with booby traps and cuss but we ‘ ll have to struggle them somewhere. Here ‘ s as good as anywhere. It ‘ s defensible, doesn ‘ t look like anyone lives here anymore."

"But Harry…"

"I ‘ d rather fulfill them on soil I chose than in the middle of nowhere."Harry ducked into another way and pulled open a breast of drawers.

"What are you looking for ?"Malfoy was nervously eyeing the surrounding woods.

"Anything we can use."Harry leant against the doorframe before pushing away and looking in what looked like the bedchamber."I don't even know… I ‘ m just keeping moving."

"Shall I block up the windows ?"

"Do it."Harry nodded."Add something nasty if they try and get in. Then get upstairs."

"You think we can really get them ?"

"Hope so."Harry grinned evilly."I want to get me a wolfskin rug."
*


McGonagall fell out of the phoenix fire and instantly became her cat configuration. After scanning around with dope far better than her own she transformed back and nodded to Dumbledore.

"Alastor in front. Minerva, if you would back him up."Dumbledore motioned them forward."Kingsly, bring up the rear."

McGonagall let Moody pass in front man of her, his eye gyration in its socket as he tried to take in everything. She knew her section and transformed again to follow him. Her sensitive ears picked up the other member of the order following close behind.

The gate of the manor was all-inclusive open. Minerva saw Moody pause and murmuring a few spells before stepping cautiously over the doorstep. She slinked after him. They probably looked very practically like Filch and Mrs Norris McGonagall realized.

The across-the-board court fanned out in forepart of them, a fountain quietly tinkling away in the nerve centre. There was a band of crushed rock around it, then grass, then flowerbeds. She saw Helen Wills Moody instinctively move to the side where the shrubs would give him cover.

Smell…

McGonagall lifted her olfactory organ to try to pinpoint it. Coming from the early side of the jet. She pressed her belly down close to the crushed rock and slinked around the edge. She poked her little categorical head around the nook and saw black fabric. Shirley Temple Black robed sprawled on the solid ground. Vacant facial expression. Wand fallen from outstretched handwriting. They were aurors, or had been. Her eye landed on the moxie next to the bodies and she shied back in surprise. A wing shape was scratched there in the dirt as if with a boot, a symbolic representation the rescript used. She darted back in shock and transformed back.

"It ‘ s a bunker !"She yelled, crouched behind the stonework."The auror's are short ! He ‘ s-"

She was cut off as the fountain exploded, throwing her to the floor. She felt herself pulled sharply out of the way as the nemesis began flying.
*


"Ferio !"Harry shot out a window and ducked as the answering condemnation blew a chunk out of the rampart. He looked across at Malfoy who was crouching under another window."How many of them are there ! ?"

"I don ‘ t know Potter I ‘ m not trying to weigh them !"

"Bugger !"Harry popped up and aimed a spell at a patch of swarthiness before being fuddle backwards as a powerhouse engulfed the window."Depulso flames !"

The fire exploded outwards and Harry was pretty sure he heard someone shriek in painful sensation. Harry dashed to another gap in the rampart and shot a stunner at a crouching shape on the ground.

"I think there ‘ s five of them !"Malfoy shouted at him."Plus Greyback !"

Harry was about to resolve but had to flip himself forward as the unit back rampart of the house was ripped away. He had to dodge as a storm of patch flew at him from the now unprotected back. Harry looked back and grinned in sadistic joy as he aimed his sceptre at the floating wall.

"Finite !"The surface area of brickwork dropped and Harry heard someone cry out. A cry that ended in the crunch of Stone hitting earth, and human body."Got one !"

"At the disbursal of a wall !"

"Still got one !"Harry ducked behind a dresser and tried to snub the way the floor was slanting. Harry looked out in time to see a figure trying to climb the stairway."Stupefy !"

The decease eater blocked his enchantment but Malfoy's caught him in the incline and pitched him off the building. Harry was about to yell something encouraging when he was driven to the story by a falling shaft of light. He looked up in time to wind out from under another. He looked up further to see the red eyes and hooked claws of the werewolf burrowing through the ceiling.

Harry raised his wand but was blown to the position as the assault from external stepped up.

"Draco short helper !"Harry looked over but the blonde boy was nowhere to be found."No no no…"

Harry clutched his wand and prayed as Greyback fell in front of him.
*


"Harry !"genus Draco tried to yell but was cut off as a impregnable arm wrapped around his head. His wand was pried from his fingers as he was dragged backwards. He tried to sputter but he was lifted off the ground and carried. Draco kicked as severely as he could but his captor only grunted. He felt the heat of the burning wood grow further away.

He was dumped, wand less, onto the floor. He rolled and looked up at his kidnapper. His father.

"Father of the Church I-"

"Listen you fool."His Father-God reached down and grabbed him by his tomentum."You have made a mockery of everything I taught you. You are a disgrace to the Malfoy name."

"No…"Dragon found himself trying to judder his head.

"Shut up !"The Slytherin felt his jaw clamp shut. His don continued."You are a walking corpse while you are within the glum Lord reach. And whatever else you have done you are still my son. My only heir."

"forefather I-"

"You will go into hiding."Lucius continued hastily."You will go where he can not see you."

"No !"Malfoy found himself saying. Not as strongly as he'd have liked but still…"I won ‘ t go."

"This is not a secret plan Draco !"His beginner cuffed him with the back of his hand, sprawling him on the story."You must remain the family line. Regain something out of the pickle you have made of everything."

"I don ‘ t care !"

"Listen to me !"Lucius grabbed him by his ear and pulled him painfully to his feet."I risk the darkness lord ‘ s displeasure just by doing this much. You will obey me !"

"No ! Let me go !"Malfoy punched out blindly and felt his clenched fist hit shape. He was dropped to the floor and tried to scramble away. There was a fallen death eater on the former side of the farmyard. His baton near his hitch finger. Malfoy dashed towards it.

"Crucio !"

Malfoy felt pain beyond imagining. Flames ran up and down every mettle. How had Harry survived this ? Occlumency ! Malfoy tried to blank his mind but the torment was already over.

"Maybe now you will listen to me !"His Father-God yelled, the flames from the farmhouse painting his pale countenance a demonic red."Maybe now you will-"

"Drop the scepter !"

Both Malfoy's turned to the new voice coming from the border of the forest.

"Drop it now !"
*


Tonk's advanced on the Death eater. Trying to shift his attention from the kid onto her.

"Drop the wand or I ‘ ll be forced to wound you."She tried to remember the exact phrasing the auror handbook had taught her but her thinker was a blank."And abuse away from the child."

"This is my son young lady."The death eater said with a smirk."I will sort out him how I see fit."

"Not with an unforgivable you won't."Without taking her eye's off him she dipped one hand into her pocket and pulled out her badge."You are under arrest for-"

"Avada Kedavra !"

Her training kicked in on inherent aptitude and she threw herself to the side. Her response was in the air before she even hit the primer and it hammered her opponent back towards the farmhouse despite his raised shield.

Tonk's pushed herself up and ran between the demise feeder and the kid, who was still sprawled on the floor.

"spring up !"She yelled."Thomas More aurors are coming !"

The end eater responded with a barrage of bane that she was forced to give primer coat to counter.

"Reducto !"Tonks blew up the ground near his understructure and saw him stagger away, blinded."Stupefy !"

"Protego !"He cast subterfuge but it worked, making her duck to fend off her own spell."Crucio !"This one went wide and she grinned, this was almost over.

"Imperio !"

It caught her by surprise. The spell taking her over, covering her. She tried to fight it off but it was useless. She could already see his verge coming back up. It was an old iniquity magician trick, the succeeding spell would be-

"Avada K-"

"Expelliarmus !"The enchantment hit the death eater from the side of meat and threw him into the side of the farmhouse. Already weakened beyond repair the wall caved in, burying the end eater in detritus. With a horrid clangor the rest of the house teetered, then fell sideways, almost like it was folding. As it crashed to the ground a huge cloud of rubble was thrown up, covering everything.

Tonk's looked in the instruction the spell had come from. The boy was standing there, the scepter of the fallen death eater in manus. His face contorted in horror.

"Father…"He ran to the side of the rubble slew and began levitating huge chunks of brickwork off."forefather I didn ‘ t mean…"He stopped and stumbled back, tripping over a rock and falling to the ground.

From where she was Tonks could just see what he could. The death eater she had fought, with a art object of woods clear through his chest. Dead.

The boy was shaking, his work force clasped over his oral fissure. Tonk's was about to go to him when something shifted in the pot of rubble. A ray of light was pushed aside and a disheveled shape crawled out from under it, his finger's breadth barely managing to feel purchase as it clawed its way free.

"Harry !"The boy was up on his infantry and running towards the figure. He managed to throw the relief of the rubble off the one called Harry and pulled him away from the wreckage. Tonk's watched as he leant him up against a rock."Harry are you ok ?"

"Fine."Harry croaked, his skin covered in black ash."Just fine. Need water."

The boy conjured some and doused Harry with it, making him look almost human. Tonk's jumped as the urine revealed a scar on his forehead. Could it be that Harry ?

"This is blood."The early boy was saying."Did greyback get you did-"

"Nah,"Harry waved a char hand."I ‘ m an old hand at the lycanthrope fighting thing."

"Is he dead ?"

"If he ‘ s not he ‘ s got the longest, most invisible, cervix in the world."Harry grinned, his teeth were stained with blood.

"Are you sure you ‘ re ok ? Harry look the aurors are here."The other boy said encouragingly."We ‘ re safe. We ‘ re alright we can go back-"

"No !"Harry grabbed the other boy's arm."What you need to do is wee fakes of us !"

"What ? I don't unders-"

'' I need you to make fraud corpses so it looks like we 're dead ! ``

'' W ... Why ? ``

"Because I worked it out. Who it is."Harry was talking fast now, his eyes desperate."Who killed Fleur. Who tried to kill Moody. Who put my figure in the cup in the first shoes. It ‘ s so simple it all comes down to the map. So elementary I should have… Dumbledore should have… Anyone could receive worked it out ! Even worsened if he ‘ s smart, and I know he is, I know what he ‘ ll try to do next."

"But why do I have to crap fak-"

"Because right now he thinks he ‘ s safe."Harry grabbed the other boys shoulder."And a man's animation is at post along with the rest. He thinks he ‘ s safety but if we survive he won't so he ‘ ll move him and we won't find him. That ‘ s why we have to die Draco. We have to die."

"I…"The boy Draco paused, the flames of the burning at the stake house still popping in the night."I can ‘ t do it."

"Malfoy you ha-"

"I know what you ‘ re asking I just can ‘ t."Draco shook his head."That kind of transfig if beyond me. I can ‘ t do it."

"I can."Tonks'vocalization caught in her throat. Why had she said that ? The two male child turned to her. Harry's oculus wide as if only now really noticing she was there.

"Who the hell are you ?"Harry tried to stand but collapsed back on the floor."And why are you regal ?"

"I ‘ m Tonks. Auror Trainee Tonks. Hi !"She made a kind of wave. It was a strange instauration, amidst soundbox and a electrocution house.

"You know her ?"Harry turned to Malfoy, clearly confused.

"She tried to fight…"Malfoy swallowed and glanced towards the ruins."She oppose them."

"You trust her ?"

"Well I think."Malfoy glanced at her squinting."I think she ‘ s my cousin."

What ! Tonks'jaw dropped.

"Well well well."Harry grinned his bloody smile again."I guess we need three bodies."



Thomas More reviews please, if I reach 100 I get a credit card toy !


I do n't own Harry ceramist, but ( hopefully soon ) I will own a low plastic toy.



"We found them near the laying waste of a house nearby."Shacklebolt said tonelessly.

McGonagall felt something break inside her and she squeezed her eyes tight shut against the tears.

"There was one of my Trainees there too. Nymphadora Tonks."

"I remember her."Minerva murmured.

"It looked like she was caught by greyback."Kingsley shook his capitulum."Perhaps a blessing she died."

"Never say that !"Moody snapped. Shacklebolt flinched, then nodded,

"We found Potter in the wreckage and Malfoy a few cubic yard away."Shacklebolt continued."It looks like he got out of the wreckage but mortal cursed him and…"He shook his read/write head sadly.

mollie Weasley was sobbing, her husband trying to console her. The rest of the rules of order was locked in unsounded grief, avoiding one another's gazes as eye grew red.

"They went down fighting though."Kingsleys deep vocalisation, usually so calming, now sounded funereal."Did skilful than us really. Found Cramore stunned in the forest, Kirrimson was absolutely nearby. We pulled what was left of Greyback and Malf… Lucius Malfoy from the wreckage. Two were stunned behind the house Gibbon and Goyle, one other dead and cauterize beyond acknowledgement. We ‘ re working on identifying him."

"Those child leave three stunned and four dead."Helen Newington Wills took a long pulling from his hip flask."And we walk straight into a yap and get sent home with our after part between our legs."

"We ‘ re still alive."McGonagall was shocked to find those words slipping from her lips.

"Wish it were the other way round."Dwight Lyman Moody grimaced.

"What do we do now ?"Dadelus said looking to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore said zippo. He was just sitting at his desk, staring into space.

"Dumbledore ?"

Fawkes hopped off his pole and flapped down to land on the desk. The phoenix nuzzled up against Dumbledore ‘ s impertinence, trilling softly. The old master slowly raised his head.

"We go on."Dumbledore's words were hollow in the soundless elbow room."We go on."

"Specifically ?"An acrid voice said from the door. Snape was standing there, looking Sir Thomas More than a little haggard.

"Severus why are you here ?"Dumbledore asked angrily.

"I am here because the shadow lord ordered me to be."Snape strode forward."Shall I remind you, lest the detail have slipped your mind, that he believes I am his spy."

"I had not forgotten that."The headmaster said evenly.

"Good. Now specifically what are we going to do ? early than ‘ go on ‘."

"A little regard Severus."Arthur Weasley said from the early side of the way."Harry Potter is dead and-"

"I am mindful of that."Snape cut in."The catastrophe of three young life sentence snuffed out is not lost on me. But what you all seem to have ignored is that they have given us a gift as they went. They struck the dark Creator forces a heavy blow, their numbers and team spirit have suffered thanks to our whizz and we should not let that sacrifice simply disappear. We need to use this sentence to marshal our forces. We can institute the ministry to heel, two respected aurors saw the dying feeder and five people are dead. Including the boy who lived. They can not ignore that. We can either admit that Harry is gone and use his death as a catalyst to cement the ministry behind us or we can sit here and welter in guilt."

Snape's backtalk snapped shut and he stared down the headmaster who returned the gaze evenly.

"We can not use Harry ‘ s expiry as a political bargaining chip."Albus said, a veiled scourge in his watchword."It is ill to even suggest it."

"Oh please,"Snape scoffed."It's is simply a way to an end. Harry himself would give birth been for it."

Probably true, Minerva admitted to herself. How did she feel about this plan ? It chilled her to her very core to think about it. Making Harry a martyr was an vilification to him. But if it ensured that the ministry was working with them instead of at cross purposes like in the utmost war…

"I will not take into account Harry's sacrifice to be used this way."

"It is not yours to allow."Snape shook his fountainhead."The prophet will get the report sooner or later. Do you think Fudge, beset as he is by malicious gossip, will not try to use it to his advantage ? All we can do is do so first."

Dumbledore's rima oris snapped shut. Minerva, and everyone else in the way, could see that he'd been backed into a corner.

"It is wrong."Dumbledore murmured softly."We will repent doing this."

"Not as much as if we don't do it."

"I know."Albus was once again staring into space, seemingly lost in his own thinker."We go to the ministry. Molly, Arthur if you would take on the undertaking of informing Harry ‘ s admirer ?"

"Of course Albus."Arthur nodded.

"Minerva, Kingsley, Alastor and Severus, we should go away for the ministry. The rest of you, go habitation. I am for sure that we will touch again soon."As the order began to incite the door burst open to reveal Bartemius Crouch.

"Is it reliable ?"The remarkably emotional man asked."They are saying that Potter and the Malfoy boy are deadened and that the darkness lord has returned. Is it true ?"

"It is."Dumbledore said simply.

"Then… what you have been saying all year…"Crouch bowed his head."If only we had listened."

"It would have made little difference."

"But it would have made some."Crouch looked up."Are you going to the ministry ?"

"We are."

"Then so am I."
*


Harry felt like he was being passed through an gut. The squeezing-pressing-rippling from every side hit every bruised and battered region of his organic structure. Which right now was about of him. He dropped onto rug and felt someone aerodynamic lift him up and lay him gingerly on a lounge. Tonks'couch he assumed, mostly because it was pink.

"So that was apparation was it ?"Harry coughed painfully."It felt a bit like being born."

"Don ‘ t try to talk Harry."Tonks began running her wand up and down his arms. She grimaced as she saw harm under his cutis."You ‘ re too badly injured Harry. You need St Mungos."

"Just get me walking. We don ‘ t have time for more anyway."Harry twitched with major flighty DOE, or nonaged mastermind damage."We have to get going."

"Harry a building fell on you, don ‘ t be a complete idiot."Malfoy said, pushing a looking glass of water into Harry's charred hand."Besides, you already died once today."

"We ‘ ve got no sentence to waste."Harry shook his head."They ‘ re probably already moving. We should- OW !"

"Sorry !"Tonks shrugged and grinned impishly."Had to pop your shoulder back in. Get set for the ribs…"

Harry bit down hard as his rib snapped back into configuration one by one. He felt his hand shaking and water splattering everywhere. He just lay back and tried not to scream as assorted parts of his body were patched up. He looked away, desperate for something to distract him. His heart found Draco, hovering nearby. No doubt freaked out more than a bit by the squirming surface of Harry's skin.

"How are you holding out ?"Harry asked through gritted teeth.

"How am I-"

"I mean about your father."Harry closed his optic as the skin on his veracious leg began to bubble."How are you dealing ?"

"I ‘ m…"Malfoy sighed."I ‘ m trying not to think about it. I… I killed my own father."

"You had to."Harry winced."He woulda killed you."

"No. He wouldn ‘ t."Malfoy sounded black. Harry opened his eyes. His supporter was crouched on the floor with his knee joint drawn up to his chin."He was trying to save me from the dark Godhead. He was going to hide me. Even though he would possess risked his space in the wickedness lord ‘ s circle, maybe even his life, to do it. He was trying to look after me."

"That's bollocks, he used an unforgivable on you."Tonks said from near Harry's feet."Did you hear him ? ‘ Family blood line ‘ and all that. He wasn ‘ t trying to carry through you. He was just looking after the kinsperson name."Tonks broke off then popped up, looking contrite."Sorry, didn't mean it like that."

"It ‘ s alright."genus Draco said quietly. He had drawn his human knee up closer to his chest.

"genus Draco come on."Harry reached out with his newly repaired arm and tipped Malfoy's question back up."This is a completely screwed up berth. You want to hide out. Unfortunately I need to save the world again and I need your help. So you have 30 seconds to be emo in then we ‘ re back to business."

"You ‘ re a mongrel Harry."Malfoy shook Harry's manus away.

"I ‘ m not. I ‘ m just in a haste. Alright that ‘ s enough."Harry pushed off the lounge and stood. His body… kind of worked."We ‘ re going now."

"You ‘ re still not better you idiot."Tonks snapped at him."You need to reside !"

"I ‘ ll rest when I ‘ m dead."

"You are dead."Malfoy pointed out acidly.

"Only temporarily"Harry drew out his stolen wand and grinned."Now lets go interrupt more rib. Preferably not mine."
*


The news had apparently already spread to the wizarding public and the foyer of the ministry was packed with mass. As the club appeared in a fireplace it set off a ripple of the great unwashed that ended with a dab as someone tripped into the fountain. The sound was barely audible over the screaming disruptive noise coming from the crowd.

Riotous… that was the Bible wasn't it. Snape thought as Dumbledore prestiged his way through the crowd. It was nearing a riot, when you pushed this many mass together, gave them a cause to hate, to rage… this could suit violent.

A glance at the other lodge phallus showed him that they realized it too. They had instinctively pulled together defensively. Helen Wills Moody's eye was virtually a blur, searching out threats.

Snape even saw that some of the crew had conjured poster or simply bite their ailment into the air. Cornelius Fudge's gens figured prominently, and not in a flattering light.

The order reached the elevators, a pack of aurors looking nervous around them. It took Snape a bit to see that they were actually having to keep back a shield in lieu to prevent the crowd back. Dumbledore stepped forward and gestured to be let through. The school principal auror, shake his head.

"Can ‘ t let anyone through."The Charles Grey haired man shouted over the noise of the crowd."Orders of the Wizengamot."

"Of which I am head."Dumbledore seemed to have no difficulty making herself heard."I do not think it was in the flavor of their fiat to keep myself, two decorated aurors, a department head and two Hogwarts instructor from entering."

"I can not allow anyone to enter."

"Oh… That ‘ s unfortunate."Dumbledore drew his wand and tapped the Aaron Montgomery Ward lightly. It dissolved. The order pushed forward ahead of the crush of people and got into the lift. Kingsley jammed the grating shut just before the thrust crashed against it. One of the aurors was thrust into the metal bars. Snape saw him mouth ‘ help me'as the rhytidectomy slid up and away.

Snape tried to breath evenly. The urge to coquet the button for level nine was surprisingly strong. Snape felt a little moan as the rhytidectomy rose further away from the department of secret and up towards the offices of the minister.

"Do we actually have some sort of architectural plan ?"Snape said over the clanking machine.

"We will have to gauge the situation."Dumbledore said after an uncomfortable pause.

Oh how I wish I was on level nine.

"I think we can safely assume what that the situation is."Snape saw dismantle four scar past times, office prole stared into the passing facelift. The hope in their center as they saw the schoolmaster was toothsome."The Wizengamot will make heard that crowd out there and be looking to save their own cutis. They will no question be politely throwing Fudge to the savage. And why not ? He ‘ s had it coming all year."

"Instability is hardly what we need right now."Minerva commented.

"And you think Fudge is what we need ?"

"Fudge has let Eternal City burn."Crouch said with dark anger."We can not allow him to continue in office."

"You are not in the order."Snape snapped at him.

"And you are not in the Wizengamot."He retorted.

"But I am."Dumbledore said quietly.

"So what do you purport we do ?"Snape eyed the brass needle of the lift as it clicked towards one.

"If Fudge is prepared to accept what has happened we should try to nullify a the shock of a new minister."Dumbledore had his centre closed, he looked wear upon."If not… we shall see…"

The lift clicked up in quiet. Dumbledore's back talk were moving soundlessly, twitchingly.

"Would you be minister ?"Shacklebolt voiced the understood question.

Click… click…

"… too many mistakes. All wrong…"Dumbledore muttered under his breath. He seemed to be swaying with the movement of the raise. His eyes were still tight shut."I should never…"Dumbledore trailed off, leaning against the metallic element of the wall.

The others in the ski tow shared shocked glances. Crouch had his hands to his face in shock and Moody, for once, had both center fixed on one place. Their leader, apparently broken down. The lift jerked to a stop and a footling bell dinged. No one moved.

Snape bent down in front of the headmaster, putting their faces level.

"We ‘ re here Albus."He said sharply. The old adult male eye flickered open.
*


"Harry ‘ s… dead ?"Hermione shook her head."No…"

"The aurors said it was quick."Mrs Weasley was sat across the tabular array from them in an idle classroom."He didn't suffer."

"Liar."Ginny hissed with surprise anger.

"Ginny ! I know you ‘ re an-"

"Any way Harry would go down wouldn ‘ t be quick."Neville agreed.

"What really happened ?"Padma pressed.

"He…"Molly Weasley looked down, her hands silently running up and down the edge of her robe. When she began speaking again it was softly."He was buried under a farmhouse. He fought off seven of them and left them suddenly or stunned. He went down like a paladin. His parents would have… would have been so…"

"Angry."Padma broke in, grinding her teeth."tempestuous that Dragon sold him out like that."

"Don't you dare say such affair !"Mrs Weasley's head jerked up and she shouted. Hermione could see her middle red with tears."The Malfoy boy died too. It looked like they escaped together. Who knows how many of those seven were him !"

Hmm…. Hermione felt a illumination come on in her forefront. But if they didn't know…

"He crawled out of the wreckage. Probably looking for avail !"

Maybe…

"And someone cursed him for it !"

Who ? And why didn't they-

"I…"Padma stepped back."I… I didn ‘ t know."

"We ‘ ll you shouldn't have judged."molly took out a hankey and patted her eyes."They took their eubstance to St Mungo ‘ s. You can natter if you want. I know how-"

"Wait… Um Mrs Weasley."Hermione raised her hand un instinct before realizing that it looked stupid."What do you entail looked like ?"

"What ?"

"You said it looked like they escaped together."

"fountainhead no one saw them obviously. The aurors only got there later."

"Who killed them ?"She pressed hurriedly.

"Miss Granger that macabre tal-"

"Please !"Hermione pleaded. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Padma sit dash upright. She'd got it too.

"We don ‘ t know."Molly Weasley was obviously very hot and bothered."They had obviously left by that time."

"Without taking their injured with them ?"

"Well…"Mrs Weasley went dumb as she searched for the answer."Maybe they were scared off."

"Herm…"George IV said excitedly."You ‘ re not thinking that Harry-"

"Well doesn't it good just like him ?"Hermione said with a tolerant grin.

"What are you lot talking about ?"Ron asked, confused. Hermione ignored him

"Mrs Weasley, where is everything happening."On seeing the honest-to-goodness adult female's confused expression she elaborated."Where is the… the focal point of all the stuff and nonsense going on now."

"well the ministry but-"

"Then that ‘ s where we need to be."
*


Dumbledore nodded and stepped slowly out of the raising. use up a late breath and seemed to steady himself.

"Albus if you are not up to this-"

"I am o.k. Severus."

Snape let the old champion go ahead. He was pushed aside a moment later as Crouch pushed past, a look of express determination on his brass. Snape and the other three remaining order members shared a worried glance.

"Well amount on then."Minerva broke the secretiveness and strode forward. Snape followed her out of the lift and into the longsighted heading, the farsighted paseo to the bureau of the minister of magic.

One side was exposed bay Windows ( not real 1 of course ) filling the rouge-carpeted hall with blazing sunlight. On the other incline was a procession of life history sized portrait, one for each past minister of thaumaturgy. A walk through chronicle from the very first minister of magic Janakarah the wizard to the latest in the wrinkled figure of minister Bagnold. Corpulent and useless most of them, the few with any acquisition had used it for there own benefit. When Fudge stepped down or died the corridor would be extended and one more painting would be hung.

Snape had never been here before. But anyone who actually paid tending in chronicle of magic knew about the far-famed hall.

There was a sinister edge to the air and Snape had difficulty placing it until they passed the 1500s and the portraiture of Fenchurch the sickly. There was the sound of elevate voice coming from the far end of the corridor, the end with the parson's office.

"Hyenas."Snape muttered."Can try them feasting."

"I thought they were wolves."Moody muttered from behind him.

"Of trend,"Snape sneered."My changing metaphor is the most important thing happening here."

"Harry trusted you."Dwight Lyman Moody said quietly. Snape started and almost missed a step. That had come out of the blue.

"Your point ?"Snape asked, to buy time.

"Why ?"

"Why do you need to know ?"

"Answer the bloody question."

"His reasons were his own and it seems rather academic at this point."Snape squabble back.

"I should ‘ ave looked out for him better."Helen Newington Wills shook his head."He saved my life."

"The past is meaningless."Snape held his head up and took a deep breathing spell."Regrets are natural, and only right given the circumstances. Allowing them to paralyze us however is not. That is the defective matter we could do."

"Who are you talking about ?"Dwight Lyman Moody asked shrewdly."You ? … Me ? … someone else here ? …"

"All of us."Snape replied acidly, then sighed."Wizards pass too a good deal clip life in the past."

"That doesn't sound like something you ‘ d say."Moody grunted in surprise.

"It ‘ s not."Snape looked over at the grizzled auror."It was something Harry said. And it ‘ s the answer to your succeeding question."

"Which is ?"

"Why did I trust him."Snape took another breathing place. He felt a lump climbing his throat and squashed it down."We ‘ re here."

The order came to a closure before the cloggy door. The small secretarial desk beside it was empty, the common auror safety device were gone too. With all the yelling it sounded like a quidditch mates was being held on the early English of the threshold. One where both sides were loosing.

"We shall see what they ‘ re saying."Dumbledore waved one hired hand and the constellate doorway began to groan inwards. As the order came into view the yelling subsided into silence. Snape could see what looked like the entire c crowded around the mahogany desk in the center of the room. A beleaguered looking Fudge had frozen with his workforce out in front of him. Caught in mid exculpation. The Wizengamot made a itinerary them as Dumbeldore walked slowly send on towards the parson desk. The master cleared his pharynx."Cornelius, you must know-"

"You are a disgrace !"All eyes turned to Crouch as he interrupted the old sensation, his mustache quivering as he shook with rage."You are a disgrace Cornelius ! How dare you sit up here while Voldemort salary increase ?"

"But Barty I-"

"SILENCE !"Flecks of expectoration flew from Crouch's rima oris."The boy who lived is dead ! The heir of a prominent ace family is perfectly ! One of our own aurors is dead ! The champ of Beauxbattons is dead ! Three innocent lives lost and you sit here desperately trying to preserve your own cutis. How daring you ! ?"

"There was nothing I could do !"

"If you had listened to Dumbledore we could have stopped this."Crouch smashed his fist down onto the desk."Instead you were embezzling !"

"I never-"

"Whoring !"

"Accusations-"

"And securing a cushy job for your cousin !"

"Rupert is qualified for-"

"SHUT UP !"Fudge flinched back from the onslaught of Barty Crouch."I call an immediate coming together of the Wizengamot !"

"Why ?"Fudge spluttered.

"I call a vote of no confidence."The room gasped at Crouch's Book."I call for the immediate removal of parson Cornelius Fudge !"
*


"How much longer Harry ?"Malfoy hissed down the dark stone gradation of the cellar.

"I don't know Dracs why don't you keep interrupting so ‘ s I don't feel lonely."Harry's sarky part filtered up from the darkness. Still with the distinct edge of weakness and pain. Dragon looked over at Tonks who was guarding the doorway from the early side of meat. She gave a pestered shrug.

Malfoy tried to imagine what this was like for her, caught up in Harry's plan like a leaf on the wind. Not unlike him really. Harry tended to broom people along. But you couldn't say no really, not when you saw what he himself was going through. genus Draco could see him down there now, propped up against a paries breaking down layer after layer of wards on the doorway beyond. The door that was banded with iron, smelt like a cesspool and that had made Tonks curse like a Panama when Harry lit it up with a revealo.

"Am I really your cousin ?"Tonks whispered across the doorway.

"If your mother was Andromeda Black."Malfoy hissed back, still watching his side of the corridor.

"Yeah… wow."Tonks sounded removed."I mean I knew you existed my mum order me."

"My mother didn ‘ t. I found an old adaptation of the family tree that still had andromeda on it."Malfoy was one of the few citizenry who knew why the main family Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree tapestry was so fancifully decorated. Every dragon, swan and oak tree diagram covered the epithet of someone who had proved unsuitable to the family. Andromeda Tonks was a vase of tulips."I found out the rest from stories at school."

"nil skillful I hope."

"Oh please,"Malfoy rolled his eyes."From what I hear your shenanigan was pedestrian at best."

"What !"

"Me and Harry pranked each early worse over breakfast."

"Those weren ‘ t pranks."Harry called out from below."That was guerilla warfare."

"What's a Gorilla gorilla got to do with it ?"Malfoy's brow furrowed and he heard both Harry and Tonks stifle chortle."Well I always thought you weren't human but…"

"Muggle thing."Tonks grinned."Sorry piddling cousin !"

"Little c- !"Malfoy snarled and turned back to watching his corridor. The minute ticked on as Harry mumbled and cursed from down in the cellar.

Suddenly Malfoy's baton jerked in his helping hand. He glanced over at Tonks and saw her looking down at hers too.

"The doors…"She whispered reaching into her scoop. She drew out a small mirror and snapped it spread out. Even Malfoy could see the darkness hooded figures growing closer."Death eaters. They ‘ re coming."

"Harry !"Malfoy turned and hissed down."They ‘ re coming ! We need to hide !"

"Can ‘ t stop."Harry's cavalry voice breathed back."Too many threads. If I let it loose I ‘ ll never get it back."

"There ‘ s four of them !"Tonks hissed down, glancing down at the mirror."We can't take-"

"You know where they ‘ re heading."Harry said quickly."They're coming here. Go back to that big corridor with the armors. Set a gob like in the woods."

"Harry…"

"They won ‘ t be expecting us to be here. Any you can ‘ t catch just hit them when they ‘ re panicked."

"There are five of-"

"I can't leave !"Harry sounded panicked."You're an auror and a champion. You two need to do this."

"He ‘ s right."Tonks was nodding, her tomentum turning a sneak black."Let ‘ s go cuz."

Malfoy glanced down the glowering staircase as he followed the crouching girl. She was slipping professionally along the wall, her wand leading. Draco looked down at his own wand, it's tip was shaking. He looked down further and saw that his hand was drenched in sweat.

"Useless."He shook his straits and gripped the wand tighter.
*


"Apposed to the removal of Cornelius Fudge, twenty."

Courtroom ten held its breath.

"In favor of the removal of Cornelius Fudge. twenty dollar bill nine."The dry court shorthand typist cleared his pharynx."One abstained."

Snape felt his fingernails unclench from the chair.

"It ‘ s done."

"Is this honest for us ?"Kingsley asked softly."It should be, but it feels like it was not."

"It depends on what happens next."Minerva was sitting ramrod straight."Who steps in to fill his place."

"I wonder if it does."Snape murmured."Something feels wrong."

"He ‘ s right."Moody growled under his breath."person ‘ s toying with us."

"Who ?"

"If I knew that I wouldn ‘ t be sitting here."Dwight Lyman Moody was twitching, his eye whirling in its socket.

"I nominate Garcia Grechkoff !"A Second Earl Grey haired witch in the purple robes of the Wizengamot shouted. A few whizz nodded thoughtfully, others booed.

"Who is he ?"Snape hissed.

"section of Magical Yransportation."Moody rattled off."Bought off by Nimbus."

"If he's open to bribes by society he may be open to corrupt by death eaters."Minerva shook her head.

"But we don't know."Snape cursed.

"His grandmother is a muggleborn."Shacklebolt rumbled."Could keep him on our side."

"But we don't know."

"I nominate Deloris Umbridge !"A portly man yelled to worldwide hissing.

"finish to Fudge. They won ‘ t chose her."Moody shook his head.

"And everyone knows that."Snape snapped, glaring at the man who had yelled."So why suggest her ?"He tried to catch the man's centre but had no luck.

"I nominate Urstwise Innisting !"

"hero of anti-werewolf legislation."Helen Wills sneered.

"This is madness."Snape struck the arm of his chair.

"I nominate Barty Crouch !"

The room went silent for a moment, then erupted in cheers.
*


"It ‘ s set."Tonks hissed."Get back."

Malfoy nodded and shot behind a column just as the arduous doors to the G. Stanley Hall slammed open.

"Can't believe we ‘ ave to do this."A throaty grumbling voice said loudly."Takin ‘ out his trash."

"Let ‘ s just get on with it."Another voice grumbled as they came nearer.

Draco could see their wand Christ Within growing brighter. As soon as they crossed the line… Draco gripped his baton tightly. The trap would get all of them, why wouldn't it ? He tried to breath evenly, the footsteps drawing closer and closer…

snap ! A burst of Light filled the corridor and Draco heard call of pain.

"Stupefy !"Tonks voice cried out.

A flash of red pierced the blinding white. Dragon jerked to spirit, he was supposed to be helping ! He spun out from behind the pillar while going down on one knee. There was a vague dark shape in front of him, stumbling blindly forward.

"Stupefy !"The shape dropped.

"Stupefy !"Tonks yelled again. A clunk told Draco that she had hit home.

Draco aimed blindly into the brightness and fired off a few More stunners. He kept firing even while the sunburst faded to a sibilation and finally popped into mist. The storey and walls were cracked and pitted with the spells and the paries right near the blast were still cracked and sizzling. The death feeder were sizzling too, the skin on their faces was cracked and blistered from the heating and one looked like his robe had actually caught fire. Probably the one that had tripped the trap.

Draco breathed a sigh of relief, it had worked. Tonks had insisted on using something nonfatal, against his regard. He had even had to debate her up to this.

"Where ‘ s the fifth one ?"Tonks'voice cut into his head. She was still crouched by her pillar, remaining covered.

"What ?"Draco scanned the consistence again. One… two… three… four… Oh merlin !"Are you sure there were five ?"genus Draco asked desperately.

"Definitely."Tonks stood and moved cautiously forward."You sure there weren ‘ t any former itinerary down to the cellar."

"I think… yes."Dragon swallowed."Maybe the last one ‘ s watching the entree ?"

"Keep watch."Tonks ordered him as she snapped spread her picayune mirror, then flicked it closed again."No."

Draco glanced around, there was nowhere to hide at this spot in the corridor other than the tower they had used. That was why they had chosen it.

"You go back to Harry."Tonks waved him back."I ‘ ll sniff him out. He ‘ s got to be between here and the master entrance."

"I'm coming with you."genus Draco tried not to cringe at the thrill in his voice."I can help you."

"There might be another way around."Tonks said hurriedly."You should go look after Harry."

"You ‘ re making excuses."Draco challenged."Harry can take care of himself."

"You think I can ‘ t ?"

"You think I can't ?"Draco challenged.

"Fine, we can both take care of ourselves."Tonks hissed angrily."Except Harry who should be on life support right now. Let me spell this out, kid, Go Protect Harry ! If he dies for real everything we ‘ ve done is worthless !"

"I…"Draco bit back a cruddy retort. She was right."Fine you win. Have fun."He turned and stalked back past the astonished wizards. He realized he was being dazed but he wouldn't sacrifice her the satisfaction of admitting it.

He stopped near the end of the corridor. He was being stupid, worse he was being arrogant. He was being a Malfoy. He turned and called out.

"Ton…"Malfoy felt his throat halt up."… ? … !"He tried to propel, his feet felt like they were bolted to the floor. In fact… his unit body was paralyzed ! Malfoy tried desperately to move… speak… cast a spell… anything that would attract attention.

The air in front of him rippled. A import later a skein of nothingness was pulled aside and Malfoy saw the smirking side of Locusta Sanies. He put one blistered finger to his mouth, glanced down the corridor at Tonks and grinned before sliding the nothingness back and disappearing.

No no no no no !

He watched as Tonks slid further away and his minds eye filled in the blank in between with a stalking figure growing ever closer. He felt the baton still clutched in his bridge player, still giving out a wan Inner Light. Malfoy tried to scream a spell, if he could manage to do it wordlessly he could still warn her.

"Stupefy !"He yelled through gritted teeth and numbed lips. nada happened, he tried it again. Nothing.

Don't do it that way, Malfoy tried to calm down. You didn't do tacit magic by forcing it through closed brim, you just thought it.

Stupefy.

Again.

Stupefy !

Malfoy was rocked on his immobile feet as a spray of red twinkle spat weakly from the end of his wand.

"Kid ?"Tonks representative carried from the other end of the dorm."You still there ?"

Stupefy !

Another spray of sparks.

"I told you to go help Ha-"Malfoy saw her freeze as she took in his immobile state then whip her wand around and yell."Harenosus !"

A crack cocaine sprang out of her outstretched wand spraying backbone out. For a moment it outlined a figure. Malfoy saw Tonks'eyes give wide open.

"Crucio !"

Tonks sprang to the side as the tour whistled past her and threw something wickedness and red back. It missed and hit the wall. The pinko haired auror glanced around sharply, the figure had disappeared into nullity again.

"Haren-"

"Avada Kedavra !"genus Draco felt his heart hit his pharynx but Tonks hit the storey and the piece sailed over her head.

"Augmenta !"She yelled and gripped her scepter with both hands as a knock-down jet of water shot out and collide with genus Locusta, outlining him in shining droplets and toppling him over onto the floor.

"Stupefy !"Tonks yelled at the prone figure and the military unit behind the patch was so great that it slid him across the floor and out of his cloak.

She summoned his wand and walked over to him, checked that he really was stunned, before grabbing the cloak off the floor and running over to Draco.

"Finite !"

genus Draco felt his physical structure sag and staggered before his muscleman caught up with him and brought him back upright.

"Thank you."

"Thanks for the warning."Tonks shrugged.

"Aw… you two have been bonding."A sarcasm drifted from behind Draco and he spun to see Harry leaning tiredly against the doorframe.

"Did you give it ?"Tonks asked breathlessly.

"We got want we came here for."Harry grinned and pushed himself unsloped, wincing in pain."Now lets get to the ministry. I feel a denouement coming."
*


"small fry be reasonable."King Arthur Weasley was saying."We need to get you back to Hogwarts."

"He ‘ ll be here."Hermione said definitely, standing up on the edge of the fountain to get a better expression around."He has to be."

"I know you feel like he has to be alive."The Weasley patriarch shook his head."But denying it isn ‘ t going to-"

"Harry ‘ s died before dad."Ginny pointed out stretching up on tiptoes."Twice."

"You were even there one of the times Mr Weasley."Neville said reasonably."You both were."

"They found his body."Mrs Weasley grabbed Ginny and lifted her, kicking and struggling, off the fountain."We are leaving now. We should never cause come he-"

"The phone box !"Parvati yelled and pointed. Several other citizenry in the crowd turned as the glass box descended and slide open revealing three figures inside.

"It ‘ s Dumbledore."Hermione breathed, not wanting to give away that a piddling discharge of hope had just been extinguished.

"Hey didn ‘ t he already come through ere ?"individual in the bunch muttered as the old wizard walked calmly towards the lift.
*


"Oh hell no !"The bruised auror yelled on seeing Tonks disguised as Dumbledore."We only just got the ward back after the last time you broke through !"

"And I can do so again."Tonks lied easily."So you may as well let us through freely."

"No bloody way !"

"Please,"Tonks smiled in a very Dumbledoreish way."I do not wish to hinder you in figurehead of all these people."

"Bit belatedly for that."The auror shook his head."If you so much as set up your wand I ‘ m arresting you !"

"And taking me into hands ?"

"Yes !"

"And before the Wizengamot ?"

"Yes !"

"wellspring in that case-"

"Don't get bright with me !"The auror shook his baton menacingly."You ‘ re not getting past that easily !"

"Bugger."Harry thought, scratching his fake beard."This guys not an moron, and if it actually comes to it we don't have a opportunity of breaking through all of them."

Harry looked surreptitiously over his berm looking for another way through… bent on !
*


"Um do you finger that ?"Fred asked suddenly.

"Feel wha… oh !"Hermione dug her wand out of her pocket and felt it vibrating in her manus."The mico… Did one of you do that ?"

The marauders shook their heads, a moment later the scepter went still. Hermione licked her sassing and quietly whispered,

"Mico Harry."For a bit nothing happened, then the baton started buzzing again."He ‘ s here !"

"Where ?"Ginny scrambled back on the fountain and looked around frantically. Hermione jumped up with her and a moment later all the marauders were perched on the lip of the urine, scanning the crowd."I don ‘ t see him."

"He must be one of the ones with Dumbledore."Padma hissed."Too much of a co-occurrence otherwise."

"Right."Ron agreed."Which one ?"

"The short one."Fred said knowingly.

"Does it matter ?"Hermione said in aggravation."He needs help ! Look, the aurors aren ‘ t letting them through."

"What does he affair we can do ?"Neville scratched his school principal and added disbelievingly."Does he need us to attack them ?"

"No…"Padma said thoughtfully."There ‘ s a dependable way…"

Hermione frowned, then suddenly it hit her.

"You mean-"

"Obviously."Padma turned to the other predator."Disperse into the crowd and abide by my lead."

Hemione herself dropped down off the lip of the fountain and hurried past the shocked Weasley parents before pushing her way into the crowd saying ‘ apology me !'to everyone she bumped out of her way. Once she thought she was far enough away she stopped and waited for the signal. It didn't take long.

"Let him through you idiots !"Padma's part cut light across the crowd."If Voldemort really is back then Dumbledore ‘ s our lone chance !"

"She ‘ s right !"Hermione yelled."Let Dumbledore through !"

"Let him through !"somebody else yelled from across the room, sounded like one of the twins.

"Let him through !"Another piranha took up the chant.

"Let him through !"Had that been a marauder ?

"Le him through !"That definitely wasn't.

Hermoine yelled her lungs out as the whole gang took up the chant. The aurors were pushed back, looking more and more harassed. The chant grew in strength as people began to clap, then stamp.

"Let him through !"Hermione heard an old wizened noblewoman near her chanting. Knocking her gnarled walking stick on the tiled floor.

From where she was she could see the head auror hold up his hired hand and yell something. A moment later a cheer went up as the shimmering curtain of the ward was pulled aside. Dumbledore and his two familiar stepped through and entered the lift.

Hermione could have sworn one of them winked at her as the bars slid closed.
*


"You have some very smart friend Harry."

"I know."Harry grinned as Tonks canceled the illusion."And in a few instant we ‘ ll want to be just as smart. Or smarter."

"And are we ?"

"trend we are."Harry grinned."We ‘ re marauders."

"We ‘ re what ?"Tonks asked.

"Marauders."Harry clapped her on the spinal column."It means we ‘ re unstoppable."

"Invincible bastards."Malfoy commented dryly.

"Exactly !"Harry nodded as the diffraction grating slid open."invincible cutthroat bastards ! Now lets get to work."
*


"The vote are in."The dry courtroom shop clerk said in a rickety vocalisation."The overwhelming majority have voted for Bartemius Crouch. So it is my proud duty to extol him the new minister for magi-"

The impenetrable court door burst subject with an explosion of light.

"I object !"A voice called out from the midriff of the halo of brilliance.

"Who do you think you are !"Crouch sprung to his feet."This is a meeting of the Wizengamot ! Only those invited by phallus may-"

"Shut up !"The voice called.

"Who are you ?"Someone called out.

Beside Snape Alastor Moody was staring subject mouthed at the door. A mo later he threw his straits back and laughed.

"Moody ?"Snaoe questioned."Who is that ?"

"Who do you think ?"The old auror croaked out."That kid ‘ s brilliant I ‘ ll give him that."

"That… kid ? …"Snape turned back to the doorway, looking directly into the light. Slowly it faded and the court was left with the tableau behind it. Three robed figures stood, one far grandiloquent than the others with his exhaust hood up, the others with theirs thrown back. The figure to the left hand was a Lester Willis Young woman with unknown pink whisker, he remembered her a former educatee. Nymphadora Tonks. And the trope in the front, unmistakable, bridge player on hips, his hair thrown back to reveal the scar. His robes tattered and stained and his peel just this slope of deathly, Harry potter stared down the Wizengamot with arrogance only he could conjure.

"Hi,"The boy grinned cheekily."Am I late ?"

"You !"An irate Fudge screamed from the corner."You ‘ re dead !"

"rumour, exaggerated, you know the drill."Harry stepped into the courtroom, cracking his neck as he went.

"Trainee Tonks !"Shacklebolt had stood and crossed his arms angrily.

"Sorry sir."Nymphadora shrugged."I was only following orders."

"Whose ?"

"Mine."Harry answered for her and spread his weapon extravagantly."I ‘ m the boy-who-lived. I outrank you."

"Harry…"Crouch said from the podium, seemingly recovered."This is clearly rattling news. Seeing you live brings tears t-"

"Crocodile tears no doubt."Harry turned on the onetime man like lightning."Should have known you were a reptilian. Do it Tonks."

"Bartemius Crouch."The pinko haired daughter stepped forward."I am arresting you for the execution of Fleur Delacour."

"What !"The Wizengamot exploded. All except Crouch, who went very still.

"These accusal are boundless."The new minister said flatly."Obviously this is not Harry but an imposter taking his pl-"

"Interesting that you should bring up imposters."Harry interrupted."Let me state you all a little secret, everyone here. Dumbledore… yes that guy there, that Dumbledore… Has a magic map. Yes everyone, a special infallible map One that shows the names of everyone in Hogwarts, and where they are, all the time."

The courtroom had gone understood, every eye was on Harry.

"The Headmaster assured me that it could not be tricked, and I believed him. But here's the nasty bit, you all know that Alastor Moody was attacked a few workweek ago ? Yes… secure. I knew the perpetrator couldn ‘ t have left the curtilage that fast, but Dumbledore assured me that no one was on the map. But he was, he was right there, in front of the hospital annexe. There ‘ s no magical way to trick the map, but that doesn ‘ t mean there ‘ s not way to fox it. One somebody could impersonate another if they had the Sami name. Like Barty Crouch and… Barty Crouch… Jr."

The room gasped, but Snape's mind was already moving. They had to clear certain Crouch couldn't leave. They had to catch him. He shifted in his chair but felt a heavy arm grab his shoulder.

"check where you are."Moody growled."thrower ‘ s got it under control."

"He can just apparate out !"Snape hissed hurriedly.

"No he can ‘ t."Moody grinned."darn that boy ‘ s good."

"These accusation are insane !"Crouch was yelling.

"They ‘ re brilliant."Harry shook his head."Got to reach old snake face his prop, it ‘ s pretty devious. I ‘ d bet anything that you ‘ re the source of all the rumour that have been attacking Fudge all year. De-stabling his positioning enough that you can swoop in and knock him off his perch. Of line you'd need something to propel the transition. Something dramatic, like the return of Voldemort. He was going to use his own rebirth as a accelerator to put his marionette on the throne. That was why he waited to expose himself. He was waiting for the opportune moment."

"You have no validation !"

"I do."Harry raised his finger and clicked. The tierce digit raised his shaking paw and pushed his hood back. Anyone who hadn't already clicked on to what had happened gasped.

The gaunt and scarred grimace of Bartemius Crouch stared back, his leave eye twitching in anger.

"We couldn ‘ t give him a wand."Harry said in flat tire rage."His thinker ‘ s not all there anymore. Probably all the torture."

"This is another imposter."Crouch said haltingly."My son is in azcab-"

"Give it up."Harry barked a harsh laugh."You knew you were rumbled the minute I got here. Even if you convince them I ‘ m a pseud you ‘ ll have to vote down this bloke-"Harry jabbed his thumb at the skeletal crouch."- then you ‘ ll have no polyjuice. Then you ‘ ll be screwed. But it ‘ ll never come to that, because there are at least four people in this room who already conceive me. And none of them are going to let you leave."Harry drew his verge, holding it lightly in his hand.

Snape drew his as well and saw Minerva reach for hers too. Dwight Lyman Moody stayed still, a small grin on his face.

"Potter… Harry."The Crouch on the rostrum licked his lip."You are a very bright boy Harry. But you are dead."

"Faking."

"You will be dead."The vox of Barty Crouch went ice frigidness."You all will be. The night lord has said he will destroy you, and so he will. I only pray he lets he watch."

"I see the mask has fallen."Harry seemed unperturbed by this growth."So lets try the next trick."Harry raised his wandless hand.

"No more tricks !"Crouch flicked out his wand and spun…

Harry clicked his fingers…

"Stupefy !"

The burst of red light caught Crouch from behind and slammed him into the lectern. He slid to the floor and fell like a rag bird, splayed against the ground.

"Nice shot."Harry complemented the discharge air.

"Well,"Malfoy appeared out of nothing, throwing back an invisibility cloak."I had a honest distraction."
*


"Harry you promised !"Tonks grabbed his arm and tried to drag him out of the hall."I ‘ m taking you to St Mungos !"

"I said I ‘ d go when all my occupation were done."Harry shook her off and turned back towards Dumbledore."I ‘ m not finished."

"What ‘ s left then ? somebody else to unmask ?"The trainee auror put her hands on her hips."Better do it quick, you ‘ re running out of time."

"I do my in effect workplace with internal bleeding."Harry shrugged looked around. Moody and Shacklebolt had left, trying to prevent share of the ministry from totally collapsing after the loss of two ministers in a row. McGonnagall and Snape were still there, standing behind the Headmaster and Malfoy was standing by Harry ‘ s side."I need one final answer."

"Harry Miss Tonks is right."Dumbledore smiled."You need medical examination supporter soon or-"

"Why did he come after me ?"Harry cut in, silencing the master."Why me now. Why me XIV years ago. Why me ?"

Dumbledore stayed silent, his fingers twitching and his eyes suddenly bereft of their usual sparkle.

"He said I was the ‘ sealing wax for his immortality ‘."Harry pressed."What does that mean ?"

"Harry you are sick right hand now."Dumbledore held up a manus."trustingness me that I will tell you the truth in good time."

"No !"Harry barked a laugh."Trust you to tell me ? That ‘ s likely ! Tell me now you old lying bastard."

"Mr Potter !"McGonagall stepped forward angrily but her sleeve was caught by Snape.

"Albus,"The potions sea captain licked his sassing."Perhaps you should simply differentiate him."

"Severus !"The schoolmaster snapped angrily.

"Do you know ?"Harry tuned to the Slytherin, ignoring the way his vision blurred when he moved."Will you tell me ?"

"Say nothing Severus !"

"He deserves to know."

"I am still the head of the order."

"Did the rescript just save you all from a demise eater becoming curate of magic ?"Harry yelled angrily."No ! That was ME ! You just sat there like an cretin !"

"You will not address to me this way."

"I ‘ ll speak any way I damn well like you igno-"

"There was a prophecy."Snape said softly. Strange how soft Good Book can sometimes submerge out yelling.

"A what ?"Harry felt his sassing go dry.

"Severus don ‘ t."The Headmaster shook his nous."You don ‘ t know what you ‘ re do-"

"It said something particular about you Harry."Snape continued, ignoring Dumbledore."The half I heard said, The one with the power to vanquish the nighttime lord approaches. Max Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh calendar month dies."

The small room grew deathly silent. Harry felt his genius trying to work over what he had just heard. It was failing.

"It doesn ‘ t have to be true."Harry heard Malfoy say through a fog of twisting thought process."Not every prophecy comes true."

"It doesn ‘ t even have to be Harry."McGonagall said, shaking her school principal."Mr Longbottom also fits those criteria."

Harry shook his head, Neville ? Could it be…

"I… it is not Mr Longbottom."Dumbledore said haltingly."The other half of the prophecy confirms it."

early half… Harry put his handwriting to his head. Everything was so fuzzy.

"What other one-half ?"Draco demanded.

"I do not think-"

"Do you really want to have this argument again ?"Dragon shook his brain angrily."Just say us."

"It concluded with, And the night noble will commemorate him as his match, but he will have tycoon the Dark Lord knows not. and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the former survives."Dumbledore was speaking quietly now, almost defeatedly."The first one-half of the prognostication unmistakably refers to Harry."

"And… and the early one-half ?"Tonks gulped."It means…"

Dumbledore just shook his top dog and looked to the floor.

"It means it is inevitable."Snape whispered in shocked breathlessness."Harry is the only one that can defeat him. It is inevitable. They have to fight, and one of them has to die."

No… Harry felt his hands shaking as the words fell like slabs of granite in the silent room.

"But… but he's only a child."McGonagall shook her head, a piddling scintillation of a rent in the street corner of her eye."We can ‘ t let it happen."

Harry tried to speak but the Son caught in his throat.

"He doesn ‘ t have to do anything !"Draco slashed the air with his bridge player."Not all prophecies come dead on target !"

Harry raised his script to his mouth… why couldn't he speak.

"Not all of them begin."Dumbledore said, with irritating hesitancy."But once they do they almost always run their course."

"Almost always !"Draco yelled."You want him to face the nighttime lord on an almost !"

Should ask Pythea. The minuscule seer floated into Harry's brain but dissolved in the fog. His head trauma. His ear was wet. What was this…

"If there is a probability he can kill him."Snape said, his head down like he was ashamed."If it is our best chance…"

Blood…

"You as well !"Draco turned on his head of house, who looked away.

"You can ‘ t use him like that."Tonks stepped up beside her cousin.

Draco… Harry tried to murmur, but the world was spinning. He reached out a wonky deal towards the boys back. He fell short, there were too many script and too many backs.

"Harry ?"Dumbledore noticed his reaching and stepped forward.

"I… I…"Harry swayed, his legs too fallible. He wet his lips and tried again."Thirsty…"

The faces before him disappeared downwards and he felt the floor hit him everywhere before he blacked out.
*


Harry was dimly aware of the hospital room. The healers standing around saying things he wouldn't have understood at the undecomposed of metre. Snape was there for a while, then gone, then there, then gone, fading in and out. Draco was definitely there, a Patrick Victor Martindale White patch on his arm, ignoring it, standing by Harry's bedside. Was Dumbledore there ? He could learn his vocalism, see his heart from behind silver Christ Within. The luminosity was falling, hitting his eyes.

Where was he ?

He was… home.

Privet private road ?

Hogwarts ?

Godrics… Hollow…

He was standing outside the cottage. He was right there, it was all there. But he had never been here, at least since he was too young to remember.

He had to get out. He wasn't supposed to be here. It felt wrongly. It was under his skin. Falling off like snowbird, showing the shadows underneath. Had to get away !

Harry ran away from it, as fast as he could. The shadows were chasing him, wanting to get into him, in his head. He ran until he could hide behind a tree. The apples had grown now. one C. K. Right over his head.

He could hide here.

It was much better here.

Everything but this was shadow.
*


"I was wondering when you ‘ d show up."Natalie Zhao pushed the doorway fully candid and let him in. She pushed it shut behind him and stood there, arms folded, waiting for him to speak.

"I ‘ m not dead."Was the first thing that came to Snape.

"I gathered that."The unspeakable didn't relocation."Don ‘ t you have an explanation ?"

"An explanation ?"

"For your message. Your patronus."Her even voice edged to see red."You somehow sent a message by patronus. Which I've never seen. You said you loved me. Which you ‘ ve never said. Then you said you could die. Which I know you would not overdraw. You said you were about to do something dangerous. Then the ministry explodes, citizenry are saying Voldemort has returned. Saying that Harry potter is deadened. Fudge is removed. Crouch is elected. Crouch is removed, by Harry Potter. Crouch is arrested. The ministry is in agitation, they only got the crowd to go menage an hour ago. They only sent the unspeakables home plate because our section can't do anything at this point. No one knows what ‘ s going on. The Wizard Wireless just keeps playing the Same recordings of what happened in courtroom ten. Everything is broken down. So selection something Severus. Anything. Give me an explanation for anything that ‘ s happened over the past day or I swear I ‘ ll hex you into oblivion."

Snape answered the exclusively way he could. He stepped forward and wrapped his limb around Natalie, resting his head on her shoulder. He pulled her as tight as he could, reminding himself for a moment that at least one part of the humanity wasn't broken. Breathing her in, being where he'd wanted to be since the beginning of this sorry mess. At least this conflict was over.

"This isn ‘ t an explanation."Her interpreter came from somewhere near his sternum, muffled by his robe. But her implements of war were around him, gripping him at least as hard as he was her.

"I know. Just a moment more."Snape pulled himself together and stepped back, releasing her and looking down into her perfect eyes."Here, this should tell you what you need."

He let his mind heading, letting every mental defense fall. The intrusion was soft, light and Swift. The memories she needed were right on the surface.

"Oh my god."She put her hand to her backtalk."It ‘ s all… rightful ?"

"All of it."Snape nodded.

"The prophecy… even that ?"

"Yes."

"That poor boy."She shook her headland."How can he do this ? Does he even have a chance ?"

"He must have at least a chance."Snape sighed."The prophecy says he has the power to kill the dark Almighty. If there was no fortune at all it could not say that. However small it is, he has a chance."

"What can we do ?"She had gone from incredulity to iron conviction in a here and now."How can we save him ?"

"I need to…"Snape licked his back talk. This was harder than anything else."I can not see you anymore."

Natalie bit her lip and looked at him calculatingly.

"It ‘ s for some dazed noble rationality isn ‘ t it ?"

"I know what I have to do. How I can trump serve the order… and help Harry."Snape closed his heart, it was easier if he didn't look at her."I have to be a spy again."

"In the dying eaters."It wasn't a question.

"While I am there I can not reveal any indication that I am anything other than just like them."Snape explained."I can not ever slip. Even the slightest hint… I couldn't do it… I am not a good enough actor to hide you. hide the modification you've made in me. I have to end it. I ‘ m so sorry Natalie."

"You can ‘ t afford any distractions."

"Yes."

"And I ‘ m a distraction."

"Yes."

"Love is a distraction."

"Yes."Snape breathed, his closed lids the only thing keeping back tears. He felt breath on his brass, she was moving closer. A second later he felt her wet-silk lips on his.

"No…"He murmured, but she had captured him. Her handwriting behind his principal, her lip on his. Intoxicating, making everything he had said fly out of his mind.

He had to stop.

He couldn't.

He lost himself in the buss, breathing in every moment of it. He couldn ‘ t stop, his brain was full of her. If his optic had been capable even the weakest wizard would cause been able to say his every thought. He was open… euphoric… free…

As she pulled back he opened his oculus. He had thought the spell would be broken then, that the feeling would go away. But it wasn't going, it only felt stronger.

"Firstly…"Natalie held a finger up to his wet mouth."Stop being noble, it doesn't suit you. Secondly… Who do I talk to about joining this guild ?"
*


"Why can ‘ t we see him ?"Parvarti moaned.

"Because he ‘ s in a closed ward."Mr Weasley said calmingly."You couldn ‘ t see him even if we went to St Mungos."

"We can be there for him."Neville said quietly.

"You wouldn ‘ t be able to speak to him or even be in the Same room."

"He ‘ d know we were there."

"No he wouldn ‘ t. He ‘ s unconscious."Mr Weasley shook his head."You kids need to go back to Hogwarts. You ‘ ve already been out of school for too long."

"School !"Fred threw his hands up."Who cares about school ! Harry ‘ s in hospital and You-know-who is back !"

"All the more intellect for you to be back at Hogwarts."Mrs Weasley pushed the piranha towards one of the hearth."It ‘ s the safest place."

Ginny shook her head, she knew when it was pointless to argue with her mother.

"Play the petty baby card."She heard someone whisper in her ear. She looked back in metre to see Padma wink at her."One of us should be there, and it ‘ ll be easier to leave the burrow."

Ginny grinned, then put on her right scared-six-year-old face.

"Mummy, I ‘ m scared."Her mother turned to her."Do I have to go back to Hogwarts ?"

"Your sire told you. You can't see-"

"No, that ‘ s not what I meant."Ginny shook her fountainhead."Can I come hone tonight ?"Her mother's facial expression softened instantly.

"Of course honey. I ‘ ll light it with the teachers."Ginny found herself enveloped in a hug."There ‘ s no motivation to be scared."

"I know."Ginny felt a petty bad for manipulating her mother. And very sound for not getting caught.

"I ‘ m also scared-"Ron began, before Fred elbowed him in the kidneys.
*


It was draw close midnight before Ginny could lift down to the presence room of the burrow. She slid out of the front door and broke into a run as soon as she was out of the garden. It took her only a few minutes to jog to the Lovegoods'menage. She stepped in ( the door was never locked ) and went straight to the fireplace. Mr Lovegood slept right at the top of their odd sign and she could probably lie her way out of difficulty even if she was caught.

"St Mungos."She said clearly as she tossed the powder and stepped into the fire. After a rocking and spinning few moments she fell out into the waiting room.

At this time of day it should have been empty. It wasn't, ten or so reporter were dotted around the way dictating into immediate quotation quill or jotting distinction down the old fashioned way. Ginny went straight to the stairs ( the desk faculty would no dubiety question a child alone in the midsection of the night ) and ran up a few escape before stopping by a portrait of a helpful looking old man.

"Excuse me,"The old man perked up at the sound of her representative."Do you bang where the closed Aaron Montgomery Ward are ?"

"Are you a newsperson ?"The old man asked suspiciously.

"Do I look like a reporter ?"

"Hmm, you're right a slight young maybe."The old man nodded."You want the fourth level. End of the hallway."

"Thank you."Ginny smiled and trotted up the finish few flights before pushing the room access open and walking confidently down the corridor.

self-assurance was the key. I have to look like I'm meant to be here…

Or I could steal that nanny robe off the back of that chair.

Ginny scuttled over and quickly threw it over her shoulders. She pulled her tomentum down to veil her face and picked up a nearby clipboard with a patch of lambskin stuck to it.

‘ trust and a clipboard is a ecumenical camouflage ’, Ginny chucked at the memory. Good advice Harry.

She lowered her head and pretended to be checking her notes as a healer walked retiring then quickly pushed open the room access at the end of the hall and stepped in.

It was unlit, the patient were meant to be sleeping, but there was a trivial streetlight filtering in through the windows. Ginny moved from bed to bed quietly, they all seemed to be vacate. They must have emptied the Aaron Montgomery Ward for Harry.

As she stepped closer to the back to last bed in the row she was that it was occupied. Harry… He looked blanch and wan, and he twitched in his sleep. He looked fearsome. It was the light from the windowpane, that was it. It was sensationalistic and coarse, making him front sicker than he was. That had to be it.

Ginny stepped finisher, trying to see what specifically was hurting him.

"Don't move."

The vox came out of nowhere and Ginny jumped back in surprise. A moment later she saw the shape lying on the side by side bed over. She had been so focused on Harry she hadn't noticed. The shape sat up and she saw white blonde hair framing it's face.

"Malfoy."She was caught between wrath and relief.

"W… Weasley ?"The Slytherin moved into the light and Ginny could see that he had a bandaged arm."What are you doing here ?"

"I could ask you the Saame question."Ginny tried to summon some self-assurance. And clutched her clipboard.

"well this is a hospital."Malfoy sneered."And I ‘ m injured. Why do you call up I ‘ m here ? Your turn."

"I ‘ m here to see Harry."She lifted her Kuki-Chin."I ‘ m his friend."

"So you are.."Malfoy slid his feet to the story and stepped over to endure on the other side of Harry's bed."Get behind the curtain. They can see you from the corridor."

Ginny quickly stepped towards the wall, away from prying center. She wouldn't thank him though. Not Malfoy.

"Is he gon na be ok ?"

"He ‘ ll recover. They said there won't be any go physical effects."Malfoy snorted quietly."Whatever that means. He ‘ ll have a few more scars to add to his collection."

"So he ‘ ll be amercement ?"Ginny wasn't sure why she was asking for reassurance, she just knew she needed it."The healers can-"

"Fix almost everything."Malfoy's center drifted down to a lowly patch on Harry's wrist.

"What is it ?"

"See for yourself."

Ginny reached down and gingerly pulled the patch down. Underneath was a gruesome tattoo, a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth.

"What is this ?"Ginny ran her finger over the mark. It wasn't even raised, it just felt care skin. A paw engulfed hers and lifted her fingers off.

"I wouldn ‘ t tactual sensation it if I were you."Malfoy released her and pulled the patch back up."It ‘ s the dark home run. The dark Divine marking. All his servants have it."

"But Harry's not his retainer !"

"Keep your representative down."Malfoy hissed angrily."Do you want to get caught ? Idiot."

"Tell me what it means."Ginny whispered softly."Please."

"The night lord marked him because Harry wouldn ‘ t give in."Malfoy shook his head."Harry was tortured. For a farseeing clip, longer than anyone should have lasted. He just laughed. He was insane."

"That ‘ s Harry."Ginny let her hand pin into Harry's.

"He just kept fighting. He was… he didn't…"Malfoy bit his lip and looked away."Eventually the dark Divine just snapped, marked him. Maybe it was just the merely way he could imagine of to actually have Harry real pain."

"But you got out ?"Ginny asked."You both escaped ?"

"Barely. We got into the handing over in the walls."Malfoy added, his part low and pain."Managed to get out through a tunnel. We had to campaign them in this… stupid muggle farmhouse. Harry fought them off. All of them, even Greyback. sign of the zodiac fell down… he crawled out of the rubble."

"Wow…"

"He kept going. Kept us going. Forced us, till he started bleeding from his ears."Malfoy shook his headspring sadly."Is it always this heavy ?"

"What ?"

"Being his friend."

"Oh…"Ginny chuckled wryly."Sometimes…"

"Must be even harder being him. ``

They stood there in silence for a while, Harry twitching uncomfortably. Ginny leant down, idly wondering whether he could hear them.

"You'd better Hope he can't."Malfoy answered out of the blue."If he can hear he can feel, which means he ‘ s still in pain."

"How did you… ?"

"You ‘ re predictable."

Ginny didn't have the time to retort as the door to the ward outburst capable. She quickly grabbed her clipboard and turned to veil her case. stride approached the bed.

"nanny,"The indulgent vocalization of Dumbledore rung from behind her."We need to get him to Hogwarts. Is he well enough to be moved ?"

"I… um…"

"The healer said he shouldn ‘ t motility until tomorrow."Malfoy came to her rescue."Said it could tear his combat injury open again."

"Really…"The Headmaster didn't seem convinced."Would you turn around please Miss Weasley."

Erg… well marauder rule. If you're caught, no apology. Attack back.

"Hello Professor."Ginny turned."Do you need to explicate why I could just walk into the ward where Harry was kept ? I could'a been a death eater."

"You think I left him unguarded ?"Dumbledore chuckled and nodded towards a nearby bed. A present moment later a cushion unroll and arched it's back, yawning widely. The cat hopped off the bed and unfolded into Professor McGonagall.

"Satisfied young woman Weasley ?"The animagus arched an eyebrow.

"Did you know she was there ?"Ginny muttered to Malfoy.

"Yes."

"Why didn ‘ t you tell me ?"

"This way was more funny."

"Too right it was."The interpreter was low and guttural, but unmistakably Harry. The two student and two teachers crowded round as Harry slowly opened his eyes."Hi."

"Hi yourself."Ginny smiled."Welcome back."

"Didn ‘ t go anywhere."Harry muttered."I was unconscious."

"I am glad you are awake Mr Potter."Dumbledore said with false jollity."But we must move you to Hogwarts."

"Something ‘ s happened."Harry stated flatly.

"We will talk about it once you are safely in Hogwarts."

"No. We won't."Harry folded his subdivision."We ‘ ll talking about it now."

"Harry-"

"No more secrets."

"No more secrets…"Dumbledore repeated quietly. Maybe it was her imagination, but Ginny thought she could hear a gimmick in his vocalisation."Very well then. Voldemort has made a move, we need to take you somewhere safer in vitrine he tries to strike at you."

"Made his movement ?"Harry frowned."What ‘ s he done ?"

"He had attacked Azkaban."Dumbledore glanced back at the room access of the Aaron Montgomery Ward."He led the onrush himself. The safety of the island simply let him pop off. I think it is carnival to assume they work for him now as well."

"Azkaban is unguarded !"Malfoy's middle were broad and scandalise."But what about the other prisoners ? They could also esca-"

"There are no other prisoners Mr Malfoy, and indeed no Azkaban."The Headmaster spoke in clipped musical note."Perhaps I was not all the way. Azkaban is no more. It was blasted away, down to the bedrock. Voldemort took his followers and any of the hundreds of early petty larceny criminals that would willingly unite him off the island and left the balance to study their opportunity in the sea."

"How many ?"Professor McGonnagal asked in muted tones.

"We think at least twenty dollar bill or thirty wizards joined him, not counting the ones that were already end eaters."Dumbledore announced this as if it was the weekly Quidditch gobs."As for the others ... They are still dredging soundbox out of the north sea but it is good to arrogate quite a few reached dry land safely, they were magical after all."

"What about Crouch ?"Harry said suddenly."Tell me he wasn ‘ t transferred there yet."

"I ‘ m sorry Harry."Dumbledore bowed his head."The aurors function didn ‘ t think there was any point delaying."

"So he ‘ s free ?"

"He is."

"It was all for nothing."A little choked joke came from Harry's throat."It was all for nothing."

"Harry…"

"Worthless…"Harry was staring at the cap."For nothing."

"We stopped him becoming minister."Malfoy said sadly."That ‘ s something I guess."

"He killed Fleur."Harry closed his oculus."He tried to kill Moody. And now he ‘ s free. Should get killed him."

"Harry !"McGonagall stepped forward angrily."We can not bury to their stage. We are not murderers !"

"Maybe you ‘ re not. I killed at least four people yesterday."Harry painfully slid his legs off the bed."Maybe more… I forget. Does knot count as a person ? Never judgement, add up on then, lets go."

"I can hover you-"Dumbledore began but then trailed off into secretiveness as Harry stepped onto the cold hospital floor. Harry held out both arms wordlessly, Malfoy stepped under his left instantly. Ginny dropped her clipboard on the bed and took his right.

"I know you can levitate me. You ‘ re Dumbledore after all."Harry smiled and stepped forward, leaning heavily on his friends.
*


There was a remembrance service for Fleur the following day in front of the timber at Hogwarts before she was brought back to her parents in Anatole France. Harry didn't say anything, he couldn't trust himself to. Her Orcinus orca was still out there because of the stupidity of the Ministry.

He'd get him. One day, he'd get him. Harry dug his fingernails difficult into his palm.

"I ‘ ll get him for you."Harry whispered, glancing up at Fleurs coffin."I promise. I ‘ ll killing him."

Harry watched as the Triwzard cup was brought out and placed side by side to the poor girl. She was the Triwizard protagonist, he and Malfoy had insisted on that. It was official and everything. Small ease for her parents.

"You alright Harry ?"Neville asked him quietly.

"No Neville."Harry shook his school principal."I ‘ m not alright, but this is basically a funeral. I ‘ m not meant to be right now. If I was alright I ‘ d wonder what was wrongfulness with me."

"It wasn ‘ t your fault."Harry didn't result. The ‘ fault'conversation was too predictable, and unhelpful.

The ceremonial ended and the scholarly person began filtering back to the castling. Harry didn't junction them, he couldn't look them all. The rustle had already begun. Everyone knew Voldemort was back, most even knew that Azkaban was gone. They also knew that Harry had died, descend back from the dead and invaded the ministry to unmask a death eater. Harry sighed, everyone thought he was some sort of hero sandwich. If they turned out to be rightfulness it would remove a free weight off his mind.

Harry reached the edge of the lake and looked out over it's glassy airfoil. It still felt sinister and malignant, his fear pulling at him like vertigo. He ignored it, it was easier now, he had more squeeze concerns.

"You sure you ‘ re ok ?"Harry looked back, Neville had followed him."You don ‘ t seem ok. I mean I don ‘ t-"

"What did your parents do Neville ?"Harry said out of the blue.

"I… they…"

"You never told us."

"They… they were aurors."

"Ah…"Harry nodded."Probably fought death eaters… Voldemort… lots of times."

"Yeah, I guess."Neville shuffled his feet, staring at the floor."Nan told me they were pretty good so probably."

"And they ‘ re dead ?"

"They ‘ re… well… they 're in St ... yes. Yes they ‘ re dead."Neville swallowed."A dying eater called Bellatrix did it."

"That ‘ s what I thought."Harry nodded, still looking out over the lake."I wonder if you ‘ d have done better…"

"Harry you ‘ re scaring me a little. What ‘ s all this about ?"

"There was prognostication Neville."Harry watched the sun as it slowly set so as to avoid looking at his friend's face."Long tarradiddle short it predicted the birth of the only somebody who could put down Voldemort. It could possess been either me or you, turned out to be me."Harry lapsed into silence. Behind him he could find out Neville breathing in gasping gulps.

"You did hear me say it ‘ s not you ?"Harry clarified."You don ‘ t have to fight him."

"But you do !"

"Apparently."Harry tried to shrug, tried to look detached. Unfortunately it was so counter to how he was really feeling it was hard.

"Do you know when ?"

"Nope."

"Do you know how ?"

"Nope."

"Well…"Neville scratched his promontory."What do you live ?"

"I know I ‘ m gon na lose."Harry said dryly. At Neville's shocked facial expression he threw his hired man up."Well what do you expect ! flavor at me, I ‘ m a adolescent wizard, a one-fourth year ! He ‘ s the most dangerous sensation alive and I ‘ m barely making acceptable in defense against the glowering arts."

"Harry you know grades don't matter."Neville shrugged."If they did then how come you ‘ ve survived this tenacious ?"

"I know that ! But this is dissimilar !"Harry shook his head."Up till now I ‘ ve got through by a combination of lot, lying, wit, brutality and stubbornness. Not to mention that I ‘ ve always had supporter. But this is different, it ‘ ll just be me, him and two baton. I can ‘ t heartbeat him like that, don ‘ t even stand a chance."

"You don ‘ t know it ‘ ll be like that."Neville said reasonably.

"I know it will. Don ‘ t you see ? This is where the unanimous affair ‘ s been headed. I ‘ m going to turn a loss and I can ‘ t. I can ‘ t let myself lose."Harry realized something and laughed wryly."She was right… of course she was right."

"Who was ? About what ?"

"I won ‘ t be able to visit her this summer."Harry's hand twitched to the cord around his neck."I ‘ ll be interfering. I ‘ ll be very busy."
*


Dragon hitched his legs up onto the windowsill and rearranged his robed behind him to be a bit more comfortable. When it got later he'd try to strain his room in the Slytherin dungeon. Right now his apparent defection made it unacceptable to get past his former friends without a violent response.

He shifted his articulatio humeri and turned the pageboy on the form Book he was reading. For now he could push aside everything, just be a niggling nub of calm on the windowsill, reading in peace treaty. But eventually he'd have to face his housemates, then in a few daylight he'd have to go habitation and face… nothing.

His bridge player moved to his pocket where the letter from his mother was. It hadn't been wild, no saying of undying hatred. It had simply stated that she was moving back into the planetary house she grew up in and that she would prefer if she never saw him again.

Draco had considered burning it, or tearing it up and laughing. That was what Harry would do. Draco just wanted to loop up in a corner and pretend it didn't exist.

"Wotcher, kid !"

What the… ? Malfoy looked down the corridor and saw Tonks standing just a little way off with her hands on her hips.

"Oh,"Malfoy turned back to his book."What do you want ?"

"hello to you too."Tonks shrugged and shoved his branch off the windowsill roughly so she could sit down.

"Hey ! I was sitting there."

"You were moping there."Tonks corrected."Anyway I was talking to my mum earlier."

"Was she angry at you for dying ?"Dragon asked.

"A little."Tonks said sarcastically."She also said she had heard that her sister was moving back to her old home."

genus Draco didn't say anything.

"Is that why you ‘ re sitting out here ?"

Silence.

"Or is it that you helped arrest-slash-kill several of the fathers of your old ally ?"

"What do you call up ?"Malfoy answered acidly.

"I think I should demo you a niggling something I found in my 6th year called the ‘ room of essential ’."Tonks stood and winked at him cheekily."So you won ‘ t have to log Z's on a windowsill."

"The room of essential ? Is that a bedroom ?"

"It can be a bedroom."Tonks answered mysteriously."By the way, did I ever thank you for saving my life ?"

"It ‘ s fine. You probably saved me too."

"Yeah, probably…"Tonks nodded grinning."Anyway my mum says that you should come over to dinner so we can thank you properly."

"It ‘ s fine-"

"She always makes too often anyway."Tonks went on."You can come over a few times if you want. Every dark even, over the summer."

"You don ‘ t…"Draco felt his throat go a little dry."You don ‘ t have to do this for… for…"

"For what ? For family ?"Tonks laid a hand on his shoulder."Yeah, I do."



fountainhead ... that was a long journey. Long and epos ! Anyway ... Hope you liked it. go away a review, come on ... it's the end of the Book. Go on.

Anyway, prepare for the next book. If you thought this one was a wild ride then the future one will blow your freekin head ! Cannon can go cling itself, we ‘ re taking our own path from now on. Believe me when I say that everything is about to change. Prepare for darkness ... prepare for natural process ... prepare for everything you know to shrivel up and die. Prepare for ...
Harry Potter and the Changeling Child