Verso
Chapter 1: Ignited

Notes: Wow, this must be the most overdue fanfic ever? I've had the ideas for Verso almost as long as I've worked on Redivivus. It's been a while since I finished Redivivus but I hope some of you are still around to read this. Mostly, I hope you'll enjoy it because that would make up for all the loss of notes and drafts I've suffered from since starting to write this chapter in October, not to mention the pain in my back after the 6 hours I spent trying to finish the chapter. )

"STUPEFY!"

A rock blew up into millions of pieces as the curse hit it, the force of the explosion sending a large piece of rock zooming towards the young man's head. It struck him directly, tearing through the skin of his forehead and mixing blood with sweat and hair. The young man reached up to touch his wound lightly, wincing as his fingers made contact with flesh.

"Protego! Protego!" he shouted with all the strength he could muster, using his other hand to wave his wand around as he cast the spells while trying to run at the same time. "Protego!"

Flashes of light appeared from every corner, beams of different colours flying by or being repelled by the protective spells he had cast. He ducked, threw himself to the ground and hid behind any objects he could find to avoid being struck. The harsh pain he felt in his feet each time he took another step reminded him of how torn and old his shoes were after many months of running. Yet he did not stop for a second and his feet seemed to move on their own. The only thing that was on his mind was his destination and that he had to get there.

He had to find her, he had to.

Without her, everything was over.

He jumped over a fence swiftly, running over wet grass instead of hard rock. The footsteps of his pursuers were becoming slightly quieter and they were shouting questions to each other. He had gained a bit of distance between them but it became increasingly difficult for him to make out their exact positions. Nevertheless, the further away he was the better. The shed came within sight as he ran and filled him with new hope.

Almost there, just a little more...

"Petrificus Tota...!"

"Stupefy!" the young man yelled automatically and pointed his wand into the direction of where the other voice came from.

A loud thud sounded a few yards away and the young man looked closer to see that one of his pursuers was lying awkwardly on the road. There was no sign of any movement. Hoping that he had not alerted anyone else, the young man turned his attention back to the shed. Covering the last few feet, he felt and pulled at the handle. It was locked, of course.

"Alohomora!" he shouted, pointing his wand at the lock. Seconds passed without anything happening, not even the tiniest glow was emitted. He cursed to himself, God forbid that anything would be easy these days.

"Bombarda!"

The small door literally blew up in pieces, sending dust and debris all over the place. He shielded his eyes with his arm and once the dust had lain down and he could see into the shed clearly he felt relief for the first time in weeks. A young woman was standing there, not huddled in a corner or pressed against the wall, but standing tall and straight. Her blue robes were smudged with dirt and tattered and her hair seemed almost wild but her eyes were nothing but calm and serene. It was as if she had not been frightened at all at the door suddenly exploding.

"Ron," she said calmly.

He reached out his hand.

"There's no time, we have to go now!"

The outskirts of the Forbidden Forest were intimidating least to say. One merely had to take a look and see how light could barely shine through the trees' thick crowns of leaves. But during night time it seemed heavier to breathe for some reason, there was no light save from the quiet glow of the moon and a light mist had surrounded the forest that night.

It was there that Ron and Luna stopped, breaths ragged after running non-stop for an uncountable time.

"I think we outran them," Ron panted.

He looked over his shoulder to reassure himself of the fact that they were safe. Once he established that, he allowed himself the simple luxury of leaning against a tree. A light dizziness came over him, whether it was out of tiredness or the wound on his head he did not know.

"Hermione and the others should be here any moment," he went on. "They went on to create a diversion so that I could get you."

Luna nodded.

"Thank you," she said suddenly, causing Ron to look at her curiously.

For some reason, he found her timing to thank him to be both good and bad. A part of him wanted to be optimistic and believe that everything was okay now that she had been rescued.

But then again, there was a reason why he could not afford to be optimistic.

The moment he heard the distant sound of footsteps he grabbed Luna's hand without hesitation and dragged her into the forest. The two of them ran as fast as they could through the forest. It was Ron who was leading them, but he was running without direction with only the thought of getting away as soon as possible. His vision blurred slightly, but he shook his head, blinked and tried to force it away.

They couldn't get caught, not now…

Before he knew it his foot got caught between two roots and his world turned upside down as he fell over. His head hit something hard that scraped his wound and this time he could not hold back a string of heavy cursing.

"Ron! Luna! Over here!"

He swore he heard Hermione's voice coming from somewhere but considering how many times he had been hit in the head he was fully prepared to think that he was hallucinating.

His vision blurred again but he saw Luna looking over him, then grabbing him by his arms and pulling him somewhere. There was too little strength left in him to question what she was doing and for a while things turned completely black. It felt like it was the time span of a blink of an eye but once his vision returned to normal he was surrounded by tall and thick bushes. The one who was looking over him was no longer Luna, but Hermione.

"Why are you here…?" he muttered, wincing as he sat up.

"Ron, you're hurt!" Hermione exclaimed, bringing her hand to Ron's face to wipe something wet away.

It was only when Ron looked at her fingers that he realized that it was his blood.

"We were supposed to meet up outside the forest," he went on and supported himself on his elbows in order to stay up.

"They followed us there as we were escaping," Hermione explained quickly, tying a piece of cloth tightly around Ron's head. "We ran into the forest and manage to lose them by hiding here. Parvati has been keeping watch."

Ron looked up and saw Parvati crouched down by the bushes. The latter sensed that she was being watched and faced Ron as she looked over her shoulder.

"You alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Ron answered and tried to push himself up on his feet. "Let's get to the portkey, we need to get out of here as soon as possible."

"There is no portkey," Luna said so suddenly, startling Ron. She was sitting on a small rock behind him and had made no attempt to make herself noticeable until now.

"They saw Neville going for the portkey and destroyed it," Hermione filled in. "That's why…"

She looked to her left and Ron followed her gaze. Dread seemed to fill his entire body and suddenly it became difficult to breathe. Lying on the ground was Neville, whose arm was bleeding intensely despite Hermione's attempts to wrap what used to be her cloak around his wounds. His eyes were closed but much to Ron's relief he felt a pulse when he bent down and put his fingers to Neville's throat.

"We have to get out of here now or they'll find us," Ron decided. He slipped his arms under Neville's back and knees and lifted him up.

"Ron, the portkey has been destroyed!" Hermione reminded and grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Then we'll apparate!"

"We can't! The Forbidden Forest is partly on Hogwarts grounds, we can't apparate here! That was the whole point of having a portkey!"

"Then we'll leave the forest and apparate from there!" Ron argued back.

"But the Death Eaters are waiting for us there!"

"Quiet!" Parvati said in a hushed voice and stepped between Ron and Hermione. "You're going to get us all killed by standing here and bickering!"

Both Ron and Hermione quieted down, neither of them speaking for a while. Parvati crossed her arms and looked at Luna who had watched the whole ordeal without much of a reaction.

"There's another way," Hermione spoke after a while. "The Death Eaters will be waiting for us on this side of the forest. The only way we can do it is to make it to Hogsmeade and then apparate through there."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Ron asked.

At first he waited for an answer, but then he saw the look on Hermione's face and somehow instantly knew what she was thinking.

"You're out of your mind!"

"It's the only way!"

"Only way of getting killed! Even the Death Eaters are afraid of him nowadays, what makes you think that we can…"

"If you would just…"

"Don't worry."

Ron and Hermione both fell silent and looked at Luna. She slowly stood up and for the first time took action by starting to walk out of their hiding place. As she reached the bushes, she stopped to part them to make way.

"He won't hurt us."

Another owl.

They would fly into his office, take an elegant turn around the room and then drop their letters on his desk. Occasionally one would take another turn or two around his office but most of them just stayed on the edge of his desk and stared at him with those round eyes. He knew that they were watching him even though he pretended not to notice, always waiting for him to sit down and write an answer. But he never did and most of the time he did not even bother to open and read the letter. Of course, that was the beginning of how the owls started to show their displeasure by pecking on his hand.

His simple solution to that was to simply leave all windows closed from that moment.

But the owls did not stop. They found other open windows to fly through, other people to peck and bother until those people in turn dropped the letters on his desk.

In his heart he wanted to blast those birds into oblivion, but even he had not sunk so low to torture animals.

"Sir…?"

"Just leave them there," Harry said, recognizing the voice of his butler and waved towards the desk.

Bosworth looked at Harry hesitantly, and then carefully put a stack of unopened letters on the little space that was unoccupied on the desk. The stack was just one of several piled up on the desk, along with rolls of newspapers dating back to six months ago. None of these had ever been read.

When the owls had first arrived, Harry had read every single letter. He had read the thoroughly, feeling pain and confusion upon each word. They came from Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Lucius, Narcissa and even Draco had written to him on a few occasions, demanding answers just like everyone else.

Harry, where is the Dark Lord? He has not been seen for days!

Harry, the situation is urgent. We must find the Dark Lord!

Harry, how dare you refuse my entrance to Hogwarts!

Harry, why you ordered Hogwarts to be locked down? Why will you not answer my letters?

Harry, I demand you stop this stupid isolation!

But the owl he truly waited for never came. So, after a while he stopped caring, stopped caring about anything. What had happened had made him question everything he knew and in return he was left alone without any answers to the new questions that haunted his mind. Six months had passed now and all he wanted was to be alone, to forget and not to be bothered by anyone.

"There is another matter, sir."

"What is it?" Harry asked dully.

"The scouts have reported that there are people approaching the grounds from the Forbidden Forest."

"Lock all the gates, put up the wards and drive them out," Harry answered automatically. "You know what to do."

Bosworth brought his hands together and looked nervously at Harry, clearly not aware of what he was supposed to do.

"It's the Resistance, sir," he told. "A small group and they're being followed by Death Eaters."

"What difference does it make," Harry muttered as he turned around and walked past the butler. "Resistance or Death Eaters, if they want to slaughter each other they will have to do it somewhere else. I do not want any of them to take a single step onto Hogwarts."

Running his hand through his unruly hair, he headed towards the door and was about the leave the office when he heard his butler speak again.

"But sir… one of them is miss Lovegood!"

He stopped.

The wind caught a hold of her hair and robe, making her stand out in the dark looking like a cloud of blonde and blue. Lying next to her was an old but sturdy broomstick, no doubt that was how she had gotten all the way up there. But there she sat high above the ground and looking like she did not possess a single worrying thought about falling off. Her lips were moving and now that Harry was outside he could hear her singing and half humming a slow song in a language he could not recognize.

…she couldn't make it. Her dog ran away and she sprained her ankle when she tried to find him. I'm Luna Lovegood.

…have a little faith in me, Harry.

"Sir?"

Harry looked over his shoulder and saw that Bosworth was still standing there, waiting for an order. His nails dug into the palm of his hand and his heart started to beat faster. After a while, he turned away his face so that Bosworth couldn't see him.

"I've given you your orders. Don't let anyone set foot onto the grounds."

…if I was your enemy, would you hesitate to use your wand now and kill me?

…because I believe in you.

"Protego!"

Waving her wand, Hermione managed to cast the spell just in time to shield her and Ron from a series of red light beams. Just as the beams dissolved into nothing, Hermione turned around and pushed slightly at Ron's arms, signalling that it was time to run again. She stayed behind Ron as they ran, casting protective spells behind them.

Once in a while she would look at Ron, whose own wound had not stopped bleeding. His face was stained red with his own blood, yet she could tell how little colour there was left in his skin and that it was through sheer will that he could carry Neville and keep on running at the same time. Feeling her eyes becoming teary, she stopped for a moment and focused everything on casting a Petrificus Totalus. Her spell struck a Death Eater who was catching up with them and as she turned around and ran again she could hear him fall to the ground.

"We're almost there," Hermione reassured as she caught up with Ron.

"I remember you saying the same thing that time when we had to fly to Glasgow," Ron managed to say in between breathing. "Turned out we had another 6 hours to fly."

Ron's lips formed the smallest smile and Hermione did not whether to laugh or cry at the fact that he was trying to reassure her by smiling at the whole situation.

Looking forward, Hermione could see that Parvati and Luna ahead of them. The latter two had managed to run faster due to the fact that Ron was carrying Neville and Hermione was staying with them.

"They're coming at us from south and east as well," Parvati informed as Hermione and Ron caught up with them. "They're catching up with us!"

"We'll just have to run a little faster then!" Hermione panted, feeling her legs grow weaker.

But suddenly Parvati stopped running so abruptly that she disappeared out of everyone's sight. It was only after several more meters that Hermione, Ron and Luna stopped as well and turned around to look at Parvati. She was standing completely still, wand drawn and had the face of someone who had made a decision.

"What are you doing, we have to go!" Hermione shouted.

"You guys go on ahead," Parvati answered. "I'll hold them back for a while!"

"You're going to get killed!" Hermione shrieked, taking a step towards Parvati.

"I'll be fine, just go!" Parvati shouted back, then turned around and started to run in the opposite direction.

Hermione took a few steps to follow her but then Luna stepped in front of her and blocked her path.

"She'll be okay," Luna said sincerely.

"But…" Hermione started, looking at Parvati who was disappearing further into the woods. Just a few seconds later she was completely out of sight.

"She's done more dangerous things more, we'll have to trust her," Ron agreed. "We have to get out of here, Neville's not going to hold out much longer."

Hermione turned around and looked at Neville who was lying limp in Ron's arms. For a while she saw the same mild mannered and shy boy she had met in her first year of Hogwarts and felt her eyes becoming watery again at the thought of the harsh reality they all lived in now. She did not say anything, instead she quietly began to walk and eventually run towards west.

She heard Ron and Luna's footsteps behind her and knew that they were a couple of meters behind her, yet she did not slow down to wait for them. She didn't want them to see the look on her face, how close she was to crying. It wasn't fair, none of this was fair. They weren't supposed to live a life like this, constantly having to run to stay alive. She poured in all her anger and frustration into running, knowing that it was the only thing that she could do.

They ran and ran and several times they lost count of how far or for how long they had ran. No one bothered to speak and the silence of the wood was only disturbed by their heavy footsteps and breathing.

Then suddenly, as Hermione took the final step between two trees, she had left the darkness of the forest and felt her cheeks become warm upon feeling the light of the rising sun. Her legs did not stop running until there was more distance between her and the forest but once she stopped, she just stood there and took in the beauty of it all.

The sun was directly above her, brightening the sky and spreading so much light that Hermione had to squint her eyes a little after being in the dark for so long. Right before her were emerald green plains and the old quidditch pitch where the grass swayed slightly in the wind. She could see the lake from where she was standing and how the crystal clear water glittered and reflected the light of the sun. And above it all, high up on the hill, was the grand Hogwarts.

Her breathing started to slow down and all the anger and frustration she had felt before faded away at the sight of the castle. After all the years that had passed, all that had happened, all she, Ron, Neville and Parvati had gone through… Hogwarts still looked the same.

The serenity she felt upon seeing Hogwarts disappeared suddenly as she heard the sound of something heavy dropping to the ground. Turning around, she saw that Ron had dropped Neville and before anyone could say anything he fell to the ground himself.

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, rushing over to Ron's side while Luna went to Neville.

Falling to her knees on the soft grass, Hermione carefully lifted up Ron's head. His wound was not bleeding as much but he had gone too far, done too much than his body allowed him and now he was paying for it.

"Ron… come on…" Hermione whispered, her voice shaky. "Don't do this to me… please, get up…"

"…don't you think I… want to?" Ron managed to utter, his body feeling so unusually weak in Hermione's arms.

"We're almost there, I promise," Hermione assured, completely unaware of the fact that tears were running down her cheeks. "We just have to get past here and then…"

"…isn't that what you said before?" Ron chuckled lightly.

Not being able to smile back at him, Hermione pulled him up closer and held him tighter.

Then, out of the forest, something big and dark came flying. It flew past Hermione and Ron and continued to roll a few meters away. Only when it had stopped rolling did Hermione see that it was not an object, it was Parvati. She watched how Parvati struggled just to get up, but in the end she was too weak to even do that. All she could do was to meet Hermione's eyes and whisper:

"…run..."

Turning her head, Hermione looked towards the forest to see figures in dark robes emerging from the shadow of the trees. At first there were five, then ten, then twenty and when they had all stepped out of the forest they were at least twice as many as that. They all wore masks, yet she could see their hard, cold eyes as they all raised their wands and pointed it towards her and the others.

There was no way to outrun them now, no way to defend themselves. All chances of escaping were gone.

Shaking and feeling almost paralyzed, all Hermione could do was to stay with Ron and hold onto him.

One of the Death Eaters stepped forth, still keeping his wand pointed at them but pulling up his mask at the same time. Hermione instantly recognized his face once the mask was off.

Blaise Zabini.

"Well, well… we Slytherins always knew you and the weasel were meant to be," he mocked, smirking. "A true match really, you being a mudblood and he a blood traitor."

"Go to hell," Hermione snapped angrily, staring right into his eyes.

"I'm afraid you'll get there first," Blaise retorted. "But first I have someone else to deal with."

He pointed his wand at Luna, who looked at him without a hint of fear. In fact, she was even looking at him with disinterest.

"You there will have to return with us," he said. "I have orders from Lady Lestrange to bring you back alive."

After taking one last look at Neville, Luna got up and started to walk. At first Hermione nearly dropped her jaw at this action, but only moments later Luna placed herself right in between Hermione and Blaise and showed no intention of going any further. Blaise looked uncertain and waved at her with his wand.

"What are you standing there for?" he snapped.

"Perhaps I should ask you that," Luna replied calmly. "Did you bring all those people behind you because they are your friends or because you didn't think you could catch me on your own?"

In midst of crying silently and the absurdity of it all, Hermione felt like laughing when she saw Blaise's face redden.

"You'll share your friends' fate for that," Blaise hissed. "Lady Lestrange will not blame me if you happen to die in the crossfire."

Blaise backed a few steps and raised his wand.

Hermione heard her own heart beat loudly and her entire body froze with dread.

Luna still did not move.

"Avada-"

A flash of light.

Hermione shut her eyes tightly automatically but managed to open them just in time to see Blaise stumble backwards and the wand flying out of it hands. But that was not the only thing she saw. Standing in front of Luna, shielding her, was a young man pointing his wand towards Blaise and the other Death Eaters. His hair and cloak, both dark, blew in the wind. Hermione had never seen the young man before, but somehow she instantly knew who he was.

Harry Potter.

The Death Eaters whispered among themselves.

It was truly him. The heir to the dark lord, his so called prince, choosing to show himself for the first time after months of isolation. Even those who had never met him before recognized him from pictures published in the newspaper and almost felt awed to stand in his mere presence.

But Harry Potter had cast a spell against the leader of their group and stood with his wand pointing at them while shielding a Resistance rat. What was going on?

"Potter…" Blaise whispered, as if he was not sure of what he was seeing.

Harry did not move an inch, standing there like a statue.

"Lady Lestrange has tried to contact you, why have you not…" Blaise began.

"Leave."

Blaise stared blankly at Harry, doubting his senses once again.

"What?"

"Leave," Harry repeated sternly. "I will show no mercy to those who enter these grounds without my permission."

Looking almost panicked, Blaise turned around and looked at the other Death Eaters for some sort of assurance that he had heard things wrong or just deeply misunderstood them. But when they seemed just as confused as he was, Blaise turned to Harry again.

"I don't understand," he admitted. "We were pursuing them, they are the Resistance, she is the traitor who…"

"I know who she is," Harry cut off. "And I ask you again, leave or this will go beyond a civilized conversation."

Blaise opened his mouth to say something but no actual words came out. His face clearly spelled out disbelief in the entire situation.

"This order came from Lady Lestrange," he tried. "She ordered us to capture the girl and kill the others. Her word as our supreme leader…"

"Then my word as the heir of the dark lord does not count?" Harry retorted. "This is my last warning, Zabini. Leave or suffer the consequences."

Even the sound of the wind seemed to disappear as tense silence lay over the field. Everyone watched with held breaths, fear and even anticipation. Blaise and Harry continued to stare at each other, Blaise with an unsure expression and Harry with a relentless one. Half an eternity seemed to pass in silence without either of them moving or saying anything.

Blaise slowly raised his right hand.

And waved backwards.

With such a simple gesture, the Death Eaters started to pull back. They pulled back further and further, until they reached the forest where they waited for their leader, who still had not moved.

"Lady Lestrange will hear about this," Blaise threatened coldly.

To that Harry did not answer and Blaise turned around and retreated into the forest with the others. Harry remained standing for a long time and watched them disappear into the forest. Once they were completely out of sight and Harry allowed himself to close his eyes and take a deep breath.

What the consequences of this would be, he did not know.

He slowly turned around and faced Luna.