Stumble And You Shall Fall

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Harry Potter or anything relating to that. Otherwise all of the characters would have discovered their gay side a long time ago....

Prologue

Chaos was raging in the Dark Forest. Curses and hexes were flying high and low between the dark tree trunks that made out the forest. The full moon was the only other light source during this dark night, but the tree tops stood so tightly together that only a few trickles of pale moonlight found its way down to the ground where the people were now fighting.

These people were standing, running, crouching and lying flat on the ground, trying to save their lives. Not that any of them really needed a reason to fight anymore. This had become such a big part of their lives, and the frustrations that came with it made it easy to muster up the strength to hate your enemy and send curses their way.

They were thinking of all the years that they had wasted on situations like these with loss upon loss, no victory worth feeling good for since something bad was bound to happen soon enough again.

It was getting to them.

They performed their duties and hated the way they were supposed to, but something had died inside; their hearts and minds could soon not take any more death and destruction.

It needed to end, soon.

The moon may not have known it, but it was in fact the reason that this particular fight was taking place. Its reflected rays shone innocently with its pale light upon the earth, but the effects that this had on a few cursed individuals walking this earth was anything but innocent.

There had been rumours for a while now that Voldemort was making himself an army of werewolves, with the help of the loyal and psychotic Fenrir Greyback.

But since many fullmoons had come and gone without anything happening, the Order made the decision to decrease their protective measures, especially around Hogwarts. Neither Dumbledore, Snape or Potter resided there anymore, so they thought the children were safe.

A foolish decision you might think, and so it was. But the Order, and everyone else for that matter, were tired and could not produce the same loyalty and passion towards their cause that they had once had. Not that they did not care, but when almost all of your friends, family and comrades in arms had died, one tends to start to not care what comes next.

This was, of course, what Voldemort had expected. He was still unwearied by all the death, in fact he enjoyed it. So it was with a satisfied mind and an evil laugh that he ordered his Death Eaters and werewolves to attack Hogwarts.

*

Fighting for his life was not a new thing for Harry Potter; he had been doing it his entire life. But now, all he seemed to do was fight. He was a highly respected Auror, one of several leaders of the Order of the Phoenix and, of course, the only hope the Wizarding world had of being released from the grasp of terror and fear that Voldemort had on them.

Also, recently Ginny had been starting petty fights with him, which he had gladly participated in, the anger and frustration from his work overflowing. This made him a frequent visitor of Ron and Hermione's sofa.

So, for Harry there was fighting all around.

You can't really blame him for being sick of it all.

All of the Wizadring world placed their hope on his shoulders, making it incredibly hard to stand upright; let alone fight Death Eaters.

But he did it.

When anyone needed help he was there to save the day. He had also been given a very long leash by Chief Auror Shacklebolt, so that he could do all of these heroic things people expected him to perform these days. You might even say that the leash was non-existent.

So Harry did what he had to do, feeling only seconds of relief when they captured a few Death Eaters or traitors, because he was always reminded by the back of his mind that Voldemort was still out there. And if he himself did not do it, Ginny certainly would once he came home. She had married her hero and was disappointed it took him so long to live up to her expectations.

No one noticed that Harry's eyes had lost their shine and luster, nor that his actions did not come with the determination they used to.

Neither had Harry, really. He blamed it all on fatigue and his inability to off his enemy.

He did not realise it until that strength and passion suddenly came back.

*

So, here Harry was. Fighting Death Eaters again. He had ordered and placed out his men like a good Captain should, ignoring the fact that they had done this so many times before, and ignoring even more that so many of them that had been there and planned this in the beginning of the war was not there anymore.

One can not think those thoughts. You lose concentration, and start to feel again.

He duelled a few Death Eaters, got hit with a few curses and then, suddenly, saw a lock of platinum blond hair behind a Death Eater mask.

The change was instant.

The hatred rose within him and anyone who had looked would have seen an immediate change in Harry's eye colour. Where it before had been a dullish green iris and a pupil that seemed too apathetic to make proper eye contact there was now a concentrated glare and eyes that shifted between a clear emerald green and flashes of red. The red that permanently coloured Voldemort's eyes.

"Malfoy." Harry hissed. He could not keep this hatred quiet and had to voice it somehow. He stepped up to the blond and raised his wand. His focus was entirely on this man dressed in black. Nothing else mattered. The battle continued around him, but the minute he saw that blonde hair, he stopped caring. Or rather, he started caring again.

Malfoy was not slow to realise what was happening and turned around. He would know that voice anywhere.

"Oh hello Potter. Fancy seeing you here." He sneered. Harry could not actually see it, but this voice had haunted his thoughts for many days and nights during seven years, and intermittently after that, so he did not need to see Malfoy, he heard his facial expression.

Harry wasted no time.

"EXPELLIARMUS!"

Malfoy looked down on his wand for a few heartbeats which now lay at the base of a tree, completely covered in darkness. He decided it did not matter and his hatred matched Harry's, so he ran the few feet towards the dark-haired man and punched Potter in the face.

Physical contact was Harry's first thought when Malfoy punched him. The pain came a few seconds later. In those few seconds before he could feel that a few of his teeth were loose, he relished in the physical contact he got from another human being, even if it was from a fight.

Ginny had denied him many things for a while now, and as sex was one of them and he had never really been a hugging kind of person, any kind of physical contact could produce of him a mumbling and stumbling fool.

And stumble he did.

Right over a Golden Snitch he fell. It had been lying there for years and years, programmed to activate when touched by a human.

When he stumbled over the Snitch his fist had just connected with Malfoy's jaw and he had a firm grip of the other man's robes, so when Harry fell Malfoy also fell.

And when the Portkey felt Harry Potter's back land upon it it activated and in a flash of grey they were both gone.

A/N

So, the prologue. I hope you liked it. And i REALLY hope you will tell me about it, so go ahead and review.