Alex was ready, waiting on the balls of his feet, ready to strike. Though he had recognised one of the men it wasn't this that had made him react. It was the other two. Both were wearing long black, floor length robes.

The three entered the compartment, seeming to take up all the space, but that was when Alex noticed something strange. They weren't looking at him; they had barely noticed his presence it seemed, since they were all staring at the boy, Harry.

Everything then, seemed to hang for a lifetime and for Alex it was almost like slow motion. He watched as the two men at the front reached inside their jackets. Alex tensed expecting a gun, but what came from both men, were long thin wooden sticks.

Before he could even begin to guess what was going on, Harry had yelled "Run!" and Alex looked round to see that he too had brandished a wooden stick and was pointing it at the nearest man. At exactly the same moment the man and Harry both screamed something incoherent and then jets off light issued from both sticks, Harry's a fiery red colour, the man's a purple streak. Both jets of light missed their targets and ricocheted of the compartment walls.

But Alex didn't have long to think about this, the second man had joined in the fight. He too aimed a fiery jet of light at Harry, who was steadily backing away, shooting at the man. But Alex had noticed the third man, the only one in normal clothing, advancing on him. Alex tensed. He read the man's move in his eyes and so managed to dodge the swinging blow, and meet it with a swift roundhouse kick. The man staggered backwards, but was already regaining his balance. He struck again, and Alex pivoted and ducked, avoiding the blows with practised skill.

As he fought the man, he was very much aware of the chaos going on about him. Jets of light were flying everywhere, one of the windows had cracked and Harry was being forced further and further down the train.

Alex spun and his quick punch caught the man full in the face. He crumpled to the floor.

xxx

"Stupefy! Impendamenta!" Harry was crouching behind a half blown apart seat aiming spells over the top. How had they caught up with him so fast?!

The big man and apparent leader, whom Harry had recognised instantly as Dolohov blasted another spell in his direction, closely followed by another man Harry vaguely remembered from the Ministry fight last year.

"Expelliarmus!" he yelled, as he made a break for another chair to hide behind.

Briefly he wandered what had become of Alex. He had barely had time to marvel at the guy as he had taken on the third man, who had looked pretty much like a muggle. He tucked that piece of information away, for later examination.

But at that moment one of the spells hit home and Harry felt himself being lifted off the ground and slammed into the opposite Wall. Winded and disorientated, Harry tried to focus on the advancing figures, while his fingers searched fruitlessly for his fallen wand. He sat up straighter and saw the man raising his wand again; saw his mouth open to utter his curse. But then there was a dull thud and his eyes glazed over. He fell forward, to reveal Alex standing in a combat position, his legs slightly apart, knees bent and fists raised. Dolohov looked over distracted just as Harry's searching fingers closed around his wand.

"STUPEFY!" this time the jet of red light hit Dolohov squarely in the chest. He keeled over and lay unconscious on the ground.

Harry lowered his wand and stared at Alex. A mixture of expressions flitted over the other boy's face. "You're one of them?" he practically whispered and Harry noticed he hadn't relaxed but was still tense, as though expecting a fight.

"Look, I can explain," said Harry taking a step forward, "I'm not on their side. I- I'm trying to stop them"

"What are you talking about? Who are they? What is that thing?" he pointed at the wand still clenched in Harry's hand.

Harry opened his mouth to explain. If only he could do memory charms, he thought. But then again Alex may well have saved his life. But at that moment, the door behind him opened and the conductor came in. "What the hell was all tha-" he stopped as he took in the wreckage around them. Harry hastily stuffed his wand back in his pocket.

The man seemed to swell with rage, "What have you done?" he spluttered, looking at the shattered glass and ruined upholstery.

The train had, by this time stopped at another station. Harry turned his back on the guard and made his way back to his seat to fetch his bag. "Hey! Where are you going?" he said, coming after them (Alex too had followed Harry back to their seats.)

"Leaving" said Harry shortly. He swung his bag over his back, and jumped down from the train. Small droplets of rain fell onto his face as he headed out into the night.

xxx

Alex took another look at the angry face of the guard before he followed Harry out onto the dark platform. Ignoring the man's shouts and threats of police, the two boys hurried round the corner.

Alex's head was spinning. He had about a million questions to ask, not least of which were to do with the crazy wooden sticks! But he decided to wait until they were out of the station before he demanded some answers. The fact that Harry was one of them made no since, but it did appear they were on the same the side. What he didn't understand was how Harry was mixed up in all this.

They stepped out onto the deserted street outside the station and in the glare of the streetlamps Alex noticed for the first time a small, thin scar on Harry's forehead, shaped like a bolt of lighting. Harry was about to walk across the road when Alex caught his arm, "Do you want to tell me what the hell's going on here?"

Harry shrugged his arm out of Alex's grip, "I was going to ask you the same thing. You obviously recognised the Death Eaters but you looked more than a bit confused at the sight of their wands."

"Wands! What are you talking about!" This was getting too strange. Those wooden sticks? Wands? Surely this was some sort of a windup. "Look, who are you? How are you mixed up with those guys, what did you call them...Death Eaters?"

Harry sighed and looked across the street, apparently choosing his words carefully. "Look, clearly you've got something to do with all this, or I wouldn't say anything. Those guys back there were Death Eaters, well two of them anyway. They work for Lord Voldemort"

"Who?"

"Voldemort. He's a wizard. Like me."

oooh! Sorry if this chapter is a bit short, (I'm not sure what is a decent length to be honest) I just though it was a good place to stop. I'll try to update soon though! oh, yeah, sorry about any confusion with the who POV it was. I did put in stars but it wouldn't let me save it and I never realised before I read the reviews :)

Thankyou for all the reviews, your comments really mean alot to me!