A Change Of Destiny

Chapter 7

Free-Fall

"Gear up kids," Sirius said as he helped each of the three kids get ready. It had just gotten dark outside giving them an easy way to cover and be unseen. Each wore black outfits which helped them blend in with the darkness. Wand holster's, tracking devices, and emergency potions lined their suits. Hermione held their emergency portkey in her pocket securely. Each held their broom's in their hands and were staring defiantly ahead. Each of their parents stood quietly at their sides watching as Sirius, Kingsley, and Mad-Eye briefed them on what to do.

"Stay out of sight as long as you can. Fly high and when you get to the woods edge, go in the trees. Avoid the branches; go through them as quickly and as quietly as you can. Try and hear what they are talking about. First you need to assess Fleur's injuries from far away then ambush. Get her and run. Don't try and take out all the death eater's by yourselves, grab her and Harry, you are the stronger flier, you fly with her on your broom. Come back before it starts to get light out. On the way back, I want you guys to go full speed and don't stop until you are here. You understand?" Moody growled walking past each one of them in a manner which was used in the army. Each nodded in understanding.

Dumbledore walked up to them and gave a nod, "I trust you will do well. I only ask that you keep your safety in mind as well as Ms. Delacour's. It is most important you come back as quickly as possible. We all have faith in you three. Good luck." Dumbledore stepped back and the three of them nodded.

Hagrid came forward next, barely able to stand up properly from his height. He held a damp hanky and blew his nose, "Be careful! One of them lethifold's 'scaped. Look out fer one o' them." He drew each of them up into his huge arms and hugged them, cutting off circulation. Dumbledore tapped him on the shoulder and Hagrid set them down.

When the equipment was all on and they were ready, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked up to their family saying their goodbyes. Harry walked up to his mum and dad. His mother was crying softly with his father's arm draping her shoulders. Harry smiled encouragingly and both his parents pulled him into a big bear hug. Lily was mumbling random safety things and Harry chuckled in spite of himself. He pulled away and moved over to the Weasley's. Molly immediately pulled Harry to her and gave him the biggest bear hug he ever had. Mr. Weasley put a hand on Harry's shoulder and nodded. Finally, Harry went over to the Granger's. He didn't know them as well as Ron's parents but he hugged Mrs. Granger anyway and shook Mr. Granger's hand. Before he let go of Harry's hand, Hermione's father pulled him closer and looked Harry straight in the eye.

"Harry I am asking you and Ron to please take care of my daughter. I know you will do anything in your power to keep her safe but just try to keep her as safe as you can okay?" Mr. Granger's eyes matched Hermione's and he noticed that they were filled with the same concern he always saw from Hermione. He nodded and walked away letting the words linger in his mind. Bill came up to Harry quickly and shook his hand; his face was pale and he was shaking with nerves.

"Harry?" he asked softly, "You know that Fleur and I were you know, going out and stuff well, I just want to wish you all luck. Please bring her back Harry, I miss her so much, just get her back." Bill's usual cool persona was flown out the window as Harry heard the desperation in his voice. Harry's hand tightened and he nodded. Bill smiled faintly and stepped back letting them get going.

"Harry! Wait!" a frantic voice said as he and his friends reached the door. He turned around quickly and smiled as he saw Ginny come running towards him. She stopped right in front of him and opened her mouth a couple of times but no words came out. She didn't seem to know what to say or what to do. A single tear came out of her eyes and she hugged Harry in a way that would rival his own mother's and whispered in his ear, "come back home to me, okay?" Harry's throat constricted and he nodded, not trusting his voice. Ginny kissed him on the cheek and lingered for a moment in his arms. She shook her head and moved back. All the Order members lined the halls of Grimmauld trying to get a glimpse of the kids who were leaving. Every one of them wished them luck and after taking a deep breath, Ron opened the door and they stepped out into the warm night air.

The door clicked shut and they looked at each before breaking into huge grins. With a hand motion, each mounted their brooms. When everyone was sure they were secure Ron nodded from his spot in the middle and they descended into the air. Each wore a magical ear piece where they could quietly talk to each other and unknown to them, the Order members were listening intently. As they flew through the clouds, there was silence. Each of them was nervous in their own right but tried not to show it. Ron was the one who decided to break the ice between all of them.

"Your dad scared me Hermione," he said suddenly out of the blue. Hermione's head shot around and she laughed openly. Ron's face turned shades of red as Hermione laughed even harder. Harry kept his mouth closed trying to keep himself from following Hermione's lead. She finally stopped and looked to her right at Ron.

"My dad? Scary? Ron you are almost a full-grown wizard who could easily hex him into oblivion. My dad is a dentist. The worst thing he could do is force you into a chair and pull your tooth out," Hermione said laughter evident in her voice. Ron turned his head to look away and Harry laughed lightly. Hermione did have a point.

Ron then turned to Harry, "Hey mate? Do you really love my sister?" Harry turned around quickly and blushed. Going out with your best mate's sister meant that these questions came frequently.

"Yes, I do," Harry answered confidently. Ron nodded and plunged into a new question.

"Would you ever marry her?" Harry choked on his spit. His blush turned even darker and he was not the color of a ripe tomato. Ron looked happy at embarrassing Harry and waited for his answer.

"I-I don't know, I mean she's going to be in school another year after we graduate but I guess if she wanted to marry me, I'd be ready and willing," Harry was stumbling over his words trying to figure out how to put it without insulting or making Ron angry. Ron smiled and they lapsed into silence again as they flew higher and higher into the sky.

At another motion, they began to fly to the left and started faster. Harry glanced at his tracking device and saw that it pointed straight. They changed their direction and flew faster and faster. Harry moved to the front and Ron and Hermione held the back. Every couple of seconds they changed their position to make sure that if anyone was watching they wouldn't be sure which one was which. Twenty-five minutes passed. No one said much, the trio was trying to keep concentrated on their mission. Occasionally now, they would switch places. The forest they were going too was somewhat close to Hogsmeade. Ptolemy Forest was name after Claudius Ptolemy who was a geographer and astronomer. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had gotten some back round information on the forest to find out if any magical creatures lived there. All they found in existence in the forest were imps that lived near the marshes. No other problem aroused. Another ten minutes passed and finally the trio found themselves face to face with the forest. As quickly as they could, Ron, Hermione, and Harry flew straight into the forest. Avoiding all the branches, they flew silently and slowly through out the forest looking for any signs of people. For almost ten minutes they searched, splitting up occasionally but they found nothing; no signs of life.

"Damn it Bellatrix, if you keep doing that, you'll kill her," someone hissed a couple of meters ahead. The group stopped and fell silent. They each hovered over the ground waiting for someone else to talk, "Just leave her tied up for a bit. We have to take her back soon to let the Dark Lord have his time with her."

They heard a hiss, "Fine Narcissa but later we get to have some fun." It was Bellatrix and Narcissa. They were bound to have more people if they had Fleur with them. Looking triumphant, Harry stepped to the ground. Ron and Hermione followed in his suit and slowly moved towards the noise. Ron and Harry moved to opposite sides and tried to catch a glimpse of their kidnapped friend. Harry could hear a quick intake of breathe as they all saw Fleur. He understood why. The usually gorgeous Fleur Delacour was barely recognizable. Her immaculate blonde hair was matted with blood and grime and her face was covered in cuts and bruises. From the looks of it, she had been tortured daily and it had affected her; she was twitching and shaking. Her clothes which were obviously her work clothes were ripped and torn in various spots and it was covered in mud. Close to her was a large box shaking back and forth, Harry sent Hermione a look who shrugged.

"She doesn't look good, we have to get her out of here as soon as we can, and she looks unconscious so we'll have to carry her. Harry you're the one who works out every day, you carry her, me and Hermione will cover you, we'll wait two more minutes then we'll attack okay?" Ron whispered into his ear piece. His two friends responded and waited. They noticed four more death eaters sitting around; most seemed to be men and even though Fleur was not up to her usual splendor they seemed attracted in a way. Narcissa and Bellatrix were talking nonsense and the trio found that they were talking about nothing important.

"You said that she is close to Potter somehow?" Bellatrix said with the utmost hatred filling her voice. Narcissa nodded absent mindedly looking at her nails. Their masks were off and above their heads so the trio got full view of the two women. Harry was having trouble with looking at her; memories were flashing through his mind of his captivity and he felt himself starting to break down. Harry put up his Occlumency shield and blocked out the memories.

"When do you suppose this whole war will be over? That Potter boy is a nuisance and I'm sick of having to hide because of a stupid boy," Narcissa hissed angrily. Bellatrix looked at her sharply and nodded.

"It will be soon, it always comes back in the end," Bellatrix cackled loudly. Narcissa looked confused for a moment. She merely looked at her sister awaiting an explanation. Bellatrix took no notice and then Narcissa's eyes widened. She too began to laugh hysterically at the comment. From the woods, Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other questioningly.

"Okay well we should go now, their laughing away. On my count, I'll run in. You send spells at Bellatrix and Narcissa since they seem to be the ring leaders, the other death eaters seemed too tied up in looking at Fleur. I'll grab her then I'm going to run back. Grab your brooms and were going to fly out. One… two… THREE!" Harry yelled. Flinging himself out of the trees, Harry made a mad dash for Fleur. She seemed dimly aware that Harry was coming towards her. Death eater's still seemed to be somewhat surprised and unaware of what was going on. Stunners were coming out of the trees, obviously from Ron and Hermione. Almost immediately, they caught three of the five death eater's not including Bellatrix and Narcissa. The two of them looked surprised; they scrambled up and ran to Fleur and the box. Harry made it to her in time and began to pull Fleur with him. Bellatrix grabbed her by the foot and began pulling her back. Harry, using all his strength, ripped Fleur's leg out of Bella's grasp. He put her over his shoulders and began running back into the trees. Narcissa let out an angry yell and wrenched the box open revealing the creature inside.

A lethifold.

Harry gasped and began running faster and faster as the patch of black came slithering towards him at amazing speed. Hermione had successfully stunned Narcissa and Ron had put down the last two stray death eaters. Bellatrix clenched her fists and began sending random curses in the trees, each missing them by only inches.

"HARRY! GET ON YOUR BROOM!" Hermione screamed, "ACCIO WANDS!" The unconscious death eater's wands came flying into her hand and she stuck them all into her holster. Harry nodded and picked up his broom quickly. He sat Fleur behind him and pushed off the ground. He looked quickly to the side and saw Hermione and Ron had gotten up as well but they weren't watching where they were going. They were pointing to something on the tail of his broom. Harry whipped around and cursed. The lethifold was on his broom.

"RON! TAKE FLEUR!" he screamed. A spell came flying past his ear and he could see Bellatrix on the ground sending curses. She was red with anger and Harry smirked slightly. At least he made her angry. Ron came next to him and put an arm around Fleur's unmoving body. He pulled her off and set her on the back of his broom. Harry looked around and saw the creature start coming closer to him. He flipped around and around trying to get the lethifold off of his broom but it laid thickly on. "IT WON'T COME OFF!" Harry yelled. He did another flip but found that it did nothing. The lethifold came flying at Harry's face and smothered him. Total blackness came over him and Harry's broom went out of control. It went side to side, round and round. Distantly, Harry could hear his friend's yells. An arm came up to his face and began to pull. Harry was starting to be unable to breathe and his mind was beginning to get hazy.

"HERMIONE! HOW THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU GET A LETHIFOLD OFF?" Ron screamed as he tried to pull the thing off of Harry's face. Hermione was fumbling through her mind trying to think of the spell. Harry hands started to sag and he was loosing the last ounce of energy he had left. Hermione squealed suddenly and pulled out her wand.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" she yelled. The lethifold let out an unearthly scream and fell off Harry's face. They let it fall into the forest and Ron focused his attention on Harry who was gasping for breathe. His level of consciousness dropped as he slowly slipped off his broom. "HARRY!" Hermione screamed. She pulled around but stopped as she caught a glimpse of the ground. Hermione's fear of heights kicked in she hesitated. She looked up again and closed her eyes. Ron's yelling brought her back and she looked back at where she last saw Harry. His body was twisting and turning and with a loud crack he fell into the forest below. When Hermione heard a loud and echoing thud, she knew Harry had fallen the ground. She gasped in horror and flew down into the dark woods. Screaming his name, Hermione flew around until finally she found him. Harry's body was twisted at odd angels and gashes covered his arms and face. Hermione could feel hot tears running down her face as she carefully put Harry onto her broom. She wrapped his arm around her waist and slowly went flying through the forest. Looking up, Hermione could see Ron flying as quickly as he could, trying to dodge Bellatrix. She glanced up to the side and saw the once stunned death eater's flying up into the sky. "Ron," she whispered into her ear piece, "there's more." She could hear Ron groan into the ear piece and he began twisting around.

Bellatrix who had a manic smile etched into her face flew right in back of the Weasley and wretched his broom backwards. The force caused Ron and Fleur to fly back. Ron gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes at the once beautiful woman. With one swift movement, Ron moved Fleur and kick Bellatrix in the stomach. She yelled in pain and flew backward. That was their chance. Ron pulled his broom into a dive and flew quickly into the woods. He stopped right when the reached the ground. He could have almost cried he was so happy. Hermione was only a couple of feet away hovering over the ground with the unconscious Harry. Ron smiled slightly and she returned it. "Go to the caves," he said quietly. Hermione nodded and they flew silently north with the death eater's over head.