Cracks sounded all around them as figures appeared from thin air in bursts of dark smoke, no longer hidden behind black cloaks and silver masks, faces bared and sneering and wands scything through the air. Bolts of light flew in all directions. Voices shouted and screamed. The roof of the marquee was on fire. Tom snarled as he grabbed Harry by the hand, overturned the nearest table with a resonant crash and dragged him down behind it.

"We need to find Ron Hermione and Nagini and get out of here!"

"But what about-?"

Tom clapped one hand over his mouth and used the other to send a Full Body Bind Curse at a Death Eater who had attempted to sneak up on them, causing the man to topple forward over the edge of the upended table like a marble statue pushed from its pedestal. "We don't have the time to argue over this Precious, so please bite your tongue a moment longer and listen to me. They're here because they're after us-more specifically, you-and if we leave they will follow." His voice was barely audible over the surrounding chaos, the spells thrown by both sides of the fighting going on around them flashing in his dark eyes. "The longer we stay the longer they do. Take it from a true Slytherin-Sorting Hat's insistences aside-that standing one's ground isn't always the answer.

"Are you suggesting that we retreat?" the raven hissed upon succeeding in ripping the other's hand away from his mouth. "That we abandon everyone here to die-."

"They won't die."

"How can you be sure?"

"I can't, but it's a reasonable assumption that they'll stand a better chance at survival with us gone than with us here." Harry sent him an incredulous look and Tom plowed onwards before he could speak again. "Think, Precious! I'm a prodigy and you've been through more in your life than any one person should ever have to but we're still barely more than children; they're adults and can fend for themselves. Better without us than while having to defend us."

It was obvious from the expression on his face that Harry knew the dark brunet was right and even more obvious that he wasn't happy about the fact. "Fine. But we're not going to sit here and wait until they find us. We're finding them on our own."

"Never expected otherwise." Tom told him, flashing a grin which held a blood-stained edge. "On the count of three, then?"

"On the count of three. One."

"Two."

"Three!"

Both leapt up from behind the upturned table, the roar of spells on both their lips. Jets of green and red shot from the tips of their wands, the two Death Eaters who had turned to advance on them falling stunned or dead. Tom didn't bother skirting around their makeshift shelter, simply vaulting over it instead and prompting the raven to roll his eyes.

"We haven't the time to walk around everything, Precious."

"So that's your excuse." He grumbled back in the same breath that he used to send another attacker to the ground. "Do you see them?"

"No." Tom called back, craning his neck to see over the writhing throng of fighters while still keeping as much of his attention on watching for further aggressors as possible. Green sparks fell in a shower from the tip of his wand, hissing like fiery serpents. "Even with the good number of guests who fled the minute they got the chance there's still too many people here; they must be somewhere in the crowd."

"Then we have to go into the crowd!"

"Harry, don't!" But the smaller male either didn't hear him or didn't listen and barreled forwards towards the main fighting in the middle of the room. Not registering the other man's presence until he'd grabbed him and pointed his wand into his face; Tom raised his own but before he could do much else a blur of green scales and red blood dragged the offender to the ground with a strangled cry.

"Be more careful, Harry! Prey blind to its surroundings is easy to kill!" Nagini hissed at him rather crossly, dislodging her fangs from the convulsing Death Eater's throat.

"She's right, Precious; by Morgana, what were you thinking running off like that without making sure I was there to watch your back! We can't afford to become separated and surrounded!" Tom bent down briefly and hoisted his familiar up onto his shoulders. "Have you seen the others, Nagini?"

"Yes, a few moments ago Master. They're together and looking for the two of you."

Harry perked up at this, pressing closer to Tom so that both could better protect the other's flank. "Where?"

"Not far from the edge on the far end, though they may have moved by now."

The raven met his eyes, gaze stern and allowing the other absolutely no objections on the matter. "Let's go!"

Tom nodded to him, another shower of sparks-as red as the Torture Curse this time-falling from the tip of his wand. "I'm right behind you." He told him. "We'll skirt the edge to the far end of the crowd; the less time we spend in the midst of everything the better it will be for us in the long run as it's best to avoid injury as much as possible at this point."

Crouching as low as they could to avoid being pegged by any stray spells the pair hurried along to the far end of the crowd before plunging headlong into the fighting. Looking about them for Death Eaters the attention of whom they may have caught and for any signs of their missing friends and from time to time looking back to ensure that the other male was still beside them. Still ready to act in each other's defense should the need arise.

"Tom! Harry!" The raven whipped his head around at the sound of Hermione's voice; she sounded terrified and almost on the verge of tears. Unable to find either of them and no doubt fearing the worst. "Harry! Harry! Tom!"

"Hermione!" Seizing the hand of the dark brunet and dragging him backwards Harry charged in the direction of the voice of his friend, his wand raised. "Hermione! Ron! Over here!"

Pushing people out of the way, careless of their shouts of indignant alarm, and trampling over the fallen bodies of their attackers-wounded stunned and dead alike-Harry broke free of the crowd again and, in an instant, was enveloped by the bushy brunet's crushing embrace. Her dress was torn. One hand still clutched onto Ron's with force enough to turn his fingers white. Nagini let out a furious hiss of warning from her perch atop Tom's shoulders.

"Go!"

The dark brunet's bellowed command was swallowed up into a rush of constricting color. Drowned out by blinding light and a mechanical roaring sound as a cherry red double decker bus bore down on them.

"Move!"

Harry wasn't sure if it was him who said it or one of the others but the next thing he knew he was lying on his front on the rain drenched pavement; he barely had the time to process that much before Tom hauled him upright and began dragging him through the crowds on the heels of Hermione.

"Where are we?" Ron's voice sounded from behind them amidst the chattering and laughing of the late night revelers passing by closed store fronts. A group of half-drunk twenty somethings ogled Nagini as if they'd never seen a snake before.

"Tottenham Court Road."

Harry's attention returned to Hermione. "Tottenham Court Road?" he repeated. Tom lightly sidestepped another pub-goer just as the man doubled over and vomited onto the sidewalk. "Why here? What's here?"

"Nothing. And no particular reason. It's just…I used to come here with my parents. It was the first place that came to mind. I don't really know why."

"Alley." It was the first time that Tom had spoken since they'd arrived on that crowded street in the middle of Muggle London, his tone low and sharp. He dismounted the main drag and stepped into the shadows of the alley leaving the other three with little choice but to follow. The dark brunet leaned his back against the brick wall and folded his arms over his chest. "We may not be dressed in Wizarding formal wear but we still stand out like a sore thumb: we need to either change or transfigure our clothing into something less conspicuous and then find somewhere to sit and talk. Figure out the next step. We can't stay out in the open forever."

"Tom's right." Hermione said, fumbling with the clasp of the beaded bag and reaching inside. "I've got clothes for everyone in here. And there's a little diner about another block or so down which, if I remember correctly, is open 24 hours."

She pulled out a hoodie and jeans and well-kept trainers-which she handed to Tom-a t-shirt and jeans and a pair of worn trainers-which she handed to Ron-and a sweat shirt, pair of jeans and badly scuffed trainers which she handed to Harry.

"You're not changing?" Ron asked as Harry pretended to be having trouble undoing his tie so that he could watch the muscles flex in Tom's back as he pulled the hoodie over his head.

"I will. At the diner. In the bathroom. Not in some public alley with three boys." She was slightly pink in the face.

"Sweetheart, of those 'three boys' you mentioned one is a poof another may as well be and the third is your boyfriend who is going to see it eventually. We don't have the luxury of being coy."

"I-I…you're right, Tom. Could the three of you maybe just…turn around?"

"Course." The dark brunet flashed a lop-sided smirk and turned, pulling Ron around with him as he did so. "Now now, Ronald, it's impolite to stare."

Ron turned red up to his ears. "I wasn't staring you bloody Git!"

Harry ignored the two of them and pressed his face into the soft fabric of the hoodie Tom wore, closing his eyes and letting his familiar calming scent fill his lungs and drive away the mingled smells of the city-rain soaked pavement, exhaust and the nearby river.

"Alright, I'm ready. Just shove all of your old clothes back in here and we can head out." As Hermione held out the bag to them something inside of it echoed and clattered. "Blast! That'd be the books; a pity too, I had them all stacked by subject."

Tom's sigh sounded genuinely sympathetic. "Having to resort texts is always a drag." Harry wasn't surprised that his partner had gone through a similar occurrence before.

"Books?" Ron spluttered, utterly disbelieving. "I thought that you were joking about the books!"

"I think you've forgotten who it is we're talking about, Ron." The raven noted rather dryly.

The other two chuckled.

"Well, shall we head out?"

"Not yet." Tom drew his wand and stepped up to Harry, pushing his black bangs back away from his face. "It won't do all that much, but we should still hide the scar."

He rapt him smartly on the forehead and Harry's eyes watered, a stinging sensation which had nothing to do with the newly applied glamor and everything to do with how hard he'd been hit emanating outwards from where he'd been struck.

"Merlin Tom, did you have to hit me so bloody hard?"

"Sorry, Precious, I suppose that I'm a little nervous." The taller male pressed a brief kiss to his brow before allowing the black hair to fall back into place. "You'll live."

"So sure? I think I'm bleeding internally." He quipped dryly. Rolling his eyes Tom drew him under his arm and followed Ron and Hermione out of the alleyway.

The walk to the diner did not take long. The bell which hung over the door tinkled with a merriness that not a single one of the four of them felt at all appropriate for the situation. The floors were tiled in a checker board pattern. The walls and tables a matching, somewhat dingy off-white color. In place of the darkness from outside the harsh artificial light made their eyes sting.

"So, do we wait for service or seat ourselves?" Harry asked, recalling what few times the Dursleys had had no other choice but to take him along to restaurants. "I don't see a sign."

"It's been a few years but as far as I remember it's seat yourselves." She told him as Ron stared around blankly.

All three boys followed Hermione to a booth with a good view of the entire diner-empty aside from them for the time being-and was as far away as possible from the door. Hermione sat beside Ron. Harry beside Tom; the cut of the neck of the hoodie showed a beautiful view of the dark brunet's collar bone. Nagini had since disappeared under the loose fabric and was no doubt now wrapped around his chest.

"What now?" he asked into the silence which had fallen between them.

"We order drinks." Tom said simply, indicating the approaching waitress with the subtle twitch of a finger. "And then we talk."

The dark brunet smiled back at the young woman when she batted her eyelids flirtatiously at him. Without his complete awareness or consent Harry felt his face settle into a territorial glare; Tom chuckled as one of his arms wound around his waist and pulled him closer.

"What can I get for you?"

"Cappuccino, please." Hermione said.

Ron glanced up at the waitress nervously, looking more than a little bit out of his element. "Oh, uh…same."

"And you, gorgeous?"

"Coffee. Black, please." Tom told her. "And a hot chocolate as well, if you have it, for my boyfriend." The look on the waitress' face as she hurried away was almost comical. Tom kissed Harry's temple and nipped at his ear as the raven huffed. "You're sexy when you're jealous."

"So," Hermione piped up a little bit more loudly than was really necessary, "onto the matter of where we should be staying?"

Harry colored. Tom smirked. The waitress returned with their drinks and then left again.

"You know," Ron piped up, "we're not that far from the Leaky Cauldron-."

"Don't be thick, Ronald! It's too dangerous to stay in any public wizarding establishment! We're all too recognizable, especially Harry."

"A Muggle hotel, then?" Harry asked, not much liking the sound of such an action. He'd never been to a hotel before but he knew that they were expensive. Did they even have Muggle money on them?

"Or a privately owned property in the Wizarding World, though I've no idea where we could go. All of the safe houses were warded by the Ministry as well as the Order so their locations are all known."

"#12."

All three turned to him, wide eyed. "What, mate?" Ron asked him.

"#12 Grimmauld Place. The former headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. The Black family estate which you were left ownership of after the passing of…" Tom trailed off, setting his cup back in its saucer with a soft clink and looking at Harry with appraising eyes. "It wasn't one of the safe houses on the list provided to the Ministry: Kingsley let me read it after a little convincing if for nothing else than to keep my occupied a bit longer. They don't know where it is. So why not there?"

"Snape does. For all we know he's told Voldemort about it already."

Harry's scar prickled and a shiver of static passed down Tom's spine; both exchanged a loaded glance. The dark brunet fingered his cup. "I overheard Mad-Eye and some of the others talking about having warded it against his doing that." He said. "To another point, I don't think we should be saying the Dark Lord's name."

"What? Why?"

"Don't tell me you've developed a sudden fear of it."

"Fear, no, but…names are things of power and I have a bad feeling about invoking his name now that times have changed and the balance of power has shifted." The bell hanging over the door clanked again as a pair of burly workmen in full uniform walked in, taking a seat a few tables away. "Call it intuition."

Ron and Hermione gave him sidelong glances that made it seem as if they worried for his mental health. Harry dipped his head, the sweet smell of chocolate and whipped cream filling his nose as hot steam caressed his cheeks.

"Tom is right." He said. "About Grimmauld Place. Sirius said to me once… that between his father and Dumbledore the number of enchantments placed on it would make it difficult to find a safer house anywhere."

"Well, I guess it's decided then." Ron said after another somewhat prickly pause. "Do you have any Muggle money on you Hermione? Harry? Tom?"

"I've got a fair bit; it's probably all at the bottom though. Give me a moment."

Tom's head jerked up at the same moment that Hermione bent over her purse and the two workmen leapt onto their feet and drew wands from within the folds of their uniform.

"Down!"

Harry lunged across the table and knocked both Ron and Hermione to the ground as Tom ducked a Curse which went whizzing by his head. The tile wall beside them shattered, shrapnel cutting one of the raven's cheeks as coffee and hot chocolate from their upended drinks spilled across the table and onto the floor.

All three scrambled back onto their feet quickly and pointed their wands. The waitress screamed and bolted for the door; a rebounding Stunning Spell from Harry struck her and she collapsed. Tom's Cutting Curse flew wide as his target dove clear, the table he'd been standing in front of falling apart in two pieces as the dark brunet snarled in frustration, Nagini echoing with a rasping hiss from beneath his shirt.

A Full Body Bind Curse from Hermione hit one of the Death Eaters from behind and he fell forwards with a crash into the scattered debris of broken tile and shards of glass.

Another Stupefy from the raven took the other down as well.

Tom kicked the massive blonde onto his back with a sound of disgust as Ron approached the other.

"That's Ral." Harry hissed mutinously. "I should have recognized him: he was on top of the Astronomy Tower on the night that Dumbledore died."

"This one's Dolohov. I recognize him from the wanted posters." Ron reported.

"Forget their names, how did they manage to find us? And what are we going to do with them?"

"It wasn't a coincidence, that's for bloody certain." But how? Harry couldn't possibly, for the life of him, find any reasonable explanation for the matter. They hadn't been tracked. And none of them still had the Trace on them; it broke at the age of 17 in accordance to a Wizarding law which even Voldemort, now in charge of the Ministry, couldn't change.

Hermione kept babbling on nervously about what they should do with their attackers, reasoning that they should Obliviate them, but Harry wasn't paying her words any mind until the moment that there was a flash of instantly recognizable green light and a high-pitched shriek.

"What are you doing?"

Both Harry and Ron started and whirled around. Tom lowered his wand again from where it had been pointing at Ral-now clearly dead-and gave her a look which was quite clearly unimpressed.

"What do you mean?"

"You killed him!"

"Yes." He replied blankly, stare emotionless. "And?"

"We can't just k-kill them! They'll know that we were-."

"I think it's fairly safe to say, Ms. Granger, that they already know we're here."

"They're unconscious! They can't defend themselves! It's immoral!"

"There's no place for morality in war." Tom lifted his arm again, this time pointing his wand at Dolohov, but Hermione grabbed him by the wrist and forced it back down. The only sign of Tom's thoughts on the matter were the shower of black sparks that shot from the tip of his wand in response. "If you can't do it fine, but stay well out of the way of the people who can."

"We can just Obliviate him!"

"Release me."

"Harry! Please!"

There were tears in her eyes as she cast an openly pleasing gaze at him. Silently begging him to talk the other down. The raven looked from Hermione's red face and wide eyes to Tom's slate expression and back again before he sighed and pointed his own wand at the Death Eater instead.

It was horrifying how easily he dragged up the proper intent, though the length of Holly hissed in displeasure as the green light shot from the tip. Hermione let out a somewhat strangled squeak and released her hold on Tom and Ron pulled her against him, grim faced but clearly in agreement with their actions. Harry took a small step backwards, staring at his wand as if he couldn't believe what he'd just done.

Tom's hand fell on his shoulder and squeezed.

"You're going to tell me that the first time is always the hardest, aren't you? Always the worst."

"Not always." He replied. "Then again, I hated my father." He raised his voice to be certain is next words were heard. "We need to leave. Now. There's no telling when more of them might show up."

Ron and Harry both stepped up to him and Hermione, still sobbing softly, did so as well. All four of them turned on their heels and vanished on the spot.