Ye Old Disclaimer: Harry Potter and associated milieu, characters, and situations are owned by J.K. Rowling and her licensees. This is a work of fan fiction, produced solely for enjoyment. No infringement of rights is intended. J.K. Rowling owns it all, I am just playing with the Story. No money is being made by me in any way shape or form.
Chapter 10, All Good Things…
Harry lay in the common room of his tent finishing his morning routine, push-ups while his mind spun with the work ahead of him and his voice ran the count.
"Fifty…" he grunted while falling to the floor breathing heavily. As was his custom since the beginning of the summer he was only wearing his boxers and his sweet ran in rivers down each of his sides. He rose slowly and took the clothes on the couch and dressed himself for his morning run. He always liked to wine down his morning exercises with his runs; it cleared his mind, allowed him to think clearer, and kept him in shape. All good things.
He through his shirt on, running shorts, and started putting on his sneakers thinking of the things they had got done in the last few days. Thanks to Fleur, who Harry always liked, he had made some inroads on a few of his personal projects like the poisons and potion detectors and the Ward Stone Matrix, his own personal creation. It was still a long way to being testable but she proved a lot of his theory was sound. It had been a busy couple of days, and last night he and Bill had made the discovery that would hopefully change how this war would end.
Harry walked out of the tent and made his way out of Bill's house deciding to take his run on the beach below the cliff face off where the cottage sat. It only took him a few moments to find his way down by a well-worn walkway from the cliff top to the beach below to start his run.
What he was planning was stupid, insane, and possibly the only thing that would work. The last thing he wanted to do was lead more friends into harm's way, but the fact remained that if he went they would follow him regardless unless he cut himself off from them completely. As much as he wanted to, he was not sure he could. What was the phrase he heard a while back? Teens thought they were immortal, ten feet tall and bullet proof. Harry though, he felt neither, he truly felt his mortality. As his heart beat increased with his run he steadied his pace and evened his stride getting his pace. He discovered that with proper breathing and a steady pace he felt like he could literality run forever.
With each thump of his heart Harry reveled in the feeling of his life's blood pumping through him. Soon enough it all would end, he didn't fear death really. He was not exactly looking forward to it but he did not fear it. It was almost a certainty it would come within the next year, and if not the next for sure. It really wasn't anything he could put his finger on, just a feeling he had. In a way it felt like a head long rush into his grave with each day that slipped by, and each day he felt he was not doing enough. His night terrors were getting worse because of it and he hadn't slept a full night in longer than he could remember. The only thing he was thankful for was that at least Riddle was not playing with his mind anymore. No these were good old fashion nightmares. He'd take those over Riddle's visions any day.
Truth of the matter was he was scared that because of the loyalty of his friends some of them were not going to make it through this war. He had accepted his fate, but he worried for those he cared for. The biggest problem was he couldn't tell them they couldn't fight. His whole life was spent with everyone telling him what to do, how could he possibly tell them they can't fight for their family, friends, or loved ones? It was what he was fighting for, how could he deny them the choice to fight after how everyone treated him? His answer was he couldn't, and it felt like a little bit of him died with that knowledge. All he could do was prepare them the best he could, surround them with trustworthy people, and whenever possible take the hits himself.
When they were training in the D.A. he noticed that everyone enjoyed the spirit de corps and with hope being a precious commodity in these times he decided he would further that ideal. However, with his estrangement with Dumbledore he had no intention of continuing with that name. No, he had decided that instead he would follow in the footsteps of his father and his legacy. They would call themselves the Marauders Vanguard.
Up ahead he saw that the sandy incline turned a bit rough before the path ended. Harry picked up the pace.
He was running full pelt when he reached the little cliff and took a running leap to dive off and transformed into Cloud. He spread and pumped his wings gaining altitude sailing above the waves and flew out along ocean taking in all things around him with his sharp eyes. As he flew over the great waters spread out before him he banked in the stiff breeze thinking of how things have gotten to where they were now.
It was shortly before the beginning of forth year that Sirius had caught up with him and shared the secrets he and his father had uncovered to become an animagus. There were several ways to become an animagus, specialized transfiguration rituals, potions, ect, all ministry approved. However, none of them were within the grasp of pre N.E.W.T. students. There was one way that was, and it was an old ritual used by the Native Americans in the States, they were still using it today. His father and Sirius had discovered references to it when they were researching it. It was not a British Ministry approved method because it banked heavily on the inner animal of the wizard to be unleashed and there were control issues with the transformations during that first time as the egos of the wizard and animal battled for dominance. Harry, with Sirius help had done the ritual that summer and never regretted it. Also, like his father and Godfather, he never bothered registering himself. It was one of the secrets that could save his life and he never saw a reason to play fair when no one else was. It had already played a huge part in his freedom this summer.
His form was a hawk, a Goshawk actually. When he first transformed he was brown and tan but his feathers were now a steel blue along his chest with a nice sky blue along his topside. He had two characteristics, instead of a white stripe over his eyes as was common his was jet-black, and his eyes were a dark emerald green. He preferred forests to the open air, but he knew that was his form's preference. He flapped his wings several times and entered a soft glide circling the area looking about noticing every rabbit, squirrel, and hare take to cover knowing he was about, but not knowing he was not hunting. Them anyways.
Harry helped Neville through his transformation as well at the end of last year when they joined forces. After they discovered Neville's form and he won his inner war it came time for the names and Harry outlined the Marauders ideal. Each named themselves as long as it had something to do with their abilities, form, and had to be fun. Since Harry was a flyer he chose his own name, Cloud. Neville chose Two-Mauls and after a short wrestling match with his form, Harry never disagreed with his decision. His paws were definitely Maul like, and felt like it.
Tonks on the other hand chose not to do the Ritual saying she had enough forms to be going on with. She playfully stated she wanted to be known as Ripples, and neither of them could deny it was typically Tonks in all regards. Like the original Marauders Harry felt it fit all the criteria, it was playful, had something to do with her abilities, and was definitely Tonks.
He dove skimming the waters by inches for a just a bit before he opened his wings and rode the current higher before he began his next pass.
He reached out with his claws while he skimmed the waters and after a quick dive and catch, rose to the cliff face with the first fish for his lunch later. After dropping it at the tops he made a few more passes catching a few others before he felt he had enough for everyone if they wanted it. Once he settled on the top of the cliff he transformed back doing some stretches before he allowed himself to sit and relax to calm his breathing and come down from his work out. Flying looked easy but it could wear you out if you did it a lot or flew for long distances.
While he was resting his thoughts drifted once again to the Vanguard. He was willing to bet that Fred and George would go in, Bill and Fleur where already in. Hermione was almost a certain and he could possibly bring in Susan and Luna. His problems came with Ginny and Ron. He knew Ron better than most and there were several things against him. His jealousy, laziness, and bigotry where the main keys. He let out a sigh, it was always painful when you allowed yourself to see the truth of things but there it was; no help for it. However, he was not sure he could exclude him with him and Hermione finally making a go of their relationship. It was something to think about.
Then there was Ginny and here Harry was puzzled. Last year during the D.A. she did well magically and at the Ministry she did all right but other than that he did not know much about her. Hopefully Tonks was wrong and she was not still harboring a crush on him. He hoped to never use any of them in active battle roles anyways so maybe it would be all right. His sole intention was for everyone to learn to defend themselves, have a secret animal form that only they knew about, and a support structure of people willing to watch each other's backs. Maybe it would be fine then, he only intended for himself to fight from now on, this was a 'just in case thing'. Hopefully. If he was honest with himself he was still not sure what he was going to do with this, he just knew that they needed every advantage they could get to survive.
Harry picked up his catches and started making his way toward the cottage his mind still turning over his thoughts. Regardless he had nine, maybe ten watches to work schemes into and that many earrings to design. Not to mention the potions to brew for their rituals for their forms. As he entered the house heading for the stairs he wondered if any of the old D.A. might want to continue under the new guise. It was something to think about, right now he needed to get caught up with what he had, maybe after he talked to Hermione she could help him work out all the details. Planning was never his forte.
As soon as he entered the tent Hedwig flew from her perch and landed on his shoulder. Harry took a moment to rub the side of her face before he started cleaning the fish and prepping them for a slow cook over the coals in the fireplace. Occasionally he handed her some of his fish which she nibbled from his fingers before nudging his head with hers to show her appreciation. After a few moments Hedwig flew to her perch while Harry wrapped the fish in foil and laid them close to the coals. After that he through one of his robes on and she flew back to his shoulder as he walked into his workroom.
He took a magnifying eyepiece from one of the drawers which had a head strap to keep it in place and adjusted it to fit on his head. Closing one eye he started looking at the minute runes. This current one was for a poison detector and/or potion detector. He had heard from the Twins last year that they had some problems with minor love and lust potions and Harry never wanted to find himself in that position. He was also not sure if the Headmaster would not stoop to such levels to control him, at this point he was not taking anything for granted.
"Hedwig, would you get me the small etcher from the shelf please?" he felt his owl launch herself away while he examined the small crystal in his hands. He still needed to lay all the identification runes on each facet. Later he could take samples and apply them to each rune so each rune would be able to identify the properties of the poison or potion. In a way it was a variant of his earring, but instead of dark energies, he was looking for similar compositions of the potion or poison. It was still untested but that was what this was all about. He felt Hedwig settle on his shoulder and held up his hand without looking retrieving the tool from her beak and began etching the runes carefully.
"Thanks girl."
He felt her nibble on his ear while he worked. Harry smiled; Hagrid certainly did not do him any harm when he chose Hedwig for him. He swore she was smarter than he was and they had grown very close this summer. She always helped him with his runes.
As always he lost track of time while he was working the difficult identification runes until he heard Hedwig hoot softly. Harry paused a moment to listen to the old clock toll the hour and realized he had been doing this for far longer than he should have. He removed the eyepiece to rub his eyes and stretch. He turned to look at his owl to notice she was looking at him with concern.
"It's alright girl, just have a lot on my plate you know?" She blinked at him, which made him smile.
He rose stiffly to check on the fish and found them done. After a moment to carefully pull them from the dying fire and set them on the table to prepare the rest of his lunch, his mind once again going over the discoveries he and Bill had come to. If it panned out, and it would be months before they knew for sure, it explained a lot of strange things. Everything but the power the Dark Lord knows not…he had yet to come up with that and he was damn sure it had nothing to do with love.
He needed to get out of here for a while, for the last few days he had been cooped up here at Shell Cottage working on one project after another trying to get them all done. It was the longest he had been anywhere since he started going on the run. Hearing the sounds of bare feet he looked up from his plate and noticed Dobby, dressed like a butler with Harry's house shield on his right breast, straitening up a few things he had left about and shook his head. Hermione was going to kill him when she found out, unless he somehow got her to listen to him before the hexes started flying.
He made Dobby a plate and placed it at the table while he continued to eat at the island. Dobby did not sit down to eat until he was sure that all the little things out of place were back where he considered them to be their rightful places. At least he was able to talk him into wearing a uniform instead of that damn towel. Bonded though he was, Harry was not going to have him denied his clothes, though it took a while to get it all sorted out.
He sighed, he did have to admit, there was far more to the little guys than he first believed. He just hoped Hermione would listen to him when he tried to tell her.
Too much was going on, too much for him to handle alone. Harry looked at the clock thinking. If he drove straight on he should be able to make Luna's by six after his meeting. It would be a day early but he needed out now, he was going nutters trying to do everything himself like this. It was just too much, besides, Luna was always great to be around when things got tough. She just had a way of making everything not seem as bad as it was. He thought for a moment of going to Hermione's but decided against it. The last few times he went to her house she was never there so she would most likely not be there this time either.
Nodding his head he told Dobby he was going to pack the tent and be on the road for a while. He cringed when he replied with, "Of course Master Harry, Dobby will be here." No matter what he said he still could not get him to stop calling him that. He changed into his road wear thinking that at least Winky was not about to get a double dose, he still was not sure how he let Dobby talk him into bonding with both of them but could not deny they both looked a lot better for it, especially Winky. She had stopped drinking and even if she had to wear a blouse and skirt uniform she was by far happier than he had ever seen her. Hermione would just have to deal with the situation, especially since he had to. She would understand once he told her the history Dobby did about House-Elves.
xxxxxx
Harry through his leg over the bike and took a look around the park. It was nice, several picnic areas and benches. Well maintained lawns and most of the trees where of great size giving shade from the scorching sun on this hot day. His eyes rose from the parkland to the tree branches looking for his guide and found her after a moment. She was looking at him then looked down below her. There sitting on a bench reading what looked like a small novel was the person he was to meet here. He couldn't help but chuckle at her.
Amelia Bones kept her hair in the tight bun as was her custom from the two times he personally saw her but it was her manner of dress that made him laugh. She was dressed in a nice summer dress that he was pretty sure was popular back in the thirties but was incredibly out of place here in the park full of the non-gifted. She drew quite a few looks, some appreciative, some baffled. Harry shook his head; he had yet to meet more than handful of wizards or witches that could go unnoticed in the normal world. It seemed Amelia was no exception to this. Though, he drew a few looks himself in his Wizard Punk look.
Her summer dress was white with little blue flower print spread through the garment. He noticed that had this been the thirties, she would have blended in nicely, however since most of the women around were dressed in tight shirts and shorts she stood out like a sore thumb, he did too but the glances sent his way were more disapproving than odd. Still, he was used to it having spent most of his time like this all summer. He took one more look up at Hedwig before he sat opposite of her holding out a small brown bag. She looked up surprised taking in his appearance raising an eyebrow.
"Lemon Drop?" His felt the smile on his face widen when she snorted at him.
"Are you serious? I thought that was Albus's line."
Harry chuckled. "I keep them on hand to just get a rise out of people. Next time I see Riddle, I am going to offer him one. The look on his face would make a great poster." Still chuckling Harry took in her appearance again shaking his head. "I love how most wizards and witches try and dress like the mundane. Family vault?"
A slight smile tried to tug at the edge of her mouth. "Storage actually. And what pray tell is wrong with my dress? I have always liked this one."
"Nothing really, you look like you stepped out of an old black and white. If this were an old black and white, you would have blended in well, invisibly. Look around though, most people here dress more…modern I guess. Still, it is better than this one wizard at the World Cup who came in a woman's night gown."
She laughed, Harry for a moment was actually stunned for a moment that he got her to laugh. Like McGonagall, she had a stern aura about her that made him think out right laughter might have been impossible. It made him smile.
"Yes we know about Archie Simmons. Since then he has taken to wearing them even in Wizarding areas." It took a moment for them to stop chuckling.
Shaking his head, Harry asked, "How's Susan's Mum?"
Amelia kept her smile. "Well, she was discharged yesterday and given a clean bill of health. It was just a mess working the dark stunner out but she is good new. She and Susan wanted me to tell you thank you, and I would like to thank you as well. My niece means a lot to me."
He nodded. "It was my pleasure to help out. Ever find out why they attacked you?"
He watched as her face took on a stern look. "A combination of wanting the Bones Fortune and me eliminated. Fudge won't be a minister for much longer if I have any say and though I am not particularly interested in the position for myself it is possible for me to be nominated."
"Madam Longbottom mentioned you would do well. Then again, compared to Fudge, it's hard to do the job wrong."
She gave him a single nod at his comment. "Why don't we get to the meat as it were? You wanted to meet to go over some things?" Her tone was all business.
Harry nodded adopting a stern expression of his own. "Several. First thing, I am pretty sure you won't tell me anything but I would like to know what the Ministry is trying to do to stop Riddle and his merry band of psychopaths. Second, I was emancipated and am pretty sure that Dumbledore will have it buried and I was wondering if you would look into it. Third," Here Harry pulled out a packet of papers in a vanilla envelope handing them to her. "I would like these things looked into and hopefully some answers gained. Quietly if it can be done. If my suspicions are correct I don't want anyone to know but me in case I need them to hold over his head."
Amelia nodded taking the packet. "After you saved Susan, I will see what I can do. As to the Ministry, you're right; I can't say anything as far as what they are doing. I would like to but it could comprise security." He nodded; he didn't think she would tell him anything but at least it was for the right reasons. "I will say we are not doing everything I would like to, but we are trying within certain limitations. As to your emancipation I will see what I can do if it was buried."
Harry opened his mouth to reply but stopped. He felt a hard thump through his boots. Looking around he took notice that others were also looking around having felt it as well. It was then he heard the booming crash. Far down through the park at the edges of the roadway he noticed a mob of people appearing to be panicking running about all over. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw the Dark Mark race into the sky and ignite becoming the symbol that most in the magical world feared.
Pulling his wand he vaguely heard Amelia rise beside him. "Go Madam Bones, get out of here!" He took off for his bike.
"And what the Hell do you think you are going to do Potter!"
Harry looked over his shoulder with a wild smirk on his face and shouted, "What else would I do? Throw myself recklessly into battle with little thought of personal safety! Bring backup quick though; I usually need SOMEONE to save my arse when it gets going!"
With a small jump he leaped onto the back of his bike and slammed the throttle back, the magic in the motorcycle sensing its riders need immediately roared to life throwing flames from the tail pipe and smoke from the tire as it began spinning rapidly. It only took a moment before he found himself barreling head down the road at breakneck speeds into the fray.
xxxxxx
"Hmmm." A slim pale hand pulled long wheat colored hair from the side of her face to behind her ear. With her head slightly cocked to one side she listened. Somewhere close something was emitting a loud roar, and it was getting louder. Luna frowned.
"Curious…" She had only just finished bathing and dressing when she first heard the noise. Barefoot she walked down the spiral stair case that ran through the center of the old tower putting the noise out of her mind for just a moment so she could think of other matters, dinner. That was until she reached the ground floor and heard the roar rise and drop quickly seeming from just outside several times. Curiosity reacquired she walked to the door opening it to look out into the front. What she saw was not what she expected.
Sitting out front of her home was some sort of two-wheeled thing. She was pretty sure it was something muggle except for the eye like thing in front flashing on and off franticly. It wasn't until her eyes moved to what was draped over it that she realized that the something was actually someone.
"O Dear…" She rushed forward to the thing and to the person who was unconscious on it. The jacket was dragon scale, though she did not recognize the style, it was however badly damaged. Once she was next to the thing she realized the person was male despite the long hair in a bloody braid. He had a nasty wound to the side of his head, blood was running down his arms and the thing he was on was soaked in it. She was looking at his face when she realized she knew this person and felt as if the blood that was all over him was her own from the chill it gave her. It was Harry.
Thanking the fact her mother had laid the ward to prevent the Ministry from detecting her wand she pulled it from behind her ear and gave it a flick. Harry's body rose before it floated beside her as she rushed him into the house. As gently and quickly as she could she laid him on the couch in her sitting room and began to take off his clothes to get a better idea of his injuries. She was no healer but most of his wounds appeared to be minor, he just seemed to have a great many of them. Once the jacket was off she removed his shirt and started on his trousers to get access to those on his legs. He was soaked in addition to his injuries and smelled of salt making her wonder what had happened to him. It could be almost anything considering his tendency to get into trouble. Her eyes took on a cloudy, dreamy look as she looked into his aura that surrounding him, it was not the strong vibrant one she had seen flare to life on the train, it was barely visible at all. Worse, she couldn't feel him.
It took several hours to seal the many cuts on his body and remove all the various bits of metal, stone, and wood splinters that had somehow found their way into his flesh. His body was more black and blue than fair from only he knew what. The worse was the injuries to his back and sides but thankfully the jacket seemed to protect him a great deal. His legs took the worst from the bits of things she pulled from his flesh. She tried several warming charms and wrapped him in blankets once she had him cleaned of all the blood to fight the cold that had him shaking. At least, she hoped it was the cold, she really had no idea how much blood he lost and did not know how to brew blood replenishing potions, they were due to cover them this year, not that it would help him at the moment.
The side of his face looked horrid and the swelling was starting. She was just wondering if he could possibly need more medical attention than she could provide. St. Mungo's would have been best but would he be safer there or here on his own? She did not know and felt the indecision of what to do.
Half the city was inflames now and it had only been about ten minutes. Ten minutes of him driving at neck break speeds. There were about half a dozen Death Eaters on brooms behind him throwing curses as he ducked and wove his way through balls of fire, electrical discharges, wreckage and the dead. It was the worst battle he had ever been in and really set home in his mind like a hot spike just how little they cared for the life of others. The Giants they set lose on the city seemed to not care about him, only destroying as much property as they could. The broom riders though, they seemed pretty determined to kill him for their master.
He jerked on the wheel and leaned into the impossibly sharp turn almost seemingly to run his body parallel with the road as he cranked on the throttle. He seemed to turn on a dime and shot down the new road that hopefully lead out of town, he was hopelessly out matched here and the best he could do was to lead them on a merry chase. If they were trying to kill him they weren't killing others, though it made some of these maneuvers really tricky. He grunted when he felt barbs of something shred into his right side from an explosion, worry about it later.
A quick look behind him showed that they were unpracticed on brooms, not one would ever make a house team, though they handled them well enough, just not enough for his dare devil tactics. Still, they were getting way to close for his comfort. He needed to get this out of the city and hopeful somewhere he could deal with them or at least whittle down their numbers. Two near misses caused the street to either side of him to erupted upward almost causing him to lose control of the bike making him wonder if his saving people thing was really worth it after all.
She heard the frantic flapping of wings. Looking up from her vigil of watching Harry Luna saw his owl Hedwig fly in through and upper window and practically dive-bomb her wizard. She looked at her with her large amber eyes and hooted mournfully from the back of the couch where he rested as she took her own vigil. Her feathers where ruffled with a great many where bent and some of her plumage was blood soaked. Concerned Luna began trying to smooth them out looking to see if the loyal owl was hurt when she realized the blood was not hers. Her theory was supported by the look of her talons, which were stained red.
Humming a soothing tune she took the rag she used to clean Harry's wounds. She began trying to groom Hedwig who surprisingly did not fight her but continued to watch Harry. It was odd to find an owl with such devotion as she seemed to display toward her owner but considering it was Harry, she mused it would be considered normal. Her eyes drifted back to Harry wondering what had happened to them and wishing Hedwig could tell her.
In the side mirror he caught a glimpse of one of the riders behind him lining up a shot. He had very little room to maneuver on this street. Several of the cars that were parked alongside were burning from hexes or curses sent down it from the Death Eaters. It was looking bad for him. He chanced a second look while he plotted his next move hoping for a miracle.
Seemingly from nowhere he heard a screech break the noise of burring vehicles, the roar of his engine, and the shouts of his pursuers. The Death Eater who had a shot on him was the first to discover what it was, Hedwig.
His snowy owl dove like some kind of deranged feathered demon, talons first right into the side of the Death Eaters head flapping and scratching away like mad. Her efforts were rewarded only moments after her attack when the he lost control and ended up diving head first into light pole silencing his outbursts with a sickening crunch.
'Hedwig One, Death Eaters Zero.' He thought as he pulled harder on throttle only taking a moment to send a quick stupefy over his shoulder with is left hand. It missed like all of his shots so far but is scattered the remaining riders for a moment allowing him to make his next turn which hopefully would see him out of the city and into areas with less people and give Hedwig a moment to disappear. As he made his turn he realized the error of his judgment…
The sounds of moaning seemed to shock her awake. She was not even aware of falling asleep but looking around she noticed it was evening going on full nightfall. Blinking away the fudge of sleep she moved from the chair she was in to the ground next to Harry. He was sweaty from fever and his skin was very warm to touch. As quick as she could she rushed into the kitchen to fill a bowl with clean water and grab a clean rag to try and cool him.
The extent of his injuries hit her again when she pulled off the blankets to apply the cool washcloth to him. His bare chest was badly bruised and two of his ribs felt odd. Being very careful she slowly ran the cool cloth over him. He led a far harsher life than I ever guessed. These scars are old and no story of him in Hogwarts really accounts for them. Her clear crystal blue eyes looked sadly into this fevered face. Why? Why do these things happen to you? What happened to you Harry? His moaning continued softly as she tried to cool him lost in her own thoughts. He was afraid of something, she could feel it now, of what she did not know, worse his aura was doing something she had never seen before. Instead of radiating from his body as was normal but it was spiking from him at odd angles, seemingly random shots here and there. Also she had never known anyone who's aura changed color as much as his did. She had noticed seven different auras, sometimes they mingled, mostly they didn't. She allowed her eyes to focus clear, hopefully whatever was affecting his aura was not also affecting his body or mind.
He barely shot between the giants legs when he took a step to crush him. He could feel his heart pounding within his chest from the close brush while he fought to keep control of the vehicle. Order members finally arrived along with half the ministry's Aurors but giants were almost impossible to stop. Up ahead was a small opening in the fallen buildings; he slammed the throttle back making for it. He had already taken a few cutting and bludgeoning curses to his sides and back, he would most likely have died by now if not for the jacket from Sirius. Taking a moment to look behind him he noticed he still had three of those damn broom riders dogging his tracks. He really needed to get out of here.
Swerving to avoid a burring dumpster he shot through the gap and into the open finally. Directly head of him he could see the burning remnants of the park. With a little luck he might be able to hit the highway soon. Flying through the burring tree's he avoided by a hairs breath a few of the residences that had survived the last twenty minutes, someone who looked like a bloody Kingsley helping them, and a great many curses. Those flying Death Eaters where being really persistent. He was starting to feel a bit light headed. It was time to leave. It only took him a few more moments and thanks to a few burning buildings he made it out of town without the warring sides seeing which way he went. Once again he gave the bike all the gas she could take and rocketed the hell out of here. Looking over his shoulder he did not see any riders on brooms or anyone following him. Just to be sure he thought he would take a detour before he headed out to Luna's. No need to bring the bad guys there.
Harry seemed to calm down quite a bit once she started sitting next to him. She was not sure but with the slight smile on his face she wondered if he might not have been able to sense her here. She started humming and stroking his hair as her mother had once done for her when she was sick and he seemed to calm down quite a bit though he was still pretty feverish. She looked over him again, other than a few weak ribs she could not feel any broken bones in his arms and legs. He was just badly bruised and weak.
Still undecided and hoping she was not making a mistake she laid down beside him stroking his brow and humming. Feverish or not she always felt better when her mother would lay with her when she was sick. Hopefully he would wake soon. She knew he needed something to eat, she could make him a soup, but unless he was awake it would do no good. Another magic she did not know but knew of was the healers charm that allows sleeping patients to eat but remain asleep. Sighing she could only hope he would wake soon.
"COME ON!" He allowed his eyes to look down to his gauges and realized that he was going a lot faster than he thought he was. In his side mirrors Harry could see one Death Eater trying to rain curses down on him. Some of the other motorists were getting flak from the expositions creating all kind of havoc on the roadway. He had no idea how they found him but they did about three minutes ago as he was arrived in this town. His heart started pounding worse as he realized a traffic jam was ahead.
He cut the wheel hard shifting his weight to throw the bike into a controlled slide, tearing away at the throttle the whole time. Just to his right was a bridge and if he was quick enough he could make it across and lose them amongst the tall buildings. The loud roar of the engine assaulted his ears along with the screams of the people around him and the sound of his tires. The smell of burnt rubber and blood hit his nose as he did everything he could to hold the bike in the slide and catapult him down the road and over the bridge, it was a close thing. His arms felt leaden and he was tired. Still, he managed to just pull it off, though he was not sure if it was him or if the bike decided it wanted to. Either way, he wasn't going to complain. He made for the safety he hoped would be reached across the way.
Looking over his shoulder he did not see the Death Eater that was hounding him. He was just starting to think he was going to get away when the bridge gave a great lurch. He felt panic starting to grip him as he realized this was all a set up, they wanted him on the bridge. Great sounds of snapping steel sounded all around him but nothing prepared him for what he saw ahead of him.
He could feel his eyes widen though his vision narrowed to just ahead of him. Time slowed down to a crawl as he watched the bridge seem to twist about before the segment of road he was on lurched upward, and the segment in front of him started to drop. All the cars and people to either side of him slowly started to slide forward, with his speed though there was no stopping him. As the gap widened his vision was filled with the dark blue cold waters below and his ears rang with the screams of those around him and the splashing of debris falling into the river below. He hit the button for the bike to fly but nothing happened. A quick look showed him most of the control panel for the bikes magical functions was damaged. There was really only one thing he could say as the situation really came home to him.
"Fuck me."
"CLOUD!" The sound was coming from Harry's watch. Strange, "Come on Harry…" The voice was female though she did not recognize it. She moved from Harry's side and picked it up before climbing back onto the couch with him. His fever seemed to have calmed down a bit which pleased her.
"Um, hello?" It was obviously magical, maybe it was a friend of Harry's who knew what happened. The other voice was quite for a moment and Luna turned the watch around wondering if she had to do something to make it work, what, she really had no idea.
"Who are you and where is Cloud?" The voice was very stern.
"Hmm, I suppose who you are is a better question actually. Are you a friend of Harry?" The voice was coming from the face of the watch so she laid there looking at that. The voice was quite a moment again.
"Where is he? Is he hurt?" She could hear a different voice in the background. It sounded male though it was garbled and she did not recognize it either.
"We seem to be not be answering each other's questions. It might be advisable for us to do so considering we both want to know things. I am a friend of Harry, he is here with me. Who are you?" She looked at Harry noticing how pale he was.
"Ripples. Is Harry okay? Is he injured? We have been looking everywhere for him for the last few hours." Luna looked back to the watch; the voice called Ripples was panicky. She frowned again, whatever happened to Harry must have been pretty bad.
"I am not a healer and only know a little bit. He had a lot of cuts and is pretty badly bruised all over. Currently he is asleep and very pale, I was thinking of floo'ing him to St. Mungo's though I don't know if I should. Harry has a lot of enemy's and I don't know where they are or if they could reach him there."
"You haven't tried to give him a blood replenishing potion have you?" The male in the background shouted. Not that it came across clearer she recognized it.
"Neville?"
It was silent for a long moment before she heard him more clearly. "LUNA?"
"Hello Neville. No, I don't know how to brew them but he has lost a lot of blood and might need one or two. Can you make them or should I take him to St. Mungo's?"
"NO! Do not take him to St. Mungo's. Harry should have a few potions in his jacket. Look in the inner pockets and look for a special vial. He said he would label the special blood potions for him." It only took her a few moments to find them and feed them to him. She noticed his color improve almost immediately which brought a smile to her face. She also noticed that he had several others that were broken in his pocket and wondered if the blood she cleaned was his or the potions. Hopefully the potions.
She heard the Ripples woman start talking again once she was done. "Did anyone see Harry arrive where ever you are?"
"Not that I know of, I was alone when he arrived and Daddy won't be back until the end of the month." She replied.
"Okay, keep that watch on you and we will contact you after a bit when it's safe to move him."
"Sure."
Authors Note:
Thank you all for reading and Please Review. I am very honored by all the reviews and responses to the story. Hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as you have enjoyed the others. Updated: 5/17/11