Disclaimer: I dont own nuthin. It's all hers. God bless her for making such a cool world.
The week passed in relative peace. Malfoy was kept from harming anyone and most people now knew that he could be beaten, so all of a sudden, he was not nearly as feared as he had been before people gathered the courage to hex back. Girls occasionally tried to take some of the boys aside for 'private lessons in DADA'. Neville would blush and decline. Ron would grin and suggest that maybe after the tournament and Harry suggested that that they speak to Professor Lupin, even going so far in one case as to lead the girl to his office and politely arrange with the now confused girl, for her to have extra tutorials two evenings a week, before making his escape. The girls were left alone after Ginny put an overly aggressive sixth year in the hospital wing with a broken hip. Hermione would just smile and finger her wand.
By the next weekend, the atmosphere was fever pitched. The Minister for Magic, Amelia Bones had turned up before lunch, with her Auror bodyguards, after all, her Niece had made the final eight.. A few reporters could be seen wandering around and there were dozens of galleons being wagered by students in some heavy betting. Hermione was still a favourite but both Ginny and Ron were also ranked highly. The fact that Neville had cast a total of one spell in two matches and it was a shield charm, meant that most were unsure of what he would be like. Harry was considered the dark horse.
The first match of the day was drawn as Daphne against Harry and while Harry was popular with the bookies, more than a few students had learnt the hard way, why they shouldn't cross the ice queen of Slytherin. Her cool demeanour and ruthless methods had not made her many friends, but meant she was well left alone. They were checked by the Auror and then assumed their stance. Harry attempted to use a tendril of Legillimancy to pick up her surface thoughts, though all he could see was a wall of ice that seemed to encompass her mind. Nodding to himself in satisfaction, he waited, tensed as the signal to begin was given and immediately he erected a silver dome shield. It meant that he couldn't go anywhere, but to his knowledge, only three spells could pierce it at its current strength. The Killing curse wasn't allowed and only he and his friends knew the other two. He was more than a bit surprised however when her barely legal castration hex slammed into the shield. The some of the crowd and teachers looked more than a little shocked, though they didn't have time to do much more as Harry dropped the shield and immediately counter-attacked. His wand flicked and clove the air as a volley of spells launched from its tip. Explosion Hexes, Bludgeoning Hexes and a pair of high power Cutting Curses streaked towards Daphne who didn't even blink, rather she quickly raised her own Silver Dome and let the spells bounce off. Her own shield didn't hold up nearly as well as Harry's though, the last spell of the Volley punched through the weakened shield and tore a gash across her thigh. Her return salvo was equally as harsh. A ball of purple fire was batted away by his wand tip while she calmly ducked under his arcing bolt of electricity that made the shield around the duel crackle and wobble under the power of it. Then Harry sidestepped an ugly grey-green curse and flicked his off hand. A throwing knife sunk deep into her shoulder causing her to scream and drop her wand. Harry quickly summoned it and stunned her.
The crowd had been cheering furiously. The intensity, power and brutality had gotten them worked up and money quickly changed hands while medical attention was given to a now conscious Daphne. Harry calmly collected his knife and grinned at Daphne. "Well done, I liked the way you mixed up your attacks. If you want to get really nasty, mix in a banished knife or explosive potion. Most shields wont stop a physical attack. They are designed to stop magical ones and the time it takes to transfigure a barrier allows your opponent time to attack more."
Daphne winced as she sat up and then nodded. "I know, but with your speed, you could have dodged a banished weapon. I didn't have the time to conjure one."
"Which is why you should have a few handy, just in case" He grinned. "The standard Auror grade wrist holster can be modified. You expand the wizarding space and can fit a dozen throwing knives in there. Then you have them when you need them. Of course, you'd have to break the ministry controlled anti-tampering charm on the holster, customize it to your magical signature, adapt the launching charm." He drifted off smirking a touch. "I'm sure you could give it a go."
Daphne fixed him with a piercing gaze. "Now, why the hell aren't you in Slytherin?" Harry's smirk grew slightly before he walked away.
Susan was nervous. Her Aunt, her last remaining relative was here, along with members of the Ministry and several professional duellers. She would be duelling Neville in front of them. Neville Longbottom. Bloody Hell! Not only was he the tallest man she had ever met, but even his muscles had muscles. He'd come back from the dead, incredibly good looking, modest, enormous and polite. She couldn't help but crush on him a bit. Then there were his friends. She'd known each of them before they'd vanished. She'd even cried at their funerals. Now they were back, larger than life. They showed a power and aptitude with magic that she could only dream of, not to mention that they were all good looking, well built and even Malfoy was afraid of them. Now she had to fight one of them. She'd seen how they'd duelled before; they were fast and brutal. Neville had revealed nothing about how he fought though; he'd played on Lavender's and then Nott's weaknesses. She had no idea what he'd use for her but she wasn't hopeful of predicting it. Maybe some kind of new spell, or, or, or, she had no clue! Making her way to the centre where the Auror checked her out, she noticed that Neville had a gentle smile on his face.
"Don't worry too much, it's nothing personal." He whispered to her, before moving to his position. She didn't think she could be more nervous. He had the mind games working better than a Slytherin on a good day.
At the signal to begin, she whipped her wand out and hurled off the most powerful stunning curse she could, while he simply stepped to the side, smiled and tapped his teeth with his wand.
"Fontis Suspiro"
Then he changed. In the blink of an eye Neville was gone and in his place was the biggest bear she had ever heard of was in front of her and looked angry. Standing over fifteen feet tall with massive claws, it roared in primal fury, a sound that was echoed by the screams of terror from the crowd. Out of the corner of her eye, Susan could see that her Aunt had gone white and was fumbling to draw her wand. With a ground shaking 'thump' the bear was closer, on four legs now. Less that a foot from her face was its maw of what, a very tiny part of her brain that was not given over to blind panic noted, were very sharp long teeth. As it bellowed it's fury at her, the same part of her brain noted that it's breath smelled not of carrion or death, but of mint. Then her mind gave up and she passed out cold.
When she awoke a few minutes later, she felt that she was being carried. Opening her eyes and looking up, she saw Neville smiling softly back at her.
"Sorry about that, I wanted you out fast and I didn't want to hurt you."
She just nodded faintly, her mind locked up still. Indeed she barely registered that she was being laid onto a stretcher or that Madame Pomfrey was clucking furiously as she began to check her out for any sign of damage. Of which there was none, aside from a severe case of shock.
Neville sat back with his friends, doing his best to ignore the way that the other Gryffindors shrank back from him as he passed them.
"Well done Cub" Harry praised him. "Innovative. You do know that you will have to register when you finish school though?"
Neville nodded and took the offered bottle of butterbeer from Ron. "I know, I was planning to anyway, it's not like a Kodiak bear would not be noticed if it was sneaking around anyway."
The others just nodded and then began cheering as Ron exited into the duelling area with Terry Boot. Ron had his fighting face on, a mask of blankness, not even his eyes giving him away. Terry on the other hand appeared to be thinking hard. Occasionally he'd dart a look at the intimidating redhead, then look back at his hands. He appeared to be taking deep breaths, preparing himself, though some of the more devious students of body language noted that there appeared to be something of an act to this. He was hardly the subtlest of Ravenclaws.
Upon being given the signal to start, Ron immediately launched a blistering array of curses. Explosion Hexes, Bludgeoning Curses and even a trio of Stunners in a nice spread that nicely predicted the direction that Terry was diving in. the moment the signal to begin was given, Terry had swallowed and dove as hard and far to his left as he could. Behind him, the barrier shielding the spectators sparked, hummed and wobbled under the sudden brunt of hexes. Rolling to his feet, Terry ignored the pair of stunners that slammed into his chest and began casting in a smooth, pre-practiced combination. His wand whipped through the motions as spell after spell came flying in Ron's direction. Ron dove as well, while he whipped up a shield of arcing electric blue energy.
"What in Merlin's name?" Ron momentarily let an expression of shock and surprise show as he saw his stunners hit Terry and do absolutely nothing. Regaining control he concentrated and returned fire. A ball of purple flame spun through his shield, in clear defiance of the laws of magic and detonated off of Terry's shield. His wand almost seemed to blur as he began launching a continuous series of spells. Nothing too powerful, he didn't want to kill the Ravenclaw, though he was curious as to how he was standing after the stunners. Spells he knew from experience were powerful enough to knock a baby dragon cold. With a flick of his free hand, a second wand was launched from the wrist sheath and caught. Then, keeping the barrage up on Terry, who was, by now, too busy shielding and dodging to return fire, he tapped his eyes with the wand as he muttered a quick series of detection charms. Blinking a few times to get used to the new sensation of being able to perceive magic, he focused on Terry who was diving aside from a cutting curse and busy trying to erect a new shield.
"Ah, that's how he did it. Cunning bugger." Ron was impressed. "Hey Terry? Where did you get the two ounces of Dragon heart from?"
Terry grinned momentarily before throwing up a golden shield to deflect a beam of orange energy. "I've got an uncle who owns an apothecary in Marseilles"
Ron nodded and then grinned wolfishly, "You know this means I don't have to hold back don't you?"
Terry paled slightly and nodded. "Wouldn't have it any other way. Winner buys the butterbeer?"
Laughing to himself Ron nodded before twisting aside violently to avoid a bone-shattering curse. "Done." Then he crouched and seemed to accelerate as he moved. His fluid wand movements and catlike grace merged into a stalk as he closed on Terry, a torrent of spells leaving his flicking wand tip. No less than a half dozen spells crashed into the Ravenclaw, sending him flying through the air. His wand torn from his grasp and a broken leg were among the results as he crashed into the ground, out cold.
The crowd as silent for a few moments then broke out into cheers for the show they had just seen, though some were shocked into silence at the sight of the shard of bone protruding from Terry's leg. Madame Pomfrey darted onto the field, muttering under her breath about the foolishness of duelling and the need for boys to show off. Pushing aside Ron, who was crouched and checking Terry's pulse, she levitated him onto a stretcher and carried him off the field. Making his way back to his friends, Ron filled them in on the question he knew they wanted to ask.
"Dragon hide potion."
"Of course" Hermione hit her forehead with her palm. "It imbues the drinker with some of the resistance of a dragon. But how did he drink it? He couldn't have had it before the match, the Auror would have noticed it."
Ron patted her gently on the back. "He had it in his mouth already but hadn't swallowed, I thought it was nerves, but he swallowed when we were told to begin. Pretty cunning if you ask me. Wouldn't have expected it of him"
Hermione nodded. "If you get a chance, can you get a copy of the book he got it from? Or let me borrow it for a few days? I've always been intrigued as to how it works"
"Yeah Ron." Ginny smirked, "You did just agree to go on a date with him, it would be the perfect time to ask."
"Oh bloody hell" Ron sank into his seat, head in his hands.
After the Headmaster had received word from Madame Pomfrey that Mr Boot would be fine and that he only had a few broken bones, he called the final match of the day up. Ginny and Hermione made their way to the centre where they conferred with the Auror. Pulling a curved white blade, around two feet long from her hip, Ginny handed it over to the Auror with an impish grin.
"But that's a Basilisk Fang!" was all the stunned man could blurt out in shock. Sudden silence washed over the crowd and Molly Weasley almost fainted. The pair of girls could be seen talking to the Auror, with Hermione growing increasingly irate.
"Of course I know what it means, I helped make the bloody thing. Yes there is residual poison in the fang, that's the point. I don't mind her using it, so what's the problem, we've both agreed to it and the other issues." Huffing, Hermione fixed a glare on the Auror who was white with shock.
Nodding faintly the Auror stepped back and cast Sonorous on himself. "By prior agreement, both contestants have agreed to the following terms for the duel. Body armour is permitted. No Unforgiveables, and nothing immediately fatal. No other conditions."
The crowd was silent for a moment as the statement broke through, then the uproar began. Molly Weasley could be seen yelling at Arthur. Remus Lupin and most of the Hogwarts staff had paled. Filius Flitwick had fallen off his chair and Madame Bones was whispering furiously with the head of the Unspeakables. While this was occurring, the two girls moved into position. Hermione closed the final strap on her gauntlet and drew a Roman style short sword while Ginny launched her wand into her hand from its wrist sheath.
"Oh my" The Headmaster looked shocked. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that Miss Granger has Philippan, I thought it had been lost."
Around him, people looked confused until the Head of the Unspeakables leant over. "Did you say Philippan? Well, this shall be interesting indeed." His calm words were belied by the way his eyes narrowed as he leant forward to watch the duel.
On the field, the two girls waited, tensed and ready while the Auror who was judging quickly made his way behind the spectator barriers. At the signal to begin, the two leapt towards each other, sword cleaving through the air at the same time from their other hand magic spat. They quickly settled into a lockstep, not two feet from each other, from their right hands, hexes, curses, counter-curses and shields sprang forth. In their left, their swords darted, licked and wove as each tried to get to the other. While both their hands moved, the pair spun, wove and ducked to avoid what would surely be crippling blows to a lesser fighter. They did not however back away. Indeed, as small cuts started to appear on their arms and legs, it only spurred them on until Hermione had to duck while spinning to avoid a vicious slash to her neck. As she came up, the balled end of her long hair that was tied in a braid slapped across Ginny's face, leaving behind a large gash. The surprise of the new weapon coming in to play was all the edge she needed to push Ginny's sword out wide and then jump, her knee connecting with Ginny's jaw a fraction of a second before a side kick send her sprawling, leaving a panting, sweaty and trembling Hermione to claim victory.
Raising her hand to Neville, he banished a vial of a purple, frothing potion to her, which she immediately uncorked and swallowed before shuddering faintly and gasping in relief as her shaking stopped.
"Basilisk venom antidote," was all Neville needed to murmur to a very interested looking Madame Pomfrey before she began checking over first Ginny then Hermione, now looking more and more angry at the very idea of competitive duelling.
"Envenomed weapons, blasting hexes, burns, cut muscles I don't know why this was ever allowed. I'll be having words with the Headmaster about this, mark my words. Now both of you will be at the very least, spending the night in the hospital wing, this isn't open to discussion, you both need medical attention, bone mending potion, restoratives, Miss Granger requires more anti-venom, not to mention a purging agent and both of you need blood restorative. In all my years I've never seen anything like this. Really, duelling at this level simply shouldn't be allowed for students, no matter what their history is like." As she carried on, she was busy conjuring bandages and securing both girls to stretchers before, without interrupting her monologue, she flicked her wand and moved the stretchers over to where Terry was reclining on his, chatting merrily with a still shaky Susan.
"Now that was a duel, I thought I might have a chance against Weasley you know, had a plan and everything. After seeing those two, I'm beginning to think I never had a chance, ah well." Terry grinned brightly then winced as he shifted his leg "At least Weasley agreed to having a butterbeer. Can't say I'm not jealous of you though Bones, I mean, did you see Longbottom in the first round? All those muscles, and he was very attentive of you, I must say."
Susan just blushed.
It was evening and the five, now relaxing in their common room, were talking idly.
"I don't get it, why don't we bring Luna in? She's one of us!" Ron looked confused.
"It's simple Ron" Hermione turned to look at him. "It isn't our Luna. Our Luna went with us to the ministry. Our Luna was part of our team. This Luna has never learnt to control her abilities. I mean, sure, she's a bit distracted, but without the oath circle we formed, she doesn't have the stabilising to bring her out of her trance. She's been stuck there since her mother died." She sighed sadly "It is terribly upsetting, but we can't bring her in, not to the same level. We wouldn't be able to ground her, reassure her like we did. She doesn't have the training and without the focus to help her, she has no reason to change." She hugged Ron tightly. "Luna is dead. She took everything that Tom hit her with and smiled in the face of death. She led him into the trap. She volunteered, remember? She knew it was her time. I'd bet a dose of post-cruciatus that she knew that we would be leaving our reality afterwards and she couldn't come with us. No, this Luna is a nice, vague, girl who can't understand us, just as we can't understand her. I'm not saying we shouldn't protect her from the bullies in her house and the school, but we wont be able to re-create what we had."
Ron nodded slowly, obviously thinking hard. "Yeah, it's just, ya know? I owe her for Brighton and for the third siege. I know we don't owe each other and there are no debts between us, but, it's hard. I miss her."
Neville leant forward and placed a large hand on Ron's shoulder. "We all do mate. We all miss her but don't let what she did drag you down. Any of us would have taken her place if we could. She's safe now. She is with her parents and is happy. Don't begrudge her that."
"I don't, it's just. I miss her." Ron scrubbed at his eyes. "She only wanted one thing when the war was over. She wanted a daughter. That's all. It didn't matter if it was hers or adopted. The rest didn't matter, but she wanted a little girl. She talked about playing in the garden when she was little and wanted to see another child that happy. It's just not bloody fair. She went through so much and never got the one thing she always wanted." Curling up on the couch, he let Hermione guide his head onto her shoulder. Clutching at her, he let out the grief that all of them felt. "It's just not fair. We all got to see everyone again and not her. It's not fair"
A bleak silence fell over the group and they remembered what and who they had lost. Neville was hugging Ginny as Hermione comforted Ron. Harry stood and leaned on the fireplace.
"No more. I wont let it happen here as well." His eyes seemed to glow faintly as he regarded his friends; his quiet words had startled them into attention. "I wont ask this of you, but this world, our new home needs to be kept safe. They deserve the peace we never knew. If a new dark wanker wants to rise up here, then we take him down. Hard, fast and without mercy. I wont let this world slip into the Hell we knew."
The nods of his friends were all that he needed. A hint of a smile touching his lips as he picked up his butterbeer, a renewed determination filled him. He had something to live for. He had a purpose.
A/N: Well, that was fun. One more chapter with Duels to go then on with the story. I know some people dont like them, but, bad luck -smirks- They serve a purpose, or at least, they do in my deranged caffine infused mind.
Five house points to the first person to guess what Neville's spell was..
Cheers
Finbar