DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
((I'm puting this chapter up before school starts and I get busy again. I think you'll find it reasonably long. Happy reading. Also, sorry about the lack of breaks in the last chap.... my lines went away when I put it online.))
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"Not everyone is meant to make a difference. But for me, the choice to lead an ordinary life is no longer an option."
-Spiderman
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Werewolves could be one hell of an enemy.
"Hide over 'ere!" Amaury yelled, and the two men dragged their incapacitated comrade behind a large boulder. They crouched in its shadow, a blue waver of light cast off from the full moon stretching out on the black soil just beyond them.
"They'll be able to smell us here" Maddox breathed, his heart pounding in his ears.
"You're not as stupid as you look!" Amaury exclaimed with mock surprise. Maddox just laughed. He was finally getting used to the crabby old Frenchman. He pulled his pack off his back, having forgotten he'd been transporting such a heavy burden the whole way. He dug through its contents for a flask of whiskey. He could hear the low growl of a werewolf as it sniffed about. Maddox had quickly decided that if he was going to die, he would die with a drink in his hand. He pulled a Thestral harness out of the way and tossed it onto Amaury's lap, cursing the Thestrals for having flown off and leaving them alone over a stupid dragon. Had the nasty horse like creatures not abandoned them they could be flying out of harms way.
Then something occurred to him just as he reached for the flask. Something Harry had told them one day. He had taken it as ridiculous at the time... but now it may just save their lives.
Maddox could suddenly hear Harry's voice in his mind. "Thestrals won't let you harness them unless what you use has some bit of silver in it. It's just another weird thing about them."
"Silver!" He yelled out, earning a deep growl from the werewolf. He scrambled to take back the harness, and grabbed his pocket knife out. He could hear the werewolf leap up from the ground. He cut the silver loose from the harness. He could feel the werewolf slowly descend upon him from the air. He took the two sharp, ornamental disks in his hands. The weight of the creature was collapsing down on him. He reached up and thrust the small disks into the werewolf's chest.
The creature growled loudly and staggered back. Maddox could feel his own blood mixing with the werewolf's, for the disks had also cut his palms open. He waited, unable to breathe as he waited to see if his idea would work
The werewolf fell over with a loud thud, writing on the ground as the silver's poison spread through its veins. It thrashed violently from side to side. Its motions appeared to slow, its cries faded. And then it seemed to take a collective breath. In a split second it lashed out through the air and flew within centimeters of Maddox's face. Two soft thuds filled Maddox's ears. Then the beast laid still, four silver disks impaling its body.
Maddox sucked in a slow, uneasy breath. "Holy shit" he stuttered, and turned slowly, wide eyed. He looked at Amaury, who was just standing there after having thrown the two disks into the beast's flesh.
"Zat was close" he drawled.
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Hermione couldn't decide whether to let her eyes settle on the childhood tormentor who she had sent to Azkaban several months ago, or her brother who was looking a bit surprised, but even more amused.
"Close the door" he said in that husky tough guy voice he seemed to be so fond of.
She did close the door. Slammed it actually.
"Careful Granger, this is an expensive apartment" Malfoy smirked with blatant sarcasm. His expression suddenly turned ugly, and he began to stand, but Chrome was quicker and had a gun pointed at the blonde man's head in the bat of an eyelash.
"Be a good dark evil wizard and go to bed now" Chrome said in a patronizing tone.
Malfoy gave him a frosty cold glance. "Mark my words, when I get my hands on a real wand, I'll put your ridiculous hulking body in so many pieces they won't even be able to recognize one piece of meat from the other."
"Big talk is all you are Malfoy" Chrome called out after the retreating form of Draco Malfoy.
As soon as Malfoy was out of the room Hermione stormed over to Chrome and stood over him, glowering with a deep fury. "Raymond Paul Granger, what in the bloody hell is going on? You leave with no notice, and I find you in a run down Muggle flat with an escape Death Eater who nearly killed me!"
She was trembling with fury and Chrome shifted a little. Ginny was quietly laughing over the fact that his full name was Raymond Paul.
"Okay... yeah so this probably doesn't look so good..." he muttered.
"DOESN'T LOOK SO GOOD?!" She yelled and something exploded in the cupboard.
"Just let me explain" he offered, and he moved his gun into its holster on his belt, looking slightly unnerved. Ginny couldn't blame him, one of the most powerful witches alive was uncontrollably furious at him, and for good reason.
"You know Chrome, I don't want to hear it. I had thought you'd changed, that you weren't still the same egocentric asshole you were as a child, but it would seem that for once, I am indeed very wrong." She was growing visibly upset. "I don't know why I ever hoped to call you my brother. I'd just assume we be strangers again."
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Harry could feel his muscles scream in protest as he raised his weapon for what felt like the millionth time and launched another assault on the werewolf. It seemed as though injuring the creature wasn't very difficult, but the fact that it was healing seemed to make any chance of victory impossible.
He rolled away from the beast's enraged blow, and countered it with the swift fall of his blade. Harry's arms and legs were growing stiff, his mind tired, and he was now covered in drying blood. He drew in a long breath, and suddenly heard a loud crashing noise from behind him. He spun quickly on his heel to see another werewolf lumbering towards him. "Oh shit" he muttered.
He tightened his grip so hard that he could feel calluses welling up on his palm. He tried to relax his muscles as he readied himself for the approaching assault. He waited until the last minute and leveled his weapon with the werewolf's neck. His weapon bit into flesh and then he spun quickly to thrust it into the werewolf behind him. Both creatures staggered back and Harry took the opportunity to run. "There's no way I can keep this up" he thought as he sheathed the blade and ran full speed through the black forest.
He could hear them behind him and he breathed hard, heavy breaths as he progressed along, leaping over roots and stumping, taking stray branches to the face as he fled. He could hear water up ahead of him, and he began to picture himself trapped between a raging river and two very enraged werewolves. He wondered if anyone else was even still alive.
He broke free of the heavy vegetation and ran down an open hill. He stumbled on a loose root and felt himself fall hard, crashing down on the solid ground with a bone breaking force. He tumbled a ways and finally landed one last time on his back. He groaned in pain and slowly opened his eyes, his head spinning.
He couldn't see straight as he gazed into the cold, deadly night sky. The moon was a white haze to his muddled brain and he tried to remember a time when he thought it beautiful, for now it only seemed cruel and hateful. He heard the werewolves running towards him, and turned to his side, dragging himself along the ledge where he lay. He dug his bruised hands into the ground and writhed across the hard soil, ignoring the extreme pain the seemed to emanate from every bone and muscle in his body. Finally he reached the ledges edge and looked over it, blood trickling down his face in the process.
He could hear rushing water below his and furious growls behind him. He took hold of the ledge's side, and threw himself off.
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Chrome stood up quickly, ready to defend against Hermione's harsh accusations. "That isn't bloody fair" he said to Hermione, becoming angry himself. "It's like you've always waited for me to do something wrong. And why, because I was a trouble maker as a child?"
"A troublemaker as a child?!" Hermione yelled. "Chrome, 'troublemaker' is a far cry from classifying you. You think 'so what, I made my father a nervous wreck and broke a few laws.' What you fail to remember is that you hurt others along the way. I mean, forget our father, you only put him on anti depressants and what not, but he was the least of the people you've hurt."
"You think I don't know that?!" He growled. "Why can't you just forgive me?"
"I DID!" She furiously replied. "And see what it earned me?"
"I took a bullet for this cause! In my frigging gut, and then after that, when you were totally out of it, I stayed. Because I thought I'd finally found a place where I could do some good, where I could pay back my sins."
"So now, what you think they're paid back with a little extra left over and so you head off with a death eater?"
"I never left the cause!" He desperately shouted.
She suddenly felt utterly confused. Either something was going on or he had a terrible case of denial. "Explain" she prompted, and he did just that.
He started by looking at Ginny, his face sad and somewhat apprehensive. "Ginny do you remember a few months ago when you and I were in the Owlery just after Davensport had been attacked?"
"Yes" she said, looking a bit uncomfortable. "It was just before we had to evacuate all the students and transform the school into a full time battle head quarters."
Chrome nodded, "yes, the Davensport attack resulted in such great losses that it made everyone more aware of the dangerous situation at hand; everyone began to see how powerful the Death Eater armies were becoming. It also made Harry see that we didn't have anyone spying on the Death Eaters anymore, that Snape had been thrown out of the loop."
"What does this have to do with the time we were in the Owlery?" Ginny asked confused.
"Well, it started just after you left..."
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((FLASHBACK))
Harry had just entered the Owlery.
"What're you two up to?" Harry teased Chrome and Ginny, not really suspecting anything of them.
"We were starting a hot affair before you burst in" Chrome said with his typical sarcasm.
"Ginny, go see Hermione, she's in her room. You need to help her with something." Harry said abruptly, remembering why he was there.
Ginny nodded and went out the door without looking back, leaving Harry and Chrome behind.
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"After that Harry told me about the need for eyes amongst the enemy."
"Why did he come to you?" Hermione asked confused.
"Because Harry knew I can be very persuasive." He said in a rather cocky manner. "And perhaps a little evil as well. He knew we couldn't just disguise one of our own as a Death Eater, that we somehow needed to control one of those on the inside. So he sent me off to that wizard prison... uh... Azkaban to chose a death eater I thought I could tail, and by tail I mean manipulate."
"Out of all of the options, you chose the Death Eater that I imprisoned?" Hermione grouchily spat in his general direction.
"Well, I didn't know that at the time. All I really knew is that he seemed like the most self serving man I have yet to meet. He makes only one allegiance, and that is to himself."
"So how exactly do you control him?"
"I was getting to that" he grinned. "It's very simple. I take a gun and hold it to his back where no one else can see it. The moment he tries to make a quick move, I'll shoot him. There's no way he can be quicker than me. I mean, he doesn't even have a real wand, just a replica that does basic spells. Dumbledore had this Ollivander fellow make it."
"Ingenious" Ginny chirped, smiling at the thought of Draco being put under by a Muggle device.
Hermione was suddenly looking uncomfortable, and had let her accusatory gaze drop from Chrome's face down to the floor.
"I...uh, need to use the bathroom" Ginny mumbled, not wanting to be present for the sibling argument she felt coming. She knew what that approaching feeling was very well by name, seeing as she had so many brothers.
Chrome directed her to its location, and she hastened her way in leaving the room.
The moment Ginny was out, Hermione raised her eyes to her older half brother to apologize.
"It really just looked very suspicious..." she began, but he quickly cut her off, not the type for accepting apologies with good grace. In the past, if he felt hurt or betrayed it was rather like protocol to have the fellow murdered. Only problem here was that this was his sister.
"Yeah, it looked suspicious so you just went ahead and assumed the worse of me."
"As if you wouldn't have done any better?" Hermione snapped, already aware that the whole thing was not going well at all.
"Apparently you don't think so" he said dryly, and turned his back to her by pretending to look for something in the refrigerator.
"You talk about wanting forgiveness Chrome, but its clear you can't give any yourself."
"Sure, point all the blame at me!" He barked, and she could see his eyes were getting the old "Granger Flame" in them every time they got angry. She had a feeling she was reflecting that blaze in her own eyes.
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Harry hit the water like crashing down onto concrete, but he felt himself fall through, plunging down into the cold, black waters with incredible speed. The icy currents slowed his fall until he was descending to the river's bottom at a somewhat slower pace. He felt his back hit the rocky bottom and drag along a few feet before being stopped by a sunken log. He opened his eyes to the surrounding darkness, and looked up towards the surface. There he saw the shimmer of the moon in the water, a distant blot of light. Harry tried to move his arms to swim towards the surface, but an instant surge of pain informed him he has a few broken ribs. Instead he found his footing on the river's bottom and kicked hard, raising up towards the surface. As he got closer he moved his arms against the incredible pain to pull himself to the top.
He shot out of the water with a harsh cough for air, and then instantly sunk back down with the currents.
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Hearing the sudden silence and mistaking it for resolve, Ginny ventured out from the bathroom and back onto the speculative battlefield.
"Good, Ginny, I'm glad you're here. Let's go, I've had enough of his age old ungratefulness." Hermione snapped as soon as Ginny came into her line of vision.
"Please just relax Hermione. I don't think everything here is quite finished yet..." Ginny beckoned, but Hermione merely turned her back to go.
"Hermione, you can't go out there alone. Have you already forgotten what we saw on the way here?" Ginny asked, looking frustrated.
Images of the bald man being tortured went through Hermione's mind, and she stopped walking. "I wonder what that woman wanted?" She questioned out loud.
"Woman?" Chrome asked, standing up. "Did you say woman?"
Ginny giggled. "What's wrong Chrome, are you that lonely for female companionship?"
"No, it's not that... what did she look like?"
"Tall, long black hair..." Ginny answered, noting the worried tone in Chrome's voice.
"She's been after me... Voldemort knows there's a mole in his midst, and he put her out there to track me down. She doesn't know who I am yet. Or at least I don't think she does."
"That's comforting" Ginny said nervously. A moment of silence passed as they all stood there thinking.
"It's a good thing me and Malfoy were heading out tomorrow... a moment more around here and we'd be goners. Well, not that it would matter so much in the case of Malfoy." He added with an evil grin.
Ginny smiled back at him and Hermione loudly cleared her throat. "I think I'll just go lay down then if I can't leave."
"Right, I'll show you wear my room is if you'd like" he offered, heading towards the stairs. He stopped and looked back to see if she was following.
"Chrome, why do we have to fight like this? I'm proud of what you've done here, and I'm sorry if I have trouble trusting you." Hermione looked deeply grieved that they could never seem to make peace for long periods of time.
"I'm sorry I didn't inform you I was leaving" he offered in his sullen accented tones. A look of understanding seemed to pass between the two of them before he showed her to a room she could rest in while he and Ginny spoke.
It wasn't long before Hermione fell asleep, and Chrome and Ginny were standing alone in the kitchen.
"So, how's old Ronald doing?" Chrome joked with a grin, and Ginny realized how much she missed his rough humor, his corrupt nature. She also realized how quickly her mother would kill her if she knew just where Ginny was at the very moment.
"He's fine" she answered. "You know, he has little to complain about now that you're gone."
He smiled a bit, and then looked serious, catching her eyes with his own. "How are you?"
"Tired" she responded. "I wish this war would just end. I want Harry and Bill to come back, I want Hermione to smile more, I want my parent's hugs to feel warmer. There's no comfort left in this world."
He nodded slightly. "I've missed you" he told her quietly, and she looked up at him with surprise. "You were really the only friendly person to me back at Hogwarts. People don't like making friends with a convicted murderer."
"I've missed you as well" she agreed, glad she could openly confess to this now. "I'm very glad you're coming back Chrome. After all, who will save my life if you aren't around?"
"I'm sure you'll be saving your own life" he laughed. "Wizards who come up against you better be either very powerful or else very crazy. You've got enough fire in you for a whole troop of witches."
"You're really one to talk Granger. From what I gather you've driven even the sanest up a tree."
"I'm still working on getting you there" he said with a fond smile "is it working?"
"Yes" she whispered, and then reached up to kiss him on the mouth.
It was an odd sensation, she felt as though she was growing stronger with every second she remained in his embrace. Kissing him felt both rebellious and comforting at the same time. She had stepped outside the circle of what she was and wasn't supposed to do within that moment, and found a wonderful change from the life she had been leading. She knew she'd never loved Dean, and she began to wonder if she loved Chrome.
For Chrome two emotions were battling out in his head. One was a love for this girl who was incredible on so many levels, and yet could see him for who he was, not just a hard criminal but a man trying to right his past. On the other hand, he felt a deep guilt, as though he was tainting something pure. Ron had told him he couldn't have her, and he may just ruin her life in his selfishness.
He stepped away from her. "We can't do this."
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He opened his eyes to the starry sky. He could feel the sandy shore beneath his back, could hear his shallow, pained breaths. His body was soaked and pained, he could feel every cut and bruise and knew he could hardly move.
The river swept by in front of him, and behind him came a loud rustle of noise. He strained his stiff neck turning to look in that direction. He choked on his own breath as he saw who it was that approached him. Hermione came out from the dark foliage of the ancient trees. She looked dazzling to his tired eyes in the silver lights of the heavens. A light breeze blew her dark hair, and she walked quickly towards him. Soon she was running, and kneeling by his side.
"This is a dream" he muttered to her through pained breaths.
She was kneeling over him, brushing his damp black hair to the side. "Yes, yes, it is a dream. A dream which has brought us together." She smiled sadly at him, taking in his bloodied and bruised features. She wanted so badly for him to be well and with her. It pained her to see the man she so deeply trusted, admired and loved in such a state of pain. "I've missed you love."
"I've missed you too. I fear I may be the only one still alive."
"No, Harry, listen to your heart. The others have survived."
He was silent a moment and then gave her a strained smile that looked more like a grimace of pain. "Yes... Amaury and Maddox have saved us all. Dumbledore was right..."
He trailed off, his breaths growing fainter. "Harry, just hang in there." She beckoned, her voice sounding far away. "Help will be arriving soon. You must endure this. Remember your promise to me."
"I'll never forget" he said stubbornly.
She kissed him on the lips, a light but tender farewell, and then she faded away.
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"Forget about Ron and my parents" she begged, a bright fire in her eyes. "I think I might love you Chrome."
He looked down upon her with a combination of hope and sorrow. "You shouldn't" he insisted.
"I've always been like that" Ginny softly explained. "Wanting or doing things I shouldn't."
"I would never try to hurt you Ginny" he told her, his face emotionless, but his eyes honest.
"That is why I think I might love you."
Suddenly a loud yell came from the upstairs. Both Ginny and Chrome rushed up the stairs towards the shout, Ginny drawing her wand, Chrome reaching for his gun. Chrome nearly busted the door straight off its hinges entering the room where Hermione lay, and Ginny quickly ran to Hermione's side.
"What is it?" Ginny asked, her voice hurried and scared sounding.
"Harry... I just saw Harry. He was injured and alone, and I was so near to him... but it was all a dream." She sobbed at this last part, feeling so shaken by the real feeling of the dream. Who knew where Harry really was, the small comfort she had gathered from seeing him alive dissipated.
Ginny held her confused and frightened friend to her, feeling heartbroken by the sudden frailty of one of the strongest witches alive.
"How concrete was the dream Hermione?" Chrome asked from the doorway, his muscular figure only a silhouette in the hallway light.
"It was so very real. I could feel the dampness of his hair, the sand beneath my knees as I knelt by him..."
"Perhaps you did travel out to one another in your states of unconsciousness" Ginny suddenly offered, wondering if that was where Chrome was going. "It isn't unheard of you know. I mean, even take Harry for example. He saved my dad from dying after seeing his attack in his dreams. Didn't Harry say it was like he was really there?"
Hermione straightened up at this. "You're right, I'll have to research it as soon as I can. Maybe the library will still..."
"Hermione, you need rest!" Ginny interjected with a laugh, though noticing that Hermione still felt shaky and insecure. "I think we all do."
Chrome nodded. "Oh joy, are we going to have a little sleep over then? A slumber party perhaps?"
Both girls chuckled at the idea of Chrome Granger hosting a slumber party, complete with "Truth or Dare" and painting fingernails.
"Listen, why don't you two sleep up here, and I'll take the couch for the night? God knows I'm used to sleeping on a lumpy sofa, after Hermione made me sleep there for an age when I was living with them in Hogsmede."
He winked and swing out of the room, just as Ginny abruptly remembered where they'd left off.
"What's going on with you and my brother?" Hermione asked with teasing suspicion.
"I really don't know" Ginny sighed.
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"I'll never forget, never, never, never" Harry kept repeating, tossing slightly from side to side in his state of unconsciousness. Bill pushed the others away from the prone form of The Boy Who Lived, slipping some cushioning under his wet and damaged skull.
"Wake up Potter" he commanded, and Harry replied with the gradual flutter of his reopening eyes. He looked rather dazed and confused, his eyes darkened in his state of pain and bemusement. Bill tilted Harry's neck back and uncorked a small glass vial.
"Here comes a dose of Heal All mate" Bill warned. "Make sure you get it down, we only have a few of these, but it'll fix you right up as soon is it hits your belly."
Harry felt the sickening substance slither down his throat, and he fought against gagging it up. Soon he felt a series of sharp cracks reverberate throughout his body as his bones and muscles healed, and his skin seemed to tighten for a moment as his cuts and bruises mostly closed up, only leaving shadows of their former selves.
Harry breathed a full gasp of air for the first time since tumbling down the banking. He went to sit up but Bill urged him back down. "You're still weak Harry. We'll camp here for the night."
"But the werewolves..." Harry interjected, laying back down from exhaustion despite his protests.
"All dead" Maddox loudly stated. "Amaury and myself came up with a nifty little plan."
" 'E really isn't as stupid as 'e looks" Amaury added with a slight tone of contempt still present in his voice.
"Alright then" Harry murmured, falling back to sleep.
"Damn, he's worn out" came the worried voice of one of the three females, the British Dylan. She slowly approached him with a bit of apprehension. She had grown up hearing tales of this heroic boy, and his usual appearance always seemed to confirm that title of savoir; tall, handsome, dark and mysterious. At this point she had seen him at his best, and now at his worst. He suddenly looked like nothing more than a young man to her, and she knew they needed to take care of him until he was back to full strength.
"Start a fire to keep him warm" she commanded. "We could all use to get some sleep, so let's get to it. I'll stay on watch with Amandine for the next couple hours." Nobody protested as they quickly set to building camp. Once everyone had drifted off into their nightmarish slumbers, Dylan knelt beside Harry, studying his tired, bloodied and bruised features. She went to pull a blanket over him and felt how damp his shirt was.
"We need to get this off him" she told her watch buddy rather nervously.
"Ooo, I volunteer" Amandine happily whispered, and they both laughed a little.
As they unbuttoned the shirt, a piece of gold jewelry spilled out and glistened in the fire. It was a lion pendant, and its eyes were glowing red, but only just. Little did they know what a blessing that truly was.
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Chrome had his usual bought of insomnia, but he didn't really mind, after all, he had come to think of himself as nocturnal. He was absently flipping through the lousy late night TV channels provided by satellite when a little flicker went across the screen. He narrowed his eyes and flipped the TV off, focusing his hearing.
A quite bump sounded off in the distance, but seemed to echo in his warrior ears. He quickly stood up, well knowing it could just be the neighbors in another flat moving about. Yet something told him it wasn't.
He calmly headed up the stairs for his bedroom where Hermione and Ginny were situated. He listened in, hearing the smooth regularity of their breaths he knew they were sleeping. He crept over to the bed and knelt beside it. Carefully putting one hand over Ginny's mouth to stop any screams, he shook her awake. She woke with a start, but his calming whispers in her ear let her know it was him.
"Ginny, I think we have company. Wake Hermione, be sure she doesn't make a noise."
Ginny could feel his warm breath against her skin, and had the situation been different, she would have been very affected by these states of affairs. She woke Hermione and whispered what Chrome had just told her. Both girls sat up quickly but calmly, and Chrome gave them a knowing smile as he realized how accustomed they'd become to waking for battle.
He pulled the gun in his belt free and gripped it in one hand. "Hermione and Ginny, use magic to apparate Malfoy to Hogsmede and keep control over him all the way up to the castle."
"If they have an apparition tracer they'll just follow us. We can't lead enemies across the shields we have around the castle. It'll set off a panic, besides whatever other damage may ensue" Hermione argued, getting up from the bed and putting her shoes on.
"They won't follow you, I'll distract them" Chrome promised with a slightly excited look on his face. It had been a while since he'd gotten to kill somebody.
"I'll go with Chrome" Ginny quickly offered. "I know Hermione can manage ferret boy on her own, but you'll probably be against a whole ton of witches or wizards Chrome. You can't hold them off without magic."
"Your mother would kill me Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed, but she was already going along with the plan. A moment later she was unlocking the door to Malfoy's room and apparating him away in nothing more than a pair of black boxers with golden snitches flying all over them.
Meanwhile Chrome grabbed Ginny's hand and led her down the stairs. He gestured to the lights and Ginny put them out with a swish of her wand. Pressing his ear against the door he listened to the sound of about a dozen feet running up the steps. One of the people was moving much more slowly, sliding along with a cruel seeming leisure, her high heel shoes tapping along the tiled floor. He knew it was his bounty hunter.
Leveling his weapon he waited until the footsteps ended before his door. Then he pulled the trigger and heard one of his attackers fall. He re aimed and made another large blast hole through the thin wooden door that separated them. He felt Ginny tap him on the shoulder and he moved aside. She blew the door wide open with a destructive spell, and Chrome watched as two of those left standing went flying off their feet. He swung clear of the door frame and shot the fifth one in the face. That just left his bounty hunter. Ginny went to say something, but he quickly held a finger up to his lips for her to stay quiet. He closed his eyes, straining his hearing to realize she was headed back away, much quicker this time. "She's going for help" he announced, and grabbed her hand once more, running for the staircase at the other end of the building. Naturally, the elevator hadn't worked in over ten years.
They ran quickly, and behind him he could hear reinforcements approaching. He threw the door to the stairway open, and Ginny ran through. She looked down towards the bottom and then ran back into the hallway. "Uh... not that way..." was all she said slamming the door shut. "Now what do we do?"
He looked wildly around. They were at the end of the hallway with the enemy closing in on them in either direction. "There is always the window" he suggested. He ran over to the dusty glass window at the end of the hall and shattered it with an open fisted blow.
Ginny ran over and looked down at the alley below. It was so dark and far down she couldn't even make out what was down there. "That's one bloody hell of a fall!" She swore.
"Are you chicken?" He asked with a cruel smirk. She retaliated with a nasty glare and took two steps back. Then she ran and leapt through the shattered opening.
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Hermione walked briskly across Hogsmede with her wand pointed at Malfoy's head.
"I bet you've always wanted to see me like this eh Granger?" He smirked, referring to his scant attire of a single pair of boxers.
"Dream on Malfoy. Gods you're pale."
"A pale god you mean. Most women prefer to refer to me as 'silver' actually. The perfect silver hair, silver eyes, light silver skin."
She rolled her eyes and they continued on, his walking tenderly over the rocks barefooted.
"Who goes there?" yelled out a drunken voice, taking them both by surprise, though Draco managed not to show it. Neither answered and the slurred question came once more. "Who do you plea your allegiance to?"
"Damn it, he's a Death Eater!" Hermione exclaimed, not sure what to do next.
"Clever work Granger. Now I can finally see why a Mud blood like yourself was top of the class. You're a regular genius."
She ignored the overwhelming urge to choke him as the cloaked figure began to step out of a deserted alleyway in the distance and walk towards them with an illuminated wand.
"Give the proper response Draco" she urged him, muttering under her breath.
"Why should I Granger?" He defiantly responded, standing still as a statue.
She growled at him under her breath and cast a hex on him that soon had him hopping about from being pinched by what felt like 1,000 little crabs.
"AHHH... we pledge our allegiance to Dark Lord, may he live forever!" Draco barked out, and Hermione ended the hex in return.
"Ay, may he..." responded the voice, but it was growing increasingly closer. "Who are ye?"
Hermione's mind quickly tired to come up with a plan when she realized how stupid she was being. After all, she was with Draco Malfoy, and most of the Death Eaters still thought him loyal to Voldemort, they had not yet heard of his betrayal towards the Dark Lord. He would probably let them by.
She held her breath as he shined his wand in their faces.
"Put that bloody wand down you Muggle loving fool" Draco cursed with a strong hint of indignation in his haughty voice.
"Oh, yer Draco Malfoy ain't ya? Sorry 'bout that.... say, what're you doing in only a pair of boxers?"
Draco gave him a scathing look. "Do you mind? We have places to go, things to do."
"Yar, sure sure. But who's this girly here with ya? I don't recognize her as Death Eater. I'm supposed to take all of those unloyal off to trial." He said 'trial' with an evil grin that clearly indicated it was no court of justice he would bring his prisoners before.
Hermione and Draco responded at the same time, and as chance would have it they gave two very different answers. While Hermione opted for "cousin", Draco went ahead and declared her his whore.
"Yer cousin is yer whore?" The drunk asked with a fair amount of confusion. "Well that's a bit twisted... arg, just git along already."
They didn't have to be told twice, and they disappeared off into the darkness of night, Draco limping over the sharp stones and Hermione cursing him for calling her a whore.
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Ginny felt herself spiraling through the air for one wild moment, and then she crashed onto the next roof top, scuffing her knees in the process. A moment later Chrome leapt over her and landed soundlessly on his feet.
"Show off" she spat, and he said nothing, merely running in the expectation that she would follow. They crossed the roof top in an all out sprint, and when they came to the end, Chrome quickly went over the side and began to descend a rusted ladder, and Ginny was right behind him.
Hand over hand they made their way to the bottom, hearing the sounds of approaching enemies. Ginny could feel her blood pulsing through her body, her nervous breaths wracking every muscle of her. Suddenly she felt her hand slip and her chin hit a bar as she proceeded to fall.
Chrome watched her teeter off the ladder, and he grabbed the ladder tight with one hand, swinging out to catch the falling girl with the other. He wrapped his arm around her waist, snatching her from mid air and pulling her to him.
"Damn you're heavy" he teased, watching her pale face regain color from the near fall. A few moments later they were on the ground, running out of the alleyway with curses galore at their heels.
The both skidded out into the road only to hear a loud engine start revving up from down the street. "This is not my day" Chrome groaned, and he looked wildly about for an empty car on the dead street that was worth riding in. He spotted something that looked new and fast to his obscured nighttime vision. It wasn't before long before he'd busted the door open, disabled the security alarm and had it hot wired.
Ginny looked at him with disbelief as he gestured for her to buckle in and floored it down the road, just missing an enemy vehicle coming after them.
"I never knew Death Eaters used cars" he breathed as he turned on the stereo system.
"Me neither... I guess You- Know- Who is finally using Muggle inventions to further his cause." Ginny started pressing buttons on the door panel until she found one that would put the window down. She leaned out and sent a spell at the vehicle behind them, her words lost in the wind. A loud pop signified a popped tire and a screech of breaks was only background noise to the victory whoop Chrome let out.
"Keep it up Gin, I'll try to lose them."
"We need to lose them completely so I can apparate us both the hell out of here without them following" Ginny urged, leaning out the window with another spell. Chrome just grinned and watched her work from the corner of his eye, feeling absolutely giddy over this girl, whose fiery red hair was blowing in the wind as she let off a lethal attack on the enemy. Feeling giddy was a very new emotion for him, but at the moment he was enjoying it and had the overwhelming urge to kiss her again.
"Hey Ginny, sit back a moment, I'm about to lose these geeks." Chrome drove out into the middle of an intersection, causing breaks to slam and cars to crash into one another. Then he stopped dead in the middle, as though waiting for something. All four enemy vehicles were almost instantly upon them, and Chrom was merely sitting there, revving the engine. He pushed the gas peddle to the floor and started driving straight at them, rapidly gaining speed. He laughed like a mad man, and Ginny dug her nails into the leather seat she was in, wondering more than a little if she was wise to trust him.
It looked like they were going to crash head on, but at the last moment the enemy vehicle swerved to the side. They all made sharp turns to follow, and just as they were almost 180 degrees around, Chrome slammed the breaks, causing the whole car to skid around, and then he zoomed by them the other way.
"That should buy us some time" he laughed, looking ecstatic about the whole thing. "They shouldn't have tried to come after us by car, I'm a top notch car thief. Best you don't tell Hermione."
Ginny was still a bit shaken by the whole experience to say the least, and could only manage a little laugh.
Chrome was frowning then, looking back in the rearview mirror. "Hmph, they're a ways back, but not far enough... say Ginny, how long does it take to diapparate?"
"Only a second really" she mumbled, finding her voice. "Of course, we need to be touching, and my mind and wand both most be set for the procedure."
"Okay, good, get ready because I'm going to drive us off the bridge, and we can disapparate mid air. No way in hell will they be able to trace that."
"ARE YOU MAD?!" Ginny roared, half wanting to roll out of the car and away from his insanity, and at the same time, enjoying the thrill of it all.
"Yes mam" he smiled. "Okay then, here we go!"
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Hermione and Draco were almost to the apparition barrier when a loud "POP" resounded through the night air. Before them were Ginny and Chrome, both laughing hysterically.
Hermione froze in mid step, shifting her eyes back and forth between the two of them, not sure how to react to the oddness of the current predicament.
"What is wrong with you two?" She asked as their fit eventually subsided into silence.
"I thought we were dead for sure!" Ginny chuckled, and Hermione was straining her brain very hard to understand what exactly was funny about that. "We drove a car off a bridge!"
"Okay... this makes no sense..." Hermione muttered, feeling as though the both of them were under some weird spell.
"We disapparated just before we hit the water" Chrome explained. "There's no way they'll be able to trace where we went... or find the car for that matter."
"What car?" Hermione asked, but the both of them just went suspiciously silent at the same time.
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((Yep, a lot of strange things happened in this chapter. More strange things promised for next chapter. As always, feedback is both appreciated and beloved.))
Mrs-osbourne's-class: It's great to hear the my writing style has kept you interested enough in this story to continue to not only read but respond, especially if you typically stick to canon fics. Obviously this had a lot of...eh... unusual things which take place, but I suppose that's just because it's a massive collaboration of whatever is influencing me at the time. Thank you for your constant support.
Mabelmione: Well, now you can see how they were able to defeat the werewolves... I'm not sure if you remember a couple chapters back when they discussed the silver on the Thestal's harnesses, but most things in the fic happen for a reason (unlike the first installment "The Darkest Hours"). Hehe, hopefully the use of reoccurring coincidence or "fate" if you prefer makes the plot line more solid. Thanks for reviewing!
Merlana: I hope this chapter was interest keeping. As for the dividers between sections, as I said earlier, the lines disappeared when I put on , but I think I've remedied that. It was great to get another review from you.
Cyress: Thanks for reviewing, any review is a good review.
Sweetfiregirl: I'm glad you think it's getting good, I think the action picked up a bit in this chapter. Thank you for taking the time to review.
Gryffindor620: Hermione didn't quite stun Draco... at least he had to walk through Hogsmede in his boxers though. Maybe I should start making my characters more violently impulsive for you ;).