Chapter 13: Through the Night

The faint cold inside him increased and made his senses freeze up as he found it suddenly difficult to breathe. An overwhelming sense of despair seemed to uncoil within him like a snake as it stretched and started crushing him from the inside

And then he heard the screams.

"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead –,"

Harry panted as he fell to his knees. Others looked at him strangely and in consternation before they started to shiver themselves. A few started clutching their heads and muttering incoherently while others curled up pathetically on the floor, their drinks forgotten as they fell to the floor and shattered.

"Not Harry! Please…have mercy…have mercy –,"

His mother's voice echoed wildly in his head as he tried to gain some semblance of control and beat back the past nightmares that were assaulting him and many others. He tried to get up shakily but lost balance as he fell back down, the icy chill that gripped him too hard to ignore.

The sounds of someone stumbling from a room – a door bursting open – a cackle of high-pitched laughter – a flash of deadly green light.

He gasped as another memory assaulted him mercilessly, totally unaware of the dark shadows that were lurking outside the bar.

"SIRIUS!" A younger fifteen-year old Harry Potter yelled, "SIRIUS!"

"There's nothing you can do, Harry –,"Lupin held him back with his strong arms, preventing Harry from diving into the veil after his god-father.

"Get him, save him; he's only just gone through!" Harry's voice was pleading and desperate as he thrashed against Lupin's vice-like grip.

"There's nothing you can do, Harry…nothing…he's gone…"

More memories…each more horrible to relive than the last…bringing the same fear and grief with them.

Hogwarts broken and damned, its structure crushed from within as it crumbled pathetically. His only home shattered and destroyed, just like everything else that had been previously good in his life.

Harry swallowed and tried to open his eyes which he realized were closed. He felt as if he were submerged fully in a tub of ice as he struggled to gain control.

Ron and Hermione's bodies laying side by side, both dead, their eyes gazing lifelessly upwards towards the heavens.

Harry, using all his willpower he was so famous for possessing, stood up. He stumbled before grabbing hold of a nearby table. He froze in horror and almost lost his grip as he spotted a Dementor near the entrance to the nightclub, just outside the door.

The whole club was lying and moaning on the floor. No-one seemed to be able to raise a resistance. He wondered where Remus, Sirius and James were, whether they were strong enough to fight back…

A different memory overcame suddenly, one in the middle of his sixth year, the first time he'd killed someone.

He stood over the body, which was shrouded in a black cloak. The victim's arms lay uselessly by his side while his head was twisted at a sickening angle after colliding with the brick wall behind him. He was thrown backwards from Harry's Disarming spell…

Not even a supposedly dangerous spell…

Laughter…Cold and high.

"How does it feel, Harry?" An icy voice asked him. He could only stare in shock, "You've killed someone. Taken away a life."

"No," he whispered.

Laughter…cruel cackling.

"Yes," Voldemort gleefully told him. "It seems we are more alike than I first thought, Harry. It seems we have another title to add to your growing list of names. The-Boy-Who-Lived, the Chosen One and now –

– Murderer," Laughter again.

He shook his head. Now wasn't the time. He needed to concentrate. He looked outside and saw dark shapes. He didn't know how many there were but he had to take precautions.

He walked with great difficulty through the club, trying to block out the images and noises assaulting him. He did…just. He was determined now, he had purpose. This made it easier to do.

He almost cried in relief as he spotted Remus before it was replaced by worry when he realized the werewolf wasn't in a good shape. He tried to get through to Remus but had no result as his eyes were unfocused as he relived a past horror only he could see.

Though if Harry had to wager a guess, he'd bet it may have been the night he was bitten.

The whole club was in a state of absolute disrepair. It seemed Harry was the only one who could even garner some sort of willpower. But then all these Muggles were trying to fight off a force they couldn't even see…

Some were crawling aimlessly on the floor, trying to escape but not knowing where to go, while others were in almost catatonic states. Harry breathed in again as another memory assaulted him but he concentrated implicitly on finding the other two.

But then despair washed down on him again as he remembered the copious amounts of alcohol Sirius and James had drunk. They wouldn't be able to help him with this; their defences would be even lower.

Harry sighed. It was time for him to play hero alone.

Thank god that this time he was of age and wouldn't be brought up on charges for defending himself.

He shuffled to the entrance room, stumbling and avoiding the Muggles who were all helpless. Each step he took closer to the door, to the Dementors, made the icy cold grip on him tighten and the memories to come at a more alarming rate.

It felt like cold water was being poured down his throat as it nearly fully clouded his senses before he willed himself, pushed himself to get outside.

He made it outside finally and resisted the urge to sink down onto the pavement in relief. With all his might, he cast a spell on his glasses to make him see better in the darkness before looking around.

Five Dementors.

That's all there were. Only five.

They didn't seem to be doing much. Just gliding around. But their strength must have been incredible for only five of them to affect Harry this badly. They must have been some of the older, ancient ones of their kind.

There was no one else in the street so naturally he was noticed straight away by the Dementors and they started to slowly converge on him and his lungs started to freeze up as he struggled to breath.

He shakily raised his wand and started to cycle for any happy event that could help him but struggled to do so. But then the strangest thing occurred…

The Dementors, seeing the wand, stopped moving.

Harry couldn't see their expressions, in fact he'd never seen one of their faces before, but it seemed like they had found what they were looking for, as they slowly backed away from him and the mist in his mind cleared.

He watched confused and warily as the Dementors glided away from him into the darkness, though they seemed to be fighting against their natural instincts. They looked like they were being controlled. But if they were, then that meant…

Suddenly one of the Dementors seemed to abandon any notion of disappearing back to where it came from and went gliding, no hurtling, towards Harry. Screams of terror, flashes of light, and bodies of the dead filled his mind as he raised his wand.

"Expecto Patronum!"

A weak mist spiralled out from his wand and created a precarious barrier between him and the Dementor. The Dementor thrashed against it and Harry felt it hiss in irritation and pain as it withdrew.

But it was enough.

Harry's vision cleared from the existence of his weak Patronus and an undeniable spark of warmth seemed to combat the cold pit of ice in his stomach. He found it much easier to concentrate as he raised his wand again.

"Expecto Patronum!"

This time the effect was much different. Harry's stag galloped out proudly, shining like a beacon of hope as the Dementors cowered and fled before it. His Patronus disappeared and Harry breathed a sigh of relief as his body was fully regenerated with warmth as the cold inside him dissipated.

The streetlamps on the sidewalk immediately flickered on, and shop lights burnt brightly again in the darkness. People stopped being assaulted from their mindless torture and were disorientated as they tried to determine what was going on as some slowly stepped outside.

Harry stood stock-still in the middle of the street, as he looked around carefully. Something wasn't right, something was off. The way the Dementors were retreating before told him that, almost as if they were off to report to someone…

A flash in the corner of his eyes caught his attention and Harry turned just in time to see a vicious black light cannon into a car not twenty feet away from him, parked on the side-walk.

The result was devastating.

The car exploded in a ball of flames and Harry was knocked backwards from the force. Screams filled the air as people fled and another similar black light crashed into another car, causing it to similarly burst into flames.

Harry ran back inside to the nightclub, somehow managing to avoid being trampled by the horde of people who were running in the opposite direction. He squinted as he tried to spot Remus and he spotted the familiar threesome who were near the back.

"Remus!" He called out.

Remus looked up and seemed relieved to see him. Now that he was closer he noticed that James and Sirius looked completely out of touch with what was going on and their eyes were glazed over. A sure sign they were drunk.

"What's going on?" Remus asked him.

"We have to get out here!" Harry stressed the words. As much as he was loathe to run from Death Eaters he didn't want his friends getting caught in the cross fire.

"Hey, Harry calm down man. You need to relaaax," James slurred, clutching his shoulder.

Another car explosion was heard.

"Whoa! Fireworks! James we have to see them," Sirius said, looking and sounding equally smashed.

"Shit!" Harry cursed, "Bloody idiots are pissed out of their heads,"

"Harry, are there Death Eaters out there?" Remus asked urgently and worriedly.

"Yes," Harry said shortly, trying to think of a plan.

"But why?"

Why indeed, Harry thought grimly. He shook his head slowly, "We have to Apparate out of here," He told Remus and moved to grab a hold of the two boys.

"We can't," Remus's voice stopped him. He could hear more and more screams echoing from outside and the club was nearly empty of all its occupants.

"Why not?" Harry asked harshly.

"They're drunk, so there's a serious chance they might Splinch themselves. And Side-Along is out of the question. Apparating while drunk can cause serious damage to the mind," Remus informed.

"My name's Sirius," Sirius cheerfully told them.

"Do you know a Sobering Charm?" Harry asked in desperation and growled when Remus shook his head.

"I can cast a Calming Charm on them. It'll make them less…volatile but we still can't Apparate,"

Harry told him to do that before running to bar area. They needed to get out of here, so Harry was going to find some resources to help him.

Crisps, plates, chocolates…these things wouldn't help him. Forks, spoons… A kitchen knife…Yes, he thought. He grabbed a couple and put them in one of the loops in his jeans so it was easy for him to withdraw.

What else? He asked himself.

Alcohol.

Perfect for a distraction he decided as he grabbed himself two bottles and shrunk them down so they were easier to carry around. He placed them in his pocket.

He went back to Remus who seemed to have done his job as he supported a less vocal James on his shoulder. Harry nodded to him as he did the same with Sirius and they made their way out.

It was chaos in the street. Flames lit the sidewalk where cars had burned and people were rushing away. Harry and the others were near the back as they shuffled away to safety. Sirius was fairly heavy and Harry was travelling fairly slowly. His quarry didn't seem inclined to make the job easier for him.

Remus was fine though. Being a werewolf his super-human strength allowed his to carry James with much less problems. James was also much more docile than his best friend.

They kept walking as lights blared and people shouted mindlessly until suddenly Harry heard a sharp whistling noise and only had a moment to process it before he shouted "DUCK!"

He and Remus fell to the floor quickly, pulling their quarries with them as a black light flew overhead and smashed into a building causing its side structure to come crumbling down in a pile of rubble. Harry got up quickly but froze when he heard a command issued from behind him.

"STOP! It is them!" There was no mistaking that silky voice and Harry turned round and came face to face with five cloaked figures wearing white masks.

He heard shuffling behind and felt Remus stiffen with fear while James and Sirius groaned and complained about falling to the floor but Harry ignored them as he focused on the figures before him.

They all had their wands drawn as they approached them. The street was more or less cleared where they stood. Their robes were of darkest midnight and they were in a triangle formation. The one in the middle however had distinctive markings on his mask that stood out brightly, clearly signifying the man's importance…

An Inner Circle Death Eater.

And there was no mistaking the aristocratic swagger of the man, or the silvery blonde hair that flowed down to his shoulders.

Lucius Malfoy, Harry though viciously.

Unfortunately they were headed right for them and James had finally noticed. His face contorted with rage as he spotted them no doubt fuelled by him being drunk and he shouted.

"Death Eaters! I'll kill 'em!" He tried to lunge forward but Remus had the presence of mind to hold him back. However Sirius seemed to agree with what James had said and started forward as well.

Harry grabbed hold of Sirius and hissed to Remus, "Stun them!" Remus looked reluctant until Harry reiterated, "They're going to get us killed,"

He compiled but as far as the Death Eaters were concerned they had heard every word and were looking at them in what Harry thought was mockery. It was quite dark, but the spell on his eyes was still working so he could see fairly well.

"Let me handle this," Harry told Remus as the werewolf kept his friends slumped positions upright.

Two on five weren't good odds. Especially with him and Remus having to defend two incapacitated teenagers. But if he was on his own…

The four Death Eaters looked like the sub-standard lot Voldemort regularly had in his command. He wasn't too worried about them…despite the happy-go-lucky attitude a lot of them had with Unforgivables.

No, it was the one in the middle. Lucius was no slouch with the wand and even though it wasn't his duelling skills that had made him a high-ranked Death-Eater he was still very competent with a wand.

But at the same time, he was a very arrogant fellow…

"You'll have to excuse these two, they're a little too inebriated too understand what they're saying," Harry said calmly as he stood at the front, his wand gripped tightly in his right hand, ready to use at a moment's notice.

It was a rather surreal situation. Here he stood with five Death Eaters in front of him, all of whom took pleasure in causing reviled destruction. There was perhaps only the noise of burning flames to the side of them, which were slowly starting to dwindle. The people were long gone; it was just them in a very quiet street with hardly any illumination.

"They should really learn to hold their liquor better. Purebloods should be behaving with more respect rather than acting like buffoons," The Death Eater he was certain was Lucius Malfoy said.

"Hello, Lucius," Harry said softly, "You know, I thought maybe we would talk again after that conversation we had this morning but I am a little surprised that we've met again so…quickly,"

Lucius seemed to tense slightly as he regarded Harry but what did he expect. Of course he was going to be recognized with hair like that!

"But I'm afraid I'm not quite comfortable with this situation and we really ought to be going now, so maybe we can reschedule for another time," Harry said swiftly, and made a motion to leave almost willing to bet that the grey eyes of that man were narrowed in contempt.

"I'm afraid we can't allow that," Lucius said, with a hint of impatience.

"I had a feeling you would say that," Harry sighed, "So how we going to do this? Exchange words first, then you kill us or…?" He tensed himself, making sure he was ready.

"Actually we just want to talk," Lucius said smoothly.

That stopped Harry, ""Really? 'bout what?" He decided to go on a different tack, if he had a bit of time.

"We need answers," Lucius stated as Harry discreetly moved his hand into his left jean pocket and removed one of the shrunken bottles of alcohol. He was glad the dark night masked his careful movement.

"Answers? Well we would be happy to help but I'm afraid that we don't know the question," Harry said, raising his voice slightly as he concentrated on returning the bottle back to its normal size and then uncorking it.

"I think you know. To those letters you have been sent by our Lord and soon – if you are not foolish, your Lord,"

Harry had to give Remus a look to say he knew what he was doing as the werewolf could see clearly that he was pouring alcohol in a line behind him. Lucius's words masked the noise.

"Oh right those letters," Harry said offhandedly, as he reached for the other bottle of alcohol in his pocket after shrinking the other down to a miniscule size. As he started pouring the other on the ground, he spoke quickly to camouflage the noise, "If you don't mind me straying off the topic, it rather seems that you were expecting to run into us here tonight,"

Harry could feel the smirk in Lucius voice, "Oh, yes. We were informed of your activities this afternoon, someone gladly told us,"

For the first time Remus spoke, "B-but how…? The only people who knew about this were us and…" His eyes grew wide as horror and disbelief flitted over his face as he shook his head.

"Mr. Pettigrew," Lucius finished, taking pleasure in it.

"So he sold us out," Harry said evenly, keeping a lid on his rage that had manifested after the rat had turned coat on them much earlier than he expected.

"Oh no," Lucius shook his head in fake-solemnity, "Mr. Pettigrew knew we would not kill you. In fact it was the first thing he requested during the summer when we contacted him. But of course…that will only remain true should you accept becoming a servant of the Dark Lord. A very high honour is being bestowed upon you."

"That just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside," Harry said scathingly, as his magic started to react. He shrunk the other bottle down; their distraction was set for whenever they wanted to use it.

"I assure you; Mr. Pettigrew only had your best intentions at heart. He was doing you a favour, much like us," Lucius said, his voice humorous.

Harry faked a coughing fit and sneezed as he stepped backwards over the line of alcohol laid out so it was in front of them…like a barrier.

"I'm sorry," Once his 'coughs' retreated. He waved his left hand over his face, "I'm just allergic to bullshit," Lucius's eyes narrowed as the others tensed and restrained themselves from reacting.

Harry gave Remus a look that said, "Get Ready!"

"We need an answer," Lucius said with undercurrents of irritations.

"Well, I have to admit," Harry started getting ready as he closed his left fist and conjured a ball of flame which he hid discreetly, "your offer does sound very generous but I have a better idea. How about I give you the proverbial finger," He raised his left hand which still had the ball of fire within and gave them a one-fingered salute, "and tell you to piss off!"

Before either of the Death Eaters could react, Harry threw the ball of flame down at the floor in front of them.

The effect was instantaneous.

Hot flames rose up between them, a few feet high forming a wall. Harry turned and saw Remus had already reacted as he grabbed the two teenagers and carried them with his werewolf strength and started to run.

The chase was on.

As soon as five steps had been taken in the opposite direction, cracking! sounds were heard as the Death Eaters apparated and appeared ten feet in front of them.

Not missing a beat, Harry flicked his wand and the pile of rubble that had previously been broken of a building, went hurling at the five men.

"In here!" He shouted at Remus while the men were distracted. The slipped into a dark alleyway and kept running before they heard the Death Eaters approaching them. This isn't going to work, he thought.

Taking a few sharp turns he suddenly stopped and turned to Remus.

"You run, I'll stay," he said shortly, hoping the werewolf wouldn't argue.

He wasn't that lucky.

"Are you kidding? There's no way I'm letting you –," He started to rant.

"Look, if we continue like this we're going to get our hides caught. You need to get your friends to safety," Harry said with conviction.

"And what about you?" Remus asked dubiously.

"I'll meet you at the Strand Theatre in an hour. If I'm not there after that amount of time has passed, assume I'm not coming," At Remus's incredulous look, he grinned and said, "Don't worry, I don't plan on getting caught or dieing. I've got too many important things to do."

And with that Harry Potter was gone, leaving a stunned werewolf and two unconscious teenagers behind.

He emerged onto the dark street fairly certain it wouldn't be long until he was discovered. Concentrating, he Sensed for any nearby magical signatures and felt faint auras coming in his direction.

He squinted his eyes as three Death Eaters appeared on the road in front of him. There was lighted lampposts on the sidewalk but hardly any cars, some were there but were now burnt wreckages.

He manoeuvred to the left to dodge a sickly yellow block of light which rushed past him and crashed horrendously into a vacant building, nearly completely obliterating it.

"Fuck me," Harry cursed, looking at the damage.

He turned his attention back and noticed that two more Death Eaters had appeared to his left and right.

He rolled his eyes heavenward, "Fuck me sideways,"

He rolled his sleeves up as four of the Death Eaters took position around him and Lucius stood to the side, feigning disinterest.

"Ok, if we are going to do this, we're going to do it right," Harry proclaimed, as magic slowly started to crackle round him. He withdrew one of the kitchen knives with his left hand and using magic to guide it, he threw it at one of the Death Eaters.

The Death Eater was too shocked at first to realize what was going until common sense prevailed and he moved out of the way of the knife which went skirting backwards.

Harry wrinkled his noise, "Damn, I was hoping that would work," He commented, before ducking a Killing Curse that was sent towards him from the offended party. It rushed over his head and almost hit the Death Eater behind him.

Something the villain picked up as he looked angrily at the guilty party.

Harry grinned, "Whoa! Are you honestly going to take that from him? He almost killed you man. I don't know about you but if someone, supposedly on my side, did that to me…" He blew air out of his lips and let the sentence hang for effect.

Harry was more than a little amused and incredulous when it actually looked as if the man was going to retaliate. But his fun was ruined by Lucius.

"Do not be foolish, the boy is playing you. Concentrate!"

Their attentions were focused back on him and Harry smiled and rolled his eyes, "Honestly guys, I've heard of Death Eaters incompetence but this…"

He shook his head in faux-amusement.

"Come on guys. Is there any need to kill me? What worth will it show? I mean there's five of you, well four actually, Lucius doesn't want to get his hair all messed up," The man's stance tensed at this dig, "And only me. You're not –,"

He was abruptly cut off as a Dark Bludgeoning Hex careened towards him from the left. He raised his silver shield and there was huge metallic sound as the curse slammed against it and was deflected away by Harry.

"Bloody hell!" Harry exclaimed, "Did your mother not teach you any manners. It is rude to interrupt someone while they are talking!" He could tell they were all extremely irritated by his back-chat and Harry had to wonder for a moment why he was acting so vocal today.

Pffft, he thought, it's Halloween. Do I need more of a reason?

"You either join the Dark Lord or you die," One of the hooded figures said self-importantly and Harry thought he recognized the voice. It was vaguely familiar…

"Is that you Nott?" Harry asked, his head cocked to the side. "Actually don't answer that, I don't particularly care believe it or not. But I do have one question to ask before you all try and end my life…"

"What Watson?" Lucius asked, bored.

"Well two actually. My first, just for curiosity's sake, is why does the Dark Lord want me?" Harry asked, while trying to figure out a plan to win in this situation.

"The Dark Lord seeks to recruit those whom he deems intelligent and powerful enough to help him complete his goals," It was said in a way that suggested the answer was rehearsed.

"Hmm, I guess I should feel a little humbled then," Harry said dryly, "Alright, err- yeah last question," Harry gripped his wand, getting ready to start at a moment's notice, "Not that I'm not…thankful from the generous hospitality you've shown me, but there were three other people…"

"They'll be dealt with after you," Was the answer received.

"Sure they will, because the whole point of me being here is so the others can get to safety," Harry nodded, not without a little mockery, before acting first and sending a spinning, sharp disc of magic in the direction of one of the Death Eaters.

The Death Eater ducked but it wasn't initially aimed at him as it passed him and struck the base of lamppost. The base crumbled as the lamppost tilted backwards and started to fall on the unsuspecting Death Eater, who had meanwhile started throwing curses at Harry.

Curses from four direction started reigning in on Harry as soon as opened fire. His shield couldn't only hold up so much and even dodging all the spells was pushing it. Waiting until the right moment, as two Curses headed at him from opposite direction and just before they struck him, he Apparated outside of the ring the Death Eaters had formed.

They struck in the middle and they stopped as the air around it shimmered and crackled before they veered of in opposite directions, one towards the Death Eater who was about to be struck by a falling lamppost.

The cried of "Lookout" were too late for the Death Eater as he used a shield to deflect the Curse but was struck on the head by the hard material and was rendered unconscious.

Harry took out his other knife this time and used magic to throw and guide it and this time his aim rang true. It impaled itself from behind on one of three remaining Death Eaters who screamed in pain. He wrenched it out and looked at the wound disbelievingly, failing to see Harry's Stunner which knocked him out.

Two left.

They both converged on him again after seeing his position and surrounded him. Harry whipped his wand in the air in a powerful motion as both of them sent of different hexes at him. Sparks erupted in a powerful combustion of heat as he concentrated fiercely.

Diabolus!

It was a Dark Curse; he could practically taste the intoxicating scent of it. Powerful, deadly…

…addictive.

The Devil's Fire Curse streamed out towards a Death Eaters in a magnificent wave of red and burning black. It submerged and overpowered his spells easily while at the same time, Harry wandlessly summoned the body of the Stunned Death Eater to take the other curse for him.

The Stunned Death Eater took the Curse full-on and a hole the size of a cannon-ball appeared in his stomach, no doubt destroying any vital organs or arteries. The pain woke him up long enough for him to form an "O" with his mouth in a silent scream of agony before he died.

Meanwhile Harry's Curse struck the other Death Eater on the arm which quickly lit and before he knew it, the Death Eater was quickly covered in hot flames as he screamed from burning to death.

Harry turned around to face the final Death Eater, the one he was pretty sure was Nott, just in time to be dealt a glancing blow on his torso by a Lacerating Hex.

Harry hissed in pain as his shirt ripped open and a long line of blood stretched across the length of his abdomen. Blood dripped to the floor as he clutched his stomach with his left arm. Hs right hand however…

Stordimento!

A swirling vortex of yellow magic swirled towards the Death Eater who Apparated away to Harry's left. Harry didn't waste a second despite his injury, and used his wand to summon the frame of a car which was burnt black and he hurled it at where the Death Eater had reappeared.

The Death Eater disapparated again, almost immediately after a moment of alarm and Lucius, who was in line with the Death Eater, whirled his robes and disappeared with a crack! leaving the wreckage to go smashing into a building.

Harry, using the time he had, drew his wand across his abdomen and sealed the wound that had been steadily bleeding and dripping onto the street. Finishing doing that, he looked back up at the two figures.

"You know, I'm not very impressed. There is, no was, five of you, sorry four," He corrected waving his hand in a fake apologetic way at Lucius, "and only one of me. And yet, within ten minutes, one of your Death Eaters has suffered a serious blow to the head that may result in brain damage, although considering the average intelligence of Death Eaters I don't think it'll make too much of a difference. And –,"

"Two of our number are dead. I was under the impression the Light Side detested killing, and to see such intent from one so young," Lucius said, his voice meaningful.

Harry looked at the dead corpses. One the charred remains of a healthy body and another damaged beyond repair.

"There was a time when the prospect of killing someone would have horrified me. But now…well," Harry smiled coldly, "If I don't do it…you'll just be free to walk around and kill for much longer…and as far as I see it…we can't have that,"

Harry could tell his words had confused the two but he didn't care as he raised his wand again.

His wand tip glowed as a shimmering cone of magic streaked out and spiralled towards the Death Eater. His opponent raised his wand and conjured a pale shield which shattered on impact of the spell, which went on to clip the man's shoulder.

The man stumbled backwards but threw a Dark unholy green light in Harry's direction. Harry merely sidestepped out of the way and the spell struck a public dustbin which lit up immediately in unnatural green flames.

Harry whipped his wand and the burning dustbin hurtled towards Nott who blasted the object, so the remains fell to the floor in front of him but not a moment later they became ropes which wrapped around the man's legs, restricting his movement.

Viscus Offa!

Five small burning balls of energy streamed towards Nott who conjured a wall of water causing them to sizzle out. However, Harry didn't stop there as he manipulated the water to encase Nott.

Nott thrashed in the water which Harry held tightly around him before shouting out another incantation.

"Desumo Telum!"

An electric lance of lightning erupted from Harry's wand and struck the water encasing the Death Eater. Over Fifty Thousand Volts of electricity ran through the bolt of energy which caused the Death Eater to scream in agony as his body suffered a severe prolonged electric shock.

Harry released the spell after a while and the man dropped to the ground immediately. Probably not dead but if he wasn't given treatment…His heart would definitely be in poor shape after that and there was no way he would able to continue fighting

Only Lucius Malfoy was left standing, and he was the one Harry was most apprehensive about.

If he was goingto attack him…

"You and I both know Lucius that you're not going to fight me," Harry bluffed, "If you were, you would have joined with the others when attacking, not sitting out. It doesn't fit with your Slytherin nature."

Harry swore the Death Eater was amused, "Indeed, Watson,"

"You might want to take him back though, doesn't look to be in good shape," Harry nodded at Nott.

"This won't be the last time you'll hear from us. If you reject the Dark Lord you are against him and there is only one punishment that will befall you,"

Harry sighed in mock-boredom, "Yeah, Death. But if you ever decide try and kill me again, bring better fighters than this lot. I'm positive that Voldemort has much stronger fighters at his disposal,"

And with that Lucius activated a Portkey, which made him and the two remaining Death Eaters that were alive disappear.

Harry sighed before searching the battle area and using "Scourgify!" to wipe any areas his blood may have dripped. He didn't want any evidence of his involvement to get analysed by the authorities. After all, he shouldn't even be here…

Thinking about the authorities, made Harry thing about something else. Where were the Aurors? Surely magical sensors had picked up the magic used in the area?

The only answers Harry could think of left a sinking feeling in his stomach. With the absence of Aurors he was pretty sure Voldemort had celebrated his anniversary with much more than just this attack on the country.

After cleaning his blood up, he reflected again that it was a good thing he was of age and didn't have the trace on his wand. Finally he made his way to the two bodies. The best thing to do would be to get rid of them. But where would he put them?

He couldn't just leave them on the street. Or could he? Maybe he could leave them for the Aurors to find but that would bring up unnecessary questions as it would be quite obvious someone had fought back against the Death Eaters.

But if he got rid of them, everyone would be under the impression this was an attack which managed to slip under the radar.

In the end, feeling slightly remorseful for what he was doing for some reason, with a complex piece of Transfiguration he changed them into dead mice. The Transfiguration wouldn't last forever but...well it would last long enough for any suspicion to be cast over.

And this way it might provide some food for a stray cat or bird.

And with that done, Harry headed off for the Strand Theatre, all the while thinking over the events that had occurred today.

God, how he hated Halloween.

Harry met Remus Lupin at the location they had agreed on fifteen minutes within the allotted time. The werewolf had been inconspicuously hidden in an alley way where he had waited with Sirius and James whom he had decided to keep unconscious.

"Well, they won't be bothering us anymore," Harry announced casually to the werewolf who wore conflicting emotions on his face.

"How did you get rid of them?" Remus asked, not sure if he wanted to know.

Harry winked, "Magic,"

Remus shook his head in wonder, "I should be surprised but after this morning…I don't think there's anything more you can do, that will shock us,"

Harry smiled ruefully before turning serious, "Any bright ideas on what we do know. Do you reckon they'll be up to Apparating?"

"I don't think so. I don't know how long it takes for alcohol to drain out from the system but I'm sure nearly two hours isn't enough," Remus said.

"So what then? We going to walk to Scotland or do we have to find a place to stay for a few hours?" Harry asked tiredly

Remus shrugged, "Find a place to stay,"

Hotels in London were plentiful in certain places and it didn't take them long to find one, although it would have been quicker had Harry not lagged behind having to carry Sirius. They figured it would be too suspicious if someone saw Remus carrying two people without effort.

The establishment wasn't too extraordinary. It was fairly down kempt and shabby but at least that meant it was probably cheap and the possibility of a room being open was higher. But before they went in, Harry checked he still had enough Muggle money and asked Remus something.

"Remus?"

"Hmm?"

"You and your gang play a lot of pranks. I know you know how to do a voice altering charm to make us sound older. Do you know one to make us sound…foreign?"

Remus was confused, "Why do you need to do that?"

"Because we look to be high school kids or University students and tomorrow is a Monday. Less suspicious if we sound foreign. If the guy asks what we're doing up late we can just say we're on holiday," Harry reasoned.

Remus was still slightly perplexed but compiled.

"Hello," Harry tested out his new voice and found it came out in an Australian accent. He grinned, "Perfect,"

With a deep breath, they entered the hotel and the bell tinkled, announcing their arrival. At the counter, there was a man who was fairly chubby and had receding brown hair. He was currently fast asleep and snoring loudly.

Harry mentally sighed at the obvious irritable mood the man would be in when he woke up but strode forward nonetheless.

"Ahem," He cleared his throat, hoping it would wake the man. It didn't, "Ahem!" He coughed much louder and this time the man jerked awake in surprise.

"Whassup? This better be good," The man said groggily as he rubbed his eyes before alighting them on the four teenagers, two of them slumped unceremoniously. "What 'choo want?"

"We're hopin' to get a room for the night," Harry tested his new accent out, "My friends here drank a little too much and we wanna make sure they don't get too banged up,"

"You don't sound as if you're from around here," The man commented gruffly as he lazily checked a list for available rooms.

Harry came up with something, "We're from Australia actually. Down here on holiday for about a week or so,"

"You lot look as if you should be in school,"

Harry forced a laugh, waving off the worry, "Like I said, we're on holiday,"

"Why you lot comin' to England anyway? Not a nice place to visit at the moment," The man said ominously.

Harry stiffened and he felt Remus beside him do the same, "What do you mean?"

The man looked at him in disbelief, "Surely you've heard. With the bombings and so forth going on. The one on Wembley stadium just on Friday. And there were a few more tonight all over the country. Nope, something's going on bad here and us lot got no clue what to do," Harry now had his answer on whether Voldemort had been up to anything else tonight.

He just made a noise of acknowledgement and avoided exchanging glances with Remus. The man informed them of a small room available which Harry said they would take while he handed over the money.

They headed up the steps (the elevator was out of order) to the third floor until they found Room 3-H. They entered and immediately their senses were invaded with a musty, damp smell. Coughing slightly, Harry laid Sirius down on one of the spare beds while Remus did the same with James.

He quickly jumped onto one of the thread bare couches and lay down full stretch before declaring to Remus, "Two hours. Then we have to head back no matter what. If we get found or if someone's discovered we're not in our dorm rooms…" He didn't need to say how bad it would be for them, "Sweet dreams, Remus,"

He received a reply in return but didn't hear as he fell asleep almost straight away from the exhaustion after the events of the day.

AN: Thanks for the reviews again guys. Appreciate them and am glad the duel lived up to most of your standards. And as far as Tom Riddle's birthday is concerned…meh. I guess I forgot his real one but Halloween made more sense to me. More symbolic.

Here's the next chapter, some suspicions answered and I'm having Dumbledore confront Harry in the one after this though so hold on tight.

Please Review