Disclaimer: I don't own anything. ANYTHING! Oh, woe 'tis me – *sniff-sniff*; neither Harry Potter nor Soul Eater belong to me.

Enjoy :)

As it turns out, Kim and Jackie didn't have time to report in. The moment they landed, they were attacked.

Only…not by the Ministry.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Kim instinctively ducked and slammed Jackie's lantern-form down to the ground, hissing s the green spell-light glanced off some rocks and shattered them, spraying them with pieces of dust.

"You okay?" she hissed as she sprang forward behind a larger outcrop of rocks, cursing her lack of attention (though she could have sworn there had been nothing there…)

"Fine," Jackie said, glancing around as much as she was able. "Should we launch off again?"

"Too risky," Kim shook her head. "We're sitting ducks. Death, why didn't I see them before?"

"I don't know," Jackie sounded equally frustrated. "But we've got to get out of here."

"Let's blast them," Kim cautiously poked her head up above the ridge, only to immediately pop it down again when a blast of green light almost singed the top of her hair. "Or not. I can't aim in these conditions."

"What happens when they blast me?" Jackie wanted to know.

"How in Death am I supposed to answer that?" Kim snapped, clutching onto Jackie tighter with her gloved hands. "Look, I don't know, and I don't want to find out. 'Avada' was the start of the death curse. If it hits you, and you don't have any resistance…"

"Right," Jackie sounded less than thrilled. "So it's like a bullet, only a sure-kill bullet. Let's leave."

"I'm thinking!" Kim let out a hissing breath. "Right, right, right…" she hefted Jackie. "On three, shoot."

"Got it."

"One," Kim hurriedly stood up and aimed for where she had seen the spells coming from. Jackie let out a massive blast of fire that was hot enough to singe the rocks white, and three people in dark cloaks screamed, obviously caught off guard.

When Kim has said 'Three', she had been talking in a pre-arranged code that has become almost second nature to them. If she had actually wanted Jackie to fire on 'three', she would have said 'on the count of three', not just 'on three'. It was common for students at the DWMA to have quirks like that, little things that they did with their partner to make their fighting style that much more unpredictable. When Kim had been talking, she had pitched her voice slightly louder than necessary, though not enough to warrant suspicion, and had made sure the wind was blowing in the right direction for her voice to carry.

"Yeah!" Kim whipped Jackie around and jumped onto her, grinning like a maniac as Jackie let out another furious bellow of fire to send them soaring into the air.

"They're following us!"

Sure enough, three – no, five! – black figures on broomsticks were making heady progress through the sky. Jackie swerved and managed to scorch one broom badly enough so that it had to go in for a crash landing, but the others were obviously much more skilful fliers and managed to dodge.

"Shake them!" Kim ordered, spinning around and attempting to blast them with one of hew new spells, whilst only keeping her seat with one hand.

"Watch it!" Jackie yelped as she sent them into a dizzying dive that almost unseated Kim. Kim just grinned and switched arms when her left one was getting too tired, managing to shoot a blast of raw energy that obviously surprised them.

"Phew," Kim said. "All that magic was bogging me down. This is the perfect chance to get rid of it…"

"Don't go overboard," Jackie advised her as she casually did a quick spin to avoid the latest volley of spells. "I can't keep you in your seat if you faint."

"Oh, no, I'll be careful," Kim promised, sounding particularly unconvincing. "I have to be. Falling at this height doesn't sound much fun – ha! Take that, you suckers!"

Kim let out a whoop of evil laughter as the smoke from Jackie's flames almost completely disorientated their followers, enough to send one of them into a tailspin while the other had to stop, coughing and wheezing. The other two, unfortunately, were obviously brighter than the average lunatic – quickly, they encased themselves in Bubble-Head charms so that they looked like they were wearing an upturned goldfish bowl on their heads.

"They look ridiculous," Kim snorted.

"Careful, Kim," Jackie said as Kim jerked them both upward to evade a cutting jinx. "They're idiots, but they're dangerous idiots who possess magic. We can't afford to let our – LOOK OUT!"

"Oh, Death," Kim cursed.

Three other black-hooded figures suddenly rose up from the landscape, obviously having lain in wait for them. They swarmed forward like an ill omen, looking suitably menacing against the burning sun.

They were flying too fast to change course.

"Ready?" Kim grinned and leaned forward.

"Don't really have much of a choice, do I?" but Jackie's face was split into a wide grin, too. She may not have looked it, or even acted like for a lot of the time, but she was a DWMA student in the EAT class. Insanity was a prerequisite.

The cloaked figures looked slightly alarmed when the two didn't slow down (well, as alarmed as one could look with a mask on). They looked very alarmed when they, in fact, sped up.

"CHARGE PIXIE!" Kim roared, and a massive pillar of fire erupted behind them, white-hot with a temperature high enough to melt stone.

The figures in front of them scattered like leaves in the breeze, barely getting out of the way fast enough to avoid being scorched to a crisp.

"YEAH!" Kim would have punched the air, if she had been able, but she was too busy trying to cling onto Jackie as they sped forward at an incredible speed. She had to close her eyes, trusting her partner to get them far enough away, as she found that without the goggles she usually wore when they went high-speed flying, she couldn't see.

"Kim…"

Kim's eyes bolted open as she was almost thrown forward. They had come to a very sudden dead stop.

"Jack?" Kim glanced down. They were over a large forest of some kind, as opposed to the large outcropping of rocks they had just visited. She wondered vaguely how far they had gone. "Oi, Jackie, what's wrong?"

"I'm burnt out," she said.

"Oh, Death…" Kim let out a few curses and glanced downward again, feeling around a bit through their Resonance. "Right, you really are. Lord Death, what have you been doing? You're not usually so bad after a short flight…"

"The sun's setting. We've been going for almost half a day."

"Oh. Huh." Kim wiped some sweat off her forehead sheepishly. "Right. Let's get down there, I'll see if I can find us anything to eat. We'll contact Kid as soon as we can."

"Thanks."

They descended in slow, lazy circles in order to be able to see everything, making sure there were no other hidden enemies around. They'd had enough surprises for one day.

Eventually, they managed to nest in a tree. It was fairly large, with enough forks for them to rest in comfortably, but Kim grew a few more with her magic in order to make sure that they didn't fall out. They didn't have any rope to tie themselves in, anyway, and they couldn't afford to be burdened with having to untie themselves if they needed to make a quick getaway.

"Right – you call Kid, I'll find some food." Kim said, hopping down from the tree. Thankfully, EAT classes at the DWMA were hardly standard school-material (unless you were at an Army base), so outdoor survival had been in the curriculum for as long as anyone could remember. It had gotten very interesting when Stein came along, so they'd all been forced to contest with each other as well as all sorts of stitched-up zombie-things.

She'll be fine, Jackie consoled herself as she took out the mirror. She's good at this.

Only, Kim never came back.

…

Getting out of the Ministry had been disgustingly easy. All Maka had had to do was press the button on a conveniently-placed elevator, and wait.

"C'mon, Soul," she muttered as she readjusted him on her back so as to get a better grip. Her arms were already starting to tire – she was strong, not a monster. "Wake up. I can't keep carrying you like this."

A quick Soul Scan showed her that there were more people at the next stop, so she figured that was going to be her exit. She would have preferred the stairs (she was unsure if there were security cameras or spells to detect their presence, but she hadn't been able to find any and the elevator had seemed her best bet). The souls seemed familiar, but she couldn't sense them properly through the layers of magic that kept on interfering with her perception, so she reluctantly dragged it back so that she could only feel her connection with Soul. That, she would never turn off.

Still, she felt awkward. Naked. Defenceless. Which was ridiculous, of course – she was very dangerous in her own right – but it was more the fact that she had gotten so used to relying on her Soul Perception that she hadn't…well, not used it in a while.

That was going to have to change. As soon as they got out of this mess, she was definitely practicing a few bouts without using it. She was getting too used to relying on it, and in circumstances like this, that was a dangerous hinderence…

Ding.

"Let me THROU – Kilik?" Maka stared dumbly at the man in front of her, who was flanked by the twins Fire and Thunder. He, in turn, could only gape in surprise.

Beside him stood two Ministry officials, looking very pale and awkward. Their neat uniformity was a stark contrast with Kilik's rumpled clothes; it was obvious that, while he had attempted to dress up, formality did not agree with him.

"RUN!" Maka grabbed Kilik's wrist and jumped out of the elevator, managing to somehow kick the two officials back into it and slam the 'down' button.

"Maka? Wha…?" Kilik let out a startled – very undignified – squawk as he waved blindly around for the twins, who had, sensing the climate, changed themselves into gloves. Maka waited impatiently for him to arm himself, and then made an impatient dash to what she assumed to be the main entrance, going from the large amount of people entering and exiting.

"What are you doing here?" Kilik demanded, not sounding at all out of breath. "Aren't you supposed to be on trial?"

"Trial?" Maka let out a snort of derision. "Test subjects, more like it. I don't know why, but they were exciting Soul's black blood, and it was…Lord Death…" she let out a tiny breath as she skidded to a halt. Her Soul Perception, contract though it was, had caught onto something – something black – something mad –

Right under her feet.

"Let's go!" Kilik gave her an impatient shove, and she was off again, pushing the sense of doom to the back of her mind. She couldn't do anything about it, now. Even as she thought about it, people were shouting at them, staring in horror as they rushed past, calling for security…which would be there, any minute.

They had to get out of here.

"Get out of my WAAAAY!" Maka roared as she shouldered past a menacing-looking man who had his wand at the ready. Predictably, he went flying, crashing into his friend, who also looked like he had wanted to impede their escape.

Then they were out of the Ministry building, and Maka was damned if she was ever going back to that Death-awful place again.

…

Back at Hogwarts, Umbridge was in a towering rage. She sent curses at the students and screamed at them to pick up their textbooks and start reading, or she was going to have to put them all into detention…

Suspiciously, it looked as though a certain Ron Weasley had been bashed over the head recently. His eyes were unfocused, and he had to stop reading every once in the while to try not to vomit. His two best friends, Hermione and Harry, continued to keep a close guard on him, afraid that he was going to pass out. They couldn't go to the Infirmary-wing with Umbridge being as she was. They could only hope that his concussion didn't grow worse.

That night, another student died.

…

A/N: 100 REVIEWS! OH-MY-DEATH 100 REVIEWS! *Jumps up and down* Thank-you everyone so much (tears up) I'm very happy! Reviews are what keeps me writing (seriously, I'd be a lazy slob without them…). As for my last chapter, thanks so much to: Kim-senpai, Jacqueline O. Lantern Dupre, LesbianWonderland, Waywardneko, Krazyfanfiction1, Tris PhantomEvans, Sup, Frost687, OhMy and Guest

So…my exams are done :) sorry if I sounded a bit short-tempered in my last A/N, because I was really stressed. But now…aah, bliss. Now I've only got, like, two weeks until the end of term, and then…year…12…oh, god, let me go back to exam week(s).

Ahem. Sorry. Needed to rant. Next A/N will be shorter (promise).

Please review!

MM