Why hello there, readers! I would just like to say that Deathly Hallows was the most boss movie EVER and I hope you all saw it and thought the same. I was surprised by how much humor there was in it. "Engorgio - REDUCIO!" Nuff said. Okay I will stop prattling and let you read.
Be careful of the curse that falls on young lovers
Starts so soft and sweet and turns them to hunters
The fabric of your flesh, pure as a wedding dress
Until I wrap myself inside your arms I cannot rest
The saints can't help me now, the ropes have been unbound
I hunt for you with bloodied feet across the hallowed ground
A man who's pure of heart and says his prayers by night
May still become a wolf when the autumn moon is bright
After successfully stunning Alexandra and taking her wand, Lily went into the corridor - only to discover that it was pitch black, except for the dim light of the one blue emergency torch at the end of the hall, right by the room she left Bellatrix tied up in. There were no cracks of light peaking out from beneath the doors. She must not have noticed all the lights went out sooner because the lights in that old room already were out.
She listened hard for the sound of voices from down the hall, but she heard nothing. Surely if the Death Eaters were down there, she'd hear them whispering at least? But no, there were absolutely no sounds coming from that room. It was like they'd disappeared. And even if they were still there, could Lily fight them in the dark? She couldn't cast a 'lumos' spell while firing curses at Death Eaters. And what would be the point, anyway? Those Death Eaters wouldn't know where Harry was. Bellatrix would. If the Death Eaters were up to something, Lily should leave that to the Aurors. On any other day she would try to help, but she didn't care right just then. She had her son to worry about.
"Lumos," She muttered, light bursting out from the tip of her wand and illuminating the area around her. She tiptoed down the hall towards the room she left Bellatrix in, the shadows dancing around her, making her think each one was a Death Eater or an Imperiused Healer. She finally found the right door and pulled it open; it creaked loudly in the silent hallway. After stepping over the stiff, unmoving body of Fenrir Greyback, she crept towards the closet door, held her wand aloft, and pulled it open. Bellatrix, who'd been leaning against the door, tipped over onto her side on the floor, her black eyes looking like gaping, empty sockets in the darkness. Lily dragged the woman to the middle of the room and unsilenced her by saying, "Finite incantatem."
Bellatrix gasped hoarsely, her voice returned to her at last. She opened her mouth to speak but was quickly cut off by Lily:
"The next words from your mouth better be: 'I'll tell you where Harry is.'"
"You're so naive." Bellatrix smiled in amusement. "Didn't I say before that I'd never tell you? I'm not afraid of you." Then she yelled, "YAXLEY! MACNAIR! REDLER! HELP!"
Lily quickly cast a silencing charm over the door to stop any noise from entering or escaping. Then she knelt down on the floor, bringing her face close to Bellatrix's.
"You don't know what I'm capable of because you don't know what it means to be a mother. Your existence is fueled off of hatred. That's just who you are, right down to your cold, vile core: you are evil and your soul is just stained with innocent blood. You don't know what love is, you've never seen it, never felt it, you couldn't recognize it came up to you and bashed you over the head, because every fiber of your being is full of hate. But see, I'm the opposite of you. I love Harry so much, it consumes me, even after these twelve long years. I love him now as much as I loved him the day he was born and there is nothing anyone can do that will change it, because he is a part of me, the most important part, and I'd do anything for him, including torture, despite the fact that I'd vowed I'd never do that. So if you're planning on keeping this up and refusing to tell me where he is, then you should just know that I love Harry more than you hate everything, and that makes me stronger than you."
"How touching," Bellatrix feigned a yawn. "But did that speech have a point?"
"Yes, the point was: I'M NOT A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH, YOU EVIL BITCH, NOW WHERE IS MY SON?"
"Master will be most pleased with us." Yaxley snickered as he, Macnair and Redler crept down the dark hallway, holding the cup of Helga Hufflepuff in his hands. "It didn't even take us too long to unlock the protections on that cabinet."
"And those idiotic Aurors are still up there," Macnair snickered. "I wonder how long it'll be before someone finds them?"
"They'll have starved to death before someone does find them, no one ever goes up there." Yaxley said.
"Quiet, idiots. Someone could hear you." Redler snapped.
"Who could hear us? This whole hospital is on lockdown, and Master has got most of the Healers Imperiused." Yaxley said. "And besides, we don't take orders from filthy half-breeds."
"Keep up that attitude and I'll tear out your throat. Or even better, I'll just scratch you up a bit to leave you alive but make you into a half-breed like me." Redler grinned viciously. "Then we can both be filthy together."
Yaxley's mouth snapped shut. Redler smiled in satisfaction. But then, out of nowhere, a sudden burst of red light cut through the darkness, hitting Yaxley in the chest, and he dropped to the floor, the horcrux cup slipping from his hands and bouncing off into the darkness.
"Who's there?" Redler snarled as Macnair raised his wand.
"Good seeing you, Redler," A bespectacled, dark-haired, somewhat young man emerged from the darkness with a casual air, as if he were approaching friends to chat about the weather. Then he casually said, "Expelliarmus," throwing Macnair's wand to the ground.
"I'll kill you, Potter!" Macnair snarled.
"Not today, you won't." James ducked down, and before Macnair or Redler saw it coming, he grabbed Helga Hufflepuff's cup from the floor and jumped back before either of them could grab him. Then he pulled a Deluminator from his pocket, clicked it three times until the blue torches had gone out, and disappeared into the dark.
"DAMN IT!" Redler roared. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, POTTER! YOU'LL PAY!"
"My mark," Macnair said from beside him. "It's burning."
Although they couldn't see each other, they both knew the expression on the other's face was one of fear and dread.
"What are we going to tell him?" Macnair muttered.
"Tell him we haven't unlocked the protections on the cabinet yet, but we will get around to it. Then we'll go find Potter and steal the horcrux back." Redler said.
"What if he knows we're lying? He'll kill us!"
"Not when all his other Death Eaters are in Azkaban and he's short-staffed." Redler chuckled.
Then they Disapparated to the old Riddle House. The room was dark, the wind howling outside and the floorboards groaned under Voldemort's weight as he crossed the room and stopped in front of them, the lantern on the floor casting a ghostly light across his snakelike features.
"Did you get it?" Voldemort demanded at once.
"No, not yet, my lord," Macnair said, his voice quivering. "But we are working on it."
"I have new orders for you. There's something you must do, before you retrieve my horcrux." Voldemort said. "One of my spies at Hogwarts, foolish little Professor Quirrell, tells me he overheard a conversation between our young Harry Potter, Mile, and Rufus Scrimgeour. Apparently Harry has headed to St. Mungo's. I want you find him, Redler, and I want you to kill him."
"Harry Potter, you say?" Redler asked, his lips curling into a foul smile. "Son of the Auror, James Potter?"
"Yes, and the mudblood, Lily Potter."
Redler thought of the pretty redheaded woman who'd tortured Bellatrix and stunned Greyback. A laugh escaped from his mouth before he could stop it.
"Oh, I'll kill the boy, alright, Master." Redler leaned down and kissed Voldemort's robes. "And I'll have fun with it."
"But before you go, Redler..." Voldemort said slowly. "There's someone I want you to take with you to St. Mungo's. Someone who might be able to help you find our young Harry."
Redler looked up as someone else appeared by Voldemort's side. It was a fourteen year old boy with brown hair, cruel eyes and a long line of scratches down his cheek.
"This is Kyro," Voldemort said. "Play nice, and try not to kill this one, Redler. You need him."
"Did a wolfy give you those scars?" Redler asked Kyro, looking at the scratches on the boy's cheek.
"No. A dog." Kyro said stiffly.
"That's enough chatter. Get going." Voldemort said.
Redler, Macnair and Kyro all nodded and stood up, then Apparated back to St. Mungo's.
"So Dad, these are your friends?" Mile asked Scrimgeour, looking down at the Aurors on the floor.
"Not my friends, exactly. And why are you calling me 'Dad'?" Scrimgeour said.
"Because you're my Dad."
"No, I'm not."
"Are we still arguing about this? I thought it's been established that Marie is my mother and you are my father."
"You didn't even know Marie!" Scrimgeour snapped.
"Well, of course I didn't. She died when I was a baby, didn't she?" Mile said. "And I don't think Mum would be too happy about you being so cold to me, dearest Father."
Scrimgeour sighed and tried to steer the conversation to less hostile direction.
"So...your friend is Harry Potter." He said awkwardly.
"Potter? So that's Harry's surname? How odd, to think of him as Harry Potter. All this time I've thought of him as Harry Mendacium." Mile said thoughtfully. "'Harry Potter' does sound better, I'll admit. Has more of a ring to it. Mendacium just sounded odd."
"I don't understand how this is possible. You-Know-Who was supposed to kill that boy when he was a year old." Scrimgeour said.
"Oh, yes!" Mile chortled. "A story Bellatrix loves to tell at weddings, funerals and - hey!" He suddenly stood up. "A Healer!"
At the bottom of the stairs, illuminated by the glow of his wand, was a male Healer. At the sound of Mile's voice, he looked up, startled.
"Oi! We need some help up here!" Mile said loudly. "There are three blokes bleeding to death."
The Healer ran up the stairs and knelt down on the landing, before the bodies of Shacklebolt, Maran and Takashi. He drew a small first aid kit out of the pocket of his robes and placed it on the floor.
"What happened?" The Healer asked.
"They were cursed by Death Eaters, we think." Scrimgeour said. "Heal them. Fast."
The Healer looked over their bloody chests, brow furrowing in confusion as he inspected the wounds.
"How odd." The Healer said.
"What?" Scrimgeour demanded. "What is it?"
"These wounds are very peculiar. They don't seem to be from a curse of any sort. A Cutting Curse would have made a bigger wound. But these aren't even wounds, really. They're just...small holes, like they were injected by needles. But there's an awful lot of blood, so it might have been a special needle, enchanted to increase the bleeding." The Healer explained. "Most Healers carry needles like that, in case they come across a patient who was bitten by a venomous creature. You see, if a person has poison or venom in their veins, there are certain needles that are used to make the person bleed out any toxins in their bloodstream."
"And that's what happened to them?" Mile raised his eyebrows. "Why would the Death Eaters do that?"
"Maybe it wasn't Death Eaters," Scrimgeour said darkly. "Maybe it was done by Healers. Imperiused Healers."
The Healer's face blanched in horror.
"Oh no - what if - what if I'm Imperiused next?" He croaked.
"It doesn't matter, just heal these Aurors!" Mile said frustratedly.
"Alright, it's a very simple spell." The Healer raised his wand with a shaking hand and murmured an incantation. Then he reached into his first aid kit, retrieved a small vial of clear liquid and forced each of the three unconscious Aurors to drink from it.
Moments later, one by one, the Aurors opened their eyes. Kingsley sat up slowly, Maran gasped and jumped up in surprise, Takashi blinked around dazedly.
"What happened?" Kingsley asked calmly, looking down at his bloody shirt.
"We - we were attacked!" Maran said. "I remember what happened! These three Healers came out of nowhere and stabbed us with needles...but the others are missing. They're upstairs with the Death Eaters. We told them we'd come for them if they needed us...but..."
"Are you alright?" Scrimgeour asked. "Can you still fight?"
"Yeah, I think so..." Takashi said slowly.
"Then get up. Quickly. We have to find the others."
As Kingsley, Maran and Takashi slowly got to their feet, the Healer cried, "No, no, no! They just lost a lot of blood, they must be dizzy and disoriented, it isn't safe for them to be up and about! They need rest, and I should run a few tests on them -"
"In any other situation, I'd say yes to that. But there are Death Eaters in the building, and another group of Aurors are missing. We haven't got time to make sure anyone is okay." Scrimgeour said. "Now let's go."
"That's probably not such a good idea. What if they're fighting Death Eaters and they just keel over in the middle of a duel because of all the blood loss?" Mile said. "At least let this Healer make sure they're alright first."
Scrimgeour looked at Mile, then looked at the three Aurors who all looked a bit dizzy and still had patches of blood on their shirts.
"Alright, but make it fast." Scrimgeour said to the Healer. "Make sure they're in a good enough condition then send them back to me."
"I'm going to have to take them to a room downstairs." The Healer said. He looked at Takashi, Maran and Kingsley. "You three, follow me."
Holding onto the railing tightly, the three injured Aurors and the Healer descended the stairs into the heavy darkness until they saw the glowing blue torches of the corridor below. The Healer quickly ushered them over to a door before pulling out a set of keys and unlocking it. After ushering them all inside, he shut the door behind them.
"Now what do we do?" Mile asked Scrimgeour. "Where should we look for the others? Who are we even looking for?"
"There are some other Aurors - Black, Lupin, Flaherty and Paleski. McNaughton should be alright where he is, for now." Scrimgeour said. "Maran said the others are upstairs somewhere with Death Eaters. I'll go up and find them while you wait here for the Potter child to get back."
"No! If there's a fight, I'm coming!" Mile said.
"It's far too dangerous! And anyway, the boy is your friend, isn't he? You should wait for him."
"I'm right here!" a voice said from somewhere in the dark beside them, startling them both so much they jumped.
"Constant vigilance, Rufus." said the voice of Tonks as she popped out of nowhere, Harry by her side. "Moody wouldn't be proud."
"Where did you come from?" Scrimgeour asked.
"Never you mind. Harry and I found a Healer and told him to go find you so he could help Kingsley, Maran and Takashi. Did he find you? Did he heal them?" Tonks asked.
"Yes, he healed them already, but he's running a few tests on them right now to make sure they can fight." Scrimgeour said.
"Well, there's no use waiting around here anymore, is there?" Mile said. "Harry's here, there's no excuse for us to not go upstairs and fight!
"But it's dangerous for children!" Scrimgeour protested.
"So? Mile and I fight all the time." Harry said. "Not each other, I mean, but we fight the Death Eaters from time to time."
"Why?" Tonks asked. "Have they ever tried hurting you guys?"
"They never hurt me, but Harry gets hurt all the time for misbehaving." Mile said. "And since he's the youngest and therefore the smallest and most vulnerable, whenever Malfoy or Macnair is teaching us a new curse, they try to use Harry as the guinea pig, to show us what the effects of the curse are like."
"Oh my god! Are you serious?" Tonks cried, her eyes widening with horror as she grabbed Harry's arm. "They did that to you?"
"Well, they haven't done it in a while-" Harry said uncomfortably.
"Yeah, last year Macnair tried to use one of the arm-breaking curses on him, but Harry hexed the living daylights out of him and none of the Death Eaters ever tried using him as a guinea pig again." Mile laughed. "It was quite a sight. I didn't know there was such a hex that turned people's eyelids invisible, but apparently there is. And I had no idea it was possible to make a person's nose sprout arms and legs, but Harry teaches you something new every day."
Harry laughed, nodding in remembrance of what apparently was an amusing day for him, but sounded like a horrifying day to Tonks. She shuddered at what James and Lily's reactions to Harry being used like a guinea pig would be. She imagined there would be a lot of screaming and crying and eventually a Death Eater's head on a platter.
Suddenly, a door burst open behind them and Maran came running out.
"Hey guys!" He said excitedly. "That Healer guy said I'm healthy enough to fight. He still has to check up on Kingsley and Takashi, though, and that should take a while so we'd better go on without them and – whoa!"
Maran suddenly stopped talking when his eyes fell on Harry.
"What the – how come you – who – what?" He stammered, his dark eyes raking over Harry from head to toe. "What's going on? Who are you?"
"Harry." Tonks said. "That's Harry."
"But why does he look like –"
"Can we stop talking and get to work? The other Aurors could be getting killed upstairs right now." Scrimgeour groaned. "Alright, the two of you can come fight, but try not to get hurt. Mile..." Mile looked up in surprise when Scrimgeour said his name. It was the first time the man had ever spoken it. "I'm not good at saying things like this, but just please try not to get hurt...for me?"
"I'll try." Mile saluted him with a barely suppressed grin.
"And you," Scrimgeour said to Harry. "Don't get hurt. If you do, your father will likely kill me."
"No, Scrimgeour! How could you even agree to let them come fight with us? Especially Harry! He's too young! And even if Harry doesn't get hurt, James will still kill you! James is probably going to kill me, just because Harry is here! If Harry even sets foot near a Death Eater, James will probably know because of some psychic father thing, and he'll come running to kill everyone except Harry, and then he'll throw Harry over his shoulder and run out of here-"
"Quite an imagination you have. But we've got no more time to discuss this. We're going upstairs. Now. Everyone get out your wands." Scrimgeour said.
Mile and Harry pulled their wands out of their sleeves eagerly while Tonks looked on in disapproval and shock.
"Alright, Maran, where are the others?" Scrimgeour asked.
"They went all the way upstairs to find the Death Eaters. We were supposed to meet them up there and come help them if anything went wrong." Maran said nervously. "I think they're on the fifth floor."
"Lead the way."
"Greyback, you idiot. Get up. Enervate."
Fenrir Greyback's eyes opened in a flash. Standing above him was a fourteen year old boy with angry red scars running down the length of his face and dark eyes narrowed in anger.
"Who stunned you?" Kyro spat.
Greyback opened his mouth to answer, but Kyro cut him off and said, "It doesn't matter. Quit lying around on the floor like a bloody sloth and make yourself useful. The Dark Lord gave me important orders and they won't be easy to achieve if I have to worry about imbeciles like you screwing things up with your laziness. Now go do something."
Then Kyro turned and hurried off into a stairwell, leaving Greyback alone.
Well, Greyback thought. I might as well pick a fight with someone tasty while I'm here...
After wandering down the hall, he saw a half-opened door to his right, a few heaps of still, unmoving bodies on the floor inside. He crept through the doorway and stepped around the bodies; discovering they were unconscious Aurors that had been tied up. He frowned. If they'd been tied up, that could mean they weren't meant to be killed yet. And they weren't children either, so there'd be no fun in biting them.
He was about to turn and leave before he recognized one of their faces.
Slumped on the floor by the wall was a man in his early thirties with light brown hair bearing the familiar gray streaks that typically came with the werewolf curse. The general shape of his face was familiar to Greyback, and after thinking about it for a few moments, he remembered who it was. Grinning with savage delight, Greyback cut open the cords that bound the unconscious man and shook him awake. The man's eyes opened and stared back up at him.
"Remus Lupin, what a lovely surprise." Greyback sneered.
Without a moment's hesitation, Remus jumped up and struck Greyback across the face.
"Oh, a fight is what you want?" Greyback smiled. "Good thing that's what I want too."
Greyback lunged forward, but Remus was quick; he dove onto the floor, grabbed his wand, raised it and shouted, "Impedimenta!"
"Haven't seen you in years," Greyback snickered after being knocked backward, raising his own wand. "You've gotten better at fighting."
"You've gotten uglier."
With a slash of his wand, Greyback sent a curse in Remus' direction, but Remus ducked just in time.
"Maybe I should bite some of your friends?" Greyback looked over the unconscious forms of Sirius, Flaherty and Paleski. "They could taste pretty good."
Remus quickly ran from the room with Greyback following behind.
"Oh, I'm sorry, do you not want your friends to be like us?" Greyback asked, slashing his wand again.
Dodging the curse, Remus snarled, "'Like us'? There's no 'us.' I'm nothing like you."
"You're exactly like me. We're both creatures of the night. Animals. Better than wizards."
"No, you're a killer and you ruin lives. I'm an Auror. You and I are nothing alike!" Remus gave a short, humorless laugh and said, "I'm actually glad you decided to pick a fight with me."
"Why is that?" Greyback hissed, shooting curses off his wand left and right, but Remus kept deflecting them skillfully.
"I've been waiting for this day for years." Remus said. "The day I'll finally kill you."
"Revenge!" Greyback chuckled. "You're hellbent on revenge, I see now! But it is tragic how you spent your whole miserable life just waiting to kill me, but now you must realize that you can't!"
"I haven't spent every day of my life waiting to kill you. Believe it or not, there were times when I just didn't give a damn about you!" Remus shouted and ducked as a curse came soaring over his head. "But there was one day every month when I hated you more than anything, and I wanted nothing more than to just kill you. But it wasn't about revenge, never revenge. It wasn't so I could get some satisfaction for myself. It was just the thought of stopping you from inflicting this curse on any more innocent people - that's why I'm going to kill you. To protect others from you."
Then Greyback made a long gash in Remus' arm, ripping open his sleeve along with his skin, spilling blood everywhere.
"Just face it, boy!" Greyback grinned, eying Remus' blood greedily. "You can't kill me! I'm going to kill you! Then I'm going to eat you, and then I'll eat your friends!"
Remus' face contorted with anger and Greyback stopped to laugh, his wand lowering a fraction of an inch. Remus saw this as an opportunity. His stomach flipped in excitement, adrenaline rushed through him, and he felt like his heart was going to pound its way out of his chest as he pointed his wand at Greyback and said, "Avada Kedavra!"
There was the smallest fraction of a second when everything hung in the air, frozen in time, as Greyback's eyes widened in shock and he registered what was about to happen. But then the green beam of light crashed into his chest, wiping all traces of life and evil from his body until it was nothing but a cold, motionless shell, and fell to the floor with a thud.
Remus' feet were rooted to the spot, his heart beating so loudly in the silent corridor he felt like everyone in the world could hear it. His wand hung limp in his trembling hands. Fenrir Greyback lay spread-eagled on the floor a few feet away, dead.
I killed Fenrir Greyback, he realized. I...killed...Fenrir Greyback.
At first he felt horror at what he'd done; he'd taken a human life. But then he remembered that this was an evil werewolf, a killing machine, who'd ruined and taken the lives of dozens of others, and Remus had been wanting to do this for almost his whole life. Every full moon he'd howl in pain as his bones broke and reformed themselves into the bones of a wolf, and he'd tear at his skin, his stomach churning with hunger for human flesh, and he'd just lay there on the floor of the Shrieking Shack and hate Fenrir Greyback, wanting to crush his existence and stop him from ruining anyone else's life like Remus' had been.
I did it, Remus told himself. I killed him. He can't hurt anyone anymore. I killed him. I did it.
A hysterical laugh bubbled from his lips before he could stop it. He felt jittery and unstable, like a time bomb.
I need chocolate. I need tea. I need...TO GET HELP FOR THE OTHERS! He turned around quickly and ran for the stairs, taking them two at a time, until he reached the floor below. Everything was dark except for the blue glow from the torches on the walls. Every door along the corridor was closed, darkness behind their windows. All except for one.
One door in particular had a small beam of light spilling out from underneath, onto the hallway floor. Remus ran over and tried to open it but found it was locked.
"Open up! I need help!" He shouted, pounding his fists against it.
The door opened moments later; a Healer was looking at him curiously. Behind the Healer, sitting in beds along the wall, were Kingsley and Takashi.
"Remus?" Kingsley stood up. There was blood all over his shirt and a small bandage over his exposed chest. "What's wrong?"
"Sirius and Flaherty and Paleski are upstairs tied up, and the Death Eaters captured us earlier and they took a horcrux or something out of a cabinet up there, and then they left, but Greyback just came back and picked a fight with me, but that's okay 'cos I killed him, but the others - the others are still up there, they're unconscious. We gotta go get them!" Remus said hurriedly, panting and gasping for air.
"Wait, what?" Takashi asked, staring incredulously. "You killed Fenrir Greyback?"
"Yes but the others are up there still, we've got to go get them, and what happened to you two?" Remus asked. "Why didn't you come for us? Why are you all bloody?"
"We were attacked by Healers. Imperiused Healers." Takashi explained. "But we're fine now. We lost a lot of blood, though, so we're probably not good enough to fight yet. Maran didn't lose as much blood as us, though, and he was feeling much better than us, so he went off with Scrimgeour somewhere." Then his eyes bulged and he cried out, "Remus! Your arm!"
Everyone, including Remus, looked down at his arm in shock and horror. Blood was dripping down from under his ripped sleeve and was puddling on the white tile floor.
"Come over to a bed, quick!" The Healer grabbed his arm and pulled him towards a bed.
"I can't, I've got to get Sirius, he's still up there-"
"Scrimgeour will find him." Kingsley said. "Don't worry. We saw Scrimgeour just a few minutes ago, actually. You just missed him. He's probably on his way upstairs now."
"Hold still!" The Healer said, for Remus kept craning his neck to see the door. "No one is near the door! There's no point in looking over there! Stop moving, I'm trying to put these bandages on you. I've got to stop the bleeding. You took a bad blow from a Cutting Curse." The Healer looked to Kingsley and Takashi for help. "Could you try to settle him down for me?"
Takashi sighed and said, "I'll make some tea."
The last thing Sirius remembered before Yaxley knocked him and the others unconscious was Redler going around the room, pressing his hands against parts of the wall and stomping on parts of the floor like he was doing some sort of idiot tribal dance. Then when he was done prancing around like a buffoon, stomping his feet and smacking the walls, he went over to a cabinet and opened it up. However, once he caught Sirius staring, he snapped, "Mind your business" and then Yaxley delivered a blow to Sirius' head, making everything go dark around him.
For a while Sirius' dreams were uneventful, just a darkness in his mind that went on and on. But then his dream changed. There was the sound of a slamming door, low voices, and light seeped through the cracks of his eyelids.
"Oh, good, they're here. And they're alive." a familiar female voice sighed in relief. "But...where's Remus?"
"Maybe he escaped." another voice said.
"I guess that's possible..."
"It's so dark in here - ouch! One of you stepped on my foot."
"Might've been me, sorry."
"This whole room is rigged with traps." a much younger voice joined the cacophony, sounding strangely familiar.
"You don't say!" the voice of a teenage boy said, also a bit familiar.
This is such a weird dream, Sirius thought. Unless I'm awake...
He tried opening his eyes but it felt like there was glue over his eyelids, sticking them together. He also found that he couldn't move a muscle; every limb felt heavy and weighted down.
"You're right about the traps. There seems to be quite a lot of them in here. Most of them have been disengaged, from the looks of it. But we've got to be careful."
"Who would set up traps in here? It's just an old, unused hospital room."
"Maybe the traps were guarding something." said the familiar female voice.
Tonks? Sirius wondered.
"Yes, it seems most likely the traps were - don't touch that!" Tonks shouted.
"Why not?" asked the voice of a young boy.
"It's sharp!"
"So?"
"Where'd you find that?"
"In the wall."
"What is it?"
"A ninja star, it looks like."
"Where'd it come from?"
"I don't know, a ninja?"
Tonks sighed exasperatedly.
"We've got to wake these Aurors up." said the teenage voice. "And untie them."
"Enervate, Finite Incantatem." Sirius heard a familiar gravelly voice say from somewhere nearby. Scrimgeour?, he wondered. "Eneverate, Finite Incantatem."
Sirius could hear Paleski and Flaherty's sudden gasps of air as they sat up.
Then Sirius felt someone kneel in front of them, could feel their breath on his face.
"Enervate, Finite Incantatem." spoke the voice of a young boy.
Then Sirius' limbs were liberated from the cords that had bound them and his eyes flashed open. However, the bright glow of several wands nearly scorched his eyes, making them water; he shielded his eyes from the light with his arm.
"Wotcher, Sirius!" Tonks said. "Glad you're alright! Here's your wand." She shoved his wand into his hands as he blinked around the dimly lit room dazedly.
"What happened?" Flaherty groaned from somewhere in the shadows by the wall.
The light from the wands bounced all over the room in a dizzying blur of light and dark, illuminating objects and people for fractions of seconds before moving away, making shadows jump around the walls. Sirius couldn't make out the details of anything; green blotches danced around his vision, obscuring everything.
However, he could somewhat see the person who was kneeling in front of him, and with a jolt he realized who it was.
"James!" Sirius sat up suddenly. "Is that you?"
That's James, it has to be.
Sirius quickly rose to his feet, as did the person in front of him. And that was when Sirius realized "James" was two feet shorter than him. "Lumos," he mumbled, igniting the tip of his wand and raising it to see the person's face.
"James, mate, why are you - HOLY SIMILAR!"
Sirius jumped back in shock, hurling himself into a bookcase, making shelves and books and glass items crash to the floor with a loud racket. In front of him stood a thirteen year old boy with Lily's big green eyes staring at him from under James' dark, messy hair.
"JESUS CHRIST!"
"Oh, Sirius, I forgot to tell you -" Tonks grinned sheepishly. "Probably should have mentioned this the second you woke up-"
Sirius dropped to his knees and stared at the boy in front of him, his heart pounding in his ears. Thousands of questions ran through his mind but he couldn't decide on one to ask, none of them were even tangible sentences, just loud fragments of thoughts demanding answers.
This isn't possible - this isn't real - I'm dreaming - I must be dreaming - how could this be real? - This boy looks like Lily and James - he looks like their son - but he can't be their son - Harry is dead - Harry is dead - BUT HE'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME.
"Is this real life?" Sirius asked. His eyes raked over the boy, trying to look for some proof that this might not be who he thought it was, but everything about the boy - his eyes, the shape of his face, his mouth, even his posture - screamed 'spawn of Lily and James.' Without thinking, he grabbed the boy's shoulders and stared him in the eyes, his mind so blown he could barely find the words to say. "HARRY?"
"Look at this kid, Sirius, isn't he weird?" Maran stepped over and put his hands on the boy's face from behind. "Look at his face! Look! And look at his hair! Who does he look like? Tell me who he looks like, come on, I know you know. Isn't it weird?"
"You're weird." The boy ducked his head, pulling out of Maran's grip.
"Get away from Harry, Maran. I think you've creeped him out enough today." Tonks said.
"Holy fuck, are you really Harry?" Sirius asked, a manic kind of excitement building up in his chest. On the outside he seemed composed, but on the inside everything was about to erupt. "You're Harry? You're really Harry?"
The boy nodded.
"Oh lord, here it comes." Tonks muttered.
Sirius sprang to his feet so suddenly Harry jumped. Then he ran his shaking hands through his long dark hair, pulling at it, a nervous habit he'd picked up off of James. He chuckled at first, then laughed a bit louder, and then he was throwing his head back and laughing hysterically, his whole body shaking.
"YOU'RE HARRY!" He bellowed, wiping his streaming eyes.
"Yeah," Harry said with the same nervous, frightened tone of voice someone would use if they were asking, "are you out of your mind?" That only made Sirius laugh harder.
"TONKS, TONKS, HE'S HARRY."
"I know, Sirius."
"HE'S HARRY."
"Yeah, Sirius, I know."
"HE'S MY GODSON!"
"I know, Sirius."
"DO YOU KNOW?"
"Yes, I know."
"DOES HE KNOW?"
"Well I suppose he knows now."
Harry was watching with wide eyes, looking both scared and amused.
"Harry, Harry," Sirius said excitedly, kneeling down again. "I'm your godfather."
"Are you being serious?"
"TONKS, HE JUST MADE A PUN ABOUT MY NAME, HE TRULY IS THE SON OF JAMES POTTER!"
Harry couldn't stop himself from grinning.
"Are you done shouting, Black?" Scrimgeour asked.
"No, I think he could go on all night." Tonks laughed.
"Wait a second!" Flaherty's jaw dropped. "That's James' son? His dead son?"
"I'm not dead." Harry said.
"But didn't You-Know-Who kill you years ago?"
"Not that I can remember."
"But what if he did kill you and you just don't remember, then?"
"But then how would I be here?"
"I don't know." Flaherty looked startled.
"SHUT UP, FLAHERTY! HE'S ALIVE!" Sirius shouted before pulling Harry into a bone-crushing hug, which Harry returned shyly.
"This is too weird." Paleski said.
"Do Lily and James know?" Sirius asked Tonks.
"James knows, Lily doesn't yet." She answered.
"How are you alive?" Sirius asked Harry.
Harry shrugged.
"Well, old Voldemort wanted to kill young Harry here when he was just a year old, as you must know," Mile said, sitting on top of the old cabinet. "But Bellatrix thought he'd make a good Death Eater so she convinced No-Nose not to kill him."
"You're a Junior Death Eater?" Sirius asked Harry, his eyes wide.
"Not really. Not anymore."
"You were at the Ministry!" Sirius realized. "You destroyed that hocrux! You were rude to Scrimgeour! I need a high five. Right now."
Harry grinned and high-fived Sirius while Scrimgeour frowned in disapproval.
"Now really, don't be so bloody immature, Black -"
"Hush, Scrimgeour, this is the greatest moment of my life. I don't want your voice as the soundtrack." Sirius smiled at Harry and said, "Have you met your dad yet?"
Harry nodded.
"But you haven't met your Mum?" Sirius asked. "Well, you've got to meet Remus. Right now. Speaking of Remus, where is Remus?"
"He wasn't here when we came in." Tonks said.
"Kingsley and Takashi are in a room downstairs with one of the Healers, maybe Lupin will be down there." Scrimgeour said.
"Why would he be down there?"
"Well, the room they're in is the only room with a light on. If Remus escaped and ran to get help, that's probably the first room he'd think to go in." Scrimgeour said.
"Let's go look!" Sirius said. He took Harry by the arm and said, "Come on, Harry, you've got to meet Remus."
Harry exchanged a look with Tonks, shrugged, and let Sirius lead him out the door and down the stairs. Tonks skipped along after them, a broad grin on her face, as Paleski, Maran, Flaherty, Mile and Scrimgeour walked along slowly, refusing to be a part of Sirius' little parade of joy.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Sirius held an arm out for Harry to stop.
"Careful, there might be Death Eaters." Sirius held his wand up and looked around. "Tonks, where's the room Kingsley and Takashi are in?"
"Over here," Tonks said and lead the way for them into the dark corridor. All of the windows in the doors were blacked out, except for one that was glowing brightly. Tonks made her way for the door, knocked, and said, "Open up. It's me: Tonks!"
The door opened slowly, a Healer standing behind the threshold, looking around cautiously.
"It's alright; she's our friend. Let her in." Kingsley said from somewhere inside.
"Is Remus here?" Tonks asked, stepping into the room. Then Sirius heard her cry, "Remus, there you are! What happened to your arm?"
Sirius burst through the door and saw Kingsley and Takashi sitting in beds while Remus sat at the Healer's desk at the other side of the room, in the process of making tea with a bandaged arm.
"Remus, mate, there's good news!" Sirius yelled.
"Sirius! Are you alright?" Remus asked. "I'm sorry for leaving you there, but Greyback picked a fight with me and he nearly cut my arm open. I ran down here to get some help, and I was gonna go back and find you, but they said Scrimgeour was up there so I figured -"
"Stop prattling, Remus, none of that matters!" Sirius said. "I've got great news!"
"What is it?" Remus asked. "Did you catch Macnair, Yaxley and Redler?"
"Even BETTER!" Sirius shouted before running back out of the room.
"What was that all about?" Remus' brow furrowed as he looked over at Tonks, who was smiling like she knew something. He sighed and poured the water from the kettle into teacups.
"He's awfully happy about something." Kingsley said, his lips quirking up in amusement. Takashi nodded in agreement, playing around with a stethoscope.
Then Sirius burst back into the room, towing Harry along by the arm.
"Look, Remus, look!" Sirius laughed.
Remus looked up at Sirius with a bored expression on his face, obviously expecting something stupid, but then his eyes nearly popped out of his head and his jaw dropped at the sight of the boy in front of him. Takashi dropped the stethoscope he'd been toying with, even the usually calm Kingsley looked like he'd been sucker punched, and Remus was completely oblivious to the hot water overflowing from the cup and scalding his hand; he was distractedly pouring the entire kettle of water into one cup as he stared at Harry.
"Is that - is that-?" Takashi stammered.
"It's Harry!" Sirius was practically bouncing with excitement, his hands on Harry's shoulders.
Remus flung the tea kettle aside; it skittered off the desk and landed on the floor, hot water sloshing everywhere.
"Harry?" Remus took a step forward.
Harry nodded, unsure of what else to do or say.
"Are you -" Remus' voice cracked and he had to clear his throat. "Are you really Harry? Harry Potter?"
"It's him, Remus." Tonks said with a grin.
"My god," Kingsley said under his breath, staring at Harry in amazement.
"How are you alive?" Takashi asked.
"Everyone keeps asking me that," Harry said. "But I don't have all the answers."
Tonks and Sirius laughed like it was the funniest thing they've ever heard. Paleski, Maran, Flaherty, Scrimgeour and Mile appeared in the doorway behind them.
"Who's that?" Takashi asked, looking at Mile.
"Er - everyone," Scrimgeour cleared his throat loudly, calling for silence. It took a few moments for Sirius and Tonks to get a hold of themselves. When they finally did, Scrimgeour put a hand on Mile's shoulder and announced, "This is Mile...my son."
"WHAT?"
"YOUR SON?"
"YOU HAVE A SON?"
"YOU GOT LAID?"
"This day just keeps getting better and better."
Everyone reacted to this except for Harry and Remus. Harry was quietly looking around from person to person while Remus stared at him intently, his eyes huge in his pale face.
"But how?" Takashi demanded. "How's he your son? And how is Harry alive? You-Know Who was supposed to kill him. And no offense, Scrimgeour, but since when have you ever had a girlfriend?"
"Marie." Scrimgeour said, a blush creeping up his neck.
"Ohh," Tonks nodded. "I see."
"And if you want to know why Harry's alive, it's because Bellatrix convinced Voldemort not to kill him when he was a baby and decided it would be better to raise him as a Death Eater instead." Mile said. "This is probably the hundredth time I've told this bloody story tonight. Now I'm starting to feel like Bellatrix. She tells the story all the time, whenever she's mad."
"Or whenever she's drunk." Harry said.
"But she usually just sings when she's drunk." Mile said.
"-about Voldemort." Harry added, making Sirius and Tonks howl with laughter again.
"But you don't act like a Death Eater." Maran said to Harry.
"And you don't act like Scrimgeour." Flaherty said to Mile.
"Well, obviously Harry isn't a real Death Eater!" Tonks exclaimed. "He's Lily and James' son, for Merlin's sake. He might have been raised by Bellatrix Lestrange but he's got Potter blood in his veins. He's got Lily's eyes, hasn't he? He has her heart too." Then she said, "And we all remember Marie. She had a sense of humor. That could be why this Mile boy has a sense of humor too. Because he definitely did not get it from Scrimgeour. No offense, Scrimgeour."
Mile looked at his father and shrugged, spreading his palms out innocently.
Harry suddenly cringed, a jolt of pain running up his arm. His stomach sunk with dread. Not again, he thought desperately. Please don't let that start up again...
"Harry, is your arm still hurting?" Tonks was looking at him worriedly. Apparently his cringe didn't go unnoticed.
"There's something wrong with your arm?" Sirius looked at Harry in concern.
"Nothing's wrong." Harry said quickly.
Tonks grabbed his arm anyway and pushed back his sleeve, exposing the Dark Mark and the rows of scars along his wrist. The whole room went quiet.
"Is he trying to summon you?" Mile asked, pulling up his own sleeve and checking his wrist, where there too was a Dark Mark. "I don't feel it."
"You've got a Dark Mark?" Scrimgeour looked at Mile in horror.
"They gave you a Dark Mark?" Sirius' said to Harry, his face going pale. "And how the fuck did you get those scars? Who did this to you?"
"Bellatrix." Harry answered.
"That evil, twisted bint!" Sirius exclaimed. "I'll get her good for that, next time I see her. Oh god, has James seen this?"
"James knows about it." Tonks nodded. "He's not mad at Harry for having a Dark Mark. But if you find the severed head of Bellatrix Lestrange lying around, James is probably responsible; he went apoplectic with rage about all the scars on Harry's wrists."
"He did?" Harry looked surprised.
"Oh yes, but you weren't in the room." Tonks said.
Sirius took Harry's wrist and looked at it, his face growing steadily paler as his eyes moved over all the scratches and cuts.
"Just be glad your Mum doesn't know about this. She'd foam at the mouth and demand Bellatrix's head on a platter."
Bellatrix screeched in pain when Lily grabbed her by the hair and threw her against the wall, her head cracking against the stone with a loud smack.
"I'm getting impatient," Lily said, her arms starting to ache. "But I can do this forever. I have all the time in the world."
"But does Harry have enough time?" Bellatrix grinned, showing off a gap where her front teeth used to be, but now lay in a puddle of saliva and blood on the floor from when Lily knocked them out. Lily kicked the woman in the ribs, making her cough up blood. "Easy, mudblood. You might end up killing me and then you'll never know where your precious son is. And things aren't looking too well for him right now. Remember when you knocked me out a few minutes go? Well, you see, the Dark Lord recently set up a mental link between our Dark Marks, allowing me to see into Harry's mind whenever I'm unconscious. So I just got a glimpse of where he is, and I'm just delighted at how well things are turning out."
"You - you just got a glimpse of where he is?" Lily asked, the meaning of Bellatrix's words sinking in slowly. "So all this time-"
"I had no idea where he was," Bellatrix cackled, blood dribbling from her lips. "Until now!"
"WHERE?" Lily seized Bellatrix by the throat. "TELL ME!"
Bellatrix only laughed, the sound like nails on a chalkboard.
"I'll use Veritaserum!"
Bellatrix laughed even harder.
"Veritaserum? You must be joking, mudblood! Surely you know there are many, many ways to trick that fallible potion!"
"-which is why I haven't used it yet. But since pain doesn't seem to bother you, I can't just beat it out of you, and you're not going to tell me the truth any time soon. So I might as well try it now." Lily went over to the cabinets by the wall and rifled through them, shoving useless, empty vials out of her way in her desperate attempt to find Veritaserum.
"You're looking for Veritsaserum here?" Bellatrix snorted. "I doubt you're going to find the strongest truth potion in existence just sitting on a shelf in an abandoned St. Mungo's ward. I knew you were stupid, but I had no idea you were that stupid. Even your son has more common sense than that, which is really saying something because he doesn't have much."
"SHUT UP!" Lily threw a bottle at the wall behind Bellatrix, making shards of glass rain down on the woman's head.
Then Lily Disapparated, leaving behind the dark, abandoned hospital ward and falling to her knees in the mud on the outskirts of a forest. She quickly got to her feet and ran through the trees until she reached the low, grassy hill leading up to Hogwarts. By the time she reached the castle door, there was a painful stitch in her side that twinged every time she moved or breathed but she ignored it and pushed her legs to move faster and faster, through the corridors and down the stairs to the dungeons.
"Severus!" She shouted, opening the door to the potions classroom. "Severus, are you here?"
The classroom was cold and empty, the silence humming in her ears. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the shiny pewter cauldron on Snape's desk and jumped in surprise; she looked like a stranger. No, she looked like a total wreck. Her skin was paler than usual, her eyes bearing dark shadows underneath, her lips were chapped and her hair was in a state of disarray, hanging around her face in chaotic tangles.
A cold hand on her shoulder made her jump and raise her wand, preparing to fight, but she lowered it when she realized it was only Snape.
"Severus," She said. "I need Veritaserum."
"Pardon?" He narrowed his eyes, looking her up and down.
"Veritaserum! I need it! Please, Severus, don't you have any?"
"Lily, may I ask what you're doing here at Hogwarts? And why do you look like you've been to hell and back?"
"Severus, believe me, I've gone to hell but I haven't come back. I know this is out of the blue and I haven't even talked to you in months and this sounds like a strange request but I really, really need Veritaserum. I can't tell you why right now, it's a long story, but please, Severus, please, just give me some!"
"Have you spoken to your husband at all?" Snape raised an eyebrow.
"SEVERUS!" She shouted. Then she covered her face with her hands and said, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but I haven't got time to answer questions! Do you have Veritaserum or not?"
He looked at her for a few moments, his expression betraying nothing, but then he nodded and walked over to his desk. After unlocking the bottom drawer and digging through it, he pulled out a small vial of clear, colorless liquid that, if she didn't know any better, she would have thought was water.
"You only need to use a few drops and the person you're interrogating will spill all of their secrets," Snape handed the bottle to her. "Although I still can't imagine why you'd need this, or who you're planning on using it on."
"Thank you so much, Severus!" Lily stowed the bottle in her pocket and ran for the door.
"Wait," Snape said, making her stop. "There's something you should probably know, if you don't already."
"What is it?" Lily asked impatiently, bouncing on her toes, getting ready to run again.
"Never mind," Snape said quickly. "Let him tell you. It's probably better that way."
Lily didn't know or care what he was talking about. Whatever it was, it could wait until after she found Harry. She flung the door open and ran back up the stairs, through the corridors to the entrance hall, and out the castle door and across the grounds until she felt herself break through the invisible wall of the wards, where she was able to Apparate back to St Mungo's.
Back at Hogwarts, Snape was very disgruntled. He kept replaying that conversation over and over in his head, trying to think of why Lily would come to him looking like a total mess, demanding Veritaserum before running off again. He wanted to sit down at his desk and write some Fs on all of his Gryffindor students' papers to take his mind off things, but he still couldn't sit in his chair. He'd have to have Flitwick come and remove whatever charm was put on it. Frustrated, he left his classroom and went off to find Flitwick.
But when he reached the first floor corridor, he ran into Trelawney, who hadn't been watching where she was going because she was so busy staring at the dregs at the bottom of a teacup and mumbling to herself.
"Severus! You ought to be more careful. You nearly knocked me right over," She said.
He bit back whatever cruel retort he'd thought of and glared down at her like she was an irksome insect.
"Well, while I have you here, I assume you want to know all about what I'm predicting at the moment, it's rather fascinating." She said, gazing down into the cup. "Yes, I see a fight happening. A big one, between the hand that rocks the cradle and the hand that chokes the child..."
"Fascinating indeed, Sybil," He said monotonously and tried to walk away before she could say anything else, but she seized his arm and held onto it.
"Oh, yes, very, very fascinating. I do think I know the outcome of this fight, though. Clearly, the hand that rocks the cradle would be the winner. You know what they always say, don't you?: 'The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.' Although, in my opinion, the eyes that see the future are what rule the world, but not everyone has the sight, unfortunately."
"Yes, how unfortunate. I must be going." He jerked out of her grip and stalked off down the corridor.
"Good seeing you, Severus! Stay away from the ones with red hair! They will bring you great distress and misfortune!"
Lily landed in a crouching position on the floor right near Bellatrix. The woman's dark eyes shined with mirth as Lily took the bottle of Veritaserum out of her pocket and pulled out the cork with her nails.
"Oh, you found some," Bellatrix said with a smile. "Let's see how well it works."
Lily grabbed a fistful of Bellatrix's hair to hold her head still, then shoved the bottle into her mouth, forcing all of its contents down her throat. Once Bellatrix swallowed all of it, Lily let the bottle drop to the floor and shatter. She rose to her feet with tired, shaking legs and held onto a table to steady herself.
"Now you're going to tell me everything."
"You think so?" Bellatrix smiled. "Oh, and I almost forgot! While you were gone, I saw into Harry's mind again. Poor boy, though, it causes him great pain every time I do. And I must say, things are really going in the Dark Lord's favor."
"Where is Harry?" Lily asked, hoping to god the potion would work.
"Here."
Lily's heartbeat quickened.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"Harry is here at St. Mungo's." Bellatrix said with a deviant smile. "But don't look so relieved, mudblood. Even I don't know exactly where he is. All of these rooms look alike. You'll never find him in time."
Lily was already out the door.
"Remus, you look like you've seen a ghost." Tonks said. "Which is understandable, of course."
"Say something, Moony. Before I smack you to see if you're breathing." Sirius said.
"That only works on newborns, Sirius." Flaherty said.
"How would you know, Flaherty? Have you got a child?"
"No, but neither do you."
"I have a godchild, though."
"So we've heard."
"Come on, Moony." Sirius said. "Give Harry a hug! I know you want to."
"Harry wouldn't mind. Would you, Harry?" Tonks smiled at Harry. Then she said to Remus, "He's only creeped out by Maran."
"Hey!" Maran cried indignantly.
Remus hesitantly stepped forward and hugged Harry gently, like he was afraid of hurting the boy. Then he pulled away, but his hand lingered on Harry's back as he looked into his eyes.
"I can hardly believe it." Remus said softly.
"None of us can." Kingsley said, still looking like he'd just received the greatest shock of his life.
"Can everyone get away from the door?" The Healer asked, a far off look on his face as he motioned for everyone to move further into the room. He practically shoved Scrimgeour and Mile out of the way as he moved past them to get to his desk.
"You look so offended, Rufus!" Tonks laughed. "The look on your face!"
"Not used to being manhandled, are you?" Maran laughed.
"Everyone, don't laugh at the man. It's not his fault his ego is so large. He was born that way." Sirius said.
"I'm impressed with this one, though," Paleski said, gesturing to Mile. "He's quite sane, for someone who shares DNA with Rufus."
"Ha-ha, you're all hilarious." Scrimgeour said. "But I feel like you're forgetting that I'm your boss."
"Who could forget? You remind us all ten times a day."
"I wouldn't say ten times. Eight, maybe," Scrimgeour said. "But not ten."
"Oh, Dad, you jokester!" Mile punched Scrimgeour's arm.
In the midst of all of this joking and laughing, Harry felt two arms wrap around him from behind. But it wasn't like the playful hugs James gave him after sneaking up on him. The person's grip was so strong it nearly crushed his ribs. Then he immediately noticed, behind everyone, there was a face looking through the window in the door, illuminated by the light of a wand. Harry's heart started pounding so hard he felt like whoever had grabbed him could feel it as they dragged him backwards. He wanted to grab his wand and fight them off but his arms were pinned to his sides.
But then there was a loud crack and for a second Harry froze, thinking he'd been hit over the head, only to realize it wasn't him that had been hit over the head, but the person who'd grabbed him. Turning around, he saw the Healer lying on the floor, Remus standing over him holding some sort of metal rod.
"What just happened!" Tonks cried in alarm.
Then the door burst open, nearly flying off its hinges. Kyro, Redler, Macnair and three other Death Eaters were standing behind it.
"Kyro!" Mile hissed, pulling out his wand.
"Nice to see you, Mile." Kyro said with a snarl. "Expelliarmus!"
Mile's wand flew from his hands and hit the wall. All the Aurors reached for their own wands but before anyone could do anything, the Death Eaters aimed their wands at the ceiling and said, "Reducto!"
There was an explosion that threw everyone back against the walls and then an eruption of dust and shattering plaster. While everyone dropped to their knees to find the wands that they'd dropped, a cloud of smoke rose, obscuring everything else in the room. Somewhere in the chaos, someone else grabbed Harry and dragged him through the open door.
Out in the hallway, Harry was thrown down to the floor. Kyro stood over him, smiling cruelly.
"Finally," He said. Then he called over his shoulder, "Redler, I've got him."
Oh wow, I am a massive bitch for ending it here. But I must be going. It's Thanksgiving and my crazy relatives are calling me. Happy Thanksgiving, to all my fellow Americans, and happy Thursday to everyone else. Please review, as always. ;D