He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. -Friedrich Nietzsche
"I'm sorry, sir, but I can't wake her up," the Healer snapped furiously. "You pushed her too hard and now she's locked down!"
"You should be able to wake her up! You've done it before in the past!" Dreyfus growled back. "She's important property!"
The Healer looked outraged.
"Property? She's a human being, Dreyfus, not some toy you can just break and glue back together when you want to! She was in pain and she locked herself down so that she wouldn't feel anymore! How could you be so calloused?"
"Wake. Her. Up," Dreyfus snarled, pointing to Stephanie Warner's prone body. The Healer shook her head.
"I can't," she hissed. "We need her Overseer, but I'm guessing he's either in Azkaban like everyone else or he's escaped like the smart man that he is."
Dreyfus shoved a finger in the woman's face.
"You'll be sharing a cell next to him when we find him," he growled. "Now deal with her!"
"Go to hell, Dreyfus," the Healer snapped. "You're not the Minister."
With that said, the woman went to the door and opened it.
"Get out before I call security," she hissed.
Dreyfus let out a growl and stormed out of the hospital room and into the hall where Dumbledore was waiting for him with a few other officials.
"Dreyfus, there are reporters all over this place," one of the officials snapped. "And Moody's saying that there are Death Eaters popping up close by. He thinks there may be an attack."
Dreyfus snorted.
"Voldemort's been threatening to attack this place for days. If he were going to do it, he would have," he said as they stood in the crowded hallway. Dumbledore shook his head.
"Henry, you need to let me see Stephanie. She needs to be taken care of properly," he said.
Dreyfus smiled knowingly and shook his head.
"I don't think so, Albus. There's no way in hell I'm letting you in there so that you can just disappear with her," he snapped as he began to walk away. "You're still under investigation for helping Snape."
"Henry, are you listening to yourself? You're focusing on the wrong things! Voldemort should be your number one priority but you're worrying about an unstable telepathic! You'll kill her!"
Dreyfus whirled around and glared at Dumbledore.
"I DON'T CARE!" he roared. "If she has to die so that this screwed up country can be put back together, then so be it! I will not have insubordination during this time! And you will not oppose me on this or so help me God I will see you in Azkaban!"
"I believe we have one more mile to go," Roxanne whispered.
"Really?" Harry asked.
Roxanne nodded.
"It's gotten louder down here," she replied softly. "We're reaching the surface again…"
Hermione snorted.
"You're the only one who would notice that it's gotten louder," she said, pulling Darcy out of her backpack and placing him on her shoulder so he could stretch a little. The little creature yawned before nipping Hermione's ear affectionately.
"Shh!" Viorel hissed suddenly. Harry turned his wand to face the vampire and they all saw the man staring ahead, eyes troubled.
"What is it?" Ron asked quietly.
Viorel held up his hand for them to be quiet and a moment later two men materialized out of the darkness, gliding quickly over the rocks and into the better light of the wands held up by the teenagers.
"Kale, Dennis," Roxanne whispered. "What's going on?"
It was easy for the mortals to see that something had the vampires shaken. Kale, the bigger of the two males, stepped forward.
"Constantine believes that the Manic are up ahead," he murmured. "He thinks they may be waiting for us up there."
"That would explain why we haven't had any occurrences so far," Viorel whispered before frowning. "Why would the Manic be by the entrance? They've never come so close to the surface before."
Dennis shook his head.
"That doesn't matter, Viorel," he hissed. "The way to the entrance is narrow and we cannot take all of them at the same time. Constantine is just a few meters ahead with the first half. We will take four of the mortals with us and the other three will go ahead with the second half."
Devonshire frowned.
"Wait, you're going to separate us?" he asked. "Why the hell would you do that?"
Roxanne moved in front of Devonshire to block him from Dennis's glare.
"It would be safer for you seven if you were separated," she whispered quickly. "The Manic may be after vampire flesh, but if they smell seven living beings together, they will attack you first. Bloodlust is still a primal thing to the Manic."
Kale moved past the group.
"I am going to get the other group. Have yourselves divided and ready to move. We must get to the entrance as quickly as possible to avoid any casualties," he hissed before disappearing into the darkness. Viorel turned to the group.
"Well?"
Devonshire shook his head.
"I don't like this. Splitting us up can't be a good thing," he said.
Viorel pointed ahead of them.
"You will be killed if you do not divide, William," he growled. "Do you want these children to die?"
Ginny placed a hand on Devonshire's arm.
"It'll be okay. We just move fast and get out of here. It's not that far," she whispered. Devonshire sighed and nodded.
"Okay… Harry, you go first with Ginny, Luna and Neville. Hermione and Ron will come with me and the last group," he said clearly. Roxanne moved over with Ginny and guided her over to where Dennis was standing.
"Come, we must move quickly. Constantine is just beyond these rocks," she said softly before she and Dennis led the four out of sight. Soon not even their wand light could be seen through the unnatural darkness of the Bypass. It seemed to get much colder at the loss of the four and the last three became encompassed by the chilling company of past death and imminent carnage. The entire tunnel had felt like passing through a grave yard and it was not getting easier. Though the temperature was getting colder as the moved along, the air seemed to be charged with an abnormal and unwanted sensation of foreboding, giving all three mortals a bad feeling about what was to come.
Hermione leaned into Ron and felt him kiss her brow.
"It'll be okay," he whispered. Hermione twisted a little in his arms and kissed his neck before she picked up Darcy and placed him back into her backpack.
"I know," she murmured, glancing up at him with a weak smile. "I'm still worried about them…"
Ron leaned in and kissed her lips quickly, savoring the taste of her before he pulled away.
"Me too," he whispered into her ear. He felt her shiver beside him and he had a strange and elating feeling that it had nothing to do with their cold surroundings.
Viorel looked behind them.
"Here they come," he whispered and they turned to see the second half of Constantine's division appear out of the darkness. Many of them eyed the three carefully but said nothing as Kale and a female named Charlotte came forward.
"We should go. Constantine is already close to the exit," Charlotte whispered before moving past the group. Viorel moved over to the group.
"You must move quickly," he hissed, giving Hermione a little shove ahead. Three vampires moved in between herself and Ron, who was about to protest to the separation. "You cannot stand near one another. We will stand between the three of you to hopefully mask your scent enough so that they will not bother with you."
Hermione glanced behind her in time to catch a glimpse of Ron before a hulking male, Giovanni, blocked him from view as they began to move through the tunnel that was rapidly getting smaller by the moment. No one said a word as they moved through the narrow crevices. Occasionally Ron would hear Hermione let out a gasp as she stumbled over some rock, but he kept his mouth shut when the male in front of him shot him a menacing glare.
"Stop," Viorel hissed quickly, though it was hard not to catch a hint of eagerness in his voice as well. "Hermione's bleeding."
The vampires around them all went stiff as Hermione's blood scent became more potent with every second that passed by. Ron and Devonshire immediately tried to get to her, but Giovanni, the male in front of Ron, prevented them from getting closer to her.
"Stay away. If the Manic catch wind of her, you two will be the first to go," he growled dangerously, pushing them away from her.
"Hermione, are you okay?" she heard Ron ask, his voice filled with concern. Hermione glanced up from her cut hand.
"I'm fine, Ron," she said. "I just nicked my hand on a rock."
Viorel pointed to the rock she had cut herself on.
"Clean that up quickly," he hissed. "We can't let the smell move past us."
The small space in which they stood quickly filled with the stench of bleach as the rock was quickly cleaned. Devonshire was allowed to quickly heal most of Hermione's wound with his wand before Charlotte wrapped it up in a matter of seconds.
"Thank you," she whispered as Charlotte finished with the bandage. The female nodded.
"Try to be careful," she murmured before returning to Kale's side in front. Viorel eyed Hermione cautiously.
"We don't have that much farther," he told them before he turned and they continued through the narrow pathway. They walked for a while before Kale stopped, as still as the rocks around him.
"Something's wrong," he hissed. "Constantine's stopped."
"If it was the Manic they would have told us," Viorel muttered. "Someone must be injured."
Kale shook his head, leaning forward and sniffing the air.
"No… it's started to rain… I would have smelt it by now," he murmured. "Something's stalled them."
"What do you think it is?" Charlotte asked.
Kale began to move out of the wand light.
"I'll go see. Stay here," he murmured before disappearing completely. Hermione wrapped her arms around herself and shivered a little, causing a couple of the vampires near her to jerk. It was an action they were not used to.
"You okay, Hermione?" Ron asked again, having noticed the change in the vampires' position around her. Hermione felt comforted by his concern and smiled.
"I'm fine, Ron, just cold. You?"
She heard him snort.
"Well, you know me," he muttered. "Enjoying the sights and sounds… or lack thereof…"
"We'll make it out and then you'll have more to look at," she whispered softly. "The Burrow for starters… your family… maybe even Hogwarts…"
"I love your optimism," Ron muttered.
"I love you."
It was not until things had gone completely silent that Hermione realized that she had said the last part aloud. In the few minutes that things were quiet Hermione grew completely red under the dead eyes of the vampires around her. Giovanni actually laughed a deep amused laugh that shook the rocks around them a little.
"Believe me young girl, he feels the same way," he chuckled. "He's just a little stunned."
This only made Hermione even more embarrassed about her outburst as the large male added something unnecessarily rude about love and mortals. To that comment, she heard Ron grumble something that sounded familiar to her admission, except it was not meant for her to hear. Giovanni laughed again at Ron's irritation and looked down at Hermione.
"The boy has an interest in shagging you," he chortled. Hermione's eyes widened in shock and Ron swore loudly.
"You arse," the redhead snapped. "I did not say that. I said I loved her."
There was another silence before Charlotte could be heard muttering something about last minute confessions. A couple of other vampires chuckled at the comment, glancing at Ron and Hermione occasionally.
"Why do you mortals always confess your true feelings when something bad or fatal might happen?" Charlotte asked aloud. "Why can't you just admit how you feel when you feel it?"
"We're complicated," Hermione muttered.
Giovanni snorted.
"Complicated? Try living forever, dear," he whispered. "Then you'll see how complicated things can get. You only have a limited amount of time to love, shag and grow old."
Ron snorted.
"Yes, because that's what it's all about," he grumbled.
Giovanni raised an eyebrow.
"So you don't want to shag Hermione?"
Hermione heard Ron mutter something to the male about minding his own business, but she did not have to see him to know that his ears had grown the telltale red that gave him away every single time. Giovanni grinned.
"So she's one of those types."
Hermione frowned.
"One of what types? I'm right here, you know," she snapped irately. Giovanni glanced down at her.
"Celibate, marriage sorts," he replied. Hermione crossed her arms across her chest.
"What's wrong with that? What's wrong with waiting?"
Her question was directed more to Ron than the large man in front of her. Ron realized that quickly and he spoke up.
"Nothing's wrong with waiting," he whispered rapidly. "I never said anything was."
Giovanni grinned.
"Of course he's going to say that."
Ron bristled.
"Look, I love her and I'm not about to ruin that by pushing her," he snapped. "So shove off."
Giovanni, instead of being upset, shook the sides of the passageway with his laugh. Hermione bit her lip and tried not to smile at Ron's irritated retaliation. It was comforting for Hermione to hear Ron express the sentiments she had accidentally said earlier even if it was not necessarily for her benefit. At least something good had come out of the Bypass.
Hermione tried to catch a glimpse of Ron, but the large male continued to block her view.
Someone coughed.
"How much further?" she heard Devonshire ask after another moment. She could see the light coming from his wand bouncing off of the rocks around him, but she could not see him.
"Ten, fifteen minutes," Charlotte muttered, eyes still on the spot where Kale had disappeared. "What did Constantine say?"
Hermione jerked at the question before reminding herself that vampires could see better than she could. Kale appeared a few seconds later, a frown on his face.
"He says that there's something at the entrance, but he wants to wait until it's dark to see what it is," he told them softly. Charlotte frowned as well.
"What do you mean there's something out there? Is it human?"
Kale shook his head.
"Whatever's out there isn't near the entrance so we can't smell it," he explained. "Constantine thinks that it could just be some locals hanging near the entrance, but he doesn't want to take the chance of being exposed. He says to wait. He'll send word when they've made it out."
"How long till it gets dark?" Ron asked.
"An hour."
"An hour?" Devonshire snapped. "We have to wait in here for an hour?"
"Yes, so shut up," Kale hissed. "Constantine spotted a couple of Manic up ahead and he thinks that there may be more, so be quiet."
"Great," Ron muttered. Giovanni patted Ron on the shoulder, which actually knocked the wind out of the teenager.
"Don't worry, Ronald, you shall see your lovely Hermione soon enough."
A few feet ahead of him Ron heard Hermione let out a nervous laugh before everything fell silent.
"Turn off the lights," Charlotte snapped. "I'm tired of being in the light."
"But-"
"Now."
Ron said something extremely rude before all the lights went out.
"Ow! Bloody hell, what was that about?"
"Call me that one more time and I'll rip your tongue out."
Ron muttered something but this time there was no reaction. Hermione leaned against the wall and sighed. She wanted desperately to be out of the Bypass so that she could see Ron again.
This was going to be the longest hour of her life.
Luna and Ginny sat on one of the rocks at the base of a steep, rocky incline leading up to the exit to the Bypass. It was a good four hundred meters away, but unlike their previous trek, there was much more space to climb up. The mouth to the tunnel could be seen from where they were, leading out into the grey sky.
Harry and Neville were sitting near by, eyeing a couple of vampires who had shown a particular interest in the two girls. Constantine and Roxanne were conversing inaudibly near the narrow passageway they had just come from. Harry and Ginny would occasionally make eye contact, giving each comforting looks before they turned their attention to other aspects of the grim area in which they were sitting.
"Where in England are we exactly?" Neville asked.
"We're not far from London, actually," Roxanne whispered.
"What'll happen when we get out of here?" Luna asked.
Roxanne pointed to Harry.
"Harry will be transported to a safe house until further notice. After that, he will be delivered to Dumbledore so that he can continue his training," she whispered. Harry snorted and stood up, moving to the other side of the rocks. Ginny bit her lip, got up and went over to where he was standing.
"Are you okay, Harry?" she asked softly. Harry glanced over to her before he went back to pacing.
"I'm fine, Ginny," he muttered. "You should go back with the others."
Ginny frowned.
This had been one of the things she had feared would happen. Harry reverting back to his whole hero self.
"Harry… everything's going to be okay," she whispered. "When we get back to London, you don't have to start training right away… you could spend some time at the Burrow first."
Harry shook his head.
"I don't think there's time for that," he said, rubbing his scar and closing his eyes. "I can feel him… he's angry… he's planning something… I don't have time to wait…"
Ginny reached out and touched his arm.
"Harry, you don't have to do this now. If you're not ready-"
He turned to face her.
"I have to be ready, Ginny," he snapped. "I can't afford to wait around for Voldemort to come and find me! I'm the only one who can stop him…"
Ginny removed her hand from him and crossed her arms as if to protect herself from the elements.
"Harry… if Voldemort found out where you are, he already knows about us… pushing me away isn't going to help anything…"
Harry reached out and took her face in both his hands, pulling her close to him.
"I'm not safe to be around, Gin," he whispered.
Ginny touched his face.
"You weren't saying that for the past few months, Harry… why the sudden change?"
"I don't want to lose you," he murmured. "I… I can't lose you…"
Ginny felt her eyes water and she leaned in to kiss her.
"You won't," she whispered before falling into his arms and hugging him tightly. They embraced for a moment before Harry pulled away and looked down at his boots.
"You should go back with the others…"
Ginny bit her lip but nodded quietly and went to go sit back down beside Luna. Harry took a deep breath before following after and sitting down with Neville.
"Constantine, it's almost time," an older male hissed, coming down from the mouth of the Bypass. "By the time the mortals reach the top it will be dark."
The little boy nodded and moved over to where Harry and Neville were sitting.
"You will go up first, Harry Potter," he said with a tone that did not match his innocent features. "The moment you make it up there, you will be taken to a safe house until the others have made it out."
Harry frowned.
"I'm not leaving the others-"
Constantine's black eyes blazed quickly before dying down.
"You are the reason we have come through here and I will not allow you to stay down here any longer than necessary. Do as I say or I'll send Ginerva up first and see what happens then," he hissed menacingly before he turned to Roxanne. "See that he reaches the safe house."
Roxanne nodded before grabbing Harry and yanking him up to his feet.
"Do not argue, Harry. We are in a perilous situation and it would do best for all of us if you just followed orders," she whispered quickly into his ear before helping him begin his rather dangerous climb to the top of the mouth. "Up you go."
Ginny stood up, watching him with concern.
"Be careful, Harry," she whispered. He glanced down at her and nodded before he started climbing again. Luna placed a hand on Ginny's arm.
"He'll be okay," she murmured and Ginny sighed.
"Yeah…"
Constantine pointed to Neville and Ginny.
"You two next. Hurry," he hissed. Two vampires helped Neville and Ginny begin their climb, moving along with them as they stumbled along. Luna was the last to go and Constantine was the one who actually helped her go up while the others waited at certain intervals along they way, appearing and disappearing occasionally and popping up in different areas as they saw fit.
"CONSTANTINE!"
Everyone looked down to see Kale appear again.
"THE MANIC!" he roared.
A couple of the vampires screamed and for the first time Ginny saw fear in their eyes. Constantine let out a menacing his and jumped down from where Luna was, one hundred meters in the air. They could all hear commotion coming from the narrow passageway and then a sudden shriek cut through the air.
"Hermione!" Harry yelled but Roxanne grabbed him before he could start crawling back down.
"No," she hissed. "We must get you out of here."
"But-"
Roxanne grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up to the next rock with no effort.
"Go now," she growled.
Neville and Ginny looked down from their perch to see vampires flood out of the passageway with Hermione, Ron and Devonshire close behind. The three humans began scrambling up the rocky surface with no concern of getting hurt, which only made matters worse when they finally caught sight of the infamous Manic.
They failed to resemble humans in any way, shape or form. They were truly beasts of hell. They moved with all four limbs, fangs bared and deep crimson eyes blazing with lust. Their backbones had grown to stick out of their skin like long, white blades on their backs, aiding with their flight and adding to their nightmarish presence. Their faces were like insects, opening and closing with gnashing mandibles big enough to decapitate a man's head with just a flick of the neck. Snake like tongues flickered in and out of their mouths quickly, tasting the humid air that was filled with blood, death and fear. Their entire bodies were grotesquely pale and secreting a puss like fluid that quickly filled the entire area with a revolting stench.
"GET OUT!" they heard Viorel bellow before he was struck in the side by a large vampire, who began to hack at Viorel's flesh. Viorel reached out and broke the thing's neck but that did not stop it from tearing away the hard flesh that covered his body. His whole arm was ripped apart from the middle before Viorel got away, jumping from rock to rock to reach the top of the Bypass. The Manic gave chase like ants up the surface, wild eyes searching for food.
"Hermione! Move!" Ron yelled as they scrambled up the rock face, desperate to make it to the entrance. Hermione could hardly breathe as she pushed herself towards the mouth, trying to block out the screams and wrenching of body parts as the immortals tore themselves apart. She could hear terrified squeals coming from her backpack, but she tried to ignore them as she climbed. She was almost at the top when Devonshire reached down and helped her the rest of the way. They then reached out and dragged Ron up to the top before they ran away from the rocky cavern and onto a mountain side. Hermione was about to scream for the others when lightening flashed around them and lit up the entire mountain side.
"GET DOWN!" Devonshire shouted, yanking them behind a tree just as curses were fired at them from out of the darkness. Some even hit vampires who were emerging from the Bypass, knocking them down momentarily before they either got back up or were attacked by the Manic who were starting to crawl out of the Bypass as well, wailing horribly with a furious bloodlust.
"What's going on?!" Ron yelled.
"Death Eaters!" Devonshire said pointing to a spot just beyond the entrance to the Bypass. "They're all over!"
Hermione turned to look at Ron.
"Harry," she gasped. Before she could stop Ron, he shot off into the darkness of the storm. "RON! RON, COME BACK!"
Devonshire grabbed her and yanked her back from running after Ron, pulling her down as someone fired at them.
"Stay down," he growled. "You'll get us killed!"
"RON!" she screamed, ignoring the man that held her. Devonshire looked around and after getting his bearings, he shoved her towards a clump of trees.
"Go! Run, run, run!" he yelled, pushing her along as they scrambled down the hill. Hermione ran as fast as she could, dodging curses that were fired at her while glancing behind her to see if she could see Ron.
"ARGH!" Devonshire bellowed in pain as he was tackled to the ground by a Manic who had strayed from the rest of the immortal pack. Hermione screamed and fell out of the way as the two tumbled violently, rolling and screaming as they fought. She could hardly see what was going on except for the brief bits of light brought by the cracking lightening.
"DEVONSHIRE!" Hermione screamed. She was about to run over to him when another Manic jumped into her path, mandibles open and ready to feast. Hermione began to back up slowly, eyes wide with unbridled fear. The large vampire advanced on her quickly, stalking her on all fours as its red eyes kept her from looking away. In the background, she could still see Devonshire flailing around, struggling desperately to be released, but she knew he was not going to make it.
"Please… someone," she whispered as she continued to back away. "Someone help me…"
"NO ONE WILL HELP YOU HERE!" the thing screeched in a bloodcurdling high-pitched voice before it lowered to a deep, menacing growl as it crouched down into an attack position.
"NO!" Hermione screamed as it lunged at her, razor sharp vices gnashing for her flesh. She fell back into the mud but before the thing could get to her, something huge struck the Manic from the side, rolling out of sight almost instantly into the woods. Hermione got up from the ground and looked back at the place where Devonshire had fallen, pulling out her wand and pointing it at them.
"Expelliarmus!"
Her wand flew out of her hand and whirled around to see a Death Eater standing there, eyes flashing from her to Devonshire and the Manic.
"Over here, bitch," he growled. "Now!"
Hermione heard Devonshire scream horrendously in excruciating pain again and she closed her eyes, hoping to block out the sounds.
"OVER HERE!" the man screamed again.
Hermione flinched at his voice and walked towards him through the mud, hands up in the air as she moved. When she reached the Death Eater he grabbed her backpack and turned her around so that he could keep an eye on her and the fight that was going on near by. Hermione knew she was crying, but it was being covered up by the driving rain that pounded against them.
"Come on, girlie and let the vampire take care of your friend," he hissed into her ear as he pulled her back uphill. Hermione heard screams coming from everywhere and after a moment she decided to make a break for it. She broke her arms away and elbowed him badly in stomach. He grunted and doubled over, giving her a chance to wriggle out of her backpack. She took off across the jagged terrain, tripping over rocks and bushes as she rushed back to where they had left Devonshire. The Death Eater dropped her backpack by Devonshire's body before he took off after her.
"AHH!" she cried when she was tackled from behind. She and her attacker went plummeting down the hillside, crashing into some thorn bushes. Hermione sobbed loudly as her skin was torn to shreds as she fought against the Death Eater. "LET GO OF ME!"
She kneed the man and tried crawl through the thorns, but the man grabbed her leg and drug her back to him. She kicked out, but he continued to hold on, yanking her back until his fist connected with her face.
"NO!" Hermione screamed. "LET GO!"
There was a flash of green light and the man slumped to the ground, lifeless and cold. Hermione let out a sob and pulled herself away from him, looking around wildly for who had fired the curse.
"HERMIONE!"
"RON!" she cried. He ran over and pulled her out of the bushes, clutching her close to him as she sobbed into his chest.
"It's okay," he whispered, pulling her away from bushes and into the cover of the trees. "I'm here… I'm here…"
"Devonshire," she whispered. "He was attacked… Ron, he was attacked!"
With a stumbling start, she took off up the hill.
"HERMIONE! HERMIONE, STOP!" Ron bellowed. Nothing good was happening up the hill and he needed to stop her before she headed back to the Bypass entrance. Things would only get worse.
"NO!"
"HERMIONE!"
He reached her to find her standing, frozen in horror as her eyes stayed fixed on the nightmarish sight of Devonshire's mangled body. Ron grabbed Hermione and turned her into his chest, clutching her there as she started screaming. Ron pulled her back into the trees just when two Death Eaters appeared. Ron watched them as they examined Devonshire's corpse through the rain before they moved on down the hill.
"Shh…" he whispered into Hermione's ear as she sobbed into his coat. "It's going to be okay."
"HEY! STOP!"
Both Hermione and Ron looked out from behind the tree to see Ginny tumble down the hill and crash into the same rocks Devonshire and the Manic had crashed into only a few minutes earlier. She let out a gasp and backed up through the mud, eyes wide with terror. Death Eaters charged out of the woods and grabbed her before Ron or Hermione could do anything.
"BASTARDS! LET GO OF ME!" she screamed, flailing about wildly. "NO!"
"GINNY!"
Hermione and Ron turned to see Harry crashing through the bushes. Unfortunately, the Death Eater who had grabbed Ginny had already disapparated with her. Harry ended up slamming into the other Death Eater.
"HARRY!" Ron shouted as he and Hermione shot out from behind the tree.
"ARGH!"
"HARRY!" Hermione shrieked. "Ron, help him!"
There was another flash of green light and they stopped moving. Hermione flinched as thunder rolled through the sky and lightening lit up the mountain. However, before Ron or Hermione could reach the place where the Death Eater and Harry had fallen, two men came running out of the woods, wands drawn and badges flashing.
"Aurors! Put your wands down and your hands up, now!" they both snapped quickly. "NOW!"
Hermione took hold of Ron's arm, tugging him as her eyes remained on Harry's prone body.
"Ron… Ron, he's not moving," she whispered urgently, tears running down her face. "Ron-"
"Shut up! Put down your wand!" one of the men growled, pointing his wand at Ron, who had yet to follow orders. "I'm not going to say it again! Put it down!"
Hermione shook Ron's arm.
"Ron, do as they say," she hissed, pointing the Auror badge the man was holding up. "They're from the Ministry!"
"I don't care, I'm not giving up my wand," Ron growled back, reaching back and pushing her behind him so that he could effectively protect the both of them. "Are there more of you?"
The older man nodded, looking around.
"Yes there are, now tell us where Harry Potter is!"
Hermione's eyes widened.
"What do you want with-"
"Hermione, get down!" Ron bellowed, grabbing her roughly by the waist and yanking her down into the mud with him as green jets of light shot out of the trees and struck the Aurors. Hermione let out a yelp, but Ron was already up before she could protest, firing back into the woods.
"RON!" Hermione cried when he was struck in the leg. He let out a cry of pain but shouted back two killing curses, striking a tree at first and then hitting the Death Eater who had attacked them. He then hobbled over to Harry. She ran over to where Ron was kneeling and helped him shove the Death Eater off of Harry.
"He's not moving," Hermione cried. Ron placed a hand to Harry's face.
"I can't tell if he's breathing," he growled. Hermione could see that he was in a lot of pain and tried to help him, but he shoved her hands away, biting his tongue to stop himself from saying something nasty to her.
"I'm fine, Hermione," he snapped through gritted teeth. "We need to get out of here!"
Hermione shook her head.
"Ron, you're in too much pain to apparate all three of us out of here! We'll all get splinched!"
"Here," Ron growled, shoving Harry's wand into her hand before gathering Harry up into his arms. "Come on. We're going to the Burrow!"
"What about the others?!" Hermione demanded, looking around.
Ron shook her head.
"We can't wait! We stay here any longer and we'll die, so come on!"
With that said, he quickly disapparated. Hermione reached out and grabbed her backpack before she disapparated as well.
Hermione let out a cry of pain when she appeared destroyed kitchen of the Burrow, a broken glass lodged in her foot.
"Hermione!" Ron yelled from upstairs. "Where are you?!"
"The kitchen! What happened?!" she cried, looking around. The entire place was demolished. There were holes in the walls where rain was falling through and wind was howling all around her, filling her with a feeling of dread. "The place is destroyed!"
"It must have been attacked! You should get up here!"
Hermione glanced down at her leg and bit her lip.
"I don't think I'll be able to!"
There was a brief silence.
"HERMIONE GET UP HERE NOW!"
"Why, what's wrong?" she managed to yell up while she tried to pull the piece of glass out of her leg.
"DEATH EATERS! GET UP HERE!"
BOOM!
"HERMIONE!"
She fell to the ground, crying out in more pain as the walls began to fall around her.
"HERMIONE!"
Hermione pulled Harry's wand out from under her and flicked it, disapparating before the walls could fall upon her.
The blaring of a car horn shocked Hermione as she stumbled out of the street and fell to the ground on the sidewalk. The car sped by, the occupants glaring at her before returning to the wet road ahead.
Hermione snatched the backpack from out of the road and placed it on her back before struggling painfully to her feet.
She looked around for the street sign and her eyes widened when she realized where she was.
"Oh my God…" she whispered before she stumbled off down the street. She reached the house she was looking for and hobbled to the door. "MUM! DAD! OPEN THE DOOR!"
But no one answered. Even after she continued to bang on the door and scream at the top of her lungs, no one answered. She flicked Harry's wand at the door and it clicked open. She pushed it open and staggered in, looking around wildly.
"MUM! DAD!" she screamed. "MUM!"
She managed to get to the stairs before she collapsed. The injuries from climbing up the rocky surface, being torn up by the thorn bushes and having her foot sliced open by the glass at the Burrow was too much.
"DAD!" she cried, looking around. The house was completely intact… so where were her parents…
She moved painfully into the kitchen and looked for any sign. A note… anything…
Hermione heard a window break and she whirled around to see two Death Eaters crawl through the broken back window. The first man stumbled into the kitchen and looked around. As he did this he removed his mask. The second guy did the same, allowing her to see that it was a woman. The man caught sight of Hermione and his eyes widened.
"Oy! You! You're not supposed to be here!" he growled.
They all pulled their wands out at the same time and fired. Hermione screamed when her hand was almost severed apart, Harry's wand zooming out of her hand and out the broken window into the raging storm. The man was disarmed by Hermione, his wand falling to pieces on the kitchen floor. The woman was also disarmed and attacked Hermione quickly from the side while the other guy looked for his wand.
The woman slammed Hermione into the stove, grabbing her head from behind and smashing her head into the counter, cutting the side of Hermione's head badly and causing her to see stars. As Hermione went down, she managed to snatch a pan from off the stove. Before the woman could do anything else she whirled around and slammed the pan into her head as hard as she could. The woman slumped to the side unconscious and the first man finally looked up from his futile search for a wand.
"Bitch!" he shouted, lunging at her. Hermione was knocked down to the ground and struggled with the larger man.
"NO! NO!" she screamed before he punched her in the face. She lashed out and her nails caught him in the eye. He cried out in pain and fell away from her, allowing her to reach up to counter and grab the first thing she felt.
"Come here!" the man growled, pulling her back down to the ground and raising his hand in preparation to knock her out. "I'll teach you some manners-"
"NO!" Hermione shrieked before slamming the knife down into his neck. Blood gushed on to her instantly as the man's eyes widened in shock. He made gurgling noises as he tried to speak before he began to choke up blood all over her. Hermione let out a sob and shoved him away from her, scrambling into the corner as he bled out and died on the floor near her. She closed her eyes and buried her face in her hands as she curled up into a ball, sobbing uncontrollably as the storm raged on in and outside of the house.
It was then that a dark thought crossed Hermione's mind and she scrambled out of the kitchen as quickly as possible and went back to the door. On it was a familiar skull and snake burned into the wood that she had not noticed earlier. It was small.
Hermione let out a scream and stumbled away from the door in terror.
"No… no, no, no, no," she muttered out loud before covering her mouth with her bloody hand to keep herself from crying.
Her parents could not have been attacked… they had to be alive…
Hermione did not even notice the screeching of tires and the opening of a car door until someone screamed her name and ran over to her. She looked up from her spot sitting on the sidewalk and she let out a yelp of surprise.
"Curtis!" she cried.
"Hermione, what the hell are you doing out here in the rain?" Curtis demanded, pulling her up to her feet. When she cried out in pain and collapsed against him he finally saw the many severe injuries to her. "Oh my God, Hermione… what happened to you? You're bleeding everywhere!"
Hermione pointed to her house.
"Where are my parents?" she demanded. "Where are they?!"
Curtis shook his head.
"I don't know, Hermione," he yelled over the crack of lightening. "They disappeared a couple of days ago. What happened to you?!"
"What do you mean they disappeared?" Hermione snapped. Curtis shook his head. This was ridiculous. He began to tug Hermione towards the car he'd been driving.
"Hermione, you're hurt! We need to get you to a hospital," he said, opening the passenger door, tossing her backpack into the back seat and shoving her in. He ran around to the driver's side and slid in, starting the car and tearing off down the street through the rain. He kept his eyes on the road as he reached into the back seat and pulled out a couple of jackets and handed them to Hermione.
"You must be freezing! What the hell happened to you? I thought you were at school!"
Hermione took the jackets and wrapped them around her aching body, shivering terribly in the seat as she leaned her head back.
"I don't know! Everything went wrong," she sobbed. "We were attacked."
Curtis made a sharp left turn and continued to speed down the road towards a hospital. He needed to get there as quickly as possible. She was bleeding all over the seat.
"Hermione, you're not making sense! Who would attack a school?!"
Hermione shook her head, closing her eyes as images of Devonshire's maimed body resurfaced in her mind.
"Not the school! We were in the mountains," she cried. "Nothing went right… they're all gone…"
A loud squeak sounded from the backseat and Curtis glanced back.
"What was that?" he asked. Whatever was in the backpack screamed again and he frowned. "What the hell?!"
Hermione raised her bloody hands up to her face and she let out a frustrated scream.
"Who cares what it is?! They're all gone!"
"Who's all gone?"
Hermione opened her eyes and watched as the world past by like a blur. The excruciating pain she had once felt was starting to wane as her brain began to shut her down.
"The vampires… they all left us… and the Death Eaters…"
Curtis glanced over at her.
"Hermione, what are you talking about?!"
"Ginny's gone…the Burrow was attacked… the Manic… they were everywhere… I couldn't help him… I couldn't… Devonshire…"
Curtis noticed that Hermione was starting to slump in her seat so he reached out and shook her.
"Hermione, stay with me! Hermione! COME ON!" he shouted as he swerved into the emergency room entrance. Slamming the car into a standstill, he quickly got out of the car and ran to the other side where Hermione was starting to black out. "Come on, Hermione! Stay with me!"
"They're all gone… my parents… they're all gone," she muttered, shaking her head as he grabbed her. "NO!" she suddenly screamed. "LET ME GO!"
Curtis turned around and looked about.
"SOMEONE HELP ME! SHE'S BEEN HURT BADLY!"
A couple of nurses came out of the hospital with a gurney and helped Curtis pull Hermione onto it before she began to black out again.
"Hermione, stay with me!" Curtis yelled as they pushed her into the hospital. "Come on!"
Then everything went dark…
A/N: Ahh, yes the darkness. It has been my constant companion for many a year. (Not really, I just thought that would be cool to say) :-) Anyway, I know many of you were loving it until the whole Manic part. I had to put it in there though. I couldn't fill your heads with ideas and then just leave you at that. I had to put in an attack. So I did... however disturbing it may have been. But, as promised, I did bring Curtis back from the dead! He's back! I know many of you were afraid that chapter four or five woud be the last you'd see of him. Well, here he is again. (some of you are probably going, oh brother, another person to ruin things between her and Ron.) Well, no! I will not ruin things. Not after that lovely little scene that was actually added a week ago. I thought I'd put in a little comedic R/Hr relief before I completely destroyed everything. Hopefully you liked it.
Mae Silverpaws: One sitting? Wow, you're much better than I am. I hardly ever have time to read anything on Fanfiction any more!
mgmve2008: I thought I'd give Neville and Luna a little time to talk. I also loved the scene with Fred and George. I felt that they needed their own scene. As for Stephanie, we'll find out more about that later.
Fyre of the Funeral Pyre: I don't think there was as much jumping around in this one. Oh, and please don't cry! At least not yet anyway!
ronandmion4ever: I know. I just couldn't help it though. It was just so tempting, with the whole movie coming out and everything and to not make a reference would be a sin! I'll try to cut down on the torturing in the next couple of chapters.... Wow... that next paragraph was just as random as I am. I guess it's kind of cool that you dream about my stories and all, but that was a bit random. Funny, but random. :-) I've actually thought about doing a fic on Fred and Angelina/ George and Alicia, but I never really got around to it. Maybe I'll do a short story or something... who knows? (shrugs) Keep up the reviewing! Good to hear from you!
Wesker888: I think Dumbledore wants to do the honors, but is refraining from doing so right now.
tamara72: We'll see what happens.
nextbestthing: I'm glad you thought so! I'm actually liking Stephanie a lot more now than I was in the beginning of the story. She wasn't rally supposed to show up as much as she did, so I guess she's growing on me.
jenny: The Bypass was really fun to write about. As for R/Hr, I was saving that for this chapter where they share their feelings for each other right before they're attacked by vampires on prozac. Very appropriate time to say "I love you." :-)
xMidnight Muse: Don't worry! There's nothing wrong with you. Just something wrong with me. I'm the one writing these weird stories. I'm trying to balance things out as best I can. It's really hard.
Chapter Tease: Because I'm just that good! (And full of myself)
"You don't think she was captured do you?" Fred asked.
Remus shook his head.
"Hermione's too smart to get caught."
"Then where is she?"