I'm Out of Bubblegum. Will Chocolate Do?

Please Read and Review. I'd like to know what I'm doing right (to keep doing it), and what I'm I doing wrong (to correct it).

As he left the compartment, Harry put a few locking charms on the door, it would be bad if the twins got out before the Dementor had been dealt with.

"They are gone." Harry said, looking through the window of the door. And took his seat back. 'At least the bloody Dementor didn't arrive while I was on the way here.

The rest were still laughing at Malfoy's foolishness. Harry put a finger to his mouth, asking for silence, a nod of his head reminded everybody that there was a sleeping teacher with them, so they tried to control their laughter, managing to reduce it to mere giggling. He got comfortable on his seat, but didn't join the chatter.

"Are you okay, Harry?" Hermione asked.

'Of course, she would be the one to notice.' Harry thought. "Yeah, I'm fine. I lost a bet with the twins. Nothing to worry about. I just have a lot to think about."

"Well, I think we should go back to our own compartments, Hannah?" Susan Bones was about to get up, when Harry noticed the train was slowing. He put up a hand, asking for silence.

"Wait," he whispered. "the train is stopping. It's too soon, we are still a long way from Hogwarts."

Parvati looked out the window. "I can't see a thing out there. It's raining cats and dogs outside!"

As the train finally stopped with a shudder, Harry felt both relief and dread. He was glad the flickering light of the lanterns was too weak for the time being, as he was sure his face was a mask of barely contained fear. He peeked out the window, noticing some heads sticking out the door of the other compartments.

Suddenly, all the lights went out at the same time, leaving the car in almost complete darkness. The girls gasped, and Neville got up. "What's going on?" The train stopped with a rattling sound. Somewhere far away, several crashes could be heard, as the luggage fell down in the cargo car.

"Shh… Everybody, stay on your seats." Harry ordered, his voice was somewhat grim and left no way to argue. "I think something happened. We should wait for a little while before going out. Padma, be ready to wake Professor Lupin, we might need him if there's an emergency; but for now, let him sleep."

Padma nodded reflexively, but realized there was no way for Harry to see her nod. "Okay." She whispered.

Once again, Harry checked the chocolate was still in his pocket, sighing as he found the pieces he had already unwrapped before boarding the train. He hoped it would be enough.

The group settled into a tense wait. To Harry's relief, the students who had been looking out their compartments apparently had decided to sit back and wait. They had also closed their doors, as an insidious wave of cold air swept through the car.

Hermione announced, "I'm going to go and ask the driver what's going on."

Harry hissed his answer. "No, you won't. We don't know what's happening, and we might get in the way. We will stay here and wait."

"But, Harry..."

"He's r-right, Hermione. Surely somebody else is on the way to the locomotive right n-now."

Hermione surrendered with a sigh. "Yeah, I guess you're right, Neville…"

"Um… Harry? Do you think it will take long?" Susan's voice trembled a bit.

"I don't kn…" The opening of the door interrupted him. "Who's there?"

"It's me, Ginny. Is Ron here?"

"No, he went to look for Fred and George. He must be back in their compartment. They are in the next one, by the way. You better get in."

"Silence!" A new voice hissed hoarsely. To Harry's relief, Professor Lupin had woken by himself, and a soft light flooded the compartment. The man stood next to the window, holding a small ball of flames in his hand. The flickering light illuminating the cramped space with a stark contrast of light and shadows. The faces of the students tensed in fear. "Stay where you are." But, before Lupin could do anything, the compartment's door opened, and a wave of cold air invaded the place.

'…He's here…' Harry thought, turning his head back to the door, his hand closing around the biggest piece of chocolate in his pocket. It was almost the size of his fist.

Harry felt his breath get stuck in his throat. An impossibly tall figure floated in the corridor, the head completely hidden in the folds of his hood. No, not his hood, its hood. The figure couldn't be human in any way.

The thing drew in a rattling breath, slowly pulling more than air into its maw. Harry felt his skin crawl with the cold of a shallow grave. The cold seeped into his chest, inside his heart. The world reduced itself to only him and the black cloaked apparition in front of him.

For a moment, Harry couldn't see, he felt himself being dragged downward. And he heard voices screaming, pleading hopelessly.

Somehow, his hand moved by itself, taking the chocolate piece out from his pocket. His numb fingers almost dropped the chocolate, while a man's voice roared in his ears. "Lily! Take Harry and run! I'll keep him here!" Harry knew it was the voice of his father, and the moment he had dreaded had arrived. A single tear rolled down his cheek.

Then, a new voice broke into his mind, Harry's eyes opened wider than ever, when he recognized it. "MISATO! REI! HELP ME!"

'Shinji?' Harry felt some measure of strength flowing back into his body; trembling, he raised his hand, while looking deeply into the open maw of the Dementor.

"Not Harry, not Harry, please, not Harry!"
'..Mom…'
"Stand aside, you silly girl… stand aside, now…" Knowing whose voice that was, anger began to flood Harry.
"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead-" As Harry realized the full weight of his parents' sacrifice, his hand rose a few inches more.

"PUSH HARDER!" Shinji grunted. A new voice joined the chorus in Harry's head, the voice of a teenage girl, rough with effort, yet strangely calm. "Major, rip those threads, I will rip the ones on my side. Shinji, keep pushing." A sharp stab of pain in Harry's scar distracted him for a moment, his hand went down an inch.

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

Harry screamed, the pain in his head was almost unbearable. His skin broke open, and a sucking noise filled the air. For a moment, Harry heard a rage filled scream, full of fear and despair. A black stream of thick gunk flew from his scar, right into the Dementor's open maw. Harry's pain subsided quickly, and with the relief, his will came back with a vengeance.

Gritting his teeth, he shoved the piece of chocolate into the Dementor's mouth. "Take that, you monster!" he hissed through clenched teeth.

As if from a great distance, he barely heard Lupin stating "None of us is hiding Sirius Bla…"

Harry's fingers numbed instantly, his hand halfway into the Dementor's face. Somehow, he managed to release the chocolate and pull his hand out. He wrapped it quickly with his left hand; it was terribly cold, and crystals of ice had formed over the skin.

The Dementor screeched, fleeing blindly to the other side of the corridor, digging its claws in its face; the thing crashed against the wall with a muted noise, and exploded into a grey cloud of ashes, that stank to rotten meat and corrupted mud.

Darkness threatened to swallow Harry, he felt himself falling on the floor.

"Harry! Harry! Are you okay? Harry!" Hermione screamed almost hysterically. He managed to open his eyes, and squeezed her hand in his.

"I'll… be, I guess... Are you okay...?"

"We're all okay, what the hell was that thing? What was it doing here? Why did it attack you? What did you do to it? Was it a spell? An amulet?"

'That's the Hermione I know…' Harry felt strong hands pulling him up to a seat. "Harry, look at me. I'm Professor Lupin. Eat this, you'll feel better."

Harry looked at the piece of chocolate in his hand, and bit into it without hesitation. Almost immediately, he felt a little bit of warmth coursing through his veins. "Th-thanks, Professor. There's more in my b-bag, I guess everybody will need some."

Immediately, Hermione released Harry's hand and opened his bag to to pass the chocolate around. "Yes… How do you know that?" she asked. Their companions ate the chocolate in silence, still shocked to their very cores.

"…Ha-Hagrid's book…"

Hermione took Harry's hand again, and squeezed it a bit harder, she hadn't released it when Professor Lupin pulled him to a seat. It was a very nice, warm feeling. He rubbed his thumb against the back of her hand. "There's an appendix about Dark Creatures…"

"Yeah, but I didn't think you'd read so far ahead." Relieved to see him getting better, she smiled at him.

Seeing the situation was under control, Lupin looked around. The students were shocked, but in control of their actions. "Good thing you did, Harry." He passed a hand over his hair. "I never thought I'd see a Dementor driven away without a Patronus. Much less destroyed."

"I think something it ate disagreed with it…" he joked weakly.

Lupin's lips twitched into a lopsided smile. "It seems so, but I never heard of a Dementor being harmed by chocolate. It's a good remedy against the effects of its aura, but didn't thought it would have any effect on one."

"I didn't think it would. I just wanted to scare it away."

"Well… It's not a method I would recommend, except in the worst circumstances." Lupin stood up, and smoothed his old, ragged clothes. "I'll go check with the driver; I'll be back in a few minutes. Try to rest." Harry nodded, resting his head against the compartment wall. Hermione's hand still in his. He smiled at her, and closed his eyes.

'Shinji? Are you there?'

A few yards away, a previously empty compartment was now occupied by two teenagers. In the cargo car, two new chests appeared.

Author Notes:

Next Chapter, Shinji, Misato and Rei's POV. And of course. More Fan Service!

To Guest:

Thanks for the help with the correction of typos and grammatical errors, English is not my first language, as I have said before. There are a few expressions I left as they were, as English isn't Shinji's mother tongue either, so he would use wrong words or strange turns of language.

Comments will be answered in the chapters next to the chapters in question, to avoid spoilers (comments on Chapter 1 will be answered in Chapter 2, and so on); or this AN would be bigger than the actual chapter. Usually I prefer to answer to reviews directly, but without a profile, I can't do that.

Comments on Chapter 34:

Using the name "Padfoot Enterprises" means that Harry can be a little bit subtler with the hook. And that that particular investment area will be dedicated to pranks. Using the Marauders name might come later, and only to add insult to misery.

Personal Note:

My surgery has been delayed. I'm lucky I'm not in any pain or have any dangerous symptoms. It is more a prevention thing than urgent.

Thanks to everybody for their good wishes!

Update: My surgery has been scheduled for June the 18th.