Author's Note and Update: The editing is going well on the end of the story. Unless I made some major changes, there will be 45 chapters plus an epilogue. This is officially the longest thing I've ever written. I love you all and thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews. You all make me smile!

Chapter 37 - Rage

Harry leaned heavily on Hermione as they entered the house. Whatever spell Parkinson had got him with was painful and not getting any better.

"Kreacher."

The elf appeared in front of them instantly.

"Have Draco and Ron come back yet?"

"Yes Master. They is in kitchen. Weasley is hurt."

"Go rest, Harry," said Hermione. "I'll let them know we're back and then I'll come look at your leg."

Harry hobbled into the study and threw the first thing he happened to see, which ended up being a bookend. He managed to make his way to the desk, pour a glass of firewhiskey and then sat on the sofa facing the roaring fire. The alcohol burned, but he didn't really notice. The plan had been perfect. Or would have been if the little bitch hadn't betrayed them. When it happened and he realized that they had been tricked, survival instinct had kicked in immediately. There was no time to feel the blazing anger that he felt now. They were damn lucky no one was killed.

He was so absorbed in his anger and hate that he jumped when the door opened.

Hermione smiled at him. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"How's Ron?"

"He'll live. He didn't want to tell his mum about it so they weren't able to get him taken care of until just now when they got here. Draco is finishing up his bandages."

Harry frowned. Draco wasn't going to check on him? Hermione must have read the thought.

"It did take some convincing to keep him down there, but I thought that it would be better if I briefed you on our condition. Now take off your trousers so I can fix your leg."

"What would Ron say if he knew you wanted to get me naked?" It was a lame attempt at a joke and at her dirty look he did as he was told. "So how are things at the Burrow?"

"The others are just fine. No one had to go to St. Mungo's. She's got Dedalus staying over at the Burrow just in case, but she doesn't think there is any permanent damage." She paused and when she continued her voice sounded surprised and her face was scrunched up in thought. "He's doing better than you actually."

"What?" He looked down at the outside of his thigh. It was red and open. It wasn't bleeding, but oozing something clear.

"What spell did they hit you with?"

"I don't know. It broke through a basic shield charm."

Her eyebrows knitted together. "It's a burn. The fabric isn't burned, but your skin is. How does that happen?"

"There's millions of spells out there."

"But one that is strong enough to penetrate a shield charm, do serious tissue damage, but doesn't affect clothing at all?"

"Something new? Pansy said they were creating new spells."

"I'm not sure, but you can bet I'll be researching it first thing in the morning. I'm not fond of the idea that they may have a whole arsenal of spells that we can't know or defend against. For now, it looks like it's very slowly responding to standard anti-burn charms, although I'm going to check you again in the morning. I'll send Draco in with a healing salve for that and the gouges on your neck."

"I should have listened to you on Pansy."

"There isn't a whole lot else you could have done. It would have been wrong not to use her information at all. And after what happened at the prison…"

"I'm going to get her. She's going to pay for this."

Hermione looked at him strangely. "For tricking you? For hurting your ego? I agree that she needs to be stopped along with the rest of them, but don't make this a personal thing between the two of you. Laurent is our target."

"She's going down, Hermione."

She shook her head. "If that's the way you're thinking then we're all going down. I heard you yelling at her when she escaped. I've never heard you talk like that to anyone. Not even Voldemort."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean that the Harry I know would never have said those things. You never wanted revenge so badly before."

"What do you call everything you helped me do to defeat Voldemort?"

"That wasn't revenge. That was justice. That was what we had to do to survive and save our world."

"That's what we're doing now."

"No. There was a time when the thought of doing all this made you angry. The thought that you had to be the one to finish Voldemort made you angry. You couldn't stomach the thought of killing. Now it's like you're out for blood."

"They're killing us, threatening to kill us. I am going to do what I have to in order to stop them!"

"Because they threatened Teddy. That's what this comes down to, isn't it? You were willing to lead us all into a trap because they threatened him. I'm not blaming you for what happened tonight, but you're so intent on revenge that you're not thinking things through. Somebody is going to get hurt because you're getting careless!

"I think you got used to having a price on your own head. But before they never directly threatened a specific person in your life. And the fact that he's a person whose safety you're responsible for makes it all the more aggravating. They did that on purpose. You were supposed to either do what they say or get angry so you'd go storming in making all the wrong choices. They are counting on it and it will get us killed."

Her words didn't appear to have any affect on him at all. He only stared back with determination. "You said you were with me for whatever is next, Hermione. Are you still?"

She frowned and there was a sadness in her eyes that he didn't really understand. He honestly didn't see what the problem was. Finally she nodded.

"I'm willing to die for you if I have to, Harry, but I will not die for your vengeance. So make sure you know what you're doing."

She left the room, leaving Harry staring at the fire. Although he was prepared to dismiss everything she had said, her parting words had caused him to doubt and it disturbed him. It wasn't fair. He didn't ask for this. He didn't want the responsibility of the Order. And he sure as hell didn't want people threatening his family. But what else was he supposed to do? He was following what leads he had. He was chasing the bad guys. That's what he was supposed to do. And now she was getting upset because he actually wanted to do it.

Still wearing only his shorts on the lower half of his body, Harry stood and started pacing. His leg still hurt, but he couldn't sit still. He felt agitated and jumpy. Sitting in one place was like letting them win. So he did his best to ignore the searing pain and pronounced limp and that was how Draco found him a half hour later.

"You're going to wear a hole in the rug."

No answer.

"I'm sorry I was wrong about her."

Harry stopped and looked across the room at him. "It was my call to go in there."

"But you wouldn't have if I hadn't insisted on trusting her from the beginning."

He threw himself back down on the sofa. "Let's not fight over who's to blame. I hate myself enough already."

"What do we do now?"

"Pansy did give us some useful information. At least we know where Hydra is not."

"I was thinking about something. Laurent told them they were all meeting at 'station two'. Hydra could be a series of locations instead of just one stronghold."

He took a jar of healing ointment out of a pocket and opened it, kneeling on the floor in front of Harry. He started to rub it on the injured leg, but stopped to examine the burn instead.

"No idea what caused this?"

"I figured it was some Dark spell I didn't know."

"Nothing I've ever seen. Let me know if it starts to hurt more."

"Do you think it will?"

"I don't really know what to expect. Granger just said I had to see for myself and sent me in with this." He continued rubbing the ointment in. "So, Hydra?"

"I don't know what to think anymore." Harry rubbed hands over his face tiredly.

"Pansy is probably sufficiently scared of you, if it helps any."

"Good. I want her to be."

"Granger's a little worried about that."

It figured she would go running off to Ron and Draco with her worries. "And you?"

"I don't think that hate has to be a bad motivator. As long as you admit to it and can control it. If you can't, it will only cloud your judgment."

"And you think it is?"

"I can't answer that for you, Harry. And truthfully I like watching you a little angry. You get this look in your eyes when you're fighting. It's intense… and hot." He slid his hand over the unburned thigh and he could see Harry's cock reacting inside his shorts. He smiled and moved his hands up to the waist of the shorts, hooking his fingers in the elastic to pull them off, but Harry stopped him abruptly.

"Are you sure we should do this in here? Ron and Hermione could come in."

"She's taking care of him in one of the guest rooms. Kreacher is in the kitchen with orders not to disturb you. And I think that you need this. We both do."

Draco continued to pull the shorts and Harry shifted to allow the garment to come off. He winced when the fabric passed over his wound, but Draco went straight to work taking his mind off it.

But even Draco's mouth and hands on him did little to erase what had happened that night. The orgasm didn't bring its normal release from the anxiety he felt. There were still too many unanswered questions. Too many variables that he could not control. He was done playing fair. And he knew just the person to help him with that.

Harry waited until Draco, Ron and Hermione were gone the next morning before grabbing his cloak and disapparating to Azkaban prison. He was supposed to be resting his leg, but if he got back before they did, it wouldn't matter.

His name and favor with the Minister gave him special consideration, so when he demanded to be let in to interview a prisoner, the guards let him with little protest. He went straight to Lucius Malfoy's cell. The man was obviously shocked to see him, gaping up at him from his bed, but before he could ask Harry got right to the point.

"They were ready for us!"

"What happened to your leg?" Lucius had noticed the heavy limp. He sat up, frowning. Harry ignored him. "Is Draco okay?"

"He's fine. They knew we would be there."

Lucius studied him for a moment before leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms over his chest. "What would you like me to do about that, Potter?" he asked coolly.

"How would they know?"

"Who knew you were going?"

"No one."

"Someone."

"Shacklebolt. The Order."

"Then it is either one of your people or the Minister."

"Impossible."

Lucius seemed bored. "You just said no one else knew."

"You knew. Not when, but where. They told you to tell me the way!"

"The only message I had for you I delivered by my own blood. You surely don't believe I would send my son in there to die."

Harry was silent, but continued pacing the cell.

"No, you don't," Lucius said thoughtfully. "So there's another reason you are here."

"You know them. Tell me how to kill them."

Two eyebrows shot up in surprise, but he quickly let it pass and answered. "The same as you would kill any man."

"I know how to kill, Malfoy. Tell me how to find Laurent."

He sighed. "I assume your quest for their headquarters is over now."

"Until I can find someone to torture the answers out of."

If Lucius was surprised at the torture remark, he recovered quickly. "The best way is to wait for him to come to you."

"That takes too long."

"Then find bait. Find something he wants and wait for him to come get it."

"What though?"

"You. But he'd know it was a trap. Same goes for anyone in my family."

"I'm not going to use Draco as bait anyway."

"I am glad we agree on that. I did hear about your little adventure the other day, you know. Some of the guards have taken pity on me since the Christmas incident. They fill me in on what is going on in the world. I didn't hear that you had been injured however."

Harry looked down at his leg. It wasn't really getting any better. Hermione and Draco had determined that it was an experimental spell and were still working on finding a counter curse for it.

"As if you care, Malfoy."

"I do actually. My life and that of my family are tied to yours now. If you lose, I die a very painful death."

"I don't know how to do it this time."

"A very honest and personal confession. Don't you think you're telling the wrong Malfoy?"

"Draco wasn't as close to the Death Eaters as you were."

"I can't help you, Potter. At this point you know more than I do."

"You figured out how to find Hydra."

"I figured out how to take you to their trap," Lucius corrected him. "Which is exactly what he intended."

"Still, you know how to get them."

Lucius considered him for a moment. "No. That's not why you're here. You think I understand something about what you're going through. Maybe that by talking to me, killing will come easier."

Harry held his gaze. "I want to make sure they never touch anyone I love ever again."

"I was told that your prisoners indicated that the place you were had been part of Hydra. During the first war, when the Dark Lord was establishing his power, there had been talk briefly of having multiple locations. I thought those plans had been abandoned, but then I didn't believe that Hydra existed at all. As close as I was to him, I didn't really know anything at all."

"He didn't trust anyone, Malfoy. He would never have told any one person everything that he had planned." Lucius nodded. "We already guessed that they had more than one location. One of the prisoners we questioned said something about an apparition sequence, but wouldn't elaborate."

"It is very difficult, but there is a way to ensure that a person apparating from a specific place can only go to another specific place. Likewise, the second place could be warded against apparition from any place else. The wards allowing this use similar spell work that goes into portkeys."

"And if he has someone creating brand new spells for him, we can bet that he has those people can create complicated wards like that." Harry thought about it for a moment. "That's actually surprisingly helpful."

"Don't get used to it, Potter. I'm only helping because of my son."

"It's okay. I still hate you too, Lucius."