Harry was holding Hermione's right hand as they ran through the forest. Ron was doing the same on her other side, holding her left hand. The trio were panting, trying to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the attack.
Five minutes ago, the three friends were waken up by a frantic Mr. Weasley. Harry's heart had missed a beat when he was told that people were attacking the grounds and had taken the muggle family owning the lands hostage. Harry's instincts had urged him to go help the family in need but his brain had realized that he was no match to the attackers. So, Harry and Ron went toward Hermione and, following Mr. Weasley's order, they ran toward the forest to hide.
The camping grounds were a mess. People were running in all directions, children were screaming for their parents while parents were screaming for their children. Tents were being blown-up and people were running over each others. From afar, they could see the rioters. They were wearing black hooded robes and white masks. Levitated over them were the muggle family. Their two children were terrorized. The woman had been flipped and her night goon had fallen, offering a view of her genitals to everyone. The man seemed to be yelling at their captors. Hermione had frozen when she had seen them, her face full of terror. Harry and Ron had to grab her hands and drag her away before the attackers could catch them. They hadn't let go yet, in fear of being separated. They had already lost Fred, George and Ginny.
When they had first started running from their tent, the three Weasleys siblings had been just in front of them. Similarly to what Harry, Ron and Hermione were now doing, the twins had been holding their sister's hands as they were running away. Unfortunately, when Hermione froze, stopping her two friends with herself, they had lost track of them. Now, they were running in a dark forest alone. They couldn't see more than a few dozen feet ahead.
Suddenly, Hermione let out a gasp and fell on the ground. "Hermione!" exclaimed both boys.
"I'm fine." she squeaked. She rose back on her feet but she winced when she took her first step. Ron immediately approached her to help her stay on her feet. "I tripped on a root. I think I've sprained my ankle!"
"Are you good to walk?" asked Harry.
"I- I think so." she hesitated. "I might just be slow, thought."
"That's alright." said Ron. "We'll help you."
"Thanks." whispered Hermione.
Harry and Ron both placed themselves on Hermione's sides to help her walk. Hermione immediately slipped her arms around their shoulders to support herself. Holding her waist, Harry and Ron led themselves forward. The three friends continued to walk for a few minutes before they stopped. Hermione had been beginning to hiss louder and louder every time she put weight on her sprained ankle. The two boys helped her sit down on a fallen tree trunk before they sat on either sides.
"You reckon we are far enough?" asked Ron quietly.
"I hope so." said Hermione.
"Who were they? The people in black robes and white masks?" asked Harry.
"I think they were Death Eaters." At the blank looks she received from her two friends, she added "Voldemort's supporters."
Harry groaned. "Of course..."
"Well, Harry," started Ron with amusement. "The year hasn't even begun and we are already are in a dangerous situation."
Harry snorted, which earned both of them an elbow in the ribs from Hermione.
"Don't make jokes about that!" she hissed. "Death Eaters are serious business! You wouldn't believe some of the things they did during the war! No book I've read described their activities in details but the list of everything they done was horrible! Arson! Murders! Rapes! ..."
"Merlin, Hermione!" said Ron. "We get it! We won't joke about it anymore."
"Thank you." said Hermione quietly.
Harry sat quietly on the tree trunk. He had already seen things that would have given others daily nightmares. Still, from what Hermione had said, what he had gone through barely scratched the surface of what Voldemort and his Death Eaters had done. Harry took his hand to his belt where his lightsaber was. He had kept it hidden under his clothes since he had arrived to the Burrow, this night being the only exception as Harry hadn't had time to hide it. Thankfully, because of the current situation, nobody had noticed.
Harry hadn't told his best friends yet about his lightsaber. Already predicting their reactions and realizing that it would take a long time to show the lightsaber and talk about its history, – and wanting to do it where they wouldn't be overheard, – Harry had decided that he would tell Ron and Hermione once they were back at Hogwarts.
A terrified feminine shriek interrupted his thoughts. Harry jumped on his feet. It had sounded like a young woman. "Who was that?" he asked. As if being answered, another terrified scream, this time from a younger girl, quickly followed by the laughter of a man. These sounds were coming from the same direction he, Ron and Hermione had come from. Suddenly, Hermione's words came back to his mind...
Arson! Murders! Rapes!
"Fuck!" he exclaimed before he immediately ran toward the screams. "Harry! Wait!" cried Hermione but Harry ignored her. They would catch up.
Harry ran back toward where they had come from, dodging trees and jumping over roots. Some bushes managed to slow him down but, eventually he reached a clearing where he stopped. In front of him was a silver-haired woman, looking like she would soon turn seventeen, attempting to protect a younger girl – also with silver hair – who looked about Harry's age. Harry assumed they were sisters. Both girls were looking around them, terrified. Harry didn't spot them right away because of their blacks cloaks but the two silver-haired girls were surrounded by four Death Eaters.
"Leave us alone!" screamed the older girl. She had a french accent.
The four Death Eaters laughed. "Like we would let some beautiful Veelas go without playing with them first..." said the one closest to them. Suddenly, rather quickly, he took hold of the young woman's top and teared it, revealing a dark blue bra and exposing her stomach. The woman let out a scream as she tried to both cover herself and shield the younger girl at the same time. Harry's blood boiled. He was angry – very, very angry! With his right hand, he took his lightsaber and ignited it.
The purple blade of the lightsaber lighted up the clearing like a very powerful lamp. The light and the hiss of Harry's new weapon grabbed the attention of the four Death Eaters and the two Veelas. While he couldn't read the faces of the masked Death Eaters, the two girls looked at him with hope. He knew right then and there that he wouldn't let them down. He would save them. He had to.
"Leave them alone." growled Harry threateningly.
"This kid want to play with us!" laughed one of the masked men. "Well, so be it!" Then, almost at the same time, all four Death Eaters shouted curses.
"Confrigo!" "Expulso!" "Ignitium!" "Avada Kedavra!"
The two girls screamed in terror. Unfazed, Harry brought his lightsaber up to reflect the spells. As all four spells had come from different directions and shot at different times, Harry had to react very quickly to block all of them. The first curse, a fiery orange one, came from his left which he blocked before moving his purple lightsaber right to block the second one, a purple curse. Then, he moved his blade in front of him and oriented it horizontally to block the remaining two spells, a blue one and a green one, at the same time. Each time he blocked, he willed for the spells to return back to the one who cast it. The first three curses rebounded toward where they came from. The last one, the bright green one, was simply absorbed by the blade.
The four Death Eaters froze in shock when their curses hit Harry's lightsaber. They were so shocked that they didn't manage to move or shield in time to avoid being hit. The fiery orange curse blew its wizard up in a mist of blood and gore all across the darkened forest. The purple one hit in a big bright purple explosion, leaving behind its Death Eater on the ground, screaming in pain and holding his chest. When the blue curse hit its wizard, the Death Eater was blasted across the clearing where he hit a tree. A large snap was heard as the wizard fell back down on the ground, the body bent weirdly.
The remaining Death Eater gaped in horror as Harry, still looking furious, made a simple flourish with the lightsaber before he began walking toward the dark wizard.
"That's not possible!" said the Death Eater. "Nothing can block a Killing Curse!"
"You would be wrong." said Harry. His words seemed to snap the Death Eater out of his shock, who only now realized that Harry was only a few feet away from him. He immediately fired another green spell, if only by reflex, which Harry absorbed once again. Before the man could do anything else, Harry brought his lightsaber up and immediately brought it down in a high blow. The purple blade slashed the man, who fell down on the ground, dead.
The purple blade of the lightsaber retracted itself with a hiss. He reattached his lightsaber to his belt before he took out his wand and cast a wand-lighting charm. The white light of his wand replaced the purple light of the lightsaber. Gently and slowly, Harry approached the two silver-haired girls. Once he was close to them, he crouched on one knee. "Are you alright?" he asked them, aware that neither of them had moved since the Death Eaters had first cast at him.
"You saved us..." whispered the older one, her blue eyes full of tears.
"Yes. You are safe, now." whispered Harry gently.
The older girl was suddenly pushed by her younger sister who immediately pounced on Harry – putting her arms around him – and started sobbing in his chest.
"Merci! Merci! Merci! (Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!)" she said repetitively. Harry held the young witch in his arms, not knowing what to do. He had no experience whatsoever with crying girls.
"Yes, thank you." said the older Veela before also hugging him. Harry now had two very beautiful witches in his arms, and he had no idea what to do. Thankfully, he was saved.
"Fleur!? Gabrielle!? Ou êtes vous!? (Fleur!? Gabrielle!? Where are you!?)" screamed a man with panic. Both girls perked-up when they heard the voice. The older one let go of Harry and raised on her feet. Her younger sister didn't seem to be willing to do the same however, judging by the strong grip on his chest.
"Papa! Ici! (Dad! Here!)" yelled the older one toward the voice.
A short man with black hair emerged from the forest and into the clearing. When he sighted his eldest daughter with her top teared and Harry holding his youngest one, he immediately went for his wand. Harry tensed. With the younger one in his hands, he had no way to take either of his wand or lightsaber to protect himself. Thankfully, the older girl came to his rescue.
"Papa, stop!" she said. "Il nous a sauvé! (He saved us!)"
The man visibly relaxed. "Dieu béni! (Thank God!)" he said. "Êtes vous correctes? (Are you alright?)" he asked. They both nodded. Then, the man turned toward Harry. Thankfully for the teenage boy, the man addressed him in English. "Thank you! Thank you sir!" he said. "My daughters are the most important things in my world and it would have killed me if they were hurt! Thank you!"
"Huh... no problems." said Harry with a flush. "I couldn't just do nothing while people needed help... sir?"
"Sebastien Delacour." answered the man. "And these are my daughters Fleur and Gabrielle." he introduced, indicating each girl.
Before Harry could introduce himself, he heard someone shout his name behind him. It was Ron. All four turned toward the shout to see Ron helping a limping Hermione walk forward. And Hermione looked back at Harry with frustration.
"Aw shit..." he whispered.
"Harry James Potter!" she exclaimed. The two Veelas let out gasps of recognition. Harry nearly groaned. "What were you thinking, running straight off into danger without waiting for help!?"
"I wouldn't have arrived in time, Hermione! They were surrounded by Death Eaters!" he said, indicating the four bodies.
Even in the darkness of the forest, Harry could tell that Ron and Hermione had both turned pale once they sighted the blood, gore and bodies of the Death Eaters. "Harry..." began Ron. "What-"
But, Ron was interrupted by a bright flash of green coming from the sky. As he looked up to see a green skull with a snake coming out of the mouth in the middle of the sky, cries of terror and despair were heard all across the forest.
"Putain!" exclaimed Fleur, looking at the sky.
"What the fuck is that?" asked Harry to no one.
Mr. Delacour, who had heard him, answered. His voice sounded shaky. "That, Mr. Potter, is the Dark Mark, the signature of You-Know-Who and his supporters."
Harry nearly cursed when he smelled grass. Like on his way to the World Cup, Harry hadn't been able to stay upright with the portkey and had come crashing down.
"Need help, Harry?" asked Mr. Weasley.
"No, I'm fine." he said, raising back on his feet. The Weasleys, Harry and Hermione walked back toward the Burrow. It was still very early in the morning, the sky being pink on the horizon where the sun was rising.
It had only been a few hours since the attack at the Quidditch World Cup. After the Dark Mark had appeared in the sky, he, Ron and Hermione followed the Delacours back toward the camps. Along the way, they met Mr. Weasley, Ginny and the twins. Mr. Weasley was relieved belong belief to seen them. When they exited the woods, the Weasleys and Delacours went their own way, but not before Mr. Delacour reassured him that he would take care of what happened with the bodies of the Death Eaters. Gabrielle Delacour herself decided to thank Harry one more time by kissing him on the lips. Harry had been so startled that he could only watch as the giggling Veela walked away with her family. Harry had to be dragged back to the Weasley tents by Hermione and Ron, the latter snickering along the way.
Once in the tent, Mr. Weasley had immediately sent them back to bed. While his two best friends fell asleep nearly instantaneously, Harry hadn't been able to. It wasn't until he was in his bed that he realized what he had done.
Four men had died because of him. While he hadn't cast those curses, he had still redirected them toward the men. One of them had even died by his own blade! Yet, when he thought about it, Harry wondered whether it was a good thing or not. After all, the four men had been Death Eaters, and not repentant ones at that. If it was the case, they would never have been threatening to rape two teenage girls. Those men had hidden within the population, saying they weren't Death Eaters but, had answered the call when one of them decided to terrorize people at the World Cup.
When he thought about it, he didn't feel so bad for their deaths. Did he wish the situation had been resolved another way? Yes. Had he had another way of saving the Delacour sisters and keeping them safe without killing the Death Eaters, would he have done it? Yes. Harry didn't want to kill, yet he wouldn't shed tears when rapists and murderers did while they were attacking people. And, if he somehow ended up in the same situation as he had been one again, he would do the same thing.
This decision had been what had finally allowed Harry to fall asleep, nearly an hour after everyone else. When Mr. Weasley had woken him up a few hours later, he felt generally better.
As they were walking down the hill where the portkey had landed them, Harry noticed that Hermione was glancing at him. Having known Hermione for years, he could tell that she was dying to ask questions to him. Sighing in resignation, he asked "What is it, Hermione?"
Hermione looked only slightly startled that Harry had been able to guess her state of mind, before she asked "How did you save the Delacour sisters?" Ron eyes snapped toward them, clearly curious too. Harry glanced forward to see where the rest of the Weasleys were. He and his friends were a dozen feet behind the rest of their group, a result of the trio walking slowly. While Hermione's injury had been healed by Mr. Delacour before they left the forest, her ankle was still sore, meaning she had to walk slowly if she didn't want to feel pain.
Pleased that the others wouldn't overhear him, he said "I've managed to save them by redirecting their curses toward them. Well all except one."
"How?" asked Ron. "Didn't they use the Unforgivables?"
"Unforgivables?" asked Harry.
"The Imperius Curse, the Cruciatus Curse and the Killing Curse." answered Hermione. "The three spells that directly give a life sentence to Azkaban if used on a human being. And they are said to be impossible to block or reflect."
"Well, there was only two curses I didn't recognise. One was purple and was reflected while the other was bright green. This one was simply absorbed."
Ron and Hermione froze. Harry only stopped a few steps later when he realized that his friends weren't walking anymore. "A-And... what was the incantation?"
"For the green one?" he asked. Hermione nodded. "Huh... 'Avada Kedavra', I think." he said. He immediately realized that something was wrong, judging by the way the faces of his friends fell.
"Harry... that's the Killing Curse!" whispered Hermione.
Oh.
Well, that certainly explained their reactions. An unblockable curse absorbed by his lightsaber? No surprise they looked shocked! Harry began fidgeting under their eyes.
"But... how...?" whispered Ron.
"Look..." said Harry. "Can't we wait until we are at Hogwarts? I don't want anyone else to know about it and – and I'm sorry, Ron – but the Burrow isn't the most private place in the world."
"Fine." said Hermione. "But you will tell us, Harry Potter! Understood?"
"Yes, Hermione." he said. Because of course he would tell them. Not like he could avoid it if he wanted to.
Not with Hermione.
A/N: I'm not sure who Harry will be paired with during the story. I'm hesitating between Gabrielle and a OC character. I've already set up the ground work for Gabrielle in case the story goes that way, but they might not end up together in the end.