Disclaimer: Nothing is mine; everything is J K Rowling's.

Next chapter! The summer is about halfway over, which means there's relatively few chapters involving shopping left, though, I will confess that this is a chapter that involves shopping and running around Diagon Alley again ;)

Enjoy!

Chapter 76

He had drastically underestimated Slug and Jiggers Apothecary. Where Harry had expected a limited range of rare, or powerful ingredients he found row upon row of gleaming glass jars. It bore a remarkable resemblance to the inside of Snape's office. Harry had already considered stealing what he needed from Snape in an attempt to justify the treacherous former Death Eater's continued existence, but Dumbledore would not take long to realise the true culprit if the wards were not triggered.

Instead he had come to Diagon Alley, disguised, as Fleur had expressly told him not to be, as a young, crimson-haired, emerald-eyed Tom Riddle. The look worked surprisingly well, and though his blood-bright hair drew everyone's eyes that was all they seemed to see, or remember.

He ran a finger gently along the closest row of vials, letting the willow ring on his finger tinkle over the curved, glass edges.

The rituals he intended to undertake required enough ingredients to burn through what remained of his winnings from the Triwizard Tournament. Floating around him were several hundred galleons worth of glass encased potions constituents. Myrrh, bloodroot and vervain for the first ritual, and mistletoe, yew sap, a bezoar, and unicorn horn for the second; the one he had designed.

Harry was still one vial short, but he knew he wouldn't find the final ingredient here. There were more poisons in the world than he had ever anticipated, and for all his research he had come across only two substances capable of rendering him truly immune to the majority; phoenix tears, and unicorn's blood. He had some experience with both, but Fawkes was unlikely to give his tears to Harry for such a task, so he was left to pick his way carefully around the curse of unicorn's blood.

Slaying or injuring a unicorn for its blood would certainly bring the wrath of the curse upon his head, but simply buying it should not, not so long as he was sure the unicorn had not been harmed to obtain its blood. He would have to take a trip into Knockturn alley; uncursed unicorn's blood was just as illegal as cursed blood.

Swiftly striding to the counter he paid for his purchases, stacking the jars into a box which he tucked under his arm rather than shrunk as he might have preferred. The ritual was already going to be a delicate thing; it was best not to have any other trace of magic upon its components. If it worked Harry would be very proud of it, his first original steps into a plane of magic Salazar had placed great value on.

He will be proud when I tell him, Harry smiled, brushing his wave of crimson hair off his forehead.

Harry had spent a great deal of time designing the ritual, carefully considering each aspect and refining it until he was sure it would have the desired effect. There was good reason to be careful; it was no small risk. The threat of a cursed life loomed equally large as the threat of potential poisoning.

Stepping out of the shop he strode confidently towards the shadier side of the alley, listening to the click of the cobbles beneath his feet, and trying to ignore the uncomfortable edge of the box against his hip.

It was a beautiful day; a rare, true spell of summer, cloudless, warm, and brilliant beneath a sky the same hue as Fleur's eyes. Consequently everyone had chosen it as the day to visit Diagon Alley, and there were so many people that the shop windows were hidden from view behind the crowd. The whole length of the street was obscured behind wizards and witches who swerved around one another the throng.

Fortunately the crowd seemed to part for Harry. Whether it was the hair, or the way he carried himself he was not sure, but those before him shifted themselves from his path rather than dare obstruct him.

He turned onto Knockturn Alley, stepping from the crown into the relative quiet of the ill-reputed area. Two hit wizards drifted along the street, hands in their sleeves, no doubt already gripping wands, and a scatter of rag-clad hags eyed them suspiciously from the shadows.

As he passed them the nearest scuttled from her shadows to snatch at his bright hair. Her long, wrinkled, yellow-nailed, fingers passed harmlessly though the air as he tilted his head away, and Harry's left hand snapped up to catch her thin, fragile wrist.

He met her jaundiced eyes, passive legilimency extracting a semblance of intent from the twisted thoughts of the creature.

Bright, he saw within its mind. Red, pretty, like blood, it continued, should be ours.

Unnatural, he felt it realise as he broke the connection, wrong, dangerous, flee.

The hag quailed under the cold, scrutinising stare he fixed her with and flinched away, cowering behind her free limb, but Harry simply released her, and let her flee shivering back into the umbrae.

He passed Borgin and Burkes, ignoring the display of dark curiosities, and the flash of blond in the window, passing directly across the alley to the Spiny Serpent.

The front door was locked. It was always locked. No customer of the Spiny Serpent ever went in through the front, he'd learnt that from employing a few subtle forays of legilimency into those nearby when scouting for places he might be able to buy unicorn's blood.

Harry stepped around the row of large vases, walking along the thin gap between the line of vessels and the wall until he reached the true entrance, a small, stained wooden door engraved in the rough likeness of a serpent.

'Come in,' a voice invited before he could knock, 'I can hear you.'

Harry pushed open the door, cautiously entering the secretive establishment.

He found himself face to face with an unnaturally slender, pale-faced figure, and, as his eyes adjusted to the gloom, he could make out the sharp nails, gaunt cheeks, and sharp teeth that betrayed the vampiric nature of the owner.

'You look familiar,' the vampire whispered, 'have we met before?'

'Not that I am aware of,' Harry replied easily. If he did look familiar it was likely that the vampire had once met a young Tom Riddle out buying questionable items just as Harry now was.

'I never forget a face,' the owner murmured. There was a soft whisper of cloth and a gentle orange light settled over the shop, revealing an empty stone room with two chairs at its centre. 'What brings you to my shop then, young wizard?' The vampire asked, sliding with unnatural grace into the furthest chair from Harry.

'I'm seeking to buy something I might not be able to find elsewhere,' Harry answered, taking the other chair.

'A wise choice to come here,' the creature agreed, tapping its elongated nails on the arm of the chair in a slow deliberate rhythm. 'I have run this shop for almost two centuries, as my sire did before me. There are few things I cannot obtain. What have you come for?'

'Blood,' Harry smiled slightly, 'unicorn's blood to be precise.'

'Uncursed, I presume,' the vampire nodded. 'What price are you willing to pay?'

'I have enough gold,' Harry revealed. 'A single drop of blood will be sufficient for my purpose.' The ritual would only require the tiniest amount to work; the magic in the blood of a unicorn was incredibly puissant.

'Sometimes I ask for gold,' the vampire smiled, revealing a two pairs of curved, sharp canines in his upper jaw. 'Not always.'

'What price would you ask?' Harry inquired, raising an eyebrow. The creature should know better than to demand too high a price. There were few laws that protected vampires in Britain, and Harry had very little to fear from anyone should he decide to simply take what he wanted.

'Blood for blood,' the vampire mused suggestively, 'a fair exchange.'

'My blood,' Harry surmised.

'I do not need any of the gifts of vampirism to feel the strength of the magic in you, young wizard,' the creature crooned. 'It is plain to see. Your eyes glow with power, the eldritch effuses from you. Your blood will be an instant of bliss to me.'

'A drop of mine for a drop of yours, then,' he agreed.

'Yes,' the vampire breathed almost giddily, extending its hand. Harry took it firmly, not flinching from the cold skin and strong grip. 'One moment.'

The creature straightened from his chair, turning and stepping through a previously hidden doorway in the wall behind him.

When the vampire returned it came clutching a small glass vial no longer than the tip of Harry's finger, and within it swirled a gleaming, silver fluid that could only be unicorn's blood.

Harry extended his hand, allowing the vampire to take it between his own and drive one of his long, sharp nails into the ball of his forefinger. A single, bright bead welled up, bursting onto the curved underside of the creature's claw-like nail and filling it.

A pale, long tongue slipped from between the vampire's lips to lap the blood collected in his nail. 'Take it,' the creature smiled with red-smeared lips, proffering the vial. 'Our business is concluded, young wizard. May you always walk in shadows.'

Harry inclined his head, pocketed the vial, and swiftly left the vampire to collapse in the chair, lips aquiver with pleasure at the sensation his blood had bestowed.

He had not made it more than a few yards from the row of vases concealing the true entrance when a hand caught his arm in a firm grip.

Expecting the hag again, he whirled, wand already in hand, and a host of spells ready to spill from his tongue. He recoiled from the almost glowingly bright bubble-gum pink haired witch. The colour reminded him of Umbridge.

'Found you,' she proclaimed cheerfully.

Auror robes, Harry noted.

'Indeed you have,' Harry smiled, playing innocent. 'May I ask why you were looking for me?'

'Everyone's looking for you, Harry,' the witch laughed at his raised eyebrow, 'your disguise is good, but not I'm adept at seeing the real person behind a new face.' Her hair faded ebony for a brief moment as she spoke, her cheekbones rising, and lips growing fuller. 'I'm Tonks,' she told him.

'Ah,' Harry grinned, relying on charm now that his cover had collapsed, 'my potential fiancée; it's nice to finally meet you… Nymphadora.' Behind his grin he was thinking furiously. Tonks would want him back with the Dursley's, or back under Dumbledore's twinkle-eyed gaze, neither of which were acceptable, so she either had to agree not to tell anyone, or conveniently forget all about their encounter.

'Never Nymphadora,' the witch scowled, 'just Tonks, and how do you know about that?'

'I have my sources,' Harry shrugged, slipping his arm out her grasp while she was distracted. He had no intention of letting himself be forcefully apparated anywhere.

'Are these the same sources that drew you to Knockturn Alley?'

'No,' Harry shook his head innocently. 'I'm shopping for potion's ingredients,' he patted the box under his arm, 'you can carry this is you like, it's a bit awkward though.'

'I'm sure you'll manage.' Tonks hair brightened a bit, and Harry bit the inside of his cheek in annoyance, giving her the box would have given him the perfect chance to step out of sight and cast the memory charm.

'So care to tell me where you've been?' The pink-haired auror asked, leading the way back into Diagon Alley.

'I promised Dumbledore I would stay where I was safest,' Harry smiled, enjoying the brief flicker of disbelief across her face, 'so I did.'

'The wards around Privet Drive keep you far safer than anything else could,' Tonks frowned, 'Dumbledore said so himself.'

Dumbledore lied, Harry wanted to spit.

Her faith in the old wizard was nauseating. The ancient meddler wanted his martyr somewhere he had no way of practicing any combat related magic so his sacrifice was all the more assured.

'I suppose then,' Harry responded cordially, 'that he and I must have misunderstood one another.'

Tonks didn't look at all convinced, but wisely let the subject drop.

'So now that you have found me what are you going to do?' He enquired. 'I've pretty much finished shopping.'

'The Order would like to make sure you are safe,' Tonks replied. 'I understand you can apparate?'

'I can,' Harry nodded, 'but the only place I will apparate is back to my current residence.'

'And where, exactly, is that?' Tonks demanded. 'We're supposed to be protecting you, not chasing you down while you're out shopping in crowds of potential Death Eaters.'

'I'm afraid I can't tell you,' Harry smirked. It was literally true; the Fidelius made sure he couldn't.

'Can't, or won't?' Tonks pressed.

'If you tell me where the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is, I'll tell you where I'm currently residing,' Harry offered.

'I can't tell you that,' she snapped, then suddenly grinned when the real meaning became clear. 'You're under the Fidelius too,' she breathed. 'That explains a lot.'

'And thus quite safe,' Harry pointed out firmly.

She fell quiet as they drifted south down the alley, her belief in Dumbledore conflicting with what she knew of the Fidelius Charm.

'So if you're safe, what have you been doing?' Tonks eventually asked.

'Practicing for my NEWTs,' Harry replied, half-honest. 'I asked Professor Dumbledore if I could take some of them early since I'm quite far advanced in some subjects.'

'I've never heard of anyone taking them more than a year early before,' the pink-haired auror voiced, 'you must be really good if Dumbledore thinks you're capable of it. Transfiguration is one of them, isn't it.'

'Yes,' he nodded, 'the face?'

'The face,' she grinned. 'I'm a metamorph so I can do that naturally, but you've done a spectacular job for just normal human transfiguration. Dumbledore didn't think you'd be able to hide the scar.'

'Well I won't tell him if you don't,' Harry remarked lightly.

Tonks gave a light chuckle. 'I suppose that's fair,' she shrugged and looked a little guilty. 'It doesn't seem that there's all that much point in searching for you and moving you when you've managed to do such a good job of hiding on you own. I've never seen Moody so embarrassed,' a delighted smile spread across her face and her hair shifted a bright, golden yellow, 'the famous Mad-Eye, outwitted by a school student.'

'Maybe he'll be more vigilant now,' Harry suggested dryly.

'I'm not sure that's possible,' Tonks scowled, 'he yelled at me yesterday for tripping over a chair leg, not because I was being clumsy again, but because I didn't have my wand out ready to duel immediately afterwards in case I'd been attacked by a dark wizard and not a chair.'

'That does seem unreasonable,' Harry agreed, wondering how long it would take her to ask the next question on Dumbledore's list of things to know about Harry.

'He's good at catching dark wizards,' Tonks smiled wryly, 'but not so great at anything else anymore.'

'The Order needs him.'

'The Order needs Sirius' mother's portrait removed,' Tonks grimaced. 'There are only two people she won't insult, you,' Tonks' hair turned a slightly rosy shade of pink, 'and me. Anyone else gets it straight in the neck, and I pity the person who dares insult you in hearing distance of that painting. Snape was partially deaf for days, and I'm sure I heard the words pure-blooded scion of far greater worth than any who befouls and besmirches the house of my forefathers echoing on the far side of London.'

'It's nice to be appreciated,' Harry grinned. 'What has she said to you about marriage?'

'Only that she's glad to see the Black blood shine through and that it would be the dream of any proper witch to marry someone of your heritage.' Tonks arched an eyebrow. 'What heritage?'

'I'm a Potter,' Harry shrugged.

'She must think you're something more,' Tonks surmised. 'That mad house elf was muttering about you stealing that which was rightfully Master Regulus', and if you've managed to win the kind of approval Walburga Black had for her younger son, then you've impressed her.'

'I daresay I'll find out what she thinks eventually,' Harry grinned. 'I'll be old enough to join the Order in a year.'

'Hopefully the war is already over by then,' Tonks responded gently. 'You're too young for this, hell, I'm too young for this.'

Harry laughed. Tonks was likeable enough, friendly even; he hoped he would not have to memory charm her, but he wouldn't find out until she decided to steer the conversation back to his summer arrangements again.

'I tell you what,' she began tentatively, 'if you answer my questions honestly, I won't tell Dumbledore that I met you, only that I learnt these things from a reliable source.'

'Will you stop trying to return me to live with my disgusting, bigoted relatives?' Harry asked.

'Are they that bad?' The witch asked quietly. 'Sirius said that by making you live there we were making you suffer needlessly, but Dumbledore disagreed, thought my cousin was just being dramatic.'

'They used to be,' Harry admitted. 'I'll answer your questions if you keep your word; it will save me from having to obliviate you in a few minutes.'

Tonks laughed, not realising he was only half joking.

'First question, the big one, why did you leave?' She smiled at him warmly, doing her best to reduce any awkwardness.

'I don't want to live with them,' Harry said simply. 'I would rather live by myself than with the Dursleys, and with the Fidelius I have no reason to stay.'

'And the memory charm?'

'For their safety,' Harry answered, and it was true in a way. He'd done it to give them the same safety they'd offered him; revenge was sweet. It was satisfying to be even with them after all those years. He did not like feeling he had lost; that he had somehow come off worse, so he made sure that things were balanced out.

'How well protected is the place you're staying?' Tonks eyed him seriously, and he realised that this was the really big question. If she felt he was truly safe, then it seemed the likeable pink-haired witch would do the right thing and let him be.

'The Fidelius,' Harry began focusing purely on the metamorphagus, 'anti-apparation, anti-portkey, and the Fianto Duri.'

'All of them?' Tonks looked awed. 'That's… you're a sixth year!'

'I told you I was safe,' Harry grinned.

'I barely believe you,' she breathed, 'but the Fidelius explains why we have failed to find you, and that alone is protection enough for me to trust you with your own safety.'

'It's true,' Harry said calmly. 'I'll be back at Hogwarts in a month and a half too.'

'Of course you will be,' Tonks smiled, 'Hogwarts is the safest place in Britain.'

It is now, Harry thought, now Salazar is sacrificed.

'Do you smell smoke?' The pink-haired witch frowned, turning around curiously and almost slipping on the cobbles.

Harry sniffed the air. There was a distinct tang of smoke, a thick, acrid burning smell and gentle wisps of grey drifted over the crowd of shopping wizards.

Something is wrong, Harry realised, a tendril of ice slithered down his spine and he carefully placed the box and the vial down in a corner where they were safely out of harm's way.

'Morsemordre,' a hoarse voice cried as he straightened up, and the glowing green skull exploded over the Alley.

Everyone was screaming. Dark robes and colours flashed within the panicked crowd. Sudden cracks rang out as every wizard capable of apparition fled the alley.

Harry's wand was in hand immediately, but he could not cast anything for fear of hitting the innocent members of the crowd.

'Go,' Tonks urged. 'Apparate out now.'

'No,' Harry replied firmly, 'I can help.'

His eyes flicked over the masked faces and robes, searching for some clue as to their identity, hoping that somewhere among the dark-robed attackers he might find one of the Lestranges or another of the Inner Circle who might be of use to him.

He saw the shimmer of the anti-apparition wards as Tonks cast the ward, and realised her plan immediately. Diagon Alley would be swarming with hit wizards in moments, they would apparate in all along the street, and the Death Eaters were now unable to escape.

There were only three in the street, though Harry was sure he had glimpsed several more. Two had shining silver masks, carved in unique patterns, and covered in runes, but the last had a simple white mask, unadorned. He hung back on the far right, his wand still in his robes. Clearly he expected the Inner Circle to deal with the two of them themselves.

'An auror,' one of the masked wizards sneered, his thin, short wand brandished with supreme arrogance.

'Yaxley,' Tonks spat. 'I should have guessed you'd be here. Where's your master, hiding in the shadows?'

'The shadows?' Yaxley laughed. 'The Dark Lord does not hide in the shadows, witch, he rules them.'

'Then where is he?' Tonks retorted. 'I see you, Yaxley, and Avery on your left, but no Voldemort.'

'You dare to say his name?' The third, plain-masked Death Eater, spoke for the first time since the three stepped forwards. It took only a word for Harry to recognise that smooth, sinister politeness, and he hoped, desperately that he was wrong, that he had misheard. He wasn't ready to face him again yet; he was still too weak.

'It's just a name,' Tonks replied, before he could warn her of his suspicions.

'There is power in a name,' the Death Eater replied. Harry could feel the smile behind the ivory, and the anticipation of the fear he was about to inspire.

The mask burst into white smoke, and the cold, crimson gaze of Voldemort fixed itself upon them.

'You're brave, Nymphadora Tonks,' his lips curled, 'but being brave does not make you strong.'

Voldemort's red eyes traced their way over Harry's face, taking in his borrowed countenance with some amusement, and for the briefest moment his smile turned almost warm.

'You need to transfigure your eyes,' the Dark Lord remarked almost amicably, 'their colour and aspect betrays you.'

'Are you not going to leave?' Harry asked calmly. 'Your message is sent.'

'Not yet,' the Dark Lord replied evenly. 'In my absence they have all forgotten the truth, while I have bided my time their fear has faded. They no longer understand what I am to them, what the reality of this world is, so I shall remind them, and they will fear me as they did before.'

'I am not afraid of you,' Tonks hissed, 'the hit wizards will be here in a few minutes, and then the Dementors will have your soul.'

Voldemort's lips curved upwards again at her brazen defiance. Her voice was steady, her hands still, and her face determined, but she was afraid, and they all knew it.

'Avery, Yaxley, you two deal with… Tom,' the almost warm smile flashed once more, 'the auror is mine.'

'Crucio,' Yaxley cackled, and the crackling beam of red burst against the wall behind Harry. Avery's silent spellfire hissed viciously past him to score scorching craters into the cobbles. He could not leave them space, or they would encircle him, so he reached for the cold fury within, letting it twist his conjuration, entrapping the three of them within a maze of sharp, icy shards.

'Hold them off, Harry,' Tonks gasped, deflecting, shielding and dodging as best she could, 'the hit wizards will be here in moments.'

'You don't have moments,' Voldemort said coldly. The string of silver beads of light trailed from his wand tip towards Tonks, ghosting ominously through the air.

'Contusio,' Harry commanded, focusing as much magic as he could into the spell in that instant and whipping the pinprick of silver into the ice immediately between the two Death Eaters and their Master.

Voldemort shielded himself instantly. The concussion of Harry's spell detonated Voldemort's early, and the waves of force dissipated over the Dark Lord's animated, slithering, serpentine shield without leaving so much as a mark.

Avery and Yaxley were not so swift.

Avery was fortunate to be hurled into the alley to skitter across the cobbles like a skipped stone, but Yaxley was hurled onto the ice, impaled on the frozen spines in a splatter of blood and viscera, to twitch limply as he gasped his last moments away.

His thin, short wand fell onto the ice fragment strewn cobbles with a quiet click of cold wood.

Harry did not pause, wordlessly summoning his shield, and the cloud of conjured butterflies to protect both him and Tonks against Voldemort's coming wrath while the pink-haired auror gaped at him in horror.

Had he been a second slower he would have been torn apart.

A hail of spells descended upon the two of them; Voldemort's retaliation was raw, and angry, a mixture of crackling, glowing Unforgivables and furious curses that split them and separated them, forcing Tonks to hide behind her own shield charm, and tearing through the spikes of conjured ice.

Around them red umbrella's were scattered and shredded, tables splintered and melted, and chairs shattered. Voldemort's burning rage razed everything along the length of the street beside them.

Fiendfyre billowed from the Dark Lord's wand when his curses were not enough, swirling towards Harry in a bright, burning wave of roaring, red-tongued fury, consuming the remaining few hapless butterflies that still fluttered around the two of them, and instantly sublimating the ice. The fiendfyre he unleashed was the most detractive version Harry had ever seen, but its curtain wasn't bright enough to disguise the brilliant, viridian flash, nor its sound loud enough to hide the cruel whisper of the Killing Curse.

Harry twisted the flames about him into twin serpents, sending them curing around his body and searing over the molten, glowing cobbles to consume the battered body of Avery and the crumpled corpse of Yaxley in a cacophony of pained screams he hardly heard.

Voldemort stood over the still body of Nymphadora Tonks, unmoved, and remorseless, a slight, cruel smile playing across his countenance.

Tonks' hair was black now, and curly rather than straight, her lips fuller, her cheekbones higher and her wide, empty, violet eyes stared up at the summer sky.

She looks like Bellatrix, Harry realised. The Black family is ended.

'You killed two more of my Inner Circle,' Voldemort said quietly. He was angry, the cold fury emanated from him in waves. 'Wearing my own face, no less.'

'You killed Tonks,' Harry replied, keeping his wand and his guard up.

'Not just Tonks,' Voldemort told him, the corner of his lips twitching in a satisfied smile, 'you robbed me of Bellatrix, a loyal follower, now,' his gazes drifted to the red umbrellas, 'we are even.'

Katie.

Harry's blood ran cold, and he turned to run towards the ruined café. He caught the Dark Lord's whisper too late, and something struck him hard in the back, knocking him across the cobbles into the debris. The ring on his hand seared hot, then crumbled from his finger into dust, as Fleur's enchantments were overpowered by Voldemort's magic.

'Go find her, Harry,' the Dark Lord told him coldly. 'Maybe she will live long enough for you to watch her die, for you to see her loyalty and devotion stolen from you, and then you will understand that we even once more.'

Voldemort apparated away with a soft snap as Harry picked himself up from the floor to search through the ruined front of the café. Sprinting over red scraps of cloth, each flash of ruby stabbed at him, with every glimpse of crimson cloth he feared he would find her there on the floor.

There was brown hair trailing out from under the broken glass of the counter.

He froze, grinding to a halt, and skidding on the fragments of glass, sliding to a stop on his knees, and pulling the pieces of the counter away from whomever lay underneath.

Katie's mother.

His relief sickened him, but he began to breath again, became aware of the burning pain in his hands and knees from the countless lacerations he had given himself in sliding to a stop. Her chest was rising and falling; she was still alive.

Someone laughed close by; cruel laughter, and the tendrils of cold fury began to spread within him. Bright, green light flared from his wand, reflected in series patterns across wall from the shattered glass on the floor.

If they've hurt her.

He walked towards the laugher slowly, picking his way silently over the glass and down the corridor. There were bodies in the passage. Two of them. Werewolves; he recognised the signs of their lycanthropy. Fenrir Greyback's followers were here.

'There's something ever so satisfying about using an axe,' a thick, brutish voice explained slowly.

Macnair.

The creature murdering, bloodthirsty Death Eater was well known for using an axe to execute animals rather than more conventional methods.

A third body shuddered in the passage, pale hands pressed to a gaping, seeping wound along his throat. Harry stunned Katie's father before he could recognise him, then swiftly cast a few healing spells to stop the flow of blood until the hit wizards found him.

'It's the sound,' Macnair continued, 'the way the feel of severing bone trembles up your arms, and the blood sprays across the floor.'

Harry tip-toed through the gory pool that spread from his friend's father, writhing, crackling, green sparks pouring from the tip of his wand.

They're dead, he decided. They're all dead.

'Hold still sweetheart,' Macnair growled. 'It's cleaner if you don't wriggle.'

'Are you sure I can't turn her?' Another voice grumbled.

'Yes, the Dark Lord said she was to die,' Macnair snapped as Harry rounded the corner. The two Death Eaters were facing away from him, but Katie wasn't, and she went completely still at the sight of him.

'That's better,' Macnair grinned, 'best to just give in, and get it over with.'

The conjured axe rose high into the air above Macnair's head, and Harry struck.

'Avada Kedavra,' he hissed.

Macnair crumpled; the axe vanishing. Katie was still frozen, her back against the wall; terrified.

The werewolf hurled himself forwards, but he made only three feet towards Harry before Harry's volley of piercing curses tore through him and stopped him in his tracks. The creature staggered, gazing in horrified stupefaction at the fist-sized holes penetrating his chest, then slumped forwards onto his face with a soft moan.

Harry turned towards Katie, but she flinched away, and he froze.

'I'm not going to hurt you,' he promised, slipping his wand away. 'It's me, Katie.'

'You cast the Killing Curse,' she stuttered, shaking like a leaf.

Stupid, Harry cursed himself.

There were so many other spells that would have saved her, but he'd only been able to think of those two words; they'd reverberated in his ears, blotting out everything else with their furious whisper.

'I couldn't let him hurt you,' he admitted, taking several small steps closer to her. Katie was taking deep breaths, and still shivering, but she was regaining colour rapidly, and calming as she caught up with events.

'You do scary things when I get hurt, Harry,' she whispered, but this time when he moved closer she didn't flinch.

'You're my friend,' he answered, 'I keep the people I care about safe however I have to.'

'My parents?' Katie asked, eyes shining with unshed tears. She feared them dead.

'Alive when I last saw them,' he said softly, 'but injured badly.'

'What am I supposed to do now?' She crossed the last step herself, collapsing against him, her fear forgotten.

'I don't know, Katie,' he murmured, wrapping an arm around her back as she sobbed into his shoulder.

I know what I'm going to do, he decided.

Someone had told the Death Eaters where Katie and her parents were, and Harry knew, without knowing how he knew, that it had been Snape. Snape was a teacher, he had access to every student's address, and he certainly had motive. If Voldemort asked, Snape would answer, either to protect his own skin and cover as Dumbledore's spy, or just because his master had spoken.

And neither are good enough reasons, neither are even close.

'Do you have anywhere to go?' He asked her. 'I can't be here when the aurors come, they'll arrest me for using the Killing Curse to save you.'

'I can stay with Alicia and Angelina,' Katie replied into his shoulder, still crying slightly. 'Go before they come and set up wards, but come and see me soon.'

'I will he,' promised, hugging her a little more tightly.

'I'll be waiting,' she whispered, stretching up to kiss him on the cheek. 'Thank you.'

Harry apparated twice. Once to where he had left his box of potion's ingredients, which had miraculously evaded the fiendfyre, and once back to the Meadow, where Fleur hovered fearfully and tearfully on the doorstep for him to return.

AN: Please read and review, thanks to everyone who does!

P.S. This chapter also contains violence and character death, forgot to mention that at the start...