In The Darkness

Chapter Four: Hidden Powers

'Neville, wake up!'

With a start Neville's eyes snapped open and he found himself staring into the scarred layer of Draco's face, his ocean blue eye scanning him. Behind him Neville saw a faint green glow that seemed to be flowing around the rubble that surrounded him, sitting up in the small domed cave that had once been his living room he eventually focused on Harry. Stooped to almost his full height he had one hand pointed straight up, fingers outstretched, from them flowed the green light that lit the cavern, and was holding the ceiling together. 'Stop staring and get us out of here Draco,' Harry muttered through gritted teeth.

'What with, shall I blast us a hole so fifty Death Eaters can come running in screaming the Killing Curse?'

'Use the…', Harry's eyes flicked towards Neville as if in doubt, '…use it.'

'Fine, but this is a mistake, they'll figure it out eventually,' Draco muttered, almost ignorant of the rivulets of sweat that were now pouring down Harry's face as he strained to keep his concentration going. Reaching into his suit Draco withdrew a small ornate box covered with runes and carvings that Neville had never seen before. 'Neville,' Draco muttered as he began to run his fingers over the runes, 'help Harry, put a levitation charm on the rock, it won't lift it, but it will power his charm.'

'Fine, but whatever you're doing hurry, it's getting difficult to breathe down here,' Neville replied while pulling his wand out of his sleeve again. Stumbling over to Harry he pointed his wand at the rock and muttered his charm; 'Materia Leviosa!' His crimson energy joined with the green that cascaded over the rocks, almost immediately Harry let out a grateful gasp and fell to his knees, still energy flowed from his hand but he no longer sweated. Behind him Neville heard a faint muttering and turned to see the box was now lying flattened on the rubble as Draco incanted over it; 'Portalis Spacus Ourivier A De Sanctus.'

'Sanctus!' Harry whispered sharply, shooting a glance at Draco, 'isn't that a little bit risky?'

'Better than nothing,' Draco snapped back, and then he moved away as a golden light began to spill out from the flattened box, cascading slowly over the floor until it covered the rubble beneath the three men.

'Ready?' Draco asked Harry with a quick glance receiving a nod in return, 'Neville, get ready for the ride of your life,' shutting his eyes Draco took a deep breath then incanted one more word, 'Incantus!' and then with a crackle of golden energy the three men disappeared under a cave in of rubble.

*              *              *

With a massive tumbling of bricks Neville's house imploded sending a cloud of dust upwards and outwards that cloaked the Death Eaters as they retreated from the destroyed building. As they retreated away first a few, then groups disappeared with small bursts of light erupting, lighting up the street until none remained. A few seconds later the fireball ripped Dean's house apart.

*              *              *

A crackle and flash lit up the dank room sending the only occupant scuttling into the corner with a disgruntled screech, flapping into a corner the owl settled down to watch the new arrivals in the loft where it had roosted for the past few years. With a harsh cough against the dust that fell on him Draco rose and limped to the centre of the room, nursing his leg where Neville had landed on top of him, bending over he picked up the ornate box and returned it to his robes. Behind him, also coughing with the dust Harry picked up Neville, all signs of strain had now disappeared from his face, with a small smile he lifted a rock out of a suit pocket, 'I guess I let the charm down to early.'

'Where are we?' Neville asked, 'and what the hell was all that you guys just did?'

'Questions later,' Draco replied, 'first we've got to find somewhere to hide, they could try and track us.' While he dusted off more of his robes Harry had moved over to the boards that covered the arched window, looking through he saw a familiar countryside, a small village laid out underneath him.

'I know where we are, we've got to move fast though.'

*              *              *

'There's three men coming up the path.'

'So, people walk up our path all the time.'

'They're not wearing cloaks.'

'Get the kids and get out the back.'

'No, I won't leave you…'

'Just go, before it's too late to get away.'

Then there was a knock on the door.

'Death Eaters don't knock.'

*              *              *

Harry knocked on the door again, 'Think we should have worn our cloaks?' he asked Neville with a grin while pulling his tie loose.

'Think we should have used the door?' Draco asked wryly in return. A few seconds later it blew off its hinges, sending the two flying back down the path of the house. Walking from the doorway a tall man held a wand aimed squarely at Harry's chest.

'Impedimenta!' Neville shouted freezing the man in the doorway when from behind him stepped a woman who muttered softly and petrified Neville with a curse, 'Er-my-oh-knee' he mumbled before falling flat on his face.

'Neville?'

*              *              *

'I didn't know they were alive.' Male.

'Well now they're only unconscious, it's a start.' Female.

'I'm just aching by the way.' Neville.

'Why throw the entire door at them?' Female.

'I didn't throw it, that was a Blasting Charm.' The male again.

'It was a good Charm.' Same female.

'Hey,' Neville, 'wake up Harry you faker.'

Opening his eyes Harry found himself staring into three pairs from the past and present: Ron, Hermione and Neville. 'Hello Weasleys,' he whispered, smiling broadly and rubbing his forehead where the door had impacted, 'how are the kids?'

'Fine.' Harry focused on Ron's eyes and saw anger, or was it something else? 'Fifteen years Harry, you bastard.' With that he left the room, Harry heard his feet stomp up the stairs of The Burrow.

'I'll go,' Neville said as Hermione moved to follow her husband up the stairs, 'you two talk.' He left the room as Harry pulled himself up into a sitting position from the slump that he had been dumped in.

'How's Draco?' he asked rubbing his eyes.

'Sleeping, so are the kids as you asked.'

'I've seen them, Minerva going to Hogwarts,' he replied with a twinkle in his eyes, 'you always liked Transfiguration. And little Phillip, he's like his father.'

'Not-so-little Philip,' Hermione whispered with a smile, 'just like his father.' There was a comfortable pause, she broke the silence first. 'Neville told me what happened, we already knew about Fred, George called yesterday to…' she trailed off and Harry looked up to see glistening tears in her eyes.

'I'm sorry,' he mumbled, 'I tried to get there to warn him, it's my fault, all my fault.'

'Harry, you aren't responsible fore Fred's death,' Hermione replied, almost harshly stopping the sobbing in her throat. 'There was no way you could have saved him, you can't stop bullets.'

'I should've saved him,' Harry said, 'I could've save him.' Covering his tired eyes Harry felt the first tears fall into his hands, sobbing he folded in the chair, barely feeling Hermione embrace his quaking form in the darkness.

*              *              *

'That bastard,' Ron repeated as Neville came into the room, 'the absolute bastard, fifteen years he's been bloody gone, fifteen years Neville.'

'I know Ron.'

'No you don't, he was my best friend, almost like another brother when he moved in, then he starts ranting on about nonsense.'

'It wasn't nonsense.'

'I don't give a damn, he started dragging us into it, and he still does it to Hermione!' Ron gesticulated wildly at Hedwig who was perched nearby. 'And now he comes back, bloody turning up with Draco sodding Malfoy, who the hell does he think he is?'

'How about the only one of us with enough sense to see the Dark Wizards are coming back?' Neville blazed back, staring straight into Ron's eyes.

'So then he brings one here, to my house, with my children in it.'

'Draco is not a Dark Wizard, he just saved my life for crying out loud.'

'He's still a Malfoy.'

'How short-sighted are you Ron, have fifteen years blinded you like most other wizards out there?'

'So help me Neville,' Ron said raising a fist.

'Shut up Ron, you never used violence as a way of getting what you wanted, now just listen. Harry is back and there's something going on, people have been dying Ron, he thought you were going to die and he, with Malfoy, saved my life, and now he may just have save yours...you know, you're just scared Ron.'

'The hell I am!' Ron bristled.

'The hell you aren't!' Neville riposted severely , 'and do you know why, because I'm bloody scared too…I'm scared too.'

'Neville,' Ron was quieter now, 'I can't get involved, I have a family, Hermione…we' he trailed into silence.

'Ron,' a new voice broke into the conversation, Harry stood in the doorway to the room, Hermione behind him, supporting Malfoy, 'nobody wants to get involved.' Looking closely Ron could see the dry tearstains on his face, 'but things happen that we can't control.'

'And what are you going to do about it?'

'Make things happen that we can control.' Harry replied, and as Ron stared into his eyes he saw a blazing fire of determination, behind him the sun rose but a cautious Neville shut the curtains tightly, plunging them all into the darkness…

A/N: The plot thickens in chapter 5: plots.