Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I wish I did, but I unfortunately am not blessed with J.K.'s talent or imagination.

Author's Note: Ugh, I got homework in all my Friday classes… :( well, I'll end up procrastinating, and fanfics are one of my favourite homework escapes! :D lol Well… REVIEW!!!

Chapter 3: On the Loose

"Ron! Ginny!" Harry called.

"You can't reach them, Harry. Those images you saw before were just their reflections. Their real selves are trapped here," Voldemort said. He reached into his cloak and produced a tiny box. It had strange symbols on the sides of it. On the top was a carving of a man and what could have easily been his twin, both looking equally terrified and in a huge amount of pain. Voldemort opened the box and took out two tiny pieces of glass. Ginny was slumped against the edge of the glass, her face pale and scared. Harry could see her shouting his name. In the other piece of glass, Ron was banging violently against his restraints. He was getting no where, but he kept on rapping on the glass, causing blood to drip from his knuckles. Voldemort gingerly placed them back into the box.

"Amusing, aren't they? I have a whole collection of them, actually. It's just that they lose their spirit after awhile," Voldemort said. The Death Eaters around him laughed. "Never mind that. After these two wear out, I will amuse myself with a new one…" Voldemort drew his wand and pointed it at Harry.

Harry emitted a series of short, throaty barks. He had ripped his blankets to shreds, and now there was nothing else to tear. If only there was some source of food nearby…

In Hogsmeade, carolers were going door to door, singing their Christmas songs. Harry's keen ears picked up the sound. 'I've always liked carolers,' he thought…

Harry dodged the jet of yellow light. Voldemort laughed.

"Why, Harry, don't you take out your wand and fight me? Too afraid of hurting your little friends?" Voldemort opened the box again and took out Ginny's prison. He tauntingly dangled it from the tips of his fingers.

"Don't!" Harry shouted

"Why shouldn't I? I really only need one person for this job, and I have him. I can let this extra go." With that, he dropped the glass with Ginny imprisoned inside it. Harry could see her screaming and pounding on the glass as she fell to her impending doom.

"Ginny!!!" Harry dove to try to catch her, but he was just a little too far, and just a little too late.

"Accio!"

The glass flew from an inch above the ground into the darkness of the forest.

"Accio box!"

The box holding all the prisoners flew into the same place in the forest.

Voldemort shrieked in outrage. "What is this? Who's there?!" He pointed his wand at the forest as a figure moved out of the shadows to reveal-

Harry strained against his chains. He gnawed and pushed. The rusted chain snapped off.

"Hermione? How?" Harry asked.

"You didn't stay to hear me, Harry. I'm a witch. I can heal my own bones," she replied.

'Of course! How could I have been so stupid?' Harry thought

Hermione turned her attention to Voldemort. "Surprised that a mudblood could outsmart you?" she spat. She ducked just in time to avoid the curse Voldemort and a dozen other Death Eaters sent her way. The green lights whizzed over her head, hitting other Death Eaters around her. The sound of speeding death filled the clearing.

"Apparate, Hermione! Get away from here!" Harry yelled over the noise. He heard a tiny pop, and another pop right after.

"I can't apparate! This must be a non-apparition zone!"

"Smart girl, aren't you?" Voldemort sneered. "Such a shame you had to be born of muggle parentage. It's almost a waste of a witch. Avada Ked-" Voldemort began.

Harry's sharp nails clawed the walls. He finally managed to pull all the chains out and he used his knifelike teeth to bite them off. Free from his bonds, he looked around the room. His only way of escape was by a window. Glancing up at it, he realized that it was located a good seven feet up. The ladder leaning next to it was useless to him, as his paws could not grip it correctly.

'Nevermind,' he thought. The lust for blood was more overpowering than seven measly feet. He launched his body upward through the window in his desperation for flesh. He felt the cold winter winds blow over his face. He was free.

He didn't get the chance to finish. Harry threw himself at Voldemort's legs. He crumpled, his curse shooting high up into the air.

"Stupefy," he said, pointing his wand directly at Voldemort. He whispered a few more words and thick cords flew out of his wand, effectively tying up the prone body that was the Dark Lord. He grabbed Hermione's hand and they raced away from the clearing.

Hermione stopped Harry and pulled his cloak out of her robes and threw it over the both of them. They tiptoed behind a tree.

"Hurry, we don't have much time. We have to find the spell that releases Ron and Ginny." Hermione reached into the box and withdrew Ron's shard of glass. She took Ginny's shard out from her pocket and handed it to Harry. Pointing her wand at Ron's, she whispered, "Alohomora." Ron, who had been pressed up against the glass, fell backwards. There was no other change.

"Enervate," Harry said, hoping to revive Ginny's unconscious form. There was no change at all.

"Wait a minute!" Hermione pulled out the box and studied the carving on top. "It's a reflection," she realized. "Everything is opposite!" To test her theory out, she pointed her wand at Ginny and said, "Stupefy." Ginny immediately woke up.

"Hermione, you're a genius!" Harry said jubilantly. "Reparo!" There was a sound of glass shattering, and Ginny was suddenly lying on the floor. Hermione muttered the same word at Ron's glass. Once again, there was the sound of breaking glass and Ron appeared before them. Unfortunately, the four teenagers were too big to fit under one cloak. The sound of the breaking glass attracted the Death Eaters from the clearing.

"We have to get back to Hogwarts," Ron said urgently. The four dashed from their hiding place in the direction of their beloved school. They didn't get far. A whole army of Death Eaters, Dementors, and other monsters lay in wait inside the forest.

From a hill overlooking the peaceful village of Hogsmeade, Harry gave a chilling howl. It was time for the hunt to begin.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Author's Note: Yay! Getting deeper into the story! I think the story will be ending in three or four more chapters. So…REVIEW! :D