Author Note and Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, I would be wealthy, I would be content, and I would have an income higher than zero. I most certainly would not be living here. Ah well, thus is the way of the world.

So anyway, now we're getting down to the bones of the matter. Things are going to pick up speed from here on out and we have by no means seen the end of our mysterious gunslinger or Marten Diggory.

7. Back to Hogwarts

Several people screamed. Ron realized he had thrown up his arms to protect himself from he knew not what, and slowly lowered them. Harry stood transfixed by the image of crumpled black robes, slowly smoking and steaming in the pouring rain. He slowly turned his attention to the man who was still standing. Almost as quickly as it was produced and fired, the gun had been holstered. A thin wisp of blue smoke wafted gently from the barrel. Lightning flared again, thunder roared.

Slowly, the man turned, and Harry could see that the gun had a twin holstered on the other hip. The small crowd that had gathered parted quickly so that he might pass. He vanished swiftly into the gloomy half light of the thunderstorm.

Harry slowly shook his head and felt a bit as if he was coming out of a trance. He turned and tugged on Ron's shoulder. Ron did not stir. "Ron," Harry mumbled urgently.

"Huh?" Ron too, sounded dazed.

"Come on, we've got to go, you're mom will be waiting."

Ron's eyes fluttered a few times and suddenly looked a bit brighter. "Oh, right. she'll be so mad, not to mention worried, if we're late." He began to lead the way back to the Leaky Cauldron again but drew up short almost immediately. They were level with the dead wizard's corpse. "Can we just leave him there?"

"Not our problem Ron," Harry muttered and emphasized his point by planting a hard shove between Ron's shoulder blades.

Ron stumbled forward a bit, "Oh, er, right." He took one last look at the steaming pile of robes before hurrying along the side of the street under the awnings of shops, huddling out of the rain. Harry stole one last look towards where the gun slinging man had appeared before following. They entered the leaky cauldron and it was a riot of muttered conversation. It seemed as if every wizard and witch doing business in Diagon Alley that day had taken refuge from the storm inside the pub and were taking the grand opportunity to swap rumors left and right. Harry was little surprised to find that the news had preceded them.

He and Ron carefully weaved through the babbling crowd towards the lounge where they hoped to find Mrs. Weasley. As they passed they heard many hurried snatches of conversation.

"-just been a duel down the street!"

"-never believe it! I just heard someone's dead!"

"-was that damn gunslinger it was, I never trusted-"

"-an unforgivable curse? No, that just can't-"

"When did he get back in Britain? I heard the Ministry had sent him off to-"

"-locked in Azkaban if you ask me! Auror or no-"

"-you just say Ryan Argano? As in banished to Romania, Ryan Argano?"

And even once as they neared the doorway to the lounge Harry thought he heard,

"-that just Harry Potter?"

"Oh give it up Jane! You think you see him every time we go anywhere!"

Then they had managed to enter the lounge and saw the Weasleys grouped together in a far corner, Mrs. Weasley scanning anxiously over the heads of the crowd for signs of the two boys. Harry and Ron elbowed their way over with many profuse apologies and "excuse me's."

Mrs. Weasley captured them both in a hug and began to babble. "I was so worried when the storm started, and I heard there was a duel, and my stars one of you could have been killed! And what in the world would I have done if-" By this time Ron had managed to squirm free.

"We're all right mum, we're all right."

She finally let go and Harry to took a step back. She looked the pair of them over and calmed a bit. "Yes, I suppose you are, but supposing one of you had been-"

Harry put a hand gently on her forearm. "We're Ok, really."

She nodded and muttered something about needing some tea. She began to negotiate her way towards the bar. Fred and George appeared beside Harry and Ron, both grinning excitedly. "So did you see him?" Fred breathed.

Ron blinked. "See who?"

"See who?" George mimicked, "Honestly Ron, could you be more of a twit?"

"The gunslinger!" Fred cut in, "Did you see Ryan Argano?"

Ron brightened a bit. "Oh yeah!" he nodded enthusiastically, "He must only have been twenty feet away!"

Fred and George both grinned happily. "Wish we'd seen it!" George breathed enviously.

Ginny emerged from behind a pile of school supplies. She looked curiously at Fred and George. "What was you're business?"

Harry perked up a bit, "Yeah, what did you have in those bundles?" Both of said bundles were conspicuously missing.

Fred opened his mouth to replay but George buried his elbow into his side. "Shut up!" he mumbled urgently. Fred snapped his mouth shut, and not a moment too soon, for just a second later, Mrs. Weasley emerged from the crowd again, this time in considerably ill temper.

"Out of tea! Why I never!" She surveyed her family before grabbing as much of the accumulated school paraphernalia as she could and headed for the fireplace. "We're going home! At least there I can get some tea!"

* * *

As always the weeks that followed at the Burrow were some of the best Harry had known. Still, the appearance of a Dark Wizard in the middle of London did not bode well for the coming year. He was able to fill Ron in on the silence from Hagrid and Sirius, as well as Snape's thoroughly disturbing and forbidding warning. Word arrived from Hermione that her trip had ended well and that she was now back in England. However, her parents were a bit leery of her going into London to get her school supplies.

Hermione's subscription to the Daily Prophet had informed them of the duel that had taken place there and had made arrangements with Professor McGonagall to have someone from the school go to London to get her school supplies, which they would pay for later. She informed them in her letter that she would be very glad indeed to get back to Hogwarts. She was also very dismayed about Dumbledore's being fired but seemed very impressed with Harry's testimony, which had received much positive press in the days following the Hearings.

There was still little news from the Ministry of what would happen to Hogwarts's administration. Mr. Weasley reported that Murmoose and Sideson were still fighting Fudge tooth and nail to get Dumbledore reappointed. Still, things did not appear to be going well.

Finally, September first rolled around and the entire Weasley family, with the exception of Percy, piled into a Ministry car and headed or King's Cross Station in London. The station was its usual bustle of activity and noise as Muggles hurried every which way trying to get tickets, catch trains, and meet relatives. The Weasley's carefully maneuvered their carts through the crowds. Though most of the Muggles were extremely busy, some still took a moment to regard them strangely. harry guessed it had something to do with their strange attire and the fact that there were two owls in cages piled among their luggage.

When they arrived at the barrier between platforms nine and ten, they split into pairs to slip through the barrier. Harry and Ron emerged on the other side of the barrier and onto platform 9 and 3/4 without a hitch. The scarlet Hogwarts Express sat steaming on the track and hundreds of students milled about with their parents and families, saying goodbye and being reminded of all sorts of sundry and mundane things.

Mrs. Weasley pulled each of the children into a hug and gave Fred and George a few stern warnings to start the year off with. Then each of them grabbed their trunks and piled onto the train. Fred and George spotted Lee Jordan, one of their friends from their own year, and headed towards the front car where he was seated. Ginny disappeared though neither Harry nor Ron paid much attention to where she went. Instead, they made their way through the train searching for Hermione. They reached their usual compartment at the rear of the train and still did not see her. Harry shrugged. "She'll know where we are."

Sure enough, Hermione appeared some twenty minutes later, just as the conductors were giving the ten minute warning. She was wearing simple black robes and a large smile. "Harry! Ron!" she exclaimed and fell upon them both with a huge hug. "How have you been this summer?"

Harry smiled as she sat back down and made some noncommittal small talk before noticing that Ron was still starring rather dumbly at Hermione. Harry buried his elbow and Ron sat up with a jerk. "Huh?"

Harry rolled his eyes, "Please Ron, focus. Your summer? Remember summer?"

Ron blushed deep enough that his skin was fit to match his hair. "Shut up." he mumbled.

Hermione arched an eyebrow and opened her mouth to ask a question, but Ron was saved from a potentially embarrassing altercation by a loud blast from the train's whistle. The train lurched forward and after a moment, emerged into the sun light. The engine caught up to speed and soon the train was chugging along evenly and speeding through the country side.

There was a knock on the compartment door and the three looked up to see George peering in with a rather odd expression on his face. Harry opened it and favored him with a questioning glance. "You've got to come see this." he muttered. Then he spun around and headed towards the next car forward. Harry shrugged and Ron and Hermione rose to join him. They followed the elder Weasley forward through two cars before finding themselves outside the end compartment of the middle car. the shade was drawn and Fred was crouched by the door with a very intent and serious expression on his face.

Harry opened his mouth questioningly but was cut short by a violent shake of Fred's head. Fred pointed his wand at the keyhole of the compartment and muttered very softly, "Amplificus!"

To the amazement of Harry and his friend's, Draco Malfoy's voice drifted out of the keyhole.

"Father didn't think I was ready but the council all but insisted. Even he had to admit it was right in the end."

Crabb's voice joined in.

"Have you met him yet?"

Malfoy sounded a bit disappointed but still filled with smug pride. "Not yet. He's staying low, too much action might reveal him to that old crackpot Dumbledore. worse yet, scar face might start getting those twinges of his again."

Harry felt his shallow breathing hitch in his chest but suppressed a gasp.

"But now that Dumbledore's out of the school and he'll be confined to Hogwarts, things should really start moving. He's patient, and he's got everything worked out. And I'll finally have an active role.

"After all, now I've got the mark"

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Author Note: Oh Good God this is SO MUCH FUN! Ahem… Yes, quite enjoyable. I do hope you'll all forgive my negligence in updating, let' just say it's been an odd week. The next chapter could be out tomorrow of next week, it all depends on how quickly my neurotic alternate personality Bob (who also happens to be my Beta Reader) approves my Sorting Hat song. So as always, thank you for your patience and your reviews.

Questions, Comments, Job offers, and wholesale orders for Weapons Grade Plutonium are to be sent to Sechsmarquise@hotmail.com