Disclaimer: Oh, woe is me! For I do not own Harry Potter! Too bad, I could be rich… Oh well!
Author Note: Here it is! It's got thrills, chills, and spills! Action! Drama! True Love! (yeah right…) Why it might just be- … Oh who am I kidding, just read the damn thing.
12. A Gunslinger's Craft
Harry shot back up into the night, furiously considering his options. It was readily apparent who "the boy" was, and there was little doubt as to who the two insiders were. Already, Harry could hear panicked sounds emitting from the castle.
He swept up towards his dormitory, furiously berating himself for not bringing his wand with him. He hovered outside his window and gave the bottom a sharp kick. The window popped open and Harry swooped inside. The room was dark and empty, but it sounded as if news had reached the common room below. Harry grabbed his wand from his bed side table and decided he did not want to be caught into a fight in such close quarters.
Just then there was a pop and one of the Death Eaters appeared mere feet from where he stood. The man grinned triumphantly and brandished his wand. "Avada-" he began. Harry thanked whatever fates might have been intervening at that moment and, clutching his wand in one hand and his Firebolt in the other, threw himself out the window. "-Kedavra!" the Death Eater finished. But it was two late and the bolt of green magic blasted straight out the window and off into the night.
Harry was pleased to find he was not immediately dead but quickly realized that, if he didn't gain control of his plummeting broom and body, it was still very much an option. He scrambled around a bit, trying to upright himself, but with little luck. the walls of the castle whistled by rapidly in the night and the ground was looming larger at a sickening pace. Harry finally gave up on righting himself and positioned the Firebolt so that he could clasp his knees around it. Then he moved his hand up to the head of the broom and clamped down tightly.
The broom stopped its plummeting trip to the ground with a nauseating lurch. Harry almost found himself jarred loose by the suddenness of the stop. Then, after a moment of violently bobbing up and down, the broom settled and Harry found himself hanging upside down from his broom in the silent night. He raised his head and saw with a renewed attack of sickness that the ground was only twenty-some feet below his dangling head.
In a burst of self-consciousness, Harry imagined he would look quite foolish to anyone who happened to see him. He turned over quickly and glanced around to see if anyone had seen. A green bolt from above reminded him that looking foolish was currently the least of his problems.
He jigged his broom to the side before climbing again and swooping around to the main entrance. The doors were open a large group of students were staging a panicked exodus out into the night. Harry blew past over their heads and headed into the great hall. He felt he had a better chance of maneuvering and keeping the Death Eaters occupied in the large open space until enough staff arrived to subdue them.
Sure enough, Harry had only been hanging among the rafters for a few moments before one of the black robed assassins burst in, eyes searching frantically and wand raised. When he saw Harry he tried another Avada Kedavra which Harry dodged easily. The Death Eater swore and muttered something into his wand. With a machine gun succession of pops the rest of the Death Eaters arrived.
Harry suddenly found it much harder to stay ahead of the lethal bolts of magic. They crossed menacingly around Harry while the Death Eaters apparated every few seconds to get new angles to fire. One of the Death Eaters appeared framed in the doors of the great hall. He was just beginning his spell when two electric blue blasts of energy caught him in the back and threw him forward to land draped over the Hufflepuff table, smoking violently from two charred and gaping wounds.
The other four Death Eaters faltered and stared at the giant entranceway. Harry flitted around uneasily, waiting to see what would appear. It was Ryan Argano, but he was now doing something Harry had never expected.
For one, he was floating several inches above the ground, his arms hanging limply at his sides. For another, his eyes were closed. Both guns were smoking lazily in his hands.
The Death Eaters began to flit around the room, appearing and disappearing, stopping just long enough to hurl a curse at Ryan before disappearing again. When Ryan moved, it was perhaps the most graceful thing Harry had ever seen. He danced on air, every turn and twist was sleek and fluid. Green blots of magic exploded around him, throwing up gouts of angry sparks as he sailed through unscathed.
He drifted up a few feet and spun in the blink of an eye. Both guns began to fire in a thumping rhythm, tracing a line of lightning energy across the far wall of the Great hall. Another of the Death Eaters fell dead.
Ryan dropped back down to floor level, spinning in a seemingly impossible maneuver to avoid a particularly dense barrage of spells before dropping both hands to his sides and resuming his pattern of fire. He swung his arms up and across, crucifying another Death Eater in an x of blasting masonry and burning energy.
The two remaining Death Eaters vanished completely, but Ryan did not stop. He began to trace his fire upwards, homing in on Harry's location among the rafters. Harry cried out in surprise as Argano began to rise up to the rafter level and he was forced to weave in and out of a tightening pattern of fire.
"Harry! Get out of here!" Harry looked down to see Professor McGonagall standing alone in the entrance to the Great Hall. He needed no second bidding and dove straight for the stone floor. He weaved as much as he could to avoid Ryan's fire. Argano was now nearly in the rafters and his field of fire had increased remarkably. Harry found himself weaving in and out of a veritable lightning storm as ancient stone tiles exploded beneath him.
He blew past McGonagall as fast as he could and spun in the foyer to see what would happen next. Argano had dropped back a bit but now seemed to be preparing to start shooting the witch professor.
Professor McGonagall pointed her wand squarely at his forehead and shouted, "Unnerviate!" There was no bang, no mighty flash of light. Ryan Argano simply stopped. His eyes fluttered open, and he fell.
It was a nearly forty foot drop to the stone floor of the great hall. "Harry!" McGonagall shouted again. Harry tightened his grip as hard as he could and shot low along the blasted floor towards the plummeting professor. He rose slightly to meet him and caught the mans full weight on his upper chest. Harry, Ryan Argano, and his beautifully maintained Firebolt racing broom all slammed into the staff table and slid the length of it before skidding near the end and dumping clumsily onto the floor.
Professor McGonagall hurried over as Harry regained his wind and picked himself off the floor where Ryan was still slumped heavily. "Very nice save Potter. I always knew you'd make a good seeker. Fifty points to Gryffindor."
Harry gave a strained half laugh before giving out completely and collapsing against the staff table.
* * *
Harry woke up the next morning to see Ron and Hermione standing over his infirmary bed. Fred and George were standing behind them. Fred grinned. "Nice to see you waking up. George was wondering if we shouldn't just bring down your stuff and let you take up permanent residence."
George shook his head and matched his brother's grin, "Not even the end of the first week and all ready you've managed to nearly get yourself killed."
Harry sat up and glanced over at Ron. "What's happened?"
"The Great Halls been completely trashed. Broken pillars, rafters shot through. they say there's a crack in the staff table where you and Argano hit it."
"Was anyone killed?"
Hermione shook her head. "No, though several students were burned pretty badly."
Harry furrowed his brow. "Burned? Where were they-"
Ron cut him off. "They set a fire in the library. But other than that, it seems like they were only looking for you."
Harry sat bolt upright. "The library? Were either of you hurt?"
Ron stole a quick glance at Hermione, "Um, we weren't in the library."
Hermione gave a careful little smile, "We were out by the lake."
Ron grinned sheepishly and took her hand. "Nice flying by the way."
Harry blinked and looked at Ron. Then he blinked again and looked at Hermione, then back to Ron. Understanding lit up in his eyes and he burst out laughing. He fell back onto the pillow grinning and chuckling.
"Well," George muttered to Fred, "He seems to be taking it well."
Author's Note: On the count of three. 1, 2, 3! Awwww! Raise your hand if you're a sucker for fluff! *D-scythe glances around sheepishly and raises hand* Geeze, I don't know if I've felt this sappy since the last scene of Endless Waltz. Heero and Releena… and it's about damn time! But that's getting a bit off topic… Anyhow, please review and justify the fact that I'm having so much fun with this.
Questions, Comments, Access Codes to one of my assorted Doomsday devices? Email me at Sechsmarquise@hotmail.com
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