Disclaimer: All belongs to J.K.Rowling. I just took the characters to have some fun, but I give them back after I'm finished with them. *grins* I promise!

A/N: Well, yeah *sighs*, I don't know. This chapter, I think you already guessed it, will deal with the Death Eaters' well planned attack on Harry's family. If you think, you cannot handle a little bit of fight, angst (and maybe death), skip it. This chapter is going to be much darker than what you are used to be getting from me. And you still have the chance to turn and run. *waits* Well, from this moment on I'm going to presume that you are warned and that if you're still hanging around, you'll be comfortable enough with what might happen.

--Altair



Chapter nine: The Attack On The Dursleys


Someone was knocking on the Dursleys' front door. And he seemed to be eager to be let in.
Sirius stood up. The Dursleys had, to ensure their own security, agreed to Sirius making sure who's behind the door before one of them opened it. Vernon Dursley, maybe not as big as Dudley, but still fat enough, was having some trouble getting up himself. Muttering something into his big moustache, he made it through the room. Sirius was close behind him. As Mr Dursley approached the front door, Sirius cast a spell to see through the door. Mr Dursley had his hand on the doorknob. Sirius' spell worked. But what he saw made him wish to turn aroun and run. There were figures in cloaks, wearing masks. And there were too many of them to take them alone.
"Don't!" he shouted.
Mr Dursley looked around. The wizard, the bloody murdering wizard he had been hosting last weeks, looked scared to death. Vernon would have been delighted, hadn't he known what that ment.
The knocking grew louder.
Vernon winced. The only thing that could have caused this look on the bloody wizard's face were the wizards he was supposed to protect them from. And something in the look on Sirius' face told Vernon that this was serious.
"Get away from the door!" Sirius almost whispered, but Vernon heard it the same. There was a new tension in the air. It was the kind of tension you feel before a bunch of Death Eaters break down the door to your house and kill you and your family.
Vernon did what he was told. Both men just stared at the door. They were interrupted by a high voice coming from behind them.
"Who was it, Vernon?"
Both men jumped at Petunia's voice. Even Mr. Dursley was too scared and pissed off to deal wit his wife right now. Sirius just grabbed her and dragged her back into the living room.
"Death Eaters!" was the first thing he said when as he entered the room. Even the faces of the Dursleys mirrored deep horror. This was the moment when they heard it. The front door exploded. This was seemingly too much for poor Petunia, she fainted. But you couldn't say that Harry wasn't glad about it. It made her shut up for a while, after all. Sirius caught her. But it would have been better if he hadn't.
"Let her go!" Vernon snarled. "Get your filthy wizard hands off my wife right now!"
Harry was deeply surprised at his uncle's behavior. Even if confronted with certain death through the hands (or maybe it would be more accurate to say through the wands) of Death Eaters, he couldn't be a little bit more polite with the wizard who was here to defend them. Maybe Harry had been wrong. Maybe the Dursleys really deserved to die. The best friends of Harry's parents were risking their lives for them and the Dursleys couldn't even act as they were fellow human beings?
Harry's line of thought was interrupted by Sirius' hand landing on his shoulder. He looked up into the horror-filled eyes of his godfather and then in the direction Sirius' eyes were locked to. There were at least ten of them. Men in black cloaks, wearing masks. The Death Eaters.
"Hello, Sirius," a rather short man in front of them snarled. Harry jumped at his voice. He looked at the man with new interest and his eyes fell on the man's right hand. It was silver. And it held a wand, pointed at Harry's godfather.
The Dursleys seemed alarmed at that. And there was no reason for them not to be. This man who was supposed to protect them was greeted by one of the intruders? And then there was the fact that he was a convicted murderer. They could as well hav been together in this.
"You know this man?" Vernon grunted, turning his face to the silver-handed man. Sirius nodded.
"We were in school together," he said calmly. Then, turning to face the masked man again, he added: "Hello, Peter."
By now all the Death Eaters had lined up with their wands drawn. Sirius and Harry had their wands out, too. The Dursleys, eyes filled with panic and fright, had backed up in a corner, Vernon trying to cover his wife and son from the Death Eaters with his body protectively. Neeldess to say it was useless. He could outshadow his wife, but his son... Dudley was just too big. Any other time Harry would have laughed at his uncle's attempts, but now, facing ten fully grown and educated dark wizards, he wasn't so sure about it.
"Harry, look out!"
Sirius had just pushed him out of the line of a curse. He was fighting the Death Eaters with all his might, but there were just too many of them. All Harry and Sirius could do was block the curses that were fired by the Death Eaters and even that was beginning to be too tough for the two of them. They could also hear the scratching and howling sounds that came from outside of the room. Appearently Remus had heard the fight and was now trying to get out of the cupboard.
Another curse hurled past Harry's ear, missing him only by an inch. This one hit Vernon and he cried out in utmost pain. Harry paled. The situation was getting out of their hands. He had never thought that they could lose a battle against the Death Eaters. He had never thought that he would have to witness Muggle-torturing from this close again. Where were the Ministry wizards when you needed them? Where were the Aurors?!
Another hex came flying in his direction and he blocked it with a shielding charm Sirius and Remus had taught him in these last few days. Vernon's face began showing up red boils. Petunia screamed, but Harry hadn't time to look back to make sure what she had. He had three different hexes heading in his direction and it took him all his skills to ward them off. And he was getting tired. He was, after all, only fifteen years old and this fight drained his powers more than he had ever thought possible. But then again- he hadn't fought that many opponents at once before. And his opponents this time weren't just boys who overestimated their skills, those were fully trained Death Eaters. He found himself wishing Hermione and Ron were with him. All the fights had seemed so much easier with them by his side.
Another block. And another. They heard a door crush and the Death Eaters scream in horror. 'Oh, God,' Harryfound himself thinking, 'please, let it not be an outraged werewolf!'. But it seemed that God didn't hear his pleading. Remus, now transformed into a werewolf, came runnunig into the room and attacked the nearest Death Eater. Harry had never seen a human being torn apart before. He felt like he was going to faint. And Remus didn't stop there. After his first victim was dead, he turned and his eyes fell on the man with the silvery hand. He jumped at him and bit. Harry used this moment to look around and what he saw didn't make him feel any better. A sobbing Dudley next to the dead bodys of his parents... Harry couldn't help but feel sorry for him. But the fight wasn't over yet.
To Harry's surprise were the Death Eaters retreating. Maybe they were too afraid of Remus, he thought, but Sirius seemed to be convinced otherwise. Without even saying a word, he grabbed Harry and Dudley by their shoulders and dragged them in the direction of the back door. And he seemed to be in hurry.
"Move it!" he hissed as Dudley stumbled and fell. He pulled the crying boy back to the feet and shoved him through the kitchen to the door. Harry felt sorry for the fat boy and he also felt bad about his godfather pushing him around like this after Dudley's fresh loss.
"Can't you be a little more compassionate? He just lost his parents!" he hissed at Sirius. But Sirius didn't seem to think about that right now.
"He might loose much more than that if we don't get out of here quickly!" he said in a hushed voice.
It was a wonder they came alive out of this. They had just stepped outside when the house behind them exploded. It was then when Harry remembered that Remus and Wormtail had been in the house. He looked at his godfather who had tears in his eyes. And at Dudley who had just lost everything he had. And then he saw IT. The Dark Mark howering over the ruins of the house, declairing the Death Eaters' victory. Harry sunk to his knees.
"NO!!!"



A/N: Hi, it's me again. Altair. Sorry for letting Remus get killed (or was he?). It just was getting so out of my hands. The Death Eaters insisted killing off them all, Harry was pleading with me to make sure that no-one was getting hurt. And then, when I was writing this, they just took over. I hadn't planned all these deaths, only three of them. And now...
And just in case you're wondering- yes, the first Death Eater killed by the werewolf in Remus HAD a name, I know who it was and you are going to find out later, too. Oh, and it wasn't (of course) Arthur Weasley :)
And now it's your turn to say something. Review!