Disclaimer: We own naught but the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling.
Authors Note: Enjoy!
Chapter Two: Escape
~*~
'If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance' - Anonymous
~*~
Hermione stared at the young man in front of her. He was perhaps a year or two older than her. His black, shiny hair was tied back in a loose ponytail at the base of his neck and still it reached his shoulder-blades. The face was pale, expressionless and elegant. Thin, black eyebrows perched over two green eyes that watched her every move. He was tall, lean but there was a certain strength about him. Dressed completely in black - pants, boots, turtle-neck and cape - he made a very impressive figure.
The young man entered the cell and closed the door. Hermione quickly backed up as he came closer, and ended up being pressed against the cold wall. Still the boy came closer until he was standing two feet away from her. She tensed as he reached into his cloak for something but blinked when he drew out a silvery piece of cloth.
He chuckled at her look. "I'm sure you've heard of Invisibility Cloaks, Ms Granger." The voice was laced with dark amusement. "Put it on and follow me." He handed the thing to her and went over to the door again. When she didn't follow and just stood there, he turned. "What now?"
"W- what's going on?" she asked still holding the cloak. "Why are you helping me, whoever you are?"
"I'm helping you because I owe it to Dumbledore. Now put that thing on and stay close to me." It was an order, and Hermione decided to trust him. She was probably being led to her death, but at least she wouldn't have to wait for it sitting in this cell, but face it straight on like a true Gryffindor.
The young man opened the door, waited till she was out before closing it after him. He quickly walked down the corridor, his movements graceful and deadly. Hermione had to jog to keep up with his long legs.
He led her down numerous corridors, making so many turns and going up so many stairs that in the end Hermione lost her sense of direction. They only ran across one group of patrolling Death Eaters, but the men quickly disappeared when they saw the young man. She had to wonder about that. Was he that important? Who was he? Why did he help her?
Suddenly she found herself alone in the dark corridor. But before she could panic a hand shot out of the wall, grabbed her arm in a strong grip and dragged her through the solid-looking stone and right into a secret tunnel. She stumbled and expected him to catch her fall, but he didn't. He was already yards away, his wand lit with a weak Lumos. Hermione growled in annoyance and hurried after him.
"You can take the cloak off now." He said suddenly. There was a slight hiss to the way he was speaking. It freaked her out.
It didn't take them long to reach the end of the tunnel. When she saw the wall up ahead, Hermione began to wonder if the he hadn't led her here to rape and kill her. But all those fears were shot out of the window when the young man hissed at the wall in Parseltongue, and it shimmered.
"Go straight through," he said in a voice devoid of emotion. "On the other side is a forest. Walk straight ahead and find the silver rock. There you will be met by a centaur named Firenze, and he'll take you to Hogwarts. Oh, and one more thing." He reached under his cloak once again and produced her wand and threw it to her.
Hermione caught it and stared at him. "How do I know that you're not setting me up?"
"You don't," he replied. "You take the risk. Isn't that what you Gryffindors are so famous for? Leaping without checking where you'll land?"
She snorted at that. "But what's your name?" she asked.
He seemed to think it over for some reason. "Call me Harry," he said in the end.
"Well, then, thank you, Harry." With that she hurried through the wall and into the forest.
* * * *
Two weeks later Hermione was at Diagon Alley once again, this time with Dumbledore, Draco and Sirius. They were going to buy school supplies and anything else needed for the upcoming school year.
When she had finally found the rock.. Harry - she wasn't used to call him that yet - had been talking about, Firenze had already been waiting for her. And he had taken her back to Hogwarts as promised. Her mother and father had been summoned to the school to get her possessions, and imagine the surprise they got when she walked through the door to the Headmasters office. There had been a lot of tears and hugs and kisses; and when that had began to wind down, Draco had run into the room shortly followed by Sirius. The young man had demanded that they went and rescued her, before he had noticed Hermione sitting in a couch between her parents. And once again the hugs and kisses had begun.
In the end Dumbledore had had to break them up. Then he had asked of Hermione to tell them every single detail of what had happened to her during her imprisonment. The Headmaster had had a proud twinkle in his eyes when she told them about Harry saving her. The old mage had refused to answer any questions about him, and had smiled proudly all the time.
And now she was back at the place where it all started. Draco was glaring at anyone who dared to look at them, playing the overprotective brother. Sirius was in his Animagus form of a Grim-like dog. He was trying to sniff out trouble, not that they had encountered any yet.
Diagon Alley looked like it had before the Death Eaters had attacked it. People were hurrying here and there, buying, selling, arguing, chatting, eating. On and on it went. The buildings still looked the same. Absolutely nothing had changed, and Hermione was happy for that. They needed some normalcy in their lives in these times.
Suddenly a cry went up: "Make way for the hero's!"
A procession of Aurors entered Diagon Alley and walked around as if they owned the place. Four of them carried a cage on their shoulders and in the cage sat a young boy. He was battered and bloodied and his robes and shirt were only shreds. Bruises and cuts were clearly seen on the lean, well- muscled chest and back. Long black hair framed a pale, hidden face. The boy was forced to kneel in the cage as it was too small to sit straight in, and his hands were roughly tied at the wrists behind his back. Hermione could see the dried blood around the ropes.
She looked up at Dumbledore. The Headmaster was looking incredibly worried. Sirius pushed the old mage's hand in question and Dumbledore nodded sadly. Then Sirius disappeared into the crows and towards the Ministry of Magic building. Hermione turned her attention back to the procession that came closer. The boy looked up and their eyes met. Startling, intelligent emerald green against calm chocolate brown. She gasped. It was the boy who had saved her not too long ago.
The first Auror waved with his arms and the procession stopped in the middle of the street. Witches and wizards gathered around them in a circle. The leader coughed twice before grinning like a hyena.
"My dear friends and fellow Light beings!" he yelled. "This is a day which will go down in history!"
"Why?" someone asked. "Why will it go down in history?"
"Because we have done what none have managed to before!" the Auror smiled nastily. "Behold your deepest fear!" he waved towards the cage and the boy.
"What's so special about him?" a witch in the front of the crowd asked.
"This monster is the Dark Lords son, Damien Riddle!" There was a little silence, then people whipped out their wands and started to hex the young man in the cage. Some even picked up stones and threw them at him, most were cursing and yelling and demanding that he was executed at once. Most of the hexes and stones didn't reach their goal but hit the cage instead.
Hermione had no idea of what to think as she watched Ha- Damien Riddle move as well as he could out of the way of those few curses that actually got through the cage. She watched as he moved like a snake to and fro trying to avoid stones, but to no avail. One witch who was standing behind the cage and out of the young man's sight, shoot a Slicing Spell at him. However, Riddle seemed to have a sixth sense as he suddenly moved his hands in the way of the curse, and the rope that bound them was sliced.
People stopped and gaped in horror as the young man massaged his wrists. Then he looked at them, the green eyes turning a piercing unnatural green colour. His eyes swept over the silent crowd and stopped at Dumbledore. The old Headmaster did some sign discretely with his hands and Riddle nodded. He suddenly shook several times and collapsed on the small floor of the cage. The Aurors began walking again with the crowd following, shouting once again.
"Come along." Dumbledore said to Hermione and Draco and quickly led them towards the Ministry building. "We have a job to do."
"What job Professor?" Draco asked.
"You'll see."
The crowd of people in front of the huge Ministry building parted when they saw Dumbledore approaching. The old Headmaster hurried inside and led the two teens towards two huge plain doors. They could hear screaming and cursing from inside and quickly entered. The sight that met them shocked Hermione and Draco.
Riddle was bound securely on hands and feet to a chair. He was bleeding even more and the Aurors that stood over him grinned evilly and raised their wands. Other Aurors standing along the walls cheered and yelled.
"Stop it!" Hermione turned towards the voice. Cornelius Fudge entered through another couple of doors and walked up to the prisoner. "Don't kill him yet, I need the information he'll be able to give us about the Dark Lord's plans." The fat man turned towards Riddle and sneered. "Now, boy, what do you know about your fathers plans?"
Damien Riddle smirked evilly. "Go to hell." He hissed.
Fudge hit him hard over the face and a trickle of blood ran from the young boy's mouth. "I'll ask again, bastard. What do you know of your fathers plans?!"
"Once again, Fudge, you can go to hell." Riddle replied. One minute he was smirking and screamed in pain in the next. One of the Aurors had cast the Cruciatus Curse on him.
Dumbledore decided to make his presence known and started to walk towards Fudge. "Will you stop this torture at once Cornelius?!"
"Albus, you know as well as I that we need the information he can give us. And the only way to get something out of these Dark bastards is by force."
"How can he talk when he's unconscious?" Dumbledore pointed out and they turned to Riddle. His head was hanging limply, bloody running down his chest. He was hardly breathing. "That boy needs serious medical help."
"Yeah, right, so that he can escape again!" Fudge thought for a minute. "We don't have any free cells to put him in and we cannot let him roam free. What are we going to do with the brat?"
"Let me take him to Hogwarts."
--------------------------
That's all folks. The chapter was corrected by Rachel A. Prongs, but written solely by The Red Dragons Order.
Authors Note: Enjoy!
Chapter Two: Escape
~*~
'If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance' - Anonymous
~*~
Hermione stared at the young man in front of her. He was perhaps a year or two older than her. His black, shiny hair was tied back in a loose ponytail at the base of his neck and still it reached his shoulder-blades. The face was pale, expressionless and elegant. Thin, black eyebrows perched over two green eyes that watched her every move. He was tall, lean but there was a certain strength about him. Dressed completely in black - pants, boots, turtle-neck and cape - he made a very impressive figure.
The young man entered the cell and closed the door. Hermione quickly backed up as he came closer, and ended up being pressed against the cold wall. Still the boy came closer until he was standing two feet away from her. She tensed as he reached into his cloak for something but blinked when he drew out a silvery piece of cloth.
He chuckled at her look. "I'm sure you've heard of Invisibility Cloaks, Ms Granger." The voice was laced with dark amusement. "Put it on and follow me." He handed the thing to her and went over to the door again. When she didn't follow and just stood there, he turned. "What now?"
"W- what's going on?" she asked still holding the cloak. "Why are you helping me, whoever you are?"
"I'm helping you because I owe it to Dumbledore. Now put that thing on and stay close to me." It was an order, and Hermione decided to trust him. She was probably being led to her death, but at least she wouldn't have to wait for it sitting in this cell, but face it straight on like a true Gryffindor.
The young man opened the door, waited till she was out before closing it after him. He quickly walked down the corridor, his movements graceful and deadly. Hermione had to jog to keep up with his long legs.
He led her down numerous corridors, making so many turns and going up so many stairs that in the end Hermione lost her sense of direction. They only ran across one group of patrolling Death Eaters, but the men quickly disappeared when they saw the young man. She had to wonder about that. Was he that important? Who was he? Why did he help her?
Suddenly she found herself alone in the dark corridor. But before she could panic a hand shot out of the wall, grabbed her arm in a strong grip and dragged her through the solid-looking stone and right into a secret tunnel. She stumbled and expected him to catch her fall, but he didn't. He was already yards away, his wand lit with a weak Lumos. Hermione growled in annoyance and hurried after him.
"You can take the cloak off now." He said suddenly. There was a slight hiss to the way he was speaking. It freaked her out.
It didn't take them long to reach the end of the tunnel. When she saw the wall up ahead, Hermione began to wonder if the he hadn't led her here to rape and kill her. But all those fears were shot out of the window when the young man hissed at the wall in Parseltongue, and it shimmered.
"Go straight through," he said in a voice devoid of emotion. "On the other side is a forest. Walk straight ahead and find the silver rock. There you will be met by a centaur named Firenze, and he'll take you to Hogwarts. Oh, and one more thing." He reached under his cloak once again and produced her wand and threw it to her.
Hermione caught it and stared at him. "How do I know that you're not setting me up?"
"You don't," he replied. "You take the risk. Isn't that what you Gryffindors are so famous for? Leaping without checking where you'll land?"
She snorted at that. "But what's your name?" she asked.
He seemed to think it over for some reason. "Call me Harry," he said in the end.
"Well, then, thank you, Harry." With that she hurried through the wall and into the forest.
* * * *
Two weeks later Hermione was at Diagon Alley once again, this time with Dumbledore, Draco and Sirius. They were going to buy school supplies and anything else needed for the upcoming school year.
When she had finally found the rock.. Harry - she wasn't used to call him that yet - had been talking about, Firenze had already been waiting for her. And he had taken her back to Hogwarts as promised. Her mother and father had been summoned to the school to get her possessions, and imagine the surprise they got when she walked through the door to the Headmasters office. There had been a lot of tears and hugs and kisses; and when that had began to wind down, Draco had run into the room shortly followed by Sirius. The young man had demanded that they went and rescued her, before he had noticed Hermione sitting in a couch between her parents. And once again the hugs and kisses had begun.
In the end Dumbledore had had to break them up. Then he had asked of Hermione to tell them every single detail of what had happened to her during her imprisonment. The Headmaster had had a proud twinkle in his eyes when she told them about Harry saving her. The old mage had refused to answer any questions about him, and had smiled proudly all the time.
And now she was back at the place where it all started. Draco was glaring at anyone who dared to look at them, playing the overprotective brother. Sirius was in his Animagus form of a Grim-like dog. He was trying to sniff out trouble, not that they had encountered any yet.
Diagon Alley looked like it had before the Death Eaters had attacked it. People were hurrying here and there, buying, selling, arguing, chatting, eating. On and on it went. The buildings still looked the same. Absolutely nothing had changed, and Hermione was happy for that. They needed some normalcy in their lives in these times.
Suddenly a cry went up: "Make way for the hero's!"
A procession of Aurors entered Diagon Alley and walked around as if they owned the place. Four of them carried a cage on their shoulders and in the cage sat a young boy. He was battered and bloodied and his robes and shirt were only shreds. Bruises and cuts were clearly seen on the lean, well- muscled chest and back. Long black hair framed a pale, hidden face. The boy was forced to kneel in the cage as it was too small to sit straight in, and his hands were roughly tied at the wrists behind his back. Hermione could see the dried blood around the ropes.
She looked up at Dumbledore. The Headmaster was looking incredibly worried. Sirius pushed the old mage's hand in question and Dumbledore nodded sadly. Then Sirius disappeared into the crows and towards the Ministry of Magic building. Hermione turned her attention back to the procession that came closer. The boy looked up and their eyes met. Startling, intelligent emerald green against calm chocolate brown. She gasped. It was the boy who had saved her not too long ago.
The first Auror waved with his arms and the procession stopped in the middle of the street. Witches and wizards gathered around them in a circle. The leader coughed twice before grinning like a hyena.
"My dear friends and fellow Light beings!" he yelled. "This is a day which will go down in history!"
"Why?" someone asked. "Why will it go down in history?"
"Because we have done what none have managed to before!" the Auror smiled nastily. "Behold your deepest fear!" he waved towards the cage and the boy.
"What's so special about him?" a witch in the front of the crowd asked.
"This monster is the Dark Lords son, Damien Riddle!" There was a little silence, then people whipped out their wands and started to hex the young man in the cage. Some even picked up stones and threw them at him, most were cursing and yelling and demanding that he was executed at once. Most of the hexes and stones didn't reach their goal but hit the cage instead.
Hermione had no idea of what to think as she watched Ha- Damien Riddle move as well as he could out of the way of those few curses that actually got through the cage. She watched as he moved like a snake to and fro trying to avoid stones, but to no avail. One witch who was standing behind the cage and out of the young man's sight, shoot a Slicing Spell at him. However, Riddle seemed to have a sixth sense as he suddenly moved his hands in the way of the curse, and the rope that bound them was sliced.
People stopped and gaped in horror as the young man massaged his wrists. Then he looked at them, the green eyes turning a piercing unnatural green colour. His eyes swept over the silent crowd and stopped at Dumbledore. The old Headmaster did some sign discretely with his hands and Riddle nodded. He suddenly shook several times and collapsed on the small floor of the cage. The Aurors began walking again with the crowd following, shouting once again.
"Come along." Dumbledore said to Hermione and Draco and quickly led them towards the Ministry building. "We have a job to do."
"What job Professor?" Draco asked.
"You'll see."
The crowd of people in front of the huge Ministry building parted when they saw Dumbledore approaching. The old Headmaster hurried inside and led the two teens towards two huge plain doors. They could hear screaming and cursing from inside and quickly entered. The sight that met them shocked Hermione and Draco.
Riddle was bound securely on hands and feet to a chair. He was bleeding even more and the Aurors that stood over him grinned evilly and raised their wands. Other Aurors standing along the walls cheered and yelled.
"Stop it!" Hermione turned towards the voice. Cornelius Fudge entered through another couple of doors and walked up to the prisoner. "Don't kill him yet, I need the information he'll be able to give us about the Dark Lord's plans." The fat man turned towards Riddle and sneered. "Now, boy, what do you know about your fathers plans?"
Damien Riddle smirked evilly. "Go to hell." He hissed.
Fudge hit him hard over the face and a trickle of blood ran from the young boy's mouth. "I'll ask again, bastard. What do you know of your fathers plans?!"
"Once again, Fudge, you can go to hell." Riddle replied. One minute he was smirking and screamed in pain in the next. One of the Aurors had cast the Cruciatus Curse on him.
Dumbledore decided to make his presence known and started to walk towards Fudge. "Will you stop this torture at once Cornelius?!"
"Albus, you know as well as I that we need the information he can give us. And the only way to get something out of these Dark bastards is by force."
"How can he talk when he's unconscious?" Dumbledore pointed out and they turned to Riddle. His head was hanging limply, bloody running down his chest. He was hardly breathing. "That boy needs serious medical help."
"Yeah, right, so that he can escape again!" Fudge thought for a minute. "We don't have any free cells to put him in and we cannot let him roam free. What are we going to do with the brat?"
"Let me take him to Hogwarts."
--------------------------
That's all folks. The chapter was corrected by Rachel A. Prongs, but written solely by The Red Dragons Order.