A/N: Sorry to those of who are waiting for the next chapter of "The
Marauders: Their lives, their story" but I had the hardest time deciding
who should be on the team and I still haven't gotten enough to reviews to
please me. Sorry, I'm being a review hog but it's hard not to be!
Harry: You're not only a review hog, you're mean, putting my poor, sweet Cho in a burning building!
Me: Well, good grief, she took it better than you! ::Points to Cho::
Cho: Yeah, Harry, lighten up. At least I didn't die like my friends.
Harry: But don't you think it's mean that the author made the Death Eaters kill your friends?
Cho: ::Pauses:: You're right.
Me: ::Backs away slowly, looking for an escape route and sees the only way out is through Harry and Cho:: Aw, crap . . .
Disclaimer: Get those lawyers off those phones, dang, you're so touchy. I don't own it. There, you happy now?
Hermione looked up from her homework as Harry sped through the common room and out the portrait hole, she opened her mouth to ask where he was going but he was so fast she didn't get the chance to say anything before he was gone.
She frowned, 'Where could he be going? It's the weekend so it's not like we have classes or anything,' she thought but didn't have time to think on it any more as Ron sped through the common room as well. "What are they up to?" she thought out loud. She tried to shrug it off and continue her homework but curiosity got the better of her and she got up and left the common room.
~*~
Ron skidded to a halt at Hogsmeade, or what used to be Hogsmeade. As he looked around he saw very few buildings still standing and bodies of villagers and students all over the place. He closed his eyes for a second, he couldn't look at it anymore it was too much. But he gathered his courage and reopened his eyes, looking for survivors. He stepped over a Hufflepuff and found the body of Seamus Finnigan. He leaned down to check for a pulse and found none.
Ron felt a wave of sadness and anger as he looked upon his friend's lifeless body with his eyes wide open in terror. He reached forward and gently closed Seamus' eyelids then stood up and kept going. He found Padma Patil by the Shrieking Shack, she was alive, but just barely. He magically healed her wounds best he could then found her a spot to hide until he could come back for her and take her back to the castle.
He then walked past where Zonko's used to be it seemed that even more bodies were found there though it was hard to tell because they were everywhere. He lifted a piece of roof that had collapsed on two students who were moving slightly and gasped. "Fred! George!"
"Ron . . ." said Fred managing a small smile. "How's it goin', little bro?"
"Are you alright?" said Ron worriedly.
"We'll be fine," said George. "but Lee . . ." He trailed off, looking over at his friend.
Ron checked for a pulse then hung his head. "He's gone," he whispered.
"No!" said Fred. "No, he can't be!" He struggled to get up and stumbled over to Lee, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him. "Wake up! Wake up!"
"Fred . . ." said Ron placing a hand on his brother's shoulder.
"No!" said Fred jerking away from Ron. "He's not dead! He can't be! C'mon, Lee, wake up!" He blinked back tears and stopped shaking his friend.
George hung his head, sniffing. Ron felt very uncomfortable seeing his brothers like this. Fred and George were always the ones joking and laughing at death and now here they were, sounding desperate and scared.
"George, I've got to go. Harry's here and I've got to find him," said Ron.
"HARRY'S HERE!?" George screamed, jumping to his feet but his legs crumpled beneath him and he fell right back down. "What does he think he's doing!? The moron! Remind me to smack him next time I see him!"
"George, calm down, you'll hurt yourself even more," said Ron. "Will you guys be alright until I can return?"
"Yeah, go and find Harry, we'll be fine," said Fred.
Ron nodded and ran off.
~*~
Lucius smirked at the boy as he approached. Oh, this day was going so well, it just couldn't get better. Voldemort would be so pleased with him.
"Give me your wand," ordered Lucius.
Harry obidiently flipped over his wand and held it out just as Cho stirred on the ground where Lucius had dropped her. She groaned softly, sitting up and looking around. "Harry! What on earth do you think you're doing!?"
"It's me or you, Cho," replied Harry.
"Then let them take me, the whole world depends on you, Harry, you can't give up because of me!" she exclaimed.
"Quiet, you stupid girl," Lucius snapped as he snatched Harry's wand away from him.
Harry glared at him. "Don't talk to her like that," he said in a low, dangerous voice.
"You are in no position to make orders, Potter," said Lucius.
Harry continued to glare at him. "You can't hurt me, Voldemort wouldn't be very pleased if you killed me, he wants me to die by his hand."
"Then I won't hurt you that way," said Lucius, pointing Harry's wand at Cho. "Cru-"
"No!" shouted Harry. "You promised not to hurt her!"
"I don't remember that, but if I did, I lied. Crucio!" said Lucius.
'My own wand . . . hurting the one I love . . .' thought Harry, knowing Lucius was using Harry's wand instead of his own just for the cause of Harry thinking that and feeling the pain in his heart.
"Harry! Go! Run!" screamed Cho.
"I can't . . ." whispered Harry. "I can't leave you, Cho."
"GO!" She tried to say something else but her voice was drowned out by her screams. Lucius only smirked and intensified the curse. Something snapped inside of Harry.
"STOP!" he screamed, pouncing on Lucius. Lucius' eyes widened in shock and he didn't have the reflexes to point his wand at Harry and Harry grabbed his wrist and twisted it hard. Lucius let out a small yell of rage and pain and tried to shove the enfuriated boy off of him. Harry rolled off of him and snatched his wand up from the ground but then one of the Death Eaters attacked Harry from behind with the Cruciatus curse.
"No!" screamed Cho, struggling to her feet and attacking the Death Eater whom had attacked Harry. Since Harry had disarmed Lucius the curse had been taken off of her but her act of stupidity only got her attacked again. Now Harry was free from the curse but he also went into the attack again and took out several Death Eaters.
"Leave the boy!" Lucius screamed, knowing that they needed to retreat and regroup if they were to capture Harry. He picked up Cho, slung her over his shoulder and Disapparated. Harry fell to the ground as the Death Eater he was struggling against Disapparated.
"Cho?" he said, getting up and looking around. "Oh, no . . ." He felt like someone had punched through his chest, ripped out his heart then turned his body into ice. He fell to his knees, hanging his head and putting his hands in his hair. "I couldn't save her . . . I failed. Cho, I'm so sorry," he whispered.
He didn't know how long he sat there but after what seemed like hours, but was only a few minutes, Ron showed up. "Harry . . ."
Harry looked up, "They took her, Ron. I tried to save her, but I failed,"
Ron knelt beside him, "I'm sure you did your best. We'll get her back, don't worry," he said.
"They should have taken me, I would've gladly gone in her place," said Harry.
"I know you would have," said Ron. "C'mon, Harry, there's nothing more we can do here, let's get back to the castle."
Harry nodded and they stood up just as the teachers appeared on the scene. Dumbledore scanned the scene and noticed Ron turning red and avoiding his gaze then he saw then eleven unconscious Death Eaters at their feet. "You two did this?" inquired Dumbledore.
"Me and Cho did, sir," said Harry.
"I see," said Dumbledore, looking around once more and noticing Cho was not there. He assumed the obvious and did not inquire any further. "Come now, you two must return to the castle."
The two boys nodded and walked off. Instead of heading out though Ron turned up towards the Shrieking Shack. "Where are you going?" said Harry.
"I found Padma Patil up here, I have to go get her."
Harry nodded and started to follow him but then Ron turned around, "If you don't mind, could you go get Fred and George? They're by Zonko's."
"Okay, I'll meet you in the hospital wing," said Harry. Ron nodded and continued towards the Shrieking Shack while Harry went to Zonko's.
~*~
Hermione burst out of the castle and almost knocked Ron over. "Ouch!" she said then looked up and saw his face. "There you are! I looked all over for you, where have you been?"
Ron looked over at Padma who was unconscious on the stretcher he'd conjured. "Can we talk about this later, Hermione?" Hermione followed his gaze then nodded.
She accompanied him to the hospital where they found Harry next to Fred and George. Harry stood up. "How are they?"asked Ron.
"A few broken bones, they've also got some pretty bad cuts on their backs, but Madam Pomfrey says they should both be okay as long as they stay in bed for a while," said Harry. Ron nodded and Hermione went to Madam Pomfrey's office to get her to check on Padma.
Madam Pomfrey came bustling out, got Padma into a bed and shooed everyone out so she could work in peace.
"Well . . . what now?" said Ron.
"It's about time for dinner, let's go to the Great Hall," said Hermione and they nodded.
They sat down at Gryffindor Table but didn't eat much, Ron and Harry had definitely left their appetites behind the second they saw Hogsmeade. They left soon after and went up to Gryffindor Tower, Harry went to his dorm and lay down in his bed even though he wasn't tired and did not sleep at all that night.
~*~
He got up at five the next morning, got dressed and started walking. He walked and walked his mind was racing, trying to come up with a plan to get Cho back. He wasn't aware of the people he bumped into and walked into the Great Hall, sitting down and ignoring all the food in front of him.
A small brown owl landed in front of him and held out the letter attached to its leg. He ignored this as well until the owl nipped him painfully on the arm. "All right, all right . . ." he moaned, taking the letter. Sighing, he unfolded it and the message made his stomach turn to ice. Written, in blood red, were three words: She is dead.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Three cliffies in a row! I love doing this! ^_^
icedrake: I never actually said he would, you assumed too much. You also ignored the part before the flashback began, Harry was still at Hogwarts.
john: Yeah, I was kind of thinking Draco told Lucius, Lucius told Voldemort, Voldemort made a plan to capture her and hurt Harry in a way the Cruciatus never could. Thanks for your review, I'm glad you enjoy my fic.
Alec6427: ::Looks at Cho:: Don't you agree that the title is degrading?
Cho: ::Nods::
Me: There you have it. ::Grins like the dork I am::
Phoenix28: Yeah, the time at the Lupin Mansion was a lot of fun to write. And yeah, I figured Hogsmeade being under attack would be kind of unexpected. Glad you enjoyed it.
Cozboz: Wow, you were way off lol.
zaria: Lol, you're funny. Review again just for the sake of making me laugh lol.
Bon: Yeah, just what I was thinking when I read these reviews.
*Luna*: Yeah, I'll try. Ron and Hermione are like totally head over heels for each other. Hope you liked this chapter.
Shadun: Well, of course Harry was going to do it. But then Lucius had to piss him off. Bad guys are so dumb . . . And Ron was searching for survivors so he was kind of late getting to Harry . . .
Kakarot: That sucks. My comp did that, too, for like two weeks I had NO INTERNET! I was about to go out of my mind. And sorry, I kinda had to put some deaths in here.
::Gives all reviewers a cookie:: Thanks so much!
Harry: You're not only a review hog, you're mean, putting my poor, sweet Cho in a burning building!
Me: Well, good grief, she took it better than you! ::Points to Cho::
Cho: Yeah, Harry, lighten up. At least I didn't die like my friends.
Harry: But don't you think it's mean that the author made the Death Eaters kill your friends?
Cho: ::Pauses:: You're right.
Me: ::Backs away slowly, looking for an escape route and sees the only way out is through Harry and Cho:: Aw, crap . . .
Disclaimer: Get those lawyers off those phones, dang, you're so touchy. I don't own it. There, you happy now?
Hermione looked up from her homework as Harry sped through the common room and out the portrait hole, she opened her mouth to ask where he was going but he was so fast she didn't get the chance to say anything before he was gone.
She frowned, 'Where could he be going? It's the weekend so it's not like we have classes or anything,' she thought but didn't have time to think on it any more as Ron sped through the common room as well. "What are they up to?" she thought out loud. She tried to shrug it off and continue her homework but curiosity got the better of her and she got up and left the common room.
~*~
Ron skidded to a halt at Hogsmeade, or what used to be Hogsmeade. As he looked around he saw very few buildings still standing and bodies of villagers and students all over the place. He closed his eyes for a second, he couldn't look at it anymore it was too much. But he gathered his courage and reopened his eyes, looking for survivors. He stepped over a Hufflepuff and found the body of Seamus Finnigan. He leaned down to check for a pulse and found none.
Ron felt a wave of sadness and anger as he looked upon his friend's lifeless body with his eyes wide open in terror. He reached forward and gently closed Seamus' eyelids then stood up and kept going. He found Padma Patil by the Shrieking Shack, she was alive, but just barely. He magically healed her wounds best he could then found her a spot to hide until he could come back for her and take her back to the castle.
He then walked past where Zonko's used to be it seemed that even more bodies were found there though it was hard to tell because they were everywhere. He lifted a piece of roof that had collapsed on two students who were moving slightly and gasped. "Fred! George!"
"Ron . . ." said Fred managing a small smile. "How's it goin', little bro?"
"Are you alright?" said Ron worriedly.
"We'll be fine," said George. "but Lee . . ." He trailed off, looking over at his friend.
Ron checked for a pulse then hung his head. "He's gone," he whispered.
"No!" said Fred. "No, he can't be!" He struggled to get up and stumbled over to Lee, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him. "Wake up! Wake up!"
"Fred . . ." said Ron placing a hand on his brother's shoulder.
"No!" said Fred jerking away from Ron. "He's not dead! He can't be! C'mon, Lee, wake up!" He blinked back tears and stopped shaking his friend.
George hung his head, sniffing. Ron felt very uncomfortable seeing his brothers like this. Fred and George were always the ones joking and laughing at death and now here they were, sounding desperate and scared.
"George, I've got to go. Harry's here and I've got to find him," said Ron.
"HARRY'S HERE!?" George screamed, jumping to his feet but his legs crumpled beneath him and he fell right back down. "What does he think he's doing!? The moron! Remind me to smack him next time I see him!"
"George, calm down, you'll hurt yourself even more," said Ron. "Will you guys be alright until I can return?"
"Yeah, go and find Harry, we'll be fine," said Fred.
Ron nodded and ran off.
~*~
Lucius smirked at the boy as he approached. Oh, this day was going so well, it just couldn't get better. Voldemort would be so pleased with him.
"Give me your wand," ordered Lucius.
Harry obidiently flipped over his wand and held it out just as Cho stirred on the ground where Lucius had dropped her. She groaned softly, sitting up and looking around. "Harry! What on earth do you think you're doing!?"
"It's me or you, Cho," replied Harry.
"Then let them take me, the whole world depends on you, Harry, you can't give up because of me!" she exclaimed.
"Quiet, you stupid girl," Lucius snapped as he snatched Harry's wand away from him.
Harry glared at him. "Don't talk to her like that," he said in a low, dangerous voice.
"You are in no position to make orders, Potter," said Lucius.
Harry continued to glare at him. "You can't hurt me, Voldemort wouldn't be very pleased if you killed me, he wants me to die by his hand."
"Then I won't hurt you that way," said Lucius, pointing Harry's wand at Cho. "Cru-"
"No!" shouted Harry. "You promised not to hurt her!"
"I don't remember that, but if I did, I lied. Crucio!" said Lucius.
'My own wand . . . hurting the one I love . . .' thought Harry, knowing Lucius was using Harry's wand instead of his own just for the cause of Harry thinking that and feeling the pain in his heart.
"Harry! Go! Run!" screamed Cho.
"I can't . . ." whispered Harry. "I can't leave you, Cho."
"GO!" She tried to say something else but her voice was drowned out by her screams. Lucius only smirked and intensified the curse. Something snapped inside of Harry.
"STOP!" he screamed, pouncing on Lucius. Lucius' eyes widened in shock and he didn't have the reflexes to point his wand at Harry and Harry grabbed his wrist and twisted it hard. Lucius let out a small yell of rage and pain and tried to shove the enfuriated boy off of him. Harry rolled off of him and snatched his wand up from the ground but then one of the Death Eaters attacked Harry from behind with the Cruciatus curse.
"No!" screamed Cho, struggling to her feet and attacking the Death Eater whom had attacked Harry. Since Harry had disarmed Lucius the curse had been taken off of her but her act of stupidity only got her attacked again. Now Harry was free from the curse but he also went into the attack again and took out several Death Eaters.
"Leave the boy!" Lucius screamed, knowing that they needed to retreat and regroup if they were to capture Harry. He picked up Cho, slung her over his shoulder and Disapparated. Harry fell to the ground as the Death Eater he was struggling against Disapparated.
"Cho?" he said, getting up and looking around. "Oh, no . . ." He felt like someone had punched through his chest, ripped out his heart then turned his body into ice. He fell to his knees, hanging his head and putting his hands in his hair. "I couldn't save her . . . I failed. Cho, I'm so sorry," he whispered.
He didn't know how long he sat there but after what seemed like hours, but was only a few minutes, Ron showed up. "Harry . . ."
Harry looked up, "They took her, Ron. I tried to save her, but I failed,"
Ron knelt beside him, "I'm sure you did your best. We'll get her back, don't worry," he said.
"They should have taken me, I would've gladly gone in her place," said Harry.
"I know you would have," said Ron. "C'mon, Harry, there's nothing more we can do here, let's get back to the castle."
Harry nodded and they stood up just as the teachers appeared on the scene. Dumbledore scanned the scene and noticed Ron turning red and avoiding his gaze then he saw then eleven unconscious Death Eaters at their feet. "You two did this?" inquired Dumbledore.
"Me and Cho did, sir," said Harry.
"I see," said Dumbledore, looking around once more and noticing Cho was not there. He assumed the obvious and did not inquire any further. "Come now, you two must return to the castle."
The two boys nodded and walked off. Instead of heading out though Ron turned up towards the Shrieking Shack. "Where are you going?" said Harry.
"I found Padma Patil up here, I have to go get her."
Harry nodded and started to follow him but then Ron turned around, "If you don't mind, could you go get Fred and George? They're by Zonko's."
"Okay, I'll meet you in the hospital wing," said Harry. Ron nodded and continued towards the Shrieking Shack while Harry went to Zonko's.
~*~
Hermione burst out of the castle and almost knocked Ron over. "Ouch!" she said then looked up and saw his face. "There you are! I looked all over for you, where have you been?"
Ron looked over at Padma who was unconscious on the stretcher he'd conjured. "Can we talk about this later, Hermione?" Hermione followed his gaze then nodded.
She accompanied him to the hospital where they found Harry next to Fred and George. Harry stood up. "How are they?"asked Ron.
"A few broken bones, they've also got some pretty bad cuts on their backs, but Madam Pomfrey says they should both be okay as long as they stay in bed for a while," said Harry. Ron nodded and Hermione went to Madam Pomfrey's office to get her to check on Padma.
Madam Pomfrey came bustling out, got Padma into a bed and shooed everyone out so she could work in peace.
"Well . . . what now?" said Ron.
"It's about time for dinner, let's go to the Great Hall," said Hermione and they nodded.
They sat down at Gryffindor Table but didn't eat much, Ron and Harry had definitely left their appetites behind the second they saw Hogsmeade. They left soon after and went up to Gryffindor Tower, Harry went to his dorm and lay down in his bed even though he wasn't tired and did not sleep at all that night.
~*~
He got up at five the next morning, got dressed and started walking. He walked and walked his mind was racing, trying to come up with a plan to get Cho back. He wasn't aware of the people he bumped into and walked into the Great Hall, sitting down and ignoring all the food in front of him.
A small brown owl landed in front of him and held out the letter attached to its leg. He ignored this as well until the owl nipped him painfully on the arm. "All right, all right . . ." he moaned, taking the letter. Sighing, he unfolded it and the message made his stomach turn to ice. Written, in blood red, were three words: She is dead.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Three cliffies in a row! I love doing this! ^_^
icedrake: I never actually said he would, you assumed too much. You also ignored the part before the flashback began, Harry was still at Hogwarts.
john: Yeah, I was kind of thinking Draco told Lucius, Lucius told Voldemort, Voldemort made a plan to capture her and hurt Harry in a way the Cruciatus never could. Thanks for your review, I'm glad you enjoy my fic.
Alec6427: ::Looks at Cho:: Don't you agree that the title is degrading?
Cho: ::Nods::
Me: There you have it. ::Grins like the dork I am::
Phoenix28: Yeah, the time at the Lupin Mansion was a lot of fun to write. And yeah, I figured Hogsmeade being under attack would be kind of unexpected. Glad you enjoyed it.
Cozboz: Wow, you were way off lol.
zaria: Lol, you're funny. Review again just for the sake of making me laugh lol.
Bon: Yeah, just what I was thinking when I read these reviews.
*Luna*: Yeah, I'll try. Ron and Hermione are like totally head over heels for each other. Hope you liked this chapter.
Shadun: Well, of course Harry was going to do it. But then Lucius had to piss him off. Bad guys are so dumb . . . And Ron was searching for survivors so he was kind of late getting to Harry . . .
Kakarot: That sucks. My comp did that, too, for like two weeks I had NO INTERNET! I was about to go out of my mind. And sorry, I kinda had to put some deaths in here.
::Gives all reviewers a cookie:: Thanks so much!