Wow, I've been working on this fic for almost a year now! (Pow pow balloons) I started writing the very first chapter on July 6th, 2004. It is now July 2nd, 2005! A whole year! My longest-running story ever! And it's…not quite finished yet. Amazing…And I lied. No battle scene quite yet…that's the next chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or Harry Potter. So sue me. No wait…don't.
Chapter 36: Rescue Operation
The landing outside of the Malfoy mansion went smoothly enough, the three Digimon dropping into a thick clump of trees and setting down their passengers before transforming back into their human forms.
"So…Now what?" Ron asked, glancing around.
Kouji fumbled about in his pocket a moment before pulling out the folded pad of parchment that Malfoy had sent him, along with his wand. "…Lumos." He mumbled, and the wand sparked to life.
The directions to the location had been elaborate, but what to do afterwards was only two lines: 'Back door leads to basement' and 'Watch out for the Crups.'
"Back door?" Izumi asked out loud.
Takuya and Tomoki stepped in from where they had gone out in a sort of 'scouting' mission. "From what I can tell, we're somewhere on the right side of the place." The older one reported.
"I saw a door around that way." Tomoki added, pointed out to the left. "Looks like the one at the shrine, the place Hakaishi-sensei and Kenkyo-sensei keep the sake…"
"Like a wine cellar." Hermione reiterated, more for Ron and Harry's sake than anything else.
"From the looks of it…" Junpei looked over Kouji's shoulder at the page. "That's where we need to head first, if this thing is worth anything."
"I guess…" Harry shrugged, frowning a bit in annoyance. "But what does it mean by 'watch out for the…"
There was a loud barking noise. The group collectively snapped their heads up to find a small heard of large, white dogs charging towards them. They looked like very big Jack Russell Terriers, until you noticed the forked tail, and they seamed to be very, very angry at the group's presence.
Harry snapped out his wand, as did Ron, but the transfers had other ideas. "Don't stand there, run!" Takuya exclaimed, jumping to his feet and taking off, dragging Tomoki behind by the arm.
"Harry, they're right!" Hermione insisted, grabbing her friend's sleeves.
"But…"
"There are too many of them, and they're probably trained to only listen to the Malfoys!" The girl insisted.
Izumi nodded furiously as well, pulling at Ron impatiently. "They'll rip us apart!"
Ron paled slightly as the Crups got close enough to see the foam frothing out of the animal's mouths. "Uh…I think I see your point."
He and Harry stuffed their wands into his pocket and took off back into their places and took off after the others, racing for the door Tomoki had found as fast as humanly possible and praying to dear god that it wasn't actually a wine cellar.
( - ) ( - ) ( - )
Taking a running dive through an unknown door is, of course, not a wise to do. It is especially unwise when the door in question might just lead to a dead-end and you are being followed by a large herd of magical dogs intent on ripping you into very small pieces.
However, it is also not a wise thing when the door in question leads to a long, stone staircase, as Harry soon discovered when he found himself half-dazed and sitting in a puddle at the bottom of said stairs.
"Awesome landing, buddy." Takuya grinned, barring the heavy door with a wooden beam before coming down the stairs. "But, I'd give it a nine out of ten."
Harry groaned, rubbing the back of his head in annoyance. "Gee, thanks."
The group tromped down the stairs behind the goggle head, glancing about at the decor as they went. "It's so dark…" Izumi whispered hesitantly.
Ron pulled out his wand and flicked it. "Lumos." He mumbled, and the resulting beam of light illuminated the long hall way in front of them.
The group glanced around at each other in minor hesitation. Ron motioned slightly with his free hand. "Who wants to go first?"
"You've got the light." Tomoki pointed out.
"Yeah, but you gotta have the light behind you to see anything."
Kouji rolled his eyes and pulled his jacket more tightly around himself. "Let's just go." he snapped, and stormed off down the hall. The others glanced at each other one more time, then followed after him.
The hall was lined with doors, each leading, as they assumed, into separate cells for the captives and victims. Hermione shuttered slightly as she noticed something red splattered against the bars of one of the windows. "This is disgusting…"
"This is definitely a dungeon." Junpei muttered, looking around at the damp stone walls that lined the cold halls.
"Yeah…" Tomoki rubbed his head. "And it looks just like the route to Potions."
"I can't believe anyone could live here for long." Izumi muttered, rubbing her arms. "It's so cold and wet, you'd think you'd catch your death…"
A short, somewhat strangled gasp floated up from the front of the group. Harry looked up to find Kouji staring through the barred window of one of the thick wooden doors. "What is it, Kouji?"
The dark-haired boy looked…taken aback, shocked, maybe even scared as he whispered hesitantly. "N-Nii-san…"
The one word sent a small electric shot rippling through the group. In an instant, they'd raced back to crowd around the door in an unorganized group.
Past the bars of the window, they could just barely see the pathetic form lying curled on the cold, moist stone floor. He was lying on his stomach, mostly because the hands tied behind his back would be rather painful to lie against. He wasn't moving.
"Oh god…" Izumi whispered, covering her mouth with her hand.
Takuya grabbed the heavy iron door-knob, only to find it locked. "We've gotta get in there!"
"Stand back!" Hermione whipped out her wand, aiming it at the lock. "Alohomora!"
Green sparks flashed out of the lock, but when they tried it again nothing had happened. "It must be charmed, 'Mione." Ron shrugged. "We'll have to find another…"
Hermione grabbed Takuya by the back of his collar, pulling the only other person left clear of the door and its lock as she pointed her wand again. "Bombarda!"
The lock, quite simply, exploded, leaving a charred hole in the thick wooden door. Junpei gave the remaining handle a furious yank and it swung open.
Kouji was the first to rush in, an almost uncharacteristic clash with his usual look-before-you-even-think-about-leaping policy. The others were right on his heels, Tomoki closing the door behind them (someone wouldn't notice the smoking hole in place of the lock…), as he hurried to his brother's side and gently turned the ailing boy over to see his face.
Harry could tell, he was worse than in his dream. His face was covered with scratches, most of them abrasions from the hard floor but one was a deep, congealed gash above his left eye. He looked thin and weak, and even though you could see he was breathing, it was short and shallow and seamed to be the only motion he had the energy left to do.
Kouji lowered himself to the ground and, very gently, lifted his brother's head into his lap. "Nii-san…" he whispered quietly, giving the injured form a gentle shake. "Nii-san…Can you hear me? Say something…"
"Come on, buddy." Takuya muttered, biting his lip as he started to work on the magical ropes with his wand.
Hermione knelt next to Izumi and pressed her hand to his forehead. Then she snapped her fingers three times, relatively close to Kouichi's ear. He didn't flutter and eye lid.
The girl leaned back, seemingly satisfied as she pulled out her wand again. "They put a spell on him." She said confidently. "It's a kind of suspended animation. They must've done it so he would be able to recover between attacks."
"…Well?" Junpei prompted sourly. "Can you get it off?"
"Just a moment." Hermione sighed. "I have to aim it at the right place, you know."
She lowered her wand and took several long seconds judging where she could do the most help and the least damage. Finally, she aimed at a point just above his collarbone, a small pocket between bones and well-known pressure point. "Finite Incantatum."
A small, white light flashed from her wand and snaked over the boy's body. A moment later Kouichi stirred, his dark blue eyes opening blurrily to look up at his brother as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Kou…ji…?"
For a moment, Kouji seamed to have lost his voice. Then it sputtered back. "Y-Yes…Nii-san, I'm here…Don't worry, we're all here…We're going to get you out of here, I promise…"
Kouichi shifted a bit, then groaned in pain. "Easy there." Takuya warned from behind him. "Give us a moment and we'll have you loose, no problems."
Kouichi smiled a bit at his friend's voice, closing his eyes a moment.
"Do you hurt all over?" Izumi asked worriedly.
"It's not…that bad…"
Harry felt the need to speak up. "The Cruciatus Curse wears off pretty fast…" He mentioned, half-heartedly remembering his experience with the Unforgivable during the Triwizard Tournament. "But I don't know about anything else…"
There was a small snap as the ropes snapped, falling loose and disappearing almost as soon as they touched the ground. The captive boy let out a loud, low groan of pain as his limbs slipped back into their relaxed positions, sore and stiff from days bound into the same positions, popping every joint as they moved.
"Easy, easy." Junpei prompted again, helping the boy roll over onto his back. He gasped for breath, staring up at the blank black ceiling in pain. The oldest boy sighed and looked over at the female transfer. "Izumi, you're better at healing spells than the rest of us. Can't you do something?"
"…I can try." Izumi pulled out her thin, eastern-style, kappa tendon wand, pointing it at the same pressure point Hermione had put hers. "Herasu…Nakunaru… Shuri."
A pale pink light was emanated this time, sliding across Kouichi's body like a blanket. His face relaxed visibly and his breathing was slowly eased, dark blue eyes fluttering open with a calm, quiet air.
He smiled at his brother, then turned to Izumi. "Th-Thank you…"
The girl smiled as well. "Any time."
"Um…Not to be a bother." Ron's voice suddenly spoke up from where he was hovering near the door. "But shouldn't we be getting out of here soon, before someone comes down and finds this little reunion?"
Izumi shot him an accusing glare, as did a rather irate Hermione, but the boys didn't seam so aggravated. Actually, Tomoki looked as though he agreed with the redhead. "He's…he's got a point. We need to get out of here soon…"
Harry glanced at his watch. They'd been in here for…twenty minutes. Who knew if or when the guards came around to check on the cells. "He's right. We need to go."
Takuya and Kouji nodded in agreement. Kouji stood first, taking his brother by his right arm as Takuya helped him hoist Kouichi up with the left. "Easy there." Junpei prompted yet again, reaching into his pocket. "I can take him, once we Digivolve, he's light enough to…"
"Wait…" Kouichi shifted, standing on his own two feet but supporting himself by leaning on his brother's shoulder. "We can't…Can't go yet."
The group stared at him, dumbfounded. "What?"
The boy shifted painfully, popping his shoulder as he did. "Voldemort… Voldemort has my D-Tector…"
Now the chorus was louder, even if it was only the transfer. "WHAT?"
Harry blinked several times. "What's a D-Tector?"
"These." Tomoki pulled a white and green plastic device out of his pocket… Harry was reminded of the video game Kouji's father had sent him for Christmas. "They're from the Digital World, so we can Digivolve…Kouichi's been bringing them over all year…"
The entire group of transfers looked very, very disturbed. "If Voldemort has one…" Izumi whispered.
"…He might be able to get into the Digital World…For real!" Takuya finished, slamming a fist into the other hand. "We can't let that happen!"
"We can't just rush in!" Kouji glared at him, slipping his arm back under his brother's arms in concern. "Kouichi's in no shape to be trekking around everywhere…"
"I'm fine." The elder twin shook himself, steadying as best he could. "Kouji… We can't leave. The Digimon…are counting on us. If we leave now…"
"…We might never come back…" Kouji finished with an annoyed sigh, blowing up his loosened bangs in distaste. There was a moment of silence before he sighed again, this time in defeat.
"…Fine."
TBC…
Sake - (pronounced Sah-kae) Rice wine, often used in Shinto or Buddhist ceremonies, sometimes to drink and sometimes to anoint things. The term has also grown to mean 'booze' in general, but the traditional sake is just rice wine.
