Disclaimer: No warnings needed for now. But in case you didn't catch the source for the darker, 'lemony,' more "adult" version,it's on (adultfanfiction . net) under my profile (Ashura).For those of you under 18, enjoy the fic!

Harry Potter and the Daughter of War

By Ashura

Chapter 04: Detour

That night, Harry found sleep torture for him. Recently, his dreams had come in several forms: reliving Dumbledore's death, dying at Voldemort's hand, and dreams of Ginny Weasley. His dreams of Dumbledore had come to a close once he had gotten over the shock, and his and Ginny's recent discovery of Regulus Black had resulted in victories in the Voldemort dreams.

His dreams of Ginny, however, had gotten much more vivid after he had shared that wonderful kiss with Ginny. He hoped Ron wouldn't buy Seeing Through the Skull, for fear of looking inside Harry's mind at this moment.

But his dreams that night were cut short by several loud mutterings downstairs. Unable to get to sleep with the irritating noises and his curiousity getting the better of him, Harry got out of bed and sneaked out to check it out.

"Morning, Harry," he heard a voice say. He turned to see Hermione, who was just passing his and Ron's room, "I take it you heard them too, huh?"

He nodded and heard a small yawn behind Hermione. It belonged to Ginny, who had just awoken, her hair in a chaotic mess on her head, but for some reason, made her look incredibly sexy to Harry. As he wondered why, he remembered his recent dream of Ginny and blushed at the thought.

"Is something wrong, Harry?" Hermione questioned, at looked behind her at Ginny, and smirked/winked at her. Ginny blushed and blew a raspberry at her. All this was unnoticed by Harry.

"No, nothing, Hermione. What's going on?"

"Beats me. Ron has those extendable ears, not me."

"Go get them, will you?" requested Ginny, rubbing her eyes a little to wake up, "I want to hear what's going on."

Harry darted back into his room, eager to focus his mind on something besides sexy-woken up Ginny, and searched for the Extendable Ears in Ron's trunk.

"Whaddya doing, Harry?" Ron muttered, "You woke me up, you…"

"Where did you put those Extendable Ears?" he asked him, "Something's going on downstairs."

"Oh, here, I'll get them."

Soon they had four extendable ears, but they needn't have done so. Before they could send them down the stairs, Mrs. Weasley had gone up herself.

"Ah, good, I see you're up already," she said when she had reached them, "Harry's supposed to come downstairs, but the rest of you can too, if you'd like. It'll be morning soon, anyways."

When the came downstairs, they saw a bunch of people from the Order there as well. Tonks, Lupin, Mad-Eye, and Professor McGonagall were there already. Harry wondered what exactly was so important down here.

"Ah, Harry, glad to see you awake," McGonagall said cheerfully, "I'm sorry we didn't call you sooner, but we didn't want to wake you up too early."

Harry gulped, and hoped none of the members could use Legimency right now. Secretly, he wished they had woken him up sooner so that he didn't have to have these sudden urges to see his recent dreams as reality.

"We were discussing," she continued, "Dumbledore's will."

An eerie silence filled the room at the mention of his name and the word "will" following it. It was another reminder that he was gone. After a few moments, Harry managed to ask, "What'd it say?"

"Well for one thing," she answered, "It said that Hogwarts should remain open should he be gone, and it named a new headmaster."

"Really?" Harry exclaimed, "Who?"

"Beats me. I've never heard of him."

"I have," said Mad-Eye from across the room, "he's nobody famous, but say his name among Death Eaters and then you've got something. He's one of the only people who's turned down a Death Eater offer and lived to tell about it."

"More like brag," chuckled Lupin.

"Yes, quite right!" he agreed, "Anyways, he's headmaster, and a good choice, too, if Death Eaters won't touch him."

"You mean Voldemort's scared of him, too, like Dumbledore?" asked Harry, but Lupin shook his head.

"Beats me how Voldemort feels about him. The two don't tend to cross paths. Probably prefer to stay out of the other's way," said Lupin, "But he's as powerful a wizard as Dumbledore, from what they say. Heard Dumbledore taught him for a time, too."

"So what about the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" asked Ron, "Has one been selected?"

"Yes," answered McGonagall, "the new headmaster picked one out immediately and he has agreed to take the job."

"But besides that," said Tonks, grinning at Harry, "You were mentioned in the will, too, Harry."

"Me?" he said, surprised. Sure, he and Dumbledore were close, but to be mentioned in his will, "What did it say about me?"

"Well, Dumbledore requested that you must finish your education at Hogwarts, should he die before then," McGonagall told him, "and visit his new portrait once in a while for tea."

Harry chuckled at that last comment. It sounded like the sort of thing Dumbledore would request. He wondered whether he would be able to visit his portrait anyways, if he did go back to Hogwarts. Now it seemed he was going to have to, since it was Voldemort's wishes.

"And you have inherited a great bit of gold from him, as well," Lupin beamed at Harry. Harry's jaw dropped.

"He left me all of his—"

"Well, not all of it. He asked that you get a small portion of it," said Lupin, "The Order, of course, gets some of it, so does the Wealseys as well. And some other people I don't know."

"We couldn't possibly accept it though…" said Mrs. Weasley, but Professor McGonagall hushed her.

"Nonsense, Molly! Dumbledore would have insisted that you take it," she said, "And Harry better too, on that matter."

"Well, all right," she agreed finally, "But I think it should go to each of the children. And maybe a nice vacation for all of us."

"That's the spirit!" agreed Lupin.

"And another thing, Harry," said Professor McGonagall, and brought out a small package, "Several other things were left to you. Although his manor has been left to someone else, it says that you may have your pick of anything inside. I'm sure you will want to go and do that before the new owners…"

"Who are they, anyways?" Harry asked, "The new owners?"

"It doesn't say. It only says, 'The new owner of my estate shall discover that he/she is the owner in due time, and without doubt,'" McGonagall recited, "and you were left this."

She brought out a small, brown package and gave it to Harry, "he asked that you open it privately."

"I understand," Harry agreed, but already knew what was in it. It was the gold ring that was previously a Horcrux, and Harry knew just what to do with it. When he had destroyed all of the Horcruxes, he was going to display them before Voldemort as trophies. He chuckled inside at the thought.

"Well, with that over with," said Mr. Weasley, "Let us have breakfast and then we can go to Diagon Alley and get all of your school supplies."

With all of the guests at the table, breakfast was surprisingly cheerful, and Harry felt that their trip to Diagon Alley would be a pleasant one.

As usual, Harry had to be escorted to Diagon Alley with Aurors, and was happy to see that Hagrid would be accompanying him again.

"This new headmaster seems ter be an okay fello'," Hagrid said to Harry when they had greeted each other, "Jus' like Dumbledore, he said that I'd do. He even said ter them, "Ye're wasting yer time with this Auror protection business. If You-Know-Who shows up in Diagon Alley, I dou' anyone but 'The Chosen One' is going ter stand a chance.

"'And 'arry Potter can handle Death Eaters,' he said, 'Why, look at that scene at Hogwarts! From what I 'ear, Potter jus' pushed his way past those idiots on his pursuit o' Dumbledore's killer!'" Hagrid continued, "Wow, did yeh really, Harry?"

"Yeah, I guess I did," he smiled, quite proud of himself now, "I was just in a rage I guess. Didn't think of getting hurt much."

"Aye, mark of a strong duelist, that is," Hagrid beemed, "Keeps his mind on the battle, notin else. I agree with im. I think You-Know-Who might jus' have a ruf time with yeh yet."

"Ginny, are you alright?" asked Hermione behind him. Ginny shot her an annoyed look and muttered, "Yes, I'm fine Hermione. I, um, just thought I'd see Luna here. She said she'd meet me."

They finally reached Flourish and Blotts and sure enough, as Harry expected, the optional new books were lined up for them to pick. He picked up Seeing Through the Skull and sure enough, there was a chapter on Occlumency in there. He picked it up eagerly.

"Well, that just bites," said Ron next to him, "I was going to take Advanced Dueling Tatics. Seems like I need to get a heads up in my dueling. Fred and George just keep beating me."

"Don't worry, Ron," said Ginny, picking up the same book, "I'll be in your class, too."

"What makes you think we'll be in the same class? You're a year younger."

"It might not matter," Hermione said, picking up Ancient Spells of Lore, "There might be so few students, there's only one class. Or maybe only a handful can get in."

"You're not going to be in the same class either, Hermione?" Ron said, looking quite crestfallen.

"Well, I figure it might be best for us to take separate classes and share information," she said, "I'm sure I'll be able to find a spell to destroy the 'you know what's' with this class."

They nodded, knowing she was talking about the Horcruxes. "Speaking of which," Harry said, leading them into a private corner when they got out of Flourish and Blotts and paid for their books, "What did you find out about the founder's items?"

"Well," Hermione said, "I found out that—"

"Oooh, I think I saw Luna!" exclaimed Ginny before Hermione could speak, "I'll catch you guys later," and she darted out of sight to a young blonde-haired girl in the distance.

She looked behind her at the sight of them all huddled together listening to Hermione. Her mom and dad were busy talking with Hermione's parents, so no one noticed her slip away. She would ask Harry what Hermione found out later.

For now, she raced towards a young blonde-haired girl and stopped next to her for a few seconds unnoticed. Looking back again to check, Ginny walked right past the girl who was clearly not Luna and headed down a darkened street and out of sight.

Ginny slinked along the alleyways of Diagon Alley, looking over her shoulder for any sign of Harry or the others following her. Luckily, there was no sign of them and she blew a side of relief.

As she ventured further and further into the alleyway labyrinth, she noticed the sky begin to darken. The air became thin and cold, causing her to shiver and grip her robes tighter.

Yup. I'm in the right place, all right.

She flipped the hood of her robes over her head, and continued down the narrow passages. Her eyes darted to each person she passed, watching each of their movements, careful not to…

"Hey!"

…bump into anyone.

"Watch where you're going, you little runt!" the grey-haired witch screeched, drawing her wand and shoving it straight at Ginny's face, "I should hex you right now just for that!"

Ginny glared at her, staring at the huge wart at the end of her nose. She calmly reached into her robes and pulled out her own wand, making the old witch's eyes widen.

"You let me draw my wand," Ginny said coolly, "Either you are very brave or you really have little dueling experience. Now stand aside before I make that extra nose of yours grow even bigger."

The old woman scrunched her face up in disgust, but Ginny did not move. With a loud, "Hmph!", she sheathed her wand inside her robes and stomped past Ginny.

Grinning to herself, Ginny moved on, putting her wand away so as not to cause more trouble. That wasn't too bad, she thought. Despite her cheery nature, she always remained deathly serious with dealing with dark wizards. I guess I have to thank Tom for that.

Finally, after seeming like walking forever, she finally reached her destination. There, in a small corner she almost missed, was a small run-down shack that looked like it should have been condemned years ago. A sign on the door was the only marking that it was still in use:

Shop of the Under-Realm

We sell anything under the moon…

Just don't ask where we got it.

She sighed and shook her head at the sign. Yup. This was definitely the place. She gently stepped up the creaking steps and carefully opened the door.

"YOU BLODDY CON-ARTIST! JUST WHO DO YOU TAKE ME FOR!" a voice bellowed from inside, almost causing Ginny to back up and fall on the steps.

"I told you. I have no need for such things," she heard the shopkeeper mutter, "My clients have no interest in these."

"How dare you! I am Lucius Malfoy! I—"

"Yes, yes. I know who you are. But who you are doesn't matter here. Only your money and merchandise. And, seeing as these are of no use to me, I will just have to…Ah! I see you've found me!"

Lucius Malfoy spun around to come face to face with Ginny. Well, sort of. Her face was hidden by a reddish mask she had transfigured at the last moment. She thanked the shopkeeper for waiting until she had done so before addressing her.

"Now, Malfoy, if that is all you have for me, I shall bid you good day."

But Lucius Malfoy was not going to give in so easily, she noted. Her leaned over the counter and looked the shopkeeper dead in the eye, "You know who I work for, don't you? I could destroy your little…"

"Go right ahead. I don't care what you and your Death Eaters decide to do to my shop. It doesn't matter in the end. I just do this on the side."

They stared at each other, neither making a sound for several moments, before Lucius turned around sharply and, giving Ginny one last glare, stormed out the door and into Knockturn Alley.

"I never liked him," the merchant muttered under his breath, "Such an unlikable character."

"Me neither. Met his son yet?"

"Unfortunately, yes," he laughed with her, "But I don't think you would come here just to chat with me, right?"

"Naturally. I suppose you already know, but my situation has gotten…"

"Worse? Yes, I do know. Your relationship with him has put you in a very dangerous position. You are already a target for Voldemort as it is. Maybe if you lay low for a while…"

"You know I don't do that."

"Of course. Well, have the books I sold you last year working?"

She laughed again, "More than you know. I just had to tell you in person before term starts! I aced my O.W.L.s!"

"With those books, of course you did! Now, let me see your book list," he suggested, and Ginny instantly showed him her list without hesitation. "Hmmm, which one on this list did you pick?"

"Advanced Dueling, of course," she smirked, "What else would I choose?"

"Naturally," he chuckled, and looked over the rest of the list, "Hmm…these books won't do at all. How uninteresting. These don't teach you a thing! Now these, on the other hand," he waved his hand towards the wall behind him and several books piled up in front of her, "Are high-quality stuff!"

Ginny browsed through a couple of them, entitled, "To Beat a Dark Wizard, Think Like a Dark Wizard By Renald Stoneheim, Potions Explained Easily By Thomas Marley, Zap! That's Transfiguration By Juliet Mucksbord…"

"These look far more interesting!" Ginny exclaimed, "And they explain it so well. Not like my boring Hogwarts books!"

"I figured. Special pre-school special. Only 5 Galleons!"

"Deal!" she said, pulling out her bag and handing him five gold coins.

"Wow! So easily! If only the rest of your family could…"

"I just happen to be lucky," she grinned.

"Yes, I remember. You just wait little lady. Luck comes in circles, you know. Especially in gambling."

"As long as my bad luck doesn't happen when I do gamble, I'll just deal with it," she said, and pocketed her books, "What else do you have for me?"

"Anything you're looking for, my dear?" he asked, and watched as Ginny walked around the room, staring at all kinds of items.

"I want an advantage," she told him, "Something to keep me one step above the Death Eaters."

"Hmmm…" the shop-keep muttered, rubbing his chin in thought, "Ah! I know!"

Ginny watched as he ducked into the backroom, and had to duck herself when he started throwing all sorts of things at her.

"I know I put it in here somewhere!" he shouted, cursing to himself as he searched through boxes upon boxes, "I knew we should have put a labeling system up, but NO! I had to be a lazy son of a—ah! Here we are!"

He returned with a small shoe-sized box, and opened them to show her…

"Gloves?" she questioned, picking them up and examing them. They were quite nice, though. They were made of touch material (better than the stuff we use for Quidditch, I bet), but they were very light. The outer rim was laced with gold, ending with gold spikes at the top.

"Not just any gloves. Dueling Gloves!"

Now she was interested, "Dueling Gloves?"

"Precisely. Or 'Gauntlets,' as me and my colleges prefer. Here, see," he rolled up his sleeves to reveal similar looking ones, though these were outlined with what looked like silver, and two tiny blades at his wrist, "I wear a pair, myself. They're not cheap, I can tell you that! Usually duelists get them at discounts, depending on how good they are."

"But what do they do?" she questioned him, knowing there had to be something more to them than just the design.

"They let you do wandless magic," he said, instantly making Ginny's eyes widen in interest, leaning closer to hear him better, "See that red orb there?"

Ginny looked at the gloves again. On one of them (the one for her right hand), there was a small red gem on the top part of the hand. It contrasted well with the gold outlining.

"You place your wand on top of that and it absorbs the focusing and amplifying powers of it. then you can do magic and not have to worry about that ridiculous Expelliarmus rtubbish!"

"It's brilliant!" she exclaimed.

"Please, that's not even the half of it!" he laughed, and Ginny stared at him with an expression that seemed to scream out, "There's more?"

"These gloves also come equipped with a very powerful shield charm. They block medium-level spells, elemental, and spells that affect the mind. Plus, your spells are cast twice as fast, and allow you to use wordless spells much easier."

"Oh my…"

"The gloves, as you can plainly tell, are made of light, but strong material. The gold is made of a special custom made gold that's very light, but strong (yes it's made from real gold, silly girl!) and that is bonefied dragon hide! Made from already-dead dragons, might I add. And, there's a recent added bonus."

"Bonus?" she exclaimed, perplexed. She was wondering, with all of these added features, if she could even afford them.

"Each glove is able to store one spell in memory. A muggle-born thought of it. Just tell it a spell to store and it shall remember it (you can always change it, though). I would suggest using a passive spell on one of them, like a speed charm, or something."

Ginny gulped as she heard this and, before the man could say any more, she questioned, "How much?"

He sighed, "Like I said, these gloves are sold at bargains to good duelists. What have you got?"

"hmmm," she reached into her pocket and revealed a large bag, "here's 150 galleons. I won that off of my brothers in a duel!"

"Hmmm, off a duel, eh? Fine, that'll do. Just make sure they go to good use."

"Oh, I will!" she cried happily, and eagerly slipped them on. She took out her wand and set it upon the sparkling ruby orb. In a flash, her wand disappeared into the glove, and another flash reflected into the other.

"Go on, try a spell."

She nodded, and held her gloved palm up and muttered, "Lumos!" Ginny almost jumped back in surprise; her hand suddenly glowed pure white, lighting up the room with its brightness. Not wanting to upset the shopkeeper, she quickly closed her palm and extinguished the light.

"W-wow! It really works!" she exclaimed in amazement, admiring the gloves with a new sense of amazement.

"My dear, I would gladly rip-off Malfoy, but not you!" he laughed, "When I first met you in Hogsmeade after you ditched that clinger of a boyfriend of yours, I immediately knew you were going to be one of my best customers. I don't cheat people I like or respect."

"Well, with all of the duels I'm going to win, you'll respect me soon enough," she mocked.

"My dear, I respected you the second I saw you ditch Dean Thomas!" with that, the two shared a hearty laugh at the thought.

"It's a shame I have to get back soon, though," she said, "Now, is there anything else you can show me?"

"Actually," he muttered, and turned around to pick up a book from off the shelf behind him, "I think I just may have something that may interest you."

"If it's anything like the gloves—"

"It's better than the gloves," he told her, and instantly Ginny was interested again, "This is the book to beat all books!"

"You've got to be—"

"I'm not," he said, looking her dead in the eye, a serious expression on his covered face, "Voldemort himself is after this book."

"What?"

"I'm not joking. Voldemort himself ordered a shipment of these very books—the only ones in existence—just for himself and his most trusted Death Eaters."

"Why would Voldemort want a book so badly?"

"Because this book contains every spell known to wizards!" he exclaimed, "Not to mention a few other bits of handy information. The Magical Animal chapter has been my favorite for a while now. Did you know that griffens were actually…"

Ginny stepped back a couple steps, and instantly started laughing, "But it's so small! And how can one book contain…"

"My girl, you're a witch! Get with the bloody program! It's enchanted to look like that!" he shouted at her, "Here, I'll show you. Cmere."

Rolling her eyes in disbelief, Ginny sat back down near the counter, the merchant opening the book halfway. She looked at him again, puzzled. The pages were blank. "This book is picky at what it shows. You have to ask it. Watch. Ahem. Fire spells!"

As soon as he said this, the book got bigger, and the pages illuminated a bit until they rested at a normal black color. "Blasting charm…Combustion Curse…Embers of…Wow…"

"Told you."

"I'll take it! Oh, and maybe one for my boyfriend!"

"I can only give you one, and I would advise you to keep it to yourself!"

"Why?" she questioned him.

"Because Voldemort still wants these! It's dangerous for me to have them here as it is!"

"Then why did you steal them in the first place!"

"My dear, if you could steal them, wouldn't you?" he laughed, "You think I would let something like this fall into the hands of Voldemort? Of course not!"

Ginny stared at the book. It would be dangerous indeed if she kept it, for Voldemort would want them back. But then again, it would be quite useful…

"How much?" she asked, "Considering the danger, I suppose they're cheap, right?"

"Even with that discount, they're still expensive," he told her, "500 Galleons!"

"WHAT!"

"Hey, I only have 16 of those. I have to sell them high. Supply and demand, my dear."

"Aw, come on! I only have 150…no, wait…200! I forgot about my duel with Harry."

"You are a gambler, aren't you? But I can't even give it to you for that. Unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Well, I'd like to test your luck, if you don't mind. If you win, I'll give you the book for 200 galleons!"

"Really! All right, I accept your—"

"But if I win, you give me the 200 galleons for nothing!"

"What? Hardly a good wager, I'd say."

"Fine, fine. I'll give you one other thing in the store, free of charge," he bargained, "Think of it as a 'buy one, get one free' deal."

"Alright, I accept. What's your game?"

The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of cards.

"Muggle playing cards?"

"Ah, I see you're familiar with them."

"A friend of mine is Muggle-born," she told him proudly, "She taught me to play a few games when we were bored."

"Do you know how to play Poker?"

"Yes. That's the first game she taught me."

"Excellent, excellent!" he cried happily, "That's what we'll be playing, then. Best two out of three wins."

"Deal," she said, quite literally.

The first hand Ginny won quite nicely, with her two queens beating his two tens. The next hand he won after Ginny tried for a straight, and failed.

"Isn't it interesting," he said as he dealt out the last hand, "How wizards play chess and exploding snap, and muggles develop a set of cards that can be played in over 500 different ways?"

"That won't help you beat me, though."

"We'll see," he said, and gave Ginny the two cards she asked for, "I win," she said.

"How do you know?"

"I know. Two pair!" she exclaimed, showing him her hand.

"Rats."

"YES!" she happily cried out, jumping for joy.

"Yes, yes. Here's your blasted book, now stop gloating and select your free item!"

"Hmmmm…" she walked around the stop, eying each item carefully, "Hey, what's this? It has a badger on it! Is it…"

"Hufflepuff's? Yes, actually. Swiped that off a bunch of idiot Death Eaters guarding it. Figured it had to be special of some sort for them to have it."

"Hmmm…" she said, examining the object. It was a small cup, made of pure gold by the looks of it. The handles had a beautiful, if not dusty, design, and she found she rather liked it. in the center sat the engraving of a peaceful looking badger.

But Ginny also felt something odd about this cup. Her fingers felt cold, colder than what she felt when she entered Knockturn Alley. As she gripped the cup, she could hear a faint whisper in her ear, much like…"

"I'll take it," she said quite plainly, and chanted a shrinking charm on it (I love these gloves!) and thanked the shopkeeper and left.

"Wait Ginny," he called after her and slipped a note in her hand, "I suggest you look this up in that book of yours before pouring yourself a cup of tea."

She nodded, "I will, thanks," she said, and left the dark streets of Knockturn Alley with her new items. But before she could completely leave the gloomy alleyways, she bumped into a familiar-looking blonde-haired girl.

"Luna?" she said, surprised. Luna turned around and happily greeted Ginny with a, "Oh, hello Ginny! I didn't expect to see you in here, but actually…"

"Well, his shop is in here, and I just had to get a few things," she said, and Luna understood what she was talking about.

"Well, we'll see him in Hogsmeade soon enough, won't we?"

"Yes, of course. So why are you here?"

"Dad got a tip off about a rumor of a Tri-horned Hippogriff, but we got separated in a croud and I got terribly lost," she said sadly, "But I've found you, so it should be alright now."

"I hope so," said Ginny, and shuddered, "I just want to get back to the others. They must be looking for me and you by now."

"And me? Why me?"

"Had to fake that I was meeting you to get away," she explained, "So let's get back before they really do start worrying. By the way, how'd you do on your O.W.L.s?"

"Here," Luna said, and handed Ginny her results, "dad was so proud of me."

"Here," Ginny responded, and showed Luna hers as well, "We'll switch em," and she looked over Luna's O.W.L. results.

Ordinary Wizarding Level Results

Pass Grades

Outstanding (O)

Exceeds Expectations (E)

Acceptable (A)

Fail Grades

Poor (P)

Dreadful (D)

Troll (

Luna Emily Lovegood has achieved:

AstronomyE

Care of Magical CreaturesO

CharmsE

Defense Against the Dark ArtsE

DivinationO

HerbologyO

History of MagicP

PotionsD

TransfigurationE

"Nice. Figured you'd ace Divination. It was your favorite subject," Ginny told her.

"Yes, it was. And you did very well as well, Ginny," Luna exclaimed as she looked over Ginny's and swapped them back, "I knew you'd be top at everything. Good ol' magnificent Ginny Weasley."

"Oh, Luna, you praise me too much," laughed Ginny, "at least think of a better name for me!"

"Oh fine," Luna said sadly and perked up saying, "How's 'Hex Mistress' sound to you?"

"Sounds brilliant! I think that one's gonna…"

But just then she froze. They were almost out of Knockturn Alley when she saw it. The black hoods. Five or six of them. Death Eaters.

"well, well, what do we have here?" sneered the first, "Two young girls in Knockturn Alley? How curious."

"Lost your way, dearies?" laughed another, a witch this time.

"Don't worry," boomed a third, much larger one, "We'll send them on their way."

"To where, we just won't tell!" and this made all of them laugh.

Ginny saw Luna reach for her wand behind her, and Ginny almost did but then realized she didn't have to; she was still wearing her new dueling gauntlets.

"Hey, I recognize this one!" one of them exclaimed, "She was at Hogwarts! She was like a little rabbit, always hopping two are fro at my curses, till that stupid Potter jumped in!"

"Well, we ought to finish the job, haven't we?" smirked the first.

"Don't even bother. I'd rather just kill her now!" he exclaimed, and pushed past the others, who gladly let him through, "She's irked me for the last time."

"Ginny, no…" said Luna behind her, and Ginny gulped. Her knees were shaking. Her heart was beating uncontrollably. She didn't know what to do. The alleyway was small. There was no where to go, and little room to dodge the curse, not with Luna next to her. She was trapped.

"Avada Kedavra!" he shouted, and a flash of green lit off from his wand. Ginny braced herself for the impact, but instead was thrown out of the way as the blast hit not her, but Luna.

"LUNA!" she cried, but it was too late. With Luna's wand pointed at the ground, she didn't have time to counter it directly, and she watched in horror as the curse hit its mark. But before Ginny could even react, the force of the curse had sent Luna's now lifeless body backwards on top of Ginny's, hitting the hard wall behind her.

A/N: Yes, I know. Right now you are probably hating me for the obvious reason and that this is a cliffhanger. Yes, I feel you. I will work on Chapter 5 right away. But since I hate cliffhangers, too, here's a preview:

Harry's eyes widened. The once dark, gloomy streets of Knockturn Alley were now glowing in red and yellow flames. People were running everywhere, screaming, calling for help. Shops lay burnt. Buildings halfway towards collapsing. He could see many people getting treated, and many carried away on stretchers. Could Death Eaters really do all this?

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