Disclaimer: See Chapter I
A/N: To clear up a review question, yes, I am American, third generation British (grandparents on father-side were from the old country) descendant. Nothing much else to say other then three to four more chapters to go, and that I'm debating just how much I'll dovetail with OOTP. One reviewer said he (or she) didn't want to read OOTP: well, if so, read another work as I want to dovetail and stray as little from canon as possible.
Chapter XXXIV: Hidden Truths
A long hallway, with a dark door at the end. Flash to the Great Hall in Hogwarts, Uncle Alex and Sirius standing in front of him. Sirius white as a ghost, and Alex giving him his leering grin, his teeth and shirt stained with blood, the empty eye socket gazing at him.
Cold water brought him to consciousness, the dream or nightmare gone. He found himself strapped him into a chair, another bucket of ice cold water dumped all over him to wake him up. Harry didn't mind the cold; it removed the shit and dirt and filth that accumulated on him from his cell. It also helped bring some sanity out of his doped up mind, and sent the little green dinosaurs running away. What he did mind was the fact he was feeling every bit of the interrogative techniques that had been used on him since Malfoy had left.
Obviously, it was only a matter of time before Voldemort would have him in his control, and it was just as obvious Mueller was working against the clock, to gain information. Every method possible was being used to break him, and drain him of information. Harry had broken, and spilled information, a lot of it…
Only thing was, just about everything he said was carefully doctored bullshit. Even as he screamed under the blade, he kept his thoughts clear of Ginny, his friends and the truth.
How many goblin regiments were at Hogwarts? Don't know, a lot of goblins though.
Armament? Enough weaponry to take on a small threat, not sure of anything bigger then a random attack on the village. Small arms, a lot like an infantry battalion.
What sort of wards was in place around the school? Not sure how many or what type, but Professors McGonagall and Flitwick were constantly busy. Types include…
What was the source of information from the Inner Circle? Principally eavesdropping on the Slytherin rooms of Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Flint, and Malfoy. Secondary source information came from sources of information close to the respective Death Eaters, Alice being an example.
Harry wasn't sure about some of the information he was putting forth might accidentally set them upon the correct track, but he had to give them something that got them thinking, to give them enough smoke that the mirror was obscured. Smoke and mirrors, mind games, whatever you wanted to call it, for even as he was a pawn in the game of power that was the war, Harry knew he could do damage, and did so. His priorities were to ensure that those he held close to him, and those vital to the war stayed safe, and he was willing to pay the price of their safety in blood, tears, sweat, and anger.
"I see you are still with us Mister Potter."
"Indeed, been a pleasure."
Mueller laughed, and circled around him. Elizabeth Long-Nails as Harry termed her was still with him. The guards had switched out, and Harry saw that these boys were armed. AKMs as usual, thing was, this was the first time they had allowed armed personnel in his presence. Which meant either that they were going no longer worried about him making a break for it, or…
"Harry, I've some bad news for you. My Lord and master demand that I turn you over to him, our discussions coming to a close."
"Is that why you've got Dumb and Dumber over there with automatic weapons?"
"Indeed, it is a pity. You would have made a hell of an intelligence agent were it not for the unfortunate fact that we are on opposite sides. Unless you're wiling to come work for me?" Mueller bared his teeth, and showed his two fangs.
"Sorry, Professor, I like the daylight."
Mueller laughed again, and asked him, "Tell me, any last requests for a meal, a bath, a woman perhaps?" Harry squinted and saw the chain Ginny had given him on the desk, along with his wand, knife, baton, identity discs, Browning and glasses. Mueller saw his eyes moves, and went to the chain. He picked it up and asked Harry, "Who is your lady? I believe it was asked, yet I cannot remember the answer?"
"Her name is Grace Dyes, and she was a child hood friend whom I fell in love with over the summer." A lie with its foundation of truth, the only way one could pull off a lie. Mueller looked at the pendant, with the H and G intertwined, and spoke to Harry, "I'm genuinely sorry, young man, that you won't be seeing her again."
"I hope you can say the same to my uncle."
"Flash Alex? The young pup that was the most ruthless and competent of the Aurors?"
Harry nodded, and replied, "The one whose love you killed." Mueller put down the pendant, picked up the glasses, and put them on Harry's head. Pointing toward Elizabeth, Mueller commanded him, "Take a look at her, a close look."
Harry looked, his mind churning. As always, there was that feeling he had seen her before, yet couldn't place her. Something about her looks…Elizabeth was a also the same name as…His heart stopped for a moment, and he looked at her face, and thought of the picture of Liz Falkirk, the one Alex kept in his office. The face looked the same, the eyes were harsher, the hair shorter, but there was a strong resemblance between her and the woman in the photograph…
How, Alex said this blood-sucking bastard had her raped and butchered?
"Not sure, tell me the history of you two."
Mueller raised an eyebrow, "A command? From someone in your position?"
"I care not for a last meal, but a last bit of knowledge, of information, so indulge me if you please."
Mueller laughed, "As I said earlier, you would have made a most formidable player in the world of intelligence. So what is it you wish to know?"
"How can that," Harry pointed with his chin to Elizabeth, "be the woman my uncle so dearly loved? She's dead." Elizabeth entered the conversation for the first time, as she laughed, and looked over at Harry, "After all of this time?" Harry scowled, and nodded. She continued, "Dead? I suppose the woman that was once so…naïve is dead."
"How did she die?"
"She died when her family was largely killed by those we fought, and then watched as some of her closet friends were abandoned to death by those whom I thought was a friend." She looked over at Harry, and smiled. "What do you think of Dumbledore, Harry?"
Harry paused, a bit confused as to the question, and answered the line he had heard before, as truth is told he didn't know what to think. "He's a great man doing a shitty job."
Liz laughed, "Alex tell you that line?"
The hair on the back of his neck curled; he nodded. Liz explained, "We heard that, the same line he was given when we lost people to the Dark bastards. When we sent good people to certain death in order to save the lives of Death Eater scum who happened to be willing to sell their secrets to his cause. He would rather," her lips were curled by now, "willing lose the lives of good people, many people, in order to ensure the survival of one pathetic spy who wasn't worth the fingernail of one of those who lost it." She gazed into Harry's eyes, and continued, "You want to know the stories? He sent Sirius Black's woman to reconnoiter the activities of the Death Eater's abroad in Moscow. Dumbledore received word immediately from one of his spies before she went that she was compromised."
A silence, and then, "He knew, and didn't care for her life, only that the information he was receiving from a source he wouldn't name no longer dry up, which meant that she would have to continue as though it were business as usual.. When that poor silly bitch was captured, he even went so far as to launch a rescue operation that failed, thanks to the fact he ensured that they went into an area crawling with alert Death Eaters, ones that knew he wouldn't seem to abandon those he led."
Harry felt a lead feeling in his stomach, hoping that this was false, yet he was nobody's fool…Alex had told him the war they fought was dirty, and from what he had gathered, the last war had been very, very dirty indeed. Had Dumbledore ever had to…
The thoughts were interrupted as he forced himself to pay attention to Liz's tirade, of her viewpoint of the last war. It had been a war of double-cross and brutality. From what it sounded like, Liz had been like Hermione, wanting to ensure that the good won, and starting in her sixth year had been recruited with Alex to help fight it, earning a quick reputation as one of the foremost hunters of Death Eaters within the Ministry. Nevertheless, it pained and traumatized her as again and again they received information that the bastards were planning something, and had to hold back until it was either too late, or close enough to it, before reacting. This ensured that a lot of good people in the Ministry and working for Dumbledore perished. All to often, their side had been just as bad in their dealings, using torture, blackmail, extortion, and assassination nearly as much as their enemies. Worse, there were the civilian casualties, casualties that Dumbledore allowed to happen. Liz had lost her family too, during the year immediately before she and Alex had graduated. Her mother, father, two sisters, and baby brother had been shopping in Diagon Alley when Bloody Tuesday had occurred.
In the space of ten minutes, a force of Death Eaters lead by Igor Dolovhich had apparated into the Alley, and killed twenty people, predominately muggles and children who happened to be shopping with their magically inclined children. Alex hadn't been with her that day, off on a mission tracking down a potential suspect when it had occurred. A stunner had hit Liz, but the Killing Curse, except for one of the girls, had largely exterminated her family. She had been cursed with a new type that resulted in her internal organs slowly dissolving from the inside out; Liz had been later found by a force from the ministry holding her youngest sister Bethany in her arms, crying like a baby.
Liz had been deadpan throughout the whole conversation, staring at the floor. Mueller had taken a chair, and merely listened. Liz looked over at Harry, and asked, "Do you know that within forty-eight hours of the attack Dumbledore received information as to just who was responsible? Names, descriptions, the whole lot?" Harry shook his head. Liz went on, "We could have taken the whole lot of them, rounded them neat as tripe and exterminated them all. Before, I would have been horrified, yet all I wanted was revenge, vengeance on a dark wing that I knew would come. Instead, they were individually picked up over a long space of time, to try to ensure that the precious information continued to flow, their families not made to suffer as I.…" Harry interrupted, "Wouldn't have it made sense to keep it open to ensure that when the Dark Lord did do something that was truly vital it would have been known? Didn't he also ensure that some warning was given forth?" Liz glared at him, "Yes, for both counts, but there were occasions when he didn't have to feed the beast as Alex called it. It took away my family, the only family Alex had as well besides Lilly, and then…" Liz smiled, "Joachim came, old Liz died, and was reborn into something that had long desired escape."
Mueller glanced up, and explained his story to Harry. He had originally found out about Liz through a coven of vampires that he had destroyed on behalf of the Dark Lord, a coven that had been bribed by Liz and Dumbledore to stay out the fighting. Mueller had been intrigued, and had studied her over a long series of time. Yes, she was loyal to the cause of Dumbledore as she had admired him when she was a student of Hogwarts, and had been one of his ablest paladins in the long war. She had the intelligence, cunning, and skill at spy craft and intrigue that had won several of the more important victories Dumbledore had pulled off. Yet, Mueller had found out the death of her family in 1979 had caused her to be shaken emotionally, and the loss of her good friend Abigail Forrester (engaged to Sirius Black at the time) along with fourteen other wizards and witches in Russia had caused a small, but growing sense of disillusionment towards Dumbledore. This had conflicted sharply with her strong feelings of admiration and respect she had towards him, leaving her vulnerable.
This was why Mueller had approached her through intermediaries concerning a case she was working on…
"Which was?" Harry asked.
"The Ring of Five, Harry. It seems Alex, Moody, and herself amongst others were taken with the idea that there were five high-level agents of mine working for the Dark Lord within the Ministry, and I approached her with information." Harry knew of the case, that four agents (Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle in the Minister's staff, and Rookwood in the Department of Mysteries) had been found, three of whom had gotten off claiming to be under the Imperius by Rookwood, and that Black had been labeled the Fifth Man by the Ministry after the deaths of Harry's parents, and Peter Pettigrew. The original target in the highly secret, in-house investigation commissioned by Dumbledore, had been Minister Fudge. Alex, when he had briefed Harry on the case, said that the Fifth Man had been Peter Pettigrew, and not Pettigrew despite a lot of circumstantial evidence to the contrary. Harry hadn't been too shocked to hear that Fudge had been considered a serious suspect; heavens knew his handling of the current crisis was bad enough for people to think outright sabotage.
Mueller continued with his story. He had offered to Liz his defection, the ability to shut down the entire Death Eater organization within Britain, Ireland, and Eastern Europe, and most importantly, the chance to prove Sirius's innocence as Sirius had been a good friend of Liz's. They had had a face to face to prove his bonafides, and Liz had gone directly to her supervisor, Frank Longbottom…On the same night Mueller had suggested to young Crouch that he and his friends might find out information concerning Voldemort's location from the Longbottoms. Needless to say, Mueller had gone straight there, and had bitten and turned Liz there on the spot, leaving the Longbottoms to their fate whilst some muggle woman had been imbibed with Polyjuice to look like Liz. She had joined unwillingly, but now, after more then a decade in the shadows watching the wizard world…
Liz laughed as Mueller got to the end, "I'm fortunate as now my existence has some meaning…"
Harry hawked and spat at her, "How? By working for the same people who killed your friends and family? By sending the man who would do damn near anything for you to a living hell?"
Liz continued to laugh, "A means to an end. I've killed purebloods before, and will do so again soon enough. As for the rest, everything dies, unless you take this course of action, and live forever." With that, she barred her fangs at Harry. Harry looked at her contemptuously, and raised his middle and fore fingers on his right hand.
Mueller laughed, looked at a pocket watch he carried in the velvet vest he wore, and said to Harry, "You will shortly be transferred over to the loving care of a certain Death Eater, and doubtless my master has much planned for you. Before you go, I will leave you with this fact: Black was innocent, Pettigrew worked for free for the Dark Lord, and even when he disappeared, he served a purpose. You see, I had identified the most likely Ministry official to be there when he killed those muggles, and the man had sympathies towards my master's side. Not to mention the fact he was a total idiot whose later actions would do much damage to the opposition. I would leave careful evidence that could link him to our cause, yet nothing definite along with evidence that there could be others who were the Fifth Man. Which would lead…"
"To a constant hunt, with good people caught in the middle, and either a paralysis of operations or…" Harry paused, his voice soft as the full magnitude of the machinations of the past decade and a half hit him. Mueller seemed pleased, the way a teacher was when an apt pupil reached the end of a most difficult lesson, and ordered, "Continue, Harry. Or?"
"Or the relaxation of standards, as the hunts would find naught but smoke and mirrors, nothing definitive. This would ensure that later on small-level agents would be un-detectable and high level agents to become harder then normal to detect. The way MI5 was paralyzed for years searching for a Fifth Man, and the atmosphere caused British Intelligence to become a miasma of bad operations due to the constant suspicions. Likewise with the Americans, as their search for a traitor in their midst allowed them to be vulnerable to that bastard they found this year." Harry referred to two spy cases he had studied under Alex's tutelage, both of which had been masterful coups (or so it appeared) during the recent Cold War.
Mueller nodded, "Yes, at the time I wasn't sure just why my master decided to visit you and your parents. For that matter, I don't know precisely just what happened or how he returned. Regardless, I decided to have some additional security for as my master found out the unexpected can and will happen, and so I did what was done."
Harry smiled, the pain from the interrogations of before dulled by now. Gazing into the eyes of the vampire before him, he asked coolly, "So, tell me, since I'm about to die shortly, just what do you plan on doing?" He had to gamble, for if by some bloody miracle he made it out alive then this information would be crucial. Judging by the way Mueller was acting around him, he obviously had respect for Harry. Since the probabilities of Harry making out on his feet were nil, odds were Mueller was going to say something juicy. Harry, of course, was going to have to take the long shot bet: himself surviving.
Mueller stroked his chin, and replied, "I don't know for sure, something large scale though. Quite possibly open hostilities as he has ordered me to increase the tempo of all operations against Fudge's ministry." He paused, and looked over at Harry. "It is quite possible that based on the support he has from the other covens, coupled with the neutrality of the giants, he may make his power play any time soon. Only, he trusts no one and so I have to work in the dark." Mueller opened his watch, and looked into it. Something was up, as hadn't he said earlier that Harry was shortly to be transferred?
Harry watched him, and looked over towards the door. It was steel, flat black, your standard dungeon issue…
The door opened, and Harry looked to see a figure standing there. Mueller looked over, scowled, and asked something in Russian. There was silence, and then the figure flew from the doorway to knock Harry to the ground. Harry lay still, and examined the knife blade shoved into the base of the vampire's neck, obviously he was dead. Everything happened real quickly after that.
Movement in the light through the doorway, followed by gunshots. Liz bared her fangs, growled, and leapt forward…multiple gunshot wounds threw her to the ground. The other two guards went down shortly afterward, blood spraying everywhere. Blood and cordite stench permeated the air, along with the smell of shit as the bowels of the dead voided. Harry lay still, and looked around him. Mueller sat against a wall, thrown there by multiple gunshot wounds. Liz lay on his lap, a grotesque parody of life and love.
Footsteps, and the air in front of Harry and the two vampires shimmered to reveal two men, one short, stocky, and Asiatic. The other was white, with dark hair and an eye that swirled and moved hither and fro. Both had on standard British Army camouflage, OD watch caps, and CAR-15s in hand. Alex had arrived in the nick of time yet again.
Both of them had had on invisibility cloaks, and shed them as soon as it looked like the hostiles were down. Stepping on the corpses, Alex first went over to Harry, and asked, "Harry?"
Harry wanted to answer, but didn't as Mueller had long shown himself the master of mind games. Was this a Machiavellian ploy on Mueller's turf to break him further, to see if all that he had 'spilled' was genuine information?
The hesitation must have been visible on his face, as Alex knelt and asked gently, "You don't think it's really me?" Harry nodded, and Alex leaned over and started whispering in his ear.
"Before I left, I had the Headmaster allow me to remove certain aspects of my memory and place them in a Pensieve, as I know what the odds of me being captured and held are. You aware of what I'm talking about?" Harry nodded, as during his SERE training he had been told of a little-known Ministry procedure called Mind-Scan. It was a complicated procedure occasionally used by Auror's and others to have certain aspects of their memory removed and held in a Pensieve. This ensured that critical, need-to-know information could be removed from high-ranking personnel and decreases the subsequent damage in the event one of them fell into enemy hands during situations where they had to be exposed to grievous danger.
Alex continued, "I kept one piece of information, and that was that I found you and your girlfriend, one nobody knows about, in the Astronomy Tower." Harry had to think for a moment, as there were a lot of people who had gone through Hogwarts and knew about it. Could be a lucky guess…
Fuck it, I haven't got a choice…
Harry grinned a little, and said, "Well, it took you more then seventy-two hours, dickhead."
Alex didn't laugh, and asked him, his tone all business, "How bad are you?"
"Couple of cracked ribs for sure, some internal damage, no limbs broken but the fuckers shot me up with some shit that makes me see dinosaurs. Feet and balls are messed up to."
"What happened there?"
"Feet got taken out with a ball-peen hammer, and the balls got a couple of deep gouges from your lady love over there." Harry coughed, and was surprised to see that the blood that had started to appear earlier was now in larger quantities with his phlegm. Before he had thought it was from his teeth or nose. Now, coupled with the kickings he had received earlier, it was obvious just how fucked up he was. Alex turned and gave a cold glare at Mueller and Liz. Mueller shrugged, whilst Liz merely stared back. Alex pulled a small vial of a purple liquid from his belt kit, unstopped it, and put it to Harry's lips. "Drink, Harry." Harry did so, and almost spat it out. It felt like molten lava, burning its way down, leaving behind a taste of very sour grapes. Gasping as he had forced it down, Harry felt a strange tingling throughout his body, as though his body had fallen asleep the way a person's foot did occasionally.
Alex explained to him, "It's called Jupiter's Blood, and it's an ancient potion which can 'stopper death'. It will temporarily fix you up, and then all your wounds will hurt real bad, worse then before… " Harry started giggling, and said to Alex, "That's what Snape says in Potions. The stopper bit."
"Snape probably got that from Professor Wormwood, the Potions master back in the day." With that Alex turned towards the two vampires. Getting up, walked towards them and knelt down near Liz. "Why?" He asked simply.
Liz curled her lips, "You poor fool, do you still think that old man is as wonderful as they say he is?"
Alex shrugged, "The best we've got, and better then any master I had in the muggle world. Besides, I never you thought you were much for power. Nor your best friend Linda for that matter…"
Liz laughed harshly, and spat blood from her fangs at him. "I don't have power, all I have, all I need is the night, and Joachim…"
"And the love I have, had, for you? What of that." Alex asked quietly.
Liz smiled cruelly, "How naïve you are. Did you honestly think that those fools in the ministry were going to let you continue to be an Auror after the war was over? That they would let me and you and Linda and other mudbloods do anything worthwhile once we weren't needed? We would be as bad as that werewolf your sister was friends with…"
"You didn't answer my question. What of the love I had for you?"
She continued to smile, "You betrayed me when you stood silent as though who we went to school with, those who whom we shared many a laugh and tear with were sent to die by that stupid old man. When you stood silent as my family, your family after your mother and father died, was killed, and we had to 'investigate' when we knew whom was responsible. You were more then willing to do as low as I've done when it was for you and precious Ministry, but you wouldn't touch some pureblood with the blood of others on their hands."
Liz stared into his eyes, "You let Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Avery get away when they were arrested because they claimed they were innocent. You let Karkarov go because he was going to confess in the trials after the war. You tell me if all the sacrifice, all the blood we shed and spilled in that miserable war changed anything, if it would have been worth it for a future together. Do you think it is?"
Harry still hadn't really figured out why Alex's lady had betrayed their side and gone over to the one that supported killing her. Then again, Voldemort was like him, like Lilly, like Alex and Liz. Even after all the years one still had to really figure out why the Cambridge Spy ring had gone the way it had, why people turned traitor, to go the way they did. Alex obviously hadn't, he just shook his head, and stared her in the eyes. "Good-bye Lizzie." With that, he fired a three round burst that dissolved her face and head in a flurry of blood and detritus. Mueller winced, and looked over Alex. Alex looked over at him, and said, "I kill you, you win as you've always wanted a release from eternal life, to be with your first wife. I don't kill you, you still win as you go forth to fight another day. Can't capture you, so…" Mueller shrugged, and answered, "I win regardless." Alex nodded, "So you do." With that, he emptied the rest of his magazine into Mueller's face, and ended the career of Voldemort's spymaster and master of intrigue.
Billy Fish, in the meanwhile, had gone over, dressed Harry's wounds, and gave him the rags Harry had left of his school uniform. It was dry, yet caked with mud and blood and shit, but still clothing nonetheless. Over it, he was given an Army woolen jumper, a pair of combat boots to replace his school shoes, and a Goretex smock.
Alex turned towards them, his business concluded, and said to Harry, "Let's go home." His voice sounded drained, fatigued, yet beneath that exterior was one of determination, of drive to go on. Billy Fish slung one of Harry's arms over his shoulders, and half dragged him out of the door. Harry went along, and kept quiet as he knew his uncle wanted to be silent. It wasn't everyday that one found out your love of your life was still alive, and a traitor to boot.
They passed through a long, dim hallway. Up a staircase, and outside into the courtyard of a ruined castle, dusk still settling. From there they ran pass a guardhouse with two dead vampires who looked as though they had just come on guard duty, and a row of vehicles with slashed tires. The place looked like the castle Harry had seen in a newer Robin Hood movie, only darker, more sinister and shabby. Past the gate, they took him into a forest where six other Ghurkas, dressed like Alex and Billy Fish awaited in ambush formation. Harry had been briefed that Fish was a powerful figure within the mountains of Nepal. Obviously, it was enough to get him a squad of Ghurka mercenaries, British-trained and easily the best damn infantry in the world. Probably why the Queen always had a number of the smiling, genial killers in her service…
Alex stopped them, and conferred with Fish and his men in rapid-fire Ghurkali. Harry hoped they could hurry up and get the hell out of there, as with the night upon them who knew how many vampires would start their hunt for Alex and his merry band of killers, as surely they hadn't killed all of the vampires?
"Harry"
"Yes, Uncle?"
"Let's go."
Falling into a column, with Fish leading point, they moved out at a fast clip through the forest. Harry found himself numbing, the pain a mere glimpse on the periphery as he moved as fast as the rest of the squad. Part of it was the drugs; mostly, it was stubborn pride, the kind he had learned through blood, tears, sweat and anger. It had kept him alive in captivity, and it would bring him back to the only home he knew.
The darkness was total, brought about by a new moon and the dense forest they were in. Harry's night vision took some time to adjust, but not before he was worried about getting separated from the rest of the column. Fortunately, he was in the center of the column, with Alex keeping a close eye on him. As they were moving fast, noise discipline was lax, and Alex filled him in on just what was going on.
Turns out they were in Latvia, near the Gulf of Riga with the vampire castle an old keep that had been used by the Teutonic Knights in the Middle Ages. It also turned out Mueller had put in place a series of charms that prevented it from being placed on a map, and ensured nothing magical transportation-wise could be used without really deadly pyrotechniques, at least for a fifty mile radius. Which was why they were moving as fast as possible through the only cover available towards a place Alex had set up a Portkey that would take them back home. Alex had opted over concealment in place of speed, as the vampires had a ring around the Mueller's base, and they had had to move fast within the past eight hours, daylight, to get where they were and get Harry out. Now, they were in a race to reach the Portkey before the blood-suckers got their trail. Worse, before Voldemort and his minions discovered that their 'prize' had escaped.
Harry didn't know how far they had marched until Alex had them stop near a small creek. They spread out, taking cover behind fallen logs, the base of tree trunks, whatever looked tempting in a circle facing outward. Alex went over to Harry and whispered, "Water break, ten minutes." Fish went around collecting water bottles, and was filling them up. Harry took a position behind a log, his CAR-15 at the ready, letting the cold air sink into his bones. The silence was eerie…
Fish had filled up the last canteen and tossed one over to Harry. Harry caught it, and nodded his thanks. Fish grinned, and his teeth were white as a bolt of green hit him from above, dead before he hit the ground. Harry was stunned, and then things got real interesting.
A Ghurka shouted, and fired into the branches of a tree. Tumbled down a wizard with an invisibility cloak and broom, his head a slimy mess where one of the 5.56mm rounds had removed his face for him. Another Ghurka fired a burst into him, to make sure he was dead. Parachute flares rose into the air, bathing the area in a dull light. They were followed by tracers as seemingly thousands of rounds of ammunition started to hammer into their little glen. The rounds had the crack of 7.62mm short, standard Eastern Bloc ammunition. Obviously, the vampires had found them and were going after them with both hands.
Harry hugged the ground, one eye still closed to protect his night vision, his insides trying to protect himself from the danger before him. It took him a minute to realize that he was no longer at the mercy of merciless people, that he had the means to damage unto those that were opposing him. Harry took a quick look above the parapet of the log, and ducked down as a series of rounds skimmed the top. The safety off, he rolled to the end of it, pointed towards muzzle flash, and fired a few rounds…
Which was when Alex clapped him on his arm. He was kneeling next to Harry, oblivious to the firestorm around him. Grabbing Harry by the back of his next, he yelled into his "Take two magazines, and ditch the rest of the belt kit. Keep your Browning, and any small shit in your pocket but fuck the rest. Then follow me, got it?" Harry had his kit off and was ready to go before Alex had finished speaking. Satisfied, Alex bellowed out a command in Ghurkhali. Within a few minutes, the explosions of fragmentary grenades rang through the air, followed by a dense fog of smoke as every smoke grenade available was used.
Harry followed his uncle through the dense fog. Within a few minutes, they were running hell for leather through the woods, and Harry gritted his teeth and continued. For a man with a fucked up knee, Alex could run pretty fast, and that was precisely what he was doing, dodging and weaving past trees, logs, and other assorted debris. His chest felt on fire, his legs stung, but still he ran even though the pain was starting to appear. Behind him he heard more explosions, a greater amount of weapons fire. Harry wondered where the rally point as Alex was having them bomb-burst and scatter.
For what seemed like an eternity they ran, stopping only only for a minute, as Alex pulled a map out of his pocket, and set it on the ground. Shrugging out of his smock, he draped it over his head and used it to block the dull light from his red-filtered torch. Harry took a position next to him, and scanned the area around them. Alex had a Silva compass and was using it and a military protractor to figure out where the hell they were. Based on how fast they had gotten the hell out of the last firefight, they could be miles from the rally point where they would link up with Fish and the…
Fish is dead, a small voice reminded Harry.
Harry was given more pressing matters as Alex threw off the smock and gestured Harry to follow him. Once again, they took off at a dead sprint for a few minutes followed by a fast-paced march. Alex was like a machine, and they didn't stop until the dawn started to break, and before them stood a circle of stones, set like a firepit. Harry started to breathe a little easier, for that meant the blood-sucking motherfuckers would have to stop their hunt for them, albeit temporarily.
Alex slung off his rifle, and motioned Harry to come near him. Harry did so, and Alex ordered him, "Drop your weapon, as I got to prep you for the Floo." He had removed a small brown leather pouch, and appeared to be
"Floo? I thought you said we were going to be using a Portkey?"
"Had to say it that way to as you would be wanting an explanation that takes too damn. Now, shut it and let me prep you."
"Prep?" Harry was starting to not like the way things were sounding as time went by. Worse, the potion he had been on was wearing off, and he was probably starting to go into shock as he could feel himself shivering and shaking. Alex noticed, for he moved faster, dusting him with a brownish powder that smelled faintly of nutmeg. That done, he dropped one bag and brought another, this one black, from his smock and started sprinkling liberal quantities on and around the ring of stones. After a minute, holding the bag, he went over to Harry and walked him near the edge of the stones.
Harry was starting to feel wobbly, his head spinning, but still had enough control over himself to ask, "Where's everybody else?"
Alex didn't answer, he merely started taking the dust from the black bag, and sprinkled it over Harry. Harry asked again; Alex sighed and responded, "Ghurkas never surrender, and when I asked that they buy us time, they did so…With their lives."
"All of them?"
"To the last round, and the last man."
"Why?"
Alex stopped his dusting for a moment, and looked into Harry's eyes. His face was one of determination, and his voice was steel as he told Harry, " I have very little family left, and what I have left I hold dear. Billy Fish was a good friend, and he held family the same way. When I asked him to follow me to Hogwarts, he knew the risks, and wouldn't have had it any other way. Which was why him and his men fought like that."
Alex pulled something from around his neck, and placed it over Harry's head. Harry examined, and it appeared to be some kind of religious medal, which was strange since both sides of his family had been Anglican or Episcopalian. Alex explained, "Gerry's. He gave it to me before got on the troopship for Borneo. It's kept me safe since then. Now, I figure you need it. Saint George takes cares of fools and drunks like you and me."
He grinned slyly, and continued, "Besides, there's a one shot charm on it. Once I send you through this temporary Floo network back to the extraction point, it will seal the network and prevent the fuckers from following you."
"And you?"
"I can apparate, and once you're on your way I'll be getting out via Norway, Germany, France, and home. Now this," Alex stuffed a silver object that looked like a cigar tube into the inner pocket of Harry's smock, and explained that once he landed out of the Floo he was to use device, which would fire a flare. "This will bring in the rescue elements. Just remember, once you get there, just stand fast and…"
"Do nothing." Harry thought he was hearing things, for that was the drawl of Lucius Malfoy. Eyes darting, Harry felt his insides numb as he spotted the line of black-robed and masked figures moving towards them from the forest. For a moment, he wildly thought that it wasn't Alex, or that Alex was one of them as didn't he have a magical eye that could have spotted these sodding bastards?
Harry took a look into Alex's eyes for a moment, and once again saw the iron will behind them. Alex had spotted them, but in order to give Harry a chance to escape he had calmly gone about prepping him as though it were business as usual. Based on the terrain they were in, Harry knew they would have been hard-pressed to fight that many Death Eaters and win. True, they would have taken more then a few of them before they got slotted, but they would still be dead.
Tears formed at his eyes, for he fully realized the sacrifice his uncle was willing to make. Indeed, was making as he placed a hand on Harry's shoulders, and said softly, "I've always loved you like my own son, Harry."
"Step away, Evans. We deal with the boy." The skirmish line continued to move forward. Harry felt the hand on his shoulder moving, but didn't dare look for he remembered another bag held in that hand. What was his uncle doing?
"Harry?"
"Yessir?" Harry's voice was raspy, hard with emotion.
"When you're back holding your woman in your arms, young man," Alex's face was starting to light up with amusement.
"This is your last warning, mudblood." Lucius and his crew had stopped and had them surrounded. It was obvious now more then ever that they wouldn't be able to break out of this one so easily.
Alex had his trademark confident, leering grin on, and for some reason Harry felt his blood quicken.
"Harry?"
"Yes, uncle?"
"Give her a squeeze for me." Alex laughed, and pushed him into the circle. Harry felt himself fall into a pool of water, only this time it was a green crackling field. The last vision he had of his uncle was as he drew his wand from the sleeve of his and was spinning to meet his enemies.
Harry felt himself fall for a moment, and then land with a splash. Water rushed through his nose and mouth, making him cough and splutter. Rolling over on to his side, Harry looked through dirty, water splashed glasses to notice that he was no longer in the forest clearing, that he was near the shoreline of lake that was surrounded by woods, and the mountains in the distance looked like the ones he had seen in the distance around Hogwarts. Harry was real close to home.
Weak, tired, cold, miserable…Harry had been there and did it before. Or at least he thought he had for Harry was discovering just how much training was worth as he crawled on his belly through the mud and out of the water. His feet still in, he brought the signal flare out of his pocket, and slammed the flat on the ground.
HissssBursting from it was a bright scarlet phoenix that shot out into the sky, and grew for several minutes before disappearing. In a way it was almost like a Dark Mark.
Harry rolled over on to his back, and looked at the sky. Overcast, not a sight of blue. All in all, if he had to die here and now, it wouldn't be a bad way to go, with his face to the clouds, and relatively comfortable on a beach of sorts. True, the cold was somewhat biting, and the water wasn't all that pleasant, but still it was a sight better then the screaming he had had to undergo before Alex rescued.
It reminded him that his uncle may or may not back it back. That thought was only temporary, as Harry knew his uncle was the dirtiest and smartest bastard this side of the wizarding world, and if anyone could march through hell and back it would be…
Harry's thoughts were interrupted as he felt himself doze. Rapidly, he blinked his eyes and shifted the position of his body, feeling the cold, relishing the thing that was his hope of survival. Silently, he thought of every good thing that had happened to him, to keep him going. Hogwarts, his friends both from school and combat, the women he had slept with…The girl he loved more then any other, Ginny…
In his mind, he asked why he felt that way, and answered his questions, playing the Devil's barrister. In the time he had gotten to know her, she always brought a smile to his face, she was there to talk to, to laugh with, to be one whom he drew strength from, both drew their strength from the other…If that wasn't love, then what was? Harry was glad that his uncle had given him the opportunity to learn to distinguish what was true love from a temporary feeling over the summer. Alex had probably saved his mental health, and given him the tools he had needed to fight, and survive against a most determined opponent. To come back to Ginny…
Harry had a vision of her, dressed in her finest for the Yule Ball, and the night they had first made love…Truly there is a difference between the two, fucking is entertainment, the other is much, much more…Harry mused to himself. Odd the thoughts you had when you were slowly dieing, for all hypothermia is death extra slowly.
His thoughts came to an end for in the distance he could hear a noise unlike that a broom made when it was flying. On his back, Harry looked around, and saw a sight he thought he would only see in pictures…Rather, in pictures or if he went to the Middle East, for there was a flying carpet not unlike that he had seen in illustrations from 'Arabian Nights', with the twins steering it like a boat, Neville and Doc and even Ron carrying assault rifles and British Army rig.
Harry smiled, and watched as his three friends jumped into the water from a height of five feet from carpet. Eyes swiveling, his last sight before he drifted into the darkness was of three people on broomsticks flying over his position in a standard v-formation.