A/N: Okay, I guess last chapter was a cliffie of sorts. Sorry to anyone who suffered from my ending! I take full responsibility!

Thanks for the reviews!

Chapter Thirty Nine: The Split Up

For a moment, Harry felt as though he couldn't breathe as his rage claimed him. She was here. In the house. With Sirius and Draco. The Elemental Veela's body was quivering with what Harry recognized as anger and fear.

Bellatrix Lestrange was evil, pure and simple. She topped Harry's Top 100s List of Crazy Evil Villains, right under good old Tom and just before Wormtail.

Hermione must have heard her voice as well, and Harry jumped as she put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He looked into her understanding brown eyes.

"I know you want to avenge what happened to Sirius in June but you have to remember what we came here for." At Harry's silence, she continued. "I know it's hard and I would never ask this of you but we need to get the others out of here. Just this once, listen to me and I will not stop your revenge next time."

Harry took a deep breathe. "I'm not going to just storm up there Hermione. Not without a plan. But we do have to get closer to listen."

With a tense nod, the group followed Harry as he slinked up the marble stairs. While they were a quiet bunch, Harry was thankful for the solid stone stairs, as aged wood tended to pick up a nasty habit of creaking and Ron was not the most stealthy person Harry had ever met.

The stairs themselves were steep but not too long. In moments Harry was slowly easing closely to what appeared to be a one-way mirror. Ron gasped before Ginny could smack her hand around his mouth at the sight before them.

Bellatrix was just a few short feet away from their hiding place conversing with a fellow Death Eater who looked suspiciously like the one who cursed Hermione in the Department of Mysteries. With a quick motion of his hand, Harry made to listen to the conversation.

"Shouldn't that blasted snake be here by now? My Lord will not be happy if she gets lost. Somehow we'll get blamed for it." The mysterious Death Eater grumbled as Bella gave him a wild, insane look of shocked anger.

"How dare you speak ill against our Lord? He is merciful, powerful, dark! You should be killed for your very thoughts, Antonin!"

The wizard named Antonin actually rolled his eyes at the witch beside him.

"Bella, you're an insane piece of shit. One too many Crucios has made you a few cores short of a wand. Don't lecture me on proper Death Eater behavior. We're guarding a fucking hallway, looking for a giant snake that gets its giggles out of eating wizards and witches like us. I'll say anything I want about the Dark Lord."

Bella seethed. "You should be forever grateful that you have been entrusted with this task! I am My Lord's most loyal! I would do anything for him!"

Antonin waved a hand at the witch gracefully as he looked up and down the hall.

"You're like a broken record with all your 'I am the most loyal!', Bella. Hasn't done you any favors really. Now if you're done ranting in my ear, there's a few girlies down in the dungeon that need their Uncle Anty to 'cheer' them up. Have fun Bella."

Harry and his friends watched as the deadbeat Death Eater walked off the job, leaving a furious, nearly-frothing-at-the-mouth-insane Bellatrix Lestrange failing her arms and stamping her feet as she shouted at his retreating back. Finally the Azkaban Escapee stamped down the hallway still muttering wildly to herself.

Harry waited until he couldn't hear her footfalls any longer before letting a small string of magic out to follow her magical signature. Mapping out her route with his mind, it was another five minutes before Bella was back where she started, having gone around them in a complete circle. Amazingly she was still muttering to herself about the most loyal Death Eater and all that rubbish she told herself. Harry growled.

"Okay, here's the plan." He whispered as Bella set off making her rounds again. "Hermione you know how to do that locater spell right?" At the girl's nod, the Elemental Veela continued. "I'll need you and Ron and Ginny to use it to find everyone. Disillusion each other, use invisibility spells I don't care, just don't be seen."

Ginny narrowed her bright blue eyes at him. "And just what will you be doing while we're off getting everyone?"

Harry grinned something that would make Voldemort think twice before cursing the Gryffindor again.

"Well while you're off playing hero, you'll need a decent distraction. Some explosive and creative. That's where Luna and myself come in. I'll give you guys half and hour to get everyone out. Come back here quickly. If we're not here..." Harry trailed off as the three Gryffindors gave him alarmed looks. Luna just looked accepting. Harry continued. "If we're not here leave without us. Sorry Luna."

The Seer just smiled mysteriously at him. "I do not fear death Harry."

The Boy-Who-Lived blinked at her but carried on.

"They've noticed the absence of Nagini so the house will be on high alert. Be careful please." Harry looked at Ron and Hermione. "Don't forget your crystals. We also have bonds of friendship. If you need help think about me. I'll come I swear."

Both nodded and Ron cleared his throat.

"So do you have any idea of how we're getting rid of our guard?"

Harry gave him a measured look. "No. Do you?"

To the shock of the group, the redhead gave his best friend an alarmingly Slytherin smile.

"I have a few."

Bellatrix Lestrange, insane or not, knew she was acting like a child but at the moment, she did not care. Death Eaters these days! Ever since baby Potter got lucky that night, the Dark Lord has had his followers desert him, get arrested and turn out to be spies!

"Potter. It's all Potter's fault." Bella mumbled to herself as she fumed down the hallway. She was so furious, she didn't see the table that she had been passing for the last hour and tripped up in one of it's awkward legs. With a startled yelp, one of Azkaban's most infamous escapees fell flat on her face.

For a moment, Bella just lay there in complete amazement. That damn table dared to trip her? Her! With a hiss that warned of impending danger, Bella pushed herself up on her elbows to give that table apiece of her mind when a childlike giggle echoed down the hall.

Immediately, Bella tensed as her eyes darted towards the darkness and strained to see. There were no lights on in the house, as to not alert the muggles or the blasted ministry but even in the pale moonlight, the Lestrange mistress could see a ghostly figure at the end of her hall.

She blinked and the image vanished. Bella puffed in relief. Antonin was right, she was crazy. Either that or the fall had knocked a few things loose upstairs. Convinced that the figure was just an apparition of her imagination, the black haired witch froze when that tinkling laughter sounded down the hallway again. Only this time it was at the other end and much closer. Bella's eyes widened for a second as her gaze caught a glimpse of her figure before she swiftly closed them.

There were only two things witches and wizards feared when it came to the safety of their souls. The first were Dementors, who were on Voldemort's side already. The second were evil, unpredictable and beautifully deadly. Bella sucked in a shaky breathe as the Couchemal giggled again. Bellatrix knew that if she opened her eyes and saw its eyes, her soul, however black, would be painfully ripped from her body and eaten as the empty shell that was left would be forced to do its new master's bidding.

Couchemal were angelic creatures, looking for all purposes, like Veela. Their pure white auras gave off an entrancing magic that ensnared unlucky witches and wizards into gazing into their bottomless black eyes.

The pitter-patter of feet and another tinkling giggle, forced Bella to stagger into the wall with fright and an actual whimper escaped her lips.

Harry watched in awe as Lestrange tripped over herself in order to get away from the 'horrible Couchemal'. The Elemental Veela turned to Ron.

"Why have I never heard of these? If I had known that pure bloods all feared them I'd've dressed up like one long ago and just stood at the foot of Voldie's bed."

Ginny punched him in the arm. "It's an old pure blood story, much like Elemental Veela. I think you learn about them in seventh year."

Hermione nodded before looking at her watch. "We have to go. Will Luna be okay here with you on the other end of the house? That still is Bellatrix Lestrange cowering like a baby over there."

Harry nodded. "Unless she has more braincells than we thought possible, those spells on Luna should last an hour. Let her float around for ten more minutes, then she'll stun Lestrange and tie her up and meet me where ever. Apparently she'll know."

The four Gryffindors exchanged looks but did not say a word as one by one they filtered out into the darkness, their tasks the one thing that needed their full attention.

Luna thought about the time her father sat on his wand and accidentally cursed off one of his butt cheeks. Another innocent giggle, followed by a moan of fear echoed in the hallway. Feet under a silencing spell, Luna quickly ran past Bella and thought up another amusing memory.

She hoped that this would give the others another time to get everyone out before Lestrange got suspicious and used her wand. Luna hoped that the powers that be would warn her before she died, if that were to be the case. A whisper. Ah, they were gone. Now it was just her and Bellatrix.

Harry side stepped another Death Eater guard. That was only the second one he had seen in the last ten minutes. I guess most expected Neville to fail... Harry thought as he looked down the hallways. Big manors like this usually had room that was a cross between a ballroom and a smaller version of the Hogwarts Great Hall. If Harry could get up in those beams, he'd have the perfect place to conduct his little distraction.

Passing another black marble snake Harry grimaced. It seemed as though Voldemort had done some redecorating for his return. Personally Harry thought the Dark Wizard had absolutely no sense of interior decorating style. Then again, Harry had spent the last five years sleeping a dorm room that was decked out in scarlet and gold. Who was he to criticize?

Finally the narrow corridors opened out into a spacious, dark corridor, large enough to fit the Dursley's house in and still get the company car to fit in the garage.

At the very end were two large double doors, lit by a torch on each side. The flame was silver, glinting off of the ridiculously big 'S' that adorned the doors. Slytheirn.

Harry rolled his eyes. What was Voldemort trying to make up for something? The Elemental Vela frowned. Ew.

Harry was just about to touch the door when he stopped and looked at it again. Then the Gryffindor smacked his forehead. How stupid could he get, touching a door like that? It didn't even have any handles to open it with.

Biting his lip, Harry looked around. He could use his magic, but that might alert the remaining Death Eaters of everyone's presence. Plus, a door like this would probably have some wort of curse or password on it.

The word password sparked something in Harry's memory and his eyes quickly snapped towards the large 'S' on each door. They weren't just letter but snakes as well. Basilisks. Each had an emerald for an eyes and Harry grinned.

"Tom, you're getting horribly predictable." He whispered to himself before clearing his throat.

Concentrate on the snakes. Pretend they are alive. Harry thought to himself before speaking.

"Open."

The snakes danced away form the edges of their doors, and as they did, took the doors with them, opening up to a dark room. Harry quickly entered, his footsteps echoing off the walls. It was perfect. The doors stayed open as Harry looked at his watch. Luna should be on her way to him now. Just as the thought crossed his mind, the stone around his neck grew warm and Luna's whispered voice sounded in the room.

"I've stunned her and tied her up in a broom closet not far from the mirror door. Did you find a good place?"

"Yes. It's not far from where you are. Just use 'point me'." Harry said. "I'll get started."

"Yes, sir." Came the reply and the stone cooled before Harry could get too outraged at the young Seer.

Ginny held her breathe as two more guards passed. Being invisible sure had its advantages in a house full of Death Eaters.

The two wizards passed and Ron had the sense to wait until they had turned the corner before letting out a breathe. Hermione had said that they must be getting closer to Blaise and Draco for there to be so many more guards stomping about. Ginny hoped so, they had already wasted fifteen minutes of their time.

Opening an unimpressive wooden door to another dark empty room, Ginny huffed. The 'point me' spell had stopped working on this floor but the trio was quickly running out of doors.

Ron growled. "This is ridiculous! Why can't we find them?"

Ginny was just about to snap at her brother when a loud BAM indicated that he had done the rash, idiotic thing and punched a wall.

Instead of cracking, like any normal piece of old wood would have done under that kind of force, that particular piece of wood gave back a bit before sliding to the left and revealing a narrow dark passage. At it's end stood a lone door, pale yellow light seeping out from around its edges.

Muffled voices could be heard and Ginny felt a pull from just behind her ribcage. Blaise!

With a cry, Ginny pushed past her brother and bound down the darkness toward the door. Without thinking, the youngest Weasley grabbed the knob and tugged before giving a yelp and pulling back.

The door knob, a silver, twisting snake, hissed and glowed a hostile red as Ginny clutched her hand. Hermione, ever the brain huffed in annoyance and fear.

"A Burning Hex! Ginny, you should know better!"

Taking the girl's raw and shiny palm, Hermione did a quick healing spell and conjured up some bandages. While she couldn't heal the wound completely, it was clean and numb.

Ron, having taken off his Invisibility Spell, glared at the still hissing snake.

"How do we get in?" He asked without looking at Hermione.

The bushy-haired prefect bit her lip.

"I'm not entirely sure. I've just started reading up on Burning Hexes and not all of them have counters."

Ron rubbed the bridge of his freckled nose.

"So no magic or brains to solve this one?"

Hermione scowled. "I guess not."

Ron huffed before squaring his shoulders and walking determinedly towards the door.

"What are you-" Began Ginny but she stopped as Ron pulled his right leg up, just a foot from the door, and kicked the thing down. It flew right off its hinges.

The door landed with a loud THUMP and a gray cloud of dust. All noise inside the room had stopped, as did any movement outside the room while everyone starred at Ron.

The redhead grinned sheepishly.

"I've always wanted to do that."

"Ron!" Came Sirius' ecstatic voice and the two girls swiftly ran into the room, banishing their Invisibility Spells. Ginny gasped.

They were all in cages. Remus' was unusually more shiny than the rest and he kept away form it's edges as he looked at the three Gryffindors. Everyone looked fine, but where was-

"Blaise!" Ginny screeched and ran for the motionless boy at the end of the room. The Slytherin's normally pale face was white and sweaty, with odd shadows under his closed eyes. His breathing was off as well.

"What happened?" Ginny whispered brokenly as she touched his face. Unconsciously he turned toward that touch and Ginny gave a small smile.

It was Pansy who spoke.

"Longbottom. He has us all connected to elecktricity. Blaise couldn't keep his mouth shut and got hurt for it."

That last bit was said with a quiver in the normally spunky girl's voice.

"Remus' bars are silver. You have to get him out of there." Sirius said, desperately.

Hermione was wide eyed. "That no good son of a bitch!"

Ron made a strangled noise. "Excuse me?" 'Hermione just swore?' was the question unsaid.

Hermione looked about ready to blow a blood vessel.

"How dare he use muggle technology to torture people! When I get my hands on that no good bastard, I'll make sure there's nothing left but a greasy spot on the floor!"

Ron blinked at his crush, looking somewhat fearful. "Yes, will that main thing we have to worry about is getting these people out of here."

With a nod, Hermione opened Remus' cage while Ron started on the closest one to him, which just happened to be Professor Snape. The Potions Master looked extremely uncomfortable as Ron helped him to his feet.

Draco was next.

"Where's Harry? We were allowed to see only a bit of his fight with Longbottom before the spell wore off. Is he okay?"

Ron looked taken aback at the blond's concern for his best mate.

"Harry is fine. He's probably with Luna right now."

Hermione had just unlocked the last cage, Theodore's, when an explosion shook the house.

Sirius gave them an alarmed look.

"What the hell was that!" He asked as he supported Remus.

It was Hermione's turn to adopt a Slytherin smirk.

"That was Harry."

A/N: I know another cliffie, but it's like four thirty here! I was planning on updating Thursday night but I got sick and Friday night I had to babysit so here it is, Saturday night and an update! The word Couchemal was taken from Evelyn Vaughn's book 'Beneath the Surface'. I made up the who soul thingy.

Thanks for all the reviews!

S.Tangerine