CHAPTER 11: Malfoy vs Potter: Clash at the Ministry of Magic

After a subdued (and tense) breakfast, Professor Dumbledore, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Cho, and Ginny were all dressed and ready to use the fireplace to get to the Ministry of Magic.

"I had it arranged so that only I can allow traffic in and out of this particular fireplace. However, we must be careful not to say the location of this place too loudly when we come back, understood?" They all nodded, and one by one they stepped into the green flames and were gone. Harry and his friends emerged at the main hall at The Ministry of magic, the statue of the wizard, elf, and witch nowhere to be seen. Now, there was only a simple fountain inside of the well.

"Harry and I will be on the third floor, seeing about the formalities. I daresay there are some fantastic paintings on this floor a little way down, if anyone is interested in the finer arts of magic- the artwork on display here hold secrets to the mysteries of life, and the infinitely complex workings of the human mind."

Unsurprisingly, only Hermione indicated she wanted to see them. Ginny and Ron raised their eyebrows in bafflement, and said they would simply go and visit a few of their father's workmates then meet them back here. Cho, not wanting Harry out of sight for too long, volunteered to come up and wait for him in the sitting area. Dumbledore sighed in amusement as Hermione, Ginny and Ron left- and allowed Harry and Cho to go first into the elevator. Ron and his sister walked with Hermione to the gallery of paintings that were near to the staircase, and after briefly scanning them, decided to leave Hermione in her own little universe and went down the stairs to the lower levels. She was there for around fifteen minutes until she heard a cold voice she knew all to well.

"Careful now, you wouldn't want to get your mudblood slime all over wizard art," Draco sneered. "No cleaner on earth would be able to get rid of the stench." Hermione steeled herself, and then turned around, a forced smile (which strongly resembled a grimace) plastered on her face.

"Malfoy. How nice to see you."

"You know, I could have said something similar, but I don't give compliments to you or your kind," Draco was openly her blossoming body, making it crystal clear that he was undressing her in his scrutiny. "Looking fit, Granger. Keeping some man warm in bed these days?"

"HOW DARE YOU!" she spat, eyes furious. She instinctively reached for her wand- but hesitated.

"Tut –tut, no hexing here I'm afraid, it's a crime for mudbloods to perform magic inside Ministry buildings, it's sort of a prestigious thing." He grinned at her, folding his arms arrogantly.

"Don't be foolish, it has nothing to do with that. I know perfectly well I can't hex you right now, Malfoy, there are non-magic security measures here," said Hermione, her anger slowly rising.

"Well, if you need any galleons on the side, you know where to find me. I could use a wench like you- apparently there is a high demand for mudblood whores recently -" said Draco. As soon as it left his mouth Hermione let fly with a stinging slap. Expecting it -Draco caught it easily. "Ah- Granger, you won't catch me with that twice," he leered, squeezing her wrist painfully under his grip. Without much effort- he forced her hand down. When Hermione retaliated with her other hand- Malfoy easily avoided it, and twisted her arm so that it was locked painfully behind her back. With a deliberate, and painstakingly slow measure, he trickled the back of his knuckles down the side of her neck and took a deep breath, taking in her scent. "You know, I never got you back for that slap a few years ago," he hissed venomously into her ear, igniting the tip of his finger and holding it precariously close to her face. She flinched away from the flames, and Draco blew a breath across her face- extinguishing his fingertip fire like a candle. "Let's see what Weasel thinks of you after I scar that pretty face of yours-"

"You'll be expelled Draco. Your father won't be able to save you this time-" Hermione said haughtily, putting on a brave face. Her words were big- but inside, she knew she was in trouble. Draco seemed different, and this fire he produced in a hex-free area was an anamoly. His finger was still glowing underneath the skin, a waft of smoke curling away from the tip.

"Oh really? Do you think I care about that? I am..."

Suddenly, the lights in the gallery area disappeared, casting them in total darkness. The hairs on Hermione's arms began to react violently, her bushy hair crackling. Malfoy's grip eased a bit, and he spun his head to the side to see what was happening.

"What? Inciendo Enflamare!" Draco whispered, igniting the tip of his finger once again- bathing them in it's warm orange glow. Both of their eyes widened as they saw the lone figure at the end of the hall, standing dangerously still. A cloak hung limply to his ankles, the silhouette of a young man casting a shadow against the wall. After a second of taught silence, the figure approached slowly- two glowing eyes piercing the darkness. Draco frowned, feeling this strange, heavy magic encompass the art gallery.

"What the fuck is this now?" he asked, getting irritated. The figure approached, and he couldn't believe who it really was. "Potter?"

"Malfoy."

"I guess this is the time you warn me to let her go?" Draco laughed. "And then I'd say 'And what if I don't'…" he taunted, but did not get a chance to finish.

"HARRY! NO!" Hermione screamed. It was so fast, in what felt like a heartbeat; Harry was upon the both of them. Draco released her as a reflex, but as he did so- there was a sickening crack as a swirl of black robes rushed passed her, the sound of bone breaking reverberating through the hall. Draco was sent sliding face first for almost twenty feet on the smooth polished floor. Hermione stumbled shakily, falling unto her hands and knees. As she looked up at his frozen stance- she understood what had just taken place. Harry had quickly grabbed Draco's forearm- and snapped it with a sharp blow to his wrist. How did he know how to do that?

Draco got up slowly to his feet, nursing the broken arm. The pain shot up to him in waves- but he still couldn't believe it. He looked incredulously at his numbing fingers- fingers that were half a second ago holding a tight grip on Hermione. His eyes flared red as he muttered the most powerful spell he knew-

"Incendio ar Mustira!"

The Combustion spell ignited the front of Harry's robes, the fire catching slowly on the magical garment Hermione had bought for him. The medallion burned red against his chest, and Harry froze for a millisecond, contemplating how to deal with this situation. Without any other alternative- he grabbed the end of his cloak and used it to protect his hand as he ripped the front of his tunic off.

"Smart move- Potter- INCIENDIO AR MUSTIRA!" he incanted again, this time targeting his burning cloak. It engulfed his hand in a flash- and Hermione screamed.

"HARRY, your hand!" Harry did not acknowledge her cry, but instead of a searing pain, he felt the flames tickle his hand, and slowly being absorbed. It felt as is someone had covered his arm Murtlap essence, a cool- refreshing feeling made his way down the lenght of his arm- quite the contrast to what he was seeing. He couldn't understand it...

He will be a strong opponent when the time comes…

Curious now, he cupped the flames in his hand. His face took on a reddish hue as the embers of flame danced merrily in his eyes. Clenching his fist, Harry launched the ball of burning material back at Draco, instinctively muttering another summon. As the fireball arced towards Draco- it combusted again, quadrupling in size.

"What the-!" Draco threw up his good arm in reflex as the impending Infernus Wall of Fire summon engulfed him. The fire cascaded like the flow of molten lava, his own magical power reversed and countered back against him. Drawing his wand, he drew his arm as far back as he could, and then swung it forward, spinning a full revolution as he brought the tip down to the point at his feet. The blaze in that circumference extinguished, leaving him surrounded by a wall of fire an arm's length away from him in all directions.

The entire hall glowed eerily; as Draco stood there- almost too stunned to speak. He squinted through the flames- there was a nasty burn on the center of Harry's chest- but other than his destroyed sleeve, his hand was completely unscathed. Harry's eyes burned blue once again- and he outstretched his open fingers towards Draco- closing them slowly into a fist. Once again- the ring of fire began to constrict around Draco, crossing the line of his imperturbable shield. This time- those fires were lethal- he could feel the flames licking at him already. He panicked- what in the world was happening?

" What the hell!" Malfoy took a running jump and dove out of that trap, ignoring the stabs of pain shooting up his broken arm. The flames turned direction- and once again were coming after him, running along the ground like huge rolling blades slicing through a pizza. Once again- he drew his wand and swung it in an arc from above his right shoulder and swooped it down on bended knee, bringing the wand high up behind him. " Infernus Protego ar Mustira!" he screamed, desperately trying the counter spell of his own curse. The walls of flame was cut off, the fire shield charm creating another fire-less perimeter on the ground. He straightened up, again, back in the same situation he was before. He looked for an escape- but he knew that he could not win this time.

Potter can also control the Infernus? Impossible!

"DRACO! Run!" Hermione screamed.

"It seems not only I have learnt a few new tricks," Draco hissed. "Until we meet again, Granger-" he threatened, and with another glare of hatred towards his enemy- he disapparated.

After the brief but intense encounter the light gradually brightened and Harry took a deep calming breath. Looking directly at Hermione, his eyes were still burning- and he strained to focus them back at her worried face. Hermione stayed still, still too frightened to move. Harry shakily knelt down by her side and examined her pale wrist. Draco's fingers left it black and blue, discolouring her fair skin.

"Are you okay?" he asked shakily. He took her hand gently. "I'm sorry that he did this, and I'm more sorry that I..I- " he wavered a bit- beads of sweat dripping off his face.

"Harry? Harry! Are you okay-?"

"My chest-... it burns.." he breathed. "Hermione .." before he got to finish he passed out, falling limply to the floor.

"Harry! Oh no- not this again!" Hermione turned him over unto his back immediately, quickly examining him. She looked at where Malfoy had disappeared. The flames were gone, the only thing that would leave any clue to what happened here in those few moments was Harry's appearance. His new tunic was ruined; and it irritated her that it was one of the nicer ones she got for him. There was an ugly burn on his chest and the whole right arm of his garments was burnt completely off. Strangely enough, she noticed his arm was unscathed. Hermione began to panic- shaking Harry urgently.

"Come on- get up- get up! I can't use my wand, no one can see you here like this, come on Harry, please! Please? Get up- you've got to get up-" Hermione knelt at his side, watching his head twitch fractionally with off-cue reflexes. She wanted to take care for him- but at this moment, she was so scared for his safety that her usual composure and intellect was not helping right now. Trying to smooth away his sodden hair from his forehead, she felt a sudden drain on her magic on contact, then amazingly; felt quite dizzy. So dizzy in fact, she needed to lie down…

Her eyes drooped down slowly, and everything turned into a blur as she fell alongside him, knocked out cold.

"Ohhh…"

"Hermione? Hermione!"

Her eyes opened groggily. Ron and Ginny were leaning over the both of them- Ron trying to revive Hermione and Ginny trying to talk to Harry- who was moaning something incoherently to her.

"What happened?" Ron asked her immediately. "What happened to him- CRIKEY! Were you attacked? What in the blazes happened to his clothes!" The questions came tumbling out of his mouth rapid fire. "What's going on here?" Ron demanded again, his face quivering in anxiety.

"What- how long was I…?" Hermione asked, trying to remember where she was.

"Well, we were coming down here- and as we came around the corner, we saw a light – yeah, a light of some sort- coming through the hall, so we were like 'What's that?' When we came up here you were touching his face- then you keeled over," Ron babbled at high speed. " I just woke you up- you were out for maybe a few seconds…"

"And Harry?" Ginny asked, concerned about that injury to his chest.

"Harry got in a fight with Malfoy…" Hermione answered, the events playing back to her now.

"...Ron…Ginny…" Harry mumbled, his eyes opening slowly.

"Oh my god- Harry!" Ginny cried, cradling his head on her lap. "Are you okay?"

"I've got to get out of here-" Harry gasped, his whole body tensing. Ginny's eyes narrowed with worry, surveying his pale face and cloudy eyes. He moaned again, his forehead once again beading with sweat- "I feel..feeling..it's fire, burning throughout my body…"

"Harry, can you get up?" Hermione asked anxiously, once again examining his face. He was in obvious pain- and that profuse sweating wasn't looking healthy at all.

"The floo fires- are over…there" he pointed. "There are be people everywhere," he groaned softly. His eyes roamed about a bit aimlessly, scanning the three of them. "Where's Cho- and Dumbledore?" Hermione bristled at the mention of her name and Ginny also scowled.

"Cho is still upstairs with the Professor; I think- talking to Amos Diggory-" Ron assumed. "Told us to go ahead without them, they'll be a while…"

Harry could feel a fire consuming him from the inside- a strange feeling- as if being burnt and regenerated at the same time. He had to get out of here, and quickly- before he caused a scene. If only he could control his limbs properly. But first, he had to get past the security back to the fireplaces. Harry took a feeble hold of Ginny's hand-me-down plaid shirt that she got from her older brother. Another wave of fire coursed through his veins and he instinctively closed his eyes in pain, clenching his fist again.

"What is it?" Ginny asked again, watching him tug relentlessly on her shirt.

"Clothes…hide the burn…"

"Take mine-' Ron offered, unbuttoning his shirt.

"Ron, you can't walk through the Ministry of magic bareback- you'll embarrass your father! I know-" Hermione had an idea. "Ginny, I have a vest on underneath- give him that shirt, and I'll give you my top to wear, okay?" Ginny nodded at that idea. One by one, Ginny quickly unbuttoned her baggy shirt and then ripped off any remnants of Harry's destroyed tunic. As Ron and Ginny helped Harry to put on her shirt- Ron could not help but notice that his kid sister had bought herself some vivacious and provocative red underwear- and in his view, currently putting on a display.

"Ginny! Harry can see you!" Ron scolded, temporarily forgetting their purpose. "Harry- don't look-" Ron ordered, but Harry was smiling a bit stupidly at her, his head lolling all over the place. He felt as if his entire being was no longer under his control.

"…Nice…pair…Gin…" he laughed softly- trying desperately to stay awake. Ginny blushed profusely, but kept working on getting his limp arms into the shirt and buttoning him up. Afterwards, she hastily took Hermione's top and draped it over her almost bare chest.

"Come on Hermione, it may take the three of us to help him up-" Ginny ordered. After some uncoordinated attempts, they managed a count and the three of them helped him to his feet. Harry's head lolled forward with each dragging footstep he took, his muscles lacking any sort of energy to work. Ginny was leading the way- giving them a heads up before they bent any blind corners. Ron was on Harry's right, while Hermione was under his arm on the left, both of them toting him like a drunkard on his feet. Harry noticed that Ron was shooting frequent glances at Hermione, and her 'nice pair'. Not that he could blame him; he was trying not to look at her as well- but he couldn't ignore how beautiful she really was, and that thought is what troubled him. He closed his eyes in frustration.

Harry- your best mate likes her. Do you need a sign? She's Off Limits!

"Guys- there are a lot of people there- if the three of you move like drunks, you'll attract too much attention."

"I think Hermione could 'attract attention' all by herself –" Ron commented, mumbling underneath his breath. Hermione sighed in exasperation, and tightened her grip on Harry.

"C'mon Harry- it's only me and you from here out-" Hermione whispered. "Don't throw me down, please?' Hermione laughed, giving him a brief one handed hug around his waist. Harry vaguely nodded, and tried extra hard to put one foot in front of the other as normally as possible, but his limbs felt wooden and clumsy. After about three minutes, the group finally managed to cross the busy Floo Fire hall with only one or two strange glances in Harry's direction, but quite a few of men where checking Hermione out. With every step, Hermione could feel Harry's strength fading as more and more of his body weight pressed against her. "Just a few more metres, come on. .I'm here, you can lean on me…"

" When you're not strong I'll be your friend" Ron crooned in the background.

"Shut up, Ron..." Harry mumbled, trying not to laugh- his chest hurt like hell!

"Number 12, Grimmauld Place!" Ginny whispered into the fires. With a saucy wink at Harry, she stepped into the flames and was gone.

"You two go ahead- I'll come in last," Ron offered. Hermione nodded, and then whispered the address of Headquarters. Both of them wobbled inside, and then began to spin together at high speed. Her eyes had closed for a second, and the next thing she felt was someone awkwardly patting her side.

" 'Moine…" Harry grumbled. She felt strange, but it also felt…good. Hermione opened her eyes, staring into his brilliant green ones.

"Yes?" she breathed, her nose centimetres away from his. His warm breath played across her lips, and she knew any moment know he would.. any moment now-

"You're…stifling me.." Harry groaned softly, his eyes fully focused now.

Hermione shot up, looking around at their surroundings. She was sprawled on top of him in the middle of the drawing room at Sirius' manor, her body flush against his after falling out the floo fireplace.

"Oh- right, sorry about that…" She apologised, quickly getting off him. "I must admit- I've never felt this way before-"

"What way?" Harry asked, slowly getting to his knees.

"I meant- fell this way before," she corrected herself.

"I know- it took me about a minute to wake up, then another half a minute to wake you up. Floo fires are meant for one person at a time y'know…"

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked again.

"Ginny's gone to get me some water-" he said. "I don't know how to explain it, it feels as if I'm burning up, from my chest inwards…" Harry grumbled as he crawled unto an armchair. He was slowly regaining control of his body, but the strange double feeling he had previously was not going away. His chest burned fiercely, but something else was building up inside of him….

At that moment, Cho , then Ron waltzed through the fires. Cho spotted Harry in the armchair like a human jello man- almost sliding out of it, and Hermione in a simple white vest that left nothing to the imagination. Cho raised an eyebrow in silent question. Their eyes locked until Ginny came back in, giving Harry his water. He drank it gratefully, then seized up again, clutching his chest in pain.

"AAA!"

Cho ran over to him. "What's wrong honey?" Cho asked, kneeling next to his chair.

'Honey?' Hermione thought.

"He got a bad burn on his chest…" Ginny told her, hovering over the both of them. Cho immediately took out her wand- and ran it down the button line of his shirt- each one popping out magically one after the other.

"Oh my god," Cho gasped, looking at the damage. "Who did this?"

"Malfoy," Hermione responded.

"Quickly now, which one of you are good at potions?" Cho demanded, looking at Hermione, Ginny and Ron. The two Weasleys automatically pointed at Hermione.

"What is it? Is it really bad?" Hermione knew about regular burns, but this one was different. This was magic not associated with regular study- this was something unique, and dangerous. No ordinary burn would paralyse Harry this way…

"We need to concoct an antidote right away," she said softly. She pointed at the faint pattern that the burn imprinted on Harry's chest. "That is the mark of the Infernus."