Here you are my friends, my apology to you for leaving you with such a nasty cliffhanger last time. This chapter is pretty chaotic though, so hope you're all ready!
Enjoy! :3
Oh, how he'd missed this.
Of all the things Sirius hated about the man, Snape had been right about one thing; Sirius'd been practically useless this past year. Even if the circumstances for this blissful freedom from Grimmauld Place were less than desirable, he couldn't have been happier.
The kids being in the thick of it had been a surprise. They'd known Danny had been captured of course, and Molly had backed him up one hundred percent as he'd shouted and worried himself into a rage over how they were still sitting and doing nothing to save the boy while Dumbledore looked nothing more than slightly troubled at the news.
Then Arthur's message had arrived; Voldemort in the Ministry, Danny taken away and likely already in the Department of Mysteries, and who knew what kind of horrors the boy must be enduring now. The very boy Dumbledore had promised to protect.
Nothing but death would have kept Sirius inside after that.
They'd stormed the Ministry, all the Members of the Order that they'd managed to induct were called to action. One of Kingsley's men had let them in, and they'd followed the loud cries and sounds of battle within the Department of Mysteries to find a truly stupendous battle already underway. Between death eater, aurors, Voldemort himself... and Harry and his friends.
The kids weren't meant to be there.
But despite that, Danny was free and decimating a a significant number of death eaters with blasts that looked very similar to a certain deadly curse. Harry was holding his own as well, alongside the other Hogwarts students who's apparently snuck into the Ministry to free DAnny without them knowing. Sirius could only grin with pride at that, shove his worry aside at the danger they were in, and put his trust in them to know that now that the Order was there, they could escape now with Danny and get away from the fight.
He'd been all too happy to take on his mad cousin to allow the kids a chance at escaping. He'd seen them make their way to an open door, just before he managed to bring dear Bella to her knees. Another flash of red, and she was out of the fight for the foreseeable future.
So, despite the chaos and the carnage surrounding him, Sirius couldn't help but shout in victory and utter joy at being useful and contributing significantly to a war that shouldn't have been allowed to last this long in the first place.
Of course, something so stupid would be his fatal mistake.
A bright pulse of magic, a hit to his chest, and he was stumbling backwards. He'd barely processed his surprise before he was roughly shoved forward. He stumbled again, but this time towards the fallen form of his stunned and unconscious cousin.
He whipped around in surprise and was just able to catch a flash of glowing white before it disappeared behind the tattered cloth hanging from the stone archway. It was then that Sirius realized that he'd been far closer to the archway with the fluttering veil than he'd thought.
As he watched in bewilderment, the veil rushed backwards as if caught in a strong wind, and then fell utterly and completely still.
Confused and strangely unsettled, Sirius turned from the veil and got off the dais, quickly blocking a stray curse from the depths of the raging battle. Mind still reeling, he scanned the chaos for the kids to make sure they'd made it out safely.
And that's when he spots Harry.
Harry stood stock still, standing at the very top of the stone benches on the threshold of an open door, staring blankly at the stone archway.
Sirius' unease deepened, and he tried to fight his way to his godson, to get him through the door and away from this mess. But he'd only taken a few step towards the benches when Harry seemed to snap.
"NO!" Harry shouted, cracked and hysteric, his friends appearing at his side looking confused and panicked. They tried to pull Harry back, but he fought them off, and Sirius fought to reach his godson faster, as more and more of the combatants' attention was being drawn to Harry and his outburst.
"No, NO! We can still- He can't be- DANNY!" Harry screamed, desperate and wild.
And Sirius froze.
He slowly turned in mounting horror towards the structure at the center of the room, the veil still so very, very still.
And suddenly, he understood. The shove from behind and the... flash of white. A gloved hand, disappearing...
Dread and cold, cold horror flooded Sirius' veins and he could barely return his gaze to his godson.
Harry's friends had looks of dawning comprehension and shock etched into their expressions, but they held steady in preventing Harry from jumping back into the fight towards the veil.
A concussive wave of magic pushed all other thoughts out of Sirius' mind as he was thrown to the ground under the oppressive force.
He managed to look up just in time to see Dumbledore buckle, his knees hitting the ground as Voldemort moved. A horrible vision of writhing black magic swept past, and Voldemort vanished.
Momentarily stunned and pushing down tidal waves of guilt and fear, Sirius looked around frantically for where Voldemort could have gone. He couldn't have apparated out of the Ministry, Kingsley locked the sodding place down the moment he'd known Voldemort was here.
So where-
A scream from above; Sirius snaps around to find the doorway where Harry had been standing before now terrifyingly vacant. He catches just the hem of a Hogwarts robe whipping out of sight, and only three of Harry's friends still remaining on the stone benches, now sprawled out and dazed.
Sirius ran, frantic on his path towards the door.
He's not the only one to do so; the fight resumed with a vengeance with the death eaters now trying to keep the Order from leaving this Merlin forsaken room. But he wasn't going to be left here, he wasn't going to just do nothing as another one of the kids-
Guilt curdles his gut as he glances towards the veil one last time before barreling past Lupin, who's managed to get the the three kids still in the room off to the side, away from the fight. He's the first to force himself through the door, and sprints flat out towards the upper levels, wand held tightly and fighting down images of Harry slipping through the veil...
And him not able to do a damn thing to save him...
Just like Danny...
Sirius burst out into the Atrium, ignoring the shrieks and cries of 'Sirius Black!' from the frightened Ministry workers who's been locked in the Ministry once the battle had begun. They all scrambled away from him, pressing themselves to the walls of the Atrium, loud in their panic and confusion.
He ignored them, searching for- there! In the large clearing at the center of the enormous space, just next to the fountain of Magical Brethren, were Harry and his friends!
He allowed himself a quick breath of relief, as he ran towards them. But the relief soured as he got close.
Harry was on his knees with his head in his hands, and Hermione, Ron and... Draco Malfoy of all people, were all pointing their wands at his godson with mixed looks of fury and fear. Something was very wrong.
"Sirius!" Hermione's desperate shout echoed through the Atrium, drowning out everything else. Sirius ran up to them, the question of why they were aiming their wands at Harry died on his tongue as he finally got an up close look at his godson.
There was stone dust over Harry's dark robes on his left side, and a matching fracture in the edge of the fountain basin where Harry must have collided with it, water now leaking steadily into a pool around Harry's knees. Harry's shoulders hitched and shuddered, and there was a steady drip, drip, drip of blood from between Harry's fingers, creating lurid rosettes in the water beneath him.
Sirius had outstretched his hand, worried and confused, but Ron grabbed his wrist and hissed, "Don't!"
"Wha- He's hurt, we need to-" Sirius' anger flared, but he was interrupted by a harsh laugh that reverberated throughout the Atrium. Sirius whipped around, wand raised, searching for the source of the horrible, echoing noise. But at the harsh flinches and yet steady stances of Ron, Hermione and Draco, he focused back on Harry, just as Harry raised his head.
Sirius gasped and only just stopped himself from stumbling back in fear. Instead, he whipped his wand up, tip pointed directly at his godson's face.
Or rather, at the madman currently wearing it.
Harry's eyes were no longer Lily's soft green, but a vivid red, blood streamed like tears down his face, mouth stretched into a depraved grin. But worst of all, was Harry's scar.
What was once a slightly faded branching scar above Harry's right eye that only just barely nicked his eyebrow, now reached across Harry's face and down his neck, colored purple-black and pulsing. As Sirius watched, the branching tendrils creeped steadily farther down Harry's skin.
As red slit eyes settled on the tip of Sirius' wand, Harry's demented grin grew impossibly wider.
"Careful, Sirius Black." Sirius couldn't help a horrified gasp from escaping at the horror of a voice escaping his godson's mouth; a sickening combination of Harry's and Voldemort's voices rippling and tainting the other. "You wouldn't want to- hggck."
Harry's body suddenly lurched, blood flowing freely from Harry's eyes once more as flecks of green speckled through the red of his eyes for a moment.
"That's it Harry!"
"Don't stop fighting!"
"Don't let him win!"
Harry's friends urged Harry to fight off the possession, all while keeping their wand's aimed directly at Harry as he struggled.
There was a thundering crash behind them, and the next events happened in such quick succession, Sirius could barely keep himself from becoming overwhelmed.
First was the appearance of the portly Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. The man looked close to a conniption fit with how red his face was, but all color drained from the Minister's face as he registered Sirius, wand raised and in an attack position.
"Sir- Sirius Black!"
The Minister stumbled back, but before Sirius could say anything or acknowledge the Minster in any way, the crisp call of a phoenix heralded Dumbledore's entrance, followed quickly by another hoarse chuckle that drew all attention back to Harry.
Voldemort's vivid red eyes held steady on Dumbledore, the black festering scar pulsed and spread ever further, Harry's body moving in choppy jerks as it got to his feet, disturbingly wide smile back in place.
"You're too late, Dumbledore!"
"No-"
Dumbledore was then cut off as the floor began to shake. Everyone within the Atrium fell to ground and screams erupted as the shaking evolved into violent tremors that creaked, cracked and then fractured the ground beneath their feet. Panic and confusion reigned as the Ministry's foundation crumbled before their very eyes.
But all other sound faded away as an echoing wail reverberated through the air and deep into their bones.
A haunting melody rising up from the deep.
.
.
He'd moved without thinking. Sirius was falling back, towards the veil.
The veil
Couldn't touch-
wasn't supposed to do that-
can't do that-
Not Safe
Danny pushed Sirius away.
Accidentally pushing himself in.
Uh oh-
Not good, not good-
very bad, no-
lost? forgotten? gone?
There were forces warring against each other.
He was caught right in the middle.
Magic burning, warping-
Ectoplasm freezing, biting-
Reality tearing, bleeding-
pain, Pain, PAIN!
His core frantically pulsed, vibrated violently, the only sensation he could register over the energy ripping him apart.
Dimensional energy latched onto him, the familiar force drawing on his core to combat the corrupted magic, pulling his core until it strained.
Help-
Familiar, cold-
Wrong, WRONG-
STOP!
His core was weakening, was being drained until there was hardly anything left; but so was the magic around him.
The two opposing forces were finally able to cancel each other out.
He could heal this infection, this blight within the fabric of reality.
So, he pushes out every last ounce of energy within his core, violently shuddering, fragmenting, screaming in agony.
Hurts, have to stop!
No, can't stop, keep going
No more-
no more
Energy fades, pain subsides, and now there's nothing at all.
No magic
No ectoplasm
A rift healed
A realm at peace
Nothing but a blank void left
And Danny can finally... rest...
.
Dσɳ'ƚ ʅσʂҽ ყσυɾʂҽʅϝ
Cσɱҽ Ⴆαƈƙ ƚσ υʂ
Oh
That's right.
He can't rest yet.
He has too much to do.
Yҽʂ
He has to destroy this void keeping realities pushed apart.
Yҽʂ
He has to purify a broken soul.
Yҽʂ
He has to protect.
Yҽʂ
Friends. Allies. His people. His world. Realms infinite.
YES
A spark, and his core reformed in a seismic blast of pressure and light.
A supernova in the deepest reaches of empty space.
All he knew was transcendent power, surging around him with a gentle caress. Body and mind whole once more, core suffused in untapped, unknowable power, Danny did the only thing he could.
He wailed.
The empty void collapsed around him, and Danny felt a wave of unconditional acceptance and something like pride wrap around his mind and core, and the soft vestiges of a thought followed him back into waking reality.
Hαιʅ Ⴆҽ ƚԋҽҽ, ɱყ Kιɳɠ
.
.
Voldemort would be impressed with Potter's mental strength if it didn't utterly infuriate him.
He'd seized the opportunity, back in the Room of Death. Dumbledore had slowed for just a moment in their vicious duel when Potter had screamed and shouted. It'd only taken a moment determine what had upset the boy so much.
It was a shame that he wouldn't be able to utilize the muggle half-breed as he'd wanted. But it was just as well.
If he couldn't have control of that kind of power, then no one would have it. It was poetic justice really, to find that the ghost hybrid could be reacquainted with death after all.
He'd taken advantage of both Dumbledore's pause and the boy's unraveling mind, possessing Harry Potter's mind and body just as easily as he'd possessed Nagini.
He'd separated the boy from his cohorts, forcing him into the light of the main Ministry thoroughfare, the wizards lowers than insects scattered before him, shrieking in fright. He'd do it now, using the face of the boy their world had built up all it's hope and misguided ideas upon. He'd destroy them all with a smile and then reveal himself to finally take control of everything that was already as good as his.
It was then, that the boy's accursed friends had shown up. They'd blasted Potter aside with just enough force to knock Potter down, and only just barely bruise the boy's ribs. Their appearance was already bothersome, but it became even more when Potter realized they were there and began to fight back.
The body he now occupied jerked and spasmed as mental shields were erected and images and clipped feelings filtered erratically as they fought for dominance. Voldemort twisted and contorted the body, trying to regain total control, but it only became more difficult when Black had stormed up, inciting a new wave of aggressive determination from the brat to push against Voldemort's influence within his mind and body.
The appearance of the Minster, who'd been so kind in not acknowledging his return and allowing him to regain his army and his strength in peace, and then Dumbledore himself had the battle for the boy's mind intensifying to such a degree that the blood tainting the ground below wasn't just coming from the boy's eyes anymore, but his ears as well.
If the struggle continued much longer, the boy's mind would break, and the body would perish with it.
That thought alone was enough to push Potter down enough to taunt Dumbledore through the mental struggle.
Then the ground began to shake.
The quaking tremors forced every person to the ground, unable to keep their footing as the very foundation began to crack and crumble beneath them.
And then... it started.
The sound of death most painful pounded through Voldemort's mind and only got stronger as the sound was sustained. He was so shaken by the noise that Potter was able to gain a sliver of control over his own body. It was enough that the boy scrabbled against the ground and then gained some leverage against the edge of the fountain and sit up, robes now soaked in blood tinged water.
But it was at that moment that the wail abruptly ended with a concussive shockwave that rippled outwards from a point below them. It sent the boy's body back to ground along with everyone else.
Sounds of the Ministry's stone foundation creaking and cracking from the onslaught seemed too loud in the sudden silent stillness of the Atrium, but it didn't last long.
Mist was seeping up through the cracks in the ground, filling the space with an artic chill. Their breaths became visible a moment later, and their ears were filled with the sound of hissing static.
Voldemort would never admit to such feelings of weakness, but the Potter boy's heart leapt in confused panic as ice began to creep across the ground, stemming from the golden fountain. As the jets of water crystalized, frozen solid in the sudden cold, the static grew ever louder, with added pops and cracks, like ice creaking on top of a depthless expanse of water in the dead of winter.
The noise reached a painful pitch, many had hands clamped tight over their ears in an attempt to protect themselves from it.
But nothing could protect them when the lightning struck. Several people screamed at the sudden brilliant lighting flash of deadly green that blinded them in an instant and deafened them with an echoing boom that shook the already fractured Atrium walls.
Potter didn't fight as Voldemort lifted his head to behold the sight of the impossible hovering above the frozen fountain.
A being so bright and emanating power incomprehensible, Voldemort gasped as he beheld the very embodiment of everything he feared.
Eyes unblinking, a filled completely with a deathly green that glowed so horribly bright. Hair wafting up with tips misting off just like their breaths before them in the frigid air, but only just barely seen beneath a floating circlet. Small and yet so impossibly large, refracting kaleidoscopic light onto the white of the being's hair and armor.
The armor, forged from starlight, all broken edges and sharp corners made harsher by ice capping every edge. Hands held at it's sides, with ethereal green misting off of them and floating up from and in front of the figure. But it was not obscured. No.
The mist only revealed a polished skeleton beneath; obsidian black and deathly beautiful, shining green stars where eyes should have rested in hollow sockets.
Potter felt nothing but a rush of relief as a single thought registered in their still shared mind.
Phantom.
Voldemort felt nothing but fear as Phantom raised his hand slowly towards the body he still occupied.
All it took was a blink before those shining green eyes were mere inches from his own, and a fist was imbedded in Potter's chest.
.
.
Hermione was so, so glad to see Danny alright; with a new look and brimming with unknown power aside. Her relief abruptly died in her throat as she choked on a gasp at the sight of Danny's fist embedded in Harry's chest.
Voldemort may be the one in possession at the moment, but it was still Harry's body. Her shock was echoed around the entire Atrium when Danny abruptly pulled his fist out of Harry's chest, throwing a condensed shadow away with such force that the impact on the opposite wall created a deep crater and shook stone dust from the cracked walls.
The shadow then congealed into Lord Voldemort himself, red eyes blown wide in shock and what she she would like to believe was fear. Her eyes flew back to Danny and Harry, only to find Danny gently placing Harry's body on the ground. For a moment, she feared the absolute worst, but then she saw Harry's chest rise and fall and she just about sagged with relief.
A harsh gasp then drew her attention to the Minister, Fudge himself had lodged himself behind Dumbledore in an almost comical display, grabbing at Dumbledore's long robe and pointing and mouthing wordlessly at Voldemort as the monster continued to stare wordlessly at Danny. She would have laughed if the situation weren't so dire; at last, the Minister was seeing the truth.
"That- The- You-Know-Who! Dumbledore! You-Know-Who!"
At the Minster's outburst, screams and cries of terror rose from the surrounding Ministry employees, and the Minster's frantic panic kept Dumbledore from moving forward and apprehending Voldemort once and for all.
Not that Voldy was doing much at the moment... He and Danny had yet to break eye contact, Danny hovering lightly above Harry's body, hands still misting green and reveling a blackened skeleton beneath white shimmering armor.
And when Danny spoke, the entire hall silenced in an instant.
"You." Danny voice popped and crackled, and yet was still clear and cold. It filled the fearful silence as he raised his arm slowly to point at the still frozen Voldemort. "You think yourself above the natural order of life and death. You, who desecrated the sanctity of the soul by severing your own in a misguided attempt at immortality. You, who so carelessly end the lives and souls of those who you deem unfit to continue existing."
Danny had begun to float forward, ice creeping across the ground below him as his voice gained more underlying static.
"Your right to your own corrupted soul is now forfeit." Danny slowed, aura glowing more intensely and throwing his crown into sharp relief. "After all, the souls of damned belong to the King of the Dead."
She saw the exact moment Voldemort tried to move, the instant of tensed muscles and a wand grasped in hand.
A desperate shout, a rush of green magic; the Killing curse collides with Danny and... doesn't affect him in the slightest. The magic ripples and eddies through the air around him for a moment, revealing more of that pure black skeleton, before dissipating into harmless swirls of green. Shock cascades through the Atrium, their breaths frozen and their eyes disbelieving.
Hermione shuddered as Danny's eyes, no pupils or whites through the intense blazing green, narrowed with contempt.
Danny flew forward, screams erupted, an enormous snake hissed and struck. Hermione moved before she could think better of it, running behind Danny to get to Harry still lying unmoving near the base of the fountain. Ron, Draco and Sirius landed on the ground near Harry's prone form right beside her.
Heart beating wildly, and static still in her ears, she looks up quickly to find the great snake Nagini writhing in agony on the ground at Voldemort's feet. As she stares in sudden confusion, Danny emerges from Nagini, just as the snake violently seizes and then begins to crumble into ashy dust below Danny's feet.
Danny holds the same viscous black mist that had been held within the golden locket, and in a moment of blazing green fire, it was reduced to the same soft ash.
She could only assume that Nagini had tried to protect her master at the last second, and Danny had overshadowed her instead of Voldemort.
Hermione had a moment of intense relief at how lucky they'd been that Danny had refused to overshadow Harry to try to remove the Horcrux embedded in his head.
The spectators had erupted in a cacophony of confusion and fear, and Hermione glimpsed a flash of emotion cross Voldemort's pale face as the Dark Lord looked down upon the pile of ash that used to be his loyal pet. It almost looked like... remorse.
In an instant it was gone, and those red eyes had found blazing green once more.
But Danny... Danny's feet were on the ground and his glow flickered for a brief moment, mist receding as his eyes... his eyes returned to normal. They were still their lurid green, but she could make out a distinct pupil and the whites of his eyes once more.
His armor and crown were beginning to shimmer and fade from existence as well. Her heart leapt in fear. His energy seemed to be fading away, leaving him vulnerable.
With a jolt, she remembered the last time Danny had destroyed a Horcrux, housed within the golden locket back at Grimmauld Place. He'd collapsed and lost control of his powers for days afterwards.
Could the same thing be happening again? So soon?
She gets her answer just moments after the thought forms, and the events of next few moments would later feel like they dragged on into eternity, but truly only took a few seconds.
The Minister is hysterical, shouting and panicking and beyond reason.
Dumbledore is thawing out of his shock, pushing the Minister aside at last, he quickly slashed his wand through the air and sending a colossal amount of magic towards where Voldemort and Danny were now standing.
Voldemort struck the moment Danny jumped to dodge Dumbldore's attack, crackling electricity so powerful she could feel her hair stand on end and static rush across her exposed skin.
Danny just barely managed to dodge both devastating magical attacks, but white flickered at his waist and she feared the worst for his condition when he didn't rise into the air once more, but remained tethered by the laws of gravity, raising gloved fists defensively as he steadied himself.
But the situation truly became dire as Sirius and Ron were lifting Harry up off the ground.
The freezing chill around them plummeted into realms both familiar and horribly unwelcome. Even Danny's breath misted before him as all sounds seemed to be muffled and then silenced outright. The entire Atrium was then filled with the countless cloaked figures, faceless and despised, their breaths rattling and scabbed hands reaching...
The dementors flooded into the space, inciting yet more panic and chaos. Hermione prepared herself to summon her patronus, Draco stood ready by her side. But her breath caught and a scream of horror died on her lips as the dementors didn't stop to attack at random.
They all converged as one onto Danny.
"No!" Draco's exclamation was drowned out by a horrible cry of desperate fear as soul-eaters descended onto a being with what was likely the most concentrated and powerful soul in the entire world.
Concentrated fear flooded her mind with all the horrible descriptions she'd read of soulless bodies, blank eyes, living yet lifeless.
She was jolted out of her spiraling thoughts as a shockwave of green tinged ice blasted the dementors back. Danny was left standing at the center, panting and eyes wild, he no longer had any armor and his crown was no where to be seen. His last ditch effort to drive the soul-suckers away from him seemed to be the what drove him over the edge, and she and Draco rushed forward when Danny's eyes rolled back and his transformation triggered and left him collapsed and unconscious in human form once more.
A blazing phoenix patronus circled the Atrium, pushing the dementors back, and Hermione and Draco wasted no time dragging Danny's arms over their shoulders and carrying him away from the danger.
Making it back to Sirius and Ron holding Harry between them, none of them looked back towards the chaos as Draco led them out of the Ministry at last.
A chaotic trip through the muggle streets of London later, and Hermione finds herself slumped against an alley wall, jittery and shaking with adrenalin, Danny's arm still around her and Draco's shoulders. Ron and Sirius were across from them, Harry still unconscious between them, too.
It was a moment before she could truly remember that they were now at least safe enough for her to breath.
"The- The Dark Lord?" Draco gasped between pants.
"Bolted once the dementors showed up and distracted everyone." Sirius answered, eyes swiveling from one unconscious boy to the other.
"Bloody hell..." Ron breathed, slumping further down the wall he rested on.
"The others-" She worried her lip.
"Remus had them, last I saw."
"But-"
"Ginny... Mum and Dad..."
"They'll be fine." Sirius affirmed roughly, silencing them abruptly. He made it sound as if there was no other option. That their friends would be fine no matter what. They had to be.
But if not-
She shook herself. This was no time to lose herself to what-ifs and worst-case scenarios. They needed to make a plan.
There was a soft groan of pain, and Sirius and Ron jolted. Harry's thankfully familiar green eyes blink open blearily.
"Wha-"
"Harry!" Harry is promptly smothered by Sirius and Ron.
Hermione heaves a relieved sigh, a wobbly smile finding it's way to her lips as her friend slowly regains consciousness. She wanted nothing more than to just bundle all her boys up somewhere safe and just let them rest, but...
"Draco-" The boy in question looks at her abruptly as if woken from a trance, eyes previously glued to Harry, who was groggily wiping partially dried tracks of blood off his face, "Let's set Danny down, alright?"
Draco nods after a moment, and he helps her gently maneuver Danny so that he's lying on the ground. Danny doesn't so much as twitch during the whole process, and her relief at Harry's revival shrinks just a bit with more worry.
Not the time. Need to focus.
She shakily got to her feet, and looked around to finally take in their surroundings.
They'd found their way into a dead-end alley on a lesser traveled road in London. A car trundled passed the alleyway entrance and pigeons pecked along the pavement. She was momentarily stunned to realize that it couldn't have been any later than the early afternoon.
How strange... to think that just last night they'd been sitting their last OWL.
"Where's-" Harry's groggy voice drew her back to the alley. Ron was now standing beside her with wand in hand and looking out onto the street, Sirius was helping Harry sit up against the wall, and Draco was still kneeling beside Danny, looking stunned. They'd all seen better days, with hair wild and robes torn, Ron and Draco sporting numerous cuts and bruises from their flight from the Hall of Prophesy that she was sure mirrored her own.
When Harry's dazed eyes landed on Danny he gave a soft "Oh."
Danny was deathly pale, chest barely rising with short barely-there breaths. The marks from the chains and muzzle he'd had earlier were gone, but he seemed to have lost several kilos in mere minutes, starkly defined by the jutting of his bones beneath his skin.
Harry didn't look much better.
Harry's eyes were still unfocused, face smudged with dried blood, and robes still damp. His scar was still starkly noticeable, but it had shrunk back to it's normal branched look and position on his forehead.
Harry's hand slowly found itself to his chest, right over where Danny had pulled Voldemort out of his body. She can't imagine it was a pleasant experience. Bile rose up her throat at the very memory. Harry's head dipped and his eyes slipped shut suddenly, causing Sirius to gasp with surprise, but his head lolled upwards again soon after, his eyes now closed.
Harry was clearly out of it.
"Are we far enough from the Ministry, you think?" Ron asked.
A deep sigh from Sirius. "No. With the number of dementors that raided the place at the end, the entirety of London won't be safe for us anymore. Including..." Sirius glanced quickly at Draco, "Including my house."
Hermione huffed in dismay.
"Then where can we go? Death eaters, dementors, the Ministry itself will be after us for who knows how many reasons! And now that Vol-" Draco flinched violently and seemed to pale even further, "-erm, Mr. No-nose has disappeared again, he could come after us as well, to go after either Harry or Danny!"
"Can't we get in contact with Dumbledore? The other Order members? Maybe we can-"
"Unfortunately," Sirius cut Ron off wearily, "Dumbledore will be under heavy Ministry scrutiny now that he's come out of hiding, and the other Order members right there with him. We'll have to lay low and regroup until we can get more information about what happening in the aftermath."
"But where can we possibly go that would be safe? Harry's out of it, and will likely stay out of it considering everything that's happened to him. And Danny... I don't even know! He went through the veil which was actually a corrupted portal and should have kil- uh... but then he somehow managed to get back out all powered-up and terrifying!? We don't even know how to help him properly!" Ron's voice rose steadily as he worked himself up, and Hermione put her hand on his arm in an attempt to calm him down. But just as she opened her mouth to offer any form of comfort she could, Draco spoke up, surprising all of them.
"We n- We need to-" A pause as Draco gathered himself, swallowing thickly. "We need to get away from the magical community. No one will think to look for us if we hide out as muggles."
"That-" Sirius paused, "That's not a bad idea. It worked for Harry all those years..."
"Wait. Isn't Harry's house protected? Or, his Aunt and Uncle's house, rather?" She asked quickly, hope blossoming in her chest, a plan already forming in her mind's eye.
"Ugh. Not the Dursley's..." Harry groaned lowly with a grimace. Alright so Harry wasn't as out of it as they thought.
"It's not in London either." Ron realized, expression brightening, before it promptly darkened again. "But how are we supposed to get there? Their house isn't connected to the Floo, and we can't exactly walk there." Ron gestured to Harry and Danny, both of which were not in any state to move on their own at the moment.
At that, Hermione couldn't help it. She let herself laugh, tears forming that were quickly wiped away.
Ron, Sirius and Draco were now looking at her like she'd gone mad, but she didn't much care.
"Oh Ron," she wheezed as she got control of herself once more. "Getting there? That's the easy part." She smiled, tucking her wand away into the sleeve of her robes. "We just need to get a taxi." And with that she turned towards the mouth of the alleyway leading towards the road.
Turns out, it was a bit difficult to convince two taxis to let the six of them into their cars to drive them all nearly an hour out of the city. The fact that they were all dressed in tattered and cut up robes, covered in nasty bruises and bloody cuts, hauling two boys that were clearly unwell... Well, it did nothing to endear them to the two taxi drivers. Not to mention... they had no money.
But a couple Confundus charms (cast by Sirius) later, and she was sitting beside a dazed looking Draco on well-worn seats listening to crackling music through the car radio, Danny's unconscious form draped across their laps.
She looked out the back window to see Sirius and Ron in the taxi following them in a similar position with Harry.
Right, getting there was the easy part. The hard part would be dealing with Harry's relatives.
She sighed shakily, as a sudden shiver ran up Danny's body, a heat beginning to rise to his face and neck. She dearly hoped they were able to rest for a while before anything else happened.
The city fell away, and she watched the road flash by through the grimy window, now well on their way to Number Four Privet Drive.