I have rewritten this chapter over twelve times. (This is becoming a norm, and it's driving me crazy.) None of it seems to work. So, I enlisted Gar's help, considering it is her birthday gift. It helped out a bit, but I've still been bashing my head into a wall for weeks. At this point I'm ready to write "and Harry's summer finally ended" in huge, bold letters in a single file and let everyone else insert their own endings.

I… I did it. I finished the chapter! x happy sob x I was beginning to think no matter how many times I rewrote this, it wouldn't work. Oh, thank goodness.

Warnings: This is shounen-ai, yaoi, gay, slash, Tom/Harry and Sirius/Remus

Notes: (X) is pov change and or time jump

Chapter, 11

The elevator ride of horror as his father so nicely called it had Harry wishing the Ministry had been kind enough to install a stairway on both sides of every floor. They still had a few levels left before they were back to the atrium, and if things didn't speed up, he was going to go mad. To think they were stuck in this stupid elevator while everyone else was dealing with leftover hellhounds, possibly Dementors, and whatever else Milan might have let loose during their mentally torturous ride. That two wizards could cause so much damage, so much chaos and fear, felt unreal. How many people had gotten hurt or had died, because two wizards had joined to take revenge on the Ministry?

He closed his eyes. How could the Ministry let something like this happen? He'd grown up thinking the Ministry was something you couldn't stand against. That people like his father and Sirius would stop you from doing any sort of wrong, that they would keep innocent people safe. How wrong he'd been.

"Is this the elevator they put criminals in to drive them mad," Harry asked, trying to push his dark thoughts away. Not just the fact that the Ministry had failed, but that these people who'd so easily overthrown the building and everyone within it had his mother.

The elevator stopped yet again, its doors opening and waiting. Harry decided he officially hated this elevator and wanted it destroyed after his father and him got off it. The elevator on the other side allowed you to bypass the other floors and go straight to your destination. Why did this one require you to visit each and every single one? Each time the door opened, their eyes would immediately go to the opening. They'd hold their breaths until they were sure nothing was coming for them. Wash and repeat because it wasn't like Harry wasn't already a mental mess after everything else that had happened. Why not add paranoid terror right after seeing your first slaughter? Get them both over with in the same day so you can recover faster! If you could recover from something like this at all.

James let out a loud laugh. "No, but that's a good idea. I'll put it in the suggestion box once this is over."

"If we ever get back to the eighth floor," Harry said. The elevator had taken them all the way to the first floor and now they were making their way back down. Right now, they were on the third floor waiting for the stupid door to close. They'd intended to try to get some rest before returning to the Atrium, short as it would be, and had so far only managed to produce more adrenaline and nervous laughs.

This is exhausting. He wished it'd move faster. He needed to make sure Tom and Remus were okay. Though the idea of either of them being anything short of perfectly fine seemed impossible, it didn't stop him from worrying. One small step out of place and it could have been Tom in the tidal wave. With as horrible as his luck was, it was shocking Tom was still standing. A miracle they were still dating.

Harry's stomach sank, remembering Tom's words from the night before. He'd just told Harry he couldn't handle chasing after him anymore. And then this happens less than twenty-four hours later. Yeah, that sounded right based on his summer luck streak.

Getting back to Tom was not only the most important thing ever now, it was also the last thing he wanted. There was a good chance once Tom made sure he wasn't dead, he'd dump him.

Milan already had his mother, and he'd probably be single after they made it out of this nightmare ride. And he felt guilty that his relationship with Tom seemed that much more pressing than his mother's safety, but he knew without a doubt that they'd get his mother back and that she would be okay. Tom was the one he wasn't getting back. And while he knew avoiding Tom wasn't going to stop them from breaking up, he didn't want to hear those words from Tom's mouth. It would be easier to just let it all fade into the background of his life rather than have it cut off with a single harsh sentence.

No! He didn't know how yet, but he would somehow make Tom see he was worth keeping. Somehow… Because even if they did make it out of all of this, he wouldn't see Tom much, if at all once school started again. They could exchange letters, but how could he prove anything to Tom that way? Why would Tom even bother staying with him once he returned to Hogwarts, even if they were on good terms? Tom would be traveling the world and he would still be at school. Any normal couple would split up anyway until after Harry graduated. By then Tom would probably have found someone far more suitable for him. Someone that didn't vanish at the drop of a hat.

"We will," his father assured him. "Eventually."

Eventually was the problem. Harry wasn't sure his heart could take the door opening and closing until they reached the Atrium again. And what if they did and there were still hellhounds waiting for them? They had probably taken care of the stragglers by now, but there was always that small chance a few had gotten away. It only took one of those creatures to kill someone.

He glared at the door, his frustration mingling with anger. He wanted to go with his father to save his mother and for Milan to pay for all of this. The logic of keeping him hidden from Milan to ensure his parents lived even if captured made sense, but also made him feel useless and cowardice. Besides, he'd go mad sitting at home waiting for his parents to return. They couldn't risk anyone staying with Harry either, so he'd be isolated from the world until their return and there was no guarantee that would be anytime soon.

"Is there anything I can do at all," he asked. There had to be something, anything, to be helpful to his family. He wasn't a coward, and he'd show everyone he wasn't useless.

"Let's make it out of this elevator before we decide anything."

"Okay… How did Milan get out in the first place?" That was a good place to start and get his mind off the door opening and closing, not to mention the rest of his life collapsing around him. The door opened revealing nothing, but a long darkness sucking them in. Not physically, but mentally. They both jumped, hearing a noise far in the distance. The doors slid such before they could make anything out.

James sighed. "Someone was kind enough to gather up a large group of guilty Muggles and lead the Dementors away from Azkaban. Sirius said they found about forty Muggles with their souls sucked out. Milan and his friends just walked out the front door."

"And no one noticed?! How did no one realize seven people were missing from their cells?"

"That's just it," James said, grimacing. "More than seven got out, there were so many, we didn't realize Milan was one of them."

"There were only seven files on your desk. Both Sirius and Remus said only seven people escaped."

James shook his head. "That's just the public story to keep everyone calm. There were at least twenty. The seven everyone we're after are just the worst. Milan isn't known for killing witches or wizards, so originally we weren't even after him."

"He killed the family in the village!"

"He probably didn't know they had magic."

That's wrong. All of this was wrong. Milan's actions and attitudes towards others. The Ministry's lack of control over Azkaban. Milan kidnapping his mother. This. "So how did they decide who to go after first?"

James let out another sigh. "In order of how dangerous the prisoner was to other witches and wizards. Until now, Milan only targeted Muggles."

"Shouldn't Muggle killers be the ones we go after first considering how defenseless they are?!"

"I don't make the rules—"

"You don't follow them either," Harry snapped before his father could finish. How could the Ministry be so blatantly stupid?

"You're your mother's kid when you're mad." His father grabbed his shoulder. The door before them was open, the hall before them submerged in darkness. The only visible sight, a single hand stretched towards them, fingers twitching.

"Harry—" A red light flew towards them. They managed to dodge to the side, James cursing again. He was up in seconds, a blue spell shooting from his wand into the darkness. "Move!" Harry shoved himself into the front right corner of the elevator opposite of his father as a green light struck the back wall of the elevator. The wall crumbled where the spell had hit, cracks spreading out from the source.

Was that a killing curse? They were going to die or get caught or something. This was his first time seeing the killing curse, but the dread it brought forth was unnerving.

The cracks branched to the floor and ceiling of the elevator.

"Dad!"

"I know, on five," he shouted, holding two fingers up. Harry nodded. The light in the elevator flickered and gave out. "One." He took a breath. The small light charm over the twitching hand faded. The other elevator was on the opposite side of the floor. How were they possibly going to get there? "Two." He grabbed Harry's wrist. They rushed the door, a groan erupting around them followed by a thunderous snapping of metal. Harry turned despite being unable to see. He could hear a rush of wind before he could feel it. In the darkness he couldn't see the floors speeding past, but the sensation was there, his stomach rising into his chest.

What sounded like an explosion met his ears. James was no longer holding onto him as his body flew up. He slammed into the ceiling of the elevator before he fell back to the floor. And nothing.

(X)

The first thing Harry noticed was how much he hurt. Every bone, every muscle, screamed at him. He wasn't too happy with himself either, though he couldn't remember what he'd done to end up in such an awful state. He'd been in the elevator with his father, trying to make it back to the Ministry entrance. Back to Tom and then nothing.

Dad… He hoped his father was okay.

"What happened?"

"Elevator got hit with a killing curse."

"Ngh." He knew that voice. Someone grabbed his hand, and a hiss escaped his lips.

"Can you move?"

"I think so." He managed to sit up and regretted it immediately as the world spun and a new onslaught of pain coursed through his body.

"Any chance you still have your wand?"

Harry felt his pocket. "No."

"Me either." James let out a sigh. "If you can walk, we need to go. Whoever destroyed the elevator knows where we are."

That made sense. Groaning, he forced himself halfway up. His legs protested and searing pain ran through his back, followed by warm liquid. "I think I'm bleeding."

"I'd be surprised if you weren't…. Honestly, I'm surprised we survived at all. Whoever attacked us wanted us alive."

That wasn't good, but then when was the last time his life had been good? "Is there another exit down here?"

"No, but plenty of places to hide."

They started down the short hall and entered the room James had pulled Harry through the floor. He was glad to see that there was no more water rushing through. "Dad! The hole in the floor!" He staggered towards it, hope filling him. The hole was big enough for them to get through.

"Harry, we have no idea if anyone is still up there." He glanced at the door that led to the small hall. "We don't have the luxury to call for help right now." He grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him towards the next door.

Reluctantly, Harry followed.

They walked down a slightly longer hall, this one ending in a single door. "We'll get into a lot of trouble going in here, but we don't really have a choice."

Harry nodded, wishing he had his wand or that his dad had his.

James opened the door revealing a huge circular room, doors set at equal distances from each other. There were at least ten, all of them identical.

"What door?"

"No idea. If we're lucky, one we won't be found in or eaten by who knows what." He shut the door, and the room started spinning at high speed. The doors blurred into a single splash of dark brown until the color of the wall vanished. It continued to spin for a minute or so before it began to slow. The individual doors gradually took their shapes again. "Any preference?"

Harry gaped at him. "With the luck I've been having this summer!?"

"Good point," James said, grimacing. He sighed and pulled Harry to the door directly in front of them. Once inside, he shut the door. "Oh boy. Well, we could have picked worse." He walked further into the room. "Don't worry, the doors will spin again, it'll take a while before anyone finds us. With any luck, someone else will get our attacker before he gets us."

"Where are we?" The room contained several shelves full of potion vials, their liquids all different shades of pink, purple, and blue. A couple of plain wooden chairs were to the left of them, next to a small round table. The rest of the room looked normal, blank white walls, a simple wooden floor. Nothing to suggest anything dangerous.

"Believe it or not, this is where Unspeakables study love." That would have been Harry's last guess. "These are love potions and antidotes. Not that they only study love potions." They crossed the room, heading for the very back wall where a bookcase filled with a few books, but mostly handwritten journals stood. "Don't touch anything yet."

Harry nodded. "Is it just this room?"

"Afraid so. If they come in, we'll have to outmaneuver them."

"Without our wands?"

"I'm open to suggestions. I know you were remarkable at wandless magic as a seven-year-old, did you by chance not outgrow that?"

Harry glared at his father. Of course, he'd outgrown being able to use wandless magic. If he was desperate enough, he might be able to manage a minor spell, but nothing like when he was seven and accidentally caused all the Dursley's windows to shatter after a particularly foul insult from his Uncle Vernon. It had happened less and less as he'd gotten older and stopped after he'd gotten his wand. Maybe they should teach wandless magic at Hogwarts. That way when situations like this occurred, the magic user had options.

"Could we use anything in here?" They were in a room filled with love potions, after all. All they had to do was get the person chasing them to drink one. If nothing else, it should buy them enough time to make it back to the elevator and find their wands.

"If we can find the right potion, probably."

"We should probably start looking." The problem was, most of the potions had no labels, at least not in the normal sense. Directly beneath each potion was a single letter. Nothing that even hinted at what they were or what they might do.

"Maybe we can just throw a bunch of them at once."

"So, just grab a few," Harry asked.

James nodded. They loaded their arms full of potions and went back to their hiding spot. Together they'd grabbed fifteen different potion bottles, all of them different, or at least different looking. "We'll need to be careful while we're throwing these. Our attacker is going to have a wand and they might throw one of these back at us."

Harry nodded. Somehow the prospect of being hit with a love potion seemed scarier than the fall in the elevator. He didn't want his feelings for Tom to fade or end up corrupted by feelings for someone else. They were special and he needed to protect them at all costs. If Tom will even talk to me after all this.

"You really like Tom, don't you," James asked.

Harry gave his father a questioning look. "What do you mean?"

"You're smiling."

Was he? He brought his hand up, touching his lips, finding proof that he was. How could he possibly be smiling during a time like this? If their attacker found them, if he captured them, there would be no more Potter family. "I, I guess…"

"If just thinking about him makes you smile despite the fact we're being chased by a killer, I'd say you like him a lot."

This was not the time to be talking about such things. They should be preparing for whoever might walk through the door. Coming up with ideas on how to hit him with potions before he could react. What escape route they'd take to get around the attacker and back into the spinning door room.

"I'm glad," James said, stopping Harry's thoughts. "I was beginning to worry you wouldn't give up on Cho and would end up spending the rest of your life alone."

"I would have found someone else eventually," Harry protested. Perhaps not at Hogwarts, maybe not until after he was far away from Cho and working, but he would have found someone. Wouldn't he? Tom seemed like the perfect person for him, and they'd only met by chance. If his mother hadn't won the F.A.I.R.Y award this year, they probably would have never met. Even if they did, Tom would probably be with someone else. He couldn't imagine Tom being single for any long length of time. Once he finished with one person, he could have whoever he wanted next.

How many others had probably thought they were truly special to Tom though? Believed they would be with him forever? We're only sixteen. His parents had met at Hogwarts and ended up together. So had Sirius and Remus. None of his parents' other friends had stayed together with the people they'd gone to school with. What were the chances he'd stumbled across his own perfect partner by complete luck?

Here he was worrying about his relationship at the worst possible time, and they probably wouldn't even be together by the end of the month. Had he ever allowed himself to get so sidetracked with his priorities because of his feelings for Cho? No, and the only reason for it now was because of the way Tom had spoken to him. He'd made Harry believe he was important. And he might have been, but with all the horrible things happening, he couldn't blame Tom if he wanted to break it off.

Well, since his relationship was over, there was no sense in worrying about it. Best to prepare for his next relationship with whoever that turned out to be. "How did you and mum know you wanted to stay together?"

"Well, I'm not sure about your mother, but around my fourth year I realized how cute your mum was. She didn't want anything to do with me, though. When I realized how much it hurt that I might never get to see her again after our sixth year ended, I knew I couldn't let that happen. I practiced with Remus my entire summer on how to behave better so she'd at least give me a chance."

Harry had heard of the "personality training" Remus had given his father. Sirius had dubbed it the Remus's Bootcamp of Love and often joked about it when the two of them drank a little too much and usually referred to Remus as the master general.

"What about Sirius and Remus?"

"They had an odd relationship," James said, grinning. "They both knew they couldn't stand being away from each other, but Remus wouldn't acknowledge his feelings to Sirius directly. He had no problem telling anyone else, but whenever Sirius asked him out, Remus refused him. During our fifth year a girl asked Sirius out and Sirius was mental enough to tell her he'd think about it. The next day was our Hogsmeade trip, and Remus had a ring on Sirius's finger."

"R, really?" He'd known Remus had told Sirius about his feelings during a Hogsmeade trip, but this was not even remotely close as to what he'd thought when his godparents had mentioned it. In his mind, they'd gone to Hogsmeade and enjoyed each other's company while awkwardly admitting how much they cared for one another. Not Remus towering over Sirius and shoving a ring on him to warn the world to stay away.

"Oddly enough, he still refused to acknowledge Sirius directly as his boyfriend until our sixth year."

"Wh, what?" That didn't make any sense. "If Remus knew he wanted to be with Sirius, and even gave him a ring to make it official, why would he still deny him?"

"You know, Remus could never give me a straight answer on that. Sirius told me their Valentine's date, if you can call it that, included Remus giving him a ring and threatening to never speak to him again if he so much as touched another person. He spent the rest of the trip with Sirius, holding his hand and making sure everyone saw them. He even fell asleep next to Sirius in the commons that night. Sirius didn't know what to do. By the next morning, Remus acted like the day before hadn't happened."

"You're joking."

"No, but that didn't stop Sirius from harassing Remus. He bought him a ring a few days later. Remus wouldn't wear it, so Sirius put it on a necklace, and we slipped it on him while he was asleep. I didn't know he'd charmed it so Remus couldn't take it off."

"And Remus didn't curse him for it?" His godparents had a very strange relationship. Or at least it'd started off that way.

"Actually, Remus didn't find out until a year later. He'd never tried to remove it until we'd gone to the beach, and he didn't want to risk losing it in the water."

"So, all of you just knew?"

"In a way."

"My mind doesn't even want to process the thought of not being with Tom. But I think it's just because he's the first person I've ever dated and everything feels special."

"Well, that's a normal part of dating. You two might end up together, you might not. When you do end up with that special person though, you'll know. You might not know immediately, but there will be a flash of insight sooner or later that, that's the person you need to be with." He patted Harry's arm. "Feel better?"

Harry nodded. Once again his father had managed to distract him and for a minute at least, let him believe his life was normal again.

The door creaking open broke the silence of the room.

Please be Sirius or Remus, Harry pleaded. James was already crouch walking towards the end of the shelf they were behind. He gave a quick look and pulled back, frowning. "Don't be alarmed, but it's your mother."

It took a second for Harry to realize his father meant that it was whoever was impersonating his mother, not his actual mother.

"I know you're in here. I've checked all the other rooms."

We should have watched and waited for them to go into another room and made a run for it once they were inside searching. Too late now, but if they made it out alive, he'd keep it in his mental notes for future reference should something like this ever happen again.

James grabbed two of the potion vials they had set between them, Harry doing the same. With any luck, the impersonator would be expecting them to fight with their wands, not potion vials.

"You're hurting my feelings by avoiding me like this." A loud and drawn out laughter that made Harry shudder followed the words. He never wanted to hear a laugh like that come from his mother's mouth again.

"Alexandre," James whispered.

Meaning Milan was somewhere else, possibly even in the Ministry building. Alexandre and Milan could both be looking for them right now. And for what? Because they had done something wrong and gotten caught. Harry's summer had turned into one long free fall because some criminals couldn't accept that they were wrong and properly paying for the crimes they'd committed. Tom was the only thing that had gone right this summer for him, and he'd probably lost him too thanks to these arseholes.

His father went to the right side, while Harry moved to the left. If they both threw two potion bottles at the same time from different directions, the chances of at least one hitting Alexandre were good. When James nodded, he sprung up, Harry doing the same a few seconds later. All four potion bottles soared into the air. Alexandre, as Lily, looked surprised, but only for a second. His wand came up, the bottles shattering. James didn't wait. He slammed into the nearest shelf with his shoulder. It rocked back and forth before falling forward, potions flying out in every direction.

A green light came at Harry, James jumping and grabbing him before it could hit him. It collided with another shelf; the contents exploding just as Harry and James stumbled towards the front of the room. Harry's ears were ringing, but overall, he felt okay.

Drops of potions began raining from the ceiling, and James forced Harry's head down as they ran for the door. There was a loud, ear piercing, scream of rage from behind them and Harry had to force himself to ignore it. He knew it wasn't his mother, no matter how much it sounded like her.

Together they made it to the round room. James slammed the door shut. Instantly the room began spinning. "Come on!"

Harry could hardly hear him, but the hand motion made what he was saying obvious enough. As soon as the doors stopped, James opened one and dragged Harry in. Somehow, they'd made it back to the hall. "Do you think one of the potions hit him?"

"Probably not enough to help us out," James muttered. "We need to find our wands. As soon as they were at the elevator, or what used to be the elevator, they began searching frantically.

"Accio wand!" Harry cursed when nothing happened.

"Good idea. Accio wand!" James' wand came flying out of the debris straight into his hand. Harry gave him a glowering look, James grinning. "Accio Harry's wand!" A few seconds later Harry's wand, banged up, but still in one piece, came flying into James' other hand. He handed it to Harry. "Maybe stop leaving that behind."

"What do we do now," Harry demanded, refusing to acknowledge his father's jab.

"Get out of here," James said. He waved his wand and suddenly a rope was shooting out of it. It flew through the air, up, up, and up, until it caught on some rocks just below the next floor's elevator door. "I hope you can climb."

"Me too." Harry grabbed the rope and surprisingly, no doubt from the adrenaline, started pulling himself up. His father followed close behind. It felt like they were moving agonizingly slow, but soon enough they were in front of the elevator door.

"Alohomora!" Groaning, the heavy doors began slowly sliding open.

"Come on!"

"It's going as fast as it can."

Harry frowned, noting that his father was breathing hard. Somehow, the doors opened before Alexandre found them. Grabbing the edges of the door, Harry pulled himself into the hall on all fours, then turned and helped James in.

For a second, they just sat there, both of them breathing hard. The pain in Harry's back returned, along with a new one in his leg. When he looked down, he could only stare, glass shards sticking out from just below his knee. How did I even climb the rope…?

"As much as we need to rest," James breathed. "We need to get moving."

"Should I take the glass out first?" There was only a small amount of blood trickling down his leg and he knew if he removed the shards, more would probably follow.

"If you don't want the glass cutting anything important inside your leg." Harry did not. "Hold still." James bent over and carefully removed the three pieces of glass from Harry's leg. "Episkey!"

A burst of warmth followed quickly by cold wrapped around Harry's leg and then his back. The wound closed quickly enough, and the pain in his back stopped.

Harry was on his feet, and they were running again. He was glad he'd been on this floor often enough with his father and Sirius, usually during the Quidditch season, to be able to maneuver its halls with such dim lighting. They turned the corner, getting closer to the end of the first hall when Harry found himself flying again. He hit the ground on his side, rolling until he struck the doorframe at the end of the hall. James slammed into him seconds later, both groaning.

Harry had to force his eyes open, but had no problems keeping them that way once he saw what was going on. The smell of burning carpet assaulted his senses first, followed by smoke and bright dancing light at the edge of the corner they'd just turned. "Dad!" He shoved his father's arm roughly.

"I smell it," he moaned, pushing himself to his hands. "I forgot how ruthless Alexandre was." Somehow standing, they broke into another run.

Just a few more turns. They'd make it, Harry was sure of it. The bad part was, they'd have to make a choice. The stairs or risk the elevator. If we have enough time… Another explosion shook the hallway, but it was far enough that they were able to remain on their feet. This is mad!

One turn. Harry's lungs were burning, not just from the running, but from all the smoke covering the hall.

They made it past the second turn just as flames consumed the hallway behind them. A gasp escaped Harry's lips, James giving him a rough push forward.

Last one! Harry's heart leapt. The elevator was right in front of them, the door to the staircase to their right. Harry hit the elevator's call button.

"Harry!"

"I have an idea! Keep the door open!" The smoke had him coughing, his eyes watering. They needed to get out of here, but if he could throw Alexandre off for even a few extra seconds…

The door slid open and Harry ran into the elevator, pushing back the sudden fear that gripped him. He hit three buttons and slid out, James removing his hand from the door once he was safely away from the door. The doors closed and the elevator began to rise.

Grinning, his father opened the door to the stairwell. They entered and started up the steps. Luckily, only a few wisps of smoke followed them.

"After the summer we've had, we deserve a whole year in Switzerland."

"We do," Harry agreed. The sound of a door closing caught both of their attention. Harry looked back down at the seventh floor door, but saw no movement to indicate that someone had gone through it and pointed above them. James nodded. Are we trapped? They'd have to duel their way out if they were. Harry hoped they had the energy to lift their wands at this point.

This time Harry distinctly heard the door opening and closing beneath them. Cursing, the Potters began a slow crouch walk up the steps. Harry caught sight of blonde hair and knew this was it. They were going to have to fight. Somehow, they were going to have to find the energy and stop them. At least they'd already tired Alexandre out a bit.

The footsteps from both ends were walking calmly towards them. The two wizards seemed to know that they'd caught their prey. Harry and James would have to jump if they wanted to get past Alexandre now, but what was the point? The entire seventh floor was on fire. They could always try charging Milan.

"Stay calm."

Harry gave a small nod, amazed at how at ease his father seemed. Alexandre arrived first, no longer in the form of Lily, but his real self, a crazed grin on his face. He had cuts and bruises all over his body. Fire had damaged the robes he was wearing. None of it seemed to matter to him though. Held tight in his right hand, hanging at his side, was his wand.

James immediately stepped in front of Harry.

"James, you know better than that," Milan said, smiling. "You know we will not kill you until I have reunited you with your beautiful wife."

"You know me, not taking any chances."

Harry had never felt such a deep hatred towards someone. Milan was wearing a white suit now, an amused smile on his face. His eyes however seemed almost dead. "You have caused me quite a lot of trouble."

"More than once," James added.

Alexandre raised his wand, a red spell hitting James across the face, blood pouring from his cheek.

"DAD!"

"Don't," James hissed, holding Harry back with his left hand. "Stay behind me."

"You are very protective of your son, as you should be. He is not the smartest person," Milan chuckled.

"PRAEFOCO!"

A blue light hit Alexandre from above. His hands shot up to his throat, his knees buckling. Harry had no idea what Alexandre was struggling with, but he was losing, fast, his face already turning a dark shade of purple.

"Sectumsempra!" The spell shot out of Milan's wand and hit James, numerous cuts opening across his body.

Harry felt numb watching the blood pour out of his father. This wasn't happening….

Harry's wand snapped towards Milan. "Confringo!"

A shield came up, blocking the spell with ease, Harry's rage growing. This wasn't happening! This was not how his life was supposed to be! He was supposed to be in Switzerland with his family, having fun, snogging Tom. He was supposed to be spending time with Sirius and going to Quidditch matches and celebrating his birthday. His parents weren't supposed to die!

"BOMBARDA MAXIMA!" The air seemed to get sucked into Harry's wand, even Milan staggered forward a step before the blast shot out. Pieces of the stairwell flew back, pinning Milan to the wall. Harry briefly noticed that one of the hand railings had impaled Milan in the stomach, but he didn't hold back. He was DONE with ALL of it. Milan was going to feel all the pain and hatred he was feeling. The feelings that HE had caused him!

Suddenly Harry was sitting on the ground and blinking. He had no idea how he'd gotten on the floor, his father in a pool of blood beside him. In front of him to his left, Alexandre lied quite still. He ignored the later and shakily crawled towards James. He barely managed to move when his body collapsed, landing in the blood.

Dad! Move! He had to move!

He could see people running towards him. One of them looked like Remus. He gave Harry one quick look before kneeling next to James, his wand already out. A golden light surrounded his father.

And then someone was pulling him to his feet. "Harry!" It was the first sound he'd heard since the spell had sucked out the surrounding air. He stared at the person holding him up, trying to place a name to the face.

"Sirius?"

His godfather looked relieved. "Come on."

"But…"

"We can't stay here, there's fiendfyre down there!" Harry nodded dumbly, not quite understanding why Sirius was so worried or what fiendfyre was. "Tom, can you walk yet," Sirius shouted.

"Yes." Tom staggered into view a moment later, his face twisted in pain. Harry admired his willpower to remain standing. The teen didn't look wounded from what Harry could tell, but there was no doubt in his mind that Tom was in pain.

"Take Harry and get out of here. James is unconscious." Tom gave a swift nod, wincing slightly and grabbing onto the nearest handrail. "Maybe don't make any unnecessary head movements yet," Sirius offered.

Tom scowled. With Sirius's help, Harry was leaning against Tom and what was left of the stairwell's wall.

"Come on." Slowly, the two of them made it up the stairs. Sirius and Remus joined them soon, Sirius helping the two teens walk while Remus levitated James.

"My dad's okay, right?"

"He lost a lot of blood, but he should be fine," Remus said.

"Worry about yourself," Tom snarled.

Harry had never heard Tom sound so angry.

"Come on, we all made it out alive," Sirius said. "We can scream at each other for being stupid after we've cleared the stairs."

As if irony was the password, the door, given its charred appearance, Harry guessed it was the seventh-floor door, went flying into the air. It flipped in circles and slammed into the floor two flights above them with a loud crashing sound. The room immediately filled with smoke.

"You just had to open your mouth," Remus muttered.

"I know you're both tired, but we're going to have to move faster," Sirius said. Harry could hardly keep up now, but he also knew they were almost there. Tom looked like he might fall at any moment, and it relieved Harry to see that Sirius was holding onto Tom tighter than he was onto him.

They made it to the next landing, and Remus ran ahead, opening the door. "We need to get outside; the water charm is going to activate the second that fiendfyre makes it to the Atrium."

Of course, it would, and none of them would survive if it did. As soon as Sirius got them out of the stairwell, Remus shut the door.

"MUNIO!" Sirius shouted. A blue light enshrouded the door and vanished from sight. They started across the Atrium, the sound of something ramming into the door again and again following them. Despite their awkward and faltering steps, they made it to the entrance. Sirius shoved the door open, fresh air pouring into Harry's lungs. People rushed them, a few Harry recognized, others he didn't. "There's fiendfyre on the seventh-floor," Sirius said, answered by a round of gasps. "It's headed for the Atrium."

"Tom!" Dumbledore came running towards them, relief flickering in his eyes before worry returned as he took his adopted son's form in. "What happened?"

"I… I had to save him," Tom said, his eyes falling on Harry.

Dumbledore took Tom from Sirius. "Are you okay?"

"He's just exhausted," Sirius explained. "He used enough magic to make a full-grown wizard collapse."

"He was going to kill him…" He slumped against Dumbledore. "I wasn't letting him take him from me…"

"Thanks," Harry said, quietly, but he wasn't quite sure what Tom was going on about. Maybe the exhaustion was making him confused. He knew he wasn't reacting to things properly anymore. All he wanted was to find a place to lie down and sleep.

"I'm taking him home to rest—"

"NO!" A sudden surge of energy seemed to overtake Tom. He shoved Dumbledore away, the headmaster's eyes widening as Tom staggered back and grabbed Harry's hand.

"Tom—"

"EVERY TIME! I CAN'T LEAVE YOU ALONE FOR A SECOND!" He stared at Harry, his body shaking. "Every bloody damn time…" He started to pitch forward, Dumbledore grabbing him before he crashed into Harry.

The headmaster held him close, letting out a sigh. "I apologize. He's not exactly pleasant when he's tired."

"Sirius, we need to go," Remus said.

Harry could hear the uneasiness in his voice.

"Dumbledore, we're going to be in hiding for a while. So, your prodigy here won't be able to use his location spell to find Harry."

"What exactly is going on?"

"Milan has Lily and almost just got Harry and James," Sirius explained.

"Wouldn't the fiendfyre kill them," Harry asked.

"Alexandre was unconscious thanks to Tom, so he's probably gone. Don't ask me how Milan slipped past us with a metal pole shoved through his stomach, but he did."

"Sirius," Remus whispered harshly. There were witches and wizards looking at them, and not all of them were kind looks.

"Let's go—"

"James needs a place to recuperate. I would imagine the only private home with more security than number twelve would be my own," Dumbledore said.

"We can't get you involved," Sirius said. "We'll figure something out. You're going to have your hands full once he wakes up and finds out he can't get to Harry for a while."

The idea of an unhappy Tom did not seem to sit well with the headmaster. He looked at his adopted son and frowned. "They're going to target us now anyway because of Tom."

Sirius grimaced at that. "I had no idea he was going to follow us. We told him to leave."

"What's done is done," the headmaster said. "Now come on."

Sirius looked torn, but as the crowd around them grew, he nodded. "Okay. Just until we can move on."

Dumbledore grabbed Sirius with his free hand, Sirius taking Remus's. Remus grabbed James and Harry took his father's limp, but thankfully warm hand and they all vanished before the growing crowd's eyes.

(TBC)