Title: Coming Back Around
Author: JoeHundredaire
Rating: PG-13/FR15
Disclaimer: Captain Fangirlhumper… err, J.K. Rowling owns the world the Harry Potter series takes place in. Wish the characters were mine so I could do utterly retarded things to them and watch my bank account get steadily larger, but sadly not mine. How to Train Your Dragon is the property of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. Not mine, don't sue, and so forth and so on.
Summary: "Night Fury!"
Joe's Note: There's some overlap between this and Magical Thunder because they're all from a single larger piece of source material: a rewritten piece from Chapter 28 of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. But, since all three feature drastically different crossovers, I decided to post them all. That way there's a little something for everybody. Enjoy.
Dedications & Thanks: To Nicholas, Alexander, Howard, MJ, Daniel, Christopher, Timothy, Leigh, Noh, Jason, Chris, George, Koby, Judedeath, Ken, Thyatira, William, Wil, Thomas, Jack, Pat, Chris, Mitch, and Jess for sponsoring me on , and making it easier for me to spend more of my time writing.
Harry could see red hair flying like flames in front of him: Ginny was locked in combat with the lumpy male Death Eater, Amycus, who was throwing hex after hex at her while Ginny dodged them. Amycus was giggling, enjoying the sport. "Crucio! Crucio! You can't dance forever, pretty…"
Narrowing his eyes, Harry raised his wand and jabbed it at Amycus. "Impedimenta!" His jinx hit the Death Eater in the chest, lifting the squealing man off his feet and slamming him into the opposite wall. He slid down it and fell out of sight behind Ron, Professor McGonagall, and Lupin, each of whom was battling a separate Death Eater. Beyond them, Harry could see Tonks fighting an enormous blond wizard who was sending curses flying in all directions, so that they ricocheted off the walls around them, cracking stone, shattering the nearest window…
"Harry, where did you come from?" Ginny reached out, trying to grab at his arm, but Harry shook her off. There was no time to answer her now. They could talk later, when he'd caught Snape. He ducked his head and sprinted forward, narrowly avoiding a blast that shot over his head, showering them all with bits of stone as it hit the wall. Snape could not escape, he had to catch up with Snape…
An uncommonly vicious look on her face, McGonagall whirled and sent a bolt of sickly orange energy at the sole female Death Eater, Alecto. She gave the same piggish squeal that her brother had emitted when struck and sprinted away down the corridor with her arms over her head, Amycus rising to his feet and stumbling along behind her. Harry launched himself after them but his foot caught on something and the next moment, he was lying across someone's legs. Looking over, he saw Neville's pale, round face flat against the floor. "Neville! Are you-"
Neville nodded, a grimace on his face as he clutched at his stomach. "M'alright. Harry… Snape 'n Malfoy… ran past…"
"I know, I'm on it!" From his spot on the floor, Harry shot a hex at the enormous blonde Death Eater who was causing most of the chaos. The man gave a howl of pain as the spell hit him in the face, wheeling around and following the others in retreating. Harry scrambled up from the floor and began to sprint along the corridor after him, ignoring the bangs issuing from behind him, the yells of the others to come back, and the mute call of the figures on the ground whose fate he didn't yet know…
Harry skidded as he turned a corner, his trainers slippery with blood. Snape had an immense head start. Was it possible that he had already entered the cabinet in the Room of Requirement and escaped, or had the Order taken steps to secure it, to prevent the Death Eaters retreating that way? He could hear nothing but his own pounding feet and his own hammering heart as he sprinted along the next empty corridor, but then spotted a bloody footprint that showed at least one of the fleeing Death Eaters was heading toward the front doors. Good. Hopefully the Order had blocked off the Room of Requirement and that would funnel all the Death Eaters to one spot if they wanted to escape.
As Harry skidded around another corner, a curse shot past his head. He dove behind a suit of armor for cover, the spell striking it and causing it to explode in a shower of metal shards. Harry spotted the brother and sister running down the marble staircase ahead of him and fired off several spells at them, but merely hit several of the multitude of portraits that lined the wall, sending the occupants scrambling into neighboring frames for cover. As he emerged from behind the wreckage of the armor, Harry heard more shouts and screams. Bugger; other people within the castle seemed to have awoken and were likely emerging from their dorms to see what the fuss was, giving the Death Eaters even more targets.
"Shit shit shit." Harry raced toward a shortcut, hoping to overtake the brother and sister and close in on Snape and Malfoy, who must surely have reached the grounds by now. Remembering to leap over the vanishing step halfway down the concealed staircase, he burst through a tapestry at the bottom and out into a corridor where a number of bewildered and pajama-clad Hufflepuffs stood.
Ernie Macmillan was the first to find words. "Harry! We heard a noise, and someone said something about the Dark Mark-"
Shaking his head, Harry pushed Ernie and Justin apart so he could shove his way through between them. "Out of the way!" He sprinted toward the nearby landing and down the remainder of the marble staircase, reaching the Entrance Hall. The oak front doors had been blasted open, there were smears of blood on the flagstones, and several terrified students stood huddled against the walls, one or two still cowering with their arms over their faces. The giant Gryffindor hourglass had been hit by a curse and the rubies within were slowly trickling out, falling onto the flagstones below and shattering.
Harry flew across the Entrance Hall and out into the dark night. Ahead, he could just barely make out a handful of figures racing across the lawn, heading for the gates. The barrier they represented was more than just physical: they marked the edge of the plethora of wards that blanketed Hogwarts, Harry knew, and so beyond them lay disapparition and freedom for the Death Eaters. The huge blonde, two others that Harry didn't recognize off the top of his head, and Snape and Malfoy.
The cold night air tore at Harry's lungs as he raced after them. In the distance, he saw a flash of light that momentarily silhouetted his quarry. Not quite sure what it was, Harry continued to run, gradually closing in on his prey… or at least growing closer to a range he'd be able to cast accurately at. There was another flash, followed by shouts and retaliatory jets of light, and suddenly Harry understood: Hagrid had emerged from his cabin and was trying to stop the Death Eaters escaping. And even though every breath seemed to shred his lungs and the stitch in his chest was like fire, Harry forced himself to speed up. Hagrid had stood up against the aurors last year, but Death Eaters were hardly likely to stick to stunning spells and other simple fare…
Something slammed hard into the small of Harry's back and he fell forward onto the grass, his face smacking against the ground. Rolling over, blood pouring out of both nostrils, Harry cursed as he realized his mistake: he'd used his superior knowledge of the school to catch up with Snape and Malfoy, but that had left him sandwiched between two groups of enemies. The latter of which was now closing in on him. Damn it. He didn't have time for this. "Impedimenta!" Given he hadn't really bothered to aim, it was hard to tell who was more surprised when his jinx hit Amycus Carrow: Harry, Amycus… or Alecto, who promptly tripped over her brother and fell atop him in a tangle of limbs and black robes. Hopping back to his feet, Harry sprinted on after Snape.
Growing closer to Hagrid's cabin, Harry saw the vast outline of his half-giant friend, illuminated by the light of the crescent moon as it broke through the clouds. The blonde Death Eater was aiming curse after curse at the gamekeeper; but Hagrid's immense strength and the toughened skin he had inherited from his giantess mother seemed to be protecting him. Snape and Malfoy, however, had decided to abandon their fellow Death Eater and were still running. Soon they would be at the gates, then beyond, able to disapparate and beyond Harry's reach… but only if they reached the gates. Coming to an abrupt stop, Harry took aim at Snape's back. "Stupefy!"
Given the distance between them, Harry was hardly surprised when the jet of red light went soaring past Snape's head. It did accomplish his goal though: Snape and Malfoy immediately stopped, turning to look back at him. Snarling, Snape drew his wand before shoving hard at Malfoy's shoulder. "Run, Draco!" Twenty yards apart, he and Harry looked at each other before raising their wands simultaneously.
"Cruc-"
Harry instantly regretted not spending more time practicing non-verbal casting as Snape parried the curse, knocking him backward off his feet before he could complete it. Rolling over, Harry scrambled back to his feet but before he could reengage Snape… "Incendio!" There was an explosive bang followed by a wave of hot air and orange light spilled over all of them. Harry glanced to his right, eyes widening at the sight of flames engulfing Hagrid's cabin.
Except Harry had no time to help his first friend now. He had a problem of his own to take care of. And so even though he knew it was an Unforgivable Curse, Harry figured the Ministry would probably forgive him if he used it to bring them the man who killed Albus Dumbledore… "Cruc-"
Sneering, Snape blocked the spell. "No Unforgivables from you, Potter! You haven't got the nerve or the ability!"
"Incarc-" Harry decided to switch to another spell in an attempt to catch the man off-guard, but Snape deflected it with an almost lazy flick of his arm. "Fight back! Fight back, you cowardly-"
The look of rage that suddenly twisted Snape's face looked entirely out of place on the normally unflappable man. "Coward, did you call me, Potter? Your father would never attack me unless it was four on one. What would you call him, I wonder?"
"Stupe-"
"Blocked again and again and again until you learn to keep your mouth shut and your mind closed, Potter!" Snape's sneer returned as he deflected away yet another spell before Harry could even finish it, and then turning his attention to his fellow Death Eaters. "Now come! It's time for us to go, before the Ministry tu-"
A familiar, almost musical roar echoed through the night and Harry grinned viciously at his former professor. Given that launching had the potential to be problematic, especially with the Room of Requirement and Astronomy Tower out of the question, he'd been wondering if their secret weapon would be able to make its long-awaited debut against the Death Eaters tonight. He'd only spotted four of his five closest friends on his race down from the Astronomy Tower. Now he knew why. "My mind's an open book to you, Snape? Then tell me… what am I thinking now?"
"Night Fury!"
Snape's dark eyes went wide at Hagrid's shout and he had a split second to take in Harry's mocking wave before a ball of bright purple fire slammed into his chest, detonating and quickly engulfing him. Throwing up a shield, Harry spun away and dropped into a crouch as an awful heat washed over his body, too hot for even the special shield he'd practiced all year to absorb it all. In the end, though, knowing it allowed him to withstand the devastation brought on by an angry Night Fury. Of Snape… nothing survived save for Harry's contempt for the man. Rising to his feet, Harry spit at the dark burn mark on the ground in front of him. "For the record, in case you didn't find it in time? I was thinking 'You're fucked'." Looking up, Harry offered his friend a salute as she circled around before coming in for a landing beside him. "Good night for flying?"
Rearing back to sit on its haunches, the sleek black dragon beside him nodded decisively before shuddering and transforming into a very familiar blonde Ravenclaw. "Someone needs to let Professor Flitwick know that whoever told him the walls and windows in our dorms are charmed to be unbreakable was lying. Malinda-Me managed to burn a hole in one quite easily." Luna Lovegood let out a little titter of laughter at that, and Harry was unable to keep himself from joining in. Generally speaking, people didn't take a dragon's fire into account when they declared something to be 'unbreakable' and they both knew it. "What's going on? The Defense professor usually doesn't turn evil and try to kill you for another two or three weeks…"
"Snape killed Dumbledore."
"Oh." Luna actually blinked for the first time that Harry could remember seeing before turning her attention to where Malfoy stood a dozen feet away, having disobeyed his mentor's last command. "Was Snape kidnapping Malfoy or something? He's just sort of… standing there. He looks confused."
"Actually, he disarmed Dumbledore but couldn't finish the job. That's when Snape killed him."
Surprisingly, Luna seemed more interested in that little tidbit than the fact that their professor had killed Dumbledore. "Malfoy disarmed the headmaster before his death, though, right? Malfoy attacked him first and then Snape?" Harry nodded and Luna's eyes narrowed. "I see." Leaning forward, she triggered her animagus transformation and hit the ground on all fours, tail swishing back and forth against the grass as she eyed the petrified Slytherin. Then her wings snapped out, one knocking Harry clean off his feet, and a single downbeat launched her up off the ground. With a shriek, she lunged towards Malfoy…
And Draco turned out to be no match for his namesake.