A/N: Ahhhh! My loves we are here! I really hope you like this chapter it is the second too the last! My heart! So I hope you like it, I hope it's everything you wanted. I adore you guys, you have been soooo amazing with the reviews and support I can't believe that there are so many followers and favorites! I'm just overwhelmed! Thank you so much I can't tell you how much I appreciate you!
Chapter 33
Draco had never been terribly good at transfiguration. He passed his lessons just fine, but he was way more talented at potions by far. As he held the two wands together, making sure that they looked exactly the same, he ground his jaw, looking the same was only half of it. Somehow he would need to make the wand feel real. Draco sighed, he wasn't sure how one would go about making magic feel, he could just leave it and hope whoever locks him up is too distracted to notice that the humming of magic was missing but he didn't want to risk his entire plan going up in smoke. This was possibly his last chance to get himself and Hermione out of here. What he wouldn't do to pick that brilliant brain of Hermione's, she would know what spell to use to imitate magic. Fuck, I wish I'd paid closer attention in first year charms. Part of the class was wand lore, if he had been home he could simply pull out his charms book from that year and look it up, but instead he was here. Draco sighed. He tried a vibration charm that a girl in spain had taught him to enhance sensations. The fake wand started to vibrate quickly. Draco frowned, that certainly wasn't going to work, magic felt nothing like that. He sighed, ceased the spell and tried a warming spell next, hoping that maybe he could replicate the tinglingly warmth of magic. He picked up the fake and smirked. It was closer, but it was still just lacking.
Draco tried different charms and spell combinations for an hour before he finally got something that was close to what he had been hoping to achieve. When the fake sat comfortably in his hand with a warm and slight buzzing feel, Draco felt a relief wash over him. He looked at the watch on his wrist and it was nearing five, he was expecting someone would come and gather him soon. He tucked his wand into the waistband of his trousers, making sure the wand was well hidden under his robes and clothing. He picked up the fake and put it in the robes pocket where he was known keep it when he wasn't using it. It wasn't long before the door to his room swung open to reveal a smug-looking Alecto.
"Draco darling, it's time to go to the dungeon." She smiled evilly. "Time to lock you up, lover boy."
Draco growled to himself. Ever since Alecto asserted herself in the Manor foyer she had been far more forward with Draco, thinking that she could treat him like a piece of meat. Draco had been thoroughly irked by it, but had decided that getting angry and yelling at her was only giving in to what she wanted. He instead chose to bite his tongue until he could bite into her, preferably her throat. He strode out of the room with Alecto hot on his heels. As they walked through the main hall, Draco heard his name being called. He reluctantly stopped and turned to see Yaxley casually approaching them.
"Ah Draco, it's that time of the month again," he sneered. "You must feel so," he paused "beastly. I can't imagine what it's like to have that disease running through your veins. Tell me, does it make you feel disgusting?"
Draco took a long breath. He knew Yaxley's game, he was trying to make him feel inferior, put Draco in his place. "It took sometime to get used to," he admitted, "but, like all the rest of the filth and disgust in my life," he flashed his eyes up at Yaxley, "I've adapted."
Yaxley smirked, catching the slight. "Of course. Carry on, Alecto, the dog needs his cage," he sneered. Draco narrowed his eyes, turned and walked away, but before he made it too far Yaxley stopped him again. "Draco," Yaxley drawled, "animals in cages don't need wands," and he held out his hand expectantly.
Draco stopped and prayed to Merlin that the fake was good enough to fool Yaxley. He was sure it would fool Alecto, but Yaxley was far more intelligent than she. Draco pulled the fake from his robes, turned, and handed it to Alecto, looking disgruntled about the exchange.
Yaxley took the fake from him and smiled. "Off you go, wouldn't want you loose tonight." He turned and left Alecto and Draco standing in the hall.\
Draco wanted to sigh in relief but he had to keep up appearance, so instead he balled his fists and anger stomped off to dungeons.
Hermione heard the door to the dungeon swing open. She listened carefully as two sets of footsteps descended down the stairs in to the long hallway. Perhaps it was a meal being delivered to her instead of just appearing in the corner of her cell, but the footsteps halted at the far end of the hall and she could hear the creaking of a cell door being opened. Did they have another prisoner?! Hermione wondered who it could be, she listened carefully but the conversation seemed muffled. She could tell that there was a female, but the other persons seemed to refuse to speak. Hermione heard the door of the cell close and, after a minute or two, one set of footsteps walked back up the stairs. Hermione waited on baited breath for the dungeon door to close, desperate to know who else had been caught and thrown in to a cell. When the door closed Hermione waited a few moments before cautiously raising her voice. "Hello?" her throat rasped. Hermione swallowed, trying to soothe her scratchy dry throat.
Hermione waited for an answer, but none came. She swallowed again raising her voice louder hoping that they simply hadn't heard her. "Hello?" She called more clearly and loudly again.
Draco appeared suddenly before her. "Shhhh," he whispered slipping a hand between the bars to stifle the yelp that came from her.
Hermione felt the tears rolling down her face. "Draco," she breathed when he took his hand off her mouth. "What are you doing down here?"
He looked over his shoulder down the long hallway and back at Hermione. "It's a full moon," he whispered, "and it's dusk. They locked me down here so I wouldn't hurt anyone."
Hermione's eyes went wide. "How did you get out?!"
Draco flashed a mischievous smile at her. "With my wand," he pushed it through the bars towards her.
Hermione took the wand confusedly. "They let you keep it?" she looked back at Draco, who now had a more somber look on his face.
"No," he breathed, "I gave them a fake I made and hid this in my trousers." His brows knitted together. "But I need you to take it."
Hermione gave Draco a calculating look. "Draco," Hermione voice now suspicious, "what are you planning?"
Draco gave Hermione a pleading look. "I need you to cast warding over your cell," he paused, "there's an anti apparation spell over the house, so if I don't come get you by morning, you need to cast a disillusionment charm and sneak out of here."
"Draco, what are you going to do?" Hermione asked, becoming more alarmed.
Draco took a sharp breath as if he had just been hit in the side. "The fastest way out of here is up the stairs and to the right, there's a door to the kitchens where there's an outside door. Once outsiii.." he cringed again in pain, for a moment, "run straight to the forest and get out of here." Draco now clutched at his sides, he quickly looked up at Hermione, "Tell... them...Everything. Yaxley," his words were becoming more and more labored, "everyone's here." Draco fell to the ground.
Hermione fell to her knees with him. "Draco, whatever you're thinking of doing, don't," Hermione begged.
"Waaarrrdsssss" Draco voice was now low and gravely, sounding more and more like a growling wolf.
Hermione reached out for him, wanting to soothe his pain, but he snarled and snapped at her. Hermione recoiled, falling backwards with his wand still in her hands. "Draco, please," she begged again, but she was only met with more growling. Hermione wiped away rogue a tear and started putting up concealment and silencing charms. She watched as Draco slowly became a wolf again. This time had seemed longer and more painful than the last time she watched him transform, but she couldn't take her eyes off him. Even after he had fully transformed she watched him as he slowly methodically paced out side her cell. She wondered for a long time why the wolf hadn't bounded up the stairs to maul the nearest living being. By all accounts, the wolf should have gone into a frenzy by now.
Hermione skooched closer to the cell bars, closer to the wolf. The wolf seemed to pause for a moment. She wondered if it was her scent that kept him close, but if he could smell her surely he must want to attack her, yet this did not look like a wolf ready to maul her to death. No, if she were to pinpoint the behavior this seemed more like a protective pacing. Was it possible that even Draco's wolf form thought she was a mate, and thus felt the need to defend? Hermione bit her lip, and slowly reached her hand out, but just as she was about to break the charms with her fingers, the sound of the door swinging open again caught the attention of the both of them. Before Hermione had the time to process what was happening the wolf was sprinting down the hall.
Pacing, pacing, pacing, pacing. He could smell her, her pheromones seeped from these bars, but he couldn't see her, couldn't hear her. Pacing, pacing, pacing, pacing. She was his, she would bear his cubs, he needed to protect her. Pacing, pacing, pacing, pacing, smells. He could smell mildew, lots of it, and stone. Pacing, pacing, pacing, pacing. He could also smell rats, but rats were of no interest to him. He wanted to hunt, he wanted the hot rush of blood over his jowls. Pacing, pacing, pacing, pacing. Wait, her smell, he paused. She was closer now, but he still couldn't see her, still couldn't find her. Pacing, pacing, pacing, pacing. A new sound, a new smell, another female, he could see her.
The smell triggered something in him, a rage the wolf didn't understand, but it filled him. He must sink his teeth into this new female. The wolf ran across the hall at top speed, taking his victim by surprise as she came down the steps. He leaped up on to her and sunk his teeth in to her artery. Blood overwhelmed his senses, feeding instincts overtook him and he ripped into the female. She made no sounds as he took another bite at her throat, soft squishy tissue, and the blood. She would be dead in minutes, the wolf knew. The taste was so fresh, the blood so warm against his tongue, rich, thick blood, and tender soft skin. The wolf had wanted this, and the host too. He slashed into the belly of the female, once he knew she was dead, organs taste the best. He wanted to feast, it had been so long since he last ate.
Wait, new smell. The wolf raised its head from the insides of the female, more, more, he sniffed. Huuummaaannsssss... wolf loped upstairs. He could smell them. He wanted them. He wanted to hunt them down. The rage returned. He was angry, he wanted to kill all of them. Wait, he took a longer sniff, he knew that scent, the fur on his hackles raised. He wanted that male.
Harry looked over the buzzing office. Twenty Aurors mingled together as they equipped themselves: counter jinx cloaks, shield hats, and muffliato boots, all preparing for the mission. Harry always had mixed feelings just before he went out on missions, the excitement to catch the bad guy, but always an anxiousness. When he was younger, before James, he had played it hard and fast without hesitation, but since the moment that he held his son in his hands for the first time, a worry hung over him. He wanted to be there to watch James grow up, he wanted to meet the baby that Ginny currently carried. So while he wanted to catch the bad guys, he also wanted everyone to come out alive in the end.
Harry trotted up to the group waiting on him, two ward breakers, and two combat Aurors. "Okay, we're apparating in a half klick out. Once I recheck comms, we'll move in closer so Tonus and Travis can disable the wards. McQueary, Gossel, you'll be on rear guard while I take point. Once the wards are down, disillusionment spells then we move in. We're going in through the front doors. McQueary, you're on point, I'll be second. Tonus, Travis, watch the flanks, then Gossel you're coming up the rear. Got it?" The four of them nodded very seriously, "And remember, this is a catch and detain, deadly force is permitted but I'd like all the lot of them to rot in Azkaban before they croak. Any questions?" This time they shook their heads. "Excellent." Harry looked at the room again as it started to fall quiet. "Okay, comm check!" he yelled. Harry started. He double tapped his wand with his finger and spoke his surname, Ron followed, Jamison, and Finnigan, after the leads it moved clockwise around the room as everyone said their last name and confirmed that the they all could hear each other in the modified extendable ears that had been Fred and George's creation. Once the last person said their name, Harry took a long breath as he prepared himself.
"Let's move out," Harry boomed. Harry focused on the coordinates to the castle and, with a flick of his wand, he apparated to his position half a klick from the castle to ensure that their approach would go unheard. Four pops echoed behind him as he arrived in cold dark forest. Harry waited for a moment and began comm check again, counting as he people called their names once again. When all names had been accounted for, Harry turned to the two ward breakers who were talking among themselves. "What does it look like?" He asked them.
"We think it's most likely an anti-apparition and some basic shield warding, I can't detect anything too complicated. We'll know more when we get closer," Tonus informed him.
Harry nodded. "Okay, let's move in then." Harry double tapped his wand. "Move to the perimeter of the property." Four confirmations came over the ear and Harry slowly began to move forward. It only took a few minutes before the castle came in to view from the dense forest that surrounded it. Harry stopped just shy of the forest clearing. Tonus and Travis walked up beside him.
"Okay, it does seem like there is some additional warding, but nothing we've never disabled before," Tonus whispered quietly.
Harry nodded and double tapped his wand. "Hold at perimeter." He waited for the responses before he looked back at the two ward breakers. In front of them, gold lettering and symbols appeared as they started their work. Harry envied ward breaking, it was so intricate and precise, something that Hermione had been good at but Harry himself never was able to get a hang of. It would take several minutes for the breakers to slowly, covertly, pull back the wards.
Hermione's stomach turned as she heard Draco rip in to the flesh, she couldn't see it, but the horrible gurgling sounds were enough to paint a picture of what was happening at the end of the hallway. She quickly casted a muffliato so she wouldn't have to endure the sickening sounds anymore, but the thought still hung there in her mind. Hermione examined Draco's wand for a long moment. She couldn't just stand here, hiding in a cell, and let Draco get himself murdered. She stood up and transfigured the robes she was wearing in to some fitted black pants and a black jumper. She looked at her bare feet and grimaced. Shoes really were the least of her concerns at this moment. She padded over to the lock, now armed with a wand it was a simple flick of the wrist to release her from the cell. She cautiously peered down the hallway to see that Draco had gone already. Hermione ran to the exit, excited to seeing something besides rough hewn walls. She slowed, however, when the limp form of a person came in to clear view. She locked her jaw and slowly approached the person, her wand trained on them just in case Draco had not finished them off, but as she stepped up to stairs it was clear that no one would be able to survive an attack like that. The sight made Hermione sick, she vomited over the side of the stairs, for as much as she hated Alecto, she didn't think anyone deserved to be mauled to death so horribly.
Hermione placed her hands on her knees, trying hard to regain her composure. She needed to get up the flight of stairs and fight her way out. She took one last deep breath and rose to her full height, gingerly stepping over the woman, being sure not to disturb her or the pool of blood that encircled her. Hermione then ran up the steps, one benefit to not wearing shoes was being able to move quietly. She slowly came to the door that let in to the dungeon. The door was flung open, and the large lavish hallway that the Carrow twins had carried her down before lay just in front of her. Hermione carefully tiptoed to the door and peaked around the corner. Down the hallway to her left she saw Draco smelling the air and pacing slowly away.
Hermione bit her lips, for some reason she felt like Draco wouldn't harm her. He hadn't been defensive until Alecto came downstairs, it was only then that he became vicious; her stomach rolled as she thought of Alecto's maimed body. That was a hunch, however, there was no basis to believe that she would be safe in Draco's presence, so instead she cast a quick disillusionment charm over herself and trotted in the opposite direction of Draco, hoping that she could catch someone by surprise and disarm them.
The wolf stalked down the long hallway, following the scent that taunted him. He knew he was getting closer, the smell grew stronger and stronger, until he stood outside an ajar door. The smell came from just inside as a flickering flame softly illuminated the room. The wolf readied itself, excited to sink its teeth in to its victim. The wolf knew this was about revenge, the anger and hatred for the host reverberated in every thought his host had. The hate was so intense that it overrode the instincts of the wolf. All the wolf knew was he wanted to kill this man. He pushed open the door with his snout and strode in.
The man turned, clearly curious as to who was not only awake at this time of night but who was disturbing him. His eyes landed on the wolf and the smell of terror came pouring from his pores. The wolf relished the scent, his host reveled in it. The wolf gave out a low menacing growl and stalked towards his prey, the man stumbled back terrified of the beast.
"Dr-dra-aco, come now," the Lucius voice trembled.
The host snarled at his sire, the wolf losing control of his body.
Lucius fumbled for his wand, fear thwarting his attempts to grab the thing and cast a spell to subdue the beast.
The wolf jumped up on to the table and leapt at the man, it wasn't sure what the wands were, but it understood what they did.
Lucius fell to the ground, but his hand finally grasped around the wand that had been tangled up in his robe pocket. He withdrew it and threw a stupfey at the lunging wolf, but nothing happened. The wolf landed just short of his waist, pushing Lucius backwards into the floor where he sprawled out hopelessly vulnerable. "Draco! Please, no! I am your father!" he begged as his hand went reflexively to his face.
The wolf stood over the terrified man, he could hear his heart racing, smell the panic on his skin, but the host stopped the wolf from devouring the man. The wolf struggled for control, he just wanted to rip in to the prey and eviscerate him.
Lucius looked back up at the wolf wondering if his begging had actually been effective. "Draco, please, I only meant well, with me to mold and guide you, you will become the most powerful wizard to ever live."
Rage welled up in the host and spilled over to the wolf as the man bargained for mercy, but the hesitation gave the man an opening. The wolf was blasted sideways flying across the room slamming in to the wall. At this point, the host had been pushed out and only instincts to kill erupted in the wolf's head. The wolf leapt back to its feet, bounding again across the room at the man trying to escape. He narrowly missed as the man whipped around the table that he had been standing behind. The wolf lost grip on the wood floors and slammed into the wall again, this time books fell from their shelves, showering the wolf as it tried to get control again. The wolf leaped forward as the man ran the length of the room to escape the wolf, throwing lights over his shoulder that missed by a long shot. The wolf ran forward only to be greeted by a large chair that had flung itself across the room to hit the wolf's broadside. The wolf found himself pinned between the wall and the piece of furniture, agitated more than ever. It watched as the man slipped through the doorway, and heard him yelling at the top of his lungs, drawing others out.
The wolf got to its feet and chased the man out of the room, flashes of green and red lights bombarded him as he skidded out into the hallway. There were two other men now, trying to fend off the wolf and, while some of the lights did hit him, he was unfazed by them. Some of them did sting, and the greens ones seemed to stiffen his body for a brief moment.
Lucius started to back away. Even with multiple wizards attacking him, Draco seemed undaunted by the spells, and Lucius knew in his guts that Draco was coming after him. He spun on his heel and ran down the hallway, putting as much distance between him and Draco as he could manage. It was only the flight instinct that consumed him now.
The wolf saw the man back away and run from him, the foolish being thought he would out run a werewolf. The wolf blew past the other men and tore after the man he was going to sink his teeth into. It didn't take long for the wolf to catch up to the man, he lunged forward and grabbed the man's legs from under him. The man crashed down on to the floor and rolled over just in time for the wolf to leap again, this time landing squarely above him.
There was no hesitation this time, the wolf went straight for the jugular. He felt the man struggle beneath him, hitting him, ripping at his skin and fur, but the wolf held tight, crushing the man throat beneath him. The man struggled only for a moment more before he fell limp in the wolf jaws. Blood seeped everywhere, and the wolf could feel the man's pulse weakening on his tongue. It was then that the host came back, a triumphant horror filled the wolf's mind.
The wolf let go and the man fell to the floor, a pool of blood turning the white floor crimson. The wolf smelled someone else enter at the end of the hallway. He looked up to find several more men armed with wands trained on him. The host, however, told the wolf that these men were of no interest to him. The wolf eyed them skeptically, and instead started tearing at the fresh hot flesh in front of him.
Hermione came to a large archway at the far end of the hall. She peeked around corner again to find an empty gallery. Was it possible that all the Death Eaters were asleep upstairs? Hermione looked over her shoulder, she was sure there was a staircase behind her, but that also happened to be where she had last seen Draco. Not wanting to end up with Alecto's fate, she proceeded into the empty gallery hoping she would find a servant's staircase. She followed along the walls, checking the doors every time she came across one, but the place was just deserted. She held her breath as she again stopped in front a large passage way with a glow coming from it, hoping at last this would be the way to a second staircase. She tentatively poked her head around the corner. At first she thought she saw nothing but more empty rooms, but surprise took her when suddenly she felt a hand grab at her arm and figures started moving around her. She was pulled forward towards the disguised figures and wrapped into a tight hug.
"'Mione," Ron's voice whispered softly in her ear.
Hermione's earth shattered, her best friends were here to save her. She wrapped her arms around Ron's disillusioned body and hugged him for what felt like an eternity, it had been a long time since she felt that safe and the relief that washed over her was overwhelming.
Ron broke away from her, Hermione could hear him giving orders, but she was so relieved to see him she hadn't much paid attention to what he was saying. It wasn't until someone else stepped up to her and tried to escort her away that she realized what was going on. "Ron," she hissed, "I'm going to fight. I want to take these arseholes out!"
Ron's voice was stern for being Ron. "Mione, you're emaciated, dehydrated and weak, I can't let you fight. You'll be a liability. Boot and Benson are going to get you out of here and to Mungo's."
Before Hermione could get a word in edgewise, Terry Boot had come up grabbed her arm and was pulling her down the hallway. "Wait, Ron," she hissed. Ron turned around and gave her a very frustrated look, probably assuming that she was about to put up a big fight about staying. "It's Draco, he's loose and a werewolf. Be careful." Ron muttered something to himself before turning back around and proceeding down the gallery which Hermione just came.
Hermione followed Boot and Benson through the large room that the team had just cleared, it looked like a solarium that led out to the castle grounds. Hermione was sure that this would have been a beautiful room if it hadn't been that she was fleeing from her captors. Once outside, they dashed to the safe cover of the dense forest.
"Okay, Hermione, I'm going to apparate you to Mungo's," Terry held out his hand
Hermione had half mind to apparate herself, but she thought better. She had been sitting in a dungeon for Merlin knows how long and, now that she was actually thinking about it, she wasn't sure how she had made it this far. She looked down, her hands and arms looked sickly in the moonlight and she could only imagine what the rest of her looked like. She took Terry's hand and apparated away. The uncomfortable squeeze and tug of apparition aggravated her already frail state. When they popped into the Mungo's emergency room, Hermione would have collapsed on the floor if not for Terry who managed to catch her before she hit the ground. Hermione heard people rushing over to her. Suddenly she was being picked up and laid down. She felt the movement under her but she couldn't see what was going on around, her vision was blurred and all the voices around her muffled. It was
Harry watched in horror as Draco tore into his father's flesh, but the shock didn't last long as spells were now being launched in his direction. Harry looked up and two Death Eaters were throwing spells as they began to run in the opposite direction. Harry started flinging stupefy's and expilliarmus spells to stop their retreat. One of the curses the death eaters threw missed the Aurors but hit Draco squarely. The wolf snapped around and started bounding towards the other wizards. Harry was unsure what to do. Every advantage he could take he would, but there was no guarantee that the wolf wouldn't turn on them and attack the Aurors.
He was given very little time to think about this, however, because more Death Eaters came flooding down the staircase in front of them and a massive battle broke out. Harry was wildly casting before his eye stopped on Yaxley.
"Mr. Potter!" Yaxley bellowed over the explosions and bangs surrounding them. "Welcome to my abode! How splendid to be in presence of the Boy Who Lived once again."
A bust erupted next to Harry and he looked over his shoulder. More Aurors were pouring in to the room. He saw Ron and his team enter on the far side blocking off the retreating death eaters. Jamison and his team came in through a side door, catching the death eaters off guard. He had yet to see Finnegan's team yet. "I'm just offended you didn't have us sooner," Harry taunted back. "We love to party just as much as the next wizard." Harry threw an expelliarmus but Yaxley easily deflected it, throwing something back at Harry that bounced off his shield charm.
"Ah, well, you see, my parties are very exclusive," Yaxley retorted. "We only allow the best and most pure among our ranks." Yaxley cast another spell, this time catching Harry off guard, slightly ripping in to his arm.
Thankfully, the anti-curse cloak dampened to blow. Without it, Harry imagined his arm would have been shredded. Harry stepped closer, trying to stupefy Yaxley. "You consider the like of the Carrow twins high brow?! Your standards must be desperately low."
Yaxley easily deflected the stupefy again. "This coming from the wizard using school age spells to disarm dark wizards?!" Yaxley chortled back.
Harry knew he was right. He was going to need stronger spells to stop him, but luring opponents in to a false sense of security was kind of Harry's forte. Harry straightened up. "Just testing the waters, Yaxley. See, more often than not, "great dark wizards" can be taken out with school level spells. Seems to be a common theme among you, thinking yourselves far better than you really are." This time, Harry cast a confringo curse that blew Yaxley back, tossing him into another pedestal. Harry closed the distance, but Yaxley was quick, he sent another spell at Harry that whizzed past his ear, barely missing him. Harry shot an immobulus charm that missed Yaxley by a fraction of a second as he rolled out of the way. Yaxley scrambled to his feet, tossing another unknown spell at Harry that managed to hit him in the shoulder this time, but whatever it was, it was absorbed by the cloak again. Harry and Yaxley continued like this for several minutes throwing spells, jinxes, and curses at one another, trying to force the other one to yield.
Harry had been keeping an eye on his fellow Aurors too. He saw Ron and Cluck take out Dolohov with a series of jinxes that had managed to rip him up in the air with by his ankles. Jamison, Arnet and Thompson bested Rookwood in a three to one duel that overwhelmed Rookwood. Harry looked around trying to find Nott when a Yaxley surprised him with a confirgro that blasted him backwards, slamming him into the ground. As he stood up, he saw two of the Aurors standing over Nott who seemed to be unconscious. Harry turned back to Yaxley with a smile on his face. One by one, the death eaters succumbed to the two to one ratio that Harry had brought. "Come on, Yaxley," Harry drawled, panting slightly. "Give up, I have your people detained."
Yaxley looked up around him and a look of shock crossed his face. He was looking far more haggard than Harry. Harry had managed to blow him back a few times and draw blood more than once. Apparently Yaxley was so caught up in their duel, however, that he had not noticed that his allies had slowly given in to the relentless pressure of the Aurors. Five men lay through out the room immobilized, stunned and muffliatoed with Auror wands trained on them, daring them to move. Five of the other Aurors stood in a circle around Harry and Yaxley waiting for the off chance that Harry failed, ready to blow Yaxley into the next century. The other six had headed upstairs to help Finnegan's team clear the upper level.
"Give up, Yaxley, the only place you'll be heading is to Azkaban." Harry threw a final expelliarmus and Yaxley's wand sprang up into the air and flung itself in to Harry's hand. Yaxley growled low as he slowly knelt to his knees and surrendered. Harry quickly cast a binding and stunning spell to further incapacitate the death eater. Harry let out a long sigh as victory washed over him. It was then that the rest of the Aurors came trotting down the steps, happily, with three more immobilized and stunned death eaters floating behind them.
"Upper levels clear, Sir." Finnigan, smiled. "Didn't think it'd be tha' easy."
Harry nodded. He had hoped it would be easy, but had honestly expected the worst; death eaters could be ruthless, though with a loose werewolf, Harry expected that they caught them severely off guard. "Wait, where's the werewolf?!" Harry exclaimed, now realizing that he hadn't seen or heard the beast in several minutes.
"Well, he managed to take a few bites out of Amycus here," Ron piped up, kneeling over Amycus repairing the torn flesh, "before Nott shot him with something, dunno what it was, but it knocked him back against the wall over there and he's been out since."
Harry looked over and, sure enough, Draco's werewolf was sprawled out further down the hall. Harry jogged closer, keeping his wand on the beast just in case, but the creature didn't move even as three other Aurors joined him. "Okay, lets immobilize him and get him to Mungo's. He may have some severe damage we don't know about yet." Harry counted off and he and the three other wizards cast a simultaneous immobulus, and the beast went rigid and remained still.
Harry turned to the room of Aurors. "Okay, Tonus and Travis, I want you to drop the anti-apparition shield. Finnigan, Ron, I want your teams to stay, recon anything you can find here that may be interesting. Jamison, our teams are going to take the prisoners to Azkaban. I'm going to take Draco back to Mungo's werewolf chamber."
The room started to bustle again as the prisoners were moved and the Aurors started on their various tasks. Ron, however, jogged up to Harry. "Mate, can I help take back Malfoy? I want to check on Hermione while we're there."
Harry screwed up his face. "Hermione's at Mungo's?"
"Yeah, that's how I knew about Draco being a werewolf, we found her as we were coming in through the solarium." Ron nodded.
Harry looked over at Jamison, "Jamison, head up recon, Ron's going to come with me." As soon as the ward lifted, Harry and Ron disapparated the stiff wolf body away from the Castle.