A/N: Holy SHit! twenty four reviews for one chapter. I gotta say that I wasn't expecting anywhere near this amount of feed back. And all positive two. You made this chapter that much harder to write, people. Now I'm scared it's not gonna live up to your expectations. Oh well... I guess we'll see. Here we go will...
Contact
Hermione Granger walked, sullenly, from the head of the DMLE's office. She had once again brought any evidence she could find of Harry Potter's innocence forth to Amelia Bones, only to be regretfully informed again that no good could be done. Madame Bones was a stout supporter of Hermione's agenda, but no higher ups would even hear the evidence.
Hermione slumped through the British ministry of magic towards the public entrance, intent on walking home to clear her head. She was so focused on her own memories, she didn't even acknowledge the panicked young auror that ran into the office as she left.
--oo00Flashback00oo--
Harry and Hermione were sitting within the Grimmauld place family library, scouring books to find anything to help him in his underage use of magic hearing the next day. Ever since Harry had arrived at his godfather's house after the dementor attack, Hermione had barely left his side.
"There has to be something!" exclaimed a frustrated Hermione, not used to being failed by her books.
"We've looked as hard as we can." replied Harry quietly. "It would help if Ron was here to help. We could use the extra pair of eyes."
Ron had opted to stay at the Burrow with his family until school had started. At first, this had come as a shock to the other two, but they eventually accepted his decision...
"Bloody prat!" somewhat... "I can't belive that Ron would abandon you when you needed him AGAIN!"
"Hermione, he wanted to spend to time with his family. Come on, he's barely seen them over the last few years." Harry said placating the girl.
"Neither have I, but I'm still here!"
With a quiet and heartfelt word of thanks, Harry led the still fuming Hermione out of the library and upstairs to her room (not now people... maybe later). After a quick 'night' he left her to go to bed.
--oo00End Flashback00oo--
The next day she had ventured with Harry, escorted by auror and order member Nymphadora Tonks, to courtroom ten within the ministry. They arrived only for her to be told that she couldn't attend the hearing. She waited for forty-five minutes until the doors slammed open. Her hopeful smile vanished as she saw all of the Weasleys, minus Fred and George, exit with haughty grins plastered on their faces. Before she could even ask about their presence, two burly aurors had dragged an almost comatose Harry from the room.
She remembered screaming promises to Harry as he was hauled off. Tears still stung her eyes as she recalled the haunted look he threw her. It hadn't taken long to realize that the red-headed family had betrayed him for some reason. She had broken off all communication with them shortly after and had spent her last few years in Hogwarts as an outcast. When not doing homework, she was trying to find out the court proceedings and any way to prove Harry's innocence, just to be blocked by everyone from Ron to Dumbledore.
Recently she'd started pleading to any high position that would listen to her. The aurors, the DMLE, even the minister had been approached with no results.
"I hope the articles I sent to the papers will get some results." she muttered, ignoring a sound resembling something akin to a 'Hurk' that came from someone behind her.
"You know..." rumbled a voice, gravelly from obvious disuse, from a side alley. "bad things can happen to pretty young women when they walked down deserted streets."
Hermione whipped around, her wand pointing between a pair of shining silver-green eyes. Whomever the eyes belonged to remained in shadow from whatever angle she tried to see from. All she could view was a very faint outline.
"You should really be more attentive." the stranger rumbled, flashing his eerie glance back down her previous path. She looked to see two blood trails and a slumped body resting in a pile of garbage bags. A closer look showed that the man was an unspeakable.
"But, why..." she asked, turning back to the alley. She stopped when she realized that those hauntingly familiar green eyes were gone.
--oo00HPR00oo--
Escaping that prison was ridiculously easy. Fuckin' dementors stopped paying attention to me a year ago. I've buried my feelings, taking away their interest. And with only one guard, there weren't any other... complications. Actually surprised those soul-suckers haven't joined Riddle. Ministry probably offered 'em something better. Don't know... or care.
Being without a wand for five years has given me monumental control of my magic. Good thing, too. Waters surrounding the island are fuckin' freezing. Especially when ya gotta swim for miles to reach the mainland. Could've apparated if I'd known how. Could never really practice any kinda teleportation in Azkaban while playin the pathetic subdued criminal. If I've pegged the ministry's incompetency right, the bloody morons wouldn't have known there was a breakout till the morning shift arrived about two hours ago. Probably just realized it was me. After all, why would they suspect a man who's shown no sign of free will for the last four years.
DMLE will more than likely be getting the message 'bout now. Saw an owl with Azkaban's seal fly in around two minutes ago. With the prison's seal, an auror will have to personally fetch the message. Heard that little tidbit from one of the guards patrolling the cell blocks.
That's not the reason I'm here, though. I know she's here. The last letter told me she'd been trying to appeal my case for years and that she'd be trying again this morning. I'm truly sorry I couldn't answer her letters, but I had to play the good little vegetable and 'ignore' them.
I can tell she's upset by her stride as she leaves the building. Probably turned away again. Can't help but love the girl when she tries so hard to help me, even when its a hopeless cause. Didn't take long for me to realize my feelings when she was one of the only people I thought about without an intense blood lust. Soul suckers had fun with me the first few weeks after I figured it out. Bloody aurors didn't make it any easier. Kept telling me I was was ridiculous for crying over a mudblood. Eventually the brain dead fucks decided that was to be my new name. That, in turn, got shortened to Riddick after every man who said the name was killed before that could get past 'ridic'. Figured that sounded pretty damn cool so I came up with a new spelling. Low and behold, I went from Harry Potter to Riddick. May seem corny... but it works.
Whatever she's thinking about has gotten her distracted. She hasn't even noticed the little shits tailing her from the building. They're walking apart from each other, single file, in an attempt to appear inconspicuous. Shoulder patches id 'em as unspeakables. Didn't peg that group for pureblood lackeys, but I've obviously been wrong about people before. Don't really care why they're being so careful to hide from her, but the fact that they are hiding is enough to piss me off.
Bloody prats don't even know I'm here. I take the guy at the the back of their little procession out first. Sneak up behind him and palm his wand from his back pocket. Smart on his part. Before he even knows it's gone, I bring it back around his head and slam it into the fucker's eye. Gotta be sure it does the job so I drive it in until the tip hits the back of his skull. Drag him into the shadows so nobody will notice. After I dislodge the wand from the fucker's eye socket, I snap in in half. Who's next?
Don't feel like giving the next guy as much time to react. As I get behind him, I swing my arms out in a wide arc, broken ends of the wand pointed in. Without a sound, I bring my fists in, driving the jagged ends into the guy's temples. Pathetic little lapdog didn't even know he was dead before I'm dragging his body out of site.
Grabbing the bottom of a broken bottle, I over take the last guy. Manage to get ahead of him without being spotted. As soon he comes within arm's reach, my hand shoots out and latches over his mouth. He manages to get out a slight 'Hurk' before I jerk his face away from me and pull his back into my chest. In the same movement, I bring my other fist around and back across his throat. Severing is jugular with a jagged piece of bottle isn't the quickest or the most pleasant way to die, but he shouldn't have been tailing 'Mione. I make sure I hold his mouth until the stops struggling then I drag him off to the side. Need to let her know of her tail so I leave the prick in a pile of garbage bags in plain site. Fitting.
Manage to slide into a side alley in in her path. Not quite ready to show her I'm out yet, but I need to talk to her.
"You know..." I say. She spins faster than I thought. Got her wand leveled between my eyes. My girl's gotten better reflexes in the last five years. "bad things can happen to a pretty young women when they walk down deserted streets.
A little light manipulation keeps all but my eyes indistinguishable. She squints, trying to see who I am. Not today, luv. I throw my gaze to the guy in the garbage. As she gives him a closer look I hightail it. Swear I hear her say something, but I ignore it. Got someone else to visit tonight.
--oo00HPR00oo--
Auror Ronald Billius Weasley was not a happy man. After Harry Potter's trial, him and his family were promised the prat's money. They had all agreed, except for the twins. Those two trouble makers had gone on and on for weeks about the 'betrayal' of Potter. After his incarceration, they'd left home and started a joke shop. For the last five years they had done remarkable business, but still refused to talk to the rest of the family.
As for the money, the rest of the Weasleys had later found out that Potter had locked down his vault from all but him and the Goblins. As long as he was alive, no one aside from those two parties could so much as look at the door of the vault. Ron had needed that money to bypass the prerequisite three years of auror training and acquire a high ranking job, as any good pureblood would do. With out the bribe money, he had been forced to sweat through the training and had just recently graduated from the academy.
It figured that Potter would have taken the cash as well. Even locked up, the fucker had everything. Women still wanted him, even more now that he was a "bad boy". He was still famous, and he still had tons of Gold.
The biggest rub, however, was Hermione. Ron had expected her to turn to him for comfort when Potter was locked up, but no. She became obsessed with freeing him. Because it was her, she figured out Ron and his family's part in Harry's incarceration and had cut off all contact. His grades had suffered and had almost cost him his future auror position. He got payback though. Through his new found connections in Slytherin, who were very happy about his removal of Harry, he managed to completely black list the uppity little bookworm. Even after Hogwarts, she continued on her idiotic mission, no matter what anyone said.
Ron's musings were interrupted as an alarm sounded. He followed his fellow aurors to the auditorium, asking anyone who would acknowledge him what the emergency was. He had been a very unpopular member of the force since day one. After the news of Potter's incarceration was released and he was named as a key witness, his fellow aurors had steered clear of him. It's not like they believed Harry innocent, but none of them agreed with selling out your best mate.
Ron entered the briefing chamber, none the wiser as to the situation, and found a place to sit. Head auror, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and head of the DMLE, Madame Bones, approached the podium and all noise stopped.
"Ladies and gentlemen..." began Shacklebolt. "We received a missive from Azkaban this morning. It seems that a prisoner has escaped."
An excited buzz passed through the hall. Only the recently freed Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew having been temporarily captured and questioned almost a year ago, had ever escaped from Azkaban without the the destruction of the fortress.
"Who is it?" asked a voice from the back of the room.
"Recently he has been going by the name of Riddick..." Ron tensed up. He had heard of this man's story. "But he was originally called Harry Potter."
--oo00HPR00oo--
Returning to his dark cubicle, Ron was inwardly panicking at the thought of Harry loose. He knew of Riddick's story. How everyone who pissed him of by ridiculing him was killed. If that's what happened to those making fun of him, how would he treat someone who had betrayed him? Walking to his desk, Ron noticed a strange mark burned into the wood. Looking closer, he saw it was a lightning bolt.
"See you've managed to survive..." came a gravelly voice from what seemed like everywhere in the room. Ron spun around, trying to find the source. Seeing nothing, he took a deep breath and turned back to his desk. What he saw made his blood run cold. It was a message that read...
See you soon, mate.
A/N: I gotta thank my bud, FatticusXL, for the idea with Harry's contact with Ron. He's got a couple stories out if anyone wants to read 'em. I believe that he may be having a couple problems finding his stories outside of his profile page so, if anyone can't find it, check my favorite authors for his name.