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Chapter Thirty-Two: Unforgivables
……………………………………………………………

The next few days following Ron's return were rather similar to the week following his "death" – Harry was having trouble keeping track of time and events. Everything sort of joined and blurred together, and Harry was beginning to feel as if a thick mist had settled overtop of the Weasley home.

One thing was for sure – Harry had never eaten food as delicious as the meals Mrs Weasley was cooking for them every night. Each was a feast to rival those at Hogwarts.

And if Harry had thought that they'd received an awful lot of letters when news broke about Ron's passing, it was nothing compared to the heaps that poured in when news broke that Ron was still very much alive. Unlike last time, they all sat down and took the time to respond to each and every letter personally.

All of the Weasleys gravitated back to The Burrow. Harry loved waking up late (as McGonagall had given him a few days off wandless magic training, and he was able to sleep in) and trudging down the stairs to the kitchen, only to find all six Weasley sons wrestling over a single flatcake. Mr Weasley would be doing his best to quiet them all down.

'I had it first!'

'You did not,' said Bill. 'I did!'

'– Boys, does it really matter?–'

'You're both liars! I was up first; I should get the last one.'

'You were up first?' asked Charlie. 'Rubbish! George, I was up at least an hour before you!'

'D'you really think anyone cares what time you were up?' asked Ron. 'I came back from the bloody dead. I think I deserve that flatcake.'

'– You'd better not let your mother hear you talking like that –'

Percy rolled his eyes, but smiled. 'You did not "come back from the dead", you merely –'

'Shut the hell up,' said Ron. 'I came back from the dead!'

'Mum!'

'Telling Mum on me now, are you?'

'Good job, Weatherby.'

'Don't call me that!'

'– Really, how old are you lot? –'

'Fred, stop it.'

'Thank you, Bill,' said Percy.

'No problem, Weatherby.'

'BILL!'

'Haven't clued in that there's a whole other stack right here?' Harry asked Ginny, sitting down in the vacant seat beside her.

'Do they ever?' asked Hermione from across the table, beside Ron. Harry grinned and reached for a flatcake.

'Morning,' said Ginny.

'Morning,' said Harry, leaning in for a nice, lingering kiss.

The bickering immediately stopped. When Harry pulled away, he found ten murderous eyes (and Ron's two scandalized ones) fixated on him. Just as he had once written "I will not tell lies," he envisioned himself writing "I will not snog my girlfriend while her six older brothers look on."

There was a long, awkward moment where Harry said nothing and their looks said everything.

Suddenly, Mr Weasley made quite the production of stabbing the flatcake with his fork. 'Got it,' he said triumphantly.

As quickly as Harry and Ginny caught the attention, they lost it again.

'Give me that!' cried Fred.

'Don't listen to him, Dad!' said George. 'Give it to me!'

The rest of the Weasley boys joined in, and soon Harry and Ginny were completely forgotten. But if Harry wasn't mistaken, he could've sworn he saw Mr Weasley wink at him.

……………………………………………………………

'It just isn't smart,' said Hermione. 'Not now.'

'I agree,' said Harry. 'Your parents would lose it, Ron. And Ginny.'

'I can handle Ginny,' said Ron confidently.

'Don't kid yourself. Even I can't handle Ginny.'

Hermione nodded at Harry's words, but Ron still wasn't convinced. He stood, bringing himself to his full height, looking rather intimidating indeed.

'Look,' he said. 'I thought we'd agreed that –'

'We did,' said Harry. 'But a lot has changed since then. We can't just up-and-leave right now.'

'Harry's right,' said Hermione. 'Besides, he has other things going on now, things that require him to be here everyday. We all do.'

'Dumbledore wants us to keep training,' Harry piped up.

'We can train whether we're here or not,' Ron argued.

'How d'you figure?' asked Harry. 'Maybe you can run laps and do all that other rubbish on your own, but I can't do my wandless magic without McGonagall. Not very well, at least.'

'I …' Ron sighed. 'All right, maybe leaving now wouldn't be the smartest thing, or the easiest. But … we've got to do something other than what we're doing right now.'

Hermione raised an eyebrow. 'Which is?'

'Nothing,' said Ron exasperatedly. 'We need to take action.'

'How?'

'Join the Order, I guess,' Ron said. 'It's about all we can do from here. We're all of age, and –'

'I was kicked out,' Harry reminded him.

'You were invited back, weren't you?'

'Yeah,' said Harry. 'Okay, I guess that we could do that.'

'For now.'

'Why are you so anxious to leave again?' Hermione snapped.

'I've been out of the game long enough!' Ron cried

'This isn't a game!' Harry said.

'I know that,' Ron said. 'It's dangerous, and Mum would kill us if she knew what we're planning. But isn't it better to be out there risking our lives for a good cause than to be sitting round here and watching the death toll rise?' Ron ran a hand through his hair. 'Voldemort isn't taking a break just because I've gotten back home. Why should we?'

Harry rested his head in his hands for several moments. Ron had an excellent point. But he'd spoken to Dumbledore on several separate occasions now, and the old Headmaster had remained constant on one thing: train and work with the Order. Did Dumbledore know something Harry didn't? Could he read Harry's mind and knew what the trio was planning? Or was he merely repeating it because it was, logically, a very critical part of defeating Voldemort?

'We said we would follow you wherever you went,' Hermione said, looking at Harry. 'We meant that.'

Ron nodded. Finally, it seemed as though they agreed on something.

'You're the one who has to defeat Voldemort,' she continued. 'But you'll need us if you're ever going to get that far.'

'Of course,' Harry said instantly. 'I'd be nothing without you two. You've both saved my arse more times than I can count. You know that. I need you two – as much as I wish I could leave you both out of all this.'

'Good luck with that,' Ron said.

'It's crossed my mind more than once,' Harry admitted. 'Just leaving. Not telling you. Not involving anyone other than me and Voldemort.'

'Not bloody likely!'

Hermione said something, but it was the same moment as when Ginny lowered her wall and tried to talk to him. He felt that strange and foreign (yet, by now, somewhat familiar) sensation of her probing the back of his mind, seeking entrance. He tried his best to ignore her, knowing that he'd be in for it if he lowered his wall now and allowed her to know what he was discussing with Ron and Hermione.

He and Ginny had been practicing and experimenting with their new "connection" every chance they'd gotten since discovering it. Harry was actually very pleased with how easy it was becoming to open and close his mind to her, and vice versa.

All this practice was also helping his Occlumency skills. Kingsley had even commended him on his significant improvement in the last week. Of course, he still had to work at it, especially since he had to concentrate extremely hard on keeping his wall up at all times, even though Kingsley was poking around in his head. Ginny knew to never let her wall down on the afternoons Harry worked with Kingsley.

They still weren't sure how this "connection" had come about. Ginny believed that it was a direct result of them making love, but Harry wasn't so sure. Either way, it was the only explanation either of them could think of. And it limited the amount of people they could tell and consult on the situation. Any member of Ginny's family was out. Harry was considering asking Lupin's opinion, but he couldn't be sure if Lupin would agree to keep it between them. Harry and Ginny both agreed that they shouldn't tell the Order just yet. There was always Hermione, of course, but there was a chance that the news would get back to Ron, and that was no good at all.

'Harry?'

Realizing that he'd become lost in his own thoughts, Harry shook his head to clear it and looked up at his friends. 'Yeah?'

'What d'you think we should do?' asked Ron.

'If you want to stay, we'll stay. And if you think we should go, then we'll go.' Hermione pushed a strand of bushy brown hair behind her ear and looked at him expectantly.

Why was it his decision?

Because they trust you, you dolt. They trust you with their bloody lives, and you can't take that lightly. Look at what happened to Ron already, because of your carelessness.

'I think we should stay,' Harry said after a long moment. 'For now, at least. Until we can figure out where we'll go when we leave. We can't just go set up camp in Godric's Hollow and expect the Horcruxes to come to us. They're probably scattered all over the world.'

'We can join the Order and see how they go about the search,' said Hermione. 'Then we can go on their leads.'

'Exactly,' Harry said. He looked at Ron. 'That sound good?'

Ron nodded. 'It's not like I want to leave, or anything. But the sooner we get to it, the sooner this'll all be over, yeah?'

Harry nodded. 'We'll play this by ear and see what happens. And remember – we can't tell anyone.'

'Especially Ginny,' said Ron. 'You were right before. She'd lose it. If she found out about this beforehand … well, she's not above going to Mum if it'll keep you from leaving, Harry.'

Harry sincerely hoped that they wouldn't decide to leave for some time, so he could have time to come up with an appropriate way to tell Ginny that he would be leaving (and that no, she couldn't come, and no, she couldn't know where he was going, and no, he might not be coming back).

Something told him she wouldn't be horribly pleased.

A voice rang out from behind him that was unmistakably Ginny's. 'Leaving?'

The look that crossed Hermione's face told him all he needed to know about what he'd find when he turned around. Ginny was likely to kill him. He closed his eyes momentarily before standing up and turning to face his seething girlfriend.

'Er,' he said. 'Hey, Gin.'

'Don't you "Hey, Gin" me,' she said severely. 'Where are you going?'

'G-going?' Harry stammered. 'We're not going anywhere.'

'Oh, so it's all three of you, then?' she demanded.

Harry exchanged looks with Ron and Hermione. There wasn't a way out of this, was there?

Why didn't he just lower his wall when she'd tried to talk to him? She never would've come looking for him, and she never would've walked in on a conversation she wasn't meant to hear.

'Don't just stand there,' Ginny said, folding her arms across her chest.

'What d'you want us to say?' Ron asked.

'Tell me the truth!' she cried.

Hermione began, 'Ginny –'

'No,' Ginny said, sounding somewhat hysterical. 'The three of you have always left me out of things, and I've never complained once. I'm not allowed to join the Order and I'm not allowed to go out looking for the Horcruxes with you, and that's fine, but you are not leaving me behind now to go – wherever. You just – you can't. You can't.'

She looked between them frantically before settling her eyes back on Harry.

'Tell me.'

'I can't,' he said.

'I'm tired of being left out just because I'm too young and –'

'This has nothing to do with your bloody age!' Harry yelled. 'It's a matter of security. Your security! Sorry, Ginny, but I like you alive. You can't know.'

'Tell me right now, or else.'

'Or else what?' Harry asked stubbornly.

'Or else … something really bad is going to happen. Something so bad that I can't even think of it right now,' she told him lamely.

'Whatever,' he said.

'Quit treating me like a baby!'

'Then stop acting like one!' Harry yelled. He'd expected her to be upset – sad, afraid, and perhaps even a little angry – but she was just being ridiculous now. And annoying. Ginny hadn't annoyed him like this since he was twelve. 'Maybe, when you quit acting like such a stupid brat and realize that you don't always get your way, we'll tell you!'

'You are such a bastard,' she said evenly, even though she recoiled at his comment. 'And I am not a brat.'

'Yeah, you are sometimes,' he said. 'And when you're like that …' He caught himself before he said something awful.

'What? When I'm like that – what?'

'Nothing,' he said finally. 'It was nothing.'

'So what? You're just going to walk out on me? All three of you?' she said. Harry looked at his feet. 'Well, fine. But don't you dare think I'll be here when you get back, Harry. I'm done with this.'

He bit his lip hard, forcing himself to not give into the look she was giving him. She looked on the verge of tears, and all he wanted to do was apologize and wrap his arms around her and tell her everything, just so she'd stop looking at him like that.

Now looking slightly humiliated, she squared her shoulders and turned to leave.

'Where are you going?' he asked suddenly, his voice cracking. She couldn't leave. She had to stay, so they could fix what they'd just said to each other. Where was she going?

'I can't tell you – for security purposes,' she said childishly, and then she was gone.

Harry put a hand over his eyes. 'What did I just do?' he asked to nobody in particular.

'What you had to,' Ron said. 'She didn't give you a choice.'

'Go find her and – and talk to her!' said Hermione.

Harry looked up at his best friends. 'Now?'

'Yeah,' Ron urged. 'Best to get it over with. If you wait, it'll just give her more time to think about it. And she'll just get angrier and angrier until …' He winced. 'If you have to, tell her the truth.'

'I can't do that!'

'Yeah, you can,' Ron urged. 'Just because she'll want to come doesn't mean she gets to. You were right before. One day, she's going to have to learn to stop being such a kid. Maybe when she does, we won't have to treat her like one.'

'But we just agreed that we couldn't tell anyone else,' Harry said slowly. 'I thought –'

'That was before you both started acting like utter fools,' Hermione lectured him. 'Unless you can think of a plausible lie, you need to go tell her as much as you need to. Let her think she's involved … that she's allowed to come with us.'

Harry sighed. He and Ginny had done quite a number on themselves just now. Maybe, if he listened to Ron and Hermione, there was a way out of this mess.

'Okay,' he said. 'But later, when she finds out she isn't actually coming and this all blows up in my face, I want you both to remember that this wasn't my idea.'

……………………………………………………………

She deserved better than him.

She deserved someone who appreciated her and – and trusted her.

Someone who wouldn't up-and-leave without a second thought.

Oh, who was she kidding? She had made a complete idiot out of herself just now.

But how was she supposed to react to finding out that her boyfriend, one of her best friends, and her brother (who just got back from the DEAD) were planning on leaving. And worst of all, they weren't planning on telling her. She never would've seen it coming if she hadn't walked in on their conversation.

She had every right to be angry.

Still, even with the foggy glasses of anger through which she currently viewed the world, she knew that she had no right to say some of the things she'd said.

It was easy to see where Harry was coming from if she threw out her own feelings. However, doing that was a lot harder than it sounded. She was hysterical – she couldn't be logical as well.

Harry had drawn his line in the sand. She'd given him a choice – tell her the truth or it was (basically) over – and he hadn't picked her. There was no mistaking that. Was there?

But she had been a bit of a brat …

'Gin?'

She looked up from her bed and saw him standing in her doorway. Concern was etched in his face and he stepped in hesitantly, as if she was going to whip out her wand and hex him at any moment. And maybe she would, if her wand wasn't all the way across the room.

She sniffed. Her eyes were probably red and puffy, and she hated that he was going to see her like this and know that he'd won. 'What?' she asked, and even though the remorse was setting in, she was still very incensed.

'I – I came to talk,' he said. He took a deep breath. She knew that it wasn't easy for anybody, especially two people as stubborn as she and Harry, to apologize. 'About – before. If you want me to tell you, I will.'

He was so sweet, her Harry. Always trying to be everything to everybody. Wanting to keep her at his side, and yet wanting to distance himself from her as much as he could.

She loved him so much, but she hated that. And maybe, right now, she hated him. Just a little bit.

'Don't,' she said suddenly, her voice hardening. She could tell him that she was sorry and that she was wrong, regardless of how she felt right now, but that was hard. It was easier to be angry. She stood from her bed. 'Obviously, you don't think I deserve to know.'

'I never said that! I just –'

'You know, I thought that this whole "reading each others' minds" thing would – would make us closer. And it turns out you've been keeping secrets from me!'

'Like you don't keep secrets from me?'

He had her there. She kept plenty of secrets. But there was only one or two that he'd actually find important. Still, none of those secrets were as serious as this one. She wasn't planning on disappearing without a trace. Without even telling him.

'This one is different!' she yelled.

Harry stepped into the room and Silenced it. She wished he hadn't, so everyone in the house would be able to hear their argument. Maybe if her mum heard it, she wouldn't need to worry about Harry leaving. Her mum would probably put him in a cage and shackle him to the iron bars, only letting him out for meals and washroom breaks. Her problems would be solved.

'You're leaving! You won't even tell me where you're going!'

'Because it's too dangerous!'

They weren't going to get anywhere like this. She decided to change her tactics.

'How long have you known?' she demanded.

Harry looked torn, almost as if he was considering lying to her. That would be incredibly stupid, of course, because she'd be able to tell. She could always tell.

Apparently, though, she couldn't. Or she would've realized earlier that he was keeping something from her. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have missed it? She was in his head and she couldn't even tell that something was up.

'How long?' she repeated. When he said nothing, she asked, 'Since the wedding?'

'Er,' he said. 'Actually …'

'Since before then?'

'We were – we were planning on leaving after the wedding. Right after. And –'

'And if it hadn't been for me getting captured,' she said slowly, 'you would have.'

Was that why he'd broken up with her at the wedding?

She felt like she was dreaming. She had to be. And she would wake up soon and he'd be lying there beside her and everything would make sense. Maybe she'd even laugh a little at how silly her mind could be sometimes.

'Yeah,' he said finally. 'Probably.'

He took a step toward her and she backed up. She was being miserable and she knew it, but she couldn't seem to get her brain and heart to agree on anything.

She would die without him. But it turned out he'd have no problem being away from her. Hell, he was actually planning on getting away from her. Was he looking forward to it? Was it his idea to leave?

It would be easier to make sense of everything if she knew why he was leaving, what he was going to do. But he "wasn't allowed" to tell her. It "wasn't safe".

She hated the tears that fell from her eyes and the sob that escaped her lips. She turned away from him, and a moment later she felt his arms encircle her.

'We're joining the Order again,' he whispered. 'And when they get a lead on a Horcrux, we're going to leave and go look for it on our own. And then we're coming back until they think they've found the next one. Then we'll do the same thing over again, and again, and again, until they're all gone.'

She closed her eyes. 'So – so you're not really leaving,' she said slowly, desperately wanting to cling to something that allowed them both to end this stupid argument. She felt sure that there was more to it than this, but she really didn't feel like arguing right now.

'I guess not,' he said, clearly picking up on what she was trying to do. 'No. No. I'm not leaving at all, if you think about it.'

She turned around in his arms and smiled. 'Oh. Okay, then.'

……………………………………………………………

Harry fell back against the bed.

'Wow,' he panted.

'Mm,' Ginny agreed.

He rolled onto his side and looked at her. Her hair was a shock of red and covering most of her face. He reached out and brushed it out of the way before kissing her.

'I have to go,' he said finally.

'No.'

'Yes.'

'Why?'

'Ron and Hermione are coming to early training tomorrow and they'll probably come up to Bill's room in the morning to make sure I'm up,' Harry explained. 'If I'm not in that bed … I don't even want to think about what Ron would do.'

'I don't care,' said Ginny stubbornly.

'I do,' Harry said.

……………………………………………………………

The trio's footsteps echoed through the castle as they entered the Great Hall.

'You're early,' McGonagall said. She turned around and stood straighter. 'Oh. Miss Granger. Mr Weasley. What brings you two here so early?'

'Professor,' Harry said. 'We've come to talk to you about the Order.'

'We want in,' Ron said.

'If that's okay with you,' Hermione added, nudging Ron in the ribs.

McGonagall folded her arms across her front and peered through her spectacles at them. 'Have you discussed this with your parents, Miss Granger?' she asked.

'I – well – I will,' she said. 'But it won't matter, will it? I'll be eighteen tomorrow.'

'Still,' McGonagall said.

'Yes,' Hermione said. 'I'll talk to them about it.'

'Very well,' said McGonagall. She smiled warmly. 'I can think of no finer additions to the Order than you three.'

'Thank you, Professor,' they said.

……………………………………………………………

'We need to get to Headquarters!'

Ron's head whipped up when his dad's words echoed through the house.

'Let's stay here,' he whispered in Hermione's ear.

It wasn't as though he hadn't been looking forward to being included in actual Order business. But there were so many people in his house, and the opportunity to be completely alone with her, even for just ten minutes, was too good to pass up.

'No!' She pushed him off of her and sat up. 'We made a commitment when we joined the Order. It hasn't even been a full day, and already you're getting lazy?'

Ron groaned. 'Fine. Let's go.'

The pair got to their feet and left his bedroom. On the way down the stairs, they nearly bumped into Harry and Ginny, who were coming out of Ginny's room. Why was Harry in his sister's room at this time of night? He was about to voice his question, but then he remembered that Hermione had been in his room, and he would be a hypocrite if he said anything to either of them.

There was an awkward moment where they all stood still and looked at one another.

'You, uh, missed a few buttons,' Ron told his sister, and then continued down the stairs without waiting for her response.

'What is it, Mr Weasley?' Harry asked when they entered the kitchen.

His father said nothing, but merely ushered them toward the fireplace. When they were all at Headquarters, Tonks spoke. 'We've received a tip that there is going to be a Death Eater attack in Brixton. A Muggle family – parents, two small children.'

'Who tipped us off?' Harry asked.

'It's not important,' Kingsley said, coming up behind them. 'Tonks will brief you while we get the Portkeys ready. Once we're all set, grab a Portkey and go.'

'Miss Granger,' McGonagall said. 'Have you spoken to your parents since we spoke this morning?'

Hermione's shoulders slumped. 'No, I haven't.'

'Then I am afraid you cannot accompany your friends tonight.'

A part of Ron jumped for joy at the thought of Hermione staying behind, safe and sound at Grimmauld Place. But a more realistic part of him realized that they would probably need all the help they could get if they were going to take on a band of Death Eaters tonight.

'Professor,' Harry said. 'It's twenty minutes to midnight.'

Hermione looked at the clock. 'That's right,' she said. 'And by the time we're ready to go, it'll be past midnight, and I'll be eighteen.'

McGonagall looked back and forth between Ron, Harry and Hermione for several moments before nodding. 'Very well.'

'Follow me.' Tonks said.

……………………………………………………………

'I hate that I can't come,' Ginny said, lacing her fingers in his hair.

'I don't,' Harry said honestly.

'Be careful.'

'Ah, but that's no fun,' he teased. She tightened her grip on his hair and he winced. 'Okay! I promise I'll be careful. Be here when I get back?'

She smiled. 'Always.'

'Oi, lovebirds!' Fred called. Harry and Ginny looked over at him and scowled. 'It's time to go.'

……………………………………………………………

'Can't see a bloody thing,' Ron muttered.

Well, at least it wasn't only Hermione, then. She blinked against the darkness and tried to guide herself by listening to the sounds made by everyone around her.

'What do we do now?' Hermione whispered. She'd paid attention during the briefing, but in her mind, she'd been imagining that the attack was in full-swing. It seemed that nobody was there yet.

'We wait,' came Tonks' reply.

This seemed a little – no, very – idiotic. If the attack hadn't happened yet, couldn't they prevent it? Wasn't that what the order was all about – saving and helping others?

'But …' said Hermione. 'We can act now and save the family.'

'That isn't what we're here for,' Tonks told her. 'Our job is to round up the Death Eaters.'

'But that isn't right,' she protested.

'That isn't for you to decide, Hermione,' Tonks hissed. 'Quiet down and keep in position.'

But Hermione couldn't quiet down – not now. 'We're just supposed to wait for the Death Eaters to come and attack? Then we go save the family?'

'Yes,' said Harry.

'What're you going on about?' asked Ron.

'If the Death Eaters show up and see that the family had been evacuated, they'll know something is up and they'll split before we get the chance to catch them.'

It made sense, of course. Pretty much everything made sense to Hermione. And if this family was a wizarding family, she would sit back and let Tonks and the others do whatever they thought would work. This family was Muggle, though. They were totally defenseless. Two small children! How could Ron and Harry go along with this?

'If we don't do this right the first time,' Lupin explained, 'they'll get away and they'll go on to do this to even more Muggle families. You don't want that, do you?'

'No,' she said grudgingly. 'I –'

'Shh!'

Everyone immediately fell silent and looked on as several small lights appeared in the distance. The Death Eaters had lit their wands.

'Don't move.'

Ron's hand gripped Hermione left arm, and Harry's hand gripped her right arm. They were making sure she wasn't going anywhere until they got the signal.

Hermione closed her eyes. She'd known that becoming an active member of the Order meant she'd see some awful things, but she'd always figured the awful things would be done by the other team. She couldn't believe this was really going on. What if these children died because nobody would listen to her and take action sooner?

A scream.

'Let's move.'

Hermione felt Ron and Harry let go of her and suddenly everyone was running forward, leaving her standing alone like an idiot.

'Stupefy!'

'Protego!'

'Expelliarmus!'

'Stupefy!'

'Impedimenta!'

Everyone around her was fighting and she – well, she couldn't remember a single spell. Not one. Why was this happening to her? She'd never had a mental blockage like this before. She was supposed to be the one who was good at thinking of her feet … and yet she was standing completely still, just watching as everyone else took care of business.

She was lucky she didn't get a Stunner in the chest while she stood there gaping at Ron and Harry, her best friends since she was eleven, who were both deeply engrossed in their individual battles.

'HERMIONE!'

She spun around just in time to see a Death Eater advancing on her.

'Stupefy!' Ron yelled. The Death Eater fell before he could utter a curse. 'Hell, Hermione. Be more –'

'Crucio!'

Ron fell to the ground and began writhing in pain. Hermione's blood ran cold. He was screaming so loud …

'Stupefy!' she cried. She said the first spell she could think of. Well, no. The first one she thought of was Avada Kedavra. But she couldn't say that one. She'd wanted to (which was scary in itself), but she knew she couldn't – shouldn't.

The second Death Eater fell and the screaming died away. Ron lay there, gasping for breath. He grabbed the wand he'd let go, and then struggled to his feet.

'Are you all right?' she asked, and it was then that she noticed the tears running down her cheeks.

'Y-yeah,' he said. 'Don't stop fighting.' He turned back to where he'd been before, but not before giving the unconscious Death Eater a swift kick in the ribs.

Next time, Hermione thought, looking at the Death Eater she'd Stunned. Next time, if you so much as try to hurt him, you won't get off so easily.

……………………………………………………………

The Death Eater went down and Harry looked up just in time to see Draco Malfoy running by.

He thought of Dumbledore, and then of that night at Malfoy Manor, and vowed that he wouldn't let the bastard get away this time.

He took off after Malfoy, ignoring Tonks, who was calling to him and ordering him to stay within sight. Most of the Death Eaters were either Stunned or had Apparated away already. Clearly, Malfoy was trying to flee. Harry wouldn't let him.

He used the Trip Jinx which he had, ironically enough, learned from Malfoy himself.

Malfoy was sent flying onto the grass. Harry dove forward and snatched Malfoy's wand, then threw it away. He turned the boy over. Taking his own wand, he pressed the tip into Malfoy's throat as he leaned all his weight onto his nemesis.

'Here we are again,' Harry said.

'P-Potter.'

'Malfoy. Not so tough without your dear old dad around, are you?'

Malfoy went to speak, but Harry jabbed his wand harder into him.

The strongest sense of loathing Harry had ever known washed over him. He had attempted an Unforgivable before on Bellatrix Lestrage, but he hadn't been able to do it. And although he'd thought that he'd be able to do one that night when Malfoy had cornered Dumbledore, he probably wouldn't have been able to go through with it. But he knew now, as he looked down at Malfoy, that he would be successful if he tried one tonight. And not just that – he knew he wouldn't rest until he'd really done it, until he'd given Malfoy exactly what the boy deserved.

'HARRY!'

It was Hermione, he could tell by her voice. But he refused to take his eyes off of his enemy. He was so close – he couldn't get distracted now and give Malfoy a chance to slip away. This was the end of the line. It had to be.

'Go away, Hermione.' Why did his voice sound so strange?

'Don't –'

'Just turn around and walk away.'

'B-but …' she said, and he could hear the fear in her voice. He could picture the look Hermione must have been giving him, and he hated it. But he was too involved in the moment to care. 'He's not worth it.'

'It doesn't matter,' Harry said. 'I need to do this … He can't get away again …'

Malfoy must have realized that Harry meant business, because he started fighting against him, trying to get away.

'Please,' Hermione said. 'This isn't right … what would Ginny say?'

He closed his eyes tightly.

Fuck. Why did she have to bring up Ginny?

Harry hated Hermione just then, almost as much as he hated Malfoy, because she knew exactly how to manipulate him, and she wasn't afraid to do it.

'Fine,' Harry said through gritted teeth. He looked down at Malfoy again. 'I'm letting you go. But this is the last time you get away. If I ever see you again, you're dead. You have my word on that.'

He punched Malfoy once and then got to his feet.

'Harry –' Hermione started, but he held out his hand to quiet her.

'Just … not now.'

They walked in silence back to the house that had been under attack moments ago. Harry felt different now. Everything felt different now.

What if Hermione hadn't been there to stop him?

He knew the answer. He would've killed Malfoy. And – and – was it wrong that he was disappointed that he'd been interrupted?

'Oh –'

No Death Eaters were in sight, but the house had been set on fire. Harry and Hermione jogged over.

Tonks and the others were sending spells toward the house, trying to extinguish the fire, but nothing was working.

'No!' someone called.

Harry looked over and saw that it was the Muggle woman. She was standing beside her husband and holding a small infant. But hadn't Tonks said there were two small children?

'My daughter is – oh – she's in there! She's still in there!'

He looked at the burning house and then back at the Muggles standing on the grass, watching as their house burned to the ground with their child inside. And without thinking twice about it, Harry ran into the house, not hearing Hermione and Ron calling after him.

He coughed as the smoke began to fill his lungs. He squinted, but couldn't see a damn thing through his glasses. He ran in deeper. 'Hello?' he yelled, and then coughed. 'Can you hear me?'

He tried to get down low, but there wasn't much room to maneuver. A beam fell from the ceiling and nearly took him out. He clutched his wand in one hand as he moved.

'Hello?'

He looked through a doorway and saw a small, dirty face looking back at him. The little girl gave a small squeak.

'It's okay,' he said. 'Come here.'

She didn't budge.

'Please – your family's outside,' he said. 'You've got to come with me. It's not safe in here.'

There was no way of getting her out. He'd have to Stun her, and he didn't want to do that. He coughed and nearly doubled over. He could hardly breathe in there. It was getting too smoky, and he'd have to leave soon, whether she was with him or not. He reached for her.

'Take my hand,' he yelled. 'I won't hurt you.'

Her eyes flickered from his face to his outstretched hand and then back. Finally, she looked at his wand and started to cry. He cursed and pocketed his wand.

'Please,' he said. 'Just – just take my hand.'

She reached out hesitantly and grabbed Harry's hand.

He pulled her to him and looked around. The beam that had fallen was blocking the doorway. He couldn't go back the way he came.

He stood there helplessly for a moment before realizing that he could Apparate.

He squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath. The cool air hit him and he found himself on the grass outside the house. The little girl was still in his arms. He released her and then surveyed her for damage. Her face was dirty from the smoke and her pigtails were half out. She had bright red hair and a cute button nose, and he immediately thought of Ginny. She began to cry harder when he let her go and so he picked her up again and carried her over to her mother, who snatched her out of his arms and gave him a half-grateful, half-frightened look before turning back to her husband, all the while sobbing incoherently.

……………………………………………………………