A/N: Sorry for the HUGE delay. Too many things happened in the last few weeks. Thanks to all who have reviewed. And to all who have not reviewed – Thanks for reading. Like I said in the introduction: I am not going to beg for reviews nor will I stop updating until I get so many reviews.

With that said: ENJOY! Nice long chapter here…

Chapter Nineteen

The Eye of the Storm

Death Eater Attacks Thwarted!

Early yesterday morning several Death Eaters attacked Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade in simultaneous attacks. But the attack in Diagon Alley was stopped mere moments after the Death Eaters had arrived. Harry Potter was waiting for them and with the help of his friends Ron Weasley and others, the attackers were quickly neutralized. This is the second time Ron Weasley has made headlines in the recent weeks with his victorious battles.

According to eyewitnesses, Harry Potter gave the Death eaters a chance to surrender without a fight. Unfortunately, the conflict was not able to be peacefully resolved. After a thirty second skirmish, the attackers were subdued and captured. They have been released to Ministry forces and will stand trail soon for their actions.

Harry Potter next moved to Hogsmeade where the battle was already underway. After reinforcing his forces there, Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom engaged in a battle with the infamous Bellatrix Lestrange. After a fierce battle, Mr. Longbottm managed to subdue Lestrange with a bit of muggle hand to hand combat. She has been captured and is being held under twenty four hour guard at an undisclosed location. This capture is a great achievement for Harry Potter's forces.

Rumor has it, that after the battle was won in Hogsmeade, Mr. Potter's forces conducted a raid on a Death Eater stronghold. No updates have reached us here at the Prophet, but once they do, we will inform our readers as soon as we can.

For More Details, see page 14.

The few Death Eaters that had made it back to the safe house to guard their master cringed at the howl of rage coming from Voldemort's room. They eyed each other warily, and quietly slipped outside. None of them wanted to cross their master's path at this time, as the one who did would most likely be tortured for hours. Sounds of breaking glass and wood made them jump as Voldemort continued his fit of rage. They all shuddered in fear at what could happen next.

ooo

Harry had recovered quickly of the next week. The combinations of potions that Poppy had given him had healed his injuries rather quickly. He was in his training room working up a sweat with a sparring dummy. Hermione had walked in halfway through his session to watch him. When he finished, he set his training sword back into the rack and turned to face Hermione.

"Morning love," Harry said.

"Morning, Harry. Get a good workout?" she said. Harry nodded.

"Yeah, but my left shoulder is still a bit stiff. It might be a week or two before it is ready. Unfortunately, we don't know where Tom went to, so we have to see if we can catch him making a mistake," he explained.

"Well find him Harry," Hermione said as she rubbed his shoulders. "He's bound to show up sooner or later. Oh, Ron wanted to get together with us for dinner tonight." Harry grinned.

"Sounds good. I'll call him back and let him know when I finish," Harry said. Harry went back to his training and Hermione started sparring with a basic training dummy to work on her basic skills.

They trained for another hour, and then they opted for a soak in Harry's hot tub to ease their sore muscles. Harry was required to use it by order of Madame Pomfrey. She told him it was necessary for him to soak his shoulder if the muscles were to heal properly. They sat and talked while soaking in the hot water. After they got out of the hot tub, Harry went to the fireplace to contact Ron.

"Ron? You there mate?" Harry called into the green flames. When he got no response, his brow furrowed a bit. "Ron!" Hermione walked over and her eyebrow rose in question. "He's not answering."

Hermione tapped her Order ring and called for Ron. When she got no answer, her eyes grew concerned and Harry tried again.

"RON!!" he shouted into the fire. Again he got no reply. He drew his wand and looked over to Hermione. She drew her own wand and they flooed over to Ron's house, ready for battle.

ooo

Voldermort had calmed down a bit, and summoned in one of his remaining Death eaters. The man entered the room nervously and dropped to the floor as soon as he crossed the threshold, kissing the hem of Voldemort's robes.

"What can I do for you, My Lord?" the man asked. Voldemort motioned for him to stand.

"How many men do we have left?" Voldemort asked.

"Seven, My Lord. The rest have been captured or killed," the man said with fear in his voice. "Our sources for recruitment have dried up. No others wish to face Potter and his people." The man suddenly dropped to the floor as he was hit with the cruciatus curse. He screamed in pain as he writhed on the floor. Voldemort released him a minute later and spoke.

"I do not care if no one wishes to face Potter or not. Torture whomever you need to. Kill members of their families until they join us. If you fail to bring anyone with you, you will die. Is that understood?" he hissed. The man nodded emphatically and bowed again, still trembling. "Very well. You have twenty four hours, I suggest you get moving."

The man bowed again and scrambled out of the room as fast as he could. One of the remaining men was summoned into the room.

"Smythe, how long is it until we can carry out our plan against the mudblood?" Voldemort asked.

"We could carry it out today, My Lord. The arrangements have been made, and our players are waiting," Smythe said as he bowed. Voldemort smiled and nodded.

"Ahhh, very good," Voldermort hissed in pleasure. "When it is done, make sure she is untouched by anyone. I want her at her top form when I destroy her."

"Understood, My Lord. I will personally see to her well being before she is brought to you. When shall I have it be done?" he asked.

"Tomorrow. I want them to think they are safe, that way they do not suspect a thing, and we should have more men by the time Potter comes to rescue her," Voldemort said. Smythe nodded and bowed once more. When he was out of the room, Voldemort trembled in anticipation.

ooo

Harry and Hermione tumbled out of the fireplace into a crouched fighting stance. They stood with their back to each other and scanned the room. There was nothing out of place at first glance, but that did not mean much. Hermione checked the kitchen and saw that it was empty. She noticed that there were cups of tea on the table that were still a little warm.

Harry checked the back storage room and found nothing. They met back up in the living room and Harry tried calling for Ron once more.

"RON!!" he shouted. Harry spun around a moment later when he heard a door opening up.

"Bloody hell! Harry! Hold your fire!" Ron shouted when he saw Harry getting ready to attack. Harry stood there, still ready for an attack.

He looked at Ron and saw that he was covered up with a sheet. Harry's jaw fell open and his face burned red with embarrassment. Hermione giggled and looked over at Harry.

"Er, sorry mate. I didn't…" Harry stammered. He quickly averted his eyes when Sharon walked out from behind Ron, barely covered with a comforter.

"Harry? Can I help you?" she asked sweetly. Harry shook his head, not trusting his mouth to say something intelligent. Ron's face was burning and Sharon was trying to hold back her laughter. Hermione spoke up.

"Sorry about that," she said. "When Ron didn't answer, well we kind of assumed that something was wrong."

Harry was still looking at the ceiling, making sure he did not look over at Sharon. His heart was pounding and he felt so embarrassed at intruding on their privacy. He turned around so his back was to Ron and Sharon.

"Sorry guys," Harry said. "I'll just be, er, going now…" He quickly threw some floo powder into the fire and vanished back to his house. Hermione rolled her eyes and apologized again and followed Harry.

Harry stepped out of the fireplace and cursed himself. He couldn't believe he had walked in on them like that. Hermione followed a moment later and looked over at Harry.

"Harry, don't worry. They were fine," she said. Harry shook his head.

"I feel so embarrassed right now. How could I walk in on them?" Harry said. Hermione walked over and put her arms around him.

"Love, they are not mad at you. Ron was laughing about it when I left," she said. "I think he mentioned that he wished he had a camera ready so he could capture the look on your face."

Harry finally laughed a little. He shook his head again and sighed. Hermione just sat there and held onto him and ran her fingers through his hair to calm him down a bit more. Harry jumped a bit when Ron's head appeared in the fire.

"Harry! Mate, I wish you could have seen your face! Priceless!" Ron chortled. Harry gave Ron a bit of a glare, but Ron waved it off. "No harm done, Harry. When do you guys want to meet for dinner? How about seven?"

Harry nodded and they made the rest of their plans. They were going to meet at Ron's house at seven in the evening, and they would head out from there. Harry insisted on calling Ron before they flooed over, just to make sure. Ron ribbed Harry pretty god about it when they arrived.

"Mate, I told you. Don't worry about it," Ron said. Harry shook his head. He would never let himself live this down.

They left Ron's house in London and walked down the street talking about general things. They discussed possible locations to check for Voldemort while being very clever in masking the discussion around the surrounding muggles. They arrived at a restaurant that catered to wizards and muggles that knew about the wizarding world. Harry was happy that Ron had gone to that restaurant, as they would be able to talk about anything without worrying about inadvertently exposing the wizarding world.

They had a pleasant dinner, taking a few shots at Harry for the incident earlier in the day. Harry grumbled about being picked on, but he took it in stride. The conversation turned a bit embarrassing as Hermione and Harry told Sharon of some of the things that Ron had run into before they met. Ron groaned when they touched on the story of when Ron got hit with his own spell that caused him to belch up slugs for several hours. Sharon almost fell out of her chair laughing when she heard that Harry actually had the picture that Colin Creevey had taken before he was stopped by the rest of the Gryffindor team that helped get Ron to Hagrid's hut.

"How in Merlin's name did you get that picture?" Ron demanded. Harry just grinned.

"Easy mate, I just told Colin to give me the picture so that way it did not get out in circulation. Imagine what Malfoy would have done if he had that picture?" Harry said. Ron shuddered at the thought.

"Regarless of that, Harry, I will need to see the picture. You know, just to verify the authenticity of the story," Sharon said with a wry grin. Ron's head dropped to the table as he groaned again.

"Of course, sis. I'll bring it next time I see you," Harry said with a smile. Hermione giggled at Ron's predicament.

"Just you wait Harry. I'll get even," Ron said miserably. The conversation moved onto other things. Harry and Hermione asked about how it was down at the Auror's office.

"Things are great down there right now. The success of the battle last week has everyone in high spirits. The paperwork is murder, though," Ron said. Sharon nodded in agreement.

"I think I filed seven reports in four hours yesterday, and I still have another twenty to go. The events of last week sure did make an impact on everyone and tips are coming in so fast about suspicious activity that we can barely keep up," Sharon explained.

"Good. The more reports that come in, the less chance any of Tom's stooges can make trouble without getting tagged," Harry said.

"Too right, mate," Ron agreed.

They finished up dinner and the group started to leave. A young boy stopped and stared when the group passed by. Harry noticed and saw the young boy was holding a quaffle. He leaned over and whispered in Ron's ear. Ron grinned and they approached the boy and his parents.

"Merlin's beard! It is you!" the father said. Harry and Ron grinned and shook the man's hand. Harry knelt down and looked at the young boy.

"Hello there. How are you tonight?" Harry asked. The boy smiled nervously.

"I'm great, Mr. Harry Potter, sir," the boy said.

"I have a question for you," Harry said. The boy looked at him quizzically. "How would you like Ron and I sign your quaffle?" The boy's eyes widened and looked over at Ron who waved and smiled.

"Is he really the Ron Weasley?" the boy asked in awe. Harry nodded.

"Yes it is," Harry said with a smile. The boy nodded excitedly. Harry pulled out a pen and signed the quaffle and handed it over to Ron.

"What's your name kiddo?" Ron asked.

"Evan, Mr. Weasley, sir," he answered. Ron chuckled.

"Call me Ron. When you say Mr. Weasley sir, I look to see if my dad is around," he said. He signed the quaffle and posed with Harry and Evan for a picture that Evan's mother took. "So are you starting Hogwarts soon?"

"Yes sir, er, Ron. I start in a few days," Evan said. Ron nodded and ruffled the boy's hair.

"Good luck to you!" Ron said.

"Thank you!" Evan yelled as he walked away with his parents. Hermione and Sharon started swooning and acting like giggling girls pretending to worship Ron and Harry. Harry gave them a good natured glare and they laughed about the girls teasing Ron and Harry. The parted ways and went to their respective homes.

ooo

The Death Eater who had been sent out for more recruits was having a bad day. He had been shut out of all of the places he had gone to, and to top it off, the Aurors were pursuing him now. The last place he had been to, the people had immediately called for the Aurors. Joseph Lovegood was beginning to think being captured and held at the Ministry was more favorable to being the target of Voldemort's wrath.

He ducked into an alley and considered his options. He could hear the Aurors coming close to his hiding spot. He was not willing to kill family members to force a recruit to join the Death Eaters. He himself had been forced in the same way. He still missed his niece, but he had to shove her memory into the back of his mind to stay alive. The loss came back in full force as he was sitting there in the alley.

All of his suppressed emotions came to the surface and he wept for her. How he missed Luna. They had sent a squad over to her home and murdered her so he would join. The Death Eaters had needed a potions master since Snape had been mortally injured by Harry. He had refused at first, wanting not to get into the middle of a maniac's crusade. But they had given him a message that he could not ignore. He had heard that the four member party sent to kill her had been cut down to one with her efforts.

The Aurors heard a man sobbing in the alley that they had come to. They turned the corner and saw the broken man leaning his forehead against the wall as he cried. Joseph looked up with pain filled eyes that spoke volumes. They wavered at the sight of the Death Eater sitting there.

Joseph motioned to the Aurors that he was surrendering. He very carefully drew his wand and tossed it to their feet and laid face down on the sidewalk.

"Please, just protect me from that madman," he said. "Could you also send out a couple of Aurors to Harold Lovegood's house? The others will kill him now that I have been captured."

"We will sir," one of the Aurors said. "Thanks for the heads up on that."

Joseph nodded and went with the Aurors quietly. At least he would be protected from Voldemort's wrath.

ooo

Harry had joined Ron at the Ministry while Hermione went to her job. Harry was talking to the group of Aurors that had joined his forces when Joseph was brought in. Joseph stopped and said something to the Aurors who were escorting him in. One of them stayed with him while the other walked up to Harry.

"Sir, our newest Death Eater we captured wishes to speak with you. He said he has time sensitive intelligence for you," the Auror said. Harry nodded and the others dispersed. Harry followed the Auror over to Joseph. Harry gave Joseph a slight glare, but it seemed to not bother Joseph.

"Start talking," Harry said forcefully. Joseph nodded and began talking.

"Mr. Potter. I apologize for interrupting your day, but I must let you know that he is activating his plan for Ms. Granger sometime today," Joseph said. Harry's eyes widened and he started to turn to rush off to Hermione, but Joseph stopped him. "Sir, I know this is urgent, but I would also like to help in any way I can. I can give you the layout of Voldemort's safehouse, and tell you who the secret keeper is." Harry stopped in his tracks and spun around. Their big break had finally come. Joseph nodded that he was serious.

"One more thing sir," Joseph said. Harry raised his eyebrow in question. "Please avenge my niece for me." Harry nodded as Joseph was led to an interrogation room.

When the Aurors came back out of the room, Harry stopped one of them.

"What's his name?" Harry asked. The Auror looked over at Harry.

"Joseph Lovegood," he said.

Harry gasped and ran to the interrogation room. He threw open the door and glared at the man. Joseph looked up and Harry recoiled at the sadness in the man's eyes.

"Yes, Mr. Potter, Luna was my niece," Joseph said. He hissed and grabbed his left forearm. "I will explain more after they have setup the veritaserum. But your time is running short; you must get to Ms. Granger now!!"

Harry nodded and ran from the room.

ooo

"Send the signal. Our plans for the mudblood are ready," Voldemort said. The Death eater nodded and put the tip of his wand to his Dark Mark.

ooo

Harry raced to the lifts to get down to the Department of Mysteries. He found that all of the lifts were already going down, so he opted for the stairs. He knocked down a few people on the way to the stairs, calling out apologies as he bolted to the door. He threw open the door and leapt down entire flights of stairs. He only prayed he would reach her in time.

ooo

Hermione looked up from her paperwork when there was a knock at her door. She stood up and covered her papers to ensure that no one would see what she was working on. She opened the door and saw a one of the runners in the ministry holding a vase of flowers. She was a bit unnerved at the sight, because the runner had a glazed look in his eyes.

"I have a delivery for Ms. Hermione Granger," the young man said flatly. The tone of his voice alerted her to danger. She slowly and discreetly drew her wand.

"Just set it on my desk please," she said. The man nodded and left the room after the vase was set down. She sat far away from the vase and stared at it, not willing to touch it. She knew it was probably a portkey set up by Voldemort to take her. She tapped her order ring alerting Harry.

ooo

Harry leapt down the last flight of stairs and hollered for everyone to clear his path. He crashed through the door to the Department of Mysteries only to have a couple of stunners fly past his head. He ducked and rolled to a stop and fired off a quick series of disarming hexes, pleased to see several wands land at his feet.

"I need to get to Hermione's office!" he shouted. Gavin stepped up and looked at Harry.

"Give me back my wand and I will escort you to her office," Gavin said.

He had been told by Hermione that Voldemort was after her, and he was not taking any chances in case this was not really Harry. Harry tossed him his wand and they ran down the hallway and threw open Hermione's office door. She jumped up and fired a stunner which hit the door as Harry suddenly pulled back. She was in a fighting stance as Harry called out his password.

"Ginny's blessing," he called out. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and lowered her wand and Harry burst through the door. He spied the vase on her desk and looked over at her.

"The bloke who dropped it off was acting like he was under the imperious curse, so naturally I have not touched it," she said. Harry walked over and waved his wand over the vase and it did not do anything.

"Strange, it's not a portkey," he said. He waved his wand over the little envelope and found it that it was not a portkey either. He carefully removed the envelope and turned to Hermione. "The envelope says it's from me, but you know as well as I do—"

"That you always hand me flowers instead of sending them," she said. "Yes, that is why I have not touched anything dealing with the flowers."

Gavin sighed in relief and hugged Hermione, thankful that Harry had taught her so much about watching out for danger. He stepped back and let Harry pull Hermione into a tight embrace. He smiled and quietly let himself out of the office. Harry released her and kissed her forehead. He sat down beside her and sighed. He had come so close to losing her that he was very shaken up. Hermione's voice cut into his thoughts.

"Harry?" she said. "What's in the envelope?" Harry carefully opened the envelope and peered at the card inside. His face went white as he read it to himself. He quickly stood up and used his wand to blast apart the vase, dropping the envelope in the process. Hermione reached to pick it up, but Harry set it ablaze it before she could reach it. Harry reached out for her and was about to lead her back to the Auror's office when a voice sounded in her office.

"VENGEANCE IS MINE POTTER!"

To Harry's horror, Hermione looked shocked for a moment before she disappeared. Harry stood there in shock, staring at the spot Hermione had been just a moment ago. He started to tremble with rage.

ooo

Gavin had just made it to his office when an inhuman howl of rage chilled him to his core. He jumped up and ran for Hermione's office and saw Harry glowing with power. The waves of magical power that were rolling off of Harry forced him back a few steps. Harry stared at the card lying in a pile of ashes and let loose another howl of rage and disapparated to parts unknown.

Gavin ran back to his office and hit the alarm button alerting the Aurors. He then sat down and started copying down what he saw for his statement while he waited for the Aurors to come down. He finished his statement and gave it to the Auror who had shown up to respond to the alarm. The Auror was about to rush off when another alarm sounded in Gavin's office. He rushed over to the device and saw that there had been a massive release of magical energy in the Forbidden Forest. The readings he saw were too large to be any type of discharge made by a witch or wizard. He was about to gather a team of unspeakables to investigate the incident, when there was the sound of apparition in the hallway outside of his office.

The Auror placed himself in front of Gavin and opened the door. Harry was standing in the hall with his clothes smoking. Gavin looked over to the device again and it had a display that had the magical signature of whatever had caused the release of energy. To Gavin's astonishment, it matched Harry's magical signature exactly.

"Impossible!" Gavin exclaimed. Harry shook his head.

"Oh I assure you, Mr. Frost. It is quite possible. I tend to break any laws of nature, I guess. I just didn't want to destroy the Ministry with my magic," Harry said firmly. Harry looked over at the Auror and nodded. "Let's get back upstairs. We have a rescue to plan."

The young Auror nodded and followed Harry. They left the Department of Mysteries as Gavin sank into his chair. He looked over to the sensor again, still shaking his head. 'How can one person release so much energy and still be in one piece, let alone walking around like it never happened?' he thought to himself. 'I will need to talk with him after all this business is done.'