At The Barrel of a Gun

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"I cannot believe you tipped her so much," Red muttered as they walked out of "The Potted Blossom." Dinner had been unexpectedly good, with each ordering meals that were normally only served in muggle London. The made sure not to draw attention to themselves, not wanting to be recognized by the young Weasley girl or Lily Potter. Fortunately it appeared that neither of them recognized Red or Raven, minus the close call they had earlier. The two boys were more than glad to be out of there, although Autumn did make sure to leave a nice tip.

"I was only being courteous. And she did give us that lovely information on Potter." Autumn explained. Red snorted and led the way to their exit point; an area near the Shrieking Shack where they could floo and or apparate without being noticed. "It's too bad she's a squip. At least she seems happy."

"That makes one of us," Red muttered. Bleach patted the ginger on the back sympathetically.

As they walked through Hogsmeade, Raven was rudely bumped into by a tall man in dark robes. He hung back, keeping an eye on the man as he went towards The Potted Blossom. His eyes narrowed. Something about that man seemed…off. He turned back to his friends, who were chatting away, and then back to the man. His fingers curled around the pocket sized blade in his jacket pocket.

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"Today was a lovely turn out wasn't it?" Lily asked her sister, who was at the cash register.

"It sure was. I never dreamed our restaurant business would turn out so well in the wizard world," Petunia commented as she locked the register and began cleaning the tables along with Lily and Ginny. "And the location is darling! I get to see my Dudders every weekend."

"Petunia, you spoil that poor boy too much," Lily laughed, setting the chairs on the tables. "But I guess someone has to."

"Well we all can't be strict mothers like you. You never go five minutes without scolding Nicholas for something or other." Petunia laughed. The older woman cleaned another table when she saw Ginny seem to struggle with hers. "Ginny dear, is something the matter? You're awfully quiet tonight."

"Uh? Oh, it's nothing. I'm just thinking."

"Want to share?" Lily asked.

Ginny fiddled with her wash cloth. She had kept watch on the red headed boy who was with his friends. There had just been something about him…something Ginny couldn't place. It was as if she were looking at an old friend whose name escaped her. She sighed before turning to Lily, whom she considered a second mother.

"It's just…I thought I saw my brother today."

"I don't think I recalled seeing any of them here today." Petunia said thoughtfully. Lily gave her sister a look. Petunia sadly lacked the knowledge differ between Ginny's brothers. And though Petunia never met to be hurtful, sometimes her comments had a sting to them. Lily smiled sadly before clueing her in.

"I think she means Ronald, the one who went missing some years ago."

"Oh… well dear I'm sure you're just missing him is all."

"I know. Sigh, he'd be a sixth year about now."

"Ginny," Lily walked over and pulled the girl into a quick hug, "take it from someone who knows what you're going through. Sometimes I wish Harry were still around. It's been hard on us, but they wouldn't want us to wallow. They'd want us to be happy. Tell you what, why don't we eat before you go home? Tuny's got a nice pie in the back."

Ginny looked thoughtful before smiling broadly.

"I think I'll enjoy that. Mum hasn't been cooking like she used too. I'm sure she'd like a piece too."

Laughing, the three women were about to head to the kitchen when they heard the front door open. Lily put on a smile and turned to the man who came in.

"I'm sorry, but we're about to close."

"I'm not here for a luncheon," the man held up his wand, catching the three off guard, "I'm here to shut down this establishment."

Instantly, Lily reached for her wand, but just as she pulled it from her pocket, the man sent a spell and knocked it out of her hand. They had just become defenseless. Lily was the only one who worked at The Potted Blossom who could use magic. Petunia and Ginny were both squips. They had never thought that their establishment would be attacked by a Death Eater because of the fact that it was so close to Hogwarts. The Death Eater pulled off his hood and Lily glared.

"I know you! You're Barty Crouch!" she growled, "You're the bastard that put my son in the Triwizard Tournament."

"And I've been treated like a hero ever since," Crouch said proudly. "How's Nicholas doing these days? Still traumatized about me killing Diggory's brat I bet."

"You son of a-"

"Lily!" Petunia held her sister back. Ginny tried to take this opportunity to fetch Lily's discarded wand, but a warning curse stopped her.

"Don't even think about it girl!" Crouch warned. Petunia reached out and pulled the teen to her side, keeping both red heads by her.

"What do you want with us?" Petunia asked, trying to keep the younger women safe, despite being incapable of magic.

"What else? Our Lord may not want to come take down this pathetic joint, but I'll be glad to take it down for him! You're nothing but Mudbloods. The lot of you! Bringing muggle food into our world? It's inexcusable."

"You can't do that! We have a right!" Lily declared, but Crouch simply sent another warning shot.

"Mudbloods don't have a right in the new world." Crouch trained his wand at Lily, grinning wildly. "Any last words?"

"Actually, yes." There was the sound of metal cutting through the air before Crouch felt cool steel against the back of his neck. "Drop the wand."

They all stood still, the three women watching the young boy hold a sword at Crouch, who froze at the feeling of cool steel. The young man had appeared out of nowhere, as if he had silently apparated into the room. His sword sparkled in the light of the restaurant, staying steady as he kept it trained on the would-be vandal. Silence lingered on as no one made a move. It seemed to draw for hours before Raven spoke again, adjusting his cap to hide his face.

"Well? Are you going to drop it or not?"

Crouch spun around and fired a curse with a loud battle cry. There was a flash of light. Two cracks formed on the wall. Raven's sword was gleaming in the light as he lowered it, having cut the curse cleanly in half. Wordlessly he held the sword out, training it on Crouch once again. The Death Eater just stared, mouth open, at the teen.

"That's not possible."

"Anything's possible if you try hard enough." Raven said calmly, his face an emotionless blank. "Now, I'll ask you again, are you going to drop the wand or not?"

"I'm not scared of you!" The one-track minded wizard started attacking Raven with curse after curse. Each were either cut or easily avoided. All the while, Raven just stared blankly. This infuriated Crouch further and he continued firing curses at a more rapid pace. Raven parried a Blasting curse, which flew past Crouch and over the heads of the other occupants.

"Excuse me ladies," a voice suddenly said behind them. They looked up to see three other teens wearing the same cap their savior had. The one who spoke, a charming young blond, smiled broadly. "I think the kitchen would be the safest place right now, wouldn't it?"

Without waiting for them to reply, the three took the women in the direction of the kitchen, giving Raven more room to maneuver around. He ducked under a table to avoid a second blasting curse. He was only fortunate it was just Crouch and not someone crazier like Lestrange or Greyback. He had heard about those two and knew he had a better chance with Crouch, who was easily angered and focused solely on his irritation.

"That all you got Daddy's Boy?" Raven asked. He smiled at the sight of Crouch's red face. He was starting to have fun with this. The table he was using for cover was suddenly blown to bits and he was thrown forward. "Ow."

"Crucio!"

Raven rolled out of the way, the angry red curse slamming into the floor. He sat up, catching a glimpse of Lily peer out of the kitchen door and make a break for the potted daisy next to the register. He stared, wide eyed after her. His estranged mother slammed her hand on the flower and it disappeared under her touch. He realized she had just sent for help. Crouch took this as the opportunity to attack Raven.

"Avada Kadavra!"

At the last second, Raven dropped to his back, the curse crashing into his cap and sending it flying into the air. Raven laid there on the floor, hearing Lily's gasp of horror. Crouch smirked triumphantly, thinking he had killed the pest. He turned his attention on the others, who had run into the battle the moment the killing curse was uttered. Autumn saw the burned cap and gasped.

"You shouldn't have done that." Red muttered, shaking his head.

"Why? Scared you'll be next?" Crouch asked, raising his wand at the disguised red head. A low growl suddenly drew his attention back to the sword wielding teen, who was now standing, black bangs curtaining his face. He had a deep scowl on his face, green eyes flaring.

"That was my favorite cap." He growled, raising his sword back at Crouch.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly grew thick with a strong magical pressure. The air grew cold as a wave of killing intent seeped out of Raven. The building magical pressure was coming from the blade Raven held and in a single, loud crunch, the ground Raven stood on collapse an inch. The power emanating from him seemed to paralyze Crouch and shock the three who didn't know him. His sword began to glow and he spun it in his fingers. Magic started to flow around it, transfiguring the weapon and intensifying the boy's own magical reserves.

"Blast, Winchester…"

The restaurant was filled with smoke from the resulting blast. Raven's sword seemed to have exploded in his hands, sending a wave of uncontrolled magical energy everywhere. The unprepared were unceremoniously thrown onto their butts. Windows shattered and doors were forced open, allowing the smoke and magic to escape into Hogsmeade. The smoke slowly cleared, revealing a raven haired boy spinning a gun by the trigger.

He grasped the handle and aimed. It was a sleek, six chamber gun with a ten inch barrel. Engraved on the sides of the barrel were runes. The handle was a finely crafted wood work with a pentacle on both sides. The chamber popped open and Raven flicked it with his free hand. It spun with a mechanical clicking before it popped back into place. He then leveled it at Crouch, who had the courage to stand back up. He aimed for the man's heart, shutting one eye to better his aim. For Crouch, he had never seen a gun in his life, so he was unprepared for what would happen. Lily and Petunia on the other hand stepped back when they saw the weapon.

"Six chambers, one bullet, let's see how lucky you are."

He pulled the trigger.

The silence was obliterated by a loud, fiery bang. A small burst of white flames erupted from the barrel before a ball of blue light shot out. It slammed into Crouch, sending him flying across the room and crashing into the front door, which gave under the man's weight. Crouch neither stirred nor spoke. He brought the smoking barrel to his lips and blew out the smoking residue from the spell he had just fired before holstering in his jacket pocket. A flash of light in his pocket indicated the weapon had transformed into its sword form.

Silence.

"Show off." Bleach said rather loudly, prompting Red and Autumn to laugh. The black haired youth flipped the blond off before going and retrieving his scourged cap.

"Let's go," he said, making his way to the front door. He made sure to step on Crouch. The others followed behind him and they had just gotten past the fence when Lily came out.

"Wait!" she cried. They didn't wait. "Harry!"

They stopped. Ginny and Petunia raced out and flanked Lily, who stared at the back of the boy who saved them.

"H-Harry, is that you? It is you isn't it?"

They said nothing. Several popping sounds from inside the restaurant indicated that the help Lily had sent for had just arrived. Raven scoffed.

"Typical. Help is always late."

And they left, disappearing from sight.

"Lily?! Lily! Lily!" James Potter ran out of the restaurant, embracing his wife. "Oh thank goodness you're safe. I got here as fast as I could. Where's the attacker?" She said nothing. "Lily?"

"James!" Sirius Black hollered. "Come quick! It's Barty Crouch!"

"I-is he alive?" Ginny suddenly asked. James stared at her.

"Don't you know? You girls did subdue him didn't you? Sure went crazy with the place though."

"It wasn't us James," Petunia told him, staring ahead while she fiddled awkwardly with a string from her wool coat.

"Really? Well if it wasn't you, who was it?"

"James," Lily began, slowly taking her eyes off the empty street and looking up into James' eyes, "it was Harry…He's alive."

Quick Character Trivia: Harry's code name is Raven, after his raven black hair. He has a near identical brother, who has has brown eyes instead of green. Also, his twin does not wear glasses. Harry/Raven uses a sword instead of a wand, which can turn into a gun. The gun is based on the Colt from the TV series Supernatural. The gun is also named after the two main characters of that series: the Winchester brothers, Sam and Dean. Raven hold one real bullet in the gun while the empty chambers fires the spell Bombarda.

Until next time.