A/N:

To the guest reviewer who wanted me to update: I hope you have patched up with your best friend. I would have taken longer on this but I've tried posting as early as I could for you. Love.

All Characters are the sole property of J. K. Rowling. No copyright infringement intended.

Chapter 52: Rescue Part II: Chaos Reigns

The first thing Harry did was try the other doors. Three of them opened to reveal empty caverns, one was sealed shut. It was not hard for him to guess who was held behind the walls. He had had enough visions already.

The greater concern however, was how bad a shape Ollivander was in. The image of Ron flashed in front of his eyes once more, and it was more difficult than ever to force himself back into the present and ignore the dread in his heart.

The decision was simple eventually; he had to find Hermione first. It was only she who could possibly figure out how to undo the enchantments, and more importantly, Ron needed her, at the earliest.

Harry managed to leave the dungeons and into the main hall without any trouble. But if his short but eventful life had told him anything, it was never to be elated about a success right at the start. Standing in the middle of the enormous room he glanced around and let out an exasperated sigh.

What was he expecting? A small little cottage with a couple of rooms he could check out easily?

This place was massive, not as huge as the Chateau perhaps but still disturbingly large. And just because he was invisible and had managed to send Ron to safety did not mean he could stroll around leisurely in his search. In retrospect, the only time he had was till anyone started looking for Draco or Wormtail.

Moving towards one large door that he hoped would lead him to a staircase he wondered again if he ought to have sent the other prisoners away while he still had a chance. But would Kreacher even be able to take them to the Chateau? The elf magic might make him capable of overruling anti-apparition wards, but Harry had no clue how it worked when taking guests.

The large door opened with the smallest of sounds; in fact, Harry was beginning to wonder if it was the thunderous beating of his heart that would break the ominous silence of the surrounding. He was almost sure that his heartbeat was audible from outside, or perhaps it was just his paranoid brain playing tricks?

Finally, standing at the foot of the huge staircase that moved up to branch out into two sides, he closed his eyes to imagine the Chateau. That was the only reference he had to houses that were so enormous. He briefly remembered Hermione telling them that, usually, the lower floor housed the kitchen, dining areas and the parlours. The floors above housed the bedrooms, and in some cases, the libraries. Additionally, there were separate wings for the parents and the children, sometimes the guest rooms were on entirely different floors.

He looked above at the overhanging balconies and quickened up the stairs. Where Hermione could be was anybody's guess. He decided to check the left side first and dashed up as fast as he could, happy that the heavily carpeted floor concealed his footsteps.

Reaching the first landing, he was posed with yet another problem. The dimly lit but heavily furnished path had nothing less than ten huge doors, all of which were shut.

He griped his wand tighter feeling inside his pocket for Wormtail's wand and was momentarily surprised on finding not one but two woods. He did remember disarming Draco, but could not remember when he had caught and eventually shoved the weapon into his pocket. However, its presence comforted him a little more. Now, when he got back to the Chateau with Hermione, the three of them would have a wand each.

Glancing around and tucking the fraying ends of the cloak closer to his body, he quickly made his way to the first of the doors...

Three doors so far had opened to empty rooms, and he hurried towards the next one when it opened from the other side and a pale, sickly looking Lucius appeared. Harry instantly moved back, and although still invisible, hid behind a large figurine as the unsuspecting Malfoy Senior crossed him and went towards the staircase.

Harry made a split second decision, and glancing briefly at the still un-ventured rooms, followed the old man, casing a soft spell to muffle his sounds further.

Lucius crossed over the staircase onto its right side and took the long corridor which was not as heavily furnished as the other side unaware of a person following him a good ten paces behind. The Manor seemed to be empty but Harry didn't really have the luxury of dropping his guard. All his senses were on high alert, watching out for any sudden movements.

He glanced around at every few steps while keeping a watch on the man so as not to lose sight of him. Following the Death Eater was a decision taken purely on instinct: it could reward him or put an end to this rescue bid completely. A part of his brain was berating him and urging him to turn around and continue his search while the foul old man was away, but his determined steps kept him on his path. Watching from behind, Harry noticed that Lucius had lost that stiff gait he held himself with. In fact, he looked pale and weak just like his son. It was not hard to see that the family had lost favours with Voldemort.

Even as Lucius strode towards the far end of the corridor, Harry trained his ears for any sign of Hermione from the closed doors on his left. He quickened his pace as the man finally disappeared inside a room.

The door was almost closed leaving a just a tiny little gap. Harry edged closer, barely missing knocking off a piece of floral printed china hanging on the wall. He trained his ears harder while peering in, not risking pushing the door open.

From his position, he could roughly make out the foot of a bed. Someone seemed to be lying on it for he could just about see the outline of legs under the cover.

He inched a little closer, opening the door just about a fraction more, berating himself for having left the Extendable Ears back at the Chateau.

"How are you feeling now, my dear?" Harry was definitely sure he had never heard Lucius sound that way before. It was more likely Narcissa, and he almost turned around, grumbling about the futility of the exercise of having followed the man and lost precious time.

"Better, where is Draco?" she asked. It was not hard to guess from her voice that she was weak and sick.

"In his room perhaps, or in the girl's, I don't know." Harry almost froze in his steps. It was not hard to guess who this 'girl' could be. The man sounded gleeful; that could not be a good sign either.

"I don't like it Lucius," Narcissa's voice was strained and there was a pause before the occupants spoke further. Harry held on to the shiny silver doorknob training his ears hard, hoping against hope for Lucius to drop any sign of Hermione's location.

"You shouldn't have pushed Draco into this," she argued more fiercely and with a definite hint of annoyance although her voice was still weak like a person who had been ill for a while.

"Hasn't our son suffered enough?" she inquired again, a little pleading and a little berating.

"This will solve all our problems, love." Pacified her husband, "I have told you why we need her."

"But what about my son, Lucius?" she asked irritably before a bout of a cough ensued. It was only after a while that either of them spoke again.

"You need rest, Narcissa," came Lucius' voice, soft and caring. Harry had difficulty associating the words with the image of the man in his head.

"No, I need to talk to you," she retorted. "I have known Hermione since she was a baby. She is not as easy or naive as you think. The Dark Lord wanted her as his main lieutenant. Don't put my son in this mess!" she pleaded.

"You were always in favour of this match," Lucius' voice was getting a little tired now.

"I was, but before all of this! She has spent almost a couple of years with Potter and that Weasley!"

"Oh, don't you worry about that, darling!" he cheered and the hairs on Harry's arms rose at the tone, "Our son has seen to it."

Harry gripped his wand harder, the fingers of his other hand gripping the doorknob almost stopping blood circulation. He didn't really comprehend the full meaning of the statement but there was something dark in that laugh.

"Did you shift her from that room?" came Narcissa's voice again and Harry forced himself to listen.

"No, she is still upstairs. Why? Have you heard anything?" Harry was concentrating so hard that he unconsciously pushed the door open a little more and was now able to see the hunched form of Lucius sitting on a chair next to the bed on which Narcissa lay.

"No, she doesn't talk much; doesn't even move around a lot from the sounds. Did Draco meet her?"

"Yes," grinned the foul old man and Harry hated the sound.

"I didn't hear anything," she said looking at the ceiling for a moment, and Harry was sure his heart stopped for a minute.

Hermione was in a room right above this.

"Draco would have charmed the room silent, he needed it for the task he had to do, after all," sneered Lucius with an ugly laugh and Harry rushed away holding back the urge to hurt this pathetic excuse of a man- only because he had to get to Hermione first.

...

The climb up the stairs happens in a heartbeat or so it seems. He had no clue what plans Lucius had for Hermione but whatever the maniac had in mind had to be evil. And he seemed to have put it in action already, at least partially.

He moved in faster, counting the doors on his left to keep track. His heart was almost throbbing at his throat and he broke into a run. The feebly lit corridor looked eerily similar to the dungeons.

He paused finally when he thought he had reached and did a mental crosscheck before pushing the door slightly. The bastard had charmed this room to be heard from downstairs, and he had no doubt that Hermione would be wandless and could not have charmed the room silent. The only consolation he had was that Narcissa appeared way too sick, so it was possible that she hadn't been that attentive. It was also possible that Hermione had managed to hold her cover pretty well.

But he had to be quiet now.

The door opened enough for him to slide in. He almost cried in relief at the sight of the figure slumped on the couch. A few candles were lit and cast a dim glow all around. Closing the door softly and still hidden under the cloak, he made his way towards her quickly.

Up close Hermione looked deathly pale. He was relieved to see that, at least, she was not wounded. Dried tear marks strained her cheeks and she whimpered softly in her sleep. Kneeling down in front of her, he took a deep breath and placed a palm gently on her arm.

"Hermione?" he called ever so softly but she woke up in a flash, shock and fear playing in her tired eyes as she looked at the empty space in front of her.

"Shh... it's me, Harry! Don't scream," he whispered urgently and cast a Silencing Charm before pulling off the cloak.

A shocked moment passed when she simply stared, her fearful eyes taking in his partly visible body and the cloak and then suddenly she was on the floor too, hugging him tightly.

"Oh, Harry!" she sobbed and he was just about to put his arms around her before she pushed him away, wiping away the tears with the back of her hand.

"Harry," she began fearfully and he could see the anguish in her eyes as clearly as ever,

"R-Ron..." she managed before choking on another sob, and he stopped her before she could continue.

"I know!" he replied urgently, gripping her hand hard in his.

"I've sent him back, don't worry! He's safe now," he said placing her wand back in her hands and randomly pulled one out for himself. "But we've got to leave!" he added urgently while pushing them both off the floor.

There was a soft sigh of relief that escaped her and Harry did not miss the change in her persona immediately. There was still pain and exhaustion, but a fair amount of steel in her eyes.

She gripped the priced wood in her palm looking at it with self-assurance.

"How?" she asked licking her parched lips and looking around, and Harry was sure, planning at the same time.

"Kreacher," he replied mirroring her action and she stood shocked for a minute.

"Elf magic..." she murmured to herself and paused; Harry could almost see her thinking.

"So we leave the same way?" she asked after a brief minute, picking up the cloak that had fallen to the ground.

"Yes, but there are others, Ollivander and Luna perhaps... in the dungeons." He responded looking surprised at her as she draped the cloak over him.

"Then that's where we go," she instructed as she pulled it over his head rendering him completely invisible.

He was about to pull her inside it too but at that minute the door flew open and a malicious looking Lucius walked in. His hair was fraying behind him and he had an unhealthy gleam in his eyes.

"Her-" he began and then scrunched up his brows noticing the wand in her hands.

"Wha-" he began again, and before Harry could as much react, a set of vicious red birds were speeding towards the Death Eater. Lucius screamed and made towards the door but the birds caught him none the less, pecking him with their sharp beaks, their wings flapping madly around them.

"Let's go!" she yelled next to him and he ran behind her. Ahead of them, Lucius was still struggling with the birds that were pecking every bit of exposed skin they could reach as he hurled his arms maniacally, yelling out for help.

It was a bad idea, extremely satisfying perhaps, but bad, thought Harry as he followed behind Hermione. The portraits were now all screaming and hurling obscenities, adding to the ruckus. Pieces of china that decorated the walls, crashed onto the floor while they dashed behind the struggling man.

Unable to take the yelling anymore, Harry paused for a minute to vanish the birds. He was sure that the screams would have roused the entire Manor, and any Death Eater who was present would soon be rushing in. They had to get away fast.

Lucius collapsed on the floor, bleeding profusely from his raw wounds, looking gruesome. He stopped wailing with difficulty and looked fearfully but angrily at Hermione who had also come to a stop. The look of deep loathing she gave him made Harry worry for the man despite himself. There was no doubt that Hermione could be ruthless enough if needed.

"Why?" Malfoy Senior asked looking at her, briefly eyeing the empty space next to her as if sensing his presence.

"Because of what you did to Ron," she spat. "Tell your Lord, I was never his and will never be, ever!" she yelled and before Lucius could as much press his palm on the mark, she hit him with a body bind.

"This is the start, I promise," she said with a backwards glance and rushed away, Harry following her while the injured man whimpered behind them.

But the commotion had awakened the Manor, or perhaps Narcissa had, thought Harry. They were barely at the steps when three huge, cloaked men appeared at the foot of the stairs. He saw them first and pulled Hermione to hide behind the rails just as the first of the curses flew past them.

The Death Eaters had already seen them, seen her (he was still invisible he reminded himself) and noticed the wand in Hermione's hand. That along with Lucius' screams made the math quite simple. And there was the marked change in her persona.

"Come out!" bellowed one from below and Harry stood up to notice that they were climbing up already. He crouched back down, the man barely twenty feet away from them.

"Any other way?" he whispered urgently.

"None," she replied back.

"Granger, you can't escape," barked the man again, now closer than before.

"Get inside the cloak!" Harry hissed pulling on Hermione's hand but she pushed him off.

"No, you need to stay hidden! Plus, I want them to know I am not theirs!" she added with a crazy amount of hate in her eyes, and just like, that she stood up and shot a Stunning Curse right at the man's head.

His stiff form dropped down the stairs like a piece of a statue and the two behind him spend barely a few minutes to recover from their shock, scrambling away from the bulky figure before they began shooting spells at her. Harry sent out a Shield Charm and a spark of green and another red bounced off it to hit the antiques on the lower level. Pieces of metal and glass rained down on the men as both sides duelled hard. He stood close to Hermione, and she was so fast dodging and shooting spells that her hand was almost a blur. The Death Eaters had still not noticed that there were two, not one duelling against them. However, they did appear be good duellers if not the best, and Harry was beginning to get worried as the men moved up while he and Hermione were forced to take several back steps.

A Stunning spell, he didn't know his or hers, hit one and the man fell with a loud thud, and now the lone Death Eater standing looked around, realising perhaps for the first time that Hermione was not alone. He began shooting random spells now, and at least a couple of them flew past too close for comfort.

Next to him, Hermione groaned aloud and the very next instant, the heavy chandelier high up on the ceiling came crashing down on the man.

Glass, brass and pieces of wood and stone rained all around them.

"Come on!" she yelled from somewhere ahead, and the two of them dashed ahead over the debris. He felt pieces of glass hitting his skin but they could not stop now.

They crossed the hallway with the portraits screaming and yelling, and with a horrified backwards glance, Harry noticed the main door opening and a huge group rushing in- their surprise the only margin of advantage for the two of them.

He followed Hermione as she turned sharply at the entrance to the dungeon, even as the noises and flashes of red and green shot behind them.

"Where are you?" Hermione called panicked, pausing at the first step of the dungeon, and he literally pushed her down, joining her and blasting off the ceiling behind him. Large pieces of stone, wood and other debris came crashing once more and Hermione screamed which mingled with the yells coming in from the other end. He pulled his leg forcefully from under a large chunk of wood and took off the cloak, stuffing it quickly inside his jacket. She came back hurriedly towards him, face coated with dust and streaks of blood he knew not from where.

"We have to leave! Where are they?" she cried urgently as they stumbled down the steps, Harry's own speed restricted by the pain in his leg. Sounds from the other end had muffled slightly but he was sure they were busy clearing the blocked entrance. A sharp pain shot through his scar, he screamed aloud stopping in his steps as Hermione came rushing back to him.

"Harry! Are you okay?!"

He could not answer her, as the image of the dungeon vanished to reveal a dark village road and rage that was not his, flooded his veins.

"HARRY!"

Hermione's voice came from somewhere far away, faint and small but he could still make out the fear in her voice.

"Please... Please... we have to go back! For Ron...HARRY!"

For Ron... Ron...

Ron's severely injured form materialised in front of his eyes, pushing the other images and rage away. Ron needed him. Ron needed Hermione. They had to leave.

He pushed away the visions, how he didn't know and Hermione's scared face came into view.

"They called him, he is coming," he told her and watched as her eyes drained of colour.

"Then we have to leave right away!" she urged, pulling him up from the steps where he had apparently collapsed.

His scar was still hurting and he could still feel Voldemort's rage as he seemed to fly over land without a broom or any other support. But he concentrated hard on the present, on now.

They rushed further down. During the small amount of time when he had been lost, the Death Eaters had made good progress. Their sounds were now louder than before as if the barrier of rubble was almost cleared off.

"THERE!" he yelled finally pointing at the door, and Hermione made some furious motions with her wand and groaned aloud in disappointment.

"I CAN'T OPEN IT!" she yelled frantically.

He thought for a second, "Blast it open." He told her and moved as fast as he could towards the door.

"WE WILL BLAST OPEN THE DOOR, MOVE AWAY FROM IT- THE FARTHEST YOU CAN GET!" he screamed.

They counted to five, turning back where the voices were now steadily getting louder. They seemed to have almost cleared out the passage.

Hermione screamed, "Diffindo!" breaking the ceiling at the end of the corridor once more, and buying them precious time while he focused on the door in front.

"WE ARE COMING!" he called and hoped the prisoners on the other end had heard them.

The door was blasted off with a loud bang that echoed in the small space and tore at their eardrums, causing a storm of dust that made the dimly lit space all the more dark.

"WHERE ARE YOU?" Hermione called frantically from behind him and they heard a weak reply. They pushed and scrambled over the bits of stone and bricks as the voices got louder. They were just beyond the rubbles in the corridor now.

"QUICK! QUICK!" he yelled looking around furiously with the help of their wand-light.

"HARRY! HERE!" she called from somewhere to his right and he hurried the best he could.

"Luna!"

"Harry!" the girl greeted back pleasantly as if they were meeting on a pleasant spot instead of a dungeon with a hoard of death eaters behind them.

"Call for Kreacher, Harry!" Hermione instructed and he saw the girls holding a very weak Ollivander.

"Anyone else here?" he asked Luna urgently, looking around.

"No, just two of us," she answered in her dreamy voice. He nodded and called out.

The elf materialised in a heartbeat. He looked pale and Harry dared not ask if the reason was Ron.

"Take us back," He instructed extending his hand as all of them held on to each other.

"Kreacher can't take guests in. The wards not allow!" squeaked the elf and he groaned aloud.

"Take us at the edge of the forest, I'll manage from there." instructed Hermione; Harry was glad about her quick thinking.

"Do as she says," he instructed urgently as the sounds got louder than ever.

The five of them disappeared barely seconds before the Death Eaters came crashing in.

...

They appeared in the dark forest, and before Hermione could open the wards to take them towards the cottage, two cloaked figures approached them with their wands pointed at their hearts.

A/N: Thanks to all of you for reading and those fantastic reviews you send my way. It took me quite a while to get this chapter right. Sorry for the horrible cliffy but it's a teaser for what is to come. I can't wait to finish the next chapter- it will bring Hermione's journey in search of herself to a full circle. And it will bring back Ron. I have missed writing him.

I hope you all like this chapter. Please let me know, won't you?