CHAPTER 22

The Fingertips of Freedom

"You did it Harry!" Hermione said in an excited whisper. "Open your door!" Harry clasped his side with one hand and walked up to the cell door. There were several keys on the ring, he pressed himself against the iron bars and hooked his arm around to the front – feeling for the lock with his fingertips. Then, hurriedly, he inserted one key after another,

"Quick, quick!" Ron encouraged.

"I'm trying to be!" Harry argued as he tried the third, the forth – getting more and more frustrated as each refused to move in the lock. The fifth key was the charm, Harry fiddled with it until it clicked and the door swung open. He stood still for a moment, almost convinced it were a trick.

"Harry, us!" Hermione reminded, pointing to her own door. Harry ran out of his cell and went to Hermione's, then Ron's. They burst from them; Hermione threw her arms around Harry, then Ron.

"'Mione, we're not out yet," Harry reminded, although he hugged her back.

"Oh, right, sorry." She said, her matted hair falling in her face. They walked timidly over to the door, Harry searched with his eyes for a keyhole, but there was none. Instead, all there appeared to be was a small grimy window at the very top of the door. Harry looked through it and scanned the outside corridor with his eyes. He could only see one Death Eater standing guard outside their room – The Death Eater was leaning against the door and casually flicking his wand at the air in front of him, causing small burst of smoke to emerge from the tip. Without a second thought, Harry knocked on the glass,

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked, trying to pull him away from the window, "they'll see you!"

"That's the point," Harry said, knocking again. Hermione and Ron exchanged glances of scepticism as the Death Eater turned and saw Harry, eyes widening in surprise. Harry watched as the man held his wand in his fist before opening the door with a great, strained effort.

Harry recognised the Death Eater as Kurt – one of the men who had taken Harry from his cell just minutes before. Harry took this as an advantage – after all, whilst Kurt had troll-like arms and a brute strength he was very dim-witted and easily fooled. Harry grabbed Ron and Hermione's arms and pulled them behind him. He could feel his heart beating faster, his fingers tingling in anticipation. He had no idea if this would work, or if he even had it in him.

Kurt entered the room, a spell mingling on his lips. But before he could finish Harry punched him as hard as he could across his face. The Death Eater stood stunned for a moment, mouth opening and closing as if confused. Ignoring the pain that had spread up his arm in the first punch, Harry did it again before grabbing the man's wand, which was held slackly in Kurt's hand. Kurt was furious, his huge arms swung at Harry, knocking him to the floor with a painful blow. Harry swung the wand around and pointed it directly at Kurt's chest,

"Stupefy!" Harry yelled. The sound of the spell felt odd on his lips, it had been so long since he had uttered one. The Death Eater fell to the ground heavily, mouth agape.

"Woe…" Ron said, coming to Harry's side and helping him up, "that was brilliant." Harry shook his hand,

"That hurt," he muttered, massaging his knuckles where red blotchy marks had started to develop.

"Guys, someone's coming," Hermione said. Harry listened, and sure enough muffled voices were being carried down the hallway.

"What was that?!" said a woman's voice,

"Did you hear something?" Asked a man, their voices were getting closer. Ron widened his eyes and opened the door, glancing quickly left and right.

"Harry, Disillusion!" Hermione said, "it's our only shot. We have a w-wand…" she stopped for a moment and swallowed, "we have a wand, we should be able to. You should be able to."

"But the spells are weak, look, Kurt's already getting up..." He pointed to the floor where the man had started rubbing his eyes. "Stupefy!" Harry said again, knocking him out. "There's no way I could perform a good Disillusion charm like this."

"You have to… win the wand," Hermione said quickly. Harry raised his eyes to her,

"Honestly?"

"I'll have to agree with Hermione…" muttered Ron, his eyes darted to the door, "and we don't have much time to argue! In the end, this is just one less Death Eater who is going to be hunting us down." The voices outside were louder, and seemed to have multiplied.

"I know you don't like it Harry, but we have to do it!" Hermione said, she looked at the door, "just… do it quick!" Harry took a deep breath. He didn't know why the concept of killing Kurt scared him so much… perhaps it was because he had never tortured the three of them – he had never seemed to be a threat. Or maybe it was the concept of killing itself, using the spell he always wanted to avoid.

"Harry, just do it, or I will." Ron said, face set, determined – extending his hand towards Harry in an offering.

"No," Harry replied firmly, turning to Kurt – who had already begun to move again. Harry swallowed and pointed the wand at Kurt's chest – forcing himself to believe that this was the right thing to do. "Avada Kedavra!" Harry yelled. There was the disgusting flash of a familiar green before Kurt became completely still. The three of them stood there in shock, staring at the corpse.

"Disillusion Harry," Ron reminded just as a loud 'this way!' Was heard down the hall, Ron took a scared glance at the door. Harry turned to Ron and Hermione and rapped the wand on Hermione's head. Harry noticed that the wand had become much stronger now as Hermione disappeared like a chameleon to her surroundings. Harry then turned to Ron and did the same, just as the Death Eaters burst through the door. There were several of them, Harry turned to where he knew Ron and Hermione were and mouthed 'go!' before turning to the Death Eaters – whose wands all pointed directly at his chest.

"He killed Kurt!" One of the men stated, bending down to examine the body.

"Get him!" Said the woman who had tortured Harry earlier that day. Her eyes scoured the room, "and find the other two!"

"Stupefy!" Harry yelled quickly, a Death Eater dropped to the floor. Two Death Eater's held onto his arms tightly, he kneed one hard in the chest then tapped himself on the head. The effect was almost immediate, the feeling of a liquid-like substance running down his neck to his torso. Harry pushed off the Death Eater who still held tightly onto his arm and prayed that Hermione and Ron had found safety. The Death Eater's were scouring the air with their eyes now, Harry slowly backed away, hoping to somehow get around the group without them noticing.

"Guard the door!" The woman cried, "they don't get out." Immediately two of the men stood in front of the doorway – shielding it with their large bulk.

"Potter!" She continued, stepping around the room, "I know you're in here, even if you've made yourself hidden." Harry wanted to throw spells at her and the others – but he knew that as soon as he did his location would be given away and he would be taken down. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest – they were so close to escaping, Harry wondered if this was how it was going to end, when freedom was so close to their fingertips.

The woman was waving her arms in front of her face, as if she were batting away an imaginary fly, before she swung her wand around in frustration – sending out a wave of spells, which rocked the foundation under their feet and missed Harry by inches. One of them hit a Death Eater and he fell to the ground unconscious. Harry took this moment of lapsed attention and jogged quickly to the door, stepping over Death Eaters as they looked over the victim.

Harry only just managing to squeeze past the two men guarding the door – who looked at each other – believing that they had accidently bumped sides. The corridor was long and reasonably narrow – it appeared symmetrical on either side, doors stretching left and right with only letters and numbers as a differing factor between them. The walls were dark iron, almost black – as if charcoal had been rubbed on the metal.

Harry turned left and ran, trying to make as little noise with his feet as possible. Luckily for him, the hallway was deserted – all the Death Eaters on the floor seemed to have gone into their room to assist.

"Ron!" Harry called in a loud whisper, "Hermione!" He felt hands grab him out of nowhere and pull him to the wall.

"This way!" He heard Ron's voice say, pulling him along the corridor.

"I have to say," came Hermione's voice to the right of Harry, "this charm you've put on us is really good!" Harry looked down at his own hands, he could only see the floor beneath them.

"Thanks," he replied.

"If the wands that strong…" Hermione continued as they walked swiftly, "maybe we should just head back? See if we make it with one wand?" Harry opened his mouth to retort but it was Ron who ended up responding,

"No way," he said firmly, "Harry might be good, but there's no chance he will be able to defend all three of us if we have Death Eaters running at us." Harry nodded then remembered he was invisible and muttered,

"He's right…" Hermione seemed to shrug beside him,

"It was just a suggestion." Harry sighed,

"We don't even know where this storage place is," he commented. They were going blindly and it unnerved him – he clutched the unfamiliar wand in a fist.

"We're improvising," Hermione answered.

"Fantastic." Harry found himself unable to help limping, as pain ran all the way up his leg and side with every step. Ron and Hermione were struggling too, he could hear their pain in their breathing and frustrated groans as their limbs refused to move with the ease they were used to. Harry even felt Hermione pause for a second at a dozen paces down the hallway, clutching her side with agony stretching across her features.

"'Mione, we have to keep moving!" Ron reminded her when she suddenly stopped again. He walked up to her, Harry could only just hear what he was saying, "I feel it too, but we're going to feel pain a lot more if we don't get out of this place." Hermione took a deep breath before she continued walking, now next to Ron – Harry wondered if they were clasping hands.

"We're never going to find this place," Ron said, looking at each door that they passed, "there are doors everywhere and they all look the same… how can we tell them apart?" Harry looked behind them quickly, half-expecting to see figures behind them; but the hallway was still quiet. He wondered if the Death Eaters were still searching for them in the room, he smirked, finding that thought amusing.


"So how did you find it?" Asked George, "the place where all your wands were kept…"

The group was all listening intently as Harry told the story, leaning towards him with sincere interest. But with each sentence Harry spoke the words seemed harder, as if his throat was closing upon itself – recognising that the sentences and letters that would soon flow from his mouth would not be pleasant.

"There were no stairwells," Harry said, remembering. "There was no apparent way to get down the building… I tried apparating with Ron and Hermione, but naturally it didn't work." He scratched his stubbled cheek for a moment, "the wands were kept in a vault. It took us what felt like hours to find, but it couldn't have been long," he frowned. "You know when you are in a life or death situation, time appears to go quicker and slower at the same time? Like in dreams when you're running from the bad-guy and you can only go in slow-motion no matter how hard you try to make your legs work?" The group nodded, all except Jack rather, who was staring at Harry with skepticism. Harry ignored this and continued speaking, "soon, the Death Eaters were hot on our trail again… so we found ourselves running through the corridors."

"But you were injured," Jack commented.

"It wasn't easy to run, no." Harry replied, raising his eyebrows. Jack scoffed and Harry looked at him, "is there something you want to say?" He challenged.

"It just seems like you are making yourself sound more heroic than you actually were,"

"Jack," Ginny warned, trying to silence him with a look.

"No Gin, let him talk."

"Vereor Nex," Jack muttered, "is… or would be harder to escape than Azkaban I'd assume."

"Oh you've been there have you?" Harry asked sarcastically, "care to share your description?"

"No, I haven't been there," Jack replied defensively, "I'm just guessing,"

"Well then, you can't correct me. I wasn't heroic. Ron was more heroic than me," Harry said, addressing George, Charlie and Ginny now, who smiled slightly with pride. "I was a coward, actually," Harry continued, now staring at his hands,

"Continue the story, Harry," Ginny said in a soft tone, "tell us what happened." Harry nodded vaguely, noting that he was getting sidetracked.

"The vault was quite far away from our room – the place was like a maze… but we found it out of sheer luck. It was easy to spot from the outside, a large metal door differing from the rest… two Death Eaters guarded it, but I killed them… they didn't know where the spells were coming from, they had no chance." George looked up, surprised at Harry's matter-of-fact tone.

"I'm not proud about it!" He argued, "but it needed to be done."

"Blimey," Ron muttered to Harry's right, staring at the dead Death Eaters.

"Are you okay, Harry?" Asked Hermione.

"I'm fine, but we need to get through that door."

"Is this it?" Asked Ron, "are we sure?"

"Only one way to be," Harry replied. "Alohomora!" Nothing happened. Harry pulled on the handle a few times but it wouldn't budge. "I was afraid of this," he muttered, "now I'm going to have to make a lot of noise. They'll hear us," he looked down the corridor where he could hear faint yells and spells being fired.

"Bombarda!" Harry yelled. The door shuttered and seemed to fall a little from its hinges. "Bombarda!" He yelled again, once again it fell a little. "Confringo!" The door gave a large 'bang!' that echoed down the hall as it fell from its hinges and landed on the floor. Hermione squealed as the entire door fell almost on top of them.

"Quick," Ron said, racing inside, "they would have heard that." The room reminded Harry of the Room of Requirement, the place where he placed Snape's potions book, and later where they found the diadem. There were piles upon piles of wands, weapons and clothing.

"How are we going to find anything in this mess?" Ron asked, stepping around the piles. He picked up a few wands before putting them down again.

"No idea," responded Hermione, doing the same. Harry took a glance towards the door,

"We're going to have to look quickly, if they get too close, just pick up any wand and use it." Harry walked down an aisle, his eyes scanning the wands to look for one that resembled his own. This, of course, was virtually impossible. It was looking for a needle in a haystack, only the needle looked like a piece of hay.

Harry picked up a fistful and threw one after another to the ground finding them too short, too long, to wide… he turned around to continue walking down the aisle – then spotted something in the periphery of his vision. There were several vials in a small glass closet, the contents of it shined like melted gold. Harry found himself fascinated; he walked over to it and grabbed all the vials in his hands – just as he heard Hermione's voice.

"Harry, come here!" Harry went in the direction of her voice as quickly as he could,

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing," she said, as he rounded the corner, but then she spotted what Harry held in his hand. "Where did you get that?" She asked, frowning.

"Found it," he muttered, holding a vial to the light and squinting into it, "what is it?"

"It's like a restoration potion," Hermione said – her voice so matter-of-fact that Harry smiled. It was as if she were incapable of forgetting things she had learnt in class. "But it's addictive," she muttered, shifting away from it slightly.

"But if it has restorative properties… we kind of need it," Hermione clenched her jaw, Harry could tell this was against her morals.

"You're right," she replied with a heaved sigh. Harry passed her one of the vials, then called out for Ron and gave him one as well. Harry removed the cork from the potion and drained it in one shot. The effect was immediate, a feeling of strength stretching over his muscles and into his wounds. It was like a massive bandaid on his pain.

"Woah," Ron said, dropping his empty vial on the floor, "I feel good!"

"Still," said Hermione, "we can't take too much, you don't know what that stuff will do to you." They stood in silence for a moment before Hermione suddenly jumped as she remembered something,

"Harry, look!" She called, pointing up to the wall. Harry frowned,

"Look where?" He asked, "I can't see you, remember?"

"Up there, on the wall," she replied. Harry's eyes moved upwards – and there he saw it - glinting as if it had only just been polished was Godric Griffindor's sword.


"Woah woah woah," said Jack, cutting Harry off and standing. "Why would the Death Eaters keep the sword? It's worth money, they should have sold it."

"But imagine if the sword landed in our hands…" replied Ginny, "we would have known Harry was still alive."

"What do you mean should have?" Harry asked,

"Could have," Jack muttered, "I mean could have."

"I'm not exaggerating anything," Harry said matter-of-factly, "this is what really happened."

"Jack, sit down," Ginny said as she rubbed two fingers in circles on her temple.

"As I was saying," Harry growled, shooting Jack a look, "the sword was on the wall. We managed to get it down with great difficulty – unfortunately just in time for the Death Eaters to see. The Disillusion Charm wasn't on the sword of course, so it became plainly obvious where we were." Harry rubbed the back of his neck, "we were lucky because there was only a few Death Eaters – they had split up it seemed… but they still managed to take the charm off all three of us…"

"So you were exposed," Charlie stated, and Harry nodded in response.

"Ron had gotten the sword down and was holding it in a fist, he looked really determined, but I wasn't sure what he was determined to do…"

A spell was sent Ron's way but he managed to deflect it with the blade of the sword before he spun it in the air and sent it straight into the chest of the nearest Death Eater, who howled in pain.

"Get your things!" Ron ordered, swinging at the next Death Eater with incredible strength. Blood splattered the floor and Ron's front, but he kept going. Harry stunned a few Death Eaters,

"Stupefy!" He yelled, "Stupefy!" They hit and the Death Eater's hit the ground heavily. "Petrificus Totalus!" The Death Eater he aimed at froze as stiff as a board and joined his friends on the ground. Harry found his clothing close to where the sword was, they were very crumpled and smelt stale but Harry threw his long black jacket over his shoulders anyway, and pulled on the rest of his clothing.

He looked at Ron and Hermione and noticed they were changing out of their debilitating rags also with hurried fingers. Harry walked over to the wands nearest to where the rest of their things were. He picked up a handful and looked through them, hoping to find Ron and Hermione a decent defence if they were, or rather when they were attacked again. Harry threw a couple on the ground but then paused at one of them.

"Ron!" He said, "Ron, look, is this yours?" He passed the wand to him and Ron looked it over with a furrowed brow before he smirked slightly and nodded.

"What about Hermione's?"

"Haven't found it yet," Harry replied, continuing his search.

"Don't bother, Harry," Hermione muttered, pushing her hair away from her eyes. "I can use one of these wands, I'm sure it will work fine. We don't have time to search." Her eyes darted around her feet and she picked a long, thin one off the ground. Hermione waved it in the air in front of her face, making a transparent blue orb appear in front of her – glowing as if it were full of fireflies. She lowered her wand and it disappeared, "this one will do." The three of them quickly stepped over the bodies, Harry distinctly heard Hermione take a sharp intake of breath as she stepped over the ones with blood oozing from them.


"We found the way back to our room quite easily," Harry explained, "everyone seemed to be looking in other places for us so the hallways were deserted. When we entered our room again we made our way over to the window. I blasted it from the wall and rubble went everywhere – ,"

A burst of cold air ran over the three of them, it took their breath away and made their ears ring.

"I'll go first," Harry announced. He stepped through the hole he had created, keeping a firm grip on the wall. The ledge had appeared larger by the window – in reality it was barely enough to keep his feet on. The moment he stepped onto it a brick gave way and Harry slipped. Hermione screamed as Harry fell onto the window he had just gone through.

The jagged edges of it pierced his flesh and he felt metal run deep into his side – he gasped in agony. Ron and Hermione went to help him but Harry stopped them shaking his head with a pained expression. He could feel the blood pulsating down his side as he pulled away from the window and stood once more. The blood-loss made him feel slightly woozy, but at the same time it gave him a feeling of drunken confidence.

Harry clasped his hand over the wound and then looked at it – now glinting crimson. He felt his way along the wall, holding onto any part of the building he could. Without ruining his balance, Harry looked down at the roof several feet below from where he was now standing. It was a decent drop, and if he misjudged the distance he had to leap, there was a gap that ran straight down the side of the building that would surely seal his demise.

Harry took a deep breath – it was now or never. With as much strength as he could muster, Harry leaped from the ledge – holding his breath until he landed safely on the roof, gasping slightly as he clung to it. He shut his eyes tightly for a moment, relishing the feeling of safety and feeling his heart rate slow to a steadier pace. He looked back down at his side, the wound still oozed blood, he tried sealing it shut with his wand but it refused to hold.


"That was the injury you had when you came back!" Ginny said, "that one George asked me to heal."

"That's the one," Harry replied, subconsciously placing his hand over where the wound once was. "When I looked back up at Ron and Hermione I saw that they were now both on the ledge. Hermione was quite weak on her feet so Ron was helping her stay balanced. They too made it across okay, but it was from there that everything got a bit more difficult. We walked down the rooftop looking for something to help us down," Harry smirked a little, "I don't know what we were expecting – a ladder to appear?... There was no guttering along the roof either, we were basically trapped."

"So what did you do?" Asked Dylan.

"Vereor Nex is made up of a series of different levels," Harry said, holding up his hands to demonstrate. "We were on the top, I'm not sure how many levels up – and we had just jumped down to the next one," he lowered his hands down an inch. "It was like a huge staircase, only each step was a rooftop that could easy kill you… so, what we had to do was jump, just as we had the first time – down each level," Harry made a diagonal descending motion with his hand, "until we reached the bottom."

"Did any of you fall?" George asked, widening his eyes. Harry shook his head,

"We all slipped at certain points however. The rooftops were covered in thick, green, moss-like slime… it was difficult to get a grip."

Hermione clung to the side of the roof, her chest pressed against it as she tried to hoist herself up to standing again. Her feet flailed on the roof's slippery surface, unable to get a grip.

"Ron!" She called, "Ron, help!" But Ron had already turned around to help her. He sat on the highest point of the roof, keeping one leg on the other side and grabbed her hands in his. With a great effort he pulled her up, clasping her around the waist until she was standing again. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, "thanks," she said, rubbing her dirty front down with her palms.

"Don't mention it," Ron said, "go ahead of me, I want to keep an eye on you." Hermione frowned slightly,

"I don't always need your help Ron, I am perfectly capable of managing myself."

"I know that 'Mione, but you've slipped like, four times now. You're not at your full strength… none of us are. Let me help you." Hermione clenched her jaw slightly but then nodded – awkwardly moving around Ron to get in front of him.

"Come on!" Harry encouraged, "not far now." Harry was on the edge of the roof; he looked down and felt the tingle of anticipation running around his palms and down his fingers. He was getting rather pale, the blood loss was making him woozy – but he knew if he told Ron and Hermione they would just worry, and that wouldn't help anyone. Harry felt water land on his cheek and he looked up, the sky was a dark grey – spitting rain down at them with increasing force. Harry took another leap, landing heavily on the rooftop and causing his gut to crease in pain.

"You alright, Harry?" Came Hermione's voice, seeing Harry clutch his side and groan in agony.

"Yeah!" He replied through clenched teeth. He breathed out deeply, continued along the rooftop, hearing the familiar thump of Ron and Hermione landing behind him. He turned around to them,

"What now?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" Asked Hermione, frowning, "just jump down again."

"There's nowhere to jump down to!" Harry argued, gesturing at the ground some ten feet below. "Nothing!" He cursed. Hermione and Ron went next to Harry,

"There's Death Eater's over there," Hermione said, pointing. "That must be the main entrance."

"It's not that far," Ron said, looking at the ground, "and it's all muddy – surely it'll make for a softer landing." Hermione looked down too and shook her head,

"It's not safe," she said.

"It's not safe to stay up here either," Ron contended. Harry shifted his weight slightly, feeling warmth run down his hip. His head was buzzing and the air felt thin in his lungs.

"Harry?" He heard Hermione's voice say, "are you okay?"

"Fine," he answered, although his vision was spinning and turning darker. He felt secure hands clasp his arms as his legs gave way underneath him. He hit the roof hard and rolled off it, Ron and Hermione's grip too weak to stop him. He blacked out as he hit the ground; the potions effects had diminished – leaving him to suffer the full weight of his injury. When he opened his eyes, Ron and Hermione were standing over the top of him. Hermione was supporting Harry's head, pouring gold liquid into his mouth which made him splutter and cough. Ron was attempting to heal the wound but was only making it a little better.

"What happened?" Harry asked, sitting up.

"You fell, passed out actually," Ron said, just as Harry felt a particularly bad bump on the back of his head. "Why didn't you tell us this was so bad? We could've helped,"

"How?" Harry asked, standing, "I didn't want to worry you."

"You know what made us worried? Seeing you pass-out and fall a great height. You're bloody lucky you landed on soft earth." Ron accused, standing also.

"Stop fighting!" Hermione complained. "We can't deal with this right now."

"Sorry," Harry and Ron said almost immediately.

"How did you two get down here though?" Harry asked.

"I was kind of attached to you," Ron said, "when you went down I came soon after. Hermione jumped down, landed okay."

"Yeah, okay," Hermione said, pulling up her pants leg to show a graze that was bleeding down her shin. Harry grabbed Griffindor's hilt with his hand,

"So have you seen any Death Eaters?"

"Not just yet," Ron muttered, "they seem to be laying low." Harry looked around, all he could see was a wide forest stretching in front of him, it's trees thick and covered in vines.


"I couldn't believe it," Harry said, smiling as he remembered, "we were free, we were outside – and alive…" he looked up at Ginny, "there were the trees… and the grass – and the air! Everything was big, there was no metal bars, no blood on the walls, no screams." His smile suddenly slackened and disappeared, "of course we thought that the Death Eaters were looking for us elsewhere… that we had gone undetected,"

"And you hadn't," Ginny muttered, finishing his sentence for him – he shook his head,

"I knew, I knew it shouldn't have been that easy," Harry replied, feeling the familiar twinge of guilt clutch his gut, "I should've done something…"

"It wasn't you're fault Harry," Charlie said, but Harry ignored him and took a deep breath – his eyes turning glassy as he breathed out.

"We have to keep moving," Harry reminded them as Ron and Hermione looked their surroundings. They nodded, clutching their wands so hard their already pale knuckles turned white.

"Wait," Hermione said as they went to move off again, "we have to try apparating." Harry looked around swiftly then nodded, turning on the spot. Nothing happened.

"Figures," Ron mumbled before they set off at a steady jog towards the forest.

Then, suddenly, as if they were in a dream, several Death Eaters surrounded them – they closed in with wands pointed. The one closest to them laughed,

"Did you really think it would be that easy?" She asked.

"We were hoping," Hermione replied, trying to keep her voice fearless and sarcastic.

"We saw your handy-work by storage – I didn't think you had it in you,"

"You've got to do what you can," Ron replied through gritted teeth. Harry clutched the hilt of Griffindor's sword in his hand harder.

"But the point is, we knew you would get out here somehow. Harry Potter, the boy who lived – the boy who had nine lives…" she carried a laugh in her voice. "But of course those lives have to run up at some time," she raised her wand and Harry, Ron and Hermione did the same. "I guess today will do," she finished, grinning.

"Stupefy!" The Death Eater yelled – it hit Ron square in the chest and he was flung in the air before crashing down, unconscious.

"Enervate!" Harry yelled, pointing his wand at Ron, who began moving again – blinking rapidly as if regaining focus.

"Stupefy!" Both Hermione and Harry yelled at the same time – their combined spell hit her and she was thrown backwards onto the grass. The Death Eaters roared in anger and threw their weight into the spells now. Harry quickly helped Ron to a wobbling stand as Hermione deflected spells that came their way.

"Stupefy!" She kept yelling, watching the occasional Death Eater drop to the floor. Harry dared not admit it – but they were sorely outnumbered. He knew how this would end up – back in their cell, tortured three times as much as usual. Would they survive? It seemed unlikely. He couldn't let this happen, not when they had felt freedom for the first time in years just moments before.

"Crucio!" The Death Eater's yelled – Hermione was unable to deflect them and so fell to the ground, clutching her gut as she rolled around, gasping in pain.

"Sectumsempra!" Harry roared, it hit and blood splattered the grass – the Death Eater fell, now accompanying Hermione in her yells. Harry felt arms grab him, but he pushed them off with all his strength – grabbing Hermione under her knees and back and hauling her up in his arms – he ran. Ron was close behind him; he could hear his breathing to his immediate right.

Unfortunately the Death Eaters were close behind him as well, too close for comfort. The tree trunks around them splintered and shook as spells hit them. Harry could even see the flashes of light in his peripheries as he ran. They only managed to run for what felt like several seconds before Ron tripped and fell – his head smacking painfully onto the ground. Harry put Hermione down to help him – blood was running down his chin and across his cheek – he tried to stand and run again but those few seconds were all the Death Eaters needed to get a firm grip around his arms. They pulled Ron backwards like a ragdoll, his eyes widened in fear. Ron put up a fight, kneeing them in the chest, pushing them with his arms – but he was outnumbered and was dragged backwards.

"No! RON!" Harry yelled, feeling others now grab him with increasing strength. Hermione fight was useless, she kicked them, struggled and flailed but all it seemed to do was increase their hold on her. Ron was gagged but he continued fighting, his last ounce of strength going into getting away.

He pushed two Death Eater's away, and for a moment it appeared as if he would get free – but then his legs were grabbed and he was dragged backwards. His fingernails dug into the dirt, as he pulled on roots and grass – hoping to stop. Hermione was being carried as if she was lying on her stomach, her fingers grappled with anything she could get her hands on. She dug her fingernails into the Death Eaters arms but their grip was vice-like. In a last futile effort she clung to a tree, hands red raw and bleeding.

"Harry, run!" She yelled, her eyes pleading. "Please! RUN!" Tears stained her cheeks as she was pulled away with a scream of pain.

"Hermione! Ron!" Harry called, as his own arms were pulled behind his back.

"'Arry!" Ron replied through the gag, he made a choking sound, "go!" Ron ordered, "GO!"

"Stupefy!" Harry yelled once more, stunning the Death Eater who had the tightest grip on him. He withdrew his sword and in one motion – stabbed the other Death Eater and ran as fast as his weak legs would carry him. He could hear the shouts from the Death Eaters as they followed him, their spells coming so close Harry could feel them pass. He ran, he ran until his legs gave out – until the cries behind him became so muffled it was as if he was hearing them underwater. All he could think of now was Ron, Hermione… had he done the right thing? He left them there. He should have tried harder. In a panting mess Harry stooped against a tree for a moment, eyes shut, breathes coming unevenly as a pain in his chest ran all around his ribcage.


"I should have stayed with them," Harry now muttered to himself. The others were staring at him in shock – he could not read their expressions and feared it was disappointment or distain. "I'm sorry," he said now, feeling a hot tear run toxic down his cheek, he pushed it away, "I'm so sorry," he repeated. Harry stood and went to walk away, but was stopped as George said something,

"You did everything you could Harry," he said. "You made a call, if you stayed you would be back there with them – and you know it." Harry looked at George for a moment, then nodded – although he did not entirely believe him. He could see the other Auror's staring at him as he trailed back to the tent, and he wondered if they too had been listening to the story. Harry had hoped that revealing the story to his friends would make the guilt disappear slightly – but it burnt again, white-hot in his chest. It was suffocating. He disappeared inside the tent and began pacing the length of the room.

"Harry?" He heard Ginny's voice and looked up. He ran his sleeve over his eyes to dry his watered-down eyes. Ginny walked up to Harry and placed her arms around him. "You're so brave," she muttered, placing her head on his chest.

"I'm not," he stated firmly, pulling away. Ginny held him at arms length, and ran her hand down his cheek.

"You are, sometimes running is the best thing to do. It may not feel like it –,"

"It doesn't…" he looked around the room feeling distraught in his guilt. He shut his eyes for a moment and ran his hand through his hair as he felt emotions well up in his gut. Harry felt Ginny's hands forcing him to look at her,

"That must have been horrible for you," she whispered soothingly, "but we're doing what we can to move forward. We'll get there, you'll see," somehow those words coming through Ginny's mouth were enough to convince Harry that she was right. He took a deep breath and nodded,

"We'll get there," he repeated. Ginny hugged him, resting her head on his chest, her fingers moving into the crevices of his shoulder blades – hoping beyond all hope that they were right.

I cannot even begin to explain how hard this chapter was for me to write… I considered giving up on the story altogether on this one. It was my roadblock of evilness, I'm so glad it's over. I'm really sorry for the delay – it's a very long chapter so that's another reason. It's like three chapters smooshed into one… but I didn't want this story to be four chapters long – you know? But I'm happy with how it turned out! I've read it through a few times, but I'm quite positive I've missed some grammar errors and such. If I have, please pretend they don't exist! :)

Thankyou for all reviews, please keep them coming! They are my fuel that keeps me writing and they just mean the world to me.

And a big thanks to Christina – who listened to me whine and helped me with some ideas! :)

Pheonixxsong