Harry was deep in sleep when reality suddenly snapped him awake. The blackness was subtle and warm, like a snug blanket wrapped around him that suddenly slapped him in the face. He was dazed for a second, the darkness of the room tricking his mind into thinking he was still asleep, but something was wrong. There was a tight feeling in the atmosphere, like some kind of reason was being ripped apart. Harry couldn't name it even as the house shook slightly under him. It wasn't until a light spell was activated in his face and he saw Hermione hovering over him. The look of utter fear on her face was enough to shock him awake.

"Harry, wake up!" She was screaming.

Harry finally came to and realized he had practically slept through the beginning of a war. The house was shaking, someone was screaming downstairs, and the smell of smoke was drifting through the air. The sound of shots being fired all over whizzed around him. One crashed through the window, catching Ron's bed on fire, and made Hermione scream and duck. Harry jumped up right as Ron appeared at his left, getting a bag of clothes and food ready from under his bed before it could burn.

"What's going on?" he asked, but Hermione only grabbed him and moved him away from the window.

"We're being attacked," Ron shouted over the noise. "We have to leave!"

Hermione handed all of them their brooms and led the way to the hall. Ron jumped in front of her, though, and gave her the bag to hold instead of him. They all had wands up and ready as they entered the war zone.

Ron instantly blocked a burst of power heading right at them and they all dashed down the stairs. Harry got the next attack, repelling it back at the Death eater shooting from the kitchen. Molly was close-by fighting off two attackers that were soaring around the room.

"Get out of here!" She cried before an attack made her collapse to the ground.

Ron dove for her, but Harry held him back. "We have to go!" he screamed at him and shoved him for the back door.

There was a whiz of power by them and the Death Eater appeared so close to Harry so suddenly that he froze. The villain was just a second away from knocking him out cold from a flick of his wrist, but something collided with him from behind. It was Fred, tackling the man in only his pajama shorts and no shirt. There was a burn mark as a result on his bare chest, but he still held the man's arm flat on the ground, trying to wrestle the wand from him. Hermione quickly disarmed him and another power shot knocked the Death Eater out. Arthur pulled his son off the man to which George helped him stand up straight.

"Get the kids out of here," he ordered to the twins and shoved them for the back door.

The boys turned back as all of the remaining windows shattered with pulsing flames from outside. Mr. Weasley was caught in the middle of the flames as Death Eaters started emerging from the shadows. Instead of trying to get out with them, he blocked the boys off with a wall of flames of his own. "Run!" he shouted weakly. "Run… and don't stop!"

Hermione had to tug Ron for the door where the twins stood waiting, but Harry couldn't move. He was staring at the Death Eater on the floor. So many times they had appeared in front of him like that, silently and effortlessly. He didn't know why, but, for some reason, when it happened just now, he didn't see the older man about to kill him, but Draco.

It was Hermione who pulled him back into reality again. They jumped for the door and ran into the open without stopping. The sky was still black and the air numbing cold from being so early. The only way they could see was because of the light from the flames that were starting to rise up in the house behind them and the bolts of power shooting down at the house from below. Balls of fire and bursts of power came from every direction, across the yard, up from the sky, and just all around them that it was just one large blur. They were clearly trying to drive Harry out because the moment they stepped outside, the attackers were all in a line, waiting. As rushed as he was, the first thing he did was search the crowd for the short blonde.

The twins, taking the lead, quickly knocked away the attacks while Ron and Hermione tried to strike the Death Eaters themselves. Harry was gripping his broom in one hand and wand so tight in the other that his knuckles were white. He was even stumbling over his own feet.

What the bloody hell was he doing?

He forced himself to run straight and tugged Ron and Hermione to the side, so they ran in a new direction. Instead of running straight at their attackers, they crossed the house toward the hill where they could fly off safely. They called out to the twins, but they only glanced back and stopped. They shot after them, blasting away the attackers trying to get to the teens, but they didn't follow.

Hermione and Ron mounted their brooms, ready to leave without them if they had to, but Harry faced the other way. He took off back toward the house, rounding too close to the flames for comfort and dove down for the twins. He got both Death Eaters that were beating down on the twins in one stroke and curved back to his friends.

"Hermione, get their brooms!" he ordered and flew past them in a flash. He went soaring by all the attackers who continued to shoot at the house. As he tried to stop them, he realized their shots either missed him by a long shot, or they were aimed at just his friends.

They weren't trying to…attack him?

Harry almost fell off his broom. If they were going for his friends, then it was all of his nightmares come true. He curved around faster than before, the wind piercing his skin like shards of ice as he turned and gave each attacker their own strong whip to the head. Yet, one recoiled and got Harry at the end of his broom. The front dug hard into the dirt and made Harry go flipping and colliding hard into the unforgiving hillside. He landed flat on his back, the wind getting knocked right the bloody hell out of him. He choked on a cough for a second until Ron forced him up. The sight of blood on the ginger's face was enough to make Harry stumble to his feet. He grabbed his broom, although it was probably trashed-he couldn't see well in the dim firelight.

When the rest of the group caught up to them, he saw it was only Hermione and George. Harry couldn't question it. There were already a lot of bodies lying on the ground, dead or just knocked out, but he couldn't name them all. They were all about to leave before Ron stopped and said, "Ginny!" Yet, no one answered. The house was already fully ablaze and her, as well as his parents, were nowhere to be seen.

George blocked a few shots coming at them and shoved them all forward. "Go! Go!"

Just dodging the last of the Death eater's attacks, they all jumped back on their brooms and took off. They barely got anywhere before the attackers in the sky were hot on their tail. It was hard to shoot and fly, but they made it somewhat possible. Ron flew close to Hermione since she had injured her hand somehow and had to hold onto the bag and the broom with one hand. Harry took the other side of her while George covered the front and the back the best he could, swiveling around if he needed to.

The Death Eaters came from everywhere, shooting at everyone but Harry. He watched carefully at the angle of the attackers' arms and could tell who they were going to hit. It was odd, but he saw they were shooting mostly at George, who was trying hard to dodge, block, and protect the kids as much as he could.

They all took a sharp right, to try and throw them off only to be blinded by a blanket of clouds. The shooting stopped if just for a moment and only the sound of the wind rushing through their ears filled the silence. They all lowered their wands and tried to catch their breath as fast as they could. They looked around them in the small moments of clearing to see no attackers anywhere around. It was nowhere near peaceful in such silence. The situation was actually entirely frightening-to go from almost dying ever possible second, to utter calmness and quiet, like it was over just like that, or about to restart all over again.

George pulled in front and looked back at them all. "I know where they won't be able to find us! Stick together and head to the-"

In the next instant, a Death Eater appeared from the clouds and crashed into him head-on with a burst of power between them. Hermione screamed and the boys swerved out of the way as they tumbled and fell far down into the darkness. Hermione and Harry stared into the blackness as it swallowed them faster than a blink of an eye, but Ron showed no remorse for the moment. He stared right into the splitting clouds and was ready for the Death Eater that came barreling at him. He just barely pulled to the side and socked his fist into the guy's face, sending him falling to the blackness as well.

"U-Up!" Harry eventually called, and together they pulled up above the clouds.

The attackers followed where Harry and Ron sent hit after hit until the three men fell off their broomsticks. Yet, the moment they were gone, a dozen took their place and circled the kids. They knocked down the ones they could before they spotted lights below them. The town was slightly alive with normal life and would make a good cover for the meanwhile.

Seeing the determination on Ron's face earlier made something in Harry tighten just a bit. This was his fault. He needed to take responsibility. Leading the way, he charged right through two Death Eaters, barely averting the spell that flew by his temple. He heard two groans and was relieved to see his friends following him and not the men in black.

They dove down-far down into the city until they were flying down the street. Lights blinded them, horns and voices raged in their ears to the point where they couldn't think straight anymore. Harry turned into an alleyway and they began to soar through the back roads. There was shooting, screaming, and numerous incantations. Pieces of buildings were getting blown out, sparks were flying beside them, all until there were two fierce sparks that made Hermione's and Ron's shout ring in Harry's ears.

He looked back to see his friends falling right for cement ground. Ron smacked off the building wall before he landed in Hermione's spell-bound net. It took away the impact of the fall before they crashed. There were three Death Eaters before Harry, blocking his way but not attacking. They were playing with him, circling around him and laughing as his friends were lying still below him. He made eye contact with each one before he bolted down. They were right on him, of course, sending three bolts of power crossing him for a direct hit. Harry blocked one, but the other smacked the back of his shoulder, and the third hit the side of his broom, knocking him into one of the Death Eaters. Harry tried to regain his balance and somehow he had the black robe in his hand. So he used the momentum to throw the man into the other and knocked the third back into the city.

Harry lowered himself the best he could and found Hermione by Ron's side. She was slapping his closed eyes and shouting at him since the gash on his head was only bleeding more. She was hunched over because her other hand was….well, it didn't even look like a hand. Harry could only guess it was shocked by an attack or she landed on it wrong when she fell because it was a bloody mess with a sliver of white showing.

Somehow Harry called up some water and dumped it on Ron's face, snapping him awake and smearing the blood. He gasped awake to which Hermione frantically hugged him. Harry was relieved as well, but there wasn't any time to waste. He fixed the brooms with the best spell he could think of and practically threw it on them.

Yet, neither of them flew off. They stood there as Hermione held her wand in the air. It took her a second to remember, then she muttered something and they were suddenly in a field of grass. The city was still in the distance, gleaming and looking pretty eerie from their situation. Ron was still disoriented and coming back to reality and Hermione was clinging to her hand, trying not to cry anymore than she had.

"Where do they keep coming from?" Ron asked at the sound of the moving attackers somewhere close by.

In between breaths, Hermione answered frantically, "It's a spell. It's like they're teleporting."

"Doesn't matter," Harry panted as he searched around them. "We need to teleport and disappear now. Where can we go?"

"It has to be somewhere no one else knows about. Somewhere hidden-"

"We can't stand here and talk!" Harry snapped. "They could kill us in any second. We need to-"

Before he could finish, there was a blur of black whizzing between them and Hermione screaming. When it passed, they saw the Death eater soaring away, dangling Hermione by her injured hand.

"Hermione!" Ron didn't even hesitate. He jumped on his broom and took off after her, throwing bolt after bolt to get her free.

"Ron, no!" Harry screamed, but the red hair was already fading away in the darkness. Harry had started to mount his broom when he heard it-the familiar noise of a vanishing spell and feet sliding upon the ground after flying around in a blur for so long.

"Poor, Harry Potter." The icy voice made Harry actually freeze.

He didn't want to look at the man, but it was even more dangerous to keep his back to him. He faced the snake and saw Lucius looking even more cynical in the lack of light. His white hair gleamed in the city's lights and the way his dark eyes flickered brought up memories that struck painfully inside Harry.

"You're pathetic," Lucius scolded. "Look how many people you've killed. All because you are too afraid to fight-"

"I'm not afraid!" Harry forced the words out, but he could hardly stand from trembling so hard and the last blow to his head was making him see doubles of the Death Eater.

Lucius just clicked his tongue, disappointed. "Did you think it'd be easy? We even warned you and you still tremble like a coward. What did you think would happen? You got your parents killed all those years ago and now you're going to do the same to the ones around you-"

"No!" Harry said, but it didn't take long to realize he sounded as if he was about to cry. "I'd never….."

Lucius tilted his head to the side and stuck his bottom lip out, as if feeling sorry for him. "Poor, poor, Potter…. What do you say… I end it now? Get no one else killed? If you keep running… who knows who will get killed next…."

Harry could feel it coming, the sweet relief that would come after the power would hit him. And he knew he should block it, a quick spell to counter it, then jump on his broom and get away as fast as he could. It was wrong, he was going to die-

But then… the others would live. Unlike his parents, they wouldn't have to run and hide…. If he just…..

There was the millisecond realization of his choice. When the bolt of green power from Lucius's wand was inches before him, he realized that if he died, his friends would have to keep running. If he died, Voldemort would win and he'd take over. He'd kill everyone-

But it was too late. It was already in his eyes, burning at him like a permanent reminder of his pain. No matter how much it hurt, no matter how badly it burned, the last thing he saw before the spell…was Draco.

The next thing Harry knew, he was face down in the dirt, eyes burning and wand knocked out of his hand. His glasses were about to fall off and his chest was throbbing-not from taking a hit from a forbidden spell, but as if he had just been punched. Harry quickly turned, expecting to see Lucius. Instead, he saw the long end of a cloak.

The spell was slowly fading away as was the smoke before the head master to which Lucius just glared. "Get up, Harry," Dumbledore said firmly, eyes not moving from the Death Eater before him.

Harry immediately listened, feeling foolish for giving in to the words from the sinister man before him. He raised his wand, ready to fight, but Dumbledore immediately covered him. Harry was going to deny it until something hissed behind him. A Death Eater landed swiftly from mid-air, then another. Soon they were completely surrounded by the wizards in black. None of them armed, but all smiling and deadly. Harry got back to back with the old man before Dumbledore snatched his wrist. It took Harry a second to realize his wand was being ripped from him.

"I can fight!" Harry argued as he stole his wand back.

"This isn't your battle to part-take in," Dumbledore snapped. His voice actually sounded rugged-hoarse from the commotion and anxious with fear. He shoved Harry back away from the crowd of Death Eaters and murmured some spell Harry didn't recognize. He then faced Lucius who no longer looked angry, but rather amused. "Lucius, here, needs to remove his wand from where it doesn't belong."

The Death Eater actually laughed. "Oh, trust me, Albus. I will."

That's when Dumbledore took notice of the movement in the crowd, how the nearby Death Eaters were starting to split in half, moving out of the way for someone-someone he knew all too well. Instantly, he turned and sent a whip of power slapping away any nearby Death Eaters. In the next whip, he slapped Harry far back into the gap of land.

Harry didn't even get the chance to get his breath back. The second he landed, a fierce grip snatched the back of his shirt and ripped him up into the air. He was choked only for a second by his own shirt and was blinded for a minute to their sudden speed. As fast as it started, it ended when the grip released him and he landed on the thick piece of wood. His own broom, he realized as he kept himself from falling off, and it was charmed to keep flying no matter hard he tried to get it to stop.

Beside him was Ron, flying with one hand as Hermione clung to him, sitting unevenly on his lap. In his solemn eyes was a look of hurt and fear, silently apologizing, but Harry couldn't accept it. He frantically searched the crowd behind him before it could fade away. He saw the crowd entirely split and moving around the one man in white as one in black approached, one looking so vile and above everyone else that it had to be him.

There was hardly a pause before Harry saw the flash of green envelope Dumbledore. As if he wasn't certain enough, there was the slightest sound, a distant shriek that was so abrupt and agonizing that Harry, in turn, screamed back.

"No!" He then turned and started smacking spell after spell to his own broom, trying to gain control again, but it only sent him jerking around wildly in the air.

Ron was shouting at him for a while until Hermione finally snapped, "Harry! It isn't going to work!"

Only by meeting her red eyes did he realize it. But before he could take it in, something hit his arm and it spread like wildfire. Such a burning sensation going from his fore arm up to his chest and spreading to every inch of his body. It burned to the point where it felt like his skin was shriveling up and falling off, and it hurt so bad that he had to let go of his broom. Something hit his broom, purposely instead of him, to where he flipped forward and went falling straight for the blackness. Thanks to the spell, the broom stick came forcing its way under Harry's arm, barely keeping him up and still flying fast in the same direction.

Ron was screaming something and trying to grab him, but he couldn't with Hermione in the way. Harry was dangling backwards, watching the blackness swirl around him as he tried to stay up-but he was still burning, everything hurting so badly that his eyes were tearing up and he could no longer feel his fingers or toes.

That's when he saw it, the mix of black in the darkness ahead of him. It was moving fast and slithering like a snake among the stars-coming right at him. He knew without seeing that it was Him, finally coming for him. He could see his disgustingly long fingers holding the wand of his old headmaster and using it to capture him, or kill him, if not anything worse.

Just when it happened, just as the spell came barreling at him, already tingling his skin, there was a flash of white-

And everything stopped.

There was no more wind from the rushing broom, even the broom itself was gone. The burning was gone, leaving his body smoldering without a single burn mark. Also, it was so quiet. No more shouting, no more spells, just…silence.

Harry was lying down, he eventually realized, in a patch of grass. For a moment he thought he was dead, lying there and staring up at the stars as they ever so slowly rotated above him, and for a moment he missed Hogwarts. He missed the homework, the laughs in class with his friends, and the secrets that laid behind closed doors-God damn how he wanted to open those doors again right this minute, to run into his arms like nothing bad had ever happened-

But it did. He came back to reality when the red hair blocked his view of the stars. Hogwarts, his home, it was all gone. There was no more happiness, no more love. The rest of the Weasleys were gone as far as he knew, and Dumbledore-

"Harry? Can you hear me?" Ron was staring straight into his eyes, but Harry wasn't looking at him-not really. He was still trying to picture the memories that laid in the stars behind his head.

"Yeah…" He responded dully, with absolutely no other emotion other than exhaustion.

Ron tried to get him to sit up, but Harry gave no effort. He didn't want to try anymore. He just wanted it to be done and over with. Ron gave a sigh and looked around them. "Do you know where we are?"

Harry only turned his head to the side and saw a harsh cliff side. Fog surrounded the rest of the hills and none of it registered in his mind. Ron took his answer from Harry's silence and coughed. "I-I don't know what happened. We were flying… then someone transported us, I think. It's all so bloody confusing."

"It makes sense," Harry knew it was Hermione speaking, but her voice didn't sound right. She looked almost like him, no longer caring, but injured and weak. She was wiping away her old tear with her good hand. "Judging by where we are and that Harry's curse is gone, I think someone saved us."

"Had to be Dumbledore," Ron said quickly as he rubbed his side in pain. "I mean, he was there. He made us keep flying, so he must've-"

"He's dead." Harry said it so fast he didn't believe it was him at first. A warmth spread from his chest and gave him the energy to sit up. He couldn't identify it, but it was such a painful feeling, one that gave him a reason to move instead of lying there to die.

Ron and Hermione looked at him with wide eyes, finding the words just as surreal. So Harry repeated it, "He's dead. Voldemort killed him when you saved me. He's dead, so he didn't save us-No one did. They're all dead!" Harry knew he was shouting, panicking, and losing everything all at once, but he no longer cared. Dumbledore was dead. Everyone was dying now. Because of him, because they won't let him fight, they're trying to save him and killing themselves-

Ron was trying his best to hold back tears while Hermione's eyes fluttered and she went completely limp. Ron was instantly at her side as she passed out, but Harry only sat there. Tears lined his eyes, but they couldn't fall. They only reflected the stars that he stared at, wondering who had "saved" them, and when they were going to die as well.

…...

Draco had to look away then. After watching the bowl of water for so long, he couldn't watch any further when Harry started to cry. It was too painful. Since the beginning he had used a spell to watch Harry ever since the house was attacked. He wasn't even allowed to watch, but he couldn't-just couldn't let Him capture him. It just wasn't real in his mind, so he had interfered and transferred them where no one knew, not even themselves. Watching Dumbledore hurt to watch, but seeing Harry's pain struck a nerve that took his breath away.

He was turning away from it, to try and get his breath back before the others returned. Yet, as he turned, a hand flew across his face, sending him crashing into the wall. Draco drew his wand immediately, but the sight of his father made every muscle in his body go numb. Lucius whipped the wand away fiercely and practically spat in his face.

"Do you think I'm bloody stupid?" He asked and raised his hand again only to watch Draco flinch under him. "After discovering your…affiliations with that boy, did you think I'd really allow you to use your powers again?"

Draco said nothing as his father walked by and examined the bowl of water. "You best be thankful. I haven't told the Dark Lord. My own son, betraying everyone for that infidel-"

"You're wrong-" The second he opened his mouth he received another slap; this one being so hard that it knocked him to the ground.

"Pathetic." He snapped before peering into the water. He went silent for a minute, before his tense shoulders relaxed and he actually started to chuckle. "Maybe I will mention this to the Dark Lord." Draco felt his heart drop to his toes, knowing the only consequence that would result from such a thing and having that happen-having the torture of never seeing Harry again…

It was unbearable.

His father faced him with the bowl in his hand. He poured it out in front of his son, letting the last bit of the spell run before him like a water fall. It was only a glimpse of what he last saw. Harry was walking into the trees with Ron, toward the distant house they saw, while Hermione was passed out in his arms. Yet, instead of the sore, green eyes that held so much knowledge and innocence, Draco saw the muggle's replacement open her eyes to a dark black-eyes that held so much dark magic it was irradiating off her body invisible to the boys' sight.

Draco wanted to whisk away to the basement, to the cellars where the metal cage sat empty, and wanted to see it for himself. To see if the girl in the water was really there or not, but his hand was empty. His wand was hidden in his father's robe who purposely covered it as he walked away.

"If you want to act like an animal, I'll treat you like one."

Draco stood up, but made no motion to run out the door. He could only stand there as it shut before him, locking him in powerless and alone until the results of his action would bring on such bloody consequences…..

I can't apologize enough for taking so long. I finally figured out the plot. I don't expect a lot of feed back for making you guys wait so long. I'm sorry and plan on finishing this soon now that I got it done. XP hope its good. Till my next update.