Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K Rowling.

Chapter 33: Ambushes and Antagonists

-Draco-

It felt insane to say so, but there had been almost three months of absolutely nothing happening and everything happening at the same time.

The attacks from the insurgent group which was now infamously, or depending who you asked, famously known as 'Dumbledore's Army' had been a constant pressure, weighing us down like a heavy backpack.

I hadn't been caught out yet. There were very few which hadn't. The sizes of the patrol groups had been increased from two to a staggering five people. It hadn't helped.

The rebels seemed to know where everyone was at any point. None of us ever saw a trace of them anywhere. We had taken to guarding the entrances to the common rooms but it didn't help. It was at the point I was starting to wonder if the rebels even slept in their own dormitories.

But then, there really wasn't anywhere else for them to sleep. We had searched the entire castle too many times to count in search for them, but to no avail.

What disturbed me the most were the lessons. I had expected smug glances and snide comments from Granger and Weasley. But there was nothing, no one ever said anything to indicate that they were behind the group. Probably because the second someone was caught, they faced a lot of punishment.

The bottles in Umbridge's office were working overtime. The rebels must have found some way to make them go off without anyone being there. Or they had figured out that there was a surveillance system in place and tricked it. Or both.

The whole ordeal had left me exhausted for the last couple of months. I was the only one in the squad who hadn't been caught out. I had always remained vigilant. Every time I was on patrol, I felt as if someone was always watching me. It felt like a spell was about to hit me in the back every time I looked around a corner.

Daphne had been found; and it hadn't been pretty. Whoever had what they did made Potter look merciful with his transfiguration of her face. Daphne's eyes had almost broken me when she came back from the infirmary. How much more would she have to endure?

The girl in question was sitting in an armchair, twirling a quill, deep in contemplation about the latest McGonagall essay.

Daphne sighed and I looked at her with a smile.

"How many pages have you written?"

The blonde put her quill down. "Only two," she said. "I need five more," she whined. The tone sounded foreign coming from her. "Why do you think that the teachers hand out so much homework?" she asked suddenly.

I raised my eyebrows. "I mean, our OWLs are in about a month…" I trailed off.

Daphne nodded but didn't look entirely convinced. "Perhaps, but I have another theory." She flicked her hair and I followed the movement unintentionally. "I think they try to make us have as little free time as possible so that we won't have the time to fight in the corridors."

That made a little too much sense.

I nodded, impressed. "That is probably why," I answered.

She smiled with satisfaction. It looked good on her. "Yes." She licked her lips, I couldn't help but stare at them. "We need to do something about it."

"About the homework?"

Daphne glared at me playfully. "No! The rebels obviously."

"What do you propose that we do?"

She looked at me through her lashes. I thought that I would fall through the floor then and there. "We need to catch them, any one of them."

"We've tried for months."

"Yes, but we haven't tried hard enough. We've been held back."

I arched an eyebrow. "Umbridge has done everything in her power to catch them, to no avail. The amount of detentions has increased tenfold."

"What if we tried to bait them?" Daphne said without meeting my eyes.

"With what?"

She smiled thinly. "Not with what. With who?" Daphne met my eyes with a hesitant look. "What if we used you as bait?"

I stared at her with an open mouth for what felt like minutes. I couldn't quite register what she had just said. "Why me?" I managed to whisper.

"Well," she said. "You are the only one they haven't caught yet." Daphne smiled sheepishly. "They probably want to 'add you to their collection'."

I gulped. "That will be dangerous."

She nodded. "I guess you've finally got an opportunity to finally prove that you aren't selfish." Daphne smiled at me brilliantly, even I could not contain a blush.

I let out a deep breath. "I'll do it then."

Daphne smiled brilliantly, showing all her gleaming white teeth. I cursed myself, Malfoys were not supposed to blush. Simple as that.

-()-

-Hermione-

The room was glowing with happiness. Literally and metaphorically.

All of us had finally managed to make patroni, even Corner, who had struggled for months, had managed in the end.

I let out a deep sigh of relief. It was nice that we still had the time to learn amazing things, even if the group had moved on to do far more things than simply teach each other.

Corner and Neville led what was basically an armed rebellion against the regime at Hogwarts. I had joined them a couple of times but they went further than I wanted. I had seen the faces of the people they attacked. They weren't pretty. I had to remind myself that they deserved it for siding with Umbridge.

They had made their choice. Now they had to face the consequences.

People gathered around and admired each other's patroni with wide eyes.

Ron walked up and stood beside me to observe the group which was almost forty strong now.

"Who could have imagined that we would achieve all of this when we had that meeting in the clearing?" he said with a smile.

"I wasn't even sure if anybody would show up."

Ron chuckled in reply. "Nor was I, nor was I, yet here we are."

I took the map out from my pocket and handed it to Ron who took it and went over to where Neville, Michael and Angelina were whispering. Those three had somehow become a trio which had taken down more members of the inquisitorial squad than most. They had even started a competition for most taken down. Neville was in the lead with a staggering twenty-seven currently. I had five myself. I didn't know how to feel about that. It felt so good to deliver justice, but at the same time. We were hunting and hurting.

Ron pointed at something on the map and all four of them stared at it with wide eyes. I went over with a frown, that couldn't be good.

Michal looked ready to pee himself in excitement. He couldn't sit still. He reminded me of a child on Christmas eve.

"Malfoy," Ron said and pointed to the map. And there he was, all by himself.

Only that he wasn't.

"There are people in the secret passage," I observed and pointed to the map. "They would notice if we went for him."

Michael smiled broadly. "We think it is an ambush."

Realisation dawned on me. "They are trying to lure us in."

Ron nodded. "Yes."

"We will have to take the people lying in wait first," Neville said. "It looks like it is Greengrass, Zabini, Nott and Parkinson."

"That's four of them," Angelina added. "That will be difficult to take down without being noticed."

"But not impossible," Michael said with a predatory look. "I took down a group of six last week."

Angelina arched an eyebrow. "Not by yourself."

He shrugged. "No, but four is easy if we are just synchronised enough."

"Let's do it," Ron said resolutely. "The five of us should manage. Hit the group first." He pointed at the name all by itself on the map. "Then we take Malfoy."

-()-

None of us said a single word when we entered the secret passage which held the group lying in wait. We were concealed by the darkness and some nifty concealment charms the room had provided for us. It concealed us if one didn't look too closely.

Three of the four people looked ready to fall asleep. Greengrass was as diligent as ever, she was pacing back and forward. I almost felt bad for attacking her. Turning her into a pig had become something of a joke in our group. Something I refused to laugh about. If they wanted to do it, fine. But I would not be behind something which was unnecessarily cruel.

Neville did the signal everyone fired a spell except me. The four people fell lifeless to the ground.

Part one done.

Corner stepped in Greengrass' hand, as he had a habit of doing, the hand was left unnaturally twisted. Then Greengrass' face became that of a pig. Zabini clothes were changed to be bright red with white and green details. The usual.

Now it was time for part two of the plan. The part which held meaning. A symbolic meaning that no one was safe. That the easiest solution was to just resist Umbridge and put your head down.

Malfoy was still all by himself in the trophy room. Pretending to guard a cabinet. He never had time to react before he fell to the ground by the red lighting bolt.

It felt so anticlimactic doing things like this. There was no resistance. There was no chance to fail. It was a scary thought about what we could do if we started to kill.

Corner levitated Malfoy's unconscious body into the air and conjured ropes around his ankles. He then tied them to the ceiling and suddenly, Malfoy was hanging upside down.

His robes were then transfigured to be a glowing pink. The official colour of Dumbeldore's army.

As a finishing touch, his hands were transfigured into paws. A ferret's paws. Neville and Michael did a high five, even Angelina was smiling broadly. Ron looked torn between laughter and glee.

"Only one last thing to add," I muttered.

I waved my wand and a message appeared on the ceiling where he hung.

No criminal is safe. Everyone gets delivered justice in the end.

-()-

-Harry-

I summoned my opponent's wand into my hand and then it was done. I had reached the quarter-finals. The thought itself felt surreal. I had never imagined that I would get this far.

Alice approached me and embraced me tightly. "Well fought," she said. Then we broke apart and she glared at me. "You used that spell again," she said sourly. Alice batted her eyelashes at me. "Sure you don't want to tell me what it is?"

I smiled smugly. "If I advance to the next round, I will."

She smiled triumphantly. "Yes! Then I will be unstoppable."

The past couple of months had been strange. Ever since the duel against Favire, things had just been working. I tried new things every duel and everything worked. I knew for a fact that the odds on me had improved. People who had believed in me, despite my poor beginning, had potential to earn huge amounts of money.

It felt a little odd to know that I wasn't just fighting for myself but for old aristocrats with deep pockets too.

-()-

I wouldn't say that I was nervous when I woke up. No, it was more akin to an excited trepidation. The tournament was at the point where it didn't really matter who I would face against. Everyone was incredible.

Eight of us and I could honestly see every single one win it, including myself. I wondered what the odds were that I would manage to befriend one of the last eight. Alice had come to the quarter-finals too. I wasn't sure if I wanted to face her or not. She was good, but we had practised against each other. We knew each other, to an extent. I hadn't shown anyone, except one purple lady, everything I could do.

My previous duels had taken effort to overcome my opponents but I'd never been pushed to the limit. Some would say that would be a good thing. I disagreed strongly.

Winning three to nill or three to one never gave quite the same satisfaction as fighting with everything I had. I longed for a duel where I would have to do everything I could possibly think of and still not manage to overcome my opponent.

In a way, I hoped to lose.

I had learned how to win by now. It was time to learn how to lose.

Anyway, the reason which set this morning apart was that it would be the final draw for opponents. From this point onwards, your opponent would be predetermined, based on who won in each match, of course.

I exchanged a smile with Alice where she stood with her fellow Americans. Her headmistress, Chaviet was looking at everyone around her like they would stab her pupil in the back.

Which, based on the look some of the remaining opponents were giving them, wasn't entirely improbable.

Alice was well on track to land her dream apprenticeship, she was bound to garner some jealousy. The boy from Görans who had applied for the same position was still left as well though. It was all to fight for. I wondered what the duel would be like if the two of them faced each other.

The procession took what felt like hours, someone had decided that a musical show was fitting on an occasion like this.

Then it was over and the drawing began.

I held my breath as the man in the suit picked the first name.

It wasn't mine. The opponent's name wasn't mine either.

I let out a relaxing breath. Six people left, both me and Alice among them.

Another slip of paper was picked out of the bowl and the man unfolded it slowly.

"Alice Marston," he read aloud clearly.

I could see Alice tensing up on the stage. She made no movement to look at me.

It felt my palms grow sweaty as the suited man unfolded the slip with her opponent's name.

"Harry Potter," he said clearly.

Murmurs broke out. But I didn't focus on any of it, my gaze was fixed on the girl with the black hair a couple of rows ahead of me. Alice didn't make a single movement.

I let out a long breath and met Flitwick's eyes. Flitwick seemed outright ecstatic at the news.

I wasn't even sure why I was surprised. It was most likely rigged, I wouldn't have been surprised if it was.

Mine and Alice's friendship wasn't any secret after all. My eyebrows wouldn't rise the slightest millimetre if it turned out that they had rigged the selection to get a bit of drama and thus entertainment in.

I smiled, despite myself. It felt like we were in a movie. This was the logical conclusion, I was surprised it wasn't in the final. That would have made for a grand finale; former friends turned bitter enemies. An emotional fight to the last breath.

The thought made me feel even more uncomfortable. Getting to know Alice had been the best thing about going to Nanshu. It wasn't any debate.

Yes, my duelling skills had improved tenfold and I felt significantly more experienced now. I knew how to go about a fight, not just the knowledge, but the feeling.

The thing was, I would sacrifice my chance at winning without a blink if it meant keeping our friendship alive.

The rest of the matches were announced but I paid them no mind, the one of me and Alice who won would face someone from 'Görans'. We had both been immensely lucky to not face anyone from that school yet. Out of the eight remaining, four were from Görans.

The crowd inside the hall started to clear but I remained behind in an attempt to catch Alice. It wasn't meant to be, she disappeared together with her headmistress and there was no way for me to spot them in the ocean of bodies.

I just hoped our friendship wouldn't sink to the bottom of the ocean too.

-()-

-Draco-

It was bright. Very bright.

Too bright.

This wasn't the Slytherin dungeons, I realised dimly when I opened my eyes.

It took a couple of seconds for my eyes to get used to the light but then I realised where I was with stifled horror.

The hospital wing.

The ambush! I remembered with fright. I had waited for them and then… nothing. They had found me, somehow. I prayed that Daphne and the others had accomplished their mission. I glanced around and realised that they hadn't.

Daphne was in the bed next to me and Blaise in the one after that. Theo and Pansy were on the other side of me. I sighed deeply and grimaced from the pain in my arms.

I knew that the rebels had a proclivity to transfigure body parts but I could see no trace of such on myself. That didn't mean that I hadn't had some, though. Perhaps it was better if I didn't know what it was.

It was with dark thought about how the rebels had outplayed our plan that I drifted off into sleep again.

-()-

-Harry-

In the end, it wasn't I who found her.

No, it was she who found me.

It had been three days since the announcement of the coming duels and I hadn't seen a trace of her anywhere.

A faint knock was heard on the door to Hogwarts' house. Or well, it was really my house now since Montague, Ida and Dolohov had all left to return to the school. Since Flitwick didn't stay here permanently either…

I scrambled to put away my master's horcrux in the silver bag and stood up with a deep breath,

The door was opened with such ferocity that an angry tiger would be impressed.

There she was, Alice Marston.

I looked her over as if she was a stranger I was seeing for the first time for a couple of moments.

Then I remembered, she was a friend.

And an enemy.

The girl under my gaze raised a brow questioningly. "Are you going to let me in or…?"

I stepped aside to let her in without a word. She plunged down in one of the armchairs and tried to make herself comfortable. I did the same on the couch but my fingers wouldn't sit still. No matter how much I tried, they still fidgeted with the hem of my shirt.

"No," Alice said calmly.

I looked up. "What?" I said hoarsely.

Her gaze met mine. "We can't behave like strangers just because of…this," she said and gestured between us.

"We can't," I agreed.

She glared at me. "You're making it very possible right now," Alice remarked.

I rolled my eyes. "There are two people in a friendship, you know."

"I'm not the one who is sitting all sullen and silent," she shouted indignantly.

I arched an eyebrow. "And I am not the one shouting."

Alice opened her mouth to say something but stopped herself. "Why are we doing this?"

I frowned. "Why are we doing what?"

"This!" she nearly shouted and gestured to me and herself. "We've never fought for real before! Why now?"

I cleared my throat nervously. "Look, Alice…" I smiled thinly. "About the…the duel. I'll let you have the win, it's no big deal."

Alice looked at me as if I had told her that Britain was superior to America. "Why the hell would you do that!?"

"I know that you want the apprenticeship Alice," I said with a warm smile. "I only want to win this tournament for the experience and to be frank, I have enough experience already."

Alice glared at me. "Wouldn't you think that it would be fun to win? To test yourself against the very best?"

I shrugged. "It would be, but I won't put a little fun over your future."

The American girl looked at me blankly. "This is one of those things I should be thankful for…." Alice gave me a deadpan look. "But I am not."

"You are given a free spot in the semi-final," I responded with a small smile. "A little thankfulness would be welcome."

She shook her head. "I don't want a free spot," Alice responded stubbornly. She held a hand up to silence my reply. "Look, Harry… I want you to put yourself first just one time, okay?"

"What if I said that I am?"

She gave me a fond smile. "That's very sweet, Harry. But you would be lying then," she said gently. "Allow yourself to have this moment of hard work and victory."

I raised my eyebrows. "You talk as if I will defeat you," I pointed out.

Alice glared at me. "Oh no, make no mistake, I will do my very best to make sure that I reach the semis." She smiled evilly. "I want to advance because I deserve it, not because you are my friend."

"Okay then, I will try," I said soberly. "I will break mountains and create planets to make sure that you don't reach the next round."

Alice smiled. "Thank you. I think?" Then she adopted a serious look. "Promise me to not let me win."

I met her eyes with an even look. "I promise."

The girl let out a long sigh of content. "Thank you Harry." She smiled at me brightly. "Just put yourself first here, okay? Not the world, not your friends, not me. Try to win this tournament for yourself, because it will be something you can be proud of. A story you tell to your children and grandchildren."

I smiled in return. "I'll be a selfish bastard."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Perfect. Then I will make sure to be one as well."

-()-

-Draco-

The next time I woke up, I was greeted by the familiar, pleasant scent of Daphne's perfume.

I took time to open my eyes and just breathed in and out slowly, savouring the experience.

Then I opened my eyes suddenly but found myself having to shield them from the lights. The girl sat beside me with dark bags under her eyes and her hair in a mess.

"You're awake," she said and peered over me.

"I am," I responded neutrally. "What happened?"

She frowned. "I don't know. They found us…" Daphne trailed off.

"I…How?"

The blonde Slytherin shrugged. "I don't know, someone must have talked."

"Do you really believe that Blaise, Theo or Pansy would talk?"

"That's the thing, I don't, but it is the only explanation. We hadn't even told Umbridge of the plan."

I tried to sit up a little straighter in the bed. "Could they have just stumbled across us?"

Daphne rolled her eyes. "You're saying that we failed due to pure luck? It is possible, but very unlikely."

"True, we should probably assume the worst case scenario."

"Yes," Daphne responded. "The thing is, they found you quicker than I would have expected, it took about fifteen minutes, and we didn't see anyone in that time."

It was true. "They could have been invisible," I observed.

"Yes, but that is also unlikely." Daphne's brows furrowed in thought. "That would require that someone from their group who just happened to be invisible just happened to walk in the same room you were in."

"It is too many coincidences," I conceded. Then a thought struck me. "Could they have a system like Umbridge's bottles?" I thought out loud. "A way for them to monitor student movement."

The girl folded her arms and stood up and began pacing. "They must have. It would explain how they always managed to attack us without any of us noticing."

"And how they escape us," I continued. "They just have to stay away from where we are."

Daphne smiled broadly. "Yes! That must be it." She smiled and looked about to burst with joy. I couldn't help but smile at her behaviour. "We don't know how precise it is, but they have some way to know where we are." She met my eyes with a devilish glint in them. "Now that we know this, we have to plan accordingly."

I grimaced. "Another plan of yours?"

She nodded. "Yes. This time we have the upper hand."

I shared her smile. "They've shown their hand, now we know how to counter it."

"Indeed, this time Granger and Weasley will get caught," Daphne said slowly.

"And Potter will suffer for it," I finished with a forced smile.

Daphne's eyes looked like a hurricane. A force of nature. Unstoppable to humans. The wind was gathering, it would soon be able to tear down everything in its vicinity.

"And Potter will suffer," Daphne repeated with a small smile.

It looked so good on her.

A/N: I mean, it was obvious Harry was going to face Alice eventually, right? That'll be next chapter, one I am looking forward to sharing with you all next week.

I'd love to hear your thought on this chapter!

Cheers!