Disclaimer * Harry Potter and all related characters and elements are the property of J.K. Rowling, Scholastic, and Warner Bros.

A/N * Warning:  this chapter includes violence on par as one might find in Harry Potter books.
 
 
 

arry hadn't meant to tell Ginny so much about what had happened at the Ministry, but once the letter was finally done it felt wrong to go back and take any of it out.  He sent Hedwig out and fell into bed exhausted by all the correspondence he had written that day.  A lot of it would have to wait to be posted:  it would take Hedwig days to deliver it all.  He wished that he had easier access to the Owl Post at Diagon Alley.  He'd much rather not be risking Hedwig like this.

    As Harry fell into a fitful sleep he began to dream.  He felt like he was flying with Hedwig.  He strained to keep up with her, but found that he couldn't.  He lost sight of her before they got halfway to London.

    Harry slowed over a town that he didn't know.  He felt compelled to fly there, to see something that he was certain was about to happen.  He dove out of the sky and found just the house he was looking for, a neat two story with dying rosebushes and a pristine mailbox with a blurred out name.  He landed on the mailbox and waited.  Something was happening.

    Out of the dark came figures in cloaks.  They strolled onto the lawn as if they owned the house themselves, which was ludicrous, because a Death Eater would never own a muggle house like this one.  They converged on the front door, noiselessly breaking it down with their wands.  Once again, he felt compelled to follow.

    The Death Eaters slunk inside, not bothering to turn on lights or close the door behind them.  His eyes were perfectly adjusted to the amount of light there was within.  He followed them through the living room into a kitchen.  Sitting by a cold dark fireplace, asleep in a chair, sat someone with whom Harry was very familliar.  Harry could feel her name as if it was being ripped from his throat:

    "Hermione," his voice said in a high pitched and menacing way.  Her eyes opened slowly:

    "Mum?"  The word had barely left her mouth when the harsh voice spoke again:

    "Pertrificus Totalus!" Hermione's body went rigid as a board and she slipped to the floor.  "Go for the muggles, I'll deal with the mudblood," the voice said to unseen companions.  He stepped closer to Hermione:  "Let's have some fun," Bellatrix Lestrange laughed.  "Crucio!!!" 
 
 

* * * * * *
 
 
 
    Harry awoke laughing maniacally and with tears streaming down his face.  His voice came to an abrupt hault, his throat hoarse.  Uncle Vernon started yelling:

    "Boy!  I don't care what you do in that room of yours as long as you keep your freakish behaviour out of this house and don't bother us at insane hours of the night!  Some of us have jobs, you know!"  Uncle Vernon was outside his door now and jiggling the handle.  Harry threw back the sheets and jumped out of bed.  He fought down his nausea and groped for his wand in the dark.  "Open this door, now!" Uncle Vernon commanded in what must have been the umpteenth time.  The bedroom door flew open as he approached it.  Uncle Vernon would have fallen had Harry not steadied him before walking on, into the hall and down the stairs.  "And keep your unnatural hands off of me!" Vernon boomed.  "Come back here, boy, I'm not done with you!"

    "I have to go to Mrs. Figg's," Harry stated, half to himself, half to his uncle.

    "Vernon, you'll wake the neighbors!" Petunia called down the stairs, her hair in curlers.

    "What do you mean barging over to normal people's homes at insane hours of the night!" Vernon raged on.

    "Have to save Hermione..." Harry threw open the door only to find a masked Death Eater standing on the porch.  Aunt Petunia screamed.  Harry wielded his wand and flicked his wrist:  "Pertrificus Totalus," he stated calmly.  The Death Eater fell.  Two more took his place.  Harry stunned them, but others kept coming.

"Mummy, what's happening?" asked Dudley.  "Make them stop, Dad!"  For their parts, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia simply stood there, dumbfounded.  A jinx hit Harry, sending him flying backwards and into the house.

    Harry sat up, mute, and watched as another strolled right in.  He moved his wand with the proper motion to repell this attacker, and it worked, but no sound came from his mouth.  Another Death Eater was approaching the door, his wand pointed at Harry's chest, and Harry felt his head explode.  Voldemort was here.  He couldn't even cry out in pain.  At least it wasn't as bad as last time, at least he was still in full control of his mind.

    Voldemort strolled into the house moments later, his red eyes glowing with fury.  "Thought you could shut me out forever, did you Potter?"  Harry couldn't reply, as the curse that he had been hit with was obviously keeping his lips sealed.  "There are ways of breaking you, Potter, that are beyond your comprehension," Voldemort hissed.  He stared at his victim shrewdly:  "Do you know the Prohpecy?" he asked.

    Harry pointedly lifted his eyes to meet Voldemort's at the question.  He could feel Voldemort starting to push back the threads of his memories, searching.  Harry closed his eyes and thought of Hermione lying on her kitchen floor.  He thought of Ron laughing about Uranus.  He thought of Ginny trying to walk on a broken ankle.  Of Remus teaching him, of Hagrid bursting the door of the Hut-on-the-Rock off its hinges, of Mrs. Weasley trying to lay his hair down flat, of the Twins flying away from Hogwarts, of his mother's voice, and of Sirius' barking laugh.  All these things flashed through Harry's head in a moment and caused Voldemort to recoil.

    The Dark Lord hissed.  He raised his wand and pointed it at Harry's chest, then raised it with a swoop, the words of some dreadful curse on his lips...

    ...and Voldemort was forcibly thrown backwards out of the house by an invisible shockwave of incredible power.  Harry unsteadily pulled himself to his feet and walked towards the door.  Voldemort was already on his feet, slowly turning towards him, his wand pointed directly at Harry's chest despite the fact that he couldn't touch him:  "You cannot save the mudblood and her family, Potter, but if you tell me the truth perhaps I will ease their speed of departure from this world."

    Harry's eyes narrowed.  He could not speak... or could he?  Harry waved his wand in a way that he vaguely remembered having only seen in a book long ago.  Suddenly his mouth was freed:

    "I know the prophecy, Tom," he bellowed, "does that ease your fears?"  Voldemort's eyes widened in surprise. Harry stood up straighter:  "I know what your purpose was in coming here, Tom, but you have failed.  I will not tell you the Prophecy and you cannot kill me while i call this my home, Dumbledore made sure of that.  Rest assured that your actions now have the opposite affect than the one that you intended.  I vow to hunt you down and defeat you or die trying!  If you touch those that I love ever again, your demise will..."  Voldemort burst into his manic laughter, not looking the slightest bit afraid:

    "So it is Dumbledore who has protected you, Potter?  Rest assured that there are ways around such enchantments.  Do you plan to hide behind your mudblood mother forever?"

    It was at that moment that beautiful music filled the air.  Aurors and members of the Order suddenly came out of the darkness and began attacking the Death Eaters.  Fawkes appeared in a flash of fire and swooped down upon Voldemort, still singing.  Dumbledore suddenly appeared out of thin air and began to duel Voldemort without a word.  Remus dove into the Dursleys' house at breakneck speed and closed the door behind himself.  He gazed down at Harry with a tired expression that was full of pain and sighed heavily:

    "Hello, Harry."