Summary: I'm sinking lower than low in this chapter, making all the boys strip down to their knickers. Keep a
straight face, and have fun.

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers
including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No
money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Author's Note & Dedications:
Warning: I meant to give you a rest, and end this chapter with no cliffhangers, but it just came out too long. This one
is probably as bad as the one in the previous chapter.

Krum Do I Love?

by yael
 
 

Chapter 8
Birds of a Feather
 

"- Kedavra," Voldemort finished. A brilliant green flare left the tip of his wand. It travelled with lightning speed
towards Harry. Before anyone in the room could make out its exact form, it hit Harry's chest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How much further do we have to go?"

"I don't know exactly, but we can't be very far." Remus pushed aside a thorny plant just to walk into the spikes of
another. "Do you need to rest, Lee?"

"I don't want to cause a delay," answered Lee, his words barely heard over his wheezing.

Remus stopped and looked at him. "You're not going to be much good in the final confrontation in this condition." He
scanned their surroundings for a piece of ground bare of spiky rocks and thorns. As he couldn't find any, he chose a
small area clear of the flesh-tearing vegetation, and began kicking away the larger rocks. "We have been walking for
five hours straight and you're not used to that." Seeing the miserable expression on Lee's face, Remus tried to think of
something nice to say. "I could certainly use some rest as well. Let's just sit for a few minutes." Lee's grateful face told
him that he had said the right thing.

To his surprise, Remus did not have to drag Lee back to the road. After only a very short rest, Lee stood on his own
initiative, looking refreshed and ready to leave. Remus was very pleased with him. He reminisced over his previous
missions. If this had been Sirius, I'd have had to threaten him with terrible curses before he'd have gotten up.

As it happened, the place they chose for their respite had probably been their last opportunity for it. A mile further into
the hostile terrain, Rita Skeeter's house came into view. The winter's mid-day sunrays shone over the house, making
the melted snow on its roof sparkle like diamond powder.

Remus chose a large rock and signalled Lee to crouch behind it. He positioned himself behind a sibling boulder. Every
time Lee had tried to take a peek in the direction of the house, he had received angry glares from Remus. On one
occasion he had even received a small flying pebble, which caught him on the nose and made him see black spots for
several minutes. The pebble finally made him take the hint and just lie back and wait for Remus to assess the situation.

Lee watched Remus' every motion with great care, hoping that his slightest grimace would tell him what he was seeing.
He was absolutely right to assume that. Only minutes later, Remus' pale and stunned face had given him a good hint as
to what he saw. He opened his mouth to ask for details, but Remus raised a shaky finger to his mouth as a sign to be
quiet. He began making his way away from the cabin, beckoning Lee to follow him.

The two only stopped when they were safely away from the house. By then, all the patience Lee had practiced since
early morning was beginning to disintegrate.

"Why are we getting away from Skeeter's house?" Lee demanded the minute he felt he was allowed to talk again. "I thought that was our target."

"That was our target," answered Remus, "But we need to rethink our strategy." He looked at Lee's expectant eyes.
The boy was very young. Too young to get into such a battle, too young to die. "There are Death Eaters in the house."

"So what?" said Lee with a touch of over-confidence. "We have the element of surprise on our side. We could take
even three or four of them." He recognised Remus' downcast expression. "Each," he added with more hesitation.

"Even if we can take four of them - each - that won't be sufficient."

Lee was beginning to appreciate the size of problem. "How many are there anyway?" he asked.

"I can only estimate," said Remus grimly. "I'd say around fifty. I don't know if there's a single dark wizard in this
country who's not there. They're having a bloody convention!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry felt the curse hit his chest with a burning singe. He felt its echo inside his chest like a Ping-Pong ball trying to
escape. He saw the golden thread connecting his chest and Voldemort's wand, and saw the golden cage forming
around them, carrying the two high into the air. Harry now knew how it felt to be hit by the golden beam of the Priori
Incantatem ancient magic, how it was to have the other side in control of the cage, to see your own spells reoccur,
and it was not a pleasant experience.

Out of his very chest, being born inside the folds of his robes, came the shape of a broomstick - a Firebolt carrying
two young men. It was flying very fast, and yet, it stayed hovering above Harry's head at exactly the same spot.
Subsequently, came the unconscious form of someone who was unmistakably Hermione. Something new was
beginning to blossom from Harry's chest right after her, but at that second, Voldemort chose to break the link.

They both fell to the ground. Harry fell ungracefully on his back, still surrounded by the two shadows of his spells.
Voldemort landed on his legs, roaring with rage. "How dare you escape my curse again!" he screeched. "crucio!"
His wand pointed mercilessly towards Harry's helpless form. He held it towards him for very long, letting Harry's
anguished screams help regain his own twisted mental balance.

Finally, the Dark Lord was able to relax his facial muscles and remove the cruel grimace that was plastered on his
face for long minutes. Some time later, when Harry's screams could no longer be heard, and his body had stopped
twitching, he lowered his hand as well.

Harry remained lying on the flagstones, almost motionless. His ribs kept rising and falling in a non-rhythmical and all
around pathetic manner. Voldemort gave one of the Death Eaters around a quick squint. "Take him to the secured
dungeon cell," he commanded.

Snape felt the Dark Lord's glance burning on his skin. "Yes Master," he said. He bowed deeply to him, and then
heaved Harry's limp body, loaded it over his shoulder and took it with him through the hearth's burning green flames.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taking Harry out had done wonders to Voldemort's confidence. Before Harry was removed, his presence was well
felt in the room. Now, it absolutely consumed every dark corner. He also seemed to have grown an inch taller. He
had started ordering his minions around.

In a matter of minutes, there were a dozen Death Eaters aligned in front of the hearth, Ron and Draco among them,
waiting to use the tagged floo powder to get to Ron's initiation ceremony. Ron himself was trembling with fear, trying
his best to come up with some plan that didn't end up with him dead or carrying the Dark Mark. So far, all his plans
could be categorised as either of the two unappealing options.

Lucius Malfoy was at the head of the line. He stood, getting last-minute orders from his Master. "I will see you there,"
concluded Voldemort with a hiss.

"Master, please have the honour to be the first to step into the fireplace."

"No Lucius, I will apparate there." He started walking towards the door of the hut.

"I'm sorry, My Lord, I think the ceremonial chamber is blocked to apparation."

"Are you questioning my abilities, Lucius?"

Ron could feel Draco wincing by his side.

"No Master -" Lucius Malfoy got down on his knees. "I am truly sorry My Lord -" He grabbed the rim of
Voldemort's robes and kissed it. "I didn't realise -"

"Of course you didn't," said Voldemort in a voice as calm as the centre of a hurricane. He raised his wand, and
with a swift motion lowered it onto Lucius' jaw. Lucius' lip split, and blood trickled all over his robes, soaking his
collar. The side of his face swelled and shone vivid red. It looked like there was a good chance his jaw was broken.

Lucius, however, ignored the blood and the obvious pain. He got up and took back his place at the front of the line,
the remainder of his chin set to the front. He led the others one by one through the flames, concluding with Ron and
Draco.

They emerged in a large yet unremarkable room. It had plain plastered walls and was completely unfurnished except
for the plain wooden fireplace through which they came. Ron was somewhat disappointed by the lameness of the
place. "Is this it?" he asked Draco in a low whisper. The dispassion was noticeable in his voice.

"This is just the transition room," Draco whispered back. "Wait."

Ron waited. The flames behind his back made a menacing hissing sound, swelled, and then spat out Lucius Malfoy,
who had seemingly used the few seconds alone on the other side to heal his bruised face. He found a place beside
Ron and Draco, and waited with them.

A short and somewhat plump Death Eater entered the room through one of its many doors. Without looking at the
other assembled wizards, he reached a bare wall and stood in front of it. Ron recognised the Death Eater immediately.
Although he was wearing a mask, and his head was covered with the hood of his unrevealing black robes, Ron had
no doubt in his heart as to the man's identity. He had spent too many years with him to forget. Even if he had assumed
the form of a rat during those years. It was Scabbers - Wormtail - Peter Pettigrew.

Ron's ex-rat raised a silvery hand and placed it on the wall in front of him. The mumbled words of a chant reached
Ron and Draco's ears. Thin, deep purple circles started forming around the silver fingers, surrounding the hand with a
purple glow. As the chant proceeded, more and more circles formed around the hand, growing wider to include a
large portion of the wall. When Pettigrew had stopped chanting and removed his hand, there was a large magenta
puddle decorating the wall.

Peter Pettigrew stepped into the puddle and disappeared from their sight. As they did with the hearth earlier, the other
Death Eaters formed a single file line, each waiting his turn to pass through the glowing puddle. Ron and Draco tried to
join the line, but were stopped.

A Death Eater unknown to them held both their arms. "You cannot go in, not just yet," he told them. Both boys paled,
afraid that their intentions had been discovered. The dark wizard seemed oblivious to their reaction. He led them to
side room and ushered them inside. "Get dressed," he ordered. "I'll wait for you outside."

The room was just large enough to contain two wooden chairs, one very big wardrobe and the two boys, standing
uncomfortably close to one another.

Draco opened the wardrobe's heavy wooden door, not too carefully.

"Hey! Watch it," cried Ron. "You almost knocked me out with that thing."

"Oh," said Draco, unimpressed.

Ron gave him a glare, but that, too, went unnoticed. He was about to continue reproaching Draco, when he noticed
his open mouth and wide eyes. He followed his gaze into the wardrobe, and his own jaw dropped as well.

The wardrobe was almost empty. Almost. Two full body suits were hanging in there, including black trousers, black
robes with silver serpent-shaped buttons for closing the front flap, black socks and black shoes. Each outfit came
complete with a white Death Eater's mask. These were very clearly left there for them. There was also no mistake
which robes were intended for which of the boys. Ron and Draco exchanged amazed looks, and with some effort
due to the dimensions of the room, changed places.

Draco started to loosen the many strips that held his multi-layered silk robes. Ron watched him, first with dread, and
then with submission. That's not so bad, he tried to tell himself. I've changed in the boy's dormitories many times
before. He shrugged, and pulled his ragged hand-me-down robes over his head.

"Nice pants," commented Draco, as Ron reached for the wardrobe.

Ron blushed. He was wearing his dancing fruit boxer shorts, enchanted to change the fruits with the change of the
season. Right now, they featured apples, strawberries, and little white mice. Ron suspected that the mice were the
works of his older twin brothers.

Ron hurried to put on the new robes, noting that Draco's pants were made of black silk - a perfect match to his
former robes. For the first time in his life, Ron felt completely comfortable in his clothes. They were exactly the right
size, as if they were tailored especially for him. The fabric felt smooth and caressed his skin like a gentle lover.

Draco was already trying to pull up the trousers, a job that was made difficult by his frequent pauses to scratch his
shins. "This material is rough and itchy," he complained. "I hate it." His whining stopped abruptly as one of Ron's
elbows mistakenly hit his bare back. He grabbed Ron's arm, knowing that the fault was on the crowded place, and
still feeling vexed.

Ron had stopped trying to fix the buttons of the robes, and turned to Draco, following the pull on his arm. "I'm
sorry," he mumbled. Something about Draco's uncovered chest made him choke. Draco was quick to drop Ron's
arm. He didn't even bother to use the opportunity to make snide remarks at Ron's expense. He returned to putting
on clothes, no longer complaining about the fabric.

When the two were fully dressed and shod, they opened the door back to the transition room. As he promised, the
Death Eater was waiting for them outside. "Put on the masks," he ordered.

Draco placed the mask on his face with an experienced hand. Ron followed suit. They walked with the wizard up to
the purple glow, at which point he placed torches in their hands, and beckoned them to walk through before he did.

An incredible sight unravelled in front of them as they went through. They had entered a round arena, enclosed by
tall black walls. The walls were so black that it was hard to tell exactly where the room stopped and the walls began.
In the middle of the room was a large green marble altar. It was decorated all around with snakes and other creatures,
all made of pure silver. There was a girl lying on the altar, very tightly strapped to it. Her arms were stretched above
her head so violently that she had trouble breathing without dislocating a shoulder. Ron gasped as he recognised the
girl as Hermione.

Ron looked up. The walls seemed to go on forever. The ceiling was not visible, but it had to be there, since the room
was very hot. The Death Eater who accompanied Ron and Draco entered the room. From this side, the purple portal
looked like an ordinary door. However, after the last wizard stepped inside, the opening seemed to have vanished.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The door to their cell opened with no previous warning. A masked wizard stepped inside - a Death Eater. He was
carrying a tray of food in one hand, and held his wand ready in the other. Sirius rose to his feet, preparing to jump the
wizard. Not taking any risks, the Death Eater mumbled a curse. A jet of grey light came shooting out of the tip of his
wand, hitting Sirius' legs. Sirius fell on the flagstones, unable to sense anything but the pang blowing where the curse
had hit. A second later, the dark wizard fell, too, sending the food tray clattering to the floor.

Severus Snape stepped into the cell, his tiny eyes running to all directions inside their sockets like scared little black
mice. He picked up the Death Eater's fallen wand and tossed it to Mundungus. "Unbelievable, how you managed to
overtake him all by yourself" he exclaimed. "You should get out of here now," he added in a low whisper. "The
house is almost empty. There are nine guards left, including me and him." He prodded the stunned Death Eater with
the toe of his boot. "Your wands are in a desk drawer in the room right above you."

"Where are Harry and Hermione?" asked Arabella.

"They're not here any more," Snape answered curtly. "I'll draw you a map."

The pain in Sirius' legs began to subside. He was able to see again beyond the cloud of blinding agony. The sight
that penetrated his brain via his eyes surprised him. He looked at Snape. "You did this?" he grumbled.

Snape nodded.

"You could have done it before he hexed me," groaned Sirius through gritted teeth.

"Yes, I could have," agreed Snape. He went out of the room, leaving the three to make their plans for escape.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Including Ron and Draco, there were about fifteen Death Eaters in the room. They all stood in a circle around the
green and silver altar. Hermione made no move except for her laboured breathing, and Ron seriously doubted she
was conscious.

Voldemort stood by the altar, scanning the circle around him. His sudden silent appearance made the dark wizards
gasp. Some of them looked like they wanted to run away, but didn't dare. With the dark lord, by his feet, appeared
a large, intimidating snake.

"We are here for a very festive occasion," began the Dark Lord. His hiss, albeit very low, was well heard by
everyone in the room. "Today, a young wizard from one of the ancient wizarding families is about to join our ranks."
Ron's stomach lurched when he realized he was the wizard in question. "Come to me, boy." Voldemort raised his
hand, signalling Ron to approach him. When he was in arm's reach, Voldemort closed his fingers around his wrist
with the clamp of a steel-vice.

"I know you all have doubts littering your loyalty," continued the Dark Lord as he held Ron close to him. "You all
saw the Potter boy today refuse to die once more." He viewed the gathered wizards one by one, making them all
cast their eyes to the floor in fear and shame. "But you also witnessed him get a taste of my rage." The hissing
became a roar like an approaching hurricane. His eyes shone with yellow ardour. "He is not resistant to all curses.
Soon, we will break the spell that temporarily protects him against this one specific curse." His slit-eyes regained
their red dullness. "But now, more pleasing events are at hand."

Ron felt himself being pushed towards the altar. Hermione looked up at him. Apparently, she was not unconscious,
just very still. "You were sly enough to provide us with this Mudblood," Voldemort complimented him. Hermione's
eyes were two brown pools of caramel - sweet and slightly scorched. There was no pleading in them, just deep,
primal fear. "You will now have the honour of casting your very first Avada Kedavra curse on her. Then, you could
become one of us."

Ron looked at him, shaken. So it had come to this. Either he would kill Hermione, or he'd refuse and get killed
himself. It was a difficult decision, but one he was prepared to make.

Voldemort misinterpreted his hesitation. "Don't be afraid, my boy," he said, grabbing Ron's wand hand and helping
him aim it at Hermione. "Nobody expects you to make it on your first attempt. Just give it your best try. You can
make as many attempts as you like, she's not going anywhere." He released a dry chuckle.

Ron relaxed a bit. If he wasn't expected to be able to master the curse on his first attempt, then there was no reason
he shouldn't fail on his following attempts as well. All he had to do was pretend to be tired after failing enough times,
and ask to try again tomorrow. Then, they'd have the night to figure out what to do.

Ron aimed his wand at Hermione. His hand, that was very steady up to this moment, started shaking. Not big, wavy
quakes that would raise Voldemort's wrath. Just tiny shivers that made the wand tip create minute circles over
Hermione's navel. "There are other things I'd rather do with her," he muttered.

"Unbelievable, this Mudblood!" squealed Lucius from his place in the Death Eaters circle. "She's got my Draco
infatuated with her as well."

The stare Draco had fixed upon his father for letting out his secret could easily compete with the dangerous glare he
himself received from Ron.

Voldemort's face split up in a condescending smile. "So both youths want to play with her a little." He stalked over
to Hermione and gave her an appraising look. Hermione shut her eyes against the hideous view. "Yes, I can see why
our future generation finds her attractive." He placed a long, pricking finger on her forehead, and moved it slowly
towards her chin. Hermione felt as if he was slicing her face in half with an icicle. When he reached her chin, he
jabbed his finger under it, making her tilt her head backward as much as the neck strip allowed, which was, actually,
very little.

"Very well," he said. He turned to Ron, forcefully grabbed his left arm, and without further warning placed his wand
on Ron's forearm, hissing the words of an ancient spell. "morsmorde corpus sculper".

Ron had a sensation he had never felt before. A wave, which was comfortably warm and stimulatingly cold at the
same time, was formed where the wand had touched him, and was rapidly spreading all over his body. He shivered
slightly. He closed his eyes and allowed the pleasant wave to pass before remembering where he was and whom
with. He shivered again, for a different reason.

Ron had seen the Dark Mark on Draco, Harry, Snape and a few others during their stay among the Death Eaters.
The mark felt almost familiar now, and still, seeing it branded on his own arm had a strange effect on Ron. More
than anything right now, he feared his mother's reaction to the new development.

Voldemort had lost interest in Ron. He mumbled a spell over Hermione. In response, the metal straps that held her
pinned to the altar all popped open. They were instantly replaced by thin ropes, which tied her wrists and ankles
together. He signalled one of the larger masked wizards to approach. "Put her in the cell with Potter," he commanded.
"He won't come around for a long time."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Four down, five to go."

"You're counting Snape?"

"We need to get through him as well."

"But surely he won't put up a fight."

"Don't bet on it," muttered Sirius bitterly. "And anyway, we have to stun him too, or they'll suspect him."

"You're right."

"And we need to beat him up. You know, to make it look real."

"We didn't need to beat up this one." Arabella pointed at the last fallen guard, who was left behind them as they
moved along the corridor.

"Well, we don't mind if they'll suspect him, do we?" moaned Sirius. "But we do care what happens to Snape. Believe
me, it's for his own good."

"I think this is it," whispered Mundungus. He stopped in front of a door painted fluorescent yellow.

"Well, open it. You're the one with the wand."

"alohomora"

"Padfoot, Don't just walk into a room, check it first."

Sirius ignored her warning. The room looked deserted enough, and there was no sign of wards. He circled the only
desk in the room, and reached for the drawer. "Wow!"

"What?" Arabella and Mundungus could not conquer their curiosity before Sirius' stunned expression, and jumped
to his side. "Wow!" they called concurrently.

There were wands in the drawer. Nothing unusual or impressive about that. It was their number that caused the trio
to stand there with their mouths hanging open. The drawer was magically enlarged to contain more than its physical
volume. It was very deep and the wands stood in it, held in thin rectangular boxes. Thousands upon thousands of
wands, all peeping from the top of their boxes.

Arabella put her hand inside and began moving it an inch above the tips of the wands, waiting for the familiar tickling
sensation of her wand. It took several minutes, but eventually she found it tucked in the depth of the drawer.
Mundungus was next. It took him approximately the same time to find his wand, which was the one closest to them.
When they both held their wands, Arabella and Mundungus cleared the way for Sirius. Sirius took a step back, held
his arm stretched forward, and said, "accio wand". His wand jumped out of the drawer and placed itself in his palm.

"Show off," muttered Arabella.

Sirius gave her his most charming smile. "Let's go," he said. "We still have five dark wizards to overtake before this
house is cleared."

"Four."

"Four to overtake and one to beat to a pulp."

Arabella wanted to protest, but Sirius chose that moment to launch into the parlour and attack one of the three
Death Eaters that were standing there. Arabella and Mundungus were not caught by surprise. They were used to
Sirius lashing out the second he recognised the enemy. They shot out right behind him, sending impeding curses at
anything that didn't run away fast enough.

The three death eaters put up a reasonable fight, which gave Snape and the last guard time to respond to the racket
that was well heard all around the house and join the struggle against the three escaping prisoners.

Several minutes later, Arabella went between the fallen guards, waving the smoke away from her and assessing their
condition. Much of the furniture in the room was stunned senseless. Beside this damage, there were four guards in
deep coma, and one in deep coma who was sprouting tiny dog-shaped hair marks all over his face. "Sirius Black!"
she exclaimed. "What have you done -" she stopped her scolding very abruptly.

Her attention, as well as the others' was directed to the main door of the house. Very quietly, the three spread along
the wall beside the door, waiting to see if the noise coming from behind it was a real person, or just a figment of their
imagination. No more sound could be heard. They were about to declare themselves insane when the door suddenly
blew clear off its hinges and fell a few feet away from the portal with a loud crash.

The three jumped in front of the open doorway, their wands pointing forward ready for action. The two wizards in
the door also had their wands drawn, prepared to put them to immediate use.

Sirius cut the curse he was creating in mid-word. He let his wand drop an inch lower, and cleared his throat. Then in
a more hesitant tone, he asked, "Moony?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took her the better part of an hour, but finally, Hermione was able to loosen the ropes around her wrists. With a
violent pull she removed the remainder of the rope and turned to attack the ones binding her ankles together. There
was urgency in her motions, despite the fact that she'd been at it for so long, and though she knew there was no real
emergency. Harry had been lying there, motionless, from the moment she was thrown into the dungeon, and there
was no reason his condition would change now.

She tossed aside what was left of the ropes after her relentless assault, and scooped Harry into her arms. He was
completely limp, and with the lack of his cooperation, he was also quite heavy. She laid his head in her lap and
hugged him to the best of her ability, as if trying to shield him from the rest of the world. The tension that was building
inside her during the time she was wrestling the binds burst out in a series of body-jerking sobs. She tightened her
arms around Harry's motionless body, seeking comfort in her own act of vain protection.

Something unexpected made Hermione's weeping cease. She sat completely still, trying to feel it again. Sure enough,
it came - the slightest movement from Harry's direction. This wasn't just his breathing. This was more of a voluntary
motion. She straightened up and looked down into Harry's emerald green eyes.

Harry felt a jolt passing through his body, and then another. He opened his eyes. Someone was holding his head in a
firm hug. By the smell of honey and daisies, that someone was Hermione. She released her hold, not letting go of him
completely, and detached herself from him just enough to look into his eyes. Her own eyes were red and swollen.

Harry reached out for her and stroked her hair. "How long have you been crying?"

"Oh, not very long," Hermione answered. "But I was very serious about it." A bashful smile played on her lips.

Harry didn't feel particularly strong, but he was strong enough to pull her closer to him. It was especially easy since
she showed no objection. His hand was on the nape of her neck, holding all of her hair but a few soft strands that
fell over his face. He could feel her breath, or rather the lack of it. Their noses collided, stopping their lips from
meeting. They both tried to tilt their heads to the same side, and then to the other. After several attempts they were
actually successful in putting their mouths to each other's, but by then their mouths were too busy with embarrassed
laughter to be able to kiss.

"I'm sorry," Harry said after Hermione sat straight again. "I shouldn't have tried this. I know you're with Viktor
Krum -" Her odd look made him stop talking.

"It was as much my fault," Hermione said in a detached tone. "And anyway, I broke up with Viktor just before we
left."

The awkward moment just turned worse. Harry had nothing to say to this that didn't sound like probing.

"What happened to you?" Hermione asked, both because she was trying to break the silence, but also because she
simply wanted to know.

"Nothing," Harry answered quite foolishly. Hermione struck him with a look that made him burst into another fit of
laughter. His laugh sank rapidly into a pang in his chest.

"What is it?" Hermione asked as she saw Harry press his fist to his chest.

"It's probably just a little cut," he answered. "It's where the curse hit."

"What curse?" She watched Harry swallow hard. He didn't offer her an answer. Realisation dawned on her. "Is this
why You-Know-Who said that he failed again in his attempt to kill you?" Harry nodded. "Was this the - Avada
Kedavra curse?" she choked over the question. Harry nodded again.

"How were you able to escape it?"

"I have no idea." Harry shook his head. "For some reason it caused the same Priori Incantatem effect that occurred
when I used my wand against it."

"But you didn't have your wand."

"No."

"Then it's not possible. Only twin wands cause that effect. If you didn't have a wand, how could it happen?"

"I don't know."

Hermione prodded Harry to sit, and moved slightly away from him. She measured him thoroughly. With this
comprehensive examination, she could see the blood on his chest, making his black robes look wet. There were
tiny bits of ash all over his front. "Take your robes off," she ordered.

"What?!"

"I said, take your robes off. I want to see your wound, and I think I have an idea what was it that saved you." Her
lips curled to form the beginning of a playful smile, which she wiped off immediately.

Harry knew that determined look on her face. He knew he was about to lose the argument, and didn't feel like going
through its full length before doing so. He unbuttoned the neck studs and pulled the robe over his head. The
stretching motion made him groan with pain. He folded into a ball and bit his lower lip.

Hermione placed the robes behind him and tenderly rolled him onto them. She did her best to ignore the Snitch that
was flapping on his boxer shorts, although she had the urge to reach out her hand and stop its rapid flight. She
noticed that the wizard chasing it bore a disturbing resemblance to Harry.

"It's not me," mumbled Harry, following her gaze.

"Who's not you?" Hermione tried to look innocent, but her flushed face betrayed her. Her blush was replaced with
unhealthy pallor as she unfolded Harry's arms, and exposed the wound underneath.

There was a deep gash across his chest, right above his heart. It was still bleeding, although Harry was no longer
rapidly losing blood. She thought she could see rib bone peeping from the deepest area of the cut, but she wasn't
sure. One thing was certain - It had the shape of a lightning bolt.

"So, you're going to have another one of those," she tried to joke, mainly to keep herself from fainting. Harry dared
a look, and turned a sickening shade of white. He took a few deep breaths to relax. Hermione tore off the cleaner
hem of her robes and used it to wrap Harry's chest. The improvised bandage stopped the bleeding completely.

"This actually hurts less," Harry made a feeble attempt at a smile.

Something caught Hermione's eye as she tied the edges of the bandage over the cut. Something was glowing on
Harry's skin. Hermione touched it, and looked at her hand. She had gold and red powder on the tips of her fingers.
She looked frantically around, but saw nothing. Without realising she was doing so, she pulled Harry's robes from
underneath him.

"Ouch!" protested Harry, but his protest died when he saw the shocked look on Hermione's face. She was making
an effort to release something that was tangled inside his robes. Eventually, she pulled it out. It looked like a thin stalk
with few shining red threads attached to it.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"Exactly what it looks like!" Hermione breathed.

"A straw that was left with the red laundry for seven years?" Harry tried.

Hermione didn't look amused. "No," she said. "It's a torn up, scorched phoenix feather."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What are you doing here?" demanded Sirius, lowering his wand further.

"What do you think we're doing here?" grumbled Remus. "You went without saying a word… left a message that
you'd be back yesterday afternoon… I was worried." He took a deep breath. "We saw the blasts inside from our
observation point and ran here as fast as we could."

"Well, we had to leave in a hurry, and you were -" Sirius looked at Lee. "Busy." He took a step into the room. "We
had to stop that Skeeter woman from publishing whatever it was Voldemort wanted published." Lee winced to the
sound of the name. "Oh no," groaned Sirius. "I guess it was published yesterday, wasn't it?" Remus nodded reluctantly.
"Do you have a copy?"

Remus pulled the folded piece of paper out of the pocket of his robes. "It's not very pleasant," he warned.

"Well, and I expected Voldemort to say something nice," mocked Sirius. His sardonic smile evaporated as he
scanned the Daily Prophet article. "That's bad," he said, dispirited. He passed the paper to Mundungus. "That
could explain a few things, though."

"So I take it Harry is here," stated Remus.

"What?" jumped Sirius. "How do you know?"

"Because you didn't ask how he is taking it. You're always so worried about him. If you didn't know he's not at
Hogwarts, you'd have asked about him."

"Is Ron held here too?" Lee intervened.

"Not exactly," said Sirius. "From what Harry told me, he is posing as a Death Eater. But -"

"What?!" cried Lee. He strode to the centre of the room and looked around. "I'm taking him home right now. Where
is he?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you," muttered Sirius. "None of them is here. Harry and Hermione were taken
someplace else, and I think Ron and Draco are the ones who took them."

"Draco? As in Draco Malfoy? What's he got to do with this?"

"Apparently he's been helping them. I have absolutely no idea why."

Remus shrugged. "Whatever. We'll take him with us too, but I can't promise anything about the state of conscious
he'll be in." Both he and Sirius smiled at the thought. "So, where do we find them?"

"Snape here told us he'd draw a map." Sirius approached Snape's unconscious form. He was lying on the flagstones
in a somewhat grotesque posture. The dog-shaped hair stains on his cheeks were already half-an-inch long. Sirius
kneeled by his still body and started searching his pockets. The others stood by and watched him.

Finally, Sirius found what he was looking for. He pulled a small package out of Snape's chest pocket. The package
was wrapped several times with a large piece of parchment. He pocketed the inside of the package, and unfolded
the parchment. It carried a crudely drawn map. Sirius stared at it, then turned it by ninety degrees and stared at it
some more.

When he turned it again, Remus stated his annoyance, "Oh, just give it to me." He snatched the map from Sirius' hand.
A brief look was all he needed. "All right," he announced. "We have about two hours walk ahead of us. Is everyone
up to it?" He looked specifically to Lee, who wasn't used to such missions, and had already needed to rest often
during the one-mile walk back to the house.

The reservation came from an unexpected source. "Sirius has injured legs," announced Arabella. "I don't think he
could -"

"I'll be just fine, thank you," Sirius cut her off. "Let's go." He went out the front door and stopped a few yards away
from the house. He really had no clue which way to go without Remus' navigation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hermione rolled the battered feather between her forefinger and her thumb. She raised her eyes to Harry. "How did
it get into your robes anyway?"

Harry opened his mouth to say that he didn't know, but he suddenly remembered how the feather could have found
its way to his robes. "I was in Dumbledore's office. Fawkes was moulting. He was about to combust. He stood on
my shoulder seconds before he did it. He was shedding feathers all over the place. One must have caught in my
robes."

Hermione nodded. The explanation sounded, albeit improbable, true. "Harry, this feather saved your life," she said.
"But this isn't enough to stop the curse. Did you try to use any magic?"

"Not exactly," Harry muttered. "I did say 'expelliarmus' or something like it."

"Well, that must have been it." Hermione looked at his chest again. In a closer look, it was covered with fine
red-golden powder. "Were there beads of light, like the ones you told me about last time?"

"No, no beads," said Harry. He was very aware of her gaze on his bare skin. "It didn't start in the middle, like last
time. The spell started on my side. It was as if I had lost the battle before the first bead appeared."

"Oh," said Hermione. "At least there were no dead bodies in your closet." She reached her hand to take some more
of the powder, but got more than that. As her hand touched Harry's chest, he placed his hand over it, pinning it to
him. Hermione could feel the beating of his heart under her palm. It was strong and steady, although a little too fast.
She had a sudden urge to listen to it directly, and that's exactly what she did. She put her ear over his heart and
listened.

She didn't have a chance to do it for long, as Harry held her upper arm and pulled her up. She found herself inches
away from his face, her heart rate closing in on his rapidly. This time there was no awkwardness in their kiss. Their
mouths found their way to each other's, their lips connecting in an unbreakable lock.

Things were very easy on Hermione. Since Harry was already undressed, she allowed her hands to roam his back
and shoulders freely. She noticed that without the concealing school robes, his shoulders looked much wider. Harry
had his hands on Hermione's waist and he felt that with a bit of an effort, he could surround it with his fingers.

They rolled on the floor kissing and fondling each other, lost inside each other's warmth. Hermione found Harry's
kisses different than anything she had experienced so far. Draco's kisses were harder to control, but they came from
someone she despised. These were closer to Viktor's kisses in their warmth and feeling, but they were so much
more. She closed her eyes and surrendered herself fully to the unreal happiness that was transferred to her through
his lips.

Their passionate interlock was broken with a loud blow coming from upstairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ron passed the next several hours in a cloud of haze. From time to time he rolled up his sleeve and looked at his
newly branded mark. Every time he looked at it - every time he thought of it, restored the wonderful sensation he
had when it was burned on his skin. He felt sick to his stomach by this sensation. He would have much preferred
it if the mark had caused him unbearable pain.

Draco spent some time with his socializing, but was mainly standing right by Ron, keeping an eye on him, worried
that his new situation might cause him to do something desperate, like cutting off his hand. If that happened,
everybody would know Ron was not a real Death-Eater, and then they would know Draco had betrayed them.
Draco had no intention of letting that happen.

Lucius Malfoy approached the two and placed paternal hands on both their shoulders. "Don't worry, boys. The
banquet is about to begin, and after that you will be free to play with your Mudblood. I suggest you take turns," he
said very seriously. "It could get embarrassing if you're both with her together." He winked at Draco. "Take it from
me."

At that moment, the flames in the hearth changed their colour to green, marking that there was someone on the way.
Every eye in the room was turned toward the fire.

Even Voldemort stopped listening to Dr. Simon Branford's grovelling and watched the swelling flames. "Are we
expecting anyone?" he hissed at Dr. Branford.

"Not that I know of, Master," said Dr. Branford and lowered his head with submission.

As the preliminary signs indicated, a moment later, one woman stepped out of the hearth, letting the flames abate
behind her. She was a woman of average height, but that was the only average thing about her. Ron immediately
decided that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She had long black hair, curled in thick
corkscrew curls that came down to her hips and created a wonderful contrast to her milky-white skin. Her eyes
were large and cat-like. He could not make up his mind as to whether they were green or blue. She was wearing
a tiny leather outfit that hardly covered her most essential assets, and that surely could not have been much good
against the cold. In addition to all that, she also looked extremely angry.

"Malfoy!" she hollered even before brushing the ashes off of herself.

Both Malfoys looked at her. Everyone else in the room looked at the two of them. Only then Ron noticed that
Draco looked particularly pale, and that he was standing a few feet back, as if he was caught in the middle of
getting out of room in a hurry. "Run" he mouthed at Ron, while he himself was pinned to the spot.

Ron stepped closer to Draco. "What's wrong?" he asked in a whisper that was drowned in the murmur of the other
Death Eaters.

"That's Saitaina Moricia," whispered Draco back. His voice was trembling.

"You attacked me, Malfoy," Saitaina was closing in on Draco, and it was now very clear to which Malfoy she was
referring. "You stunned me, and left me in the communications centre locked up and wearing this!" She pointed a
disgusted finger towards her leather skirt. "Why on earth did you turn my clothes into this?"

Every Death Eater in the room had drawn out his wand and pointed it at Draco. Voldemort had completely
abandoned his conversation, and commenced taking small steps towards the two shaking boys.

"I thought this would look nice on you," Draco smiled nervously. "The others were right behind me. I had to stun you
and hide you so they wouldn't kill you."

"Yes," Ron supported Draco's story. "Harry Potter would have killed you if he knew there was a Death Eater in the
house."

"You could have told me that instead of stunning me!" Saitaina glowered at them.

"There was no time," explained Draco. "I didn't want to take the chance that you would start screaming when you
heard that Potter was coming. It would have risked your life."

"Then why didn't you enervate her before you left?" demanded Voldemort. By now, he was standing very close to
the two boys. He was the only wizard in the room who did not point his wand at them, but he held it with a firm hand.

"We couldn't," stammered Draco. "Potter and the Mudblood didn't let us out of their sight. I think that by then they
were suspecting that we were your servants."

"Are you a traitor, Draco?" asked Lucius Malfoy. His wand, like everyone else's, was pointing at his son.

"No, Father," breathed Draco.

"Liar!" rasped Voldemort. "You know Potter would never kill her. He didn't kill Pettigrew, he wouldn't start his
killings with a petty communications clerk." Saitaina scowled at being called that. Voldemort turned his back to the
two. "Kill them," he hissed. "But make it a slow, painful death."

The first curse was shot from Lucius Malfoy's wand even before Voldemort was done speaking. It caught Draco in
the back and sent him toppling to the floor, biting his lips against the scream of pain.

Ron dropped to the ground beside him. "Stay down," he advised Draco while warding off a well-aimed curse.
"We'll try to crawl out of here. That way less curses can get us." As he spoke, another curse had hit Draco's back.
"Come on!" Ron urged him. "Roll over and fight!"

Draco gritted his teeth, but did as Ron had said. He managed to send several curses back to their initiators, but
several others were able to penetrate his defences. He felt weaker with each curse that hit, and every time rendered
him less capable of defending himself. He heard Ron cry out beside him, and knew that he wasn't doing very well
either. All I wanted was to have a few rounds with Hermione, Draco mused bitterly. It really shouldn't have come
to this.

With another successful curse, his vision had begun to blur. Ron's shouting had stopped, and so had the flashes that
had previously shot past him, aimed at Ron. He barely managed to ward off two more curses when the third hit him
in the head, and he knew no more.
 
 
 

A/N: If you didn't recognise it, the ceremonial room was the same one from chapter #3 (go refresh on it!).

All right, so I couldn't kill Harry. I love him too much. But you do realise this isn't necessarily true when it comes to
Draco/Ron. I'm not sure it'll happen in the next chapter, but I am warning you - there is someone who will not survive
the end of this fic.

Thanks to: First and foremost, the wonderful, patient, caring beta-readers who gave meaning to my writing and who
had make virtual summersaults to get to beta this chapter. They all went to extreme trouble to overcome my current
mail delivery problems: Dinah, who yet again is trying to blow up my head, and who thanked me for not putting a
cliffhanger in this chapter (guess you don't like Draco and Ron much, huh?). Isabelle, who is suffering immensely
because of my UK spellchecker, and who's already half-written into chapter 9, and will star alongside Dr. Branford
in chapter 10 - watch out for her. Parker, who dropped everything to help me, made inhuman efforts, and sent me
such worthy corrections that I put off a meeting and updated the chapter. Jeralyn, whose remarks I should frame
and hang over my bed for reference when I'm down.

Special thanks to Ginny Love, who didn't review (shame on you) but mailed me a very helpful list of the weaker
points in this fic. Most of the Draco-pondering in this chapter is due her remarks, as well as more-important
less-noticeable changes.

Longest review award this time (stolen from Al) goes to Mwalimu. Way to go! Oh, and you're doing a wonderful
job as a Daily Prophet editor in TiP. :)

Sanna: Thanks for making the effort to review. I know how difficult it is. That's why I've begun my little writer's
strike. Have to do some catching up. I'm glad you think Draco kissing Hermione is not OOC :). You're right about
getting you confused - I'll add the ending of the last chapter from now on. I'm sorry that I've had you confused. I'm
afraid you're going to get a lot more confused by the end of next chapter. You'll let me know if this becomes too
difficult to follow? Please? Oh, and I owe you an apology - I know I promised to put my theory about James' house
in chapter 8, but this was too long as it is (hey, you're the one who's always complaining, in the nicest way, about the
length of these chapters). The section is already written into chapter 9.
Tessie: kill Lucius? Hmmm. Interesting notion. I'll give it serious consideration.
Banana Republic: All right, so this chapter had it's sad/emotional moments as well, but I promise you lots of laughs
in the next chapter. :) Your faith in my goodness is remarkable, but don't be so sure of anything. Er... I thought I
mentioned how Harry got his mark. All right, I hope this chapter set is straight. If not, let me know. I don't like
keeping loose ends. I can't seem to decide about this fic's ship either.
Megan: Thanks! I had no intention of killing him *evil grin*.
Amanita Lestrange (AKA Pipin): I can't believe I just now realised you're Pipin. How thick can a girl be? Good
job on the Paradise parody :). Glad you liked the conversation with the snake, it might turn out to be more than that.
What giant squid? *scrolls back to search the chapter* oh, that. all right, point taken. Note to self - put more giant
squid in story. :)
suzzy: Saved him, and it had nothing to do with the MQ. I'm glad you didn't find the MQ thing too childish.
Cassandra Claire: yeah, it would be difficult to make it Harry/Draco if Harry's dead *winks*. So, does that mean
that DS is about to turn in that specific direction? I'm afraid the slash here is going to remain only as an indication
(less subtle in this chapter) and I meant the Harry/Ron scene to be the slightly slashy one *sulks*. Do you actually
read all the 'thank you' notes? That's good, but I didn't think anyone actually had the patience to do it. :) I guess you
have to grow remarkable reading capabilities when you get 300 long reviews for each chapter.
Noctua (Isabelle): That's a great user name. Wish I'd thought of it first. I beg your pardon. My Harry not too
sexytodie? Honestly, you've got him mixed up with other Harrys. I need to show you my very private sketch of the
hot scene between him and Hermione... That was a very cruel joke you pulled on your friend. Served you right that
she killed you. So now, you're my ghost beta? :)
diddly day: you should thank Ebony (AngieJ) for the hot H/H scene here. Hope it filled your storage for a while.
GinnyPotter: ROFL. Got the hint. Well, I said someone's going to die... No promises made. Harry's living had
nothing to do with his MQ, but I'm glad you didn't find that notion silly. Thanks for the zealous review!
dagan: first of: If you've been trying to contact me, something was terribly wrong with my e-mail, and nothing came
through. Now everything's fine, so you can try it again. :) careful where you point those germs! Of course I catch
your drift, or, might I say, you caught mine well. (apologies to anyone who's reading all the 'thank you'-s) Harry's
MQ had nothing to do with his save, but I'm glad the MQ-thing caught up and didn't send you irritated to someone
else's fic.
Mwalimu: Great cameo in TiP! Thank you so much for making huge attempts to help my writing. I really appreciate
it. Naturally, I've made all the corrections you suggested, and as always, your explanations opened my eyes. Thanks!
And thanks for the enthusiastic review as well.
magical*little*me: Well, that was a passionate plead for Harry's life. Your request for D/H was registered.
Currently, you're on the winner side.
The Game: That's a very interesting plot you suggest. Hmmm... too bad my a/plot is already planned to the rest of
the story. You'll just have to wait and see.
Lizzy/Tygrestick: you're the main reason I regret not squeezing some of the next chapter here, to help you relax a
bit. I'm really sorry, but it just didn't work. ;)
Katie: *smile* ship preference registered. You are in the minority, however.
RatheraMutemwiya: Hee hee. Sorry for not obliging you by killing Harry. Well, if you like Malfoy (which one?)
you're going to have a few nerve-wrecking weeks (or not...)
Macbeth Wanda Cauldrina: Wow. Thanks. Between you and Dinah I'm going to get sooo big headed. Hope you
survived this long chapter as well. Thanks for making the effort of reviewing past chapters.
Angel: Thanks for making the effort of reviewing past chapters. Your roaches review just went to my "most hilarious
reviews" list. You've stopped reviewing after that chapter, did this point bother you that much?
The person who hates you [me] very much now: Luckily, I'm not paranoid, so your review went to my "most
hilarious reviews" list as well. :) I hope the cliffhanger this time doesn't break you completely. I promise no major
cliffie next time.
The Great Hermione Fan: Am I making it easy on Draco? I didn't mean to. Well, we'll see if he survives another
chapter. *evil grin*
AngieJ (AKA Ebony): Wow, reviewing all the chapters! You're the greatest! Well, who would have guessed you're
a H/H? Oh, right, EVERYONE, captain! The H/H scene in this chapter is dedicated to you. I have a quick doodle
based on it, but I'm not sharing. What is OBHWF? I've registered two H/H votes for you, but you're still in a
minority.
Burrow Gurl: You still write the sweetest reviews. Makes me feel really bad to leave you with cliffhangers. I promise
next time won't be half as bad. I hope this chapter answered your 'Ron as a Death Eater' question.
Ice Dragoness: (if you're still with us) Thanks for reviewing previous chapters, and you're guess was right. I hope
you found that out by reading the remaining chapters.
Kat: Your vote was registered, but I hate to say it - the D/H voters are currently louder. (Which means nothing,
actually).
Al: There is nothing I can say about reading chapters late. I still have ToT in my pilot, waiting it's turn after TiP6, and
I'm dying to read "Snitch!" after seeing that pic. Guess my reviews will come in extremely late. 'course, if ASA13
comes out, they'll be delayed even further. Did I mention I'm on a writer's strike until I've read them all? I'm so glad
you liked the MQ thing. Coming from you, it's very reassuring. I only notices that the 'Mad Quill' has the same
acronym after I've named it. Odd coincidence. Oh, I'm afraid I'm beginning to lose that Draco you loved so much.
I hope he doesn't disappear all together. Drop me a note if you feel he does.
Stark-raving-loony: hmmm... you're right, it can't be a 'Harry Potter' without the Harry bit. But this fic doesn't have
Harry in the title... No, I couldn't kill Harry. Not just yet, anyway.
Hermione the goddess who changed her name from Draco's Girl: Oh, well, Draco never meant to save Harry.
All he wanted was Hermione... I thought you liked him.
Bernie the chio: That's so sweet, still up at 10:20pm. Well, since I'm writing this usually between 2 and 5 am, I guess
being dead tired is the only right way to read this. :) Thanks for losing sleep over my story!
Perdu Ame, Tualha: I have! I have! Thanks for taking this so intensely. Now, all you have to worry about are Ron
and Draco.
Circe: Thanks for letting me know which points you liked and which you didn't much care for. It's reviews like yours
that help me create better chapters (or at least I hope they do)
Elyssa: Eek... Sorry, guess the name is a bit misleading. You're actually the first person who'd voted H/K. you're also
the *only* person who voted on killing Harry. No... wait... there was RatheraMutemwiya with that vote as well. Sorry
about that too. You are, however, in the majority with your D/H vote. :)
~*Amanda*~: Nobody likes it when the bad guys win. The entire Hollywood industry is based on that. Thanks for
the compliments!
Landry Anne: Ah, your D/H vote was registered, but if you need a good fic with D/H ending, you can go read some
of Sanna's stuff in the mean time. You can find one of her stories (the wonderful 'The Prince's Bride') in my favourite
stories list. More D/H stories can be found in Sanna's egroup (yahoogroup now *grunt*) hp4ever. Happy birthday!
Becca: I'm honoured to be the reason of your de-lurking. You should do it more often, the reviews are what keeps
most authors writing. You should also make your H/H vote sound more often, since the D/H people are leading the
race.
Lana Mavi, Danika: What a dramatic entry! I loaded my author's page to upload the new chapter, and found your
reviews. What a nice surprise! Lana Mavi - you don't have to plead for Harry's life so ardently :) Your D/H vote
was registered and added to the majority of the votes. Danika - You've raised several interesting issues. Much food
for thought. Thanks! And thank you for the compliments. Guess you won't have to wait very long this time. BTW -
I'm an extremely slow reader, which is why I never read my own story :) I *really* need my betas. Good night!
 

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Chapter 9