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Author: Tari Story: Beneath the Eye of the Storm Rating: Teens Setting: Pre-HBP Status: WIP Reviews: 11 Words: 27,946
Ron kicked over a slab of what probably used to be a wall, looking around the grand hall in which they had converged. Their battle was winding down. It seemed the Order of the Phoenix would be triumphant in this battle. Which is a good thing, Ron reminded himself. Even though Ron was on the victorious side, he couldn't feel the thrill of their success. His mind was occupied elsewhere, and he couldn't muster up the strength to bring the task in front of him into focus. In his mind, the battle was nowhere near done. Ginny was still missing, and on top of that, he didn't know where Hermione or Harry had run off to. Worst of all, he wasn't able to leave the battle scene to go find them. Not yet, at least. Ron had to stay put right now until there was some sort of order established. "Weasley," a hoarse voice whispered from behind him. Ron spun around, gripping his wand to see who it was. "Zabini." Ron sighed, and lowered his wand. Ron glanced Blaise Zabini over. He looked horrible, though he was not visibly injured. His eyes appeared sunken in, and they glistened as the boy glimpsed around with a look of confusion. He looked deathly pale. He looked the way Ron felt. "All right, Zabini?" Ron had to ask. The other man looked him wearily in the eye and said bleakly, "I'm alive." Ron understood. Sometimes, it felt as though being alive was more painful than the alternative. "Be thankful for that," he managed to say, unsure if he really meant it. "What have you got?" "Names and numbers," Zabini said simply. "There were a lot of Death Eaters who managed to Disapparate before we could get to them, but we were able to capture a decent amount. In total, so far, we've got thirteen, including the Minister of Magic himself, Lucius Malfoy." Ron snorted. "At least one good thing will come of this--we'll be getting a new Minister of Magic." "Yes," Zabini assented calmly. "Voldemort is nowhere to be found. Unsurprising. He always did prefer to send his minions out to do his dirty work." Zabini rubbed his forehead with his hand, as though trying to wipe it clean. "We've lost twenty of our people." Ron swore heavily. "Twenty? That many?" "Yes," the other man whispered. "We also have six MIA's--Liz… Elizabeth McDonald…" Zabini took a breath, and it seemed as though it pained him to continue. "Brady Ardel, Travis Ciaron, Emily Jeune, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter." Ron nodded and looked away, biting back the bitterness saturating the back of his throat. It was one thing to know it in your head, it was something else to hear your worst fear out loud. He couldn't stay here. Glancing around quickly, Ron spotted someone, and a thought came to mind. Ron walked purposefully past the rubble and the bound Death Eaters towards a person he could trust to handle this. "Bill?" Ron approached his older brother. Bill turned around, his fang-tooth earring swaying slightly, and his face relaxing at the sight of Ron. "We've got this section secured. There's still some activity outside. Should be under control soon." Ron nodded somewhat impatiently. "Bill, I need you to do something for me." Looking at Ron curiously, Bill said, "Go on." "Take charge, will you? I can't stay here." Bill looked at Ron for another moment and they shared a knowing look before Bill clipped him on the shoulder and nodded. "Sure thing. Stay on guard, eh." Ron grunted in reply, and sprinted out of the hall. He would find them, he had to. He would find them and they would all get out of this place in one piece, just like they had all those times at Hogwarts. Those had been horrible, but in the end they had all escaped. They would escape tonight. They had to. Ron ran through corridors, looking into rooms, but getting no closer to finding his friends. He was getting desperate. He opened a large wooden door to his right and looked in. Empty, like all the others. Ron swore and began to close the door. It was then that something in the room caught his eye. In the centre of the room was a silver sphere, and Ron felt his gaze drawn towards it. "Expelliarmus," a voice behind him called and Ron felt his wand jerked from his hand. Turning quickly, Ron's stomach plummeted at the same moment a raging fire burned through him. "You," he growled. "Has the little boy lost his precious wand," Bellatrix Lestrange pouted mockingly. Ron uttered a few choice words that would have made his mother pale. "Oh. That's not very nice, now is it? I think a bit of punishment is in order for our bad boy." Thin chords of rope shot out of Bellatrix's wand and wrapped around Ron's body. Through his struggles, Ron stumbled back against the door frame. A sharp pain ran up his back where it made contact with the hard surface. "Now, how to punish you?" she asked, in mock consideration. "There's the traditional way… Crucio." Ron's body exploded in horrific agony as he fell to the floor. He wanted to die; it seemed to be the only way to make the pain stop. As the curse was slowly lifted he could hear her laughter bellowing through the air. "Yes, there is always that, but it's not much fun. Too standard. No creativity at all." She took a step towards Ron as she muttered a spell to bring him to his feet. Ron wanted to kill her. He wanted to kill her with his bare hands. He wanted to watch her die for what she'd done to everyone that was important to him. Taking Sirius away from Harry, attacking Hermione's parents, taking Ginny away and doing Merlin knows what to her. "Let's see if we can't find something more fun." Bellatrix stepped close to Ron, so close he could feel her breath hitting his face. He shuddered in revulsion. She dragged her fingers across the skin of Ron's face and a malicious twinkle sparked in her eyes. Ron flinched. "I can think of something more fun," she said. Ron felt as though he would be sick. "You can go to hell," he spat. "That would be enjoyable." She gave him a slicing look. "I had something else in mind." With that she pulled Ron in to an open-mouthed kiss. A wave of revulsion spread through him, and Ron knew he was going to be sick, and so he did the only thing he could think to do--he bit down. Hard. Bellatrix screamed out and pulled back, blood streaming from her mouth. "You little bastard!" she hissed. Ron could taste her blood in his mouth and spat it out hastily. She lifted a hand to her mouth and touched the blood pouring from her lip. She looked at her blood-smeared fingers momentarily as she hummed, "On the other hand, I think the traditional methods would be better after all, boy. We can make them interesting. Crucio." Ron fell back against the doorframe sharply, his body convulsing as pain screamed through his veins, his muscles, his skin. "Yes," Bellatrix cooed treacherously, her eyes glazed over in anger. "The traditional methods are best with you. Cruciatus is a specialty of mine, after all, as I've no doubt you've heard." Suddenly, a soft wind started blowing from the room with the sphere and a sly smile slithered onto Bellatrix's face. "Looks like there are more people are coming to play with you." Ron spat again and looked directly into Bellatrix's eyes. "I'm going to kill you." Bellatrix's head flew back and she laughed as the wind grew stronger. "I know where they're coming from," Bellatrix whispered into Ron's ear. "That's where another, more feminine redhead was played with." Ron's eyes grew wide, and he struggled against his bindings. A rage bellowed within him. The entrance to Ginny's cell was only a few feet away. "I'm going to kill you if you've done anything to her," he snarled. Bellatrix pulled an exaggerated pout. "That's not very nice, is it?" She circled Ron like a lioness hunting her prey, giving him a calculated look. "Would you like to know about the games we played with her? Would you like to hear about the final game she ever played." As the last few words registered in his brain, Ron froze, unwilling to believe it as truth. Ginny was dead. "Liar!" he hissed, even as his gut felt as though it was being ripped out of him as the wind was as fierce as a squall. * Ginny stepped over the rubble of her cell wall, firmly grasping Malfoy's wand. It felt uncomfortable in her hand. It was heavy, unnaturally so, as though years of Dark Magic had added to its weight. Ginny didn't want to use it. It wasn't right, and she wouldn't be as powerful with it as she could be with her own. Ginny laughed dryly to herself. They probably snapped her wand in two the minute she had been captured… "Ginny!" a familiar voice yelled out suddenly as she walked into the hallway. It was a sound that made Ginny's heart jump and she looked up, eager to find the owner of that voice. But what she saw before her made her stop in her tracks. Tom… no, not Tom… Voldemort stood across from Harry, wand lazily pulled and pointed directly at Harry's heart. Harry, wand at the ready as well, was staring wide-eyed at Voldemort. Ginny could tell he was struggling to keep his eyes there. A high-pitched laughter filled the hall, piercing into Ginny's ears. It was a cold laughter, completely devoid of mirth. His eyes flared as he looked the two women over. Ginny felt her insides freeze over. "You think you can defeat me now." It wasn't a question. "Your friends can't help you. Nothing can help you, especially not your whores." Next to Ginny, Hermione huffed indignantly, although the terror she must be experiencing was clearly audible in her voice. "I'll kill your friends in front of your eyes," Voldemort continued, "and then, you." Slowly, calculatingly, Voldemort moved his wand so that it was pointing directly at Ginny. His eyes still boring into Harry's, Voldemort opened his mouth. "Avada Ke-" "Crucio!" Harry screamed out shrilly, urgently. Hermione screamed, and Ginny's mouth dropped open as she watched Voldemort crumple to the ground. Her eyes widened and she turned to look at Harry. He was shaking terribly, almost as though he was having a seizure. She wanted to run to him, to hold him in her arms, but she found her feet glued to the ground. When the spell was lifted, Voldemort sneered and stood up, looking them over. An instant later, Voldemort had disappeared. A stunned silence filled the hall as Ginny stared at the void where Tom - Voldemort had stood. "What just happened?" she asked breathlessly as a slight rumbling was heard in the distance. After a moment of hesitation, Hermione, looking as though somehow her brain had failed her, answered in a frustrated tone, "I don't know. There are anti-Apparation wards around this castle. We did tests. It could have been a Portkey, I suppose, but..." Ginny nodded dumbly as the rumbling grew louder. "What is that noise?" she asked. She glanced over towards the other two and caught Harry's eye. What she saw nearly brought her to her knees. The look in his eyes was so feral, so concerned, and so powerful, Ginny didn't know what to do with it. "Are you all right?" he asked, his voice harsh and scratchy and full of emotion. "I-I think so," she answered softly, so softly, she wasn't sure she could be heard over the noise. "We have to get out of here," Hermione's voice suddenly interrupted. "Now!" Keeping his gaze locked on Ginny, Harry asked quickly, "Why?" Looking around apprehensively, Hermione replied, "I don't like the sound of that noise. Something's happening. Come on." With that, she stepped back over the rubble into Ginny's cell. Ginny turned to follow her, but was stopped almost instantly by a hand grasping her wrist. She spun around and was directly faced with a pair of emerald eyes. "Are you all right?" he asked again, his voice seemingly even more scratchy than before. His hand rose and his fingers brushed against her cheek, pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Sharp bolts of heat flashed through her at his touch and she could barely manage a nod, let alone a verbal response to his question. The thrill of seeing anyone again, especially Harry, was overwhelming. Even as she stood in the damp underground dungeon, all Ginny's mind could focus on was the way Harry's fingers felt grazing her neck, the way his tongue darted out to lick his lips, and the way his eyes were darting between her lips and her eyes. "Ginny, I-" Harry began. "Ginny! Harry!" Hermione's voice called out from within the cell. Harry instantly took a step backwards and glanced towards the hole in the wall. "Come on," he muttered, placing a hand on her elbow to guide her through the rubble. It was only then that Ginny realised the small rumblings she had heard before had grown to be almost deafening. "Ginny!" Hermione shouted, just loud enough to be heard. She pointed towards a corner of the room and quickly continued. "The orb. It transported me here; do you know if…" Her last few words were drowned out by a sharp booming noise. It almost sounded like stone falling on stone. "What?" Ginny screamed. "Can we leave this way?" Hermione yelled. Ginny thought for a moment, trying to recall how her minders would leave. "I think so," she called back, nodding, as another loud boom permeated the dungeon. This time, however, whatever was making the noise was not satisfied with just being audible. Dirt began falling from the ceiling as the walls began to sway unevenly. "Let's go," Harry yelled, practically pulling Ginny towards Hermione and the orb. "Wait, we have to take Malfoy. We can't leave him here," Hermione yelled, gesturing at the unconscious blond boy. Harry glanced over at Malfoy, a look of pure disgust washing over his face. "What's he doing here? Why can't we just leave him?" "Mobicorpus," Hermione muttered, levitating Malfoy's body. She quickly guided him over towards the orb, glancing up at the ceiling. "He shouldn't get the luxury of death. I want to see him locked away in Azkaban. We've got enough proof to give him a life sentence." With her last words, the walls seemed to have had enough of their dawdling, and a large stone fell to the ground, landing a foot away from Ginny. Harry quickly pulled her into his arms, his eyes locked on the fallen stone. "Come on," Hermione yelled again. Ginny and Harry both rushed over, joining Hermione and Malfoy by the orb. "What do we do?" Harry asked, his eyes transfixed on the orb. "Just touch it," Hermione answered as another brick fell to the ground, shattering on impact. "I think it's like a Portkey, but not quite. On the count of three, shall we?" "On the count of two," Harry said quickly, his eyes cast downward. "Two then," Ginny said, seeing Hermione's questioning glance. There was no time for questions now. "One… Two…" At once, the three of them placed their hands on the orb, Hermione holding fast to Malfoy's wrist. At once a wind picked up around them, blowing through Ginny's hair. With every moment the wind grew stronger. The walls were crumbling with the ceiling. The floor was shaking. It was a struggle to stand… a struggle to keep a grip on the orb… the wind was blinding. An instant later, the wind pushed the four of them into the sphere. * Hermione opened her eyes and relief filled her. She knew this room. Dropping Malfoy's wrist, she looked towards the door and let out a blood-curdling scream. There was Ron, bound and held at wand point by Bellatrix Lestrange. For a moment there was stunned silence, as Bellatrix stared at the four new additions to the room through her heavy lidded eyes. Suddenly, she grabbed Ron and stood behind him, using him as some sort of human shield. Ron's face was red with fury as Bellatrix pointed her wand into his back. There was something else, besides anger, shooting out of Ron's eyes. Hermione noticed this became particularly noticeable as Ron looked at Ginny. It was almost as though he was seeing a ghost. "Drop your wands, or I'll kill this one," Bellatrix called out from behind Ron, her eyes just visible past his shoulders. "Don't listen to her!" Ron called out harshly, staring at his friends pointedly. Bellatrix let out a harsh laugh. "Are you willing to die for your friends? Do you want to die for your friends? That can be arranged… after we play a little game. Revive him," she commanded, nodding towards the unconscious Draco Malfoy. Hermione glanced down at the crumpled form of the blond at her side before looking back at Ron. His eyes were wide and practically screaming for her not to do it. "Now!" Bellatrix screamed. "Or he dies." With a glance around the room, at her friends, Hermione slowly nodded. "Hermione, no!" Harry yelled. She turned towards him, trying to send him a message through her eyes that it would be all right. She blinked three times, hoping somebody would get the hint. Turning her wand to Malfoy, she jerked her wand hand once… twice… thrice… The next few seconds happened in a blur, and Hermione wasn't exactly sure what had happened until it was all over. As she had motioned for the third time, Hermione had heard Ginny yell out a spell that had pulled Ron to the floor, leaving Bellatrix wide open for Hermione's disarming spell. What Hermione couldn't figure out was how Harry got from his spot next to Ginny to where he was presently. Through the doorway, in the hallway, she could make the two of them out. Bellatrix was pushed up against the wall by a very fierce looking Harry Potter. "Harry!" Ginny's voice rang out harshly through the stone room, and out into the corridor. Yet in all appearances, Harry seemed utterly unaware of anything but Bellatrix Lestrange. Hermione rushed forward, falling to her knees next to Ron, who was looking back at her with wonderment. "Hermione," he muttered, trying to right himself through the binds encasing his hands. Hi, Ron," she mumbled back at him, as Ginny stepped around them and out the door to Harry. Hermione quickly freed Ron from his constraints and helped him to his feet. "Stop! Harry, you're going to kill her!" Ginny screamed shrilly as she pulled at Harry's arms. Hermione glanced over, and her mouth dropped open. She had never seen such raw hatred etched on Harry's face, and for a moment Hermione was truly terrified of him. Ginny was right, Harry looked as though he was going to kill Bellatrix; his arm was braced across her throat, cutting off the air supply. She was turning blue in the face as she desperately clawed at Harry's arm, drawing tiny streams of blood that trickled down his arm, dripping onto Bellatrix's robes. Hermione had never seen Bellatrix Lestrange as frantic as she was at this moment. There was usually a poised, refined and haunting air to her. Now, she seemed desperate and like an animal as she tried to cling to her life. And Hermione just stood there, gaping, as Harry strangled her, and Ginny pulled at him, trying to get him to release his grip. "Please, stop," Ginny whimpered, tugging on his arm. "Harry, please. Don't do this." Then, the last thing that Hermione would ever expect happened. With his free hand, Harry roughly pushed Ginny off him. Hermione could not contain the yelp of surprise that escaped her lips. Ginny flew across the hall, rammed into the wall and sank down to the floor, her eyes wide and staring uncomprehendingly at Harry. Hermione felt, more than saw, Ron tense next to her, and she was finally able to move. She tightened her grip on her wand and pointed it at Bellatrix's head as Ron pulled Harry off of her. Ron was one of the few people who could control Harry without the need for magic, for which Hermione was highly grateful. The moment Harry was out of the way, Hermione was ready to Stun the pathetic creature across from her. Yet, before she could form the words, Hermione's jaw dropped once more and her stomach turned in disgust. She looked to her side, at Ron and Harry, who was struggling like the damned against Ron's grip. She could just make out, Harry muttering something. "…I want her to die… She killed him… She took her away… I want to kill her…" Hermione's eyes wandered back to the crumpled form of Bellatrix Lestrange and comprehension flooded her. Harry was still strangling her. Bellatrix still struggled, albeit now with much less enthusiasm, for air. Harry was still strangling her, but now he was doing it with magic. "Harry, you have to stop," Hermione whispered, her eyes unable to break away from Bellatrix's face. Harry was yelling now, as Bellatrix's movements slowed further. "She killed Sirius, and she took Ginny away from me! I want her to die," he choked out. "I'm right here," Ginny said harshly as she picked herself off the floor and crossed over and placed herself in front of Harry. "I'm right here," she repeated sternly, before she clamped her lips down upon Harry's. "Ginny!" Ron called out in surprise. Hermione, on the other hand, realised instantly what was going on and looked to Bellatrix for confirmation. Just as Hermione had thought, Bellatrix had stopped all of her struggling, and she seemed quite still on the stone floor. Looking back at Harry, Hermione's suspicions were confirmed. Harry was breathing heavily and staring down at his feet. He was definitely not using magic against Bellatrix anymore. As Ginny squatted down on the floor to check on Bellatrix, Hermione followed her with her eyes. She joined the redhead on the floor next to their common enemy. That was a very clever way for her to get Harry out of that trance. Picking up Bellatrix's wrist with one hand, and keeping her wand on her with the other, Hermione checked for the woman's pulse. Once satisfied, she dropped both the wrist and her wand hand. She met Ginny's eyes and then Ron's before whispering, "She's dead." A thick silence fell on the hallway. "Come on," Harry said in a hollow voice, after a moment. He stepped over Bellatrix's body and offered a hand to Ginny. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "Are you hurt?" Ginny shook her head negatively as she accepted Harry's hand and lifted herself off the floor. Hermione did note that the redheaded woman was suspiciously supporting her shoulder as though she was, in fact, hurt. Harry started walking down the corridor, back towards the main hall, distractedly rubbing at his forehead. "Ooph! Ron!" Ginny exclaimed, causing Hermione to look back at the two redheaded siblings. Ron had grabbed Ginny, and was now holding her in what looked like a bone crushing hug. Ron was muttering something into his sister's ear, and Ginny's face grew serious. Hermione strained her ears to hear what her husband was saying, taking a step towards them in the process. "She told me you were dead… they'd killed you." "Ron, I…" Ginny started, as she hugged her brother back with incredible force. "Let's go!" Harry's voice echoed against the corridor's walls making Hermione practically leap out of her skin. "You're not safe here." Hermione knew Harry was right, but that didn't stop her from silently cursing him anyway for breaking up this family reunion. Quickly, she gathered Malfoy's limp form, making sure it followed the four through the labyrinthic halls of the dark castle. They walked at a fast pace through empty corridor after empty corridor. Down eerily silent stairwells and through deserted rooms. And then it happened. Harry dropped to his knees, clutched his hands on his forehead, and let out a sound Hermione would not soon, if ever, forget. The noise that came out of Harry's mouth was almost inhuman, and Hermione thought Harry had died. A moment later, Harry fell silent. He wavered on his knees briefly before he pushed himself back to his feet. Harry turned slowly, to face his friends, and Hermione noted that there was something… grave etched in his eyes. She couldn't place what it was, but she knew that something had changed drastically in that last minute. "Get out," Harry rasped through struggled breaths. "Get yourselves out. Make sure Ginny gets out. I… Get yourselves out to safety. I-I…" He paused briefly. "Be safe." With one last look at his friends, Harry fled down the hall, deeper into the labyrinth, and Hermione suddenly knew what the look in his eyes had meant. It was the look of a man who was saying goodbye to his friends. It was the look of a man who knew he was about to die. Before Hermione could call out, a blur of long red hair flew past her, in pursuit of the raven-haired man with the look of death. For a moment, she stared, horrified as her friends disappeared into the dark… but only for a moment. Hermione shook herself from her stupor and locked eyes with Ron, and she knew instantly that they would, without a doubt, follow their best-friend as they always had and always would. * A/N: This chapter took a very long time for me to write, so I want to thank everyone for being so patient with me while I was working on it. I had an incredibly busy summer, and couldn't find much time to write. I hope the long wait wasn't in vain, and that you enjoyed reading this chapter. Thank you to Jalyn, Julie and Ranee for all the help with working out the kinks.
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