Future of Ruin

By: Harkon

Fandom: harry potter

Summary: Harry Potter has been reincarnated more times than he can count, always to stop a mad man. Now, the world has been ravaged by nuclear war, and nothing will ever be as it once was.

Status: Completed

Fic type: Books/Harry Potter

Pairings/Main char.: Harry P., Hermione G.

Published: 2013-05-20

Last updated: 2016-01-02

Words count: 83,561

Chapters count: 20

Converted using www.FF2EBOOK.com
Date: 2020-09-21

1. The Beginning

Hello Folks, this is the first story I've written here in a very long time, and the first ever under this name. So enjoy the ride and let me know what you think. Grammar Nazis are welcome but will not be taken seriously, and flamers will be used to stoke my fireplace.

Disclaimer: Legally this does nothing but no, I'm not an exceedingly rich British woman, and I never will be, I lack the proper equipment.

Prologue: There and back again... and again.

The twisted skyline that once marked the great city of London lay in ruin. This burned out husk had stood this way for centuries. I can remember it burning. Of all the ways I pictured the world ending I never once would have blamed it on the muggles. Throughout the eons I have protected this world time and again. Always born as the seven month dies, and always only when the world is threatened by a great madman that could see its destruction. But I have no power to fight bombs; radiation, and the total destruction of civilization was not something I could prevent. In some ways; all this ruin is my fault.

This is one of the bad times. I don't know why I have been called back, especially after being left to sleep for so long. My only guess is that he must have woken up with me. Growing up in this hellish landscape wasn't easy, but at least this time I had my memories. You see, every so often, when fate decides to throw me a bone, I get to remember, everything. I remember a grand castle in the Scottish wilderness, friends, classes, and magic all around. I can remember a thousand years before that, founding the very same school, even though my name was different. I can even remember growing up in a mud hut before the written language was invented. Through everything, I have always had my magic. A powerful force that sweeps around me, bending to my will, allowing me to create and change matter with a thought. In this age it seems stronger than it has before, more primal as well.

Every time I awaken I know he has as well. Sometimes I believe I've only been brought back to stop him, or die trying. I've done both more times then I'd like to remember. But, I've spent 23 years wandering this wasteland and I have never layed eyes on him. I can feel him though, like a deep ache in my bones.

A thunderous crash sounds out deep within the ruined city, a booming roar that shatters the few remaining windows scattered about. I look up from my perch atop a dilapidated building and my eyes narrow at the sight. Since muggles ended the world some seven centuries ago, magical society collapsed. We were so few in number even our magic couldn't protect us from the destruction the muggles wrought with their nuclear bombs. This included the statue of secrecy, and the protection we gave to the magical creatures of this world. What I am seeing would have been a dragon in the past, but now it was a true monster. Its wings were stunted and twisted, this monster had never flown. Extra eyes, some of them seeing, others milky whit and blind, dotted its reptilian face and neck. It was impossible to tell what variation of dragon this particular beast descended from, but it was blind with rage, and probably pain. Large sores dotted its bus sized body, and scales were either falling off in places, or had fused together like some plate of armor.

It was crashing about, smashing into buildings and spitting out small spurts of a sickly orange fire. It was hurting itself more than anything else, and I was content to let it have its tantrum when a scream reached my ears. I leapt off of my high spot, using magic to guide me safely to the ground and cushion my fall before taking off at a dead run. Magic was different this time. This time I am without a wand, but in some ways, it suits me better, feels more natural. I leap up into the air and use my magic to push myself forward, fading into a gray cloud as I use a quick combat style of apparition to appear mere feet from the beast. Its kicking up dust and rubble in its pursuit of a young woman, no older then I look. I raise my hand and a thick, three foot long spike of ice shoots from my palm and lodges itself under the creatures arm, burying itself in its flesh.

The woman shrieked again, either in terror or at what I had done directly, and turned and bolted as the mutie dragon turned to face me. I raised up both of my hands and a blue shield swirled around me in enough time to catch the perverted dragon's fire that the monster managed to spit at me. I kill the shield and roll behind an old boulder that once was part of a wall to a book store before poking my head back out and lash out with spinning blades of dark crackling magic.

The blasts tear into the beast, one of them cleaving its fore leg from its body, another burying itself in its maw before losing momentum. It roared in pain and anger as a great rush of dark, putrid blood pooled beneath it. The beast lurches forward and swiped at me with its one remaining front leg. I jump backwards and flip up and over my boulder, easily avoiding the attack as the monster collapses.

It whines pitifully and struggles for a moment before lying still, panting as it dies. I walkeover to the beast, confident that the will to fight had left it, and rest my hand on its head. I saw brief flashes of its life as it dies. Younger, and healthier. Parents that cared for it and loved it. It seems like some of these mutations were finally stabilizing. At least for the dragons.

I send one last blast of pure magic into the crazed animal's brain to put it out of its misery. I could feel that this beast was still flowing with magic so I made a choice. With a few swipes of my hand I pried apart its chest, mostly warped and flaking scales, and give a little 'come here' motion with my finger. Its heart jumps out of its chest with a wet pop and hovers in front of me. After giving it a once over, and deciding that it was more or less a normal dragon heart, a drop it down into the bag I always carry, you never know, maybe I could make a serviceable wand with it one day. The woman I had saved was no where in sight. It wasn't hard to understand why either. With technology barely above the bronze age in sophistication, she probably believed she was losing her mind. Even to this day, I have seen muggles deny the existence of magic, even when its thrust in their faces. The population had dwindled greatly, with only a few million people across the whole world, and only a few hundred wizards amongst them. The few I have managed to speak to at least knew of their history. Some pockets of magicals had survived better than others, but no one was doing very well. I move on from the dead dragon and head for the outskirts of London.

I had been searching the last six or seven years for some way to reverse the damage that had been done but to no avail. It seemed to me that the planet was slowly sorting itself out, but things would never be how they had been. With mutation as bad as it was, it was a wonder any pure animals existed at all anymore. The sun had begun to set as I reached the borders that had once been London. I decided to camp for the night in a clearing just outside London. I would see what the morning brought me.

I awake in a cold sweat. Nightmares haunt me constantly, no matter how long I've lived, regardless of my current incarnation, I always have the nightmares. Usually they star him my ever present antagonist, but last night, it was different. I haven't dreamed of Hermione Granger in a very long time. She was a brilliant witch, the smartest of her age, and she was taken from our world unjustly.

When she was in her early twenties she was offered an apprenticeship to work in the Department of Mysteries, an old area within Britain's wizarding government. She hadn't been there long before an accident occurred. A spell she had been researching backfired right in her face and she was erased out of existence. We never found out what happened to her exactly, but the best minds at the time concluded that she probably slipped into the space between realities, and would probably drift their forever.

I had nightmares about her for years, crying out, floating in an endless void of pure darkness as things that didn't truly exist reached out to touch her, torture her. Last night was the first time in this life that I've had such a dream, and probably the first one I've had in my last four incarnations. Something about Hermione always stuck with me. She was just so uniquely her own person that she'd be impossible to forget.

I sigh and try to let the nightmare go before standing and trying to stretch the kinks out of my body. With a quick summoning charm and a flick of my wrist I have a nice fire started and dig through my pockets (much bigger on the inside than the out) and pull out an old nap sack that has some food in it. Mutie chicken doesn't taste that bad as long as you make sure not to pop the venom sacs while you're fixing it.

After I've eaten I stand and leave my little clearing in this dead stretch of forest and head back out on the road. Much of my time is spent like this, just traveling about, helping where I can and always keeping an eye out for Him. I've had a few leads and hunches over the years as to what he might be up to but nothing concrete, and I've never been able to sense him either. I run a hand through my unruly black hair and frown at the feeling of the scar that crosses my forehead. I always have this scar. If I am born with it I will remember who I am by the time I reach my fifth birthday. If not then I more then likely never find out who I truly am and live a life or ignorance, at least until I die. The scar holds us together somehow. He has one similar to it along the inside of his left arm, but for the life of me I can't remember how we came about them. We are both so very old its quite possible we've merely forgotten their significance.

I crest a hill in this forlorn world and spot a small settlement in the distance. It goes by the name of Good Springs these days, but I always remember it as Chelmsford. I don't believe anyone has called it that in over seven hundred years now. Most of the original town is rubble now, but there is a small population living in a collection of buildings near the edge of the town. It once boasted a population of over a hundred thousand, now it has a population of a few hundred. There are armed guards at a make shift gate and they eye my suspiciously as I approach.

One of them, barely out of his teens calls out to me. "Halt, state your name and intention!" He sounds Serious.

"My name is Harry Potter, I come seeking shelter and trade. Not doing anything more then passing through mate, won't have any trouble out of me." I guess dreaming about Hermione last night set that about; Harry Potter is only one of many names I could have given, but it was always one of my favorites for some reason.

The older of the two guards approached me. "Lift up your coat." I did so and I spread it open for good measure. The only weapon I had that he would be able to see is an old sidearm I carry with me, He eyes me for a second but seems to relax some. Everyone owns a gun now after all. They let me through after their inspection and tell me to behave myself if I don't want to end up with a bullet in me.

The little town is kept pretty clean and orderly, a tiny slice of civilization surrounded by wild country and monsters. There aren't shops exactly, any of the buildings still standing are used more like community housing, but there are little booths set up selling goods. Mostly things like food and clothes, people in this day and age are concerned about what it takes to stay alive, not about having fun.

A few kids are running around though, playing with guns carved out of wood. Its been a while since I've seen any children, growing up in this world is no easy task. I walk up to one of the booths and fish a few stray bullets out of my pocket to trade with. I'm able to get a bag of fried squirrel and a couple of mutie apples. The apples are about a third bigger than the normal ones and are orange with yellow stripes. I take a bite out of one while stashing the rest of my lunch. Its extremely sweet and has a hint of a caramel taste.

I stand their eating my apple and watching the kids play for a moment before moving on, heading down the road to the only building not used for normal housing. Its a clinic of sorts, but the doctors have no real medical training, just trial and error. I always visit places like this first. I walk around, laying a hand on a man's shoulder that has a broken leg. In A few days it will be healed. A pat the hand of an older woman and her 'doctors' will discover that the infection that was going to kill her in a week was starting to clear up rapidly.

There isn't much I can do for this world. The people are so scattered and divided on everything, it will take centuries before they might start trusting each other enough to band together. But I can help the sick and hurt where I find them. With just a subtle bit of magic I can help ease their pain and get them fixed much faster then they would naturally.

I head back outside in enough time to catch some sort of fight going on. A woman is being accosted by one of the guards that also acts as the police here. Apparently she tried to steal food from one of the vendors, and theft is a capitol crime here. I approach them and realize its the same woman I saved from yesterday.

"I'm sorry alright? I'm just hungry, didn't have anything to trade with." She looks pitiful, lanky and staggering. I smell a certain kind of rot on her that tells me she's suffering from radiation poisoning as well.

"Tha's 'sides the point. We don't put up with thieves here so you're either gonna pay for it or I'll throw you out of town on yer arse and you won't ever get back in!" He's holding her by the upper arm and is trying to grab at the loaf of bread she's clutching.

"No need for that now. I'll pay for it." I pull out some more bullets and a small bag of herbs I've collected used for healing. "Is this enough?" He eyes me suspiciously, inspecting my bullets and giving my bag of herbs a sniff before letting her go with a nod.

"Its right good of this bloke to do that for ya. If I catch you stealin' again yer gonna be out on yer arse."

He walks away to pay the vendor and I face the woman. By the way her eyes widen I can tell she recognizes me from yesterday. "B-but, you ain't dead mister?"

"Nah, takes more than a rascal like that. I gave him a spanking and sent him running home to his mummy. Its Harry by the way." I reach out and shake her hand, using my magic to pull the radiation from her body as I do so.

"Well its awfully kind of you mister. I couldn't help me self. I've just been so hungry these last few days. I thought I was getting sick, but I actually feel a bit better now."

"I understand, we're all hungry. Just try not to let it happen again." I give her another look over and I'm satisfied that I drew enough radiation out that she should be fine now.

She totters off to go find a place to eat and I continue on down the street. There's not much for me to do in little places like this. I just go about trying to help people before moving on. Much of this life has been spent this way, with the people so divided I imagine he has had a hard time gathering followers this time around. The man has always bee a monster, and he always wants his minions.

I head into a little tented off area that serves as a bar. If there's one thing people haven't forgotten how to do its how to make alcohol. I lay a bullet down on the table and ask for a glass. I'm mostly here for information. The bear of a bartender approaches me and fill up a dusty glass with something that might be whiskey, but is much stronger. "Have any news I might find interesting?" bars are always a good place to here things, especially given the lack of newspapers in this world.

"Not much 'round here mate. Same old same old for the most part. I did here somethin' interesting about a place on up the road though." I sit up a little straighter and motion for him to continue. "Well, 'bout a week ago a fella come in here talking about this guy up in Cornick, that's about a hundred miles north of here if you didn't know. He says there's this man up there by the name of Tom that's been doing a lot of talkin'. Says he can help the town flourish and prosper. The guy said he did some fancy magic tricks and had the whole town eating out of his hand. Sounds like a tosser if you ask me."

I'm perfectly still. The name Tom echoes in my memory for a minute before settling. Tom Riddle. It could be nothing, just a coincidence, but I will have to make sure. If he's using magic on these people then they'll probably do anything he wants. "Any clue what he did?"

"Oh that fella told me he made a little crippled boy walk. Probably somebody he brought with him in on the scam."

"Yeah, yeah that's probably it." I down my drink, suddenly feeling like I need it, before heading back out the door. I stop at a few more booths on my way out of town to grab some more food and then I'm on my way. The bartender said Cornick is about a hundred miles north of here so that's the direction I'm heading. Throughout my many lives I've been almost everywhere a person could want to go. But I don't recognize the name Cornick so I'll have to walk instead of apparate. Trying to apparate somewhere without knowing exactly where you were going was always a very bad idea.

In no time I'm back out on the road and leaving Chelmsford behind me. I'm heading for Cornick.

END

Well what do you guys think? If people find this interesting I'll of course write more, if not I might write more anyway. It might seem a bit slow for now but it'll pick up once the main conflict gets rolling. I always wanted to right Harry in the apocalypse, hopefully the way I put him there is at least a little original.

2. Never Pick Up A Hitchhicker

Chapter 1: Never Pick up a Hitchhicker

Arch 1: Harry Potter and the Temporal Crack

A/N: I seemed to get a fair bit a traffic for the last chapter, and a couple of nice reviews to go with it so here we go, the first official chapter 1. If everything goes according to plan in this story it will be comprised of several 'story archs.' Meaning that essentially their will be little stories that take place within the larger scope of the tale. Some of them may only be a few chapters long, some of them will be much longer. As another note, I'm not from England, so my geography is going to be off, but given the time in which this story takes place, not much is going to look the same as it does now. Anyway, on to the good stuff and the reason you're here.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, promise.

It never ceases to amaze me how different the world always is when I wake up. Especially this time. After being 'asleep' for nearly a thousand years I might as well be on an alien planet inhabited with humans. The landscape has changed dramatically, some cities still stand in places but they're crumbling ruins of a far more advanced culture than the ones currently dotting the globe. Where parks once stood for children to play, now there are small forests, and grasslands that grow taller than I am. In some ways its more peaceful because there are so few people in comparison to how it used to be. But in other ways its far more dangerous too, especially since everyone owns a gun now.

I'm humming an old tune called Hey Jude to myself and walking down a gravel path that used to be a highway. Nature has reclaimed what man has taken from it. I'm guessing that all the radiation had an odd effect on the plant life since I don't recognize most of the trees anymore. They grow extremely fast now, I've actually sat and watched as a bush grew its way along a road in a matter of hours. And the leaves of some of these strange trees are massive, as long as my arm or longer in some cases. Towering evergreens now only grow about a meter tall, but there are millions upon millions of them. And the wildlife has evolved right along with it. I'm sure there was a period of adjustment, but life will find a way. Besides, its cool seeing monkeys in England, even if they have two tails and threes eyes a piece.

I'm about to stop for the night and set up a little tent I have stowed away in one of my pockets when I catch a whiff of smoke in the air. It could be a natural fire, but most of the leaves on these trees have a distinctly sweet smell to them when burnt; this is a campfire built with just the wood. I decide to keep walking and soon spot the orange glow of a fire up ahead and just off the road.

I approach quietly at first, some men have become monsters in this day and age and I'd rather leave them to their own mercies instead of having to kill them if I can. My fears are put to rest as I see a family of three sitting around the fire about to put something on to cook. I start making much more noise as I approach, not wanting to give them a shock.

The father hears me first and grabs for an old hunting rifle he's kept near by. "Who's there? I don't want to hurt anyone, so if you mean us harm I suggest you keep walking."

I raise my hands up in the sign of surrender as I step out into their little clearing. "No harm meant, just curious and traveling, that's all." He seems to relax at seeing how young I look and lowers his gun.

"That's a good way to get shot these days lad. We could have been bandits, or god forbid, cannibals for all you knew."

I give him my best smile. "I wasn't too worried, I scoped you guys out before approaching. If you looked the mean sort I'd have went on my merry way."

He nods and sets his gun down, his wife and son are starting to look relaxed again. "I really don't mean to bother you all. I'm more than happy to move on if it would make you lot more comfortable."

The man waves away my comment and approaches me with his hand out to shake. "My name is Alex, and this is my wife Tabby, and our son Marcus."

I shake his hand. "I'm Harry, Its a pleasure to meet all of you. I smelled your campfire and just thought I'd come and take a look." They have what looks like a small tent made out of animal hides set up behind the fire. It can be put up and taken down in a hurry, and is durable enough to keep any weather out. "Are you all traveling? There's a nice little town about ten miles on down the road. They usually let anybody in as long as you promise to behave yourself."

The relief I see in his eyes is evident. "We were part of a little community up until about a week ago. Strange things kept happening at home, and it seemed like it was getting more and more dangerous by the day so we left. I have Tabby and Marcus to think about, I don't want them hurt." He looked around nervously. "Of course, I can't say we're any better off out here really."

I nod in agreement. "This world is a tough one to grow up in that's for sure. The town up ahead is called Good Springs. I'm sure they'd be happy to take you in as long as you can make yourself useful and don't cause any trouble. There's quite a lot of kids around Marcus' age too."

The little boy looks up at his father with a hopeful smile. "Can we see it daddy? Can we go to the town Mister Harry is talking about?"

He shares a look with his wife and nods to his son. "We'll head that way first thing in the morning son." He turns back to me with a smile. "Would you like to stay for dinner Harry?"

"As long as its no trouble I don't see why not. Any chance you'd be up to telling me whats going on where you're from. Strange things have always interested me."

"I don't think that will be any problem at all." We set about getting dinner ready. Alex retrieves a skinned animal from around behind the tent. Its about the size of a large dog, but its built more like a bear, thick and knotted with muscle. I'm sure its some new species that's popped into existence over the last thousand years but I choose not to comment on it. I pull out a knife from around my belt and proceed to quickly cut it up into different pieces, seasoning it with some herbs I've collected before placing it on a spit over the fire. With a little bit of subtle magic on my part I coax my heat out of the flames and the animal is soon roasting.

"So why don't you tell me some about what's been happening at your old home while we wait for this fella to cook?" I take a seat in front of the fire with the family and wait on Alex.

He takes a drink of water from an old battered cup before speaking. "About a month ago a strange storm came over us. There were no clouds but lightning struck no less then nine times in the exact same spot. There's a black crater in the ground from it. Within a day or two the lightning had reappeared and just seemed to float in the air over the spot. It would shimmer like a mirage, coming in and out of focus at different times during the day. Then we started to hear strange noises coming from the lightning."

"what do you mean by strange noises?"

"Growling and scratching sounds, like a wild dog trying to get into your house at night, but much, much larger." Alex looked shook up at the thought of it and ran his hand through his long red hair. "Then, one morning we saw claw marks at the base of the crater, like something was trying to escape a cage, before being pulled back in."

I sit quietly for a few minutes, digesting what he had told me. I really wanted to follow up on this Tom fellow, to see if it was really him, but it sounded like something very serious was going on there. "Could you point me in the direction of where you used to live. Might sound a bit barmy, but I'm curious to see it for myself."

Alex looked at me like I'd lost my mind. "I wouldn't suggest it. About half of us left last week. Some were to stubborn to move on, but I don't know if you'll find anyone there now."

I give him my best winning smile. "That's fine, like I said, I just want a quick peek before heading on. I have pressing business up north anyway; I couldn't stay long."

He tells me where to go as I pull our meat off of the fire and pass hearty chunks around to everybody. "Its just West of here. Probably ten or twelve miles. The trail forks a few hundred yards farther down. Just take the left path and you'll be on your way."

After what he told me we all sit around and eat. After the serious conversation I decide to lighten the mood and tell them all some stories of me growing up in this wasteland of a world. I always seem to be an orphan too, no matter how many times I ride this rodeo.

After we eat I bid them fair well, reminding them again which direction Good Springs is in. I take another hour or two of walking; balls of white light hover in front of me to show me the way. Later on I set up camp off the road by about half of a mile and bunk down for the night, sending out a short prayer to who ever might be listening for no nightmares tonight.

THIS IS A SCENE BREAK

The next morning I jerk awake in a cold sweat, more nightmares starring Hermione. I really gotta stop using the name Harry Potter for a while, its giving me to much of a headache. I stand and get dressed before heading outside and collapsing my tent, storing it in one of my huge pockets. I'm not very hungry after the nightmares I've been having so I decide to hit the road again.

The trip is uneventful. 10 miles is not much traveling distance anymore, people have gotten used to going it on foot these days. Its a miracle to find a horse that is pure stock anymore. The muties are way to aggressive and can be unpredictable.

As noon draws near I can see smoke rising up in the distance, several different plumes of it. I decide to enter town in my animagus form first to get a feel for things. One second I'm a young handsome wizard powerful enough to take on the world. The next I'm a massive gray wolf with a patch of white across my face. I slink up the road in a run and make my way between two dwellings to lie down in the brush; and see what I can see. There are six people standing out between the little houses, two of them are arguing about something.

"We can't stay here! You've seen what's happening. Any day now somethin' awful with big teeth is gonna spring up out of the ground and eat us all!"

"I've lived here for thirty years and I ain't movin' now. Ain't no damn thing gonna come out the ground. Just the lightning makin' noise you pussy!"

Two men were the cause of all the noise. One of them looked relatively young, probably around thirty. The other one was old, what hair he had was white. He had to be pushing sixty at least, and that's damn impressive in this world.

The younger of the two gives the old fella a shove. "Fine! Piss on ya then! I tried to convince your old arse to leave with us but you can just stay and rot!" He stomped off into one of the houses, another person, I'm assuming his wife, went in with him. After the old man made it back to his feet, grumbling about today's youth, a few more people walked out and looked around. The little village had about ten people still living there. One would have been enough for me to stop and help.

I Slip back into the woods a ways before shifting back into my human form and reentering the village, this time by the main entrance. Everyone stops and stares at me as I approach them all. They're skittish, and I can tell no one has been sleeping well lately. One of the younger men pulls out a side arm. Nothing quite as Impressive or powerful as the revolver I carry at my side, but bullets tend to kill regardless of what size they are.

"Whoa now, I don't mean you guys any harm. I was just down the road and heard an argument and thought I'd come see what was happening."

"Well you can just keep walkin' and mind your own damn business." The young man, I realize now that he's probably no older than sixteen points his gun at me. And older woman walks up behind him and smacks him on the back of the head.

"Put the damn gun down junior, before you shoot your foot off." He looks abashed and quickly holsters the gun.

"Sorry mum, we're all a little jumpy." She sighs and rolls her eyes at her son.

"Excuse my boy sir, he gets a little big for his pants sometimes. Takes after his father, just doesn't have the muscle to back it up yet." She ruffles his hair and approaches me, ready to shake hands.

"My name is Jean, my boy there is Arthur."

I gladly shake her hand. "My name's Harry. If you don't mind me asking, what was the fighting over?" She glances back over her shoulder and I realize I can see blue light faintly dancing through a thin patch of trees.

"Maybe it would be easier to show you Harry, I doubt you'd believe me otherwise."

I smile at her, she reminds me of an old friend's mother, damned if I can remember his name though. "You might be surprised. I saw a lizard the size of a bus a few days ago. Not much is surprising anymore."

She laughs. "A bus? Well, we don't have any big lizards around here, just follow me and take a look." She guides me through the center of the little village and into the clearing through the little patch of trees. My heart leaps into my throat at the sight of it.

A patch of electricity about two meters across and three meters tall is floating in mid air over a patch of burnt and indented earth. Its swirling and spinning. The slight smell of ozone accompanies it and so does a slight buzzing sound.

"Has anyone touched it yet?" Jean looks at me like I'm crazy.

"No, no way in hell. We've all been staying away from it. Been able to ignore it for the most part, but now, with the noise-" as if the floating ball of electricity doesn't like being talked about, a deep angry growl issues forth from the electricity. I can see the claw marks that Alex mentioned the night before.

Cautiously I approach the floating mass of electricity. With a thought I use my magic to allow me to see the energy issuing from the mass. In ages past it was called mage sight, but I doubt there's another soul alive that knows that term, well, maybe one other.

As I feared it looks to be a tear in the space time continuum. A hole tore open from who knows what. Right now it was very unstable. It didn't open up to any time in particular, but I could tell that it was adjusted for the past, nothing from the future would step through. I looked closer at the massive swirls of energy coursing around and realized something. You see, most tears like this are tiny, microscopic in size actually, and they're fairly common. This one somehow ballooned to a million times the normal size, and it seemed to be stabilizing on its own. That could still be dangerous. The last thing I want would be for someone like Hitler to come waltzing through with a couple dozen tanks. Compared to today's level of technology, he'd be almost a god to these people.

While the tear stabilized, it would open up to several different periods in history, probably for just a few seconds each. Unfortunately, I don't think I could close it if I tried. Time is a fickle thing. The only other thing I could really tell is that this is the end point of the tear, I wouldn't be able to travel backwards, only something in the past could come forwards.

"This thing is a nasty piece of work. Keep everyone back please."

"Why, do you know what it is?" Jean looked very confused and slightly afraid.

"Just trust me for a few minutes, I'm going to approach it." I stretched out my magic until it was focused into an invisible glove over my left hand, hopefully it would protect me. I walked forward, and after a moment's hesitation, I stuck a finger into the tear. As I suspected, it wouldn't take me anywhere, what it did was much worse.

A thousand images flashed in my mind all at once, It felt like eternity and only a moment at the same time. I grit my teeth and pull my hand away, which is smoking slightly and looks several years older than the rest of me. I look at it fascinated as I take in the additional wrinkles and wear on my hand before it reverses itself and returns to normal. If I had been anyone else what I had just seen would have driven me insane. Lucky for me I've already lived through most of history, I guess lucky anyway.

"You guys need to stay back away from this thing. It could very well kill you if you stumbled and fell into it." I shake my hand to get the rest of the tingling to stop and turned to face Jean.

"Do you have an idea as to what it is? No offense Harry, but it seems awfully strange for you to come along like this right when we were all about to pack up and leave."

"I ain't going anywhere!" The old man spoke up again.

"Shut up Horace, no one cares!" Jean's reply sends a nervous laugh through the small group.

"To be honest with you I met Alex up the road a ways and he explained what was happening here. I decided to take a look for myself."

I turn back to the tear and study it again, wondering how it got here.

"Do you know what it is? We're kinda desperate. Most of us have lived in this little community most of our lives. We're small so no one bothers us, and they're hasn't been any danger around in years. Well, other than the wildlife."

"Yeah I know what it is Jean." I take a deep breath and sigh, here comes the hard part. But at least the statue of secrecy hasn't been around in centuries to muddle things up. "Its a tear in time. Essentially this is one end of a tunnel, the other end is constantly fluctuating through time, so just about anything could walk through it from any when."

Despite the fact that Jean is probably not very well educated, she seems very intelligent and grasps the concept.

"But how is that possible? And how do you know?"

"Your first question is harder to answer. Usually these things are so small you can't even see them, they're not big enough for even a bug to fly through. I honestly have no idea how this one got so big. Your second question is much easier to answer. I'm a wizard."

The people around me stop their murmuring and stare at me like I've grown an extra head, or maybe two for that matter. "That's horse shit! A wizard? Do you take us all for a group of idiots?" Its Jean's son again. His mouth seems to be to big for his face.

In response I flick my wrist at him and he shifts and changes rapidly into a pig. After squealing loudly and taking off in a run away from me I wave my hand and he shifts back, stumbling and falling since he is no longer built to run on four legs.

"We have always existed, since long before the great cataclysm that changed this world so very much. But we are far and few between, especially these days." I wait for their reaction. Sometimes I'm chased off when I tell people I'm a wizard, sometimes they try to worship me like a god. The latter is when I leave voluntarily.

Jean looks at her son to make sure nothing was hurt but his pride before turning back to me. She walks closer, almost close enough to touch me.

"Will you help us?"

Well there you have it folks. I know these chapters aren't super long, but I'm just now getting back into the swing of writing from a long hiatus, so I expect them to grow in size as I get the hang of things again. Any questions that don't interfere with the plot will be addressed at the beginning of the next chapter. As I side note the reason Harry told everyone he's a wizard is because to help them, he's going to have to use magic. Better to get the explanation out of the way first instead of worrying Thank you to all the people out there that read this, even if you didn't leave any reviews, I'm fine with that. But I would like to know what you all think, so if you feel up to it, leave me a comment with that button down there at the bottom of the page.

Til next time.

Preview of a future chapter:

I look at the beasts before me, eyes sharp and slanted. A clicking sound issues from their throats as they look me over, a deadly intelligence glinting in their eyes. The creatures, each standing at least eight feet tall, tense before they pounce.

"I fucking hate dinosaurs."

3. Time begets Time

The Following is a Note from the author: Hey everybody, This story is getting some nice feedback. And I had one complaint that I would like to address.

The Explanation thus follows:

When Nightmares plague the Eldest One,

a choking sickness blots the sun,

Mother Earth lies wounded, cursed,

An evil comes, it is the first,

time and time again,

It casts brother against brother, and friend against friend.

But a relic from the Eldest's past,

will come for him, swift and fast,

In his greatest time of need,

******** will come for him and he'll be freed.

With the greatest power seen before,

he'll make the evil Nevermore.

Yes, that is a prophecy, and it is important. That's all I'm saying so far.

On with the story.

Chapter 2: Time Begets Time

The sun is rising up over the treetops in this little out of the way place. It seems quite peaceful at first. The people aren't too rowdy, its out of the way, and its small enough that raiders and bandits don't usually bother with it. I stretch the soreness out of my muscles and my neck pops with a satisfying crack. I fish out one of the home grown and rolled cigarettes Jean gave me the other day. It takes kinda like blue berries and gives me a light heady feeling. I don't smoke them very often, I know normal tobacco is addictive, its hard to tell what almost a thousand years of radiation has done to the plant too. Besides, smoking purple tobacco just seems strange.

I snuff out the odd cigarette and turn to face the true problem of this little community. The lightning around the portal was constant now, and it had solidified into an oval that crackled with dark energy. I have seen and learned much in my travels, and I believe that the town's first temporal visitor would be arriving any moment now.

I ready myself by bringing my magic to the forefront of my mind. Its crackles and pops across my skin and dances between my fingers as the portal seems to swell, and the lightning becomes more unstable. The small group of people behind me are the ones more curious than scared of what might be stepping through.

With a loud snap a large splash of water came pouring through the portal and several large, insect like creatures came out with it. The animals almost looked identical to a modern scorpion, but they were huge in comparison. They stood at around a meter and a half tall at their backs and looked to weigh around 600 lbs each.

When they found their feet they began snapping their large pincers and darting their tails at anything around them. With a snap of my fingers they were hoisted up in the air. With the smallest gesture the large scorpions were compressed into a tiny spot to about the size of a knut. It dropped to the ground with an almighty thud and neatly buried itself several feet into the ground.

"Well at least that was easy." I looked up into the faces of a stunned and gaping crowd. "What?" I say with a grin. "Never seen magic before?"

The crowd slowly came out of their stupor and moved over to me.

"Those things would have torn us apart, thank you so much for stopping them. It may have been a small thing for you, but we are very grateful." Jean grasped my hand for a moment before letting it drop. "Anything you need while you're here and you'll have it."

I smile at her and shake my head. "I need no thanks, I was put here to help people. That you appreciate it is plenty thanks for me."

I look back at the portal and notice that it is very discreetly expanding and contracting, pulsing almost. With each pulse I could see that it was growing ever so slightly in size, preparing for the next time the portal touched a spot in history.

"Right then, this is only the beginning folks. I give the portal another six hours before it sends us a visitor. The only real way to keep this contained is if I deal with each threat individually while the portal expends its energy and then fades from existence. What comes through could be completely harmless, or it could be like those monsters we just saw. I promise that I will do all I can to keep the area safe while the portal slowly collapses itself. "

I look down at Jean and then over at Author. "In the mean time I'm starving, mind if I get a bite to eat real quick? And I'd like to ask you some questions, nothing to worry about, just curious if you know anything is all."

Jean nodded and led me back to the house. She fetched some chicken eggs and set a pan over the fireplace/stove. Within just a few minutes a large plate of scrambled eggs was sat in front of me.

"Feel free to ask me anything Harry, anything I can do to help you I will."

I smile at her as I take a bite of eggs and savior the taste. I should really invest in a chicken. "Like I said its nothing serious, I was just curious if you'd had any news lately. Specifically about a fella up North that claims to be able to commit miracles."

Jean sat in silence for only a moment before answering me. "We don't hear much out here. Don't get many travelers. Anybody that does come through usually only stops for a few hours before moving on. But now that you mention it, about six or seven months a young woman came in to our little town square area and was telling a few of us about this man that had been able to make a blind girl, no older than six, see with perfect clarity. The little girl had been born that way and the woman said she had cried when she opened her eyes."

I digested this information for a moment while I ate. I have met many wizards over the centuries that could heal damaged eyes, but they have always been powerful. As far as I know a lot of knowledge had been destroyed when the bombs changed the world all those years ago. I don't believe that particular piece of information survived. So it was someone that had found a cash of lost knowledge, or they'd somehow managed to rediscover that tricky piece of magic. Either way it was very worrisome.

"I see, was their anything else the woman mentioned?" I asked her as I ate the last of my eggs.

Jean thought about it for a moment and her boy entered. He gave me a quick glance halfway between fright and awe and quickly made his way out of the kitchen and into the house. "Not really, she did mention that he was handsome, with dark hair and eyes, but that's all I know Harry."

I sit in silence as I finish the rest of my breakfast. The eggs are good, if not a little strange, but most things are a little weird now. "Thanks for the gossip. I'm gonna go sit for a spell, see if I can't figure anything more about our portal." I make my way outside, grabbing my bag by the door as I do so, and head out for the little clearing where the vortex formed. A small group of people were loitering about, eying the thing warily. Not that I blamed them.

I sit down cross-legged, about three meters from the opening in time and space and start digging through my bag. I pulled out a length of white wood and an old jar, probably used for canning goods originally. Inside the jar are a few ropey lengths of meat, cleaned and trimmed dragon heart string. The wood was yew. Its the only sample of non-mutated wood I could find so far, and that's saying something considering I've been looking for decent wand material for fifteen years now.

My magic is as strong as ever, and I have no need for a wand, but you never know when I might find someone magical that might need the handy little tool. Most of the few wizards I've run across are using old family wands, that have been passed down through the generations. There are no wand makers left in the world. Those that don't have access to wands, but know of their magic, usually fashion crude foci out of whatever they can find that will channel magic. Its simple, and doesn't allow for more finessed magic, but it allows for more general things.

Using my magic I hoist the wood and the jar in the air. With a few simple hand gestures the heart strings have been removed from the jar and hover with the block of wood. I use my magic to split the wood cleanly down the middle and hollow out a spot for a length of dragon heart string. The small crowd is more focused on me than the portal now but I ignore them, attempting to concentrate of the task I've set myself.

About fourteen hundred years ago or so I was a wand maker that grew up on the outskirts of London. I was good at what I did, but I no longer have access to any of the proper tools necessary to craft a wand using the traditional method, so I'm trying something a little more naturalistic. I had a theory back in the day that if you used magic to craft a wand, it would cause the wand to be more in touch with magic itself, a 'natural wand' of you will. Speculation pointed out that perhaps the death stick, an incredibly powerful wand that was lost to time centuries ago, may have been created in this fashion.

I Snapped my fingers and one of the heart strings broke cleanly in two before it coiled itself tightly between the two halves of the yew wood. With a snap of my fingers the two halves jumped back together and fused without a seam. Within seconds I could feel the wood thrumming with magic and smiled, at least that part had worked. Very carefully, I began to shave off layers of the wood, saving the extra for later in hopes of making another wand. After some time spent doing this, The yew wood had taken the shape of a proper wand, thicker and blunt on one end to form a handle, and thinner, tapering to a point, on the other end.

"Just one more thing..." I have a bad habit of talking to myself while I work, I tend to block out the world around, at least to a certain extent. I pull a thin bladed dagger out of my bag and use my magic to allow it to float in the air. With quick precise cuts I carve a spiraling design into the handle and hid a few dozen runes in the design, stabilizers, cooling charms and strengtheners to ensure that it won't be easy to snap. I'll never understand why Olivander never used strengthening charms on his wands, the damn things tended to fall apart after a couple decades worth of use.

After about an hour's worth of work it was completed, or as completed as it could get given the circumstances. The wand was exactly fourteen inches long, with a mutie dragon heart string as a core. I pluck it out of the air and give it a few experimental swishes and flicks. Red and gold sparks shoot out of the end of the wand and I know I have succeeded. I point the wand at a nearby rock and mutter, "wingardium leviosa." The rock neatly jumps into the air and hovers their obediently. I smile, satisfied and happy that it worked, and store the wand back into my bag for later. The onlookers stand mesmerized at what I've done.

Jean's son, Author, walks up to me, looking a little scared and a lot curious. "Mister, if you don't mind me asking, what did you just make?" I turn to face him, slightly surprised that he built up the courage to speak directly to me, before answering.

"Centuries ago, before the world burned to a husk, wizards and witches, those born with magic, used to have something called a focus to channel this very powerful force of nature. They were called wands. One part comes for a tree that has some kind of magic deep within it. The yew for instance, is best for channeling defensive and offensive magic. The second aspect of a wand is the core. The core was usually taken from a magical animal, phoenixes, dragons, and unicorns were very popular for the longest time."

"When the world changed, a lot of information was lost, including wand craft. I happen to know how to make them, but materials are so scarce these days this is the first one I've managed to craft in decades. In essence, this would help a magic user to point or direct their magic, think of it as a tool to help focus a person's natural magic into what they want."

Author looked perplexed but he nodded anyway before heading back towards his mother's house. The others started to move on and go back to their business, none of them seemed to quite grasp what I was talking about. Not that I could blame them, I have a tendency to over explain things.

I spent the rest of the day testing out the wand and keeping a close eye on the portal, every so often it would bulge and emit a groaning sound, like it was trying to give birth, but so far nothing else had come out of it. As the sun started setting and the sky took on a dusty orange color, the portal began to rapidly expand and contract, and the electricity dancing around it grew more violent. I stood up and dusted off my pants, expecting something to be coming through any second now.

The portal grew and then shrunk, expanding several times its own size before settling back down to about normal. With one last gurgling groan the portal stretched outwards, growing to be nearly five meters tall, and twice that far across. Something huge slithered out of the portal. It had two arms and legs, but they were extended, long and warped looking. Its skin was an ashen gray color, and seemed to be molted, flaked, and peeling. It had no eyes, nor any place where any eyes would have been, just a dimpled and pockmarked slab of skin above two ragged holes that I assumed were its nose. The things mouth was proportionately much larger than it should have been, with an open swinging jaw and needle like teeth that were rotting and decaying.

It released a shriek and I realized I could feel magic, raw and primal, rolling of the monster. The few people that were outside screamed at the sight of the hideous thing and most of them took off running. It seemed that the portal had drug some sort of prehistoric monster out of the primordial past. For all I know this thing was the first thing born that could wield magic. If I had to guess it was some sort of distant ancestor of a wendigo, perhaps a few thousand generations removed from its present counterpart.

It stood up to its full height and stretched. I'd say it was about four meters tall, and at least a meter across at the shoulders. Its body looked frail and powerful at the same time, bones protruded from under the skin, but hard muscles ran along its from as well, the creature was built to look like this. A deep moan escaped it ragged mouth and it inhaled deeply from its nose, a nasty, whistling flapping sound.

It turned to face me, even though it couldn't see me and snarled. Suddenly the air dropped twenty degrees and the sky darkened. A slight glow grew from the creature. I felt a slight itching sensation behind my eyes and then I heard a voice.

"Come to me, become one with me and it will end. Pain will be but a distant memory, bliss awaits you." The monster had one hand stretched out before it, like it was motioning me to come to it. The voice had spoken in my mind, I know that this beast couldn't possibly know English, so it must use part of its prey's mind against it. This was how it channeled its magic. The thing strongly reminded me of a dementor, and I had a hunch I knew what would work.

Within moments a mighty stag had leapt from my hands and charged the beast. The monster shrieked again and went to strike prongs but its hand passed right through the stag. It screamed in pain as its hand began to crumble away to ash where it passed through my patronis. Prongs leapt at it once more, passing directly through its chest and landing lightly on the other side. The thing snarled and twisted about, it groaned and grunted, without any dignity before crumbling to dust and drifting away in the wind.

Prongs trotted over next to me and I scratched him behind the ear for a moment before he faded away to where ever patroni go when their masters don't need them. "You can come out now, the monster is gone." Slowly people started to reenter the clearing. Author, being one of the more adventurous members of this tiny society, walked right over to me.

"What happened to it? The glowin' deer came out of no where and the monster just vanished!"

"That deer happened to be my patronis, think of it as an animal guardian that is conjured by happy thoughts. Those beasts that rely on fear to claim their prey have no hope of fighting it. The darker they are the worse a patronis will effect them. This sucker must have been quite the terror from whenever it had come from. I'd bet an apex predator."

It was dark now, with the sun gone down over the distant hills. I stretched a kink out of my neck. "I don't know when this thing is gonna cut back on, so I'll be camping out here tonight. I'm gonna try to get some rest, I recommend everybody else does the same." Jean was kind enough to bring me something warm for dinner that tasted vaguely like salmon. I didn't take long to eat. Not sleeping seems to have put more of a strain on me than I thought.

I lay out underneath the stars, gazing up at them and marveled at how no matter how long it takes, everything changes, even the stars in the sky. My eyes drifted closed, and I just pray that I can get a decent night's sleep...

THEND

I'd like to start off by apologizing for how long this chapter took. I recently went from being a full time dad to working for time, so my time management has been kinda screwy lately. But, I think I've gotten my schedule reoriented now so I should have a little time to write here and there.

I hope you all enjoyed, hopefully the next chapter won't take nearly as long.

4. Attack of the Giant Chickens

How ya'll doin' out there today? I've managed to find a little extra time to crank out a chapter so here it is. All I'd like to say is without feed back I don't know if people are actually enjoying this story very much, since I didn't get any reviews for the previous chapter, I don't know how people took it, I'm not going to be the guy that demands reviews before an update, but without a few, I don't if anyone actually likes it. And if no one likes it... well, not much point in finishing the thing.

Then again, I like the story, I've been wanting to read something like this for a while, So I might finish it just for my own sake.

Disclaimer: I certainly don't own Harry Potter (I'm not even British) but if I ever get the chance to buy the damn thing I'm sure I will.

Chapter 4: Attack of the Giant Chickens

Darkness stretched out before me in all directions. Fragments of my past float by, and the whispers of the long dead dance in my ear. Lightning cracked on a distant horizon and dank, old magic permeates this place, smelled like burnt ozone. My lives have always been a confused tangle, a huge mess that I've never been able to solve. In my dreams it burns me, clawing into my center and sets me on fire. More lightning tore through the sky and I heard a faint humming sound.

I sit in the eye of the storm that is my past, and let it wash over me as I have a thousand times before. It usually stretched on for what felt like years, but tonight would be different, a scream snapped me back to the waking world.

I am at full alert in less than a second. Apparently a few of the villagers decided to camp out with me to either keep an eye on the portal, or to watch the show when it spat something new out. It pulsed and bulged, almost seemed to be in pain, before it expanded again to several times its size. For a brief moment I caught a glimpse of a lush green forest before a small stampede of large lizards ran out of the portal and scattered. They seemed harmless for the most part, scared witless if anything. I looked closer at one as it ran by.

"it that what I think it is? It looks like a-" I stopped mid-sentence as I saw what they were running from. I look at the beasts before me, eyes sharp and slanted. A clicking sound issues from their throats as they look me over, a deadly intelligence glinting in their eyes. A long powerful tail swings from behind them, and they are covered in small dense scales. The creatures, each standing at least two meters tall, tense before they pounce.

"I fucking hate dinosaurs." I grit my teeth and roll to the side. The beast barely missed me with its massive clawed feet. It turned on a dime and leapt again. I summon my magic and use it like a wall to push the raptor away from me and notice that the spell didn't send it flying like it should have.

Long ago before the world burned. Several wizarding scientists (such a thing did exist, believe it or not.) Hypothesized that dinosaurs were the ancestors of dragons. It made sense to me at the time. One thing that was brought up was that dinosaurs, some of them anyway, were probably extremely magic resistant. Its believed that dragons retained this trait throughout the eons, but to a lesser degree, since magic isn't as wild and untamed as it once was. These things seemed to be proving that theory.

I flicked a red stunner at one of them to test my idea and it barely looked annoyed. The six raptors, I'm just glad there aren't more of them, eyed be warily, before they charged me as a group.

I pulled a dagger from around my belt and gave it a flick. I used my magic to guide it through the air and it lodged itself in the closest raptor's neck. The beast gurgled and kept at me for a few more steps before it fell. I took off at a dead sprint away from them, magic strengthened my legs and pushed me past normal limits. With a twitch of my finger my dagger flew back into my hand.

I tore into the woods like the devil was on my heels and chanced a glance over my shoulder. If I push myself I can top out at around ninety six kilometers an hour, It puts serious strain on my tendons, but it is possible. The raptors came up right behind me, their natural speed and stronger muscles helped them to over come me. The one closest pounced on my back and knocked me to the forest floor.

Pain ripped it's way into my back as the beast sunk its razor sharp talons into me. I snarled and spun, and pulled myself free from it's grasp. I yelled and pushed a pure wave of magic upwards. The raptor was lifted into the air and thrown onto its back. It thrashed and squirmed, making an odd meowing sound as it did so. I reached behind myself and pulled one of the talons out of my back that had broken off. Hatred coursed through me as I plunged the claw into its eye socket. It screeched and thrashed for a moment before it died.

I look up and my blood runs cold. The other four raptors have surrounded me on all sides. As one they pounced. Adrenaline flooded my system and the world slowed down around me. I took a deep breath, an old occumulency technique designed to calm the mind, and jumped. My magic once again augmented my movement and propelled me fifteen meters into the air. The raptors nearly ran into each other and stood looking confused. I pulled out my dagger again as I reached the top of my jump and readied myself.

The world sped back up as I began to fall and within the blink of an eye I had fallen onto one of the raptors and plunged my knife into the back of it's neck. It snarled and fell to the ground, spine severed. In a flash I was back on my feet and sprinting through the woods again. The remaining three ran after me. I didn't know if they were angry that I had killed the others, but they seemed very intent on eating me.

I hadn't had such an adrenaline inducing encounter in many years, and I was a little surprised to find I was enjoying myself. I broke through the line of trees and into a small clearing. The grass was short and prickly with a blue tinge, and something large and hairless, possibly a descendent of some type of bear, darted into the woods across the clearing when I entered. I turned to face my pursuers.

I had only moments before they were on me again so with a pull from my magic I summoned three branches from a nearby tree. In less than a second they were stripped of their bark and sharpened into points. The lead raptor came charging out of the woods followed by the other two close behind. They stopped short at seeing me standing their with three giant floating toothpicks hovering around me.

They hissed and clicked at each other, seemed to communicate some point before the two bigger raptors snarled at the smallest one and forced it forward. The animal seemed very put out by this and I idly wondered exactly how smart these things really were. It took a few tentative steps forward, looking scared almost, before its expression and posture changed dramatically and it leapt at me with a roar. With a slight twitch of a finger one of my stakes shot forward faster than a bullet and lodged itself into the beast's chest, tearing through it with a gurgling wet crunch.

The remaining two eyed me warily before another one stepped forward. This one approached much slower and got closer to me. It made to jump and I sent out another stake. At the last moment it changed course and jumped to the side, avoiding my projectile and in less than a blink of an eye pounced again. I was ready this time and fell the magic inside me course through my muscles, giving them herculean strength. I caught the beast by the throat and strained as it pushed against me, trying to bite my face. I stumbled and had to take a step backwards to keep my footing and one of its teeth managed to graze my cheek.

With a grunt I threw it onto its side and stomped on its throat until it stopped moving. The last raptor had taken the opportunity to draw much closer to me and stood only about three meters away. I couldn't imagine what fighting one of these things would be like without my magic. The piercing point of a blade or a thinly shaped stake could penetrate their hide but only if they were thrown twice as fast as the average bullet. I imagine that a standard firearm would do little more than annoy them.

I chucked one of my stakes at its head and it darted to the side, quickly avoiding it. They were smart, and learned quickly. As soon as the sharpened stick passed it by it hunkered low to the ground and sprinted at me at over eighty eighty kilometers an hour. I could smell its breath in an instant it was so close to me. I acted on instinct and pulled a massive wall of dirt out of the ground between us, causing the raptor to run head first into it. I then dumped the two tonnes of earth back on top of the creature, crushing it flat.

My eyes darted back and forth, adrenaline still flowed through my veins. I did a quick mental count and noted that I seemed to have taken care of all of them. I took a deep breath, and tried to relax. That's when the pain hit me. In the past I have always been able to push pain aside when I needed to. Now that the threat was over, I was paying for it. The worst of it was coming from my back where one of them had dug a claw deep inside. I reached behind myself and saw blood, bright red, flowing from the wound. I closed my eyes and used my magic to scan my body. I had several broken ribs, numerous lacerations and a bad puncture in my back that had also torn a hole into one of my kidneys.

I released a deep breath and set my magic to work. I guided it through my body, taking care of the worst injury by repairing the kidney and sealing the wound before I knitted the flesh back together. Self healing is normally very draining, but I have thousands of years of combined lifetimes worth of practice to help with that. After my kidney is up and running again at full strength I move on and fuse my ribs back together. I grunt and can hear a faint crunch as they snap into place and feel the pained tightness in my chest recede into a mild throb. The rest of my injuries are mostly surface wounds and shouldn't cause much of a problem so I leave them be to heal on their own.

I walk up to the two slain raptors than are still visible and scan them with my magic. A close reading shows that they are indeed very magically resistant, perhaps ten times more so than any dragon I've ever seen. I send a tendril of magic into the openings I created with the stakes and give a little push. The hides jump off the bodies with a wet tearing sound, leaving them with their muscles and tendons exposed. I clean off the left over meat with a few swipes and roll them up tightly before sliding them into the magically expanded pockets of my jacket. They'd make some nice body armor once I got them cleaned up properly.

I decided to grab the talons as well, I might possibly be able to craft some sort of dagger from them. I didn't realize it during the chase, but I was probably around five miles from the small village. I didn't particularly feel like walking back so with a barely audible snap, I apparated back to the little town.

The entire place was in an uproar. Some of the smaller kids poked at the corpse of the first raptor I had killed and I nearly laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. Everyone stopped as they realized I had just materialized out of thin air. Jean took in my appearance with her light blue eyes and seemed to go instantly into mother mode.

"Good lord Harry are you alright, you look like you've been stepped on by something huge!" She grabbed me by the shoulders and looked me over. The frown on her face caused worry lines to appear, and I realized all the gray hair peppered throughout her bun was probably caused by some of her son's antics.

"Thank you Jean, but I am fine. I've had much worse than this, just a little battered is all, and I actually was stepped on by something quite large." I pointed at one of the raptors.

"What in the hell are those things anyway?" Her son, Author, had stepped up next to her. The resemblance really was remarkable when they stood this close together. He had her eyes and hair, minus the gray, and just the slightest hint of a wispy beard was on his chin.

"That thing is called a velociraptor. It lived around seventy two million years ago, and they are a right pain in the ass."

Author's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "Sir, are you... I mean, how old are you exactly?" I give him a look before I burst out laughing.

"Well, to be honest I'm ancient, but I'm not that damn old. These things lived before humans were around. I knew about them because we used to study their fossils. Those are bones so old they turn to rock by the way." I walked over to the last corpse, the pair of them followed close behind me. "You might want to avert the children's eyes, this is going to be messy."

Within a minute of two the raptor had its hide removed and the body was burned to ash. I stowed its hide in next to the other ones and turned back to face the portal. I conjured a simple stool for myself and sat down before the swirling vortex.

"See how its bulging so much now? And how erratic the lightning is? This baby is almost out of juice. I'd say the other end of it might touch down one more time and then it'll be spent." The crowd cheered at this, and prayed that I'd be able to stop whatever came out of it next.

THEND

Okay people, I know this one was a little on the shorter side, but I just felt that this was a good spot to stop for now. Alright, the next chapter is going to be the last in this particular saga, and then Harry will be moving on down the road again. Let me know what you guys thought, I've never written a fight seen with dinosaurs before LOL. Oh, and yes I know that kind of raptor isn't quite that large, but I took some artistic license for it.

Til next time,

Harkon.

5. From a Bygone Era

Hey all, Had some time to tinker with this story and figured I start out on the next chapter. You know, I've noticed how a lot of writers will mention that they have a big sprawling story line mapped out from beginning to end and know just what's going to happen and what character is to do what and when. I've attempted this form of writing before but have had little success at it. It seems to inhibit my creativity to a large degree, and I also happen to find it boring if I know exactly what is going to happen next. Anything, regardless if its fanfiction or an original work, my stories seem to write themselves with little prompting on my part, I tend to go with the flow so to speak. So feel free to guess future plot points, 'cause I don't know them myself ;) I do have a distant idea for the ending, and a possible look at a sequel, but that's waay on down the road. That being said, here's the next chapter.

Chapter 5: From a Bygone Era.

A previous life...

For once in my exceedingly long life, I didn't manage to prevent the end of the world. If someone asked me how old I was I couldn't honestly tell them. My earliest memories are of a cave deep in the hillside somewhere, on the edge of a vast forest. The language that was spoken then is lost to me now, a few words crop up in my memory from time to time, but if I had to carry on a conversation in it I'd honestly be quite lost. Not that it matters, everyone else that might have known it is dead. Well, everyone except him, the man that sat before me.

We are both so very old, and in some ways I think, he tires of this game fate has us play as much as I do. In the last half a century before the sky caught fire, and the world burned to ash, we had been waging an increasingly bloody war with one another. Always on opposite sides of conflict, and always at each other's throats. I looked at him on that day with resignation. Both of us had lost the will to fight, by the time we'd found out what the muggles had done, it was too late, and seemed pointless now.

While we had been so engrossed with our own personal war, they had started one of their own. The exact date eluded me, but I believe it was some time in the year 2438. I had tried to keep up with muggle advancements, there had even been talk or perhaps trying to colonize another world at this point. But one thing I did know, was that they had cracked the secret the nuclear fusion. It had run everything. Powered entire cities, every mode of transportation ran off of miniature reactors, and of course, so had their weapons.

When he and I had discovered what they were planning to do, we called a truce. For the first time in history, we decided there were more important things than the bloody conflict between us. But by the time we discovered what was to happen, we were already to late. The bombs that burned the world were already in the sky, the fourth world war, would be the last. A keening sound could be heard for miles, the sound of a force more destructive than anything mother nature could produce would be on us at any moment.

"All of the power that we can harness at our very fingertips, and yet, the muggles are to be our undoing." I looked at him as he spoke, and nearly laughed at the indignant look on his face.

"They got out of control. I never saw this coming, and I'm sure you didn't either. I have to wonder. Will the world survive this? In any capacity? What will happen to us if it doesn't? Does this cycle end?"

He eyed my in silence for a moment, and a distant rumble shook the ground beneath our feet.

"No my old foe," a way of light was nearly upon us now. "I'm afraid it will never end for you and I."

I nodded and closed my eyes as I felt the heat wash over me, and even though it was merely as whisper, I know he heard me. "No, I suppose not."

I opened my eyes slowly. I swore that I could still feel that heat sometimes. The last moment of my life in the last 'civilized' age of man. He and I had done what we could in the end, but It had been far to late. Perhaps we were just never meant to work together, even if it would destroy the world otherwise, as it had. I had no idea how long ago that last fateful blast had occurred, but it had been long enough to fade from any form of human memory. The even that changed the world was now know as the great catalyst, no one today knew what it actually was. This small fact alone made me believe that it had to be in the distant past, at least a thousand years or more.

I stretched and looked again at the portal in time. it stretched and warbled, like a great, ancient animal trying to give birth to a particularly stubborn offspring. I wondered again at exactly how a small tear in space and time had managed to grow so large. It made me worried about the state of the world. It seemed that the planet had finally stabilized from the incredible damage it had been dealt, but this might point out otherwise.

I reached out with my senses and felt Jean approach from behind me, and I smelled something remarkably similar to coffee. I turned and I suppose I startled her since she jumped when I looked at her, but I merely smiled and she seemed to relax.

"I figured you might need something to keep you awake." She sat down next to me on a stump and offered me an old chipped mug. I inhaled the aroma and deduced that it was indeed coffee. "Me gran used to make this for us when we were younger, its called caffee. Made from some dried out beans she always kept around. A few of us have managed to grow some of them around here."

I nodded in appreciation and took a long pull off of it. Black of course "The name is a little different but I've had it before, a long time ago."

She sat quietly, I supposed she was thinking about the last few days, how her small understanding of the world had shifted and changed so drastically.

"Harry, if you don't mind me asking. How many of you are there? Wizards I mean." She looked at me with a bit of curiosity, and just a hint of fear.

"These days? Not many. I'd say on this big island of ours there might we two dozen of us, if that. There used to be thousands of us living here. We never had a big of a population as normal folks, but we're all but wiped out completely now."

She nodded and drank from her own mug for a while. "Are they all like you? I've seen you do things in the last few days that I never thought were possible. It seems strange that we still live in the world that we do, even with just a handful of people like you, I figured something could be done with the world, how dangerous it is. I've heard there are places someone can't even walk through without falling over dead."

She spoke of dead zones. Places where the radiation levels were still so high, nothing could live, no plants could grow. They were receding now, but it made me think about how troubled out little blue planet still truly was.

"Wizards like me? Most wizards channel their magic through foci, wands, staves and other things. It is an art form that has been lost to time I'm afraid. Most wizards these days are very limited in their capabilities. Most can move things at will without touching them. Even conjure fire and water with a thought. But true power?" I reached down and plucked a dead flower off of the ground. It was dried and crispy, probably from all the energy put out by the portal. With a little push of my magic, life seemed to flow back into it. It unfurled and bloomed, looking healthy and alive. "I am unique in that regard."

A look of awe washed over Jean as I handed her the flower. I suppose she found it nice that I could use my magic for other reasons than just killing things. She smiled at me and carefully placed the flower in her pocket. I doubted if it would wilt again this decade.

"While it is true that wizards on average live much longer than those that cannot control magic, I am a special case. I have seen far to much, for how young I appear." She nodded quietly at the explanation and didn't ask anymore questions of me for quite some time.

We sat in a companionable silence, and drank our coffee as the sun slowly made its way up over the distant horizon, shining through the trees with a light golden color. "how old are you really Harry?"

I gave her a look and snorted laughter as I stood up and stretched some of the kinks out of my back. "I've forgotten how old I am a long time ago Jean. If you want a number I can't really help you there." I finished my coffee and handed her mug back to her with a small of gratitude. "There's an old saying, you're as young as you feel. And I've got the oldest codger in this little village beat by a long shot."

She laughed at that and stood with next before she headed back to her little house. I smiled at her retreating back, if only she was a little older...

I role my eyes and shake my head before I turned back to the problem at hand. The portal. It was so erratic now that I wasn't sure if something else was going to come through it or not. It had lost much of its power, reaching so far in time as it had. Whatever came through next would be much closer to the present.

"The last thing I need is for this thing to open up and let through a blast of radiation from one of the old bombs." I eyed it one last time before I grabbed for my bag. I might as well do something worth while as I wait.

I pulled out a roll of the raptor hide and studied it critically. I prodded it with my magic, and attempted to discern if it had lost any of its potency. It seemed that the hide kept almost all of its resistance after the body had died, unlike a basilisk or a dragon. I layed the hide out on the ground and released my magic as a stunner towards the hide.

It slid right off the surface without seeming to damage it at all. I increased the power and released a form of the reducto curse. Again the spell seemed to slide right off of the hide without damaging it. I touched it and it was cool.

"Hmm, interesting." I raised my hands and sent forth a torrent of lightning. It sparked and crackled across the hide, and when I touched it, it was a little warm, but no signs of damage. After wards I tried cutting hexes, fire and ice spells. When those failed to yield I resorted to the darker nature of magic. A firewip cause superficial scratches, but a spray of acid pock marked the hide and nearly penetrated it in places. It seemed the hide had reached it limit, but I was satisfied that it was probably the most spell resistant material I had ever come across.

"Now how in the bloody hell am I supposed to mold the stuff to my needs?" I could levitate it easily enough, but I don't think the standard curing and cleaning charms would work very well on it. I pondered the though for some time and Jean approached me with her son Author. He carried a plate of food for me.

I took it from him without looking away from the hide. "Thanks." I scratched my chin in though and pulled out a number of things from my nearly bottomless bag. Magic was much faster and cleaner when it came to preparing hide, but I could set a few old fashioned tools to the job and see if they helped any. I conjured a board and fixed the hide to it before commanding a small tool, used for scraping residual meat off of skins, to work before I gave them my full attention.

"Sorry, this stuff just looks like it might be dead useful. I got a little preoccupied with it." Jean laughed at me and her son seemed to relax at the idea that I at least appeared a little more human to him.

"That's alright Harry, we just figured we'd bring ya a bite to eat. You can go back to what you were doin' now." I waved her off.

"Just a little side project, no worries. This should take care of itself for now." I gestured towards my little set up. Upon closer inspection my scraping tool had been whittled down to about half its size already. I conjured another one, cast an impervious charm on it and replaced the worn one. It seemed to be working much better now.

I glanced up at the portal and noticed that it was fluctuated erratically, it had lost any sort of pattern. "I don't believe it will be long now. I think this will be the last visitor we'll have. Perhaps this one won't try to kill me." I stopped for a moment to think about the absurdity of the last few days. Prehistoric magical demons, giant scorpions and fucking dinosaurs. I seemed to have all the fun.

"Do ya got any idea how long it might be before it closes." It was the first time Author had spoken that morning.

I glanced at him and shrugged. "Less than a day. This should all be over for you lot before sundown."

He seemed to visibly relax at that before he grew nervous again. "I was wondering, any chance you could show us more of your magic? We've seen little things, and how you can fight with it, but well, it just looks so neat!"

I was instantly reminded that even though he had grown up in a hellish world, he was still young, and magic is wonderful, regardless of how old you are. I gave him an easy going smile. "What would you like to see?"

He paused like he had a question on the tip of his tongue and hesitated. "Well, I don't really know what you can do. What all can you do?"

I laughed and allowed magic to dance across my fingertips. "The interesting thing about magic is that its uses are practically limitless. A lot of it is intent based, and powered by the imagination." With the snap of my fingers a pig materialized out of thin air. "That is what was once called conjuration. Essentially, creating nothing from something. This pig is just that, a pig. It sounds, looks, and acts like a pig. If it didn't eat it would starve and die. Upon the death of the conjuration, it would vanish back into being pure magic. One of the few rules of magic there is, is that you can't consume conjure of transfigured objects. You couldn't cook and eat this pig, because it is made up of magic." I waved my hand and the pig vanished.

I next picked up a stick and with a wave transfigured it into rabbit. "this is called transfiguration. Turning one thing into another. It would behave just like a rabbit until it either died, or I canceled the magic. Then it would revert back into a stick. Wizards have been trying to solve this problem for thousands of years and had no luck. Being able to feed the world with nothing more than transfigured rocks would be amazing, but you'd end up with a stomach full of gravel."

With a mischievous grin I summoned a sphere of green fire. It rolled back and forth in my hands like a normal ball, and didn't burn me. "I could use this flame to cook a meal or burn down a forest, but you could hold it in your hand and it would barely feel warm." I chucked it at him and out of instinct he caught it. He fumbled with it for a few minutes before he realized it didn't burn him. "That's a special type of fire designed to not harm humans. Just make sure not to drop it on a dog or anything, or you'd be having roasted canine for dinner." I let Author play with the fire for a few more moments before canceling the spell.

It didn't seem to take long before I began to take requests. Apparently, Author opened a flood gate of questions. Most of the village, even that grumpy older fellow that was arguing with everyone when I arrived wanted to see a bit of magic.

We spent most of the afternoon going over different things as I tried my best to explain them to a group of people that had no knowledge base of the subject.

"Yes I could conjure fresh drinking water, but like anything else, you couldn't consume it. As soon as the spell wore off it would vanish, even if you had drank it already. Potentially, you could go from being completely hydrated to as dry as a husk in less than a second. I don't imagine the process would be all that enjoyable."

I sighed and smiled out at everyone. They were all muggles, nothing wrong with it but it would be nice to occasionally pass on my knowledge to someone that could actually make use of it.

"Harry, how long have wizards been around? When did it all get started?" I had a brief flashback, living in a cave and hunting for food.

"As far as I know, magic users have existed just as long as the rest of humanity. We are not a different species, we are all human and equal in that right. To say I am better because I can wield magic is like saying someone is better for having blue eyes than brown eyes. We are all our own people. I just have a bit wider of a tool belt to draw on. Now, the exact thing that makes me a wizard is pretty rare. Think of it as if someone were born with green eyes as opposed to blue or brown. It still happens, all the time in fact, but much less so than the other two."

People nodded along with what I had said. I doubt they truly understood exactly what I was talking about, but they were trying. None of these people were stupid by any means. Just uneducated. In such a harsh environment certain skills were put before others. Calculus wouldn't be doing anyone any favors in this world.

The sun began to set when people started to return to their homes. The portal was on its last legs. Our visitor would be here any moment now or wouldn't come at all.

It screeched and howled, shook as if it were in pain. Author and Jean had stayed with my to watch, confident that I would be able to handle anything dangerous that might come out. It pulsed and flashed faster and faster.

I held my breath and brought my magic to my fingertips and the portal gave one final lurch before it spat something out onto the ground and promptly collapsed back into nothingness. I waited with baited breath as I observed the new arrival.

It was relatively small, at least in comparison to the raptors that had appeared last time, and it smoked slightly. I doubt the ride was very comfortable. I heard a groan and realized it was a person wrapped up in a dark cloak.

As they sat up, the hood fell backwards and revealed long curly brown hair, hair that if I remembered correctly, had been quite bushy when she was little.

My heart stopped in my chest, it seemed a ghost from my past had returned after such a long time...

"Hermione?"

There you go, chapter 5 of Future of Ruin. Sorry it took so long to update. My daughter thought my laptop was thirsty and wanted to give it the a drink. Luckily for me the damn thing is built like a tank, and everything started working normally again after it dried out.

Til next time.

-Harkon

P.S. Does anybody want longer chapters? I don't mind writing longer ones, I thought about doubling their length, just let me hear some opinions and I'll think about what to do.

6. Shell Shocked Bookworm

Hey guys and welcome to chapter six. Got a lot a great feed back from the last chapter and it seems about everybody that reviewed is happy that Hermione is coming into the story. Of course, not everything is going to be roses now. They're still live in Post-apocalyptia, and life as they say is rough.

On with the chapter!

Disclaimer: Can't remember if I've actually done one of these before, since they don't matter legally, I'll post one for the fun of it. I don't own Harry Potter, if I did, Ginny would have died long ago in a dark, dank chamber.

Chapter 6: Shell Shocked Bookworm

"Harry?" She looked so confused and lost. Ripped from her own time and thrown into this hell torn future. Of course, she didn't know any of that yet. I walked towards her, and I still didn't believe it was really her. She looked just as she did the last time I had seen her, just the morning before her accident. Apparently she hadn't been stuck between this dimension and another, and had been pulled forward in time instead. I smiled as I crouched down next to her.

"Hey 'Mione, how are you feeling?" her black unspeakable robes still smoked slightly and the hair she had finally managed to tame as an adult had stood on end from all the static.

"I... I don't know Harry. Where am I? Where are We?" She looked around slowly, her eyes squinted in pain and I imagined she suffered from a terrible headache.

We're about forty miles north of the city that was once known as London Hermione." I gripped her arm. "I have something important to tell you, what is the last thing you remember?"

Her brow crinkled in the special way it always did when she was concentrating on something extra hard before her eyes widened. "There was an accident wasn't there? Something bad happened... I can remember a great pull. Almost like a portkey that was strong enough to perhaps take me to Mars. Then... just darkness for what felt like an age. Harry, What happened to me?"

I took a deep breath to steady myself and I realized I was nervous, for the first time in a very long time. "That accident Hermione, it transported you into the future. Quite a bit of time has passed 'Mione." She looked up at me in confusion.

"But I wouldn't say you're any older than when I left Harry, almost the exact same age I'd say. So how could that be? I mean how long have I been gone? Couldn't have been more than a few months, a year at most."

I grit my teeth and decided to get it all out at once. "About seven hundred and forty years after you left, muggles burnt the Earth to a crisp with nuclear warfare. For the first time in our very long lives Tom and I worked together to try to stop it but we were too late. That event was so long ago that no one knows it for what it actually was, and simply calls it the Catalyst. I'm not sure, but I believe it to have happened some fifteen hundred years ago." I winced, apparently after all this time I still haven't learned subtly very well.

She looked up at me. "Oh..." and promptly fainted.

"Oh bugger it all... will everybody back up please? Give the lady some room." I walked forward and crouched down next to her. I gently rolled her over onto her back and chuckled. She snored lightly.

I laughed and wiggled a finger under her nose, and worked in a slight enervate charm to bring her around. She opened her eyes and blinked owlishly up at me. "Harry I've just had the most unusual dream..." She looked around herself and and visibly paled. "Please tell me it was a dream."

A deep ache entered my chest, a sadness I hadn't experienced on such a level in a very long time. "I'm so sorry Hermione, but you weren't dreaming."

She nodded for a moment, before a tear worked its way down her cheek and she lunged at me, sobbing harder than I'd ever seen her. I held this small frightened girl in my arms. Knowing exactly how it felt to wake up and realize that everyone you had ever known had been dead for centuries.

I pulled her into my lap, the villagers had dispersed. Cruel the world might be, but a lot of the people in it still weren't, and they understood the concept of privacy. "shhh, its okay Mione, everything will be alright."

She pulled back and looked at me, face red and streaked with tears. "Oh Harry, Mum and dad? All of our friends? They've been gone for so long, no one will ever even remember them!"

I wiped an errant tear from her cheek. "We will. We will always have our memories Hermione. And I can tell you anything you want to know about what happened after you were taken. I kept in touch with your folks. And our friends."

She sniffed again but nodded. She still looked so sad, but my little know it all always seemed to be able to pick herself up after she'd fallen. She looked around herself again and slowly stood. "What happened after I left? And what happened to the world Harry? Is it as changed as you say?"

I give her a sad smile. "I wish it wasn't true Mione. But much has changed since you left. Come with me, A friend here, her name is Jean, will give some space so we can talk. I'll do my best to answer your questions."

She nodded and took my hand, and held it in a death grip, as if she were afraid I'd leave too. I slowly lead her back to Jean's little house and inside. The two occupants got up to leave but Hermione motioned for them to stay. "If you're going to be kind enough to let us use your home for this you're more than welcome to stay and listen too, if its okay with Harry."

I nodded at them and smiled. "Of course. But make sure to make yourself comfortable, this could take a while." I made sure she was sitting and comfortable before I began.

"When you disappeared, Ron and I spent first weeks, then months and finally years trying to find out what happened to you. All we could tell was that you weren't dead. But you weren't here either. We set out and cast continent wide tracking charms. Things so powerful it shaved a decade off of our lives. But I would have been worth it just to find you 'Mione."

She teared up again and I gripped her hand. "What happened to you was a freak accident Hermione. It wasn't your fault, you were as much of a victim as we were." She sniffed and nodded her head.

"After nearly twenty five years of looking we lost hope. Ginny had left me years before, ended up marrying Neville if you can believe that." I Laughed. "They ended up having nine children! Boggled my mind personally, who knew Nev had it in him huh?"

Hermione gave me a watery smile and giggled quietly. "They did seem to enjoy there time at the yule ball together." I nodded and smiled at the memory. Something I hadn't thought about in a long time. "By that time Ron and I had joined the unspeakables as field agents. We were good at what we did. Helped rescue a third world country from a budding dark lord once. But we really used it as an excuse to try to find you. Every reference we could find we followed up on. You'd have been proud of Ron, he learned quite a lot over the years." I paused for a moment to take a sip of water.

Our conversation went on for several hours. After a while I steered away from mentioning exactly how much time we'd spent looking for her. The Golden Trio just wasn't the same without the brains behind the operation. We missed her so much during those times. Like a shadow constantly following us around, and no light to chase it away.

"Something terrible happened around my Eightieth birthday Hermione. He came back, one last time." She paled as I said that and nearly started crying again.

"After everything we went through to get rid of him? He was still able to come back?" I nodded to her and explained.

"We missed one. Dumbledore was wrong. I wasn't supposed to be Riddle's final Horcrux. He'd already made one. The reason he came after me himself was because he was so confident that he'd live regardless of what happened. With only one left, and not enough soul left to make another one, Old Tommy boy had to keep it with him at all times."

"What was it!? And how did we end up missing it? We traipsed all across the country searching for the dreadful things."

"It was his wand Hermione. I don't know how he managed to do it. All the research I'd done showed that a wand had to much innate power to successfully become a Horcrux. But he managed. After spending sixty years as a powerless, silent and invisible wraith, he managed to pull himself together enough to bond with it.

He wasn't the same Mione. If you thought he was crazy before, you should have seen him then. He appeared to be a walking corpse, made from magic and cobbled together bits of the remnants of his followers, but damned if he wasn't powerful. Almost more so than before. I think it had something to do with bonding to his wand. It changed the way he could perform magic. In the end though it didn't matter, the outcome was the same as always."

"Did you get him Harry? Did you kill him one last time?" I nodded and sighed.

"We faced each other in single combat and I killed him, but he killed me as well, struck at exactly the same time, and we both passed together."

I looked at her as she sat, in stunned silence, and I wondered what was going on in her mind at the time. "But you're right here? And not any older than the last time I saw you! What's going on Harry?" She started to shake and almost started crying again. "Are you... are you a ghost? Am I hallucinating you? That would be so unfair... after everything."

I reached out and took her hand in mine. "Do I feel like a ghost? And the great Hermione Granger, Hallucinate? Your mind has always been far to strong and organized for things like that. If you want to hear how I'm still alive, or maybe I should say, how I'm alive again, just relax. Its a long story." She nodded and sat back in her chair and waited for me to continue.

I started with the beginning, how the first life I lived, I was the only person I ever found that could do magic, other than one other man, and how I believed he somehow stole a piece of magic from the very fabric of nature, 'fore his was twisted and dark compared to how mine always felt.

I told her about my life, how I had lived over and over, how every few generations I would wake up to stop some great evil, which in reality was just the same old evil, over and over again. I explained how a lot of the time, probably half the time anyway, that I didn't retain my memories from my past lives, how I just lived life ignorant of what I had done. It was in one of those lives that I had met her.

"That explains your saving people thing Harry, you've been at if for so long its instinct now."

I smiled at her but didn't comment. "Every time I wake up things are a little different. This last time, twenty some odd years ago, My magic seemed to be more primal. I have no need of a wand anymore, even for the most complicated spells I know." I twisted my hand around under itself and revealed a bouquet of her favorite flowers, lilies ironically enough.

She took them with a smile and yawned, nice and big, showing off those perfect teeth. " you must be exhausted. Its hard to tell how long you've been awake, and I'm fairly certain you spent a few thousand years in limbo. So maybe you should get some sleep 'Mione." she nodded and smiled.

"Jean, mind if we crash here for the night? We'll be out of your hair tomorrow. I promise."

"That's no problem at all Harry, and I'm glad you found a friend." She looked at me knowingly. "I think you needed one." I stood with Hermione and allowed us to be pushed into a small guest bedroom. Everything was homemade now. In many ways it reminded me of the distant past, and an alien world all at the same time.

I tucked Hermione in and within seconds she was asleep. She was always able to do that. Even when she'd been cramming all day for an important test or exam, when it came to bed, she was out like a light. I stretched out next to her on top of the covers, closed my eyes, and wondered what the next day would bring.

AN(originally the chapter was going to end here, but since I've been gone so long I've decided to carry on a bit, sorry about that, no more interruptions.)

Within the blink of an eye I was wide awake. Living in a world that had gone to hell meant everybody was a light sleeper. I glanced over at Hermione and noticed she was snoring softly. I stood up and stretched before reaching down and tapping her lightly on the shoulder, snapping her awake. She blinked up owlishly at me in confusion before I saw the previous day come rushing back to her, watching as the light in her eyes dimmed, and the smile tugging at the corner of her lips fade away.

"Rise and shine 'Mione. Busy day ahead of us."

She looked up at me in confusion. "Busy? What the point of the world ending if you still have a schedule to keep?"

That actually made me laugh. "The world didn't end, just hit a half-arsed reset button. Now come on, we're up before anyone else is, and I hate goodbyes." She stood and stretched, reminding me fondly of a cat, before getting out of bed and grabbing the bag she'd packed the night before.

"We'll be out on the road soon, and you can get your first good look at post-apocolyptia up close."

She rolled her eyes but I swear she was excited. Even at the end of it all, I was sure she'd still be trying to learn something new every second. "post-apocolyptia Harry? Honestly."

"What? I've been on my own for the most part out here, you start making up ridiculous words to describe the situation after a while." She'd fallen asleep fully clothed, so other than being a little rumpled, she was ready to go.

We snuck through the house and out the door without waking anyone. Years of living in this world had kept my senses sharp and keen, and Hermione never lost her edge from the war we'd fought in lifetimes ago.

Within half of an hour we were out on the road, heading north. I marveled at my companion, we'd looked for her for so long and I had finally found her at last, that missing link to the golden trio. Of course, now we were just a pair, Ron was where ever good wizards went when they died, I envy the old bastard sometimes.

We had been walking along for around an hour when she suddenly stopped in her tracks, and all the color drained from her face. I pulled up next to her and dropped my pack in the dirt.

"What's wrong 'Mione?"

She looked at me and I could see a few tears in her eyes. "Harry, I don't have my wand, I didn't realize it until just now, but I guess it didn't come with me. Merlin I'm useless now." She sat down right in the road and covered her face with her eyes.

She had been through so much this last day or so, I couldn't imagine what she's going through. But I know that wand or not, she'd never be useless to me. Just to damn smart for her own good to ever be. "Hermione, you're the most brilliant witch of your generation for a reason, you'd never be useless no matter how hard you tried." She looked up at me, looking lost and only a little hopeful.

"How Harry? I've been listening, you've told me how dangerous this new world is, I can't even defend myself without a wand." I laughed just a little bit at this.

"This coming from the girl that broke Malfoy's nose with a single punch? Come now Mione, even if you didn't have a wand I'm sure you'd manage just fine. I'm just glad I found you when I did. Its hard to tell what would have happened if I hadn't. All kinds of nasty things came out of that portal before you did." I reached down and pulled her to her feet and grabbed my bag. I stuck my arm inside, feeling around. Sometimes it was hard finding stuff that had been put in a container with expansion charms on it, but it only took me a moment to find what I was looking for.

I pulled out a thin piece of yew with a dragon heart string core and held it up to her. "It might not be a perfect match, but from my experience, when you use a wand that a friend or family member made, its almost always a good one." A tear bubbled up at the corner of her eye and she stubbornly wiped it away. "Its yew, with a dragon heart string core." She smiled up and me and wrapped me in a tight hug.

"Thank you Harry! I'd lost hope, I know it sounds silly but... I feel rather naked without a wand." I laughed and squeezed her tighter.

"Its alright Mione, anything for a friend, and you're the only close one I got anymore." I handed her the wand and she took it in a swirl of red and gold magic. Her eyes lit up and with a small flick, a flock of tiny yellow birds sprang into existence and fly around our heads for a moment before winking back out again.

Hermione laughed, truly happy since she'd arrived here, and wrapped me in another hug. "Alright now, lets get back on the road, we have a long way to go today, and it always takes longer when you're walking with two legs."

She looked at me strangely for a moment but didn't question what I had meant. As we walked we talked about the old days, reminiscing about out time at Hogwarts, about how life used to be simpler, easier. I cracked a smile, it had been one of my better lives, if just for the friends I had made.

"Harry, what happened during some of your other lives? How many have you lived since you were with me last?" I sighed and though about how to answer that.

"I have lived four lives since I'd last seen you. About three hundred and eighty years all together if I've got my math right. I've been 'awake' for those lives, meaning I've kept my memories. Hogwarts with you was the last time that I didn't remember who I was. I just had little flashes of insight, or memories disguised and dreams and nightmares. Its never enough to grasp a full picture, or make any sense really. It seems that by the time I've hit my fifth birthday, or round about that, I'll have recovered all my memories, or none at all. The first time I woke up was some two hundred years after I had died. My lives are never very close together. I believe that's so people won't catch on that I've been coming back over and over again, of course, I don't know how it all works, its not something I've been doing on purpose.

That first life after you left was a good one. I was born into a rich family of muggles, so to everybody I appeared to be a muggleborn, and what wonders they had created! Super advanced computers, ones that you could rest on your eye like a contact lens, but far more advanced than anything you'd every seen before. Crime was low, genetic defects could be detected and eliminated before a baby was born. There weren't any poor or homeless people any more Mione. Its the closest I'd ever seen humanity come to reaching Utopia. We'd even managed to colonize a few of the moons orbiting the bigger planets in our solar system. As far as I know there are still people up their, living peacefully. They've probably discounted Earth entirely. It was nearly burnt to a crisp after all. Perhaps they'll come back to check on us in a few centuries and help set things strait.

The wizards weren't anything to sneeze at either. We'd developed amazing advances in medicine, and had started integrating muggle technology into our magic. It turns out its easier than anyone had believed, it just had to be tinkered with to make it work. There were plans on maybe exposing ourselves to muggles, they'd grown so advanced, more so than us in many ways at this point, that a lot of magicals believed that we could finally live together in peace. One of them didn't think like that of course. And you only get one guess as to who."

"Voldemort, always ready to muck things up I suppose."

"Brilliant as always Mione. Old Tom just couldn't help himself and tried to poison society against muggles. Of course if he'd ever managed to gather an army large enough to try to fight them, he'd have lost, probably within hours. The muggles were united under one world government by then, so they hadn't fought with each other in nearly a century at that point. Gives room for lots of improvements that way." I smiled and gave her a wink. "I was in my twenties before he tried anything to stupid and was able to capture him. We bound his magic, using a very ancient ceremony. See, some people realized that I looked a hell of a lot like Harry Potter, and that this fella was the spitting image of Tom Riddle AKA Voldemort. It never reached public ears, but they sure as hell listened to me when I told them to strip his magic and lock him up in a dark hole for the rest of his life. Nobody wanted another blood war, especially with society having come so far since then. For the most part, the rest of that life was peaceful."

She was quiet as we walked, just watching me with a small smile on her lips. After a few minutes I had to stop her. "What's so funny Mione?" She had me puzzled, and was distracting me with that smile.

"Nothing Harry, you just have never stopped amazing me, all the things you've done and seen, you're the savior."

"Hah, now you're pulling my leg! I may have saved the world a few time Mione, but I also didn't stop it from being burnt to a crisp. But that's a story for another time. Come on, we got a lot of walking to do before it gets dark."

She just rolled her eyes at me but picked up the pace, giving me a little bump on the hip as she pulled even with me. "You're the most fascinating thing I've ever seen Potter."

"Uh-oh, plan on studying me?"

"I just might!" In a show of great maturity, she stuck her tongue out at me. I just laughed and motioned her forward, the road was a long one after all.

Alright, another chapter down and back on the road again. First off, I want to apologize for how long its taken me to get this out, I could give half a dozen good excuses for it but thats what they are, excuses. Instead, I'll just tell you the truth. I was a key component in stopping the zombie hordes from rising to apocalyptic levels. The UHA (Undead Handlers Association) has been shipping be back and forth across the country for the last couple of months, there had been a bad outbreak of Solomon virus in nine different locations across the United States, they needed someone with experience in bashing skulls to help the locals, so you're all welcome.

Until next time, Harkon.

7. On the Road Again

Hello all, Its that time again, chapter 7 of Future of Ruin. I've got some positive feedback for this, and I'm happy that people seem to be enjoying it. I won't hold you all long.

Now, this chapter marks the beginning of the second 'arch' in the story. This one will be a bit darker, and a bit more action packed. Running and gunning so to speak. We might meet some interesting characters while we're at it.

Here you go, the next installment of Future of Ruin.

Additional Note: Damn, real life has gotten away from me, so sorry for the long wait guys, I'll try and make sure it doesn't take 6 fucking months to get the next chapter out, no flames required, I've roasted myself well done over it already.

Chapter 7: On the Road Again

Hermione and I had been walking along an old dirt path that served as a highway these days, just talking and catching up. We'd been on the road for a few days now and I can't remember being happier. I'd traveled alone for so long now, I'd forgotten how nice it is to have some intelligent company along, easy on the eyes too.

During the day Hermione seemed to be adjusting to this new way of life fairly quickly. She always picked up new things so easily. When it got dark, and it was time to stop for the day, she was plagued with nightmares. They'd gotten so bad, in such a short amount of time, I've started checking on her every few hours. It seems to help her some, and she doesn't seem to remember them when she wakes.

I was whistling 'Hey Jude' again, the song had been stuck in my head for weeks now, and I couldn't get it out. Mione thought it was hilarious. "seriously Harry, try singing it, it helps me when I've got a song stuck in my head."

I frowned and grumbled. "I haven't heard it in five hundred years, I can't remember the lyrics, just the damn tune." She laughed at me again and stopped us. She reached out and gently squeezed my hand for a moment.

Hey Jude, don't make it bad

Take a sad song and make it better

Remember to let her into your heart

Then you can start to make it better...

My jaw dropped. I'd never heard Hermione sing before, She hums when she studies sometimes, but I've never heard her sing before. "Wow, why have I never heard that? If I was you I'd have said the hell to being an unspeakable, I'd have become a musical sensation! I can see it now Hermione Granger, she sings so sweet it'll cast a spell on you!"

It got me a giggle, a blush, and a sore arm, but it was totally worth it. "You're the world's corniest super hero, you know that right?"

I just smiled at her and struck a heroic pose. "I take great pride in that fact, now come on, lets head on up the road. I think there's a little village around here somewhere."

With that bout of silliness out of the way we started walking again. I couldn't begin to tell you what highway this used to be, if it ever was a proper one anyway. The land is so different from what it once was. An entire society was reduced to rubble, and yet, somehow, nature just picked up where man stopped. Its an alien world compared to the one I'd lived in before all this. How she's managing I'll never know.

When darkness falls, it comes quickly now. There are no more street lights, or flashlights. Hell, no cellphones to use as flashlights. Dusk was just starting when we came around a bend in the road and we saw it. It looked kinda like an old shanty town. Everything was dilapidated and hap hazardously stacked about, buildings were made out of anything people could find. A high wall was built around the place, mostly made from fallen trees, but there were other things as well. One side of the wall looked to be made completely from old car hoods.

There were some towers stretching up here and there, maybe when the town was being built they wanted it to look like a castle or something, and large fires topped some of them providing some meager lighting. There were two guards out front carrying old automatic weapons. The were covered in rust, and held together with duct tape, but I could sense that they still worked just fine.

We walk up to the guards, Hermione is gripping my hand hard enough to cut off the blood flow, and I introduce us. "'Lo folks, mind if we pop in for a bit? Been on the road for a while now, would be nice to put up our feet for a few days." The two men looked nervous and eyed each other.

"Its not safe in these parts, especially after dark. Strange things have been happening around here lately." As if on cue we here a howl off in the distance. I feel Hermione stiffen next to me, I know that wasn't an ordinary wolf.

"All the more reason to let us in then. Look, we're traveling light, and we're not armed, other than these." I pulled a short sword out of the pack on my back. If the guards had been paying better attention they'd have realized the sword shouldn't have fit. Its still in its scabbard and I make no threatening moves with it. Hermione pulls the knife I gave her when she arrived off from her belt and handed it to me, still sheathed.

I walk up slowly to one guard and hand him the blades, handle first. This seems to relax them some. "Sorry, but there have been a lot of deaths around the wall the last few weeks. Animal attacks it seems, but very precise. People torn to pieces and gutted in such a way that half of them are still alive when we find them, for a little while anyway."

I share a glance with Hermione and I see her brain working over time. She glances above her head and spies the moon, half full, and frowns. She looks at me in confusion and I shrug my shoulders, the world has changed, so has its people. "I promise we won't be any trouble, you got permission to shoot me in the head if I misbehave, and I guarantee my companion here is only as dangerous as she looks." Hermione narrows her eyes at me and swats me on the back of the head.

I just grin at her as the guards chuckle a little at my expense. She gives me a wink and we're allowed inside for the night. The guy who took my sword hands it back to me as we cross the gates. "Sorry about the trouble, you just never know who will show up."

I shrug and give the guy a smile. "No worries, the world has moved on after all, and you're just protecting the town, can't fault you for doing your job." He nods and lets us pass without anymore problems.

We're inside town proper and the gates are closed back behind us when Hermione turns to me. "You're a lot smoother than I remember Mr. Potter."

I give her a cheeky grin and tap the side of my head. "I Got a few thousand years worth of experience floating around in my head. When we met that was all locked away by the great cosmic bitch Fate. I have all my toys to play with this time around." She just rolled her eyes at me and tugged on my arm.

"Come on, lets find a place to sleep for the night." I don't argue and follow her deeper into town. Besides, she's providing an excellent view from where I'm standing.

The next morning dawns bright and early. I'm awake with the sun like I normally am and I just lay there, enjoying that fuzzy half-asleep feeling you get when you first wake up. Its nice to get a night's sleep without nightmare for a change. Hermione stirs next to me and stretches like a cat, her shirt rides up, exposing that cute little belly button she's got.

I shake my head, stop being a dirty old man Potter, and step outside our tent to stretch out the rest of the kinks in my neck and back. The sun tells me its around nine in the morning and the little town is starting to wake up. A few men patrol the small twisty 'streets' and vendors are setting up the booths for the day, hollering out that they have the freshest product, shouting to be heard above their competitors.

I'm about to go back in the tent when the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I get a brief smell of ozone, and hear a crack like thunder off in the distance before the ground beneath me gives a massive heave. 'Kabaroom!' I'm deaf, and I've been thrown a good three feet strait up as the ground breaks and cracks, dust coats my throat and stings my eyes. My ears ring loudly, its all I can hear. I land flat on my back, still dazed, but I manage to scramble to my feet and look for an assailant.

What I see shocks me, the entire town is in shambles. Two entire walls have fallen, and most of the buildings and homes and just barely standing, having lost walls, foundations, and roofs from what ever the hell that was. People are running everywhere, screaming, covered in blood, looking for loved ones. I still can't hear a damn thing and dab at my ears feeling blood. I stagger back into the tent to discover a shell shocked Hermione, clinging to the wand a gave her like a life line, a crazed look in her eyes.

She tries to speak but I hear nothing. I hold up a hand and wiggle my fingers a bit and with a loud pop sound slams into me. "Harry! What the bloody hell was that!?" I cross the distance between us in an instant and grab her up in my arms.

"I haven't the foggiest. The whole town was nearly destroyed. Get dressed, they're gonna need our help." She just realized she was standing in her underwear and blushed deeply before grabbing some clothes and shrugging them on in a huff.

We head out and scan the area. The building in the center of town, the only one made of brick, had collapsed inwards. People were digging at the rocks, trying to get to the screaming survivors trapped within. It was as good a place to start as any. We moved forward, I holding up my hands and Hermione her wand. "Step back! Let us clear the rubble!" I shout to be heard over the chaos. People pay us no mind so I try again. With a magically amplified voice. "Stand Back!" The boom of my command makes them jump out of the way and gives us space to work in.

Carefully, trying not to hurt anyone trapped, We lift the stones using magic, Piling them off the side and out of the way. People gape at us but say nothing. It doesn't take long to get to the people trapped below and their families rush in to see to there needs. "Come on, there's much to be done here." the two of us decide to split up and head off in separate directions to save time, and hopefully lives.

Hours pass before I have a chance to catch my breath. The fires have all been put out, and between the two of us we were able to repair the outer wall and most of the homes. The people in town are grateful but wary, some of the seem to think we might have caused the destruction in the first place. I'm sitting on a stump, Hermione leaning against it on the ground, and I look at the people before me. Everything has calmed down now, people are tending to the hurt, and the dead are covered in rough blankets. Many of them aren't even recognizable as human, little more than globs of meat and bone.

Over the last three hours or so I realized what had happened, and it scared me. I can tell by the look on Hermione's face that she's figured it out too. Hell, she probably did before me anyway. "you can feel it, the very air is different now, denser." She nodded at me and tears pricked her eyes. I felt my heart break just a little.

"What does it mean Harry? If just one of them going collapsing caused this kind of damage... and I imagine its like this everywhere along the line, what happens if another one goes? Or two at once?"

"What in the bleedin' hell are you talkin' 'bout? We want some answers!" A large man, probably in his forties, was shouting at us from the gathering crowd, dust and grime clung to his clothes, I could see blood in his beard.

"Many of you have wondered at what my friend and I have done over the last couple of hours. Simply put, its magic, we're a witch and wizard respectively, please get over it." They blinked at us, a man in the back laughed and walked forward.

"Yes, I'd say you were a wizard alright, never seen magic quite like that though." He was young, early thirties and had stark white hair.

The people turned to him and seemed to relax. "I don't go about shouting it to the world, but I've got a bit of magic myself. The name is Daniel Malfoy, I guess you could call me the mayor of these parts." I blinked, now I'd seen everything.

"I take it your father taught you what you know?" He nodded and motioned towards the crowd.

"Please my friends, go home, rest and grieve, I have no doubt that these two mean us no harm." Some of them grumbled, but they moved on for the most part. The bearded man shot me one last dirty look before drifting out of sight. "Can you perhaps tell me your names? I mean you no harm, you have helped us tremendously today."

I stood and stretched and offered him my hand. "you can call me Harry, its a name I seem to be favoring these days. This here is Hermione, a very dear friend to me." I see a flicker in his eyes, some half remembered memory but he shook it off.

"Thank you, as I said I'm Daniel Malfoy. Any idea what happened here? The magic in the air feels... stale. Its not moving about as it normally would."

I nodded and helped pull Hermione to her feet. I let her take the stage. "Do you know what a Ley Line is Mr. Malfoy?"

He looked confused for a moment but nodded. "I have heard of them, old lines of magic that criss cross the planet? What does that have to do with what happened?"

She glanced at me and I motioned for her to continue. "Harry and I both know how to feel for a Ley Line, when you're close by to one, the magic in the air is more alive, casting spells become easier since there is so much ambient energy flowing around you. We believe that, one of the collasped. It would explain what happened, a massive magical overload as all of that build up was released at once. It seems one of them died."

I watched as the color from his face drained away. "It, died? What does that mean?"

"We don't know, but we don't think its good. Our world has been through much, there's a chance that some of the damage its taken is permanent, and has made it sick, for lack of a better word."

Daniel sat down in the dirt, shaken and shivering. "Will we lose our magic?"

I shook my head. "No, you're a wizard, same as me. Magic is inside you so as long as you live it can't be lost. It seems that the Earth may be losing its magic. Its not widely known anymore, but Ley Lines are responsible for the birth of magical creatures and plants. They spring up and originate from these places. I'm afraid our planet is dying, finally unable to compensate for the wounds man has given it."

"So if another one collapses, it will release a shock wave like that again? What happens if more than one goes at once? Or if they all collapse at the same time?" I frowned.

"There are thousands of Lines crossing the entire globe, if they all went together, or if a chain reaction were started, I don't think there would be anything left for us to stand on. The Earth would be so much rubble." I closed my eyes and cast my senses outwards, feeling for the hum of magic. A network of glowing threads appeared before me, one of the was now dark, and cracked like an ugly scar. Several of the lines still looked whole and healthy, but there were others that flickered and dimmed, many others.

"I don't think the Earth has much longer. It might take thousands of years for enough lines to fade to kill the planet, but I'm afraid its coming." A weight settled in the pit of my stomach. Daniel and Hermione would probably be long dead before it happened, but me? I had a bad feeling I'd be there one day, watching as the ground beneath me and the sky above, cracked and rippled, torn asunder.

"I don't think its something you need to worry about Daniel. You'll be long dead before the end comes. It takes a long time for something as large and as old as a planet to die." He seemed to relax a bit at that but worry lines still marred his face.

"Still, it breaks ones heart to hear such news. I want to thank you again for your help." He stood and brushed himself off. If this man's anscestor's saw one of their own sitting in the dirt like a commoner they'd have rolled over in their graves. He stuck out his hand and I shook it. "If there's anything you need, just let me know. For now, I need to tend to the affairs of my people. Are you two staying for a while?"

Hermione and I shared a look and she shrugged. "We'll hang around for a day or two before moving on. We might come in handy again, in case you need some more repairs done. And I'll show you a few pointers with your magic while we're here."

He smiled at that, like a kid being told it was time to take off the training wheels, and nodded in thanks. "When you feel up to it, come to my home. Its the wooden cabin towards the back of the far wall. I believe Ms. Granger doused it with water early to put out a fire."

She smiled. "I know where it is Harry. And thank you Daniel, for hearing us out and not throwing us out on the curb."

He laughed. "I doubt I'd have been able to even if I wanted. I know a few tricks, but what I've seen the two of you do, it took my breath away." He gave us one last wave and headed off the help out the town.

Hours later as the sun was setting Hermione and I made our way towards Daniel's cabin. He greeted us warmly at the door and motioned for us to sit. "I will admit that the news you delivered earlier bothers me, but I suppose there's nothing to be done about it. I'm afraid its nothing a future generation will have to worry about." I nodded, maybe there would be something I could do farther down the line, I'd have to look into it to be sure.

He clapped his hands and brought us into a small kitchen. An old wood stove sat in one corner, providing heat as well as cooking a large pot of some kind of stew on top. He ladled out three portions and motioned for us to sit at the small table with me. Hermione and I dug in with gusto, the stew tasted a bit odd, but not in a bad way. We were both famished from the day's activities.

"I have to ask you two, where did you learn your magic from? My father taught be everything he knew, and when he died he have me this." Daniel pulled out an old worn wand. I didn't recognize it, but I assumed it came from one of his ancestors. "He told me there were many things a wizard can do with a wand, or used to be able to. I see Hermione here has one, but you don't seem to need one Harry."

"I made Hermione's wand for her, her original was lost some time ago. The more you use your power, the stronger it tends to get. My magic is a bit more instinctual now, I haven't needed a wand in a long time." I snapped my fingers and turned Danial's hair a bright blue. He laughed in delight and I smiled. Wonders never cease, I'd found a Malfoy I liked. "The hand gestures are for effect really, They're not necessary for the casting of the magic. Similarly, a wand is just a focus. It helps guide the magic so to speak. Hermione doesn't really need hers, it just requires much more concentration to perform magic without it. Care to some him 'Mione?"

She dabbed at her mouth daintily, always one for table manners, and pulled out her home made wand. With a muttering of Latin she pointed it at her spoon and turned it into a furry little mouse. It squeaked up at us and scurried around the table for a few minutes, stopping for a moment to drink a little of Mione's stew before she waved her wand again and the mouse turned back into a spoon.

"I can do the same thing without a wand, but I have to really try." She frowned in concentration and placed both hands over the spoon. After a few moments of quiet concentration she held up the same mouse. "It isn't really a mouse, but it will look and act like one until the magic fades." The cupped the mouse and in a moment it was again a spoon.

"That's marvelous! What were you saying? When you used your wand I mean, I didn't recognize the word." She smiled at him.

"Its Latin, an old language. Wizards used to use it to cast spells. Its not needed to make the magic work, but it helps shape the magic, like a wand." He nodded in understanding and pointed his own wand at the spoon.

His brow furrowed in concentration and it struck me how much the man resembled Lucious in the moment. Slowly, the spoon morphed back into a mouse, no incantation required. "So its all about intent and focus. This will help me immensely! My father had a small book of spells, but the way he understood it, you had to have the right words and motions to get the magic to work right. If he'd known that wasn't the case... he'd probably still be here." A look of sadness crossed his face for a moment, and I got the sense he truly missed his old man. "So for example, if I wanted to put someone to sleep, or change the color of something, its all about how I concentrate? Regardless of what I'm trying to do? Sounds so simple."

I laughed, "You were born with magic, its part of who you are. Its like a muscle, the more you work it, the stronger it becomes." He nodded thoughtfully and returned to his stew. It didn't take long for us all to finish eating and he started asking questions again.

"If you don't mind me asking, where did you learn this from? When I was a bit younger I did a fare bit of traveling, trying to find others like me. I found a few, but none of them knew anymore than I did. You both put us all to shame."

I shared a glance with Hermione who shrugged. "Hermione and I, we come from a different time. We had been taught magic, before the world fell to ruin. I arrived here years ago, by some cosmic decree or by chance I've never known. Hermione arrived afterward, but accident."

"I'm glad to have met you, but I'm sorry you were taken away from your life and dropped here. It must be hard, adjusting to this kind of life." He motioned around himself. His small cabin was luxuries by today's standards.

Mione waved him off. "its quite alright, I'm adjusting, I've got Harry with me, if I didn't, I've have probably went mad already. I don't know how he's done it, traveling alone for so long." I give her a smile and feel a slight prickling in my eyes. I reach out and give her hand a squeeze, I could always count on Mione.

"I'm glad you have each other my new and interesting friends. The both or you are welcome to star here for the night if you-" he was cut off by an ear splitting scream from outside. The three of us stood as one and darted for the door, trying to see what all the commotion was about.

We were greeted by a screaming woman, hands and arms soaked in blood. "Mr. Malfoy! Sir! Its happened again, it got Andrew, Sir! My boy! My poor boy!" The woman collapsed, sobbing. Hermione pulled out her wand and scanned the area, guards were approaching at a run, the color drained from their faces and shaking badly.

Daniel scooped up the heartbroken woman and motioned for me. "Harry, talk to the guards for me please, I'm going to take her inside and try to get her calm." I nodded and approached the panting guards.

"What happened boys?" The didn't seem offended, they looked older than me, but then again, no one actually was.

"The last few weeks people have gone missing," he paused to catch his breath and his partner took over.

"Some kind of monster, a hulking beast like a slobbering dog, but it walked on two legs." I felt my pulse quicken at that comment. I glanced up into the sky, the moon wasn't full. Hermione and I shared a look.

"Take us to where you've seen it, what happened to Andrew?" We talked as we walked, heading for the main entrance to the little town.

"He's new, just joined up with the guards a month or so ago. It came out of the wood on the eastern side of the wall and grabbed him. His mum was bringing him a late dinner to eat and she saw the whole thing. One snap of its jaws and it tore him completely in two, dragged off his lower end into the woods, to eat him I suppose.

Hermione looked a bit green at that but steeled her resolve as we approached the area in question. A sheet had been draped over the young man and I lifted it aside to get a look at his wounds. Deep and ragged, large teeth and claws had made these. Hermione was looking at the ground not far away and motioned me over.

"See here Harry? Look familiar to you?" I bent and took a closer look. A padded foot with four blunt toes and clawed. The heel extended back a little ways but stopped short of where a human's would be. I looked at her but didn't say anything, I didn't need to.

He cleaned up the area and sent the guards back inside with Andrew's body. "Under no circumstance is anyone to leave this place at night, including the guards, patrol the walls from the top instead. You don't want to meet this thing, we need to speak to Mr. Malfoy." The listened to me without question, centuries of experience at leading armies served me well sometimes.

The two of us headed back to Daniel's home to see him sitting outside on a stump, puffing on one of those strange purple cigarettes. He looked shaken and his hands were splattered with drops of Andrew's blood. "I got her calmed down, she's sleeping now. What she saw... I don't think she'll ever recover from it. Did you two happen to find anything out? What's doing this?"

Hermione took my hand in hers and squeezed it hard as I answered him. "Its seems you have a werewolf on your hands."

To be continued...

A/N: Once again I apologize this took so long to get out, I've been rather busy of late, buts I'm afraid its classified information. Just as a heads up I'm aware that I pointed out that the moon wasn't full, I did this on purpose, its had to tell how radiation might have affect the development of lycanthropy after all ;) Until next time folks.

-Harkon.

8. Oh a Hunting We Shall Go

Chapter 8

Oh a Hunting we will go.

Author's note: Just wanted to thank you guys for the feed back last chapter, and sorry again that it took so long! I shan't hold this up any longer, here's chapter 8.

Daniel didn't seem to know what I was speaking about at first. I refreshed his memory with a short lecture and his eyes lit up. "My father spoke about them, great nasty things, much larger than a normal wolf, and capable of running on two legs?"

I nodded. "I've known a few of them over the years. Nice enough bunch of people, as long as you treat them right. I haven't encountered one in years though. I had honestly thought that they'd died out a while back. The transformation is hard on them. It takes someone particularly healthy and robust to withstand the curse for more than a decade or two. A werewolf that makes it past twenty years with the infection usually gains some control over the beast. Or so I've been told."

Hermione looked at me with a sad smile, probably thinking fond thoughts of Remus. Poor bastard had died just a few years shy of gaining that advantage. A confused look crossed her face. "What I don't understand is that the moon isn't full. Werewolves have always needed the full moon the achieve a complete transformation. A few of them that had embraced their nature gained the ability to achieve a partial transformation, but what your guards described was a complete werewolf, and that needs the full moon."

I nodded at her explanation. "Old powerful rituals could sometimes induce a transformation, but they were fickle at best. And I can't think of anyone that would know about them, not anyone living in the visinity anyway." Hermione gave me a sideways glance, thinking of him.

"Hermione, why don't you stay here, show Daniel a few more tricks? I wanna go poke around and see if I can find anything."

"Harry! I just got you back! I'm not going to chance you getting eaten. Let me come with you to watch your back at least!"

I give her a crooked smile. "I'm immune to lycanthropy. You aren't. Besides, careful is my middle name Mione."

"Yeah, whatever, and I'm Marry Poppins." Her eyes widen, "you're immune? Since when!? The only thing that can you immune is... you're a wolf animagus?" Of course she'd know what I was talking about, I should know by now that I couldn't fool this woman.

"Correct in one, a little talent I picked up after you... departed. Its come in dead handy, especially recently. I'll show you the trick of how I did it when I get back, I promise."

Her eyes lit up at the idea of learning something new. "Doesn't it take ages to learn though? And how could you make sure I turned into a wolf? Its not something you get to pick you know." She crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow at me. Despite the atmosphere after the day's events, I clearly heard Daniel snort in amusement.

"Nah, I'll just make you a wolf, not that hard. Better than you're natual form anyway."

"And what would be my natural form? And how do you change it? And how do you know what my form is if I don't even!?"

Man, I'd forgotten how many questions she could ask in such a short amount of time. "You're a dolphin, I just give you a charge of my own magic right before inducing the change, and I can see it in your magic, another talent I'll show you, tomorrow. I'm sorry Mione, but we don't have time tonight to go over everything. Besides, I want to get a start while the trail is still fresh."

She huffed at me but I could see there was no real anger there. "I promise, me and you, we're a team. I'd forgotten how much you really meant to me before I saw you again. I won't leave you behind, I swear it. And I know you've always wanted to try your hand at teaching. Give Daniel here a few pointers, I'll be back before the sun is up."

I saw her resolve crumple and she rushed forward to give me a hug. "Please be careful, I know to me I never really lost you, but I still worry. And when you get back you'll be showing me all your little tricks mister!" She poked me in the chest with a finger to emphasize her point.

I just laugh. "I wouldn't have it any other way. I'll be back before long, I promise." I give her a kiss on top of her head, I'm still way taller than her, and head for the door with a wave. I had a werewolf to track down.

Once I was clear of the small village I felt for that small line of magic that connected me to my primal self, and allowed the change to take me. I hadn't been completley honest with Hermione, but I'd tell her later tonight. I actually couldn't change her animagus form, i'd just be creating an artificial one for her. She'd essentially have two forms then, that of a wolf, and her natual form. The wolf would come tomorrow, I'd cheat her out of all the hard work and give it to her, but the dolphin thing I'd let her figure out on her own. I could already see the look on her face when she realized I was going to cut out all the work for her, it would bug her to no end.

As a wolf animagus my natural senses were heightned as a human, they magnified ten fold when I took my four legged form. The smell of blood assualted my senses and my vision sharpened in the dark as the colors grew muted and sepia toned. And the beast, I detected the distinct smell of a werewolf. Like wet dog, with a healthy dose of rage and sadness mixed in, followed by the faint whiff of rot.

I set off down the trail, it wasn't hard to follow at first. While a werewolf could of course be silent and stealthy when it needed to be, it was an apex preditor afterall, whoever this guy was had been caught up in blood lust earlier and had left quite a path. A few trees were knocked down, tall grass trampled... and I can't forget about the blood everywhere. I stayed low to the ground, my nose in the dirt and my eyes around me. Werewolves don't have natural predators, it probably dragged the body a mile away or so and started eating him, poor bastard.

I picked up the pace some and weaved through the underbrush and between trees. The farther along I got down the trail the fresher it became. The werewolf wasn't in much of a hurry. I spotted several places where he'd stopped for a minute, probably to take a bite or two before continuing. The blood pooled in these places, the smell like a bag of pennies and fresh pork.

I've been at it about fifteen minutes when I find the corpse, or whats left at it. Just a foot, and only some of it at that, missing three toes. I give it a suddle whiff and my snout crinkles in disgust. The smell of the beast is stronger now, he may have bedded down somewhere nearby to digest his meal before moving on. I close my eyes and stretch out my magical senses, I can feel him farther north, several miles away now, but theres a group of five making their way to this very spot.

I open my eyes and drop to the forest floor, blending in perfectly with the foliage and wait. I hadn't seen a werewolf since I woke up over twenty years ago, and now there were six of them in the immediate area. It doesn't take long before I hear... voices?

"I can smell him, we're close to the traitor's trail." The voice was male, deep and gravely.

"He's been very good at hiding but he's getting reckless. Attacking that town nearby was idiotic, and to hang around for several days? Its almost as if he wants us to find him."

Okay, now I'm confused. One transformed werewolf running around eating people, and a group of untransformed werewolves following it? They're walking into the little clearing now where the first one made his pit stop. I inhale deeply, yeah, werewolves alright. I decide to wait and see, maybe I'd find out what the hell was going on.

"I can't understand why he did it to begin with. Malaki was always ruthless, but he's never let the beast control him before. Then two months ago he snaps, even with what he was saying, Doesn't make any sense to me." This voice was female, and young by the sound of it. I catch a look at the group as they move in. They're wearing animal skins, down to the shoes, and two of them are carrying crossbows. Three men and two women. I can tell by the way they look at the ground that they're trackers. Not that its hard to follow this particular trail.

"This is interesting, look." I can see one of the women point something out to the others. "Here's Malaki's tracks, but there's a second set, see? Looks similar to ours, but no toes, just pads, like a huge dog."

Crap, I'm usually rather light footed, but they must have seen one of my own tracks as I came in. "So someone else is following him? And they brought there dog with them? I see no other footprints. Could just be a wild animal looking to cash in on the bit of meat lying around."

They seem like they're trying to catch him to kill him. Odd behavior for werewolves. Then again, its hard to tell what thousands of years can do to change a magical race. Screw it, I think I can take them if it comes to that.

I stand up and pad back out into the clearing right in front of them. For people that are suppsed to have enhanced senses they seem rather surprised to see me. One of the males that has a crossbow levels it at me but doesn't fire. They're tense as if they're ready for a fight, I can't say I blame them. Maybe I forgot the mention this, but I'm a big wolf, around the same size as one of them transformed, just with proper wolf proportions.

"I guess that's where the tracks came from, damn he's a big fucker for a pureblood. I didn't think there were any wolves around here anymore, haven't seen one in ages." It was the woman that noticed the prints. Dark brown hair with those glowing amber eyes, muscular too. "I've never seen one like that, look at those eyes, I didn't know wolves could have green ones." I snort, which comes out as a barking cough sound. I felt for that thread that led back to my humanity and shifted to my natural form, startling them all.

"they can't, by my eyes are always green. No matter what form I take." I've surprised them again. The man with the crossbow fires on instinct but I snatch it out of the air with magic enhanced reflexes. "Be careful with that thing, you could shoot your eye out."

"What the fuck are you? No pureblood can change forms, none that I've ever met." There's that term again. Is that what a modern werewolf calls a true wolf? Kinda funny all things considered.

"Not sure what you mean by pureblood. But I'm not a werewolf either. I'm a wizard, some of us have the ability to change form into an animal, mine happens to be a wolf."

They all glare at me. "We're not werewolves, those beasts died out centuries ago. We're Lycans. We aren't controlled by the animal." Time is an interesting thing, given enough of it anything can change, apparently the term werewolf was an insult now.

"No offense intended, where I come from those terms are interchangable, but its nice to know you lot aren't a group of bloodthirsty monsters. I was passing through that village yesterday, when someone was attacked. I volunteered to track him down. I take it he's one of yours?"

The second female stepped forward to address me, I'm assuming she's the leader. "A wizards huh? Haven't met one of you in years, first one that can change form too." She's giving me a sceptical look. With a florish of my hand a boutque a wild flowers appears in a show of blue drifting sparks. I hand them out to her and she accepts them in amusement. One of the other males shows his teeth to me, I just grin back.

"Let me assure you, I am a wizard, so what the hell happened to, Malaki was it?"

The female chucked the flowers over her shoulder where the disappeared in a whisp of smoke. "Its not your concern wizard. We take care of our own, and we solve our own problems. He will be dealt with accordingly."

I frown at this, not my concern eh? With merely a thought I lifted the Lycans into the air and spun them about upside down. Having no ability to cast magic themselves, they might as well have been muggles.

"Put me down you insolent little shite!" The leader's face was turning red due to all the blood rushing to it, and her eyes had started glowing an ominous color. She roared at me and changed shape. Unlike a traditional werewolf, her inate magic protected her clothing and hid it in a small pocket dimension, much like mine does when I change into my animagus form. Apparently after thousands of years their magic had evolved. Perhaps the War so long ago had an impact on them? Radiation did strange things after all.

The transformation made little difference, she was still upside down and flayling, roaring and slashing at me with her claws, but she couldn't get down. After several minutes of this, two of the Lycans with her had passed out due to the blood rush, she finally stopped and huffed at me, whining like a kicked puppy.

She changed back and I rotated them all around so they were floating upright. "This Malaki character just ate someone that resides in the village back there, the one I was staying at. So I'm making it my business. Now tell me what the hell is going on." I allow a little compulsion magic to drift into my voice and she finally answers me.

"He was a member of our pack! He's always been restless, but followed the rules until a few months ago. Claimed he met some bloke that could make us rulers over the humans if we followed him, No body listened, so he broke off on his own and started killing humans. Now put us down!"

I dropped them all on their asses and snorted at the outrage they expressed, I stretch out my magical senses and feel for the traitor but can't detect him anymore. "Well that's just great, you lot took forever to tell me anything and now he's gotten away." I might be able to detect the Earth's ley lines all across the globe, but that's only because they're so big and powerful, a werewolf is a tiny blip in comparison. Its the same reason I can't simply stretch out my senses and feel for Him. Any more than about five miles and it fades from my sight, unless its unbelieveably powerful. Besides, the talent leaves me a bit vulnerable while I'm using it. "We'll just have to wait until the next night to try to track him. I suggest you go home and stay there. I don't need your assistance."

The leader snarled and jumped to her feet, coming at me to take a swing. I stepped back, magic increasing my reflexes and strength. She misses and goes to hit me again and I catch her arm. "I have no reason to hurt you. I understand wanting to keep this amongst your people. But I can't chance him doing this again."

The fire burning behind her eyes dampens slightly, either at me words, or at the caught punch I'm not sure. The rest of her pack mates are tensed standing behind her. "I'm sorry for what he's done, I'm not normally like this. This mess has me tied up in knots." I look into her eyes deeply and catch a glimmer of something.

"You're in love with him."

Her shock is evident and she slacks in my hold. I release her and step back, rethinking my strategy. "Meet me at the main gates of the village tomorrow, I'll have a friend with me. Together we'll hunt him down and catch him. After we've made sure he won't get away we'll turn him over to you and you can handle him how you see fit." She seems to relax and deflate a little, so does her pack.

"I'm... I'm sorry. I'm not normal like this, I probably seem like a savage to you."

I can't help it, laughter escape me. She looks up, about to get angry, but I hold up a hand to stall her. "Call yourself a Lycan if you like, the way you're acting is so perfectly human I'd never think you were anything but." She gives me a sad smile. "Please, nothing to worry about from me, my friend and I are just going to help you catch him. Its an internal matter, I can understand that, as long as he sees justice, I'll be happy. Now get home, its late, I'll see you tomorrow."

I start to walk okay and stop. "Mind if I catch your name?"

She stops up short but nods. "I'm Selena, can I have yours?"

Now there's a million dollar question. I've had a thousand names in my many lives, but I've grown partial to one in particular lately. "Call me Harry, most people do these days."

I turn and walk off into the forest, not giving her a chance to reply.

Hermione is waiting up for me, just as I expected her to be.

"Well, how did it go?" Daniel had apparently went to bed some time ago, so it was just the two of us in his tiny livingroom.

"Very interesting. I tracked him through the forest a ways but he was a good bit ahead of me. Ran into some of his pack mates. They'd been trying to capture him for some time now. It seems werewolves don't exist anymore. They call themselves Lycans, and can control the form at will. Keep their minds too."

Hermione got that look in her eye she always got when presented with new information, it was a hungry look, like she was eyeing a particularly juicy piece of meat. "Tell me, all of it."

So I launched into a brief explanation, how at some point werewolves had split into two different species, one of them being like the ones we knew of, and the others being able to control the beast within them.

"That's so fascinating! I hope I get a chance to meet them! So why did this one go rougue?"

"He'd been talking to someone that convinced him his people were superiour to humans, that they should rule them. The rest of his pack didn't agree with his change in ideals, so he exhiled himself and has been hunting and eating humans since then. We'll be meeting with some of his pack mates tomorrow, they're going to help us track him down and stop him before he eats anybody else."

The idea of getting to speak with these Lycans was really exciting her; her cheeks were flushed. Then her eyes narrowed. "Show me how to become an animagus, now."

I tried to whine my way out of it, but she'd have none of it. "Okay, okay. Now, lets head outside. Don't want to accidently wake Daniel up... or destroy any of his furniture."

She nodded and we headed outside into the dark night. "The first thing I'm gonna tell you is that this isn't technically an animagus form, I'm basically going to influence your magic in such a way so that you'll be able to mimic my form. You'll still be able to turn into a dolphin too, but you'll have to figure that one out on your own." I grinned at her and she always swotted me, but held back at the last second. "Now, place a hand on my head and close your eyes and concentrate on my magic as I change shape. You'll be able to feel the pull towards my animal side. As I shift I'm going to feed you some of my magic through touch. Just hold on and relax and you'll change with me. The trick isn't that hard for me now, but back when I still used a wand for most things it was a bitch. Now that my magic is more instinctual it lends itself to things like this rather nicely."

"Okay Harry, I trust you. Just one question, is this going to hurt? Its totally worth it regardless, but I just wanna know so I can prepare myself."

I shook my head. "No, it feels a bit strange, changing the first time. But no pain, just an odd sense of being out of your body for a moment as your mind and instincts become a bit simpler; then your're yourself again." I smiled at her to try to reassure her.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes before gently reaching up and placing her hand on my head. I closed my eyes and allowed my magic to flow into her touch, tickling her own magic with mine. I felt for that little thread that connected me to my inner animal and drug it across my magic so it touch Hermione's magic as well.

I allowed the change to happen, feeling my bones slide around, my chest and hips narrowing and my face elongating into a snout. I slowed the process down to allow Hermione to adjust a bit and I heard her gasp and the hand on my head became a paw.

I opened my eyes to a sepia toned world and admired my handiwork. Hermione's fur was a chestnut brown like her hair, and her eyes had taken on a slight amber quality, but they were still uniquely her own. I felt out with my magic again and saw the strong thread within her, tethering her back to her human form. Looked like everything had worked out fine.

Being wolves now allowed for a short form of telepathy, not much more than images, but it was enough to get a message across. She responded that she was happy and excited about the change. I showed her the thread connecting her two forms and allowed her to shift back on her own. The experience left her drained, breathless, and ecstatic.

As soon as I changed back I was met with a bone crushing hug. "Harry, that was amazing! Is that what it always feels like?" I hugged her back and laugh.

"Yeah, its pretty incredible isn't it? You'll get used to the feeling, but that's what its like most times." I smile at her and she lets go.

Her face scrunches up in this cute little way when she concentrates before she's replaced by her wolf form again. She barks happily and spins around in a circle a few times before changing back and promptly falling on her ass. I stifle a chuckle as she glares at me.

"Its pretty draining on your energy at first but you'll get used to it." I stretch out a hand and help her up. "Lets head back inside. The wolf pack is going to meet us at dawn, and you need to get some rest.

Her indignation forgotten, she merely nods sleepily before allowing me to carry her back inside so she can get some rest for what I'm sure is to be a very long day tomorrow.

Well, there you have it guys. Let me know what you think. Until next time, Harkon.

9. I smell a wet dog

Great feed back guys, I appreciate the input.

On a side note, got a few reviews saying that this story reminded a few people of different intellectual properties, all similarities are pure coincidental, I hadn't honestly heard of either one of them, but they both sound interesting, and might be something I check out at a later date.

I'll stop stalling now,

Chapter 9: I smell wet dog...

The next morning dawned bright and early. I rolled out of the small bed that Daniel had allowed Hermione and I to share for the night and looked around. The bed was more of a wide cot than anything else, but it was far more comfortable than the floor. Hermione herself had curled up into a ball as soon as I'd climbed out of bed. Ever since I'd found her, she'd clung close to me at night, said I kept the nightmares away. I smiled down at her and pulled a errant strand of hair off her face and gently tucked it behind her ear. I never realized how much I missed her until I found her again.

I dressed quickly and quietly, wanting to give my sleeping friend a few more minutes of rest. Now that it was quiet and peaceful I headed outside onto the little porch. The sun was just coming up. I'd guess it to be around six thirty in the morning, but its hard to tell time without a clock. There was something I wanted to check on before waking Hermione. I sat down in a worn wicker chair and closed my eyes. Allowing myself to slip into a meditative state, I opened my senses and took in the magic of the world.

.A vague projection of the Earth appeared behind my eyes, hazy for a moment before snapping into focus. I haven't the slightest idea of how this projection works exactly, nor do I know why things show up as certain colors, perhaps its my own interpretation that my magic uses to build it? Hard to say, but the sight disturbed me none the less. I could see the literal viens of the Earth, what we called Ley Lines. Many of them showed up as green, and strong looking. But there were thousands that had become a sickly yellow color, and hundreds more that were in the red. I believed that the red lines were close to collapsing, and the yellow would follow after that. It would probably take a thousand years for one color to change to another, but in the lifespan of the planet, that was no time at all.

I looked closer at the image and scowled at what I saw. The Ley line that had fallen not long ago showed as an ugly black, jagged and rough, like a rotting wound. As I looked closer, I could see many more of these dead lines, some of them recent, but many of them looked like they had been that way for a long time. There were hundreds of them, at least as many dead lines as there were red ones. Humanity had doomed the planet, it was just taking a long time for it to happen.

"I wonder how many more have to go before it can't suppot itself any longer?" That thougtht didn't sit well with me. I opened my eyes and allowed the image to fade from sight, just contemplating what I had seen. Listening I noticed the birds chirping, the trees growing healthy and strong. Insects starting to awaken with the sun. Maybe the world could recover? It seemed full of life, even if it was strange compared to how it used to be, maybe the planet would recover.

I walked back inside and gave Hermione a gentle nudge. She shifted in her sleep before opening her eyes and blinking at me owlishly. She opened her mouth to speak but instead let loose a long yawn followed up with a cat like stretch. If this girl only knew what she did to me sometimes...

"Good morning sleepy head. Ready to go track down a rogue werewolf?" She groaned and flopped back down on the bed.

"Not before my morning coffee... damn, I keep forgetting its rarer than mythril these days." I laugh at her grumpy expression.

"More valuable too, in my humble opinion anyway." I picked her shirt up off the floor and chucked it at her. "Come on and get dressed, running around in that skimpy top will give this old man a heart attack."

She wrinkled her nose at me and stuck out her tongue before standing up and giving her bum a little shake for good measure. I tried so very hard not to stare. She laughed at the expression on my face before getting dressed and giving me a tight hug.

"Sorry to be a tease." I just smile down at her.

"No you're not, but its okay. Now come on, grab your shoes, we'll be meeting them shortly." She slipped into a comfortable pair of boots I'd made for her and we were out the door.

We made our way outside the maingate, giving the guardsmen a wave and letting them know we'd be back later. Without the tall wall around us all the time everything felt wilder again, untouched by man for centuries, reclaimed by nature. Hermione and I went over and found a stump to sit on to wait out the Lycans. Hermione pulled out some weird fruit she'd gotten in the village and handed me one.

I look at it and give it a sniff, it smells nice, and looked like lime green pomigranite, but the skin felt more like a peach, soft and slightly fuzzy.

"What is this thing 'Mione?" She laughed and took a bit out of her's, it crunched like an apple.

"The locals call it Yucatta. Apparently it grows on trees around this area. It reminds me of some strange frankenstien fruit. Looks like a pomigranite, feels like a peach, colored like a lime and tastes like a mix between an apple and an orange. I'm sure radiation had something to do with its creation, but its quite delicious."

I shrug and smile, the little lecture was so Hermione. I took a bite and sure enough it was crispy and juicy like an apple, but had a tangy orange hint as well. "Radiation is good for a few things. I'd say this is one of them.

We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, munching on our franken fruit and waiting for the wolves to show. I started to think they'ed changed their minds when I smelled them approaching from the edge of the woods.

Hermione wrinkled her nose at the odor. "Why do I suddenly smell wet dog?"

I laughed. "When I forced your change last night your senses got a bit of a boost. They'll still be stronger if you change, but they're heightened from what the once were. Our friends have arrived, that's what you're smelling."

"So they're close then?" I breathed deeply from my nose.

"I'd say they'll be here within a minute. Lycans have always have a very distinct smell, you'd have picked it up before last night, now you're just picking it up sooner." She nodded and smiled at the thought of having better senses. They do come in handy.

We sat there in silence for a few more moments before the Lykans showed up, walking out of the edge of the nearby forest. Selena was in the lead, looking wild in their animal skin clothes, with smudges of dirt here and there. They were nearly silent as they approached us. There was only one other with her this time, one of the males from last night. He had dark hair and eyes, and a hint of asian ancestry in his features.

Hermione and I rose from our impromto seat and stretched, she always reminded me of a big cat when she did that. Selena was eyeing her, clearly unimpressed with who I'd brought along with me.

"This is the supposed help? You brought me a little girl?" Hermione scowled at her. In one fluid motion, her experience superseeded my the short cut I provided her with last night, She leapt into the air. Shifting into a huge brown she-wolf before pinning Selena to the ground, snarling and baring her teeth. The Lycan was taken aback, and appeared scared for a moment before she composed herself.

"Okay, I'm sorry." Hermione sniffed and stuck her nose up in the air before lightly hopping off the werewolf, marching back to myside doing her best Malfoy impersonation. She shifted back and winked at me before facing them again.

"Are you sure we need their help Harry? She's just a little girl after all." I laugh at the expression on Selena's face, the friend she'd brought looked just as amused.

He stepped forward and stuck out his hand for a shake. "My name's Maverick, its nice to meet you both."

I shook it firmly, and he did the same for Mione. "The name's Harry, if you didn't hear last night, and this is a close friend, Hermione Granger."

"Charmed, I'm sure." Selena had picked herself up out of the dirt by now and was brushing herself off, pulling a twig out of her hair. "And I'm Selena. Sorry again, I have a tendency to put my foot in my mouth, I never thought you'd actually be able to change like him."

Hermione shrugged it off, her pride restored. "Its quite alright. And nice to meet you Selena. Now, what are we going to be up to? Got a rougue to track down?"

"Yes... his name is Malaki, and he's been attacking people for months now, he was exhiled from the pack for causing infighting. We'll have to find him and put him down. I suggest we follow his trail from last night. Hopefully he's stayed in the area since we stopped tracking him the other night, he might believe we lost his trail somewhere." I nodded as we all made to move on into the forest.

We found the trail easily enough and made our way back to the clearing where I'd met the Lycans the night before. Hermione crinkled her nose at the foot we'd passed by. The foliage was thick, and the tree tops, strange fan shaped leaves, blocked out most of the sun. causing it to be on the gloomier side in here.

"Reminds me of the Forbidden Forest. All dark and overgrown." I smiled at her and nodded.

"I haven't been up to visit Hogwarts in a very long time, I wonder if anything of it is still standing? Some of the preservation magic on that place was outstanding. Never know what we might find in the library, if its still standing. I wouldn't be surprised if the forest was up to the main gates by now."

I could swear Hermione nearly started drooling over the idea of having that library all to herself, but something told me that castle wasn't there anymore. Not the way it was anyway. As we walked I closed my eyes, allowing my other senses to guide me as I stretched out my magical perception. I was feeling for that Lycan, the traitor to his own kind. I hated traitors, always had since Godric put that dagger in my side several millenia ago. How he had been so close to me for so long without me knowning I never found out. Every few lives he's tried to masqurade as a 'good guy.' The ruse never lasted long but he was charasmatic enough to pull it off for a while.

The world behind my eyes lit up, the ambient magic in the area flaring to life as I stretched out my senses, trying to find this Lycan. I didn't have to look far.

"Move!" Hermione never hesitated, she leapt out of the way immediately, rolling across the forest floor and coming up in a crouch, wand drawn and ready. Our two companions weren't nearly as fast as they should have been. The hulking monster leapt down from one of the massive trees. The bastard had been stalking us from above, somehow able to mask his scent and sound, and landed on top of the two other Lycans.

He was the biggest fucking werewolf I'd ever seen. Standing at over three meters tall, with powerful long limbs, and a broad, scarred snout. He was in the throws of blood lust and lunged forward to bite the head off of Maverick in a single snap. I had no time to think about that, I had to act.

Selena was pinned under him, blood seeping from her mouth and with broken ribs, she'd been caught completely off guard, and was trying to change shape. It was only partly successful. Not that it mattered, this bastard was so much bigger than her the added strength would have made little difference.

Hermione had conjured a clutch of silver arrows and had shot them at the beast, constantly casting more and more. The monster shifted its weight and dodged most of them. A few lodged themselves in its shoulder and side, but it laughed, a blood curdling crackling sound and ignored them. I felt my magic bubble to the surface, infusing my muscles and bones with power. Changing into a wolf would have done me little good, I can't describe how big and powerful this thing was. I ran at the Lycan and slammed my shoulder up under his rib cage, managing to drive one of the arrows in deeper and knock him off Selena in one go. He staggered slightly and swiped at me with a powerful arm, all while dodging Hermione's spells. The attack was too fast for me to move out of the way. So instead I pumped my arms full of so much magic they started to burn and blocked the attack. It hit hard enough to rattle the teeth in my head but I managed to keep my footing and pushed it away. I snarled at the towering monster and launched silvery flames from my palms. The heat was intense, even channeled into a tight beam as I was it still managed to catch a nearby tree on fire with the backlash. The excess curled off and around the beast in whipping flashes of pure magic.

The blast sent him ass over head and he rolled across the ground, smoking and smouldering in several places. Hermione ran over to check on me, and I suspected my arm was cracked from where I blocked that swipe. "Grab Selena and get away from it. I don't know what the fuck that thing is but its not a normal werewolf. That fire should have turned him to ash, he's standing up now. Get Selena and make sure she's still alive, and stay behind me." Hermine looked ready to argue, until she glanced over at the monster. It was standing again, and the wounds inflicted by her arrows and my fire were nearly healed already. It was smiling at us with sharp, bloody teeth, then its jaws unhinged.

"What the fuck?" Hermione didn't have time to scold me for my language, before the werewolf belched fire at us. It wasn't like dragon fire, not a stream, no this was more like a fireball, in a rouch round shape with a tail off the back. I came right at me with incredible speed but I was able to duck. Feeling the mere heat off of the thing singed a few hairs. I glanced at Hermione who turned deathly pale.

"Not possible, werewolves can't cast magic while transformed, the disease prevents it." She shook herself and grabbed Selena, pulling her behind a tree and checking to see if she was still alive. Three more fireballs were sent my way and I cast a powerful shield made of water and ice to stop them. Its mouth was smoking, and a rune that had previously been invisible on its chest now glowed brightly. Whatever that was, it wasn't something this thing could do naturally, it had been enhanced via some sort of ritual.

I curved my shield outwards into a spike, froze it solid and sent it hurling at the beast. It nimbly jumped strait up into the air and disappeared into the tree line. "Hermione, is she alive? Can she be moved?" My curly haired friend was silent for a moment before nodding.

"A few cracked ribs, one of them scraped a lung, but I've managed to stabalize her. Evenverate. Come on Selena, get on your feet!" The spell had woken her up, but she still appeared dazed.

"What was that? Oh Maverick! That bastard killed him!" I didn't get to hear anything else she said as the beast fell right on top of me, slamming me into the ground hard enough to leave a dent. If my muscles and bones hadn't been so infused with my own magic for a power boost, I'd have been ground into hamburger. I coughed as the wind was knocked out of me. How was this bastard hiding like this? Nothing could hide from my senses like that, nothing I'd encountered before. I grit me teeth and with a mighty heave I got my feet under him and kicked with all my strength, enough to get it off me. I jumped to my feet and stumbled feeling dizzy and half sick. Channeling magic into the body like I was could be extremely taxing if one wasn't careful. With a flick and slash of my hands I let loose a torrent of ripping and cutting curses, powerful enough to distort the air as they moved.

The Lycan leapt and pounced out of the way, leaving trees and foliage to take the brunt of my attack. Several trees fell to the onslaught toppling over and crashing around the forest floor. The next few shots I led with and managed to catch it once in the shoulder and again at the elbow, severing the arm.

It stopped its pouncing and looked down at the stump, wiggling it a little as if in fascination of the injury more than anything else. I didn't give it any time to consider it before I sent a barrage of silver spikes, as big as rail road stakes at it. It had tried to move out of the way but with a missing arm it lost some of its mobility. I pinned it to a tree and kept up the heat, not wanting to let the thing heal again. Hermione stepped up next to me and let loose her own barrage of silver arrows and cannon balls. The magic was so intense and bright it blocked the werewolf from sight for a few moments before we finally stopped, panting from the effort.

Selena was leaning against a tree behind us, holding her side and grimacing. When the light faded we got a look at our handy work. It finally looked dead. Spikes and arrows littered its body, one arrow was sticking out of its right eye. Hermione's cannon balls had left deep burns and welts on its body, several of them had broken bones, and it mouthwas crooked, the lower jaw snapped and hanging off to the side.

I rounded on Selena. "What the fuck was that thing? Did you know he could do that!?" She looked as shocked as I did so I calmed down. "Sorry, but damn, that was the last thing I was expecting." I glanced at the wolf again and it hadn't moved. Good.

"I'm sorry about maverick." Hermione sqeezed her shoulder and took a look at my arm, it had started throbbing pretty good now that the adrenaline had slowed down some. I flicked my wrist at the still burning trees and dowsed them with heavy water, suffocating the flames.

"He was young, but knew what he was getting into. At least, he thought he did. I don't know what Malaki did to himself, but he was never like that before, nor was he nearly that big." I nodded and felt a cool tickling sensation in my arm as Hermione healed the crack and moved on to my ribs.

"Thanks Mione, much better."

She smiled at me and caused me to sport my own grin. The same sensation entered my chest, tickling as the bones fused back together. "No problem Harry, I know how accident prone you are, that 's why I learned healing magic in the first place." I just stuck my tongue out at her and wrapped her in a one armed hug. She squeezed back before going over to Selena and seeing about fixing her up a little better as well.

"I don't know what he did to himself. I 'd say some sort of ritual based off the illuminated runes I saw. Some kind of power booster as well. I wonder where he learned it from." I felt a bubble of unease in my stomach, not many people would know about that magic anymore. Just three that I knew of, and two of us were standing right here.

"I'm sorry you had to kill him, I'd hoped there was some chance of rehabilitation, but he looked like he'd embraced the animal completely. I didn't see any sign of a man within him." I nodded at her sad expression and turned back towards the corpse.

My blood ran cold.

It was smiling at us. Thick ropes of blood and saliva dribbled from its mouth. Its chest heaved as it breathed, a deep gurgling sound came from its mouth, like it was half drowning in its own blood, and it was smiling at us. thin black lips pulled back from its rust stained teeth. Slowly the arrow in its eye slid out and dislodged with a wet pop. I stood frozen on the spot as the eye slowly reshaped and healed itself, then it laughed.

Hermione and Selena were stock still, shocked and appalled that the thing still lived. The laugh was heavy, like a barrel filled with rocks and mud being stirred with a stick, a scraping wet sound. It stopped laughing. And Spoke.

"A good effort old one. But not even with the help of your bitch can you hope to stop me. I am Abomination. The right hand of Chaos. My master sees you, and he smiles. He smells your fear, and laughs, he feels your rebellion, and crushes it in his palm, as if you were a bug." The monster began to change then, the hair fell away, the skin pulled tight across the muscle and bones, and the snought receeded and became flat, causing the mouth the grow wide. The pawed feet split open and formed into reptilian toes, and the tail fell away like useless garbage. It pulled itself off of the tree, the silver spikes sliding clean through its body, only leaving scars in their wake. Appearing nothing like the Lycan, or man, that it once was. "He knows you are awake now, and he will see the end of you. This is your last turn, and it will end it darkness." It smiled at us, showing jagged and serrated teeth. "I leave you, to wallow in your own misery." It raised its clawed hand and waved, in a mockingly friendly manner, before simply blinking out of existance, leaving behind a smell of rot and sulphur.

Hermione collasped at me side into a sitting position on the scarred forest floor, shaking like a leaf in a strong breeze. Selena was openly crying. And me? I was furious. "I can't believe it, he can't have done it again. He knows the consequences of this, I can't belive it..." I'm lost in my own thoughts, remembering, remembering the last time He had made such a monster.

"Harry, what was that thing? It wasn't any werewolf, even if it looked like one for a little while. It was just hiding inside it, wasn't it?" I hear her, but for a moment I can't respond, lost in my own thoughts. She reaches out and grips my arms, bringing me out of my horrific nostalgia.

"History remembers that thing, they called in the black death. During the middle ages, He created one of those things, and it decimated over a third of the world's known population. It escaped before I had a chance to kill it. And fled to the Americas. It killed over two billion Native Americans before I managed to find it and hunt it down, it nearly destroyed me in the process. They called it the dark one. Named it the Yawkwawiak. After the destruction it caused... he swore he'd never make another. As twisted and dark as he is, this thing could not be controlled. That he's made another, does not bode well."

"Who is this He you keep talking about?" Selena had dried her eyes and was sitting next to Hermione and me, listening to us talk.

"He's went by many names over the centuries. Godric, Tom, Voldemort. But to my knowledge he only has one true name. Abaddon."

Well then, this chapter wasn't as long as I was planning on it being, but I think this was a good place to stop. Through you guys for a loop huh? Thought they were going to be hunting down a grumpy werewolf didn't ya? Lol. I hope you all liked it and will leave a review letting me know what you think.

Next chapter we'll get an explanation as to what that thing was exactly. And why Tom said he'd never make another. As A side note, I looked at an old story I'd written under a different pen name titled A Different War. Even though the story hadn't been updated in several years, people are still reviewing the damn thing, I wanted your all's opinion as to whether I should rewrite it? Update it and fix some errors about it that bug me. If you guys say no, and only want me to work on this I will. So its up to the readers I suppose. Its a Harry Potter crossover, and is under the pen name Lukan Marvolo, which was indeed me. Let me know what you guys think. Until next time,

-Harkon.

10. Now the Gloves Come Off

Thank you for those that have reviewed this little tale, and thank you for those that have followed or added it to your favorites list.

I recently put up a poll to see if anybody would like me to do a rewrite of a Different War and post it under this account. Go vote and let me know whatcha want.

As a fair warning, from here on out, things aren't going to be so pleasant for Harry and Hermione anymore, they've had it pretty easy so far, and this is where the 'meat and potatoes' of the story really starts.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, I've just taken them and dropped them into a hellish future with little resources, and now, even less hope.

Chapter 10 Now the Gloves Come Off

My companions are silent. I doubt Selena knows what I'm talking about when I mention that name, but I can almost hear the cogs turning in Hermione's mind, like a well oiled machine. A sense of disbelief floods me. I can't believe he'd do this; as evil as he is, as dark as some of the acts he's committed have been... He swore he'd never bring another one into the world, not after last time.

Rage replaces the disbelief. I throw my head back and roar in anger and a wave of pure magical hatred boils from my hands, obliterating a path before me nearly ten feet wide, and a hundred long. The trees rip up and disintegrate, I extinguish the lives of over a dozen animals in less than a second, but for all my power, it pales in comparison to what I'd need to end the Abomination once more.

A sob escapes my lips as the power tapers off and disappears, my arms fall, burning in pain and smoking but I don't care. A tear escapes my eye and I wipe it away harshly. I feel Hermione crouch behind me and wrap her arms around me. "It's not fair Mione, after what that thing did last time... I don't know if I can stop it again."

"Harry... what is it?" I feel her shaking in fear, either from my reaction or that the thing was so awful it caused me to do it, I don't know. I reach up gently and squeeze her hands.

"The only time he ever summoned that thing before, countless deaths. Its a parasite Hermione, it feeds off of the life force of the living to draw strength, the more it feeds, the stronger it becomes. When I finally found it last time, it had drained the life of over two billion souls, nearly wiping out an entire race of people. It made it easy pickings for the Europeans when they colonized America, compared to what it would have been anyway." I stood on shaky legs and turned to face them both. Selena had fallen, pale and looking scared at what I had done, and I immediately regretted my outburst. "The last time I stopped it, I killed myself in the process. I had to channel so much power... I burnt up. There was nothing left of me, and then, I'd just barely managed to stop it. I can do incredible things with magic Mione, but what I had to do to get the power to end it... I can't do that again." I clammed up, not wanting to explain anymore, not wanting her to look at me differently, if she'd known what I'd had to do...

"The next time I saw him, the next time I woke up, he apologized Hermione, he fucking apologized. I didn't realize it at the time, but the thing's first act in this world was to kill its summoner, He didn't stand a chance, the ritual to summon such a monstrosity had nearly drained him completely. One enemy gone, but something far worse left in his wake. He told me he thought he could guide it, like a missile. It detonated like a bomb instead, right in his face." I shook myself a little, feeling my energy return. "That he's done it again, well, things don't look good. He's found a way to control it, it mentioned a master, that alone scares the hell out of me. I just don't understand, he's always wanted to rule the world, came damn close to it on a few occasions, but to be this desperate? I just don't fucking understand."

I was quiet then, Selena regained her footing but was watching me warily. "What happens now? Is Malaki really dead now? Or just turned into that thing?"

I turned sharply, catching her by surprise, and looked her in the eye. "To summon it. There must be a willing sacrifice, a brethren of the undead. The most common being werewolves and vampires. They must go through a ritual that removes their natural weaknesses, and increases their power. Then they much die in combat with the summoner's worst enemy. The abomination is born from the corpse of the sacrifice." My own voice sounds hollow in my ears, a passage I memorized from a book eons ago, when I first had to encounter this thing. "It is an arch demon, given physical form." I rub my eyes and motion at Selena. "For all his faults... Tom has always wanted to rule the world, never destroy it completely. That is what this thing does. It just destroys, everything.

"We need to get you back to your people, let them know what happened here. And have them pray." after a few moments of awkward silence Selena motioned for us to follow her. The least I could do was make sure she got home safely, after that, no one was safe any longer. We walked in silence, Hermione reached out and took my hand as we walked and I squeezed it. I guess she wasn't going to let my outburst bother her.

We walked for nearly an hour before anyone said a thing. The deeper into the forest we went, the quieter it seemed to be. Selena stopped after a while and looked back at the two of us. "I'll go alone from here. Its not much farther, and there are certain people that wouldn't be to happy to find out I'd brought outsiders with me."

I frowned. "I know what you've seen is horrible. And I'm sorry for what happened to your... friend. I'd much prefer it if we could escort you the whole way. I'll take responsibility over any anger. Besides, I thought you were something of a leader to them."

She shrugged. "I am the figure head for one of the prominent families on the council, but I'm just one voice in many." She seemed to think about it for a moment before answering. "If you want to take me the whole way then fine. But I did warn you."

I nod my head and we started walking again. Its very quiet in this part of the forest. I don't know if its because we're close to the Lycan's camp, or if the animals are all still scared over what happened in their home not so long ago. Either way its disconcerting.

Hermione spoke to me in a soft voice as we walked. "Harry, I want you to start teaching me magic. Like the kind you used on that thing back there." I nearly stopped walking, but kept my footing.

"You are a very powerful witch Mione. I know you could learn it. It isn't easy, and like with all things, there is a price to pay for using it." She was quiet as I explained. "It can burn you out. That kind of power is very dangerous. You have to know your magic, your body, inside and out, before you try channeling it through yourself like I do. I will teach you if you want, but I suggest you think about it carefully first. At the very least I promise to get you up to speed on wandless magic. Its always handy if you happen to get disarmed."

She nodded and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Harry, how did you beat that thing last time? I know you said it... killed you. But what did you do exactly?"

I'm quiet for some time. I don't want to tell her the complete truth, I'm afraid she'd leave me if I did. "I found a way to boost my own power, sort of like a ritual but not exactly. I used it right before I fought it the last time. When I saw that I couldn't kill it with what my body could handle... I just used it all, I poured everything I had into myself, and detonated. I wiped out an area five miles wide, and incinerated the beast along with it."

She was quiet for some time, just looking at her feet as we walked before turning back to me. She leaned up and gave me a kiss on the cheek, and smiled with watering eyes. "You're the bravest man alive Harry, probably the bravest there's every been." I smile at her, it warms me to hear her say it. Even if I don't agree.

We're in the forest for around twenty minutes longer before the trees break into a large clearing. A tall fence of wood outlines the compound, each of the posts topped with a point. Many dwellings can be seen between the gaps, all of them made of wood. Fires burn as people go about cooking and their daily chores. I can hear children laughing as they play and I smile. Such thoughts give me strength against the darkness that's to come.

We approach the main gates, and with a little magic I hide Hermione and myself from the guards. Just to make things easier on us. Selena looks like she's about to argue to get us in and stops in puzzlement as the guards seem to pay us no attention. I motioned her inside and Hermione and I followed.

We walk through the twisting paths between the houses, the smell of smoking meats and dried vegetables floats around us. It is a pleasant place. We stop at one of the larger houses and walk inside with Selena. She looks at us as she starts to prepare a fire. "this is my home, and we will defend it valiantly if that thing arrives." She looks at both of us warily. I don't believe I've made a friend from her.

"I don't know if I should thank you for your help or not. I'd almost be happier not knowing what now stalks the Earth." She sinks down on a wicker chair and sighs, holding her face in her hands. "Just kill this thing, if you can, kill it." She doesn't beg me, doesn't plead. Merely asks.

I nod my head. "I will do all I can to stop it. I just needed to make sure you got home safe, after everything you've been through today." She nods at me and stretches in the chair, looking exhausted. I pull something out from one of my pockets. Its a simple mirror, no bigger than my palm, and it has a red wooden frame. "If you need us, or if that thing comes here, hold the mirror up to your face and say my name."

She took it and looked at it curiously, before turning back to me with a genuine smile on her face. "Thank you, now, go on home. I have much to do, and a family to break the news of death to."

Hermione and I nod to her one last time, A sad smile on Mione's lips. We grasp hands, holding onto each other like our lives depend on it, and apparate away.

As soon as we reappeared I knew something was wrong. It had come here. Dark rolling smoke blotted out the sun over the small walled village, screaming and the crackling of fire fought to drown each other out. I looked at Hermione and the two of us sprinted towards the chaos. I didn't pause to try to open the gates, I raised both of my hands and made a wrenching motion, ripping them wide open and off their hinges. The smoke that billowed out of the new opening was thick, near impossible to see through, and acrid, burning our eyes and throats.

"Get Daniel! I think that thing is still here, we might need to use him like a battery, he doesn't know much, but he's powerful. We can use his energy if we have to!" Hermione nodded, slipping into the old role of following orders in a war zone. I just hoped she didn't realize I was trying to get her out of the way. It was already close by. With a shout, power flooded my veins and I raised both hands over my head, twisting them and causing a wind so fierce it tore away most of the smoke, like a hurricane of anger.

My body burned and I felt my muscles bulge under the strain of harnessing so much magic. I hated channeling this type of power, ancient, primordial, not for mortal souls. If I wasn't careful I could burn myself up and blow away in a pile of ash; but I had little choice anymore. I'd need every ounce I could take to drive this thing away.

My hair floated from static, bolts of plasma, pure magical exhaust, sparked and danced around me in an aura of magic. As the smoke cleared I let the wind die down, hopefully it was strong enough to put out most of the fires. A woman ran screaming across the street, bloody and missing half her face. She almost made it into a doorway when the monster struck. Fast as a bolt of lightning, the disgusting abomination jumped on her and pushed her into the dirt. With a single bite it tore off her head, grinning wickedly as it swallowed it, its throat stretching grotesquely. It licked its lips and noticed me.

Channeling primordial magic does odd things to one's senses. Normally I'd have to concentrate to sense someone's life force, but with my body and magic in such a heightened state, I could literally see the thing's magic. Like a black hole, sucking all the light from around it. Always hungry and ready to feed. How could you do this Tom? How could you summon another one after last time?

"Greetings old one. You returned sooner than I anticipated." It stood, the molted gray skin stretched over powerful cords of muscles and protruding bone. "No matter. My master has made it clear to me. I am to end you." It smiled then, and was upon me.

In less time than it took to blink, the Abomination was right in front of me, and swiped out with a glowing claw, charged with some dark curse designed to spread rot and infection. I stepped back as fast as I could, pushing my reflexes and was rewarded when the attack missed by a hair's width. The aura of magic around me pooled and focused in my hands as I pushed out a ball of light and heat nearly equal to the sun. The beast spun and my attack just nicked its shoulder causing it to burn and smoke. It shrugged off the injury that was already healing and opened its mouth. A spray of needle like spikes of ice screamed towards me like buck shot. I raised a shield of fire, melting the ice before I transfigured the liquid into a ball of spikes an spinning blades and sent it back at the monstrosity.

I was either lucky, or it was still weak from its summoning, but the beast took it full on the chest and snarled in pain. The claws on its right hand elongated and shot outwards, strait towards me. I twisted, dodging a few and summoned a shield to deflect more, but one of them by passed my defenses and imbedded itself into my left shoulder. My arm went numb instantly and felt lifeless. It had hit a nerve and deadened the entire limb. I saw it smile and knew then that it had done it on purpose. It came at me again, casting magic from its hands and mouth at close range as it swiped at me, attacking me both physically and magically at the same time.

With one of my arms out of commission until I had a chance to remove that claw I was forced onto the defense. I shielded and blocked, dove and twisted out of the way of everything it through at me, trying desperately to counter attack as best as I could. A sword of flame sprung to life in my right hand and I raised it block another attack, feeling a slight amount of satisfaction that I'd burned the monster, causing a finger to fall to the ground before crumbling to black sand.

Loosing the appendage distracted it for just long enough for me to pull the spike from me arm. Sensation returned instantly, along with it came pain. It hurt so bad I nearly fell to my knees as It took my breath away. I poured healing magic into the wound but it was slow work. The abomination took the opportunity to kick me in the teeth, busting both my lips and tearing a gouge under my left eye with its clawed foot. It pounced on me. It looked into my eyes as it dug its claws into my side, drawing blood and a scream from my lips as it smiled. "You have grown weak in your old age. Yet I am still strong." Its breath was terrible, sulfur and putrid meat. I gathered a wad of spit in my mouth and hocked it into the beast's eye, transfiguring the bloody saliva into acid halfway to the target. It roared, grabbing at its face as the bile like substance ate away at it's eye. I kicked it in the chest with magically fueled muscles, sending it sprawling in the dirt. I heaved myself into a sitting position, gasping in pain at the wounds in my side. Luckily it tended to be sadistic, enjoying the torture and liking to draw it out, sparing me from any internal injuries.

I staggered to my feet and grit my teeth. It was still on its back but would recover in seconds. It healed phenomenally fast, the eye would be good as new in no time at all. I raised both my arms, weak from fighting and injury. Weak from channeling such magics. In my left hand, lightning swirled and crackled, in my right, a dark green fire with the ghosts of monsters formed. I brought them both together and yelled as the swirling elemental attack leapt forward with enough force to make me stumble.

At the last second it rolled away, nothing but its right arm getting caught in the blast. It jumped to its feet. I panted from exhaustion, running on fumes and shacking. The thing looked at the stump where its arm once was, almost as if it were studying some interesting animal. And then it smiled at me, both eyes healed. With barely a grunt, bone muscle and sinew grew from the stump, weaving together to form a new, whole arm. I felt my shoulders sag. It had been toying with me from the beginning. It appeared before me in another blink, and held up both of its hands, catching me in an invisible net of magic.

"You have taken one of my hands, so I shall take one of yours." I fought and struggled, trying to get loose but I couldn't. I was afraid if I channeled anymore of this magic through me that I might burn up from it. I'd be no good to anyone if I were dead. It ran a long nail down my arms, almost gently and grabbed my left hand. It smiled out me, revealing three rows of strained pointed teeth, and grasped my forearm with its other hand. Then It began to pull.

I grit my teeth, trying to hold in a scream, but I couldn't. The pain made me delirious. The pulling as my tendons snapped, the grinding crunch of bone, and the sound, the sound may have been the worst of all. I had lost a limb before, several times throughout the eons. But never had one been torn clean off my body.

Nausea rolled in my stomach as with one last wet pop, the whole hand came free. Blood squirted from the wound in small jets that matched my rapidly beating heart. I was dazed, and in so much pain, my entire left arm ached, up to the shoulder, and my brain insisted that my hand was doused in rolling flame, even though it wasn't there at all.

With a grin the Abomination tossed my hand up into air and opened its mouth. He swallowed it in one bite, the bastard even licked his lips. "Mmm, a bit tough, like old leather." It laughed and let go of me, apparently content to let me bleed to death. I lost my lunch at the sight of it eating my hand, and had coated the ground in front of me in sickness. I felt dizzy, confused. Very fuzzy. I was losing to much blood... to much.

I turned my head, watching it squirt out of my stump, trying to will my hand back into existence. The beast approached once more, smiling wickedly at me. "You are finished old one. Lay down your sword, you have lost." That gave me an idea...

I counted by half seconds, trying to time it just right. As my blood rushed out of me I pumped it full as much magic as I could, and changed it. It solidified, still attached to my stump and looped back around in on itself, forming a twisting red blade that reconnected back to the bloody ruin of my wrist. With one last yell of defiance I pushed against the magic holding me and my left arm broke free. I swung with all the strength I had left.

The monster's eyes widened in surprise as the blade connected at its right temple and traveled strait through, severing the top of its head. It fell backwards twitching and the magic holding me up let go. I dropped into a heap, mindful not to impale myself on the crude blade I'd forged out of desperation. I was spent, between the fight earlier today and this, I didn't know if I could even move, much less stand.

The beast wasn't dead. It took a lot more than that to kill it. But I had bought myself some time. "Hermione! Where are you!?" For a moment I heard nothing. The battle felt like it had taken ages, but I suspect less than ten minutes had went by. People were still panicking, but most of them had fled now. The one's that hadn't were staring open mouthed. If I'd had the energy I'd have smacked every one of them.

"Harry!, I'm here, Daniel was hurt, but I think he'll be fine, just knocked out, is the thing still-" She rounded the corner of the street just behind me and I heard her stop in her tracks. "My god! Harry what happened?!" She ran up to me an knelt down beside me. "What happened to your hand?! Where's the Abomination?" I pointed in front of me. She'd been so distracted at my injuries she'd scarcely noticed the demon twitching in the dirt; the top of its head and brain already starting to grow back.

"I don't have the time right now Hermione. I'm spent and that thing will be up and stand any second now. We have to get it away from here before it recovers!" She paused for only the smallest moment before hefting a rock and casting a spell on it. She threw it right at the monster as it glowed blue and in a flash the beast was gone.

I sagged after that, finally relaxing now that the immediate danger was over. I collapsed in the dirt, lying out completely, feeling dizzy and faint. "W-where did you.. send it?" She ran a hand over my abused face frowning.

"To the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. I hope it can't swim." That nearly made me laugh.

"You're brilliant... you know that? I'd have never thought of a portkey." She smiled down at me and turned towards my stump, where the blood blade was still attached.

"Your poor hand... what happened Harry?" She examined my arm closely and pulled out her wand, wanting to fix any damage that she could.

"Bugger bit the thing off. Said I was chewy. You believe that? Nasty bastard..." My vision was starting to fade and a pleasant numbness washed over me where ever Hermione touched me with her wand.

"Hush now, save your strength. Me and you will be having a talk about making me leave you alone to fight that thing when you get up." He look was stern but warm, and I swear I saw tears pooling in her eyes.

I just nodded my head, knowing I'd be getting an earful when I awoke, and tried to relax as I floated away in darkness.

Well, there you go everybody. Chapter 10. I know not a whole lot happened but we got a bit more information on the nasty bastard that's now roaming the Earth. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Next time we'll have a bit of a time skip, then things start to get really interesting.

Until Next time folks,

-Harkon.

11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Never had and never will own the intellectual property found within. Merely penned for mine and others amusement.

As a little note, I've stopped using line breaks, sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Instead, if a time skip of a scene change happens, it will just be numbered from now on.

Cheers, hope you all enjoy.

Chapter 11: Take A Moment To Breath

Pain, agony flowing through my veins...

My hand is on fire...

Screaming, "We have to Stabilize him! He's loosing to much blood!"

Darkness. Dreams. More Darkness...

I'm Swimming in it, my head is a fog, I don't know where I am, I don't know who I am. All I can remember before the darkness is a single thought. 'To much to soon, overload, forcing open the pathways.' Whatever that means. What's my name? I've had so many...

Hannibal, Janos, Orion, Alexander, Slytherin. So many more it makes my head pound in fury. But one name swims to the surface, one name that I latch onto, and hold on as if it were a piece of drift wood, in an insane storm hell bent on sweeping away who I am. My name is Harry.

Slowly, as I cling to that name, the darkness fades. It lightens to a gray, before settling on an off white color. I can feel things again, my body is pounding and angry, but its not like it was before, something feels off from before, clearer perhaps? There's less pain now, but more power, stronger. My hand itches fiercely, and I try to reach out to scratch it and nearly succeed. How long was I floating in darkness? So much time might have been lost, and I have so very much to do...

Bits and pieces of the last few hours of my waking life start to return to me. Abomination, and a village lying in ruins. Channeling primordial magic through my veins until they throbbed and nearly burst... Hmm, that would explain the pain then.

I reach out with my magic, trepidation fills me. I'm afraid for a moment that I might have burnt myself out. That would be a tragedy. I don't know what good I could do without access to my magic. I sigh in relief as I feel it settling within me easily. Although the pathways I channel it through still feel a bit raw, they're there, and almost completely healed now. And they feel larger. Perhaps in over doing it I've 'stretched' them out somehow? I've always heard magic is like a muscle, and I gave it one hell of a work out the last time I used it.

Something else comes to my attention, I'm starving. I wonder when the last time it was that I ate? Can I get out of this fog I find myself in? I'm standing in a wide white expanse, something about it tingles with a sense of familiarity, like Deja vu wrapped in nostalgia, just out of reach. I looked down at my hands and frown. The left arm stops at the wrist, where my hand should have been, was a ghost. I could still move the fingers, but it was like the spirit of my hand was there, but there was no flesh there for it to control. I could pass my other hand completely through it and didn't feel a thing. The stump was still a mess. I looked red and swollen, like it had just gotten over a bad infection, but at least it was closed over and I wasn't bleeding anymore.

I could see something off in the distance, but it was difficult to make out. Almost looked like a canvas or tarp stretched out in front of me, with a hint of blue around one edge of it. I closed my eyes and concentrated. I could hear things now, birds chirping, and a creaking sound, like wagon wheels. When I opened my eyes the canvas was much closer now, and the blue looked like a patch of sky. It was disorienting, since it was in front of me and not above me. I blinked and It grew closer still. I could barely see the white expanse anymore. This scene took up nearly my whole vision. If I tried to turn my head it followed me and shifted quickly, nearly making my nauseous with motion sickness. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes one last time.

When I opened them, my hearing rushed back. What was muffled and confusing a moment ago swam into focus now. The strange scene made much more sense now. I was lying on my back, staring up at the canvas roof of a wagon, the edge of blue had been a patch of sky that was peeking through. I groaned, feeling weak and wobbly, but I was starving, and thirsty. Whoever was driving the wagon hadn't noticed that I was awake yet so I took stock of my situation first. I felt my magic pooling in me and was pleased to discover I hadn't imagined what I felt earlier. It still felt raw, but stronger than it had before. I believe I could now channel the old magics for much longer than I had before I lost consciousness. My hand itched and burned furiously and I lifted up my left arm to take a look at it. The crude blood blade I'd forged was gone, probably faded away as I passed out. The stump itself was wrapped tightly in a fresh bandage. My arm felt strangely light without a hand there. Maybe I'd attach a club to the end of it, to bash my enemies in the head with.

I sat up slowly, and grabbed a canteen of water sitting on the floor of the wagon next to me. I drank slowly, but greedily. Having the water in me made me feel much better. Now if I could just get some food in me I'd be good as new. I stood up on shaky legs and yawned. The noise caught the attention of the driver. Hermione shot out from the front of the wagon and stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of me standing there, a grin on my face and a hand on my hip. "Did anybody catch the name of the dragon that stepped on me? I have a very big bone to pick."

Mione said nothing, she just launched herself at me with tears in her eyes and sobbed into my chest. She pulled back and slapped me in the face before pulling me close again. I guess I deserved it after everything I put her through. "Never do that to me again Harry! I'd thought I'd last you so many times!" I just hold her tight.

"It would take more than that to get rid of me Mione, I'm not leaving you. I swear it." She held on tight for several more minutes before pulling back slowly and smiled at me, relief warring with worry in her eyes. She motioned for me to sit back down so she could take a good look at me. She undid the bandage at my wrist and frowned at how swollen and red the stump was. "Doesn't look to bad to me, it would have healed better if it was a clean cut, tearing it off kinda aggravated everything though."

She looked at me like I was crazy. "How can you be so calm? You lost a hand Harry! They don't grow back you know!"

I just laughed. "You're right, they don't grow back, but I can fix it. After I get something to eat in me. How are the rest of my injuries? I feel sore, my face especially, but not bad everything considering. How long was I out for anyway?" Based on the tenderness of my wrist I was guessing a few days, tops.

"You've been unconscious for three weeks Harry. I was starting to think you weren't going to come out of it. You're wrist aggravated your other injuries, compounding the issue and giving everything a hard time healing. You just got over a major infection. We were lucky that we didn't have to amputate more of your arm." I smiled, she always tries to take such good care of me.

"I guess three weeks isn't to bad after all that." She handed my a mirror and I got a good look at myself. Flecks of gray have settled in my hair, a side effect of channeling to much primordial magic to soon. A new scar, shaped almost like a crescent moon, rests under my right eye, another one runs from my left temple to half way down my cheek. It could have been much worse.

"The extra scars add to my roguish good looks, don't you think Mione?" I grin as she slaps me again, not nearly as hard this time.

"Honestly Harry, how do you take injuries like that in stride?" She quirks and eyebrow at me and glances at my wrist again.

"Easy, I've had far worse in the past, and even though I get a new body, my memories remain. I've walked around looking waay uglier than I am now Mione, trust me." This didn't seem to do much to reassure her. Oh well, She'd get it with time. "Um, Hermione, not that I mind you rushing back here to check on me, but who's steering this thing?"

"Oh, after what happened to the village, most everyone that was left alive fled. They ran for the woods or the hills. We stayed for around a week, to see if anyone would return, but no one did. Daniel decided to come with us. This is his wagon. We left around two weeks ago and have been steadily heading north. Without you awake, neither of us really had any idea of where to go. We've just been hoping that you woke up, and you did." She gave me a watery smile and hugged me again, stretching up to give me a kiss on my cheek. I smiled warmly down at her.

"I'm not going anywhere Hermione. Sorry I worried you so badly, but I've been through much worse. Lets go check on Daniel and then I want something to eat." The two of us made our way up to the front of the wagon and stepped through the flap to set on the bench next to Daniel. He did a double take at me and grinned.

"Good to see you up and about! Hermione has nearly driving me mad with how worried she's been." the brunette frowned and smacked him on the back of the head, he just laughed at her. "We're about two days ride from a small town where we can set up for a bit. Hermione here didn't want to pick any real direction with you being out, so we've just been meandering north. Hungry?"

"Starved, got anything to munch on mate?" Daniel nodded and pulled on the reigns to get the two large bison, one of them lacking any fur but otherwise healthy, to stop for a moment as he dug through a bag. The three of us hopped down off the wagon and Daniel stretched theatrically, working the kinks out of his neck. He pulled a smaller bag out of his satchel and opened it to reveal some leafy greens and a big hunk of jerky. My mouth watered. A wiggled the fingers on my remaining hand and a table appeared with three chairs. My magic felt good in my hands, no pain, just a pleasant tingly sensation I'd come to expect using it, and the itching I'd been experiencing had ebbed away a bit at the use. This reassured me that everything was okay with my magic.

Daniel held up his hand to stall me and pulled out with old wand from a crude holster on his wrist. "allow me, Hermione has managed to show me a few things, when she wasn't coddling you." He smiled at me, trying to keep the mood light. With a few muttered words of Latin, three simple plates appeared with silverware to match. He then used another spell to heat the meat before dividing it up and floating it off onto the plates.

I raised my arms and made a clapping motion, even though I only had one hand. "This is the sound of one hand clapping."

Hermione laughed despite herself and even Daniel chuckled, though the comment went over his head. The three of us sat down and tucked in to our simple meal. I was mostly silent while eating, I was starving and it was delicious, even though I had no clue what kind of animal it came from. We joked a little, and told a story or two, trying to keep the mood light. They both seemed legitimately happy I was awake, and that warmed me up more than the food could.

After about half and hour, we'd finished and just sat there digesting. I stretched and stood up, letting a yawn escape me. "Hermione, did you manage to grab my bag before heading out?" She nodded and went into the wagon to get it. I smiled as she sat it down before me. The old leather was burnt and scorched in places, and it had a dozen repaired rips and tears, but it was nice to have it back. "Mione, you've seen this spell in action before, even though I plan on modifying it a bit." I searched through my magically expanded bag one handed and pulled out a bar of metal and several old bowie knives. I see that light go off behind her eyes as she remembers what's going on. I turn to Daniel. "This is rather complicated magic, so take a good look at what I do, It would be hard for you to reproduce, since I don't use a wand for casting, but pay attention, you'll probably learn a thing or two."

He just nodded and hunched forward in his chair as I sat back down and spread the items out before me. With a few hand motions I'd liquified the metal and began shaping it. With the twirling of my fingers and some jabbing and poking motions, my creation began to take shape, I formed skeletal fingers out of the metal, and applied the hinged joints at all the right places. The bones for the hand came next, making twenty seven in all. After that I had a shining metallic skeletal hand. After that I fashioned the rest of the scrap metal into spring like constructs to work as ligaments and tendons. The finished product was quite wicked looking if I do say so myself. After the initial construction, I applied dozens of tiny runes, engraving them directly into the metal. The runes would allow me to control the metal hand as if it were my own, and give me a tactile sense of touch with it. Hopefully this would stop the crazy itching burn that kept insisting my hand was there. As a final touch I hollowed out some path ways to make it easier to channel magic through the thing, and carved an impervious and indestructible rune into it, making sure it wouldn't rust of get damaged.

I glanced at Hermione and Daniel, their mouths were hanging open. "Now comes the tricky part." I carefully unwrapped the cloth over my stump and inspected in critically. The tissue was red and swollen, but had closed over. This wouldn't do. I cast a powerful numbing charm on my arm and carefully opened up the wound, stemming the blood flow to a trickle as I did so. The sensation made the itching in my phantom hand more noticeable, but it didn't hurt. I floated over the cool replacement skeleton hand and set it right over the wound. With some muttered Latin and Greek, the hand slid into place and fused at the wrist so completely not even a seem could be seen. Metal merely blended into flesh. I released the numbing spell and winced at the sudden sharp pain I felt but it quickly faded. I held up my new hand, pleased that the itching had stopped and it merely felt tender now. I flexed my new metallic fingers, and rotated the wrist, making sure everything felt good and moved naturally. I picked up one of Daniel's conjured forks and spun it between my gleaming fingers. Hermione actually laughed a little, looking for a moment like that eleven year old girl I'd met so long ago, magic was still magical.

As one final test, I used my new hand to cause the fork to float in the air above my palm, nothing wonky, everything looked good. "magic is awesome, am I right?" I grinned at them and placed the fork back on the table. It felt good to be 'whole' again.

"Harry, you've got to show me how you did that." I laughed and gave Hermione a hug before standing. My two companions stretched a little before standing. Daniel managed to banish both his silverware and my table.

"So there's a town up ahead? Let's head there, see if we can get any information." The other two nodded, eager to have something to do again and we stepped back into the wagon, to get on the road again.

2.

Our two days in the wagon passed rather quickly, after being asleep for so long I was eager to get out and stretch my legs a bit, but if there's one thing I've learned over the years it's patience. I used the time to my advantage and fashioned a rather cool looking glove out of the raptor hide I had. It slid over my metal hand easily and kept itself in place with no problems. I used the rest of it to make three vests, one for each of us. The leather underneath was relatively soft. Tt was form fitting and quite snug, so we could all wear it under our clothes. Hermione and I did stop for a bit to have a bit of a mock duel. They were as durable as I'd hoped.

All things considered, I was glad when we got off the wagon. The town we arrived at was breathtaking compared to most places these days. Apparently it was one of the first places to be established after the world calmed down a little. The sky was clear and most of the buildings were made of stone or brick, it even had cobble stone streets, a far cry from concrete, but still much nicer than slugging through the mud. I spied a tall tower in the distance and smiled at the positively ancient bell that sat at the top. As if welcoming us, it rang out, loud and clear and beautiful.

I tried to keep my mind away form darker things, in the three weeks I'd been asleep, Hermione and Daniel hadn't received any news about the monster that had torn up the town, maybe it couldn't swim? I could only hope. My metal hand itched slightly as I thought about it before I pushed it back into a little corner of my mind.

Hermione came up beside me. "Its beautiful, almost looks like a normal town from back home." I'd noticed that Hermione referred to the time she came from as 'back home' whenever she spoke of it. Perhaps she found it easier to think of it as a different place, instead of a different time? I decided not to pry and took her hand in my own. And gave it a gentle squeeze, I got a smile out of her. Daniel pulled his wagon up to a hitch and parked it. I waved my hand at the thing after he jumped down and watched as it shrunk to the size of a match box. Hermione cast a charm on the animals, they'd could roam free, but as soon as we wanted them they'd wonder back to our side to be hitched up.

Daniel shook his head with a smile on his face as I handed him his wagon. "I'll never get used to this magic thing will I?"

I laughed, "I doubt it, I've been using if a very long time, and the stuff still manages to surprise me sometimes." The three of us shared a laugh and headed off into the town to do a bit of exploring. The shops were clean and brightly lit, some of them even had honest to god glass in there windows. We stepped into a tavern and took a seat at the bar. The counter top was wood, worn smooth from years of rough hands sliding across its top. Most places in the world didn't take much in the way of many anymore. The most common way of getting something you wanted was to trade for it. I pulled out a hunk of metal from my bag and sat it down on the counter. The barman, A big fat fellow with a large mustache and balding head, had wide eyes when he saw it. A piece of metal that large would fetch us three rooms for a month and all the meals we wanted. Having metal in its raw form was a rarity these days. We wouldn't be staying but for a night maybe, what I really wanted was information. Such a generous offer would guarantee me about anything I wanted.

"All we want is a hot meal and some information my good man, think you can help us with that?" The barman just nodded dumbly and I motioned for him to grab it off the table. He did so and immediately dropped it down in his pocket. He seemed surprised at its weight as well. Good. "My friends and I have heard tale of a fella around these parts, might be this very town in fact, I'm not sure. He goes by the name Tom, and I've been told he performs miracles."

The barman's eyes narrowed. "Aye, I've know him. He came hear not to long ago, few months back I spect.. My daughter was born with the crimp. Never could walk well without help. He said he'd heal her, no strings or nothin.' I didn't rightly believe him, until he went and did it." I Could see his eyes moisten a little, but didn't comment. I just wanted to know what happened next. "She was very beautiful, and then she stood up out of that chair, her legs straight and tidy, like they'd never been before... My girl could walk after that, aye, she could run."

He sighed and filled up a couple of mugs with something cold and frothy before handing them to us. I smelled it and was pleasantly surprised to find a hint a cinnamon. It was alcoholic, but just barely. Fine by me, I liked to keep my whits about me. "After that he just made to move on. He'd given my daughter an invitation to go with him, but she wanted to stay with me, finally able to help out like she'd always wanted to. Tom didn't seem to take that very kindly. After he left, less than a week went by before she started to be pained again. Her legs already started to twist back up, and she could walk, but now she hobbled. After getting a taste of normal, she was distraught, nearly bedridden with grief. Then a letter came."

He swallowed and cleared his throat. "It said if she wanted to get well again, she was to stand up and follow after Tom immediately. If she didn't, the crimp would spread to the rest of her limbs, and she'd be dead before the end of the year. She denied if for a few more days, until her fingers started to twist up too, then she packed a bag, and by the time she stepped out the door she was nearly normal again. It was the damned strangest thing I'd ever seen. Scared the life out of me." He poured himself a drink, something far stronger than what he'd gotten us. "I'm glad my girl is strong and healed, but I didn't like that creep of a bastard. I'm afraid what he'll make her do, as payment. I've tried finding her, but she's never around him. He's got damned bodyguards around him all the time as he goes around performing his 'miracles.' You'll find a hundred other people in town that has a story near the same as mine. He used to come by every few weeks."

This was the most amount of information I'd gotten in months. I nearly jumped up and dashed out of the room right then and there, but Hermione grabbed my arm and stayed me. "Does he have a lot of people following him around? A lot of believers?" It was a good question. I wish I'd thought of it.

"Aye miss. He's even taught some of them to do the same damned tricks he does. How It works is beyond me, but it does. I'd say a few hundred people come out and practically worship him every day."

Daniel spoke next. "Where is he? Does he still come to this town often?"

The barman shook his head. "No, used to, but now people come to him with their problems. He lives in a smaller village, bout twenty five kilos north of here. Not very far for a horse, long as the thing isn't a mutie." He wrinkled his nose at that and walked away from us to fill up someone else's drink.

I sat back at the bar. Stunned. The bastard had been gathering followers. I still had to wonder how he managed to control the Abomination. That bothered me. But there was little I could do about it. When he came back we thanked him for the information and ordered something to eat. He made sure it was fixed exactly how we wanted it. Its tasted wonderful, but I'd lost most of my appetite by this point. I was hungry to get to him, and see what I was really dealing with.

3.

I tossed and turned most of that night, I just couldn't sleep. The three of us had stayed at the tavern, renting two rooms. Hermione still didn't want to try to sleep alone, not after everything she'd been through. I wasn't complaining. I managed to drift off sometime early that morning, but didn't get more than a few hours rest. I was just to agitated. As soon as everyone was up in the morning I had us dressed and out the door.

We walked the length of the town, trying to enjoy the sights and find a subtle place to set up the wagon. We nearly walked a mile when nature started popping up again. The cobblestone street just tapered out back into a dirt road. I was anxious, impatient. I took the wagon from Daniel and tossed it onto the ground, reversing the shrinking spell I'd placed on it earlier. The animals wondered out of the underbrush from our right. Apparently the spell had let them know I wanted to get moving and I wasted no time getting them hitched up. Daniel cast a longing look back at the small city we'd come through and passed by in such a hurry. I caught the look on his face and I stopped short.

I was being rather selfish. This man had lost his home less than a month ago, and here he was, helping two practical strangers on a dangerous mission to kill a monster, or several. I clapped my hand on his shoulder and got him to look at me. "I'm sorry, I won't hold it against you if you'd like to stay, this doesn't have to be your fight. I'm just anxious, I want to find out what we're dealing with."

He smiled at me. "That bastard sicked his pet demon on my town, my life, and destroyed it. That's all the reason I need to help you. It would just been nice to settle for a little bit before moving on, but I understand. I'd want to get on with it too."

Hermione wrapped her arms around me from behind. "Why don't we go do some recon? After we've been there it'll be easy to apparate back to this place. We can see what we're up against, and then come back here and come up with a plan. I know you want him dead Harry, after everything I want him dead too. But you just got back on your feet." She came around in front of me and frowned up at me with worry. "What if you have to channel more of that old magic and it kills you? Or puts you in a coma that you don't wake up from this time.?" Like usual, she was right. Of course she was. I sighed and smiled down at her.

"Okay Mione, we'll do it your way. We still gotta get there first, but lets just go and see what we're dealing with. Then we'll come back and get ready to take hell to his door step." She smiled up and me and reached up and gave me a gentle kiss on the lips.

"Thank you Harry." I grinned back at her, feeling rather goofy. Man, if this is what I got, I need to start listening to her more often.

"No problem at all, now lets load up, we got some recon to do." I actually felt a fucking spring in my step as we got on the wagon, maybe life was looking up?

We traveled through open fields for a while, a few hours went by in small talk and battle plans, Hermione barely let go of my hand the entire time. Every once and a while our eyes would lock and a smile bloomed across her face. I still couldn't believe she'd done it. Was it the stress of living like this everyday? Pushing her closer to me? Or had she always had feelings for me? I don't know the answer to that, but I'm not complaining. We'd find time to talk about it after we got a look at what He was up to.

The sun was just starting to set as we reached the edge of a forest. It was thick, and old, the trees tall and looming, blocking off what meager light we had left. I thought about stopping, but the others weren't objecting, so I decided it wouldn't hurt to push on for an hour of two. The path was a little overgrown, but it had enough travel on it so that we could still see it. The place reminded me of a magical forest. I didn't think it was one, since I didn't believe a ley line was nearby and they usually only popped up near one of them.

The deeper in the forest we went the thicker the woods became, I started to get a bad feeling when something happened that had my danger sense on high alert. The animals had stopped. No more birds, no insects, nothing. Complete silence. Daniel's animals started acting skittish, shuffling and stopping, not wanting to go any deeper. They'd started pulling on their harnesses, trying to turn us around and not getting anywhere. Daniel was trying to calm them down when I heard it. Hermione and I looked at each other slowly and then back out into the gloom. A deep guttural groaning sound was coming from the forest. The same sound a group of Inferi make, right before they attack.

To be continued.

Hope you guys enjoyed that. I know, not much action happening this chapter, but I set it up pretty good for next. Let me know what you think, until next time.

Harkon.

12. Let's get this Party Started

I'd like to start off with a thank you, for the positive feedback. The poll in my Author's profile is still up, so if anyone wants to chime in about the rewrite here's your chance. I've gotten one vote saying I should do it, and that's it. So I might end up going ahead and writing it. Probably won't start if for a while, and this will still be my main story.

Due to some constructive criticism, I'm now looking for a beta. If anyone is interested, please let me know. In the mean time I'll endeavor to try to edit a little more carefully before posting.

Chapter 12: Lets get this Party Started

Inferi, it just had to be inferi. I hate these fucking things, a walking corpse, brought back from rest and filled with the will of a dark wizard. Some say they have no minds of their own. This is false. The very ritual used to imbibe an inferius with mobility infuses them with the essence of a lesser demon. Heartless slavering beasts they might be, but a mind they have. To bad the only thing on that mind is Rip! Kill! Feast!

These bastards seem a bit more mobile than the last batch I faced. That means they're either fresh, or Tom has been tweaking their design. Hermione is white with fear, she's always been deathly afraid of these aberrations, I can't really blame her. Daniel is confused, and growing scared as well. I stand on the wagon as they pour out of the forest and into the little road. There's hundreds of them.

"Come on Hermione, shake a leg! Fire spells, aim for the middle, where the control is centered!" My yelling gets her moving and she's standing beside me now. I can't have her losing it now. "Daniel, get these damn animals moving again, and focus on getting us out of here!" Fire dances along my hands, real and fake alike, and I let it pour out of me, almost a rushing liquid in its movement, like the heat and light of magma without the substance. My fire washes over them and eats away at a large swath of the beasts. I direct the fire to splash into another group.

On the other side of the road, Hermione conjures a swirling ring of fire, a temperamental storm that encircles a large group of them before rushing inward and scorching them to ash. Daniel is snapping a whip over top of the animals' heads, trying to get the frightened beasts moving again. Between my rolling wave of fire and Hermione's storm, we're holding them back fairly well. A few manage to sneak through and approach the wagon, but they're being dispatched with a ball of fire before they can get much closer.

A roar sounds from deeper in the forest and a touch of unease tickles my spine. I squint into the darkness but don't see anything. A crash, that of a lumbering and clumsy animal tears through the underbrush and spills out onto the road. Its a troll, and undead troll. I've never heard of anyone creating an inferi with the corpse of a troll before, but I suppose there's a first time for everything.

I abandon roasting the little bastards and aim for the big one. I form a cone with my palms and place it in front of my mouth before roaring. The spell is traditionally known as dragons fire. It suites it. Fueled by the roar, a blast of fire, twice as hot and three times as large as the most power flamethrower spills out between my palms. It splashes against the hide of the monstrosity but does little to slow it down. I narrow my eyes and pour on the power until the flame is nearly white its so hot. The undead troll's eyes pop and ooze from the sockets but it pays it no attention, the demon hiding inside does not need them to see. Its snarls and roars and pulls back to throw the massive club at our wagon. I cut the fire spell and catch the club with a bit of magic as it smacks into me. I'm able to stop most of its moment, but from the closeness of the attack I'm knocked out of the wagon and sent sprawling in the dirt. I push the log sized club off of my self. Using the metal fingers of my fake hand, I dig into the old wood and use magic to fuel my strength and hurl it back at the troll. It has no magic to catch the club with and its clumsy, even for a troll. The log smacks it in the head, crushing the face inwards and causing it to stumble before falling on its ass. I use the time to scramble to my feet and punch one of the inferi right next to me in the face.

Disks of fire spin on my finger tips and I send the fiery saw blades into the nasty crowd, setting them aflame and severing limbs and heads, greatly slowing them down. I jump back up into the wagon and place a hand on Hermione's back, feeding her some of my magic to help her keep her storm up. Sweat beads her brow and she's gritting her teeth in effort to keep such a draining piece of magic up for so long. Daniel is kicking the asses of the bison, but they just won't budge. They're baying and grunting, frozen in terror at the monsters all around them and the fire licking both sides of the forest. They pull on their harness, straining and fighting each other, both wanting to go in opposite directions. The whole wagon rocks and creaks under the tussle. They'll end up tearing the thing in two before they get us anywhere.

My troll friend is back on his feet now and he looks angry, especially so for a beast that's supposed to have no emotion now. It roars with a cracked and damaged voice and stomps towards us, huge meaty hands swinging about it. I let go of Hermione and raise my hands up, forming a wall of fire so thick and condensed its practically solid. The undead troll runs right into it and is stuck, slowed down by the ferocity of it. I keep one hand at the shield to maintain it and use the other to cast powerful gusts and bouts of fire, some of them green, others blue, trying to find something that will eat at them quicker.

I hear Hermione gasp and fall to her knees. I keep one eye on her as her fire storm starts to flicker and fade, she was nearly spent. "Daniel, take control of the beast's mind, the spell in imperio, do it now, before we get eaten!" More inferi are still pouring out the forest, how many of these damn things are there anyway? Between Hermione and myself, we've had to have cooked nearly two hundred of them already. Danial fumbles for his wand and trains it on the animals. As soon as he incants the spell they grow docile and begin to pull us forward. I use the wall of fire holding back the troll to shove it off to the side of the road. Its smoking and the flesh is burnt to the bone in places, but the damn thing is still mostly intact. We speed pass as the bison pick up speed and I let the fire spells drop. We're moving much to fast for them to catch us now. I turn to Hermione and find her panting hard, leaning against the wagon chair, completely spent.

"Good show Mione. That firestorm was wicked." I throw an arm over her shoulder and feed her some of my magic, letting her pull strength from me. We sit in silence for a few minutes, just catching our breath and marveling at the near escape, when my luck strikes again. Off to the right, lined up with our wagon, another undead troll, this one whole and intact, comes barrolling through the forest and slams into our cart at full speed. We've got no time to react. I reach out with my other arm and grab Daniel by his shirt as our bodies are lifted weightlessly into the air. Time slows down as I see the wagon explode into a million pieces, and the animals killed nearly instantly from the hit. I focus my magic and picture the little town we just come from and try to push us with my magic, to get us back there. I feel apparation wards slam down on top of us, and the teleportation fails. That bastard had the road warded! I should have known he'd do something like that. Instead I encompass the three of us in a protective bubble as fast as I can and grit my teeth as we bounce across the ground. Even with the shield, the landing was rough.

I let go of them as I slam into the ground and roll end over end, coming up in a crouch and facing the troll. I snarl and roar a challenge at it as it charges. Magic, floods my muscles and I feel them bulge from the strain. It still burns like always, but not nearly as bad as it has in the past. The hardships of this world have strengthened my connection to my magic even more so, and I feel more in control than I ever have. I enhance my tendons and ligaments, and make my bones thicker and heavy, all the while pumping strength into my muscles. By the time the troll reaches me I'm ready.

I balls its fists up above its head and weaves its fingers together, determined to drive me into the dirt like an old rusty nail. I do not bend, and I do not break. My name is Harry, destroyer of dark gods, and you are a troll. An insect beneath my boot. And I will crush you. I push up as it slams down. The crack of force would have left your ears ringing from a mile off. The troll's arms buckle and break as it pushes as hard as it can, and I dig my metal fingers into the flesh of one of its arms. It roars, feeling no pain, but still beyond pissed off over what I've done as my hand worms its way inside the wound and finds a bone.

I jump up, knocking it backwards and plant my boots on its chest as I pull, and tear the bone clean out of its arm. With a spin I jab the bone, longer than my entire arm, and bury it in one of the things eyes, pushing until it tears through its head and pins it to the ground beneath it. Without stopping my attack, its far from dead yet, I encase both hands in ethereal green fire and burn a whole through its chest with a few blows, digging and searching until I find what I'm looking for. I grab it and give a yank and the troll instantly dies, falls still. The thing I pull from it is hideous. Small and spindly with over a dozen legs, each ending in a mass of wriggling tentacles. I hear Hermione retch and lose her breakfast from behind me.

"What the fuck is that thing?!" Daniel is nearly hysterical. I glance around and notice that the army of smoldering inferi will be with us in a scant five minutes.

"This is what controls an inferi." I stare into the things half-dozen bulbous and blood shot eyes, it was twitching and screeching with a small mouth full of more feelers and needle like teeth. "A parasite demon, Hermione hates the ugly little bastards." The nasty looking little thing shrieks in terror as I look at it with eyes lit with an internal fire.

"Just kill it Harry, we've got to get out of here before the rest of them show up." I look over my shoulder at Hermione. She's wiping the last bit of bile from her lips and glaring at the little monster. I nod to her and grab a handful of legs in each hand before pulling, tearing it clean in two. It spasms for a few moments before growing still and crumbling away to ash.

I let the magic ebb from my muscles and feel slightly hollow at the absence before eying the cart. With a flick and twist of my fingers it jumps back together and Hermione helps me float all our possessions back inside. The animals are lost, but there are other ways to power this thing. I pull Daniel back to his feet and help him up onto the wagon before giving Hermione a hand and sitting her up and inside. I jump in and sit down up front, like I'm going to drive the thing and reach out with a pair of reigns I can feel with my magic.

I attach a propulsion spell to the end of each of my 'reigns,' invisible except in my mind's eye, and we're off, speeding through the forest, putting the walking nightmares far behind us.

2.

Hermione crashes out next to me, closing her eyes and shaking. She leans into me, either for comfort, or warmth I don't know. But I was here to do what I could. Daniel sits on my left and leans back, closing his eyes. "There's never a dull moment around you two is there?" I try not to laugh, I really did.

"You don't know the half of it mate. I tend to attract trouble."

"Yeah, like flies to dog shit."

That did get me laughing. I sigh and glance back through the repaired wagon's interior. No sign on the small army of inferi that had been following us. I have to wonder, people passed through these woods all the time, were the inferi targeted at magic users? Or me in particular? Either way the thought was unsettling. The old bastard was taking out competition for his 'miracles.' Hopefully he didn't monitor the things often. I'm fairly certain he would have noticed if half his undead army suddenly vanished.

We ride on for some time, it was still dark and I don't want to stop now, especially with what we'd found lurking for us in this gloomy wood. I'll push on either until day broke, or until we clear the tree line. What ever happens first. Daniel was lying down in the back, trying to catch some sleep, and Hermione hadn't woken up from earlier. Her arm is wrapped tightly around my own in a near death grip. Poor girl really hates inferi. Not that I can blame her, you'd be hard pressed to find someone that enjoyed their company.

The trees start thinning just as a pale light makes its way across the sky in the distance. It took us all night to ride through the forest, but at least we're clear. My arms hurt from holding them up for so long but the drain on my magic was negligible. That near death experience I'd had nearly a month ago now really seemed to boost my reserves a bit. Almost worth losing a hand for it, just not worth the loss of life. We come out of the wood before the sun has properly risen and I push the cart on another mile or so before stopping for a while. We'd have to come up with something to replace the animals. The propulsion charms actually allows us to go a good bit faster, but going around without animals attached to the front of your cart was bound to raise a few eyebrows. This close to Tom's apparent home base, I'd rather keep my cards tucked in the inside of my jacket than anywhere else.

I pull off the main road a few hundred yards and finally stop the wagon. I'm tired, but not especially slow, still fidgety from my time in a coma, and not really wanting to sleep much anyway. I scratch at my metal hand and frown at the dull ache in my wrist. Magic couldn't fix everything. Hermione is starting to stir, her eyes fluttering and a yawn accompanied with some stretching. She blinked owlishly at me for a few moments before sitting bolt up right and frantically looking around, searching for an enemy.

"Good morning, and relax, we left those nasty buggers in the dust." I reach out with my human hand and squeeze her shoulder slightly, trying to bring her a moment of comfort. She visibly relaxes and slumps back down in her seat.

"I had the most awful nightmare. They caught us Harry, I watched as you were eaten." Her face was haunted and I pulled her into a hug. She doesn't cry but I can tell it was a close thing.

"Its alright Mione, takes more than an army of undead monsters to get me down, you know better than that."

She snorts into my shoulder. "That would be ridiculous if anyone else had said it Harry, but I supposed you're right." She pulls back and looks around, not seeing the road immediately, having to squint to see it in the early morning light. "Where are we exactly?"

"Oh a mile or two out of the forest. Those things are probably keyed to the wood back their. I don't think Tom would let them wonder the country side. To many questions." I avoid using his true name. It still brought a bad taste to my mouth, thinking about what he's done. "I reckon the town is a few hours ride still so I pulled over for a bit, need to stretch my legs, and take a whizz."

She rolls her eyes but smiles in spite of herself. The two of us leave Daniel to snooze and head for a nearby bush to take care of business. After relieving myself I felt much better, working the kinks out of my neck helps wake me up too, but I'd love some coffee right about now. Hermione and I walk back to the wagon and I pull out some food as she conjures a small table and chairs. I start a fire and set some meat we have to cook. She gets out an old pot and starts boiling some water for the vegetables. We've got some potatoes and I'm determined to fry them up just right.

We're quiet as we go about preparing breakfast, but a small smile is shared every time we chance a look at each other. I remember that little kiss vividly, and I'm anxious to see if she's up for more. I'm about to ask her, being charming and suave of course, when the smell of food rouses Daniel to the land of the living.

He jumps awake and falls off the side of the wagon, I can't stop the laugh that escapes my lips. He reminds me more of a certain Weasely sometimes than a Malfoy. "Oi, lay off that racket, too early in the morning for that much cheerfulness!" He grumbles good naturedly for a few moments before reaching into the pocket of his coat and produces a small bag of something. My sensitive nose knows what it is the second he opens it. Coffee.

"You bastard! You've been holding out on us!" He laughs and tosses me the bag. I conjure another pot as soon as I could and get it boiling. I was having coffee dammit.

Hermione rolls her eyes. "You're British, shouldn't you want tea instead?" Daniel looks between us, clearly confused.

"I'm only British about a third of the time actually. Besides, I don't think Britain technically exists anymore, so I'm going to enjoy my coffee."

She just huffs and crosses her arms, but the smile comes none the less. She turns to look at Daniel. "Would you like to conjure the mugs? You need the practice anyway."

He rolls his eyes but smiles and pulls out his old wand. "Yes mum, I'd be delighted."

I just watch and laugh, having been on the receiving end of that lecturing tone more times than I could possibly count. "Now now Dannikins, be good for mummy Mione." She slaps me on the arm as he laughs.

"You're both prats. And your potatoes are burning Harry."

I scramble to get my food in order, pulling them off just in time and give her a mock glare. "you could have warned me."

"I just did." She smiles, and we finish up with the veggies and coffee.

3.

After we eat, Hermione and I whip up a pair of transfigured animals. She was always better at precise work, getting all those little details down in just the right way. I supply the power so they should last for quite a while. After that the three of us continue onward. Heading for the closest town, and possibly the bastard that had been plaguing me for my exceedingly long life.

The three of us are quite for the most part, Daniel was practicing his magic, sending off stunners and cutting curses and nearby rocks or trees. I decide to make it a game and assign points whenever he hits something quickly enough, and uses the spell I was calling out. He's doing well so far. His spell repertoire is lacking, but beside Hermione and I, he was possibly to most well trained wizard around.

We've been traveling maybe for three hours when Hermione asks me a question. "So what do you plan on doing after we've killed him?" I didn't miss the fact she used 'we.'

"I don't know, I still have his... pet to deal with. I'm afraid the ugly thing is growing stronger all the time. It doesn't need to sleep, it just always wants to feed." She frowns at that. Perhaps she's been trying to forget the thing that had removed my hand. "If I can kill them both and remain relatively uninjured, I might try to establish a small town, gather and train some more magicals. If I had a few dozen of us, I could make some serious inroads in repairing this world. Get it on the right track anyway."

She smiles at that and lays her head on my shoulder. "It would be nice to spend a couple of quiet years with you, I haven't a clue what that would be like." I laugh and plant a kiss on top of her head.

"It'll never be quiet Mione, might not be so life threatening, but it'll never be quiet."

She laughs, "promise?"

"Always." She looks up at me then, twisting just the right way and I can't help myself. I lean down and plant a soft kiss on her lips. She sighed and leans into it so I guess I wasn't that bad for being out of practice. I pull away after a few moments, afraid I'll steer out transfigured animals into a tree and smile at her. "As long as you're with me, life will always be interesting. I missed you so much, and I never noticed the hole in my chest until I got you back. I don't plan on letting you go. Ever."

She grins up at me and leans in to kiss me again. The hell with it, we can go tumbling off a ravine and I'd be as giddy as I school girl right now. I drop the reigns and pull her into my lap, eliciting a small squeal of surprise from her, but otherwise she doesn't seem to mind. I just held her close and marveled at the warmth and softness of her lips. I could die happy right in a moment like this.

Daniel clears his throat and the two of us jump nearly a mile high. I have a hand crackling with red electricity and Hermione has her wand drawn, a curse on her lips when we heard him laugh. "Sorry to interrupt you two, but look ahead."

I glare at him but drop the magic. Hermione is thoroughly embarrassed and has turned as beat red as a tomato. There stretching out before us, is a small bastion of civilization in the deep wilderness. It looks like a quaint town strait out of the eighteenth century. We'd crested the closest hill without noticing and it had come into view. As we draw closer I could see the cobble stone streets, carriages drawn by horses and children running about, laughing and playing. The windows have really glass, and if I squint, I swear I can see brass door handles glinting in the sun.

"You sure this guy is so bad Harry? Looks like a nice place to me." I shoot Daniel a look and shrug.

"Honestly? Yeah, if its him he's as evil as they come. Funny thing about evil. With enough practice, it get very good and looking nothing like itself. It wouldn't be the first time he's pulled a trick like this. Its usually easier to get followers that are loyal if they love you, and don't fear you."

I pull the wagon off on the side of the road and silently cast a stasis spell on our conjured animals. They'll sit here, munching on grass for an eternity if I don't cancel the spell. It was good camouflage as long as nobody stayed to look at them to long. For good measure I disillusion everything, now they'll be even harder to spot.

"Lets head in on foot from here, better chance of being inconspicuous." The three of us shoulder worn backpacks stuffed with provisions. We want it to look like we'd been on foot for a while, a bit of sympathy can go a long way. The three of us hike down to the bottom of the hill and make our way into the town proper. We are mostly quiet as we walk, occasionally talking about inconsequential things, but not wanting to show our cards so to speak.

The place is even more impressive up close. Someone born and raised here wouldn't even know how harsh the outside world had become. A few kids run by, laughing and chasing each other and I wonder if they're is a formal school established. We pass a black smith, an impressive array of swords, daggers, and axes hang on one wall, but at the moment it looks like he's making horseshoes. I stop to talk to him.

"Excuse me sir, we've been on foot for quite a while now, would you happen to know where we could get a bite to eat? Or maybe a roof over our heads for a few days?" He stops his hammering and wipes the sweat from his brow, breathing hard at the heat coming off the kiln.

"Yar son, there's a tavern up the road a way's, called the Prancing Pony," Hermione snorts at the name and I quirk and eyebrow at her but she shakes her head. "They got food and drink, and a few open beds for the night. They prefer the town currency, but being travelers like yourselves, they'll accept trade if need be."

I grin at him. "Thanks much, we appreciate it, I'll let you get back to work now." He just waves us off with a smile and goes back to hammering. The three of us head up the road a ways and find the tavern. It has on old wooden sign swinging slightly in the breeze proclaiming the name of the place. We walk inside and head for the bar. It's quiet this time of day, a few people sitting about catching an early lunch or a late breakfast. I can smell coffee and baking bread from deeper inside the tavern. It's clean, if not slightly dingy, the room is made out of stone, and has clean straw on the floor. The rack of mugs and tankards across the back wall look clean and sparkle in the light of the few hanging lanterns in the place.

The barman is a younger man, thin and willowy, probably just barely out of his teenage years. He's polishing a mug on his apron and smiles as he sees us. "What can I get for three wary travelers such as yourselves?" I Nearly laugh but just manage to hold it in.

"The blacksmith down the road told us you might be able to put us up for a few nights? I have some metal I can barter with, keep it handy for such situations. Maybe throw in a few hot meals while you're at it?"

I pull out a relatively small bar of iron, it's clean and has no defects. There's enough there to make a small dagger out of. The bartender eyes it in appreciation and hefts it in his hand for a moment before setting it aside. "I'll lodge and feed ya for four days, sound good to you?"

I smile and nod to him as he gets the three of us something to eat and drink. "This place seems nice, way nicer than I expected." Daniel is looking around the place, like he's expecting a monster to pop out from under one of the nearby tables.

"Looks can be deceiving. I've seen him perform acts of kindness, like heal a broken back, only to turn around and enslave that persons will." Daniel pales at that and Hermione scoots her chair a bit closer to mine that before.

The barman returns with three mugs full of apple cider. "We don't serve anything stronger until after dark, so this'll have to do ya in the meantime."

I shrug. "I'm not much of a drinker anyway, tends to muddle my thoughts a bit to quickly."

He laughed at that. "Aye, you should come get some later, strongest stuff I've ever sold here. Knock you right on your arse before you can finish a single gulp! Really lights you on fire."

I share a look with Hermione. Firewhiskey perhaps? I didn't know Tom was interested in brewing alcohol. What ever keeps the masses happy I suppose. We sit and talk amenably for a few minutes, sipping our cider and listening to the tavern goers gossip about their neighbors, when a set of bells start to chime off in the distance. The barman's eyes lit up and he grinned. "You lot come follow me, you're new in town and this'll be a treat for ya."

I notice everyone is making their way outside, and the barman is heading for the door with a 'Closed' sign in his hands. My two companions and eye share a look of worry before following everyone out.

We follow the young barman down the road, heading for the center of town. People are coming from everywhere, from the old to the very long, a few just starting to toddle. We follow the crowd down the cobblestone streets, and into the town square where everyone seems to be gathering. Hermione slips her hand in mine and I give her a squeeze to reassure her, even though I don't have the slightest clue what's going on. A large stage is set up in the middle with a podium. There's a red curtain raised up on a set of bars, acting as a barrier to what is behind it. Everyone is talking, seeming happy and a little excited so I allow myself to relax a bit, apparently this happens all the time.

The bells ring for a few more minutes, letting the stragglers in before suddenly stopping. The crowd hushes itself without any help, and it seems people are almost holding there breath. The curtains part and a man steps out. He's tall and muscular, perhaps in his mid thirties. His hair is black and is swept to the side, in a perfect part. A cold smile lights his face, and his eyes are a dark hazel, with just a touch of red around the pupil. I snarl at that face, and pull my hood up over my head before he scans the crowd. Hermione and Daniel follow my lead.

Here he was, Godric, Tom, Voldemort, Abaddon. I have found him.

To be continued...

There you go guys, the next chapter and Harry and co have found old Tommy at last. What happens next? You'll have to read and find out.

Just as a last little reminder, if anyone wants to chime in about that rewrite I've got a poll up on my profile.

Cheers,

-Harkon.

13. The Grass is Always Greener

'Lo Folks

So the poll for the rewrite is officially closed. I had three in favor and one against, so there's that. I've got the first chapter up, but its mostly a teaser, loaded down with a bunch of background information. Go check it out.

In some personal news, got my first novella up for sale on Amazon called An Unfortunate Detour go take a look if you want.

Okay, anyway, here we go, back down the rabbit hole!

Chapter 13: The Grass is Always Greener...

I'm filled with a bubbling frothy rage. Like the maw of a rabid dog, ready to snap and bite and tear. The very sight of the monster before me, all smiles and waves, practically kissing babies. I'm tempted to just reach out and give the bastard every drop of majik I have, turn him into ash, even if it kills me. I felt a hand, small and soft enter my own. She interlaced our fingers and squeezed my hand hard enough to hurt. I glanced at Hermione and she gave me a sad smile, her eyes were wet, tears nearly fell.

I pushed down my hate and tred to smile at her. For her, just a few months ago Voldemort was finally dead, and the world knew peace, now here he is, standing on the cusp of a decimated world, looking all the while like some miraculous healer. His voice, sweet and soothing to the masses around us, grate like nails on a chalkboard in my ears.

"My strong people, how good it is to see you all here on this day!" The crowd cheered and I felt sickness rumble in my stomach. I wanted to kill him so bad I itched like I'd broken out in hives. Hermione squeezed even tighter and I tried my best to stop shaking. "An individual came to me recently, in dire needed of healing. I looked her over, and I think I can help her. Please miss, come up on stage, don't be shy, and don't even think about being ashamed."

I watched as a young woman, mid twenties at most, slowly walked up on stage. She was missing most of her hair, and pretty much every visible inch of her was covered in welted burn scars. Her lips were pulled so tight she couldn't close her mouth all the way. My heart went out to her. "As you can all see, she was horribly burned a few years ago, by a crazy ex-lover, jealous of her beauty and popularity. I will attempt to reverse this damage today." I watch, in stony silence as he muttered some gibberish and waved a hand over her. She glowed a vibrant blue, but that's just a flashy trick, nothing more than light and sound. The real majik started after that. Her skin smoothed out, the blemishes faded and disappeared, and her hair grew back on her head. Her lips became full and supple again. His hands were shaking, like it took a huge strain on him, but I doubt he could feel any kind of drain at all. There, at the end, I saw a twitch of finger, and focused on seeing with my magic.

As he healed her he stuck out a tendril of magic, and wrapped it around her mind, binding her to him for life. I saw red, and nearly killed him right then, but held back. The girl's eyes glazed over for a moment before they became clear again. With every healing he performed, he gained a new follower, a soul bound to his will.

Hermione whispered to me, "did you see that?" I just nodded my head, not trusting myself to speak. I started scanning the crowd, and saw several other magicals, their energy lighting them up and making them stick out like sore thumbs. Each one of them had a tendril of black energy, running back and attaching them to Him. "What are we going to do about this Harry?"

Without warning Tom's head snapped up, as soon as she said my name and started scanning the crowd, looking for us. I cast a silent notice me not charm on the three of us just as his eyes roved over our part of the crowd, they slid right over us. "Need to be careful with what you say. The crowd is probably bugged. I put up a ward around the three of us for the moment, but we have to be careful." I squeezed her hand to let her know I wasn't mad at her and we continued to watch.

There was another dozen guards posted up on the stage with him, most of them magical, and all of them bound to him. I scanned the crowd at large and found at least fifty more people that had a black tendril of magic connecting them to the bastard. "He's got a lot of people around." We waited as he healed another three people binding them all to him, and moved on as the crowd dispersed. I gave Daniel a subtle tap on the shoulder and we made our way through the crowd and then away from them before I let the charm drop.

I held a finger up to my lips, not wanting to speak just yet and led them down a deserted alley before I grabbed them and apparated us about half a mile outside of the town. I allowed myself to breath a little then. "That son of a bitch, every person he heals he binds them to him. He's creating an army of slaves!"

I'm surprised at Hermione's outburst. "Language Mione. Daniel, could you feel it? I know you haven't been sensing magic for long, but it was powerful stuff."

He nodded. "Yeah, I didn't know what it was at first, but there were a lot of people connected to him with those black threads."

I nodded, "Yes, black strands of magic like that represent slave bonds. He can literally make them do anything he wants with just a whispered command. I had to have seen at least a hundred, just in that crowd alone. He's building a utopia, and an army."

Hermione frowned. "But what for? Everyone loves him, why does he need the army?"

I shrugged, "There are other bastions of civilization in the wider world, they're just few and far between. I've heard the Americas are forming city states and trying to establish a set government. Admittedly, its a big like the bronze age over there, with guns. But it would take an army to overthrow them at this point. I bet he's making an army to march on the world. That's always been his goal, sit on a throne made from the bones of his enemies, and lord over everyone, forever." I frowned, he'd come damn close on several occasions.

Hermione bit her lip, brow furrowed in an extremely cute way. "What are we going to do Harry? I know you're powerful, and I'm not a pushover. Daniel has learned a lot over the last month or two, but its still three, against at least a hundred, possibly several hundred."

I thought about it for a moment, and an idea came to me. I smiled. "The lycans."

Daniel looks confused. "Lycans?"

"Yes, Hermione and I ran into a pack of them, more like a small community. I bet they'd appreciate some pay back against the guy that killed one of their own, and turned him into a monster."

Hermione's eyes lit up. "Lycans are naturally strong and fast, and they're pretty spell resistant too! If we can get them on our side, we'd have a decent shot of getting in their and taking him."

I nodded and stretched a bit. "Lets go get our supplies and we can apparate back to the lycans. Perhaps we can find Selena and get her on our side. Then she can help us talk the rest of them into it."

2.

It didn't take us long to load up and shrink all our gear. Daniel was still working on apparating so I side-alonged him there. We appeared a few hundred yards from the main gate, don't want to spook them by just showing up in the middle of their compound, right out of thin air. I approached the guards that stood out in front of the tall wooden gates and held up my hands, showing them empty of any weapons. They still didn't look particularly happy to see me.

"Who are you, and what do you want? We don't allow outsiders here." The guard that spoke was older, and rather burly. Most werewolves seem to be that way, the ones that embrace their animalistic side anyway.

"We mean you no harm. I'm looking for a friend of mine. Her name is Selena. Perhaps you've heard of her?"

The younger guard shifted slightly, and gave it away that he knew her. "What do you want with Selena?"

The older guard, the one with the white beard and balding head, glared and the recruit. "You have no business here. I suggest you move along." He flexed his muscles and puffed out his chest a bit and reached for a sword at his side. I felt my companions tense at my side, ready for a fight if needed. I'm about to just knock the man out and head on in when I hear a familiar voice from up above.

"Let them in Ulfric, That is Harry, the one I told the council about." He looked surprised. I know I don't look much older than twenty five, but I'm covered in scars and I have a medal hand for Merlin's sake. You'd think people would respect that. Ulfric still seemed tense but the younger guy, only old enough to have been shaving regularly for a year or two at most, relaxed almost completely. He wouldn't be going with us, that's for certain.

" 'Lo Selena, how has everything been?" She just quirked an eyebrow at me and motioned us inside. The guards opened the gates and ushered us in without complaint. By then Selena had made her way down the small over look built in over the gates, and motioned for us to follow her.

"You'll have to excuse my people, new comers tends to make them nervous. What brings you back this way? I thought I'd seen the last of you when you disappeared. You made off in suck a hurry."

"Sorry about that. They town we were staying in, it was attacked while we were gone. Didn't end well."

Daniel was quiet. The destruction of his village is still raw to him. I can't blame him for not wanting to talk about it. "I'm sorry to hear that. Things have been quite here... that monster hasn't shown up any. For that I'm thankful."

I nodded my head along with her. "Yes, it wouldn't end well if it showed its face here. I'll be frank with you. I found the man responsible for turning your friend. I know where he is. And the damage he's doing is far worse than I'd at first thought. He's building an army of slaves."

Selena froze in place. Her face grew pale and sweat beaded her brow. She looked terrified. "He's building an army?"

"Yes, one completely loyal to him and him alone. He would have no spies, and no traitors. He's using a very dark form of magic to bind his subjects will to him. And they don't even know about it."

A flash of anger crossed her face as we made our way through the little Lycan village. It hadn't changed much since they last time we were there. Of course, we're being glared at a lot more, mostly because no one saw us the last time around.

Hermione spoke up in our defense. "He's had years, building an army, making the people love him, all while he subjugates their will, without them even knowing about it. With a snap of his fingers he can call upon men women, and children, to lay down their lives for him. And they'd do it with a smile on their faces, none the wiser."

We came to Selena's house and followed her in. Daniel was being quiet. I'm sure he was thinking about his burned out village, just a few miles south of here. Selena threw off her coat, fur lined and leather, and slumped down in a chair. She rubbed her face in frustration. "Why are you here then? Shouldn't you be out there, killing the bastard?"

I ground my teeth in aggravation. I'm powerful, sure, but while I'm fight twenty of thirty thralls He could him right up behind me and stick a knife in my kidney. I can't be everywhere at once. Perhaps if Hermione and Daniel were as advanced as I was in magic we could manage it. But Hermione is still several years away from being able to approach the kind of power I wield. I'm afraid Daniel is decades away, if he can even manage to get there at all. He's just too old, with no proper education his magical channel's will never be where they should be.

"There are three of us, and several hundred of them. Even if they're not properly educated, we'd be overrun with sheer numbers in no time. Can't be everywhere at once."

She gave me a look, and asked a question I'm sure she regretted as soon as it passed her lips. "And why are you here then?"

I took a deep breath to try to steady my nerves. I've raised armies before, and led them into battle, but this just seemed so spur of the moment to me. Without them though, it'll be back to the drawing board. It could take us months to come up with a different plan, the Abomination could grow exponentially more powerful in that amount of time. Where ever that thing was, He was controlling it. I needed to find out how, and if there was a way to end it, before it destroyed what was left of this world.

"We need your help, you, and about a hundred other Lycans. With a small force we could over take the town. Nothing to hard with numbers on our side. Just take care of the slaves, while I take out Tom and his upper henchmen. Should be easy, with your help."

She just stared at me for a minute. For a moment I thought she was going to start laughing at me. She stood up and walked across the room and Stared me in the eye the whole time. I knew what this was. Its a wolf thing, she was trying to get me to bow down, be submissive. I'd never much been into that kind of stuff. Its a show of power she wanted, and that's what she got. I let my magic seep out of me, just a little bit. It formed an aura around me, and made the room oppressive, dark and heavy. Hermione gasped quietly from behind me, and I think I heard Daniel stumble a bit. Selena's hair stood on end, and she looked genuinely scared of me for a moment. I let the power fade and she relaxed a bit. But her eyes become hard.

"If I try to convince the council of this. To avenge our fallen member. And they say no, you drop it, understand? If I find out you used your magic to control them, or make them do it, I don't care how strong you are, I'll kill you myself?"

I'm surprised enough to laugh, I hope she doesn't take it the wrong way. "That's one of the things that makes Him and I different, I don't approve of slavery."

"One more thing, after this, you owe us one. If we need you for something. You'll come help, right? I will be supplying you with an army, if I can convince them." She ran her hand through her hair again in aggravation and looked at me like she wished she'd never met me before.

I put my hands up in surrender. "I can do that. I'd help anyway. Look, I don't think this will be to dangerous to your people, you're all stronger and faster than any normal human, and you're all magic resistant. Any one there that can actually cast a spell won't be able to do much anyway."

"We're still not bullet proof." She scowled at me, and Hermione spoke up for the first time since our little pissing contest.

"Actually, I've got a little something that should help with the whole bullet thing." I gave the gorgeous little bookworm a look and she had the decency to blush. Leave it up to Mione to find a way to making someone bullet proof sound flippant.

"You see, we developed this enchantment in the Department of Mysteries, if placed on an object, it renders the person impervious to high impact ballistics. Essentially making them bullet proof."

I beam at her and pulled her up in a hug. "Mione you're brilliant. Show it to me and Daniel and the three of us can enchant everything for the Lycans... now. Why didn't you mention this spell before?"

Her blush deepened and she hid her face in my shirt. I relished the contact. "You forgot didn't you?"

She just nodded and Daniel laughs. That's so like her. Selena cleared her throat and I reluctantly let Hermione go.

"So this spell, it'll help keep my people safe?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, it should protect them from arrows and bullets."

Selena smiled. "Do I get to keep it when we're done?"

3.

It wasn't as hard to convince this supposed council as I thought it would be. It was mostly a bunch of older lycans, hungry for revenge against the slight to their people. So by the end of the week, we had a hundred fighters, ready and willing to avenge they're fallen comrade. Currently we were in the clearing outside their compound, focusing on hand to hand combat drills. Lycans were bloodthirsty on their best days as it was, so most of them already knew what they were doing.

It never ceased to wow me when I watched one of them transform. Bulky and rippling muscles shifted and grew denser. Hair sprouted and everything stretched out and elongated, becoming stronger, more primal. That these people had mastered their animal forms was an awesome sight to see. A werewolf wielding a long sword was something no one wanted to fuck with, myself included.

I'd started teaching Hermione some of the deadlier magic I knew during this week, and we'd both given Daniel a crash course on the nastier aspects of magic. He'd taken a particular liking to an acid flinging curse I showed him the other day, his accuracy was nothing to scoff at. He'd hit a pumpkin at a hundred paces, while it was animated, on his first try. He said it wasn't much different than hunting a bird and shooting it out of the air. I'd take his word for it.

Selena was walking around, inspecting everyone, making sure they were capable and ready to take a life if they had too.

"You're not worried about killing the slaves? Aren't they just trapped by his power?" She asked me, a bit of conflict in her voice.

"If there was something I could do to free them I would. But He's used this kind of magic before. I've tried for centuries to reverse it, but have had no luck. They'll die along with him when he goes At least they'll be free."

That seemed to calm her nerves some, but she's still a bit reserved about the whole thing. Daniel and Hermione walked over to me, he's pouring the sweat, and she seemed fine. I appeared my favorite girl has been giving him the run about. "Enjoy the work out?"

Daniel just glared at me. "She's a slave driver. I feel like I'm about to fall over."

I smiled at Hermione, "What were you teaching him now?" I scratched my metal hand, it still itched occasionally.

"Some elemental magic. He should have a firm grip on fire now. He's managed to heal the burns too."

I shook my head. It figured that Hermione could get someone to master one of the elements of magic in a week. Doesn't surprise me really. "Good, we'll need his as strong as he can get, we finished up the enchantments yesterday. Shouldn't be much longer until we're ready to go."

Daniel looked out over the hundred sparring lycans. Most of them were paired up, wrestling and fighting in these dirt rings cut into the earth. Some of them as men, others as monsters. They went full out as they were fighting, the occasional spurt of blood could be seen, it was lucky that they healed so fast. Otherwise half of them would be dead by now. Just before the sun set, they broke off into two large groups of fifty. Half of them as men, the other half as wolves. They roared and fought, clashing in a mock skirmish with one another. I looked up to see a nearly full moon rising.

"Does the full moon still force the change Selena? I think you mentioned something about it before, but I'm still a little fuzzy on the details."

She shook her head as Hermione intertwined our fingers and leaned into me. "We have legends about those that were forced to change on the moon, but anymore it just makes us stronger, and a bit more bloodthirsty." I glanced over at the group warring with each other. Seemed to be a free for all now, they were using dulled weapons, but I know for a fact those still hurt.

"More bloodthirsty you say? I think we'll wait for the next full moon to go then, should only be two days from now. Any advantage we can take would be good. If they go just a bit faster, hit just a bit harder, it could help us get this over with that much quicker."

Daniel looked like he was about to fall over. "Why don't you head on to bed? And we'll be taking tomorrow off, just some light drills to keep your reflexes sharp, no need to send you into battle half asleep." He simply waved at us as he headed back into the compound. I smiled down at Hermione and started dragging her back inside as the Lycans started winding down. I waved to Selena. "We'll see you in the morning to go over the final preparations, I think we're going to try to get some rest while we can."

She paid us little attention as Mione and I headed back inside the compound and headed for the expanded tent we shared. I planned on seeing how easy it would be to peel off that curve hugging raptor armor she'd taken to wearing recently.

4.

The next morning saw us gathered around a wooden table in a glorified tent made from buck-skin. I'd drawn a rough sketch of the town based on our first visit, and the little bit of recon we'd done during the last week. It seemed that He did a 'show' twice a day. Once at noon, and then again after dark, nearly every day.

The plan was to send in two groups of lycans, one group from either side of town. They would infiltrate the crowd and remain quiet until I gave the signal. At that point they should have everyone surrounded. They'd been given explicit orders to only attack those that attacked them, we didn't want any innocent people hurt in the conflict.

After a few minutes there shouldn't be anyone left but the enemy, and we'd proceed to decimate them. Daniel would be helping to take out any wizards He'd managed to train up. While Hermione and I would be going after the big bastard ourselves. With any luck it would all end as soon as we could kill him. I hope it didn't take long.

A nagging voice in the back of my head kept bringing the Abomination back to my thoughts, but I would have to cross that bridge when I came to it. I doubt He would keep that thing close, to afraid that it would turn on him. I took a deep breath and stood from the table, and stretched out a kink in my neck. "I believe we have everything covered. Make sure your people get some rest today, I don't want anyone tired on the battlefield."

I took two long lengths of rope I planned on using as portkeys to move everyone, and placed them out on the table. "We'll go over our final preparations tomorrow, do a last check on equipment, and get everyone in place. As far as I'm concerned, everyone has the rest of the day off. Get some rest."

A few of the lycans that were in charge of the individual troops filed out, ready to go get a drink and trade stories. I led Hermione, Daniel and Selena outside and looked up at the clear blue sky. I hope He wouldn't know what hit him.

To be continued.

Okay guys, there's the chapter. I apologize if it seems a bit rushed. I had trouble writing this one as it was mostly a transition chapter, I decided to skip over most of the training, its mostly just filler information and nothing that I found very interesting, besides, I'm pretty sure werewolves would have the basics of combat down without much trouble.

Like I said earlier, I've got a novella out, Paranormal Urban Fantasy called An Unfortunate Detour, so head on over to Amazon if you're interested. See you all soon,

-Harkon.

14. All Occording to the Plan

Hey, folks.

I'll keep this short.

I've got a link up on my profile for An Unfortunate Detour. If anybody has an interest in supporting a starving artist like myself go check it out.

This story has been a bit lighter the last couple chapters, that's about to change, you have been warned.

P.S.- Sorry this took so long guys, my son was born! Don't exactly have a lot of free time anymore, its mostly unedited too, I wanted to go ahead and get it out. I'll do some revision in a few days and repost it then, bare with me until then.

Chapter 14: All According to the Plan...

Everything was going so well. The portkeys dropped about a mile out of the city. Right where Hermione and I wanted them to. Over the course of two days, the hundred or so lycans trickled in, a few every couple of hours, and set up in taverns and inns around the city. Then on the third day, when He called the town to observe another round of 'miracles' the group moved in and hung around the outer edges of the crowd.

It seemed like It was all going like we wanted it to. Hermione and I were smack dab in the center of the big crowd. He'd just healed another person, allowing them to walk for the first time in years, and bound their will to his own. My anger boiled hot in my blood, ready to spill over into a torrent of magic. The bastard was grand standing, looking out over the adoring crowd, with that wide politician's smile. I felt my palms heat up, fire was desperately trying to grow there.

They all knew to wait, to wait until I cast the first spell, then it would start. I let him smile and wave, and put on his little act. When the crowd finally quieted, I spoke.

"What a show, and I didn't even have to buy tickets." My voice is amplified with magic, booming and powerful. The crowd quiets completely and looks around confused, and some of them scared. The sound seemed to come from everywhere, all at once.

The light happy look on his face faded and grew ugly in an instant. I see the briefest flicker of red in those eyes, the monster hiding behind the handsome face. He tries to reign in the ugly, and almost succeeded. "I've been looking for you for such a long time. And here you are, hiding in plain sight, pretending to be a savior sent from god. Oh the irony."

"Show your face, whoever you are. I have nothing to hide, and I'd be glad to show you that, if you reveal yourself."

"You know who I am. You can stop with the games now, I know what you've done with these people, If you can, I demand you release them."

The monster laughed, still looking for me. "These people are here on their own free will, I won't make them do anything that they don't want to, they are my friends."

My power seeped outward and rolled through the crowd. His eyes narrowed and shifted toward my general direction. I decided enough was enough. I was done talking. I'd spent lifetimes talking to this beast, I saw no need to continue now. With a burst of power, my magic lifted me up into the air and I hovered above the crowd.

"Azrael, I'd thought you might have finally had the decency to die. I see that I will remain disappointed." A ball of black fire appeared in my hand. This was an old spell, primordial magic. It had no modern name, but the closest translation anyone could come up with would sound something like Soul Rot.

"I'm done speaking with you, I'm ending this now. This world is sick, Abaddon. The last thing it needs is a parasite like you ravaging it further." I threw my ball of black flames and it grew exponentially in size, ethereal chains with hooks leaped from the black mass and snapped and spun as they honed in on their target.

His eyes widened for just a moment before the flames slammed into him, obscuring him from sight. I looked down at the crowd and my stomach dropped. I don't know how he hid so many of them, but every person in the crowd was a slave to his will. It was only now that those black threads sprung into existence. They faded into view and the people they were attached to jerked as if struck.

The lycans had already engaged them when they roused themselves and attacked with a ferocity that no mortal should have, especially while against the power of a wolf man. There was nothing I could do about it now, it had started, I couldn't stop it. Hermione and Daniel were running through the crowd. They'd dropped numerous attackers and were headed for the stage, hellbent on attacking the mages that were attempting to help their master.

He was struggling against the chains that held him, foaming at the mouth and roaring in rage. His face was cracked and broken, revealing the monster he truly was in places. The mages he'd managed to train might have been powerful, but they had little skill. Hermione and Daniel engaged them as soon as they broke free of the crowd. Hermione cut the head off of one of them and Daniel froze another in place before they could even react.

The other six turned away from their master and engaged my two friends in combat. Hermione was like a dancer, weaving and ducking while returning fire. Daniel mostly hid behind a bunker shield I'd taught him and returned fire with simple but powerful curses of his own.

A tight ball of ice appeared in the center of the mass of fire, and with a ripple it was dispelled outward. The chains I held him with buckled under the force before they vanished, crumbled to dust. A sickly green light, one of his old favorites, came barreling at me. I side stepped midair and returned with a volley of powerful cutting and bludgeoning curses. The two of us twisted and spun, avoiding each others attacks with ease formed from centuries of combat.

We'd made this play more times than I'd ever be able to count. When the two of us fought, one blow was usually all it would take to end it. Just standing nearby could result in death from the shear power of the magical backlash. A geyser of boiling water rocketed toward me and with a deft movement I sliced it in half and took control of the deadly liquid. I twisted it down into a tight spiral, so compacted it became sharp enough to cut steel, and sent it back at him with all the furry I could muster.

He dived forward into a flip, landed on the balls of his feet, and summoned a great beast made of rock and mud from the ground. The golem took a single swipe at me, and caught me in the shoulder. I spun, the world smeared before jarring to a halt as I slammed into the ground. I knew better than to stay still and rolled with the momentum, spinning myself back onto my feet. I slammed a fist into the earth and a huge granite fist rose up from the soil and smashed the golem into dust.

The sky cracked open in a burst of lightning and thunder as the impossible magical forces at play began to wreak havoc on the weather. I used it to my advantage and summoned a bolt of energy to try and try my hated enemy. I managed to catch him in collar and sent him to the floor, smoking and roaring in rage. He barely allowed the blow to affect him, to do so would have been his end.

I have to give him credit, his reflexes haven't dulled any. I give a quick glance around myself, and pale at what I see. There are more magic users in the crowd then I had at first thought. I see bright streaks of magic mixed in with screams and roars of the battle. The air is almost pink from blood, it pooled on the ground, people were slipping in it. I'd forgotten what a large scale battle could look like. Hermione was still holding her own, but now there were three more mages battling her. Daniel was bleeding from a bad cut across his brow, and was fighting two people on his own. They didn't look as inept as they did minutes ago.

I ducked under a barrage of ice spikes and sneered at the monster across from me. Time to take this in close. In times past, wizards would scoff at the idea of hand to hand combat. They believed 'muggle' fighting was beneath them. Little did they know, channeling magic into yourself, to make you stronger, faster, that was the oldest form of magic humans had managed to use.

My muscles bulged and my senses heightened. I activated an enchantment on my metal hand and it rippled before stretching out into a blade, nearly three feet in length. I shot across the courtyard like I'd been fired out of a canon, dust and blood spiraling behind me like a tornado turned on its side. My oldest enemy's eyes widened just a fraction and I knew I'd caught him off guard. He conjured two swords, twisted black things made of obsidian, and tried to parry my first attack. I slammed into him with the force of a freight train and knocked him backward and out of the air.

He spun and tumbled a dozen times before he slammed into a building, causing the stone to crumble behind him. A normal man would have splattered, reduced to pulp. Unfortunately, Old Tommy boy was anything but. He rolled out of the hole I'd put him in just as I attacked again. My arm, enhanced with magic, drove deep into the stone. The entire wall buckled and fell away. I paid it no mind as I ducked and dodged backward, always avoiding His swords by a hair's breath.

I heard a scream and my blood ran cold. I glanced over, just a fraction of a second, and saw Hermione lying on the road, holding her side and blood pulled around her. I saw red. With a roar and a blast of pure magic strong enough to crumble a mountain, I pushed the evil bastard away from me for a moment and darted off across the courtyard toward Hermione. I landed next her with a thud and pulled her close, throwing up a shield designed to stop anything short of a nuke and took a look at her.

She was pale, and a bit of blood dribbled from a busted lip, but she was lucid and stared back at me. "I'm sorry Harry, here you are rescuing me again."

I gave her the best smile I could muster at the moment and allowed my sword to morph back into a hand. "Don't be sorry, you've saved my skinny ass plenty. Let me take a look at you." I glanced around, He was still riding the blast of magic I'd sent at him, but it would be but a few moments before he returned, probably pissed off.

I moved her hands out of the way and held back a wince. A gash ran from one side of her stomach to the other. It was several inches deep. If I squinted through the blood and gore I could just see a bit of her intestines peeking through. She was lucky, another inch and she'd been disemboweled. I glanced over to where her three opponents lie, one of them looked like he'd come to a particularly brutal end, hamburger was all that was left of his head.

"I bet it was that one." I'd like to think she'd blush if she wasn't so pale.

"He.. deserved it.."

"I know, no need to explain. Now, hold still, this is going to burn a bit." I grit my teeth, I hated hurting her, even if it was to heal her. I made a bunching, pulling gesture with my hand and poured magic into the wound. The torn muscles twitched and stretched before knitting themselves back together. She moaned in pain but didn't scream. I wouldn't have been surprised if she did. I'd had to do this to myself on a few occasions, and it hurt. The skin was next, if time is taken, this spell can heal without scarring, but we were in the middle of a battlefield, and time was something we had little of.

A ragged pink band appeared across her stomach, just below her belly button. Her face had turned red and she was gritting her teeth, but after it was over she seemed better. I helped her to her feet. "There are other magic users in the crowd, more than we thought." A few stray spells pinged off the shield I'd erected, and a couple of bullets bounced off it as well. "Please be careful. Don't die on me, i'd kill them all Mione, this town would be a crater."

She smiled at me and swayed a little bit as I handed her a pepper up potion, something notoriously difficult to brew these days, with such a lack of ingredients. "You're so sweet. I'll be careful." She looked over my shoulder. "Your friend is back." She downed the potion and shivered, but the color immediately returned to her cheeks. "Go tell him hello for me." She kissed me and pushed me away, before she charged back out onto the battlefield. I think I love that girl.

I rose back into the air to meet my oldest enemy. He'd looked better, burns covered most of his torso and arms, his shirt had burned off completely, and he was missing a shoe, but he looked more dangerous now than ever. "I was hoping to save this for the end, but you've forced my hand, like you have so many times before." He roared and red runes, previously invisible flared. I felt his energy double, and then triple. I looked down, expecting to see his followers falling to their knees, but if anything they seemed stronger as well. He laughed at me then. "I've modified the spell significantly. I'm not pulling the energy from my followers, I'm pulling if from the earth, and I'm sharing it with them."

I watched transfixed as a normal man snapped the neck of a Lycan. "If you hadn't brought the dogs, I probably wouldn't have resorted to this, but I knew they were coming, so I made sure to be prepared."

How could he have known? Surely he didn't have a spy amongst the werewolves, not after what he'd done to one of their own. I didn't have time to think about it, he was on me in an instance. He moved so fast now that I could barely see him, just a blur. He charged, throwing a dozen spells a second as he approached. I shield with my real hand and my metallic one once more grew into a sword. This was going to hurt.

He managed to catch me in the leg with a bone breaker just as he slammed into me full force. I barely had the strength the hold his sword back. He'd dropped one, in favor of wielding a blade and casting magic at the same time. I was paying for it. My arm buckled under the force of his attacks and my own blade started to bite into my flesh. I hadn't opened up my magical channels much since fighting his Abomination, but I'd have to now. I pulled from deep within myself, a well of magic nearly limitless in depth, and as dangerous as a Lovecraftian horror if misused, bubbled beneath the surface. I grit my teeth, and turned the tap all the way.

It was intense, I hadn't channeled this much magic in lifetimes. My whole body pulsed and glowed a bright blue. The real world faded away and everything was made of energy in my eyes. Abbadon, my oldest enemy was a dark red, a demon amongst a sea of mortals. I counted in my head, I could hold this for a total of seven seconds before I had to let it fade away. Even with the stretching of my magic channels, this body just couldn't withstand something of this magnitude, not as it currently was.

I pushed back as hard a could and sent him spinning. I dived and bright blue energy pulled in my right hand before leaping out and grabbed hold of him.

Five seconds left.

I pulled back my arm, the blade that grew from the end was bathed in fire. I slashed downward. His arm fell away at the shoulder. He roared like a stuck beast, angry and scared and wriggling, like A worm that had been skewered on a hook.

Two seconds left.

He pushed against me, and channeled more of the earth's magic into his body. I felt something ominous building, something terrible. He broke free of my chains and lunged forward with his own blade as I did so with my mine. He stabbed each other, mine passing through his chest, just below his right collar, his dug deep into my side, and broke through out of my back. I felt no pain, just a thrumming of energy.

Times up.

The world faded back into view, just in enough time for it to fall apart. The rain stopped abruptly. The battle beneath us had stopped, most of the Lycans lay dead in the street, or bound, kneeling as defeated men and women. I felt the sky lurch, as an ear shattering boom echoed all around us. Another ley line had fallen.

The entire ground jumped nearly ten feet into the air, buildings fell and collapsed in on themselves. The few Lycans alive and free fled screaming in terror The buffet of air that rocketed out of the earth was enough to send Both of us spiraling away from each other. I could feel his blade still stuck in my side, it had been pulled from his hands by the gust. With any luck he'd bleed to death when me blade had been jerked out of his body. I hit the ground, hurt. I'd twisted in midair and landed on my side, the one without the sword sticking out of it.

Hermione was next to me in seconds. "I've got to pull this out to close it Harry. Its going to hurt."

I just nodded and struggled to my feet. I held up both hands, the blade melted back to normal sometime during my tumble and power hummed in my palms. I doubted we'd be left alone for long. Most of Abbadon's thralls were scattered and appeared disoriented. Daniel hobbled over to us, holding his arm and limping badly. Hermione gave a tug and pulled the blade free. It hadn't hurt much until then. I nearly screamed as it sliced into me further as she pulled it free. Within seconds she'd cauterized it, holding my guts inside myself. I set a small part of my magic to fixing the internal damage, I had a ruptured kidney, and I believe a lacerated liver, it could have been much worse.

"Help me up."

"Harry, you need to lie down for a bit, You'll just hurt yourself."

"I Said help me up, If I lie here any longer we'll all be dead anyway."

"I wouldn't say that Azrael. You see, I have you at my mercy now."

I jumped and rolled over, aggravating my wound worse and lay stretched out on my back, both hands leveled at him. He looked nearly whole again, after so short a time. The whole I'd torn into his chest was nothing more than a red spot, his burns were gone, and his arm was back in place. It looked pink, and tender, like he'd regrown it. Several of his slaves stood around him, either a wand pointed at us or magic pooled in their hands. One of them had Daniel in a head lock.

"I'd stop to consider what you were doing. I know you're heartless, and have sacrificed countless allies in the past, you could knock me away, and kill everyone of my followers here before they could land a spell on you. But your friend would be dead, and so would your whore." He held a glowing hand toward Hermione, it sparked menacingly.

"Do you know what you've done? By taking energy from an already sick planet, the world was already doomed, its hard to tell how much you've sped up the process."

He laughed at me. "You think so? This world will heal. It always has before, it will just take longer this time. And I have time to spare. You on the other hand..." His hand glowed brighter and I dropped mine instantly. I couldn't get Hermione killed, not if I could stop it.

"You've gotten wiser Azrael. I commend you. Stick out your hands." I followed his orders and a pair of Mythril shackles appeared and encircled both my hands. A thousand runes lit up across the surface. These would absorb and bleed off any magic I cast. I hated the cursed things, and had hoped he wouldn't be able to remake them.

"I hid these, before our last confrontation. When I awoke, I was delighted to discover that they'd survived, and still worked flawlessly. Truly one of your greatest inventions. Turned against you." He smiled at me then and grabbed the chain between the two cuffs before he pulled me to my feet. "Don't be mistaken, I am going to end you. I just plan on keeping you around, for some entertainment first."

He looked at Daniel. "He'll die first." and then he grinned at Hermione. "And after I've had my fill of your whore, she'll die as well, naked and beaten in front of you. They scream so loudly when you defile them with a sharp enough dagger, did you know that Azrael?"

I screamed at him. "Don't you fucking touch her!" I poured magic into the cuffs, hoping to overload them but I couldn't. I couldn't channel that primordial power again, not so soon. My whole body ached from the few seconds I'd managed earlier. I'd be no good to either of them if I exploded trying to save them. I spit at Him, blood and mucus mixed together and landed right in his eye. He yelled and wiped his face before back handing me hard enough to bloody my lips.

"Oh yes, the fun we'll have before the end, just you wait. Its going to be so nice my old friend."

He turned away from me then, and motioned toward his other thralls. "Gather up the dogs, we'll be taking them with us as well." The obeyed without question, hauling the Lycans to their feet. He led us through the ruined town, a line of fighters, beaten and shackled. Around dilapidated buildings and across piles of rubble nearly ten feet tall. I nearly passed out several times, every time I'd fall to my knees I'd get a kick right in my bloodied side. The pain was near unbearable, but it kept me awake.

Near the outskirts of the town, we came to a building that was still intact. I pushed my magic into my eyes and looked at it. It was warded, but about as strong of enchantments as could be cast. Built from the ground up to survive the worst earthquake possible.

He waved his hand and I could hear screaming, and the roaring of monstrous things inside, but I could see nothing. "Welcome to me home," he smiled at me and waved his hand at the entrance. "After you."

I watched in dismay as we were pushed inside and separated. I screamed Hermione's name as she was dragged off, into the darkness.

To be continued.

Well, there you go guys, sorry it took so long, and sorry that it wasn't as long as I wanted it to be, but like I said up top, my son was just born a few days ago, and I've kinda lost much of my writing time. I already had one kid, now I got two. I didn't know it was possible to remain awake for this long without hallucinating, the talking unicorn in the corner says otherwise, but he looks shifty and I don't trust him much.

Anyway, read and review, tell me what you think, and go buy my book, link is in my profile.

Cheers,

-Harkon.

15. Escaping the Pit part 1

Okay everybody, I'll make this short, just wanted to say sorry for the long update, two munchkins really cuts into writing time, I'll never abandon this story, or any others I write, but updates might be a bit slower over the next few months, at least until junior figures out the difference between day time and night time.

As a warning, this chapter is pretty damn dark. And sorry about the length, but I wanted to get something out, and to make it as long as usual, it would take an extra week or two, really don't have much writing time at all anymore.

On with the show.

Disclaimer: If I owned it, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction, I'd be going and bugging my favorite authors to do collaboration work with me.

Chapter 15: Tom's Inferno

I didn't know elevators still worked. I'd thought that anything that took more electricity that what a car battery could house had been lost long ago. Of course, I suppose it was a copy manufactured via magic. That's more of his style anyway. It had been so dark when I had first arrived here. I'd stumbled and fallen countless times, legs bleeding and bruised. The shackles were heavy, I'd made them that way, and they weighed down my arms in front of me until I was hunched over.

Tom had been working again; the monsters guiding me down into this pit were testament to that. He'd created a many terrible things in years past, it looked as if he'd resurrected his old foot soldiers, Hideous beasts resembling hairless gorillas, to guard his prisoners. When they'd at first pushed me through the doors to the elevator I thought it was my cell. I'd bashed my face on the far wall and my nose had bled freely. After a moment my escorts had come in as well, and we'd started falling. It was intense. We fell so very fast, and so far. Miles down I was sure of it. It grew cool at first, until it started to heat up and grow uncomfortably hot. Now the sweat poured off me in buckets.

That had been some time ago, I didn't know how long I was down here, days, a few weeks? I lost track in the darkness. It was still dark, my eyes could not adjust to a light level when there was no light at all. I've wondered if I've gone blind. The only thing that showed me otherwise was a blinding flash of light that went off at random every day. I suppose it was to prevent me from losing my sight, so I could better appreciate the horrors in store for me.

No one has brought me any food, I did get a glass of water a day, but my magic, locked inside, was what was keeping me alive. The cuffs were heavy, holding my arms down. My wrists were cut and bleeding, raw and worn near to the bone. The cuffs come up and completely encompassed my hands, keeping them locked in tight fists. I'd raged and screamed when they first dropped me in this dank hole. I'd stopped some time ago, throat ripped to shreds from all the abuse I was laboring on it. I could hear screams, off in the distance, people begging for mercy, pleading to be let go, or just killed so it was all over with. I'd seen no sign of him, not since I was deposited in this decrepit place.

Once every so often one of the monstrous guards would stop by and drop a rotting corpse in my cell. The stench was unbearable, enough to make anyone gag. They'd hold me down and gut the corpse over top of me, spilling the fetid and festering entrails across my back and head, then they'd bring out the hot irons. The only luck in it all, the metal was so hot it cauterized the wounds, so at least I hadn't developed an infection from the pungent dead.

I had seen many places like this before, these dirty little secrets, he loved to revel in these places. I always believed he was the most comfortable, deep beneath the earth, surrounded by suffering. I sat and waited for my glass of water. My thoughts constantly drifted toward Hermione and Daniel, what evil were they living through? Were they even still alive? I had to do something to get out of here. He kept me weak on purpose, knowing that to fully access my power, I needed to be in peek physical condition. To do so otherwise would risk tearing my body to pieces. I was at the point where I was ready to try regardless. If I pushed with all my might, brought myself just to the breaking point, I could escape these damnable chains. I had designed them to hold him, millennia ago and they had worked well, but even they had their limits.

The key would be my hand. I don't know if it was escaped his notice that I had a metallic hand, or if he just hadn't cared, but my hand would be the key. Far stronger than flesh and bone, and capable of channeling higher, more dangerous levels of magic, I could use it to break free. It might be destroyed in the process, but I could always make another.

I started low, letting my power swirl and churn, building up like the tide of the ocean. My hair began to stir and dance around my head, my clothes were ruffled by an invisible wind, my eyes glowed killing curse green. A shockwave, a pulse of magic rushed around the room, illuminating the rough, bloodstain stone. I could finally see with my own light.

My veins burned and my bones ached from the strain. I felt a bead of blood dribble from my nose. I held my magic there, on the edge of tearing myself to shreds, just held it in place and let it boil just beneath the surface. Distantly I heard an alarm blaring but I paid it no mind, I had other things to worry about.

"Now for the tricky part." I grit my teeth, and with a ferocious push, I shoved every ounce of the power into my left hand. My wrist grew hot instantly, seared at a thousand degrees, burnt black to the bone. The light was so bright coming from my hand, that it was visible through the metal. The cuffs glowed molten red and pulsed, before exploding.

They tore open in half molten slag, slivers of metal peppered my chest and face, tearing into me but I paid it no mind, I was free. I collapsed to my hands and knees, panting for breath, steam rolled off me in waves. I looked down at my metal hand and received a shock. Instead of destroyed, or melted into a useless hunk, it looked as complete as ever. It had taken on sheen, and it had become dark, like obsidian wrapped in glass. I didn't feel as drained as I thought I would, but I was far from being at my best. That alarm was still blaring, apparently wards had been erected to detect errant magic use. I cast a spell and watched as my world lit up again, this time bathed in blue. Night vision always came in handy.

I closed my eyes and pushed out my senses, feeling for two magical signatures in particular. It took little time to find Hermione. She was being held three levels above me, I seemed to be at the very bottom. Daniel was two levels above her. I felt for the Lycans and was dismayed to find most of them dead, around fifty were left alive, and they were all near the top. I opened my eyes and glared at the door, ten thousand runes carved into the surface, trying to keep me in, to lock me away. They would not succeed.

I stood to my full height and stretched, satisfied at the numerous pops that bounced down my back. "right then, tear off this door, kill anything that moves, get Hermione. Baby steps."

I pumped pure magic through my arms and shot them out my hands. The wave of viridian energy hit the door. I concentrated the blast into a cone of energy and burnt a hole large enough for me to walk through. The door glowed orange and cracked around all the runes.

I ran forward and squeezed my way out just as some of His creations came around a dark corner. I decided then and there to name the ugly bastards Magillas, just seemed to fit for some reason. Two of the hulking hairy beasts carrying jagged spears charged me. I felt out and knew they had no magic of their own, just constructs, deformed homunculus powered with the souls of minor demons.

Two swords of flame burst into my hands as I charged them. They may have been larger than me, but I had a thousand lifetimes of experience on them. I caught one in the throat and burned the other at the knee, sending it to the floor before finishing it off with a slice that severed the top of its head. I never stopped running. It was quiet down this far, no souls on this level but my own. If it hadn't been for the alarm I'd have been able to hear my own heartbeat.

Down twisted corridors with jagged floors I ran. I conjured a pair of boots to right onto my feet, they were already bloody and raw from the rough floors and I didn't need more injury slowing me down. Several more Magillas charged me but I cut them all down, or electrocuted them. Two of them I pinned to the walls with spikes of ice, another I freed the demon's soul with a blast of green light.

Magic swirled around me in a visible aura nearly the same color as my eyes, with a push I lifted into the air and rocketed down the corridors in the pitch black, retracing my steps from where I'd been dragged days ago.

I came to a large box that worked as an elevator. Made from wrought iron and rusted, old blood stains splattered the walls, and it smelled like a closed down slaughter house. As soon as I approached the doors slid shut and locked. I blasted a whole through it without slowing and flew inside. There were no buttons and it refused to move so I made a hole in the top and jumped up. I stared up into the seemingly endless gloom and squinted. On the very edge of what my night vision would allow, I saw a dim outline that marked the floor above me.

I had to get up three more levels to get to where Hermione was being held. I grit my teeth, flying makes the body run hot, you exude magic like an exhaust, all over, using it for to long could cause you to overheat. I had little choice, I had to get to her. I pushed out and poured on the speed as fast as I could, the trip to Hermione's floor took nearly ten minutes. I was pouring the sweat by the time I tore the doors off. I'm not surprised that there's a small army of Magillas waiting for me.

I landed, steam poured off me in rolls, I raised my hands and released a torrent of fiendfyre. The dozen or so guards screeched as their flesh melted from their bones, their physical bodies being constructs, most of them evaporated into nothingness, or crumbled to dust.

The alarm was blaring louder now. I don't know if it was because I'd managed to get several levels up from the bottom, of if it was just louder the closer I got to the top, but it made my head pound. I'd spent days in the dark and silence, slowly building my magic enough to escape, now my senses paid the price of that deprivation. I reached out with my magic and felt for Hermione. Her energy was still strong, if not hurt and scared. I sent out a tendril of my magic and wrapped her's in it, holding it tight like a hug from a loved one. She was close now, it wouldn't be long.

I raced down the corridors, less dark and gloomy than my own lightless cell, but no more hospitable. A few murky torches hung from the walls, spewing oily smoke that clogged the air in inky darkness. There were more people on this floor, and I hoped that I could help free them, their screams and wails tore into me like a starved wolf into a stag, but I had to get Hermione out first.

I rounded another corner and there was a cell, set in wrought iron and slabs of rusted metal forming a door, through the cracks I spied a hunched figure, silent and shivering. The four Magillas guarding her didn't stand a chance. My metal hand ripped one completely in half and I burned two more. The last had its head removed with a deft jerk of my magic.

I reached out and 'grabbed' the door with two invisible tendrils of force and separated it from the wall with a vicious tug. She sat watching me from inside. She hadn't moved when I appeared and killed her guards, nor when I removed the door. I prayed to all the gods I knew that she was alright. Her eyes were wild, a noticeable tick hung around one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows. I almost wept right there, but I had to get us out, had to get everyone out that I could.

"I'm sorry I'm late, I was held up by a few things." She jerked when she heard my voice and tears weld up in her eyes.

"Go away, I can't do this again."

I felt my heart drop into the pit of my stomach, I knew it, she blamed me for this mess. She'd rather sit here in the dark than let me take her out of here.

"You're not Harry, I won't fall for it again! Every day you come, whisper sweet things to me, promise me we're leaving, and then you fade away. I won't get my hopes up again! I won't! So just leave, tell Him to go fuck himself for all I care!"

She closed her eyes and buried her face in her hands, sobbing quietly. I'd never wanted to kill Him more than I did right now. "Hermione, love." I reached out and touched her, she stirred at that. "I'm so sorry, but it's really me this time. I was just now able to get away, I'd have come sooner, if only I could have." I cursed myself; I'd never forgive myself for taking so long, what I had thought had been days might have been weeks, I'd lost all track of time in the darkness.

I squeezed her shoulder gently, trying to get her to look at me, at my touch she finally did. Her eyes widened at my appearance, wearing only a pair of ragged pants, smeared in dirt and dried blood. Cuts and burns over my body, and a wrist burned black, the only thing holding on my metal hand being magic itself.

"Is it really you? You look real, you feel real, none of the others… he couldn't touch me." Hoped peaked out from behind her eyes, and her face softened slightly before she sniffed and buried herself in my chest, sobbing. I couldn't hold back the tears that broke free and trailed down to land in her hair.

"I'm so sorry it took me so long, I was at the bottom, trapped in the darkness. How long have we been here? I thought only a few days had passed."

She held tight to me for a few moments more before pulling away, only enough to look me in the eye. "I'm not sure, I believe a month at least, but probably longer."

He chest tightened up at that. A month? It's a wonder my eyes still worked at all. "Oh Harry, it was awful, everyday he'd send something that looked like you, telling me he was here to rescue me, only to disappear before we reached the doors. I haven't seen him since that first day, but his apes are always around, they took turns with a whip most of the time. My food had been poisoned too, terrible dreams and hallucinations." She shivered and buried herself against me again.

"My only comfort being that at least homunculus don't crave carnal satisfaction. I'm sorry Harry, but if one of them had touched me like that I'd have killed myself." I remembered the grotesque ape monsters, naked except for the hair. The experience would have killed her before she'd have had a chance to do it herself, probably the only reason they hadn't.

I held her tight and squeezed her as hard as I dared. "Lets go love, we need to get out of here. I don't know how many levels there are in this place, but Daniel is two above us. I won't to try to get as many people out as we can. At the least we can open the doors from them."

She nodded but then stopped short. "I Don't have my wand Harry. My of my guards had it, they taunted me with it." I nodded and felt out with my senses, feeling for a smaller piece of Hermione's unique signature. There in one of the ash piles, lay her wand, untouched by the destruction of the homunculus. I fished it out of the pile and dusted it off before handing it back to her. Holding onto it seemed to give her some of her strength back. She looked at me and her eyes hardened.

"Lets get the hell out of here Harry." I couldn't agree with her more.

To be continued…

Okay guys, sorry about the time this took, especially considering the length, but it was either cut it off here, or make it three times as long, and that would probably take two more months before I could get it out, so I figured a little is better than nothing.

Cheers and happy holidays!

-Harkon.

16. Out of the Pit Part 2

Alright everyone, let's see how far we can go down the rabbit hole today. This story has had its darker moments, and Its lighter ones, I think I mentioned last chapter that the happy go lucky days are probably behind our plucky heroes. But let's see what happens.

Chapter 16: There Comes a Time…

My ears are ringing, the taste of ash in my mouth, greased with sweat and hacking from the dust in the air. Hermione has a death grip on my living hand. Electricity crackles across my metal hand, held in front of me, partially lighting the way, and partially to fry anything else that jumps out to surprise us.

It took less than five minutes after getting Hermione to run into trouble. The alarm I'd set off when I escaped was more than just an annoying sound. When we left Hermione's cell, we found an armada of magillas waiting for us. Wraiths, twisted incorporeal spirits stood behind them, waiting and taunting us. From what I knew, that were distant cousins of dementors. I hadn't met one of those creatures in several lifetimes, I hoped they were extinct.

Despite the long exposure to torture, Mione was proving to be as tenacious as ever. We didn't even have to slow down at that first volley. Fire burned the gorilla monsters, and a liberal application of banishments took care of the wraiths. There could be described as terrifying, but they had no real physical form and weighed very little, a strong blast of wind could blow them back, and they could be banished or exercised, like a poltergeist.

The elevator was still inoperable when we reached it, I didn't believe that it would activate again, not until we left this place. The smell of burned flesh and human waste was nauseating, the air flowing up and down was heavy and rank and would take the breath right from your lungs. I grabbed Hermione, and held her close. I pushed my magic outward and lifted off the ground. I felt lightheaded instantly, not that she weighed much but the added weight made me wobble. We rose up, as fast as we could. It took much longer this time to reach the next level, and then the one passed it. I nearly dropped when we landed. Hermione staggered as we landed and grabbed me under the arm, hoisting me up. "Come on wonder boy, I can't drag you around all day." She grunted and fed me a bit of her own magic, enough to keep me standing.

"Cut me some slack, been a while since I've eaten." I felt a bit better but pulled my hand away from her, cutting off the supply of energy. "You've barely had any more than me, conserve your energy, I'll be fine."

We had to find Daniel. I stretched out my senses as far as I could and just barely got a ping far off in the distance. That didn't make much sense. "There has to be some kind of size distortion in this place. When I was in my cell I could sense both you and Daniel. Now that we're on his floor I can barely feel him at all."

Hermione frowned. "Its not from being weak? Maybe you can't feel him because you can barely stand."

I shook my head. "No, sensing magic doesn't actually drain your own. Its just a sense you have to sharpen, like your hearing." She looked intrigued for a moment, even in this hell hole she wanted to learn. " We'll just have to track him down, He's around a mile away, in that direction." I pointed down the hallway, so dark we couldn't see more than ten feet in front of us.

I saw her tense. "Right then, stay here, and stay silent. I'll go and fetch him and be right back." I leapt to my feet, my fatigue forgotten.

"Absolutely not. I just got you back, I'm not losing you again. We… we just have to change our approach, that's all. No more running and gunning."

I pooled a smidge of my magic, the little I could afford to spend at the moment, and rapped Hermione on top of the head. She shimmered and faded from view. I swear I almost saw a light bulb go off on top of her head.

"Brilliant, why didn't I think of that? You really should stop to think about things sometimes Harry." She wrapped me on top of the head and I felt the sensation of an egg breaking over my head. I checked myself and saw that I was little more than a shimmer.

"Thanks love. Now lets me quiet, and try to find our friend."

2.

Just because they couldn't find us, didn't mean that they'd stopped looking. Everywhere we went we ran into marching patrols of Magillas, Wraiths, or other horrors of this pit, things that I don't have words to describe, crawling along in the dirt, leaving trails of mucus and blood, sniffing the air for us. How anyone could smell a thing beyond all the rot was me.

Without much thought on the matter, the two of us shifted into our animal forms, the charm held, and we could move much faster and silently like this. It seemed we walked for several hours amongst the twisting corridors, I was able to snatch a meal of stale bread and some sort of musky tasting meat, but I didn't care, I needed the energy.

"This place is insane Harry, I've never seen anything like it. No place like this existed when he was known as Voldemort, was there?" We were taking a break, hunkered down in the confines of dank alleyway. What I had at first thought was merely a prison, now seemed to be something akin to a city. I was still getting a reading that Daniel was on this level, but we didn't seem to be getting any closer. Of course, we weren't exactly traveling in a straight line either.

"Not that I know of, this reeks of the old days, the labyrinth that Greek myths Spoke of? They were actually of his design. R'lyeh? That was him too. He's had fifty or sixty year to run amok in this world before I showed up. For some reason he always wakes up before I do. Probably because he usually dies first."

"But what lives down here? Why go to all this trouble? To make something this massive?

I shrugged. "You've seen what lives down here. This level is probably the quarters for the people that patrol the prison. I'd say that this may be where he spends most of his time. He revels in the suffering of others, this place is home to him. Don't let his appearance or mannerism fool you, he has a silver tongue, but more often than not it's coated in filth."

I hoped Hermione wouldn't ask why Daniel was being held on this level instead of in the prison proper. I didn't want to answer her, He always went after what he saw as the weakest link first.

I didn't want to waste any more time. As one the two of us stood and reapplied out charms, before shifting back into wolves. The increase to our senses made it hard to bare, but the stealth advantage was worth it. We moved out of a narrow alleyway and into something that looked like a rusted out factory from the early industrial age. With the door shut behind us, some of the smell was cut off, but not completely. A few old lights flickered over head and I started to wonder exactly how old this facility might have actually. Did Tom create this place from scratch? Or did he simply add what he wanted to something that was already here?

It was quiet for now, I don't know if they thought we'd managed to escape or not, but we weren't going anywhere without Daniel. I could feel my strength returning slowly, and I had to wonder if Tom was nearby. I couldn't feel him, but that meant little in a place like this, with distance distorted so severely here, it through my sense askew.

We padded around the building for a while, mapping the exits, trying to find the fastest route out when I came across a room littered with papers. Curious, I shifted back and took a look. As I suspected it looked like this building was an old missile silo of some kind. Designs for rockets, expansion plans, a few old government documents. Something caught my eye. A glimmer of hope tickled my senses. Hermione came into the room, looking confused and walking on two legs. I quickly stowed the designs in a pocket and turned back to her with a smile, best to save something good for later.

"Come on love, I'm feeling much better, let's go get our friend." As toxic as it had the potential to be for me, I drew energy from m surroundings and used it to rejuvenate myself. A giddy sense of euphoria flooded my veins, a side effect of all the dark magic in the air.

Hermione looked at me in concern. "Should you have done that Harry? That didn't look very healthy." She lifted an eyebrow at me and I suddenly feel like a teenager caught with a pack of smokes in my room.

"Don't worry, I can fix it." I concentrated and pushed at the darkness, it bubbled on my skin and concentrated in my hand, before dripping away like sludge.

The energy remained but most of the taint fled. I felt much better, and stronger. I look at Hermione with a grin. "You've got to teach me how to do that Harry."

"When we've the time sweetheart." I pooled fire in my hand. "Lets go."

3.

Hours passed and we were drawing closer. A tall tower stood before us, reaching up to scrape the ceiling of this place. Daniel was inside, and still alive from the feel of it. With the energy I managed to pull from my surroundings, just enough to keep my going, and just enough that I could control it, I had the power to cut a swath through this hell hole. Hermione ran beside me, most of her wounds healed with a spell. A darkness glinted in her eyes that wasn't there before, and I felt like weeping. He'd done this to her, and he'd pay severely.

With the dark energy I'd harvested from this foul place, and the hatred he'd ignited in me, we would make short work of this place. I was done hiding for now and turned human again, Hermione followed my example.

"Burn it all to the ground. Set this place ablaze, let's leave nothing but ashes." She looked resolute and a little scared. We summoned fiendfyre and let it loose in the dark city. Then we stormed the tower.

Monsters of every kind spewed out the bottom, chimeras, inferi, a few undead trolls. More of the Magillas and wraiths fled out behind them. We burned them all. I let lose the flood gates, I'd restored just enough of my strength to release the stopper on my primordial magic, that deep ancient power that could level cities with a thought, or regrow a burned forest, depending on the mood. I grasped Hermione's hand as we walked forward and allowed her to channel some of my power. Ever wizard, every witch, has this deep within them, most just never have to reach down far enough to scratch it. Her eyes little up with a honey colored glow, a distinct contrast to viridian of my own.

I am a force to be reckoned with, when I'm rested and have full access to my power. Even at just the trickle I'm able to allow right now, there are few things that can truly stop me. With Hermione channeling some of my power, the small army of vile things before us didn't stand much of a chance. I've always found it funny how those beasts that have crawled out of the pit of hell seem to burn the hottest.

Within just a few moments they were so much ash in the wind. Hermione started to put out the fire but I held out a hand. "Let it burn. We'll be long gone before it reaches another level. This place has no right to exist." She just nodded her head, eyes hardened.

We made our way into the tower; the walls glowed with burned ambers. The stairs were short work for us. Each floor was protected via a ward that got progressively harder the farther up we went. Due to the fiendfyre we'd released into the lower parts of the building, the were mostly destroyed or severely weakened. It didn't take much to bring them down. Another alarm rang out throughout the burning city, but I believed most of the threats on this level had been dealt with.

We found him at the very top. Stripped down to his underwear and suspended of the ground from shackles attached at the wrists and ankles, Daniel had seen better days. Thick burns and half healed cut littered his body, one of his eyes was swollen shut, so badly I couldn't tell if he'd ever be able to see out of it again. We wasn't conscious, either trying to sleep in that agony or nearly in a coma from all the damage.

Hermione looked horrified, they might have tried to starve me to death, and beat her every other day, but neither one of us had been forced through this humiliation. I don't know why he was the one picked. Perhaps they thought he was the weakest link out of the three of us.

"Let's get him down." As gently as we could we released the shackles and caught him before he crashed to the ground. He moaned and his one good eye squinted open. I figured he'd be delirious, and wouldn't know who we were at first, but he smiled, revealing a few missing teeth.

"What… took you guys so… long?" My heart went out to him, I hadn't even realized how long we'd been captured, hidden away it total darkness and silence for a month.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Damn Harry, you've lost weight." I glanced down at myself and winced. What little body fat I'd had when we'd entered this place was gone, my muscles stood out in sharp contrast, and my ribs were visible. Thank god for magic or I'd look like a concentration camp prisoner.

I pumped magic into him and saw him shiver, his one visible eye lighting up. I took on his hands in my own and it was deathly cold. "Can you feel that?" The limb wasn't blue or dark, hopefully they hadn't had him strung up this entire time.

He winced. "Pins and needles. In my feet too. They'd string my up for a few hours a day and have a go at me. They never got anything out of me. Mostly seemed awfully curious as to how you got here." He smiled and gestured toward Hermione.

She frowned. "I'm sorry they put you through this, especially over me." He waved her off.

"Don't be, assholes didn't get anything out of me. Not that I know that much anyway."

I conjured him a pair of pants and a shirt and transfigured him some shoes out of the refuse in the room. He smiled and thanked me before gingerly shrugging them on. He started wiggling his fingers and toes before pulling on the boots and standing on wobbly legs.

"Thanks for the little boost, it usually takes a few hours for me to get the feeling back in my hands and feet." I just nod and give him a little push, seeing how steady he is. He wobbles a bit but shoves me back. The man had a resilient spirit.

"Okay, how the hell are we getting out of here?" Hermione and I share a look. It took hours to get this deep into this 'city' for lack of a better word. Neither one of us were looking forward to retracing our steps. I noticed that the top of the tower nearly touched the ceiling of this floor before we entered the tower. I figured I'd leave it up to Daniel, he was in the worst shape of the three of us.

"We can do one of two things. Apparition is out, we're in a space distorted area. Outside of this area we might be only ten feet below the ground, you try to leave a space like this magically and you could end up in a wall, or in the dirt, or explode into a billion bits. We can either back track the way Hermione and I came, which took several hours in our animal forms, and reach the elevator shaft. From there it would be easier to zoom up to the top. Or we, can blow a hole in the ceiling and move up to the next level that way. I'm hoping after we get out of here, that the rest of the complex is more like the prison Hermione and I were held in. This floor seemed to be the most heavily enchanted."

He didn't have to take long to think about it. "Let's make us a hole."

4.

The idea was simple. Take a piece of junk, cover it in explosive ruins, charge it up, and stick it to the ceiling with a charm. Simple, in theory.

Hermione wanted to be in charge of the ruins. I'm good at blowing stuff up, but I've never been known for my subtly, so she takes over from there. Daniel and I find a big chunk of rusted out metal and get I clean with a few scouring spells. He's a little rusty, but luckily enough his wand was kept in the same room they were torturing him in and didn't get burned up with fiendfyre. We hand it over the Hermione and she starts carving. It's a thing of beauty to see her work. She's fast, hands moving like lightning. I alternated between watching her and keeping an eye on the city, it slowly filled with smoke.

"Okay, so how do we get up there after we blow the hole?"

I smirk at him. "You're going to learn how to jump really well." I instruct him to channel his magic into his legs, instead of his wand, and to release it as he pushes off. What he doesn't know is that this will help his muscles recover quicker from the atrophy.

Within an hour our make shift explosion was ready. An hour's rest did some good for all of our magical reserves. Daniel had been using his to stay alive even if he hadn't realized it. I charged the magical dynamite and gently floated it up to the ceiling. A sticking charm later and it was attached.

"Would you like to do the honors love?"

Hermione smiled at me and without a word sent an underpowered blasting hex at the chunk of metal. One thing I have to say about Hermione, she usually knows what the hell she's doing. The explosion was massive, but concentrated. The ceiling was vaporized upward, leaving a neat, eight foot by eight foot hole.

I look at my two friends. "Let's get out of here."

Alright guys, there we go, not as long as usual, but I'm still adjusting. Next chapter ought to be more on par with what's normal.

Hope you enjoyed, read and review,

-Harkon.

17. The Cost of Freedom

I've got no excuses, just wanted to go ahead and lay that down on the table. I've recently finished a full length novel, and that took up a lot of my time. Had a fire really lit underneath me on it and had to finish before the embers started to cool. On top of that having two kids and working two jobs takes a lot of time out of my schedule. That being said, I appreciate all those that have stuck with me. I'm going to attempt to get back into a decent update schedule again, no promises, but like I said, I'm not abandoning either of my stories.

Here we go.

Chapter 17: The cost of Freedom.

It felt like we'd been down here forever and a day. The three of us have been wondering around in the darkness gradually making our way upward, always heading for the surface. The things that He has locked up in here will fuel nightmares for years to come. I'd known that he'd always had a fascination in summoning demons, he'd been doing so a long time now, but the beasts he had trapped down here simply bordered on insanity. He had his power stretched out so thin, concentrated on keeping so many aberrations locked away… it was no wonder he'd enslaved an entire town for power.

We were only a few levels from the top now, I could feel the surface; the energy of plants and animals were nearly singing to my senses. And still no sign of the Lycans. I feared the worst. What if he'd somehow managed to confuse my senses? They felt like they were just above us, but they'd felt like that for some time now. Hermione and Daniel told me not to worry, that with how this place was designed, it was completely possible that some sort of space distortion was still in effect, disrupting how I interpreted the world around me. I hoped they were right.

"Okay, so we're nearly back to the elevator now, We've managed to weave our way back to where it was over the last few levels. If we can manage to get the doors open we'll be able to get out of here much faster." Hermione was concentrating, focused on some sort of mental map her eidetic memory had built of this place. How she managed to do it I'll never know, but I'm not complaining. Somehow she'd overlayed the different floors over each other and could deduce roughly where we were based on where we'd been already.

"So we'll head up until your senses line up and you can feel were your wolf buddies are Harry. Then we snag them and hi tail it out of here, sound good?" Despite being tortured on and off for nearly a month, Daniel had a grin on his face. It was nearly infectious.

"I hope its as simple as you two make it out to be. I've had enough of Tom's 'fun dungeon' to last me the next five lifetimes." They said nothing but I sensed they agreed with me completely.

We passed another cell, the farther up we got in this insane prison the farther apart they grew from each other. While my level had cells all around me, we'd walk the length of a soccer field now before seeing another one. The bars glowed softly in the gloom, a distinct contrast to the filth and rust that covered the place otherwise. They seemed to be enchanted and made of iron. I peered inside and felt my heart go out to what I found inside. A fae, Curled up into the fetal position, with her eyes closed. I felt myself stopping at the sight of her, even pressed for time I needed to stop. Skin the color of moonlight, with bright silvery-blue hair, and the sharp ears that tapered into points. She appeared to be a young girl, but you could never tell with their kind. Smudges of dirt and grime covered her otherwise shimmering body, and the dress she wore, once white and glimmering, hung off her small frame and was torn to shreds.

I felt tears prick my eyes and Hermione came to my side and took my living hand in her own. "The poor thing, how long do you think He's had her locked up down here?"

"I don't know, but she's of the winter court, I don't know how He could have possibly done this, Mauve would have never allowed it. And for all his strength, I know he can't tangle with the likes of the winter queen."

Daniel seemed confused by the conversation, but saddened by the little girl none the less. "Is there anything we can do for her? To get her out?"

I didn't know, but I would find out. I reached out with my metallic hand and touched the bars. They glowed brighter briefly, but didn't react otherwise. "charmed iron, designed specifically to hold her kind. I'd thought the art of enchanting this was lost, but it seems He must have been able to recreate it." I hadn't seen metal like this since a thousand years before the founding of Hogwarts. The little fae didn't stir at the sound of our voices, she'd probably slipped deep inside herself to hide from the horrors of this place.

The thing about this kind of metal was that it was only designed to hold fae, it was little more than a normal cell for a regular mortal. "You two keep watch for me please, this won't take long. We haven't had any visitors in a while now, and all that means is that they're bound to show up at any moment." Hermione and Daniel nodded and paced a bit away to either side of me. They'd let me know if trouble was coming.

"Okay little one, lets get you out of there." I placed both of my hands on the bars and began draining the energy from them. It was invigorating, drawing energy to fill up my reserves, and it was mostly untainted as well. Double win for me. The process took no more than a few moments. Due to the nature of the enchantment, it didn't require much power to maintain, once it was established there was nothing a fae could do against it. The light from the bars faded away and with a pull I hefted to door and set it gently to the side. I stretched my senses out into the cell and detected another defense. A ring of runes surrounded the little girl, keeping her from moving very far at all. It didn't take long for me to drain the power out of those either. Before long nothing was holding her in place.

I approached carefully, mindful of the fact that she might attack me out of fear at any moment. I tentatively reached out and placed a hand on one of her small shoulders and gave her a slight push. Eyes the color of sapphires shot open at the barest touch. She sat bolt upright and stared at me in confusion and fear. I held up both hands, showing her I meant to harm. "I destroyed the ring and the door holding you here. We were prisoners as well and couldn't leave you in this dark place. You should be able to return to your people now."

A deep wildness was in her eyes, and power so much of it bubbling just out of sight, and hidden behind that tiny frame. After a few moments of silence she seemed to relax slightly and nodded at me, smiling sadly. "Thank you, Azrael. Or do you prefer Harry Potter? My people owe you a debt now, how ever many of us are left." My voice caught in my throat. The way she said my name, reminded me of a certain blonde haired Ravenclaw I'd known from lifetimes ago. I always figured Luna had a little fae in her.

"It was no trouble, now I suggest you leave, you can reenter your realm from here, but I must keep going forward, there are more friends trapped here." She hesitated for a moment before nodding.

"I am too weak to assist you, but give me some time, and call on me again if you need me. But be warned, this world is dying, and the fae kingdom is receding farther from it, trying to escape the damage by drifting farther away. The day will come when I won't be able to return to this plain." I nodded, expecting something like that. With the veins of the world collapsing, at a faster and faster rate, I would have been more surprised if they weren't trying to escape.

"Go now, before the beast that trapped you returns. I still have work to do here." With a final nod, the fae faded from sight in a swirl of ice and snow. A sigh escaped my lips. I turned away from the empty cell. I felt heavier, suddenly the wariness in my bones seemed to weigh me down more than usual, aches and pains I'd been ignoring crept up on me, dragging down my reserves. My metallic hand itched terribly and cracked bones, frayed tendons snarled at me to take a break. But I could not. With a shake of my head, and the liberal application of legilimancy I pushed most of it to the back of my mind, hiding it in a little corner of consciousness.

Hermione and Daniel met me at the door. The two of them peered inside, confusion danced across Daniel's expression, but Hermione understood. "Returned to her own realm then?"

I nodded and turned to our uneducated friend. "She was a being from another plain of existence. But now the winter fae owe us a substantial favor. Hopefully we'll live long enough to cash it in."

2.

We'd finally made it back. The doors to the elevator stood before us, like the gates of Hades. We'd had no interference for some time now. Either the three of us had managed to kill everything down here, or they were waiting up above. Not that it mattered now, we had to escape. I wedged the fingers of my metallic hand in the crack of the door, intent on forcing it open, when the doors slid apart on their own violation, and the elevator waited inside. It hummed slightly, power had returned to it. I glanced at Hermione.

"I don't like this Harry. They've got something up there waiting on us."

"I don't either, but what choice do we have? We'll just have to keep on our toes, play things by ear. Are you two ready?"

I got hesitant nods, but there was nothing to be done about it. The three of us boarded the elevator. It began to rise by itself, heading for the surface. It rumbled and creaked, for a moment I thought it would simply collapse and plummet us back down into the depths of hell. With one more grinding squeal, the behemoth stopped back at the top of the prison and the doors hissed open. We were on the same level as the Lycans now, which confused me. I had assumed they'd been trapped near the surface, but now it seemed that they were on the surface.

A hollow feeling filled my chest as we made our way out of the elevator and headed for the front door, which happened to be cracked open. I knew what we would find before we ever went through it. The sun dazzled all three of us. After a month of near total darkness, the constant stink of rot and filth, those first few rays of light, and that first gulp of clean air felt like a true blessing. Then our eyes landed on the scene in front of us.

Out of all the Lycans that had come with us, perhaps thirty still lived. They were bound and gagged, on their knees, with one of His followers standing guard behind each one. I felt ice flood my veins and deep majik, primordial and untameable, roared in my chest. It demanded to be let lose, to judge those before it, and find them lacking. I felt the power well up inside of me, my eyes burned with viridian power, when a voice cut through it all.

"Now now, Azrael. You do that, you tap into that madness resting inside you and I'll end them all." The beast within me snarled and roared, not caring, knowing that he'd simply kill them all anyway, like he always did.

"You'll end them all regardless, what difference does it make?" I felt Hermione stiffen beside me, before her own power began to resonate, she couldn't deny the truth in my words, as much as she wanted to. "How many times have we done this? How many times has I stood opposite you, a group of victims between us? Its always the same, you promise to give them up, if I surrender. But you are a demon of lies Abaddon. I learned that lesson long ago."

"Ah, but the world is different now." A light smile adorned his face. Any injury he'd received during out fight had long since healed. The afternoon sun shined on his skin, the mask he wore to hide the ugliness beneath. Much of the town had been rebuilt, but dust still clung to the air from the previous destruction. It swirled around us and pooled at our feet. I saw the Lycans tense, dreading the end that was about to come. They looked tired, broken. Wearing the clothes of slaves and bound with silver chains. "There are so few people left, even these mutants could be useful to me. If you turn yourself over to me, your companions can leave, and I will spare the dogs their lives. I'll even make a better promise. I will do what I can to reverse the damage done to the earth. I really have changed Azrael. I know the world is dying, I'm trying to stop it, or at least slow it down. Why do you think I'm hoarding so much power? Its to give the world a chance to keep living."

"Don't do it Harry, he wants to save the world, but at what cost? I remember what he did to my village. He killed every person I ever knew or loved." Daniel had tears in his eyes at the sight of the beast before us. "He deserves everything that's coming to him!" My young friend, the only Malfoy I ever liked, jumped forward with his wand in his hands. He spoke two words, incantations designed to cause death. A beam of bright green light leapt from the end of his wand and barreled right toward the self proclaimed dark lord. I expected him to move out of the way, or at the least summon a Lycan to take the blow for him, but he just kept standing there, an easy smile on his face.

When the light was mere feet in front of him, it appeared. A hulking monstrosity, the hybrid of man and lovecraftian horror, the Abomination had returned. The green light glanced off the beast, barely causing it to twitch. The world slowed down as it leapt toward him. My limbs felt like they were encased in granite, I could barely move. He held some sort of spell on me, slowing me down. I grit my teeth and pushed against it with all my might. I felt a little speed return to the world, but it was too late. The Abomination was on him within a second. I watched in horror as Daniel had his chest ripped open, and his insides split open like an overly ripe pumpkin, his intestines spilled out in the dirt, the pain too great to even wrestle a scream from his throat. It bit down on his neck, intent on tearing off his head with its needle like teeth, when my magic broke loose.

Frustration and rage gave way, I became one with the energy that made up my being in a way that I had only scratched at before. A boom of energy broke whatever spell held me, and I launched myself at the hell beast. Distantly I heard Hermione scream my name before she began firing spells at our enemies, but it didn't matter, I wanted to kill, and I would not be denied. My muscles made stronger, my body denser from magic, I slammed myself into the Abomination with the force of a rampaging rhinoceros. The sound of our impact caused nearby windows to implode as I sent it sprawling in the dirt. Blades of light sprang from my hands and a deep green glow swirled around me, concentrating into a form of energy based armor.

I gave it no chance to recover. I leapt on its back, and buried those blades of pure magic into its flesh. The smell of burned meat and ozone filled the air as the superheated magic burst forth from the beast's chest, burning two, fist sized holes clean through it. It snarled and gagged on its own blackened blood. Hermione screamed for me to move and I obliged. I jumped backwards and flipped over before landing in a crouch. Within seconds a putrid yellow light collided with the Abomination, gouging a deep wound across its back. It collapsed to the ground gurgling in its own blood and barely moving. I gave Hermione a sharp look. "Exorcise it, the strongest magic you know, use it now while its down."

She merely nodded as I turned to face Him. He was furious, the spell intended for me had wounded his own beast, making it vulnerable for that much longer. I had no idea if exercising it would truly work, but at this point it was worth a shot. Some of the Lycans had been executed already, but His thralls were acting on their own accord and seemed disorganized. I batted away a spell with on of the blades encasing my hands and used the other to hoist the thirty or so slaves into the air with my magic, before snapping their necks and letting their corpses fall to the ground, finally free of His influence.

The Lycans that could made a run for it, none of them intent on helping the man that had lead to their imprisonment, I couldn't blame them, I'd have left too in their position. A few of them remained, too sick or weak to move. I back peddled away from Him, knocking away spells left and right, or dodging those that seemed too powerful. I could feel my magic burning through me, hot and fast. I didn't know how long I could hold onto this level of power before it burned itself out.

Thinking as fast as I could, I apparated behind Him and sliced at him from point blank range. He spun and conjured a blade of dark metal and attempted to deflected the blow. It was only partially successful. The blades of energy cut a deep gorge in the metal and I was able to bat it aside and lash out at his face. He stumbled, holding onto the burning wound I'd carved over one of his eyes and nearly fell. I leaned in closer, intent on finishing him off before he disappeared in a crack of displaced air. I roared in anger and searched for him, intent on finishing him off now that I'd wounded him, but he was no where in sight.

I peered over at Hermione, she was pouring as much magic into her spells as she could. The beast was frozen in place and surrounded with the blue-white light of exorcism magic, but it wasn't fading. I strode over to it as quickly as I could. "Just hold it still a little longer Hermione." She nodded at me, sweat beading against her brow. I felt my magic slipping, the green armor made of light flickered in and out of existence but I forced it to stay for just a bit longer. I strode into the light of the spell, paying it no mind since I myself wasn't a demon, and knelt over the Abomination. It looked up at me with hate filled eyes, its wounds nearly healed.

It still could not move, held in place by my love's magic. I pooled my own into the palms of my hands, allowing the blades to fade away and joining the swirling mass of energy, If I gave it everything I had, I could erase it from existence, here and now. I raised my arms above my head, and prepared to drop it on the beast from point blank range.

At the last second, I saw it twitch, before a twisted smile tore its face. "Not today Azrael." It voice, that of Abaddon's run through a meat grinder, faded as it vanished in a vortex of dark light, called back to its master before I could deliver the final blow. I froze as Hermione's spell instantly broke with nothing to focus on. The energy in my hands had reached critical mass, but no longer had a target. Carefully mindful of my anger, I drew as much of it as I could back into myself before letting it fly off into the sky where it detonated with the force of a nuclear bomb, miles above us. A scream tore from my lips as pure frustration and anger filled me.

I pounded my fists onto the ground, causing it to shake as the last of my primordial energy faded, slinking off back inside me to lick its wounds. I felt drained, from the loss and anger, from my enemy and its dog slipping through my fingers, running like cowards when they were beaten. I collapsed into a heap and rolled over onto my back, tears threatening to break lose from the despair that filled me. Within a moment or two, I felt a hand, soft and trembling from exhaustion intertwine with my own.

"I'm so sorry Harry, I couldn't hold it any longer." I shook my head and pulled her close.

"You did wonderfully. I'm sorry I let my anger get the best of me. It was my fault, I should have been faster, should have been stronger." She stretched out next to me and laid her head on my chest, where I could feel tears falling.

"Pour Daniel." I had felt the young man's life force slip away only moments after he'd been attacked. There was nothing either one of us could do for him. "He reminded me of Ron so much. It was almost like the three of us were together again. But that's not fair to him. I think he was kinder than Ron was, gentler as well."

I just sighed and nuzzled myself into her wavy chestnut hair, not even caring how filthy it was. "At least its over for him, he can rest now. We still have work to do." I felt her slump next to me, and she allowed me to pick her up and hold her tight. "We've got them on the ropes now. He's lost his power base, all he has now is a wounded dog. I think we can beat him Hermione."

"There's only one problem Harry, how are we going to find him?" I hugged her tight, she was exhausted, just as I was, and wanted nothing more than to fall asleep with me. I couldn't fault her. Slowly an idea crept into my mind. There was only one place I could think of that had enough power, enough magic built up over thousands of years, to allow me to stretch my senses out far enough that I could find them, no matter where they were.

"We're going to Hogwarts. Lets hope the ward stones are intact. If they are, I can draw power from them, enough to pin point their location from anywhere on earth. If the stones still stand, they'll have thousands of years of energy stored inside them. We can use it to find them." The plan was reckless, even for me to draw that much power inside myself could kill me. Its why I'd never done it before, and I didn't know for sure that it would work.

But the world was dying, and we had precious little time to come up with a plan to fix that. Abaddon had to be eliminated first, before we could save what was left of the human race. Hermione sat up in my arms a bit and looked at me. "Will that work? I know its possible to store energy in a ward stone for use later, but on something that's been absorbing that much magic for that long? How will you do it without it tearing you to pieces?"

"We'll figure that out later love, after we figure out if its still standing or not. Otherwise we'll have to start the search all over again from scratch, and I don't think the earth has that kind of time anymore." She was quite for a moment before nodding her head and resting against me again, before finally drifting off to sleep. She would need it, we would be very busy soon enough.

3.

The next few days weighed heavily on both of us. When he fled the town, Tom severed the links he held with his thralls. Their life force fled them, being drawn across great distances to find their master and join with him. The husks left behind quickly passed, crumbled to ash. The Lycans, so utterly defeated, had fled before I had a chance to speak to any of them, to apologize for what had happened. Nine out of every ten of them had died, either during the battle, or from the constant torture afterward. I made a promise before Hermione woke that one day I'd find them again, and tell them how sorry I was.

Hermione and I buried Daniel on the edge of a forest, deep enough that nothing would disturb him. In a bit of magic that took my breath away, Hermione took our fallen comrade's wand, and using something so obscure I'd never heard of it, transformed it into a tree sapling that we planted over our friend. One day it would spring into a great oak, perfect for wand making.

With that dark business taken care of, the two of us prepared to leave for Hogwarts, or what was left of it. "I returned once, a life ago. Just to see what might still be there."

"Did you find anything?" We were less then a mile from where we'd buried our friend. The two of us had returned to the wagon earlier to find it missing. After a month it must have been found, probably destroyed. So instead of taking it like we'd planned, we were going to be apparating, with Hermione borrowing some of my magic to make the trip.

"Not much honestly, bits of the library, parts of the great hall were left. The greenhouses had over grown and hundreds of different plants covered the entire grounds and quidditch pitch. Besides that not much. I don't know if there's anything salvageable anyway, that was a very long time ago now." Old memories danced at the edge of my mind. Hogwarts couldn't survive the ravages of time, only thing that ever seemed to was me.

"We'll just have to try our luck, otherwise we'll have to look for him the old fashioned way, and that would take ages." She shrugged into a worn pack that we'd managed to scrounge from the town. Both of us had one, and we'd filled them with as much food as we could manage. I didn't know what we would find at Hogwarts, but I doubt there'd be any friendly house elves there with a hot meal waiting for us.

After casting around a final look at this place, Hermione placed her hand on my shoulder and I let a bit of my power leak out and fill her up. She closed her eyes and sighed at the warmth before the two of us disappeared with the crack of displaced air.

AN:

Well, that's it for now, I thought about making it extra long, since I'd been gone so long, but then I figured it would feel strange with shorter chapters all throughout and then a real long one there at the end.

Expect this story to get one more update before I go back and start working on A Different War again.

-Harkon

18. Going Home

Okay everybody, just recently moved into a house that's actually big enough for my family, and finally got the internet cut back on, so here we go.

Chapter 18: Going Home

The once pristine grounds have vanished, swallowed up by the forbidden forest. The open land is covered in wild plants, some of them had once belonged in the greenhouses. Trees have sprung up everywhere. The only way I can tell where the grounds once were is that the trees are younger. Its a beautiful and lonely site, and hits Hermione hard.

"Its all gone, everything..." tears come to her eyes and I wrap my arms around her and comfort her as best I could. Hogwarts had been her second home for the better part of a decade, I could understand her sadness.

"I know, but do you feel it?"

She quiets down, and closes her eyes. She stays like this for some time before they spring open again. "The castle, the heart stone is still here. Still tied into the leylines."

I nodded my head and pointed off into the distance. "See that? There's a tower, still standing." She follows my finger and finds it. Part of Hogwarts is standing, defiantly poking above the canopy of the forbidden forest.

"Come on, lets go see what we can see." The two of us heft our packs and set out on foot. The forest is beautiful and haunting. It was old when the castle was built, its positively ancient now. Far off in the distance I can spy magical trees, originally planted for wand wood. After so many years being left alone in the forest some of them are taller than Hogwarts in its prime.

We take our time, navigating the twisting terrain. Huge tree roots, like the veins of a giant throbbing against the skin of the earth. Fallen leaves from a thousand autumns crunch beneath our feet as we come out into a small clearing. I squint and can see some ancient brick poking out in places. I turn to Hermione and smile. "We're standing in the middle of the courtyard."

A sad smile crossed her face and she adjusted her pack. "I noticed." a distant look enters her eyes. I imagine she's seeing it as it once was, students bustling about, warm stone beneath her feet. With a sigh she turns to me. "You said something about the library still standing?"

I wince at the question. "Some of the library, a small part. And that was… over four hundred years ago. My last life. We can go see, but don't expect much love, I'm sorry." She nodded and followed me. I helped build this castle and could walk it in my sleep. That being said, we hunted for nearly an hour before we found it. Rowena had loved her books, and had layered hundred of preservative charms over the entire room throughout her life. Some of them seem to have made it to this day.

It was hard to miss, after we found it. One of the things that had failed at some point were the expansion charms that made the room bigger on the inside than out. So a massive room on the back side of the remaining tower had sprung into existence one day in the distant past. It must have been crazy to see, several old trees had been in the way, and the walls had huge holes torn straight through them from where they rushed outward. One side was leaning and half of the ceiling was collapsed.

"Be careful please, this place is one strong breeze from falling over." She just nodded, looking white as a ghost. Slowly, the two of us walked in. The doors had somehow survived, and appeared fossilized, rough and hard to the touch. Hermione lights her wand as we step inside and gasps.

Hundreds of books cover the floors. "Oh my..." She flicks her wand and the light pops lose and floats off near the ceiling. The back half of the room is lost, what books are there are rotten and would crumble to dust if we touched them, but a large area of the restricted section, buried under several more preservative charms, is mostly intact. At a guess, I'd say half of the twenty five thousand books are ruined, another third are badly damaged. There's more here than I thought. Hermione wastes no time. She dumps her pack and places several charms over it to make it bottomless and featherlight, then she begins loading it up. I watch for a few moments, thoroughly amused by this beautiful woman's devotion to knowledge, before I start to help her.

The process takes us around an hour, levitating groups of books, unruffling them and cleaning them, before depositing them within Hermione's expanded back pack. I don't know what she wanted to do with them, maybe she simply wanted to preserve the knowledge, but I had an idea. We took a moment to relax after we finished, something about Hogwarts was peaceful, I don't know if it was the thousands of years of magic built up in one place, but it had always felt like home. I'm sure having a hand in building it helped facilitate that, in myself at any rate.

"I wish we could go back." The statement slipped out and into the air, barely louder than the flap of a butterfly's wings. I looked down at Hermione, she was leaning against my chest as both of us sat on the floor, and gave her a sad smile.

"I'm so sorry, you didn't ask for any of this, torn from your own time. If I could send you back I would."

She shook her head. "No, I'd want you there with me."

I heard the chuckle escape my without thought. "I would be there Mione, remember? I'm not a time traveler. Just extremely old." She sat up suddenly and turned to face me, wrapping her legs around my waist, we sat there nearly nose to nose. The proximity brought a goofy grin to my face. She kissed me then, igniting an old flame, deep within me that ached for her.

She pulled back, far to soon in my opinion, and looked into my eyes, and cupped my face with one hand, a soft, sad smile lit her face. "That Harry isn't really you, he's an amazing young man, but he was only a piece of the real you. The rest was sleeping." She grinned suddenly. "I'm so glad I got to meet all of you, and got to know you all over again. Even though your eyes are far to old for the rest of you." I snorted at that.

Spending a month without food, in complete darkness had aged me somewhat. A bit of grey had found itself into my hair, I'd developed a wrinkle or two, and added a few extra scars to the collection. My metal hand itched at that thought.

"I am old. I'll be older soon enough." I leaned forward and kissed her square on the mouth, illicit a small squeal of surprise and happiness, that fire started building again. This one lasted quite a bit longer than the last and when I pulled back I saw the distinct signs of desire flickering in Hermione's eyes. I smirked at her and she had the decency to blush. "Lets both be young, for a while anyway." She smiled nervously but grinned big and pulled my closer to herself. I closed my eyes as we laid down within the ruins of the Hogwarts library, and the two of us forgot our worries, at least for a little while.

2.

I awoke some time the next day to the sound of bird song. A warm bundle lay curled next to me, naked and wrapped in a conjured blanket. I smiled and rubbed her back idly for a moment, watching as she stretched like a contented cat and sighed, never fully waking. After a while I slowly slid out and stood. I placed extra cushioning and comfort charms around her, the floor wasn't the best place to sleep and searched around for my clothes. I laughed softly at the sight of my pants, the zipper and button of the jeans had been torn in the haste of a certain bookworm. I shook my head, still laughing and with a wiggle of my fingers repaired and cleaned them before pulling them on. The shirt was in a similar state of disrepair, but nothing that I couldn't fix.

After getting dressed I dug around in my pack and started a simple breakfast. A few eggs and some cured ham. Magic was damn useful when it came to things like setting up a functioning kitchen in the middle of the wilderness. The smell of food roused Hermione and she shuffled over to me, wrapped in nothing but the blanket I'd made the day before and plonked down next to me. She blinked like an owl and yawned before stretching, hair a complete mess. I reached over and plucked a leaf from her mass of curls and smiled at her as she blushed again. With a few flicks of her wand everything was more or less back in order, not that it mattered, she was beautiful either way.

"Good morning love, how did you sleep?"

She yawned again. "Like a rock, yourself?"

I smiled. "The same." I flipped the eggs, managed to not break the yoke, and pulled the meat off the pan. The steam that rose off it smelled delicious and made my mouth water. I could live another thousand lifetimes and I'd still love the smell of bacon. "Hungry?" She simply nodded as the sound of our stomachs growling entered the conversation uninvited. I pulled off the eggs and loaded up a plate, an old chipped thing, before handing it to her with a conjured fork.

"Thank you Harry." She grinned at me and tucked in.

"No worries love." I pulled my own to me and we ate in companionable silence. At some point Hermione's blanket slipped down low, revealing a lot a smooth skin, I may have forgot to tell her, on purpose.

Not that it seemed to matter. She gave me a coy smile after eating and stood, letting the blanket fall to the floor, before searching around for her clothes. She took an exceptionally long time to find them. Not that I minded at all.

We were being lazy this morning, and that would never do. We had things that we still had to accomplish. I sighed as I checked my mental list of tasks I had to complete before the world ended. It was a hell of a lot of stuff.

"Right then, lets go and see about finding the ward stones. The area is so heavily saturated in magic that it might be a bit tricky. But if I remember correctly, we should be able to triangulate its position, by figuring out where all this magic is radiating from."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "If we walk around the outskirts of this place, and get a good feel of the boundaries, we'll be able to pin point the center." She grinned at me. "Have I ever told her how nice it is to see you reach your intellectual potential?"

I laughed and shrugged. "Years of practice, I'm not smart, simply experienced."

"Sometimes that's better." I grinned and took her hand in mine before dragging her along.

"Lets go for a walk, see what we can feel." The two of us made a reasonably straight line as we headed back toward the outskirts of the wards. Without an actual castle tied to it, the ward line had become warped, curving inward and outward in a strange warbling bubble. If it was visible I'm sure it would be quite strange to look at.

It was slow going, but the saturated magic was so overwhelming that we never lost the edge. To someone untrained in its detection, ward magic felt only mildly strange, like the prickling on the back of your neck when you think someone is watching you, but in a comforting, big brother sort of way. In the past muggles had described it as something akin to static electricity. I always thought it odd that muggles could feel magic like that when they couldn't actually use it. I had a theory, back in the day, that there wasn't any such thing as muggles, just those that had a harder time accessing magic, that it was locked away in some people, and unlocked in others, and with the right application that magic could be woken up. Maybe I'd try to start that research again, after I saved this dying world and killed a madman. A snort escaped me at the thought.

All in all, it took us nearly three hours to make one complete loop around the ward line. We'd picked around a dozen points and marked them as we went. "Okay, that's done, now, lets connect the dots and see what happens." Hermione did the honors. With an overly complicated twisting motion from her wand, she had lines of color jumping and crossing all over the place. Instead of passing through objects the lines jumped up, and down, raced around trees before straightening back out along the correct path. "Show off." She stuck her tongue out at me but smiled.

We watched as the lines crawled along the ground and after several minutes they converged in a single spot. Bingo. I turned to Hermione, "Shall we?"

She simply nodded and we were off. The walk didn't take very long, all we had to do was follow the lines. A fifteen minute hike later and we stood at the spot where all the line had joined. Oddly enough it was at the base of the one remaining tower of the school. "I suppose the ambient magic kept it standing." I nodded along with Hermione's explanation. With a bit of magic the two of us went to work. The ward stones were buried deep, directly within the leylines that once ran beneath the castle. It took nearly an hour of digging to uncover to massive slab of stone, and another to carefully lift it out of its resting place. Hermione gasped at the stone once it was fully out of the ground, I grinned.

"There's so many runes, how was this ever covered?"

"It took Rowena seven years, seven months, seven days, seven minutes, and seven seconds to complete it. She went a little overboard in my opinion, working tirelessly for days at a time. You should have seen how lost she looked when she finally finished. It took her months to get back to normal after spending nearly a decade carving this thing, but that just goes to show you how powerful it is, its still standing, and has been drawing magic into itself for thousands of years.

She tentatively reached out to touch it, but stopped just short, and searched my eyes for permission. "Go ahead, it won't hurt you, its designed to protect, not harm." She placed a hand on the surface and her hair began to float around her and wave in an invisible wind.

"Its very warm, and humming."

"Yes, I imagine it is. If we left it here like this, I believe it would take thousands of more years for all the energy to bleed off." I ran a hand over the soft stone and sighed at the energy leaked into me, easing my aches and pains, and soothing the itch in my missing hand. "This should do nicely. I've never wanted to do this before, always leaving it, just in case. But with the world dying, I'm afraid I'll never get a chance to use it otherwise."

She turned and looked at me. "What exactly are you going to do with it?"

I gave a dry chuckle. "We are going to use it like a giant battery. With all that energy, there should be more than enough to boost our power significantly, more than enough to get rid of Him once and for all. In fact I dare say there should be some left over." I patted the stone like an old friend and turned back toward Hermione. "Come on, we've got a very complicated ritual to complete." She reluctantly removed her hand and followed me.

"What kind of ritual are we doing exactly? There are a few I've heard of that can transfer energy from one thing to another, one of those I suppose?"

"You just rhymed, and yes, that's the idea, in essence anyway. I'm going to need that beautiful brain of yours, because we've got to modify this ritual, in several different ways."

We walked out into the wood a little ways and found a place where the trees were a tad bit thinner. With the slice of a hand, I severed several trees and set them to the side as Hermione pulled the stumps up from the earth. The two of us cleaned away the grass and plants with fire before banishing the ashes. When we were finished we were standing in a near perfect circle several meters across. "This is where it gets tricky. We've got to modify a ritual designed to pull power from a leyline into a person to increase their power. Instead of further damaging the line and speeding up the death of the planet, we're going to use the ward stone. And instead of putting it all in one person, we're going to put it into two, specifically the two of us." She grew still after a moment.

"That's rather dark magic Harry." I nodded.

"Yes, traditionally it is, because it hurts the Earth, this ritual won't, because we're pulling thousands of years worth of ambient magic out of a rock."

She nodded, "I understand, I'd use dark magic if we had to anyway, to get rid of him, and his pet monster."

"I know, I've had to do it before, I still carry the stains from it, lifetimes later, but this shouldn't hurt us like that."

"Its going to be painful though isn't it? Pushing that much energy into ourselves?" I nodded and pulled her into a hug.

"Yes, and I'm sorry, you don't have to go through with it if you don't want to, I'll do it, but I won't be able to draw on all the energy, it would kill me, of that I have no doubt."

Hermione snorted, "It might kill us anyway, this is the ward stone of Hogwarts we're talking about. This plan is right up your alley, you know?"

I quirked an eyebrow at her. "How so?"

"Dangerous, crazy, and stupid, but it'll probably work anyway."

I laughed at that, deep down from my belly, and kissed her. "That's all I've ever had to work with I'm afraid, but you'll be there this time, so of course it'll work."

She merely sighed and rolled her eyes. "Alright, give me the arthmancy to the ritual, I've got some tinkering to do."

"That's my Mione." I kissed her one last time, and conjured some paper and a pen, this was going to take some time.

3.

We spent two more days at Hogwarts, I'm surprised she got it done so soon. Hermione must have checked her equations a dozen times before she was sufficiently satisfied that she wouldn't kill us both.

"Okay, so we can't use a six sided star like the original ritual calls for, we're going to need a twelve sided, symmetrical star with two parallel foci for this to be successful, three foci if you include the stone itself." I nodded along, like I knew what she was talking about. Don't get me wrong, I'm powerful, and I know a great deal, but most of that is from experience. It would have taken me the better part of a year to figure out what she'd done it two days.

"You're so hot when you talk nerd." That earned me a blush and a smack upside the back of my head. Well worth it. "Let's get this rolling then, I'm afraid we don't have a lot of time left." I honestly didn't know if the planet would make it a century, a decade, or a week. I only knew I had to get rid of Him before it happened. Whatever happened to the world after it ended, It would be better without Him running amok. Besides, if my plans worked out, I didn't want him to be around to terrorize the survivors.

The creation of the star, and the rest of the rituals formalities took most of the day, and it was nightfall before we were finished. Both of us were wound tight from all of the intricate work, and were anxious to get this over with.

The two of us sat in our designated circle, devoid of clothes, in front of us, to my right and Hermione's left, sat the massive ward stone. We'd created the star around the stone, instead of moving it from the center, wanting to make it as accurate as we could. The stone glowed softly, sensing that it was about to give up its life for us. It felt extremely old, the oldest thing I'd ever felt, other than myself, and tired, like it was ready to set down a great burden. I could relate in some ways. I glanced at Hermione and smiled, in some ways at least.

"You ready?"

She took a shaky breath and blew it out slowly before closing her eyes. "As ready as I'll ever be." I smiled even though she couldn't see it.

"Just remember to breath." And with that I began the ritual. The thing about this kind of magic that most wizards and witches didn't understand, was that its more instinctual than anything else. This is magic as it used to be done, primal, basic, almost barbaric in some ways. You didn't need a bunch of fancy words in Latin, you didn't need a funny looking dance, or choreographed chanting. All you had to do was talk to the magic. I saw my first ritual during my second life as a boy. They hadn't been invented during my first life, but by my second humans had been using magic for a few centuries, and had kinda figured a few things out. An old shaman had sat in a circle, and had simply asked magic to heal a young man that had been injured in battle. I remember watching fascinated as the spear tip broke off in his side slowly slid out, and the wound sealed itself. By today's standards, it was pretty basic stuff, but it was awesome in its own right.

So I started talking to the magic of the ward stone, coaxing out what I needed. It was a slow processes, and before things really got started my legs had went numb. I encouraged Hermione to start talking to the stone, give it the respect it deserved. She blushed, probably feeling foolish, but did it anyway. Once she started in the fireworks really started. Two tendrils of a brilliant orange light lifted up out of the rock, I watched as they set off and bounced around our little bubble, bouncing off the twelve points of the star in opposite directions, picking up speed as they went. When both lights found they're last point, they raced toward us.

The change was instant. Light filled my world, I couldn't see anything but this strange burning power as it filled me up, setting every nerve ending I had on fire, I gasped at the pain but didn't cry out, I don't think I could have if I'd wanted to, I was locked in place, unable to move. The light grew brighter, and began to pulse, the sensation akin to bolts of adrenaline coursing through me. I felt the magic fill me up and flare outward in my body. Muscle that had wasted away from my imprisonment filled back out, aches and pains, some that I'd been carrying for years now vanished and filled with an intense heat before leaving the muscles, tendons, and bones feeling brand new. My metal hand itched terribly at the stump before stopping all together. Sensation returned to the limb with an intense heat. I didn't know if the hand had grown back or not, but I had true feeling again there.

My mind sped up, thought processes doubled, then tripled, and my senses seemed to stretch out of my body, my hearing and sense of smell grew stronger. Finally, my extra sense, the one that let me see how magic flowed in the world exploded outward. It encompassed the entire planet within a matter of seconds, I could feel where He was instantly, and his mad dog with him. Then it shot outwards, encompassing first the solar system, and then even farther. I was pushing outward as I pulled in more energy, casting my senses farther and farther out, trying to find something. Knowing this would by the one time I had enough energy to do so. It took forty light years of searching before I found what I was looking for, but it was there, and a huge sense of relief flooded me. The position was marked, noted for later, as my senses rushed back inward fast enough to elicit a gasp from me.

The magic was waning now, growing weaker as Hermione and I sapped it of its reserves, and then finally, after what felt like hours, but had only been minutes, the flow of energy stopped, and the light faded. We sat there, breathing hard, twitching, steam curled from out bodies. I looked down at my hand in surprise and mild confusion. It was gleaming and dark, like a piece of pure obsidian. It was just as articulate as a real hand, and felt warm to the touch, and I could feel with it, even better than I could with my real hand. I looked over at Hermione and smiled at her, she grinned back.

Her hair was in perfect order, skin unblemished and the bit of curve she'd lost in that dark place came back, she looked stronger than I think I've ever seen her.

"Wow, Harry, lets not do that again."

I laughed and was surprised that it didn't hurt after everything we'd just put our bodies through. I stood and stretched, noting that my legs weren't even numb anymore, before offering Hermione a hand up, she felt especially warm to the touch, and seemed to be buzzing with energy.

"It was pretty intense wasn't it?" She simply nodded and with a wave of her hand, both of us were dressed in brand new cloths made of dark, soft leather with brass fasteners and sturdy boots.

"That was easier than anything I've ever done with a wand." I grinned at her.

"Pretty cool huh?" I took her hand in mine and we walked toward toe cooling ward stone. I placed a hand on it, feeling the warmth deep down in the stone. "There's still some energy left in there, but we took over two thirds of it. Did you feel them? When your senses exploded, could you find them?" She nodded.

"Seemed to be in Albania, for some reason."

I nodded. "He's always liked that place. I've long suspected that's where, he's from, originally I mean." She didn't say anything, simply squeezed my hand and a look of determination entered her eyes.

"Lets go get the bastard."

I squeezed her hand back. "Yes, lets."

End.

There you lot go, not sure how much longer this story is going to be honestly, I'm kinda writing by the seat of pants so to speak, but we're not done just yet. Read and Review if you think its worth the trouble, and you lot have a good day.

-Harkon.

19. The Beginning of the End

I'll keep this short everybody, we've only got a few chapters left, and before I start on the sequel I think I'm going to try to finish A Different War, the poor thing hasn't been getting the attention it needs, so I'll at least work on it for a while before continuing on with the second one.

On with the story

Chapter 19: Beginning of the End.

It was dark when we arrived. Twilight glowed around us, like the soft hum of some ancient beast, the forest was filled with alien bird song, and the chirps of endless insects. The moon was full and fat, hanging low in the sky, its face grinning down at us like a mad man. It was chilly this time of year, and our breath bloomed in front of us, small puffs of smoke and faded into the gloom. I could feel him, even from this far away, the power of the ward stone flowing through my veins had increased my powers by several magnitudes. It had changed me into something beyond that of an ordinary wizard.

Hermione stood next to me, the very energy of her glowing with the power of a small sun. She still insisted that I was the more powerful out of the two of us, and that might have been true, if only for all the experience I'd gathered over my many lives. In terms of raw power, the distance between us was little more than the brightness of a single candle, held up between two suns. "I can feel him Harry, both of them. They're close now. Do you think they can feel us?"

I shrugged, I wasn't privy to His powers, not like I had been in the past. Our life force wasn't tied together this go around, so I couldn't see through his eyes. "If I had to guess, then yes. I'd say if he sat down and meditated, and stretched out his senses like I showed you how to, he could feel us. But just up and walking around? No, I don't think he or his monster could now." I still had a little twinge of worry in the back of my mind. Could I kill the Abomination now? Its powers always were mysterious to me, and dark. I'd fought it to a near stand still before, but it gained strength with every life it took. Perhaps it had managed to amass more by now, only time would tell.

"I wonder, does his pet sleep? Its not of this world, not originally, does it keep any of the characteristics of the being it came from?" Once again her mind astounded me, things popped in her head that I'd never thought about in a thousand life times.

"I wish I knew. A conjured demon does not sleep or eat, for it is not truly of this plain of existence. But its something else entirely, born of dark magics worse than any Horcrux." She shuttered at the name, no doubt remembering a year long hunt where both of us had been starving and scared witless. Ah if she only knew then what she knows now. "Even if it is, with his base of power destroyed, I imagine Abaddon has his dog on guard duty."

She stretched like a cat, her soft skin pulling against the vest of leather, enchanted armor created by her own hands, and sending my nerve endings on fire. I shook my head with a rueful smirk, knowing I had to focus. Our forms changed simultaneously, switching from two legs to four. Wolves still prowled the woods of Albania, and we would be much less suspicious this way. I didn't want to take anything to chance, we had to take him by surprise, give ourselves every possible advantage that we could. I'll be damned if he managed to sneak away from us again. I wasn't going to spend what little time this planet had left hunting him over and over again.

We padded softly in the under brush, weaving over and under fallen trees, through ferns nearly as tall as a full grown man. Radiation had done strange things to this planet's flora and fauna. Wherever he was holed up was still several miles off, and we wanted to be careful. He loved his traps and I wanted to have time to avoid any of them that we could. If we disabled them, he'd know someone was coming, but he couldn't set them so animals would set them off. They'd be triggering constantly, deep in a forest like this, and he'd be driven mad by the constant alerts.

Despite the sudden change in time, both of us were wired with energy. I doubt we'd ever have to sleep much again. Having that much raw power pumped through you changed you on a fundamental level. The energy might not have been ours originally, but it was now, and it would never fade. Our reserves and strength had been drastically changed in a fast manner. Even if I managed to magically exhaust myself, I would recharge back to what I am now, not to what I was just days again. Primordial magic bubbled beneath the surface of what I was. The previous channels I'd used to harness It had shifted. Where once there were trickling streams, now roaring rivers stood in their place.

I glanced at Hermione. I hoped this power boost doesn't run away with her. Having so much energy can make one cocky. I know its not in her nature, but I pinged a short message against her mental shields and watched as she received it. We fight them both together. She looked at me, a softness in the canine eyes and a slow nod made me feel immensely better. I woofed at her softly and we picked up the pace some.

The moon was steadily making its way across the sky casting strange, half shadows across the forest floor. I heard the hoot of an owl that I recognized, something deep and far away in the bowls of my memories was dredged up at the sound, some half remembered dream. I had Him pinpointed in my mind, still several miles off. It was surprisingly quiet and tranquil out here. Maybe that why he came out here. Even monsters need some peace and quiet sometimes.

The traps started two miles from his location. Passive wards designed to detect humans, muggle and wizard alike. We walked right through with no problems, apparently he was slipping in his old age, nothing set to detect an animagus. I shrugged at Hermione, the best I could with wolf shoulders at any rate, and we plodded on. It didn't take long before we started noticing more offensive traps. Like all the inferi wondering about. They were in some sort of passive state, they'd walk a little and then freeze, every once in a while a soft moan would escape their decaying lips, but nothing else really. A few undead trolls roamed about as well, they seemed a bit more agitated, but still weren't up to anything. One of them eyed us briefly before its face blanked out and it went back to shuffling around. Perfect, their behavior was tied to the wards, with no people, they had no orders to attack. I gave Hermione a wolfish grin and she rolled her eyes at me, but still seemed amused. Odd how being a wolf gives you the ability to read another's facial expressions as if they were human.

We moved on through the wood as the moon slowly moved across the night sky. The traps grew more aggressive as we went. A ward designed to tear out someone's eyes, then there was one that would cause someone to shit themselves to death. Never underestimate the bastard's sense of cruelty. Hermione shuttered in disgust as we approached the edge of a clearing. A perfect circle of cleared trees. Several bushes, growing magical ingredients dotted the field, and low, manicured grass covered every inch of it. I'd almost expect a white picket fence, if I didn't know better. Sitting in the very center, on a slightly raised hill, sat a wooden cottage, with a bit of smoke curling up from a stone chimney. You've got to be kidding me, wow. No light could be seen from the inside, I believe the fire had been extinguished some time ago, and the left over smoke was simply wafting upward. I detected both him and the Abomination within the confines of the cottage. Both of them nearly over lapping in their presence… wait. Revulsion flooded me, I knew he was vile but I never thought he could do such a thing. He never seemed to have much interest in sexual pursuits, it seemed that monsters were his preferred choice. Hermione saw the look on my face and I simply motioned toward the cottage with my snout. She was silent for a moment before her eyes widened in horror. I knew how she felt. At least they'd be distracted.

There was an additional detection ward around the perimeter of the clearing, but nothing where we were standing. We'd managed to bypass the worst traps simply by walking straight on in. I transformed, feeling bones, muscle and tendons painlessly rearrange themselves. My muzzle retracted and rearranged itself into a face, and hair reseeded. Hermione followed suit moments later. We looked at each other before I shook my head in disbelief.

"Before he couldn't even manage to control the damn thing, now he's figured out someway to fuck it. I don't know if I'm more disgusted or impressed."

"Disgusted." I nodded, unable to fully understand the unspeakable horrors I'm sure we'd find within that cottage. "Let's break this detection spell, and get on with it. There's a special seat in hell waiting for both of them."

I had the manic desire to make a joke but I crushed it ruthlessly. The two of us set to work, picking apart the weaved magic that held the ward together, with the boost in power the two of us had enjoyed, and our natural talent, it didn't take much time. We left one tendril left, the bit connected to him. It would slowly deteriorate and fade over the course of six hours, but for now he wouldn't have any idea we were here, not until it fell away. The two signatures hadn't moved since we'd gotten here, and didn't seem like they were going anywhere for the time being, so Hermione and I snuck up through the darkened lawn, getting closer to the cottage.

"I'm going to bring the whole building down on top of them." She nodded in understanding from next to me, with any luck I'd at least kill him if not his pet monster. I searched the cottage one last time for any sort of protection spells, and finding none, began. There's no chanting with primordial magic, just sheer force of will and dogged determination to do what you want, combined with a hefty amount of power. I felt it flood my veins with a fiery rush and grinned as I cleaved the sky in two. A tear opened just above the small house, I didn't know exactly where it came from, but it delivered what I wanted. A massive rock, an asteroid pulled from somewhere in the depths of space, fell through the hole. I watched in satisfaction as it crashed down on top of the small cottage, flattening it with a dull roar of splintering wood and shattered windows. I'd superheated it as it fell and was happy to see the wood burst into flames and the ground surrounding it become scorched to ash.

Next to me Hermione snorted. "Subtle Harry." We tensed, waiting to see what would happen. I had some vague hope that I'd managed to kill both of them as several moments passed, but my hope was in vein. The ground began to shake, Hermione and I turned ourselves invisible, and obscured our scent as the massive rock exploded outward with the force of a Hurricane. Floating in mid air, naked and covered in a dozen cuts and bruises, was Abaddon, my first and last enemy. His pet beast was no where to be seen, but I could still sense it.

He was angry, about as angry as I imagine he could be. He cast his eyes around himself, searching for the attacker, but wasn't able to see us. Having a rock land on his head must have rattled him terribly, it required focus and concentration to sense magical signatures and life force. My amusement was cut short, as a massive hand broke the ground in front of me and grabbed me by the leg. I let out a startled yelp as the arm broke the earth and dragged me across the ground, creating a trench behind it. I bounced tumbled, dug in my feet and tried to stop my momentum. Finally I was able to reach down with my metal hand and squeezed the monstrous arm that held me. I crushed the bone in the arm and it finally let go. I barely had enough time to roll out of the way as a mass of sickly yellow magic slammed into the ground where I once stood. Hermione ran up next to me and blocked two more spells, giving me enough time to jump to my feet and the two of us took off at a dead run. The Abomination tore up through the ground, its arm already healed. I sent a blasting curse at it to distract it and turned so that I could face both of them, the one on the ground and the other in the air. Hermione stopped at my side, and we both fanned out, making it hard to attack both of us at the same time. Her hands danced with magic, her wand forgotten and unneeded in a pack, safely at Hogwarts.

He had managed to conjure some hastily thrown together clothes while we'd been distracted. "This ends tonight." I nodded to Hermione and she created the largest anti apparition and anti portkey wards I'd ever felt. Several miles in circumference. She didn't even seem winded.

He snarled down at me, breathing hard like a wild animal before throwing back his head and laughing. "What makes you think this time is any different? We've been doing this since the dawn of time, and we'll be doing it until the end!"

He created a swirling vortex of heat and magma before lobbing it at us. Instead of moving or conjuring a shield, both Hermione and I slashed our hands at the same time, cutting the super heated glob into several pieces before reforming them and throwing them at the Abomination. The beast took the attack full on, becoming completely obscured by the attack. It had been attempting to sneak up on us while He ran his mouth. I hoped it burned away to nothingness.

"It doesn't matter, you win some, I win some. We just keep clawing our way out of the dirt and going back at it again." He wiped a strand of spittle from his lips. "You kill me now, I'll just rise again in a few generations. And you'll be right there to try to stop me again. What difference does it make?"

"You really don't understand do you? The Earth is dying. There won't be enough time for us to come back. Besides, I'm making sure you never come back again." With that Both Hermione and I raised ourselves into the air. It was a fairly simply trick if you knew it. If you can make a feather float, you can make yourself fly.

We spread out, Hermione flying in behind him, while I charged ahead. I created a small tornado, filled it with razor blades and doused the whole thing in acid and poison before sending it spinning through the air toward him. He twisted, trying to blow it off course, but he was caught in the arm and he sent his own attack in retaliation. As his arm was torn to shreds, I weaved and spun in the air, growing closer to him, trying to dodge the hundreds of obsidian, foot long spikes he'd sent at me. They were long, but thin enough to practically be invisible. One caught me in the metal hand and bounced off, another in my right shoulder. The pain was piercing and it bore a whole straight through without losing a drop of momentum. I grit my teeth, thankful that the wound was small enough to bleed very little, before sending a bolt of electricity back at him. Hermione attacked from behind, creating a horrifying collection of bulbous blobs with mouths and razor sharp teeth. They made a terrible screeching sound as they darted after him, trying to bite and grab hold where ever they could. The mouths were attached to a flesh colored blob, slick with mucous and writhing. He batted away most of them, but one grabbed ahold of his shredded arm and tore it off at the elbow, before devouring it greedily, growing in size to accommodate the ghastly meal. The lack of an arm didn't seem to slow him down any, he created a black hole and threw it at Hermione, barely missing her head by millimeters. It ate a large chunk out of her hair before she was able to dispel it. I was nearly to him when he sent a dark blade of magic toward her, catching her in the shoulder, cutting to the bone. I flinched, knowing how much that hurt, as I collided with him. My hands had been out in front of me a battering ram of swirling magic led the way as it slammed into him going nearly a hundred miles an hours, he went flying and the battering ram detached from me, before growing teeth and twisting in on itself, biting into him and holding him close, robbing him from the ability to lift his one remaining arm.

Hermione was aggressively healing her arm before closing the small, tunneled wound in my shoulder.

"That hurt."

"Yes, being chopped down to the bone usually does." We smiled at each other for a moment before rounding on Him. He was flailing, struggling to break loose, but the strange maul made of magic wouldn't let him go, I compelled it to tighten further, sinking its ethereal, misshapen teeth deeper into him.

He snarled at us, nothing but a construct of pure hatred. "You'll never win. I'll be back."

"No, you won't. I've got something special for you. You see, there's this place-" My words were cut off as both Hermione and I were slammed faced down in the dirt by burning arms. The Abomination. It managed to stomp on my back once before Hermione blasted it away with a spell. Apparently it saw me as a bigger threat and hadn't followed up with attacking her. I rolled over, tasting blood in my mouth and stood. He was still struggling to escape my magical construct so I turned to face his pet monster. It had struggled to its feet, the smell of burnt meat wafted in the air, making me disgusted and strangely hungry at the same time.

Flesh had burned away revealing bone in places and its movements were jerky at best. But it was still powerful, still deadly. "You can not stop us Raziel. My master will not be destroyed." Something in its body snapped back into place and it stepped much more fluidly. I turned and hit Him with the strongest stunning spell I could manage. I had on good authority it would stop a charging elephant. Hermione and I shared a look and nodded.

We rushed forward, cutting off in either direction before bombarding the beast with magic on either side. It roared, covering its body with its arms as acid ate at it, fire burned it, ice froze it. Two dozen different spells from either one of us. When we stopped, its upper body resembled blackened hamburger, but it refused to die. It roared in anger and a keening sound entered the air.

Spikes grew from its arms and shoulders, a mass of wiggling tentacles split its jaw and spilled from its mouth. Several of the growths along its arms exploded outward and shot at us like homing missiles. I conjured a shield and narrowed my eyes as the spikes simply passed straight through. Hermione pushed the both of us out of the way at the last second. And conjured a metal shield, blocking three more.

"Thanks love."

"Don't mention it, not like you haven't saved me a dozen times in the last year." I shrugged, I wasn't keeping count.

The spikes grew tiny spindly legs like a spider and started crawling after us. They might pass through shields, but fire still burned them. We rolled apart to avoid another wave of them, it was keeping us distracted while it healed itself. I Let primordial magic flow through me and conjured hurricane force winds, using it to pick up the beast and fling it far into the air. Hermione peppered it with slicing and blasting curses. It came back down in pieces. I was breathing hard but for the most part whole and unhurt. I can't believe we did it.

I stalked toward the monster and blasted one of its detached arms, burning it to ash. Hermione got one of its legs. We were nearly on top of it when everything went wrong. With a inhuman scream its skin split open and acid shot out in all directions. I had no time to cast a shield, but a thousand life time's of reflexes didn't fail me. I jumped sideways, arms outspread, and blocked the spray from reaching Hermione. I screamed as it ate through my protective clothes and into my chest and arms. A splatter of it reached my face, burning thin, deep streaks across my left cheek and temple and up to my forehead. My eye was blessedly spared from the assault. It didn't eat all the way to the bone but it was a close thing. I fell to my knees, weak from the pain and shaking. Hermione was at my side instantly.

"Of all the stupid things! Why Harry?! Please speak to me!" She was frantic, and crying. I held up one wary arm.

"Be fine, just pain. Can handle it." I lifted my head, noticing that some of the acid must have gotten on my neck as well as the pain was extreme, everything felt raw. "Sorry I'm ugly now."

She almost laughed before crying anew. "You'll never be ugly to me my love." I smiled, it turned into a grimace, and that hurt my face even more. I looked over to the Abomination and froze, it was gone.

I straightened up, ignoring the swirling in my head. I looked frantically as Hermione cast numbing and healing spells on my face and chest I thanked her quietly, still looking. I felt it nearby and honed in on its signature, It was almost to Him. I took off at a run, before taking to the air. Hermione was right behind me.

I saw it as we approached. The thing was truly ghastly. Out of the stumps grew spider like appendages that were dragging the Abomination toward its master. He awoke when it was within a few feet of him. I poured on the speed, but it reached out and touched its master before we could get close enough. A blinding flash of light rocked the entire clearing, sending both Hermione and I off course. We landed on the ground roughly, I flinched as the pain in my chest flared briefly. I covered Hermione as she continued to try to heal me. I moved my face, at least my nose and ears had been spared. Perhaps it wasn't as bad as it had felt. The light was slowly receding and I reached up to gingerly touch my face. Four or so tracks had been carved into my face, narrow but deep. They started near my hair line, some went over my eye, while two more came down around my temple and ended just above my jawline. They were painful, but not particularly wide. Almost like I'd been swiped by a large animal. I could live with it at any rate, it wasn't a life threatening injury.

"It's healing, slowly, but your chest it going to scar terribly, your shoulders too." She slumped, clearly upset on my behalf.

"Its okay, you're alive, that's all that matters to me." We stood and turned to face the light and it finally faded away, revealing one figure standing there. We tensed, ready to fight.

The thing smiled at us. It seemed to be an odd combination of Abaddon and the Abomination. His face, but the monster's molted skin patterns. It was bigger than Him, but more streamlined than the monster had been, less misshapen. Twin spikes shot from its palms, forming ugly, organic swords. "Its so nice to be whole again."

Something clicked in my mind with those words. A moment of dawning horror rocked through me, suddenly it made sense, how he'd been able to control to beast so easily, where in the past he had failed. It had been a Horcrux, and now it had returned to its master, and brought along its strength.

To Be Continued.

Well, there you go guys, round one done. Did anyone have any suspicions over the Horcrux? I tried to make it pretty subtle.

Not much left in this fic, few more chapters to go, read, review, let me know what you think.

-Harkon.

20. The End of the End

Okay everybody, welcome to the last chapter of Future of Ruin. I want to apologize real quick for how long its taken to get this out, I've been sick recently and that didn't help matters, but its here now.

Chapter 20: The End of the End

Its amazing how things can go from so right, to so wrong in the blink of an eye. I felt the combined strength of those two monstrosities blend together, and then grow, and continue to grow. Is this what happens when two demons combine strength? What true horrors exist beyond the borders of this dying world? If an abomination is the most powerful thing a wizard can summon, are there things out there beyond that?

I felt Hermione grab my hand and tighten her grip hard enough to hurt, my chest and shoulder throbbed with the pain of slowly knitting tissue, the results of stepping in front of a splash of acid. I waved my metal hand and used my magic to pull my battered armor back together. There was only one thing we could do against a power like this. "I need you to get started love. I'll keep him at bay until you're ready." I tapped my temple with my metal hand. "Let me know when you're finished."

She had tears bubbling up at the corner of her eyes. We didn't have time to argue, or find another way. Our contingency plan was the only thing that would help now. "I can't let you fight him on your own. He'll kill you! I won't lose you, I can't. We have too much to do."

I nodded. "You're right, we do. Come join the fight when you're finished. I know I can't keep you away, so I won't try. And I'll need your help. But I've been fighting him for longer than even your beautiful brain can comprehend. And I've learned a few tricks along the way. Got some real top tier shit saved up for this asshole." I pulled her in close and kissed her square on the mouth. "So hurry up, I like the limbs I got left and I don't want to give him enough time to pull the rest off." She nodded, ready to cry and laugh at the same time.

I waited as Hermione made off for the edge of the clearing, what was left of it, hopefully out of harms way. The creature in front of me didn't seem to have paid us much attention, too interested in its new form, its new power to be concerned with us just yet. It was time I reminded it what it was dealing with.

I disappeared silently in a whoosh of displaced air. I reappeared behind and above it, floating in mid air with primordial magic bubbling in my hands. I wasted no time in releasing it. Green beams of pure, burning energy left my hands and collided with the back of the beast once known as Tom Riddle. The Viridian wave exploded outward on contact and I had to shield my eyes from the blast. I felt his life force waver for a moment before surging forth again, possibly stronger than before. I snarled and released another blast of primordial magic, I felt the sky cloud over at the surge of power, lightning crackled around me as it started to pour fat drops of rain. My very magic was contorting the weather.

This time He was driven back, buried deep in the ground. I waited for the dust to settle and jumped as a blur shot out of the crater I'd just made. Something large and heavy slammed into me, accompanied by a flash of blinding light. I felt my nerves catch on fire as I was sent careening through the air. Smoke trailed my body as I crashed into the ground, digging a long trough through the dirt and rock. I pushed with my magic, digging in and slowing myself. Steam and smoke rose from my tattered clothes as I struggled to my feet.

I eyed my opponent, floating up above me and frowned. One arm hung loosely at his side, and blood seeped out multiple wounds, but he was stitching himself back together, slower than the abomination, but faster than I could. I leapt into the air and summoned a serpent made of fiendfyre with my metallic hand, and a storm of snow and ice with the other. The snow storm solidified into a golemn the size of a large giant. It roared, spitting ice in all directions before snatching a lighting bolt from the sky and charging at Him, swing the crackling energy like an axe.

The serpent spiraled through the air, heading high before crashing back down, swallowing Abaddon whole. The fire snake flicked its tail, sending a smoldering heap flying through the air, right toward the ice giant. With the swing of its lighting, my terrible creation slammed the beast into the ground, before stomping on it with several tons of pressure.

My eyes glowed viridian from the power that flowed through me, the concentration and energy required to summon and control these beasts was incredible, something that would have been out of my reach except for the power of the ward stone. Perhaps Hermione's preparation would be in vain, maybe we wouldn't need their help after all.

"Spoke too soon." A blast of lava, pulled from deep beneath the earth, rocketed upward and swallowed my giant, melting him away to nothing. I felt my serpent rear back in panic, an odd emotion to come from a fiendfyre construct, as the lava spun in midair, forming into the rough shape of a Japanese dragon. It swallowed my fyre whole and turned to face me. I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand on end at the sight of the monstrosity. It was beautiful and terrify, like the face of an ancient god.

But I had become something more, ancient in my own way, I wouldn't let this stop me, from stopping Him. I pulled my power into myself, and tunneled it in front of me, from shear force of will, I pumped enough energy to create a nuclear bomb into the space between myself and the beast, and then collapsed it in on itself. The power vacuum created a small back hole between us. It was small and unstable, ravenous for matter, desperate to grow before it collapsed in on itself. The dragon tried to turn, attempted to stop its course, but it was too large, and traveling too fast. The head was pulled inside, thinning out to a tiny stream as it was pulled apart into individual atoms. The body followed in quick succession. I held my breath, feeling the pull of the hole I'd created before ruthlessly slamming it shut before it could grow any larger. Such power was dangerous, left unchecked it could have grown large enough to swallow this dying world.

I took a deep breath, stretching my senses to try to detect His life force. I didn't feel anything at first, until it zoomed toward me, traveling at such speeds to be invisible to the naked eye. I had enough time to summon a blade in my hand and brace for impact before I was slammed into at mach V. The boom shattered my ear drums, making me deaf. I felt the blood slipping down my face as I hurtled backwards. I held onto my sword at tightly as I could with my flesh hand, the metal one was gripping the blade, holding it in front of me, keeping the insane power behind the attack at bay.

He'd changed again, his face growing more monstrous, a sickly grin split his misshapen head, revealing a forked tongue and needle like teeth. That tongue grazed against the side of my face and I felt my stomach churn as we zipped through the air. I poured more primordial magic into my very muscles and bones, giving the strength they lacked naturally. I pushed with all my might, feeling something in my back give under the insane strain, before I was able to push him away from me. I nearly lost consciousness at the sudden lack of pressure. I shook my head as my ears popped and I could hear again. My chest rose, my breath was shaky. My arms were raw from the wind friction.

I heard a dark crackling laughter from behind me, I spun fast enough to snap a normal man's neck, but didn't see anything. I noticed suddenly that we weren't over the clearing anymore, at some point we'd been pushed deep over the forest. I could feel his life force, below me, above me, all around me. He was moving too fast to see with my eyes, I had to rely on my other senses.

The gust of wind from his movement, the stench of him. I felt my heart rate lower as me perceptions sped up. Primordial magic flowed through me and I waited. Quicker than A strike of lighting, I stuck my blade out in front of me, and into the beast's side. It howled and snarled, I'd jabbed it just below the rib cage. I pushed hard and fast, driving the blade clean through til it poked through the other side. Thick black blood oozed from the wounds. It snarled at me.

"Clever, fast for a mortal." I pulled back out of its reach as it tried to swat at me with its clawed arms. I grabbed hold of it on the second pass and apparated us back to the clearing, I wasn't careful enough to prevent it from splinching either. Its opposite arm was missing from the shoulder down, payback for the lost hand.

"You'll never learn, every time you rise up, I will be there to stop you. No matter how long, or how many lives it takes, I will stop you."

It snarled, pulling back from me, holding the stump that was already starting to heal slowly. I held onto the sword, feeling a sense of sick satisfaction as it flinched from the blade pulling free.

"You don't understand Azrael. You will die with this planet, I will live on. I am truly immortal, you cannot return with no home to return to. The cosmos will birth you into existence on a dead world, unable to breath, unable to survive. You will die, the same death endlessly for the rest of eternity, and it will drive you mad, until you are no better than I."

"Shut up you ugly mother fucker." I threw a punch, backed up with ancient magic and watched as he was buried deep in the ground again. I felt bone tired, weak. My body ached, but I wasn't down yet. As I predicted he rose into the air once more, little worse for wear with a new arm as well. This one was different, pale and thin, the arm of a human. I wondered about that, but had little time to as He charged me once again, sword raised.

The two of us clashed in the rain, our blows drowning out the loudest cracks of thunder. Ever block, slash, nick and near miss came and went within the blink of an eye. A mortal standing on the sidelines would have missed the entire show, crediting it all to a particularly nasty storm. My energy, my power, drained a little more with every attack, every time I blocked a swing, or delivered one of my own, I felt my power fraying. If I could find a few precious moments to catch my breath things would be looking up, but no matter how quickly my power recharged, it was taking massive amounts to stop every attack. If I hadn't absorbed the ward stone, I would have been dead before we even started. I pushed and fought, pouring more energy outward, doing everything in my power to land a mortal blow, but no matter what I did He wouldn't die. Then I made a mistake.

I lunged forward, intent on burying my blade in His forehead, when he vanished from sight. I was too slow, moving as fast as I was, I couldn't turn in enough time to stop the next blow. I felt the dark blade pierce my skin, and bury itself deep inside me. The tip of the blade burst through, just below my sternum. I felt fire pool in the wound, sending bolts of agony through me with every tiny twitch of the blade. I held on to my power by a hair's width, not willing to die so soon. I tightened my grip on my sword, and drove it back behind me, into the head of the beast known as Abaddon. He snarled and choked in surprise as the blade buried itself deep within His rotted brain. I felt the grip he held on his sword loosen as he fell backward toward the earth. The blade slipped from within me in a jarring jolt, and I fell with him.

The two of us crashed to the ground like fallen titans, beaten and defeated. One of my lungs had been nicked, I felt it deflating as I lay in the mud, wheezing my last breaths. I turned my head and watched in satisfaction as the beast thrashed across the ground, in the middle of some sort of seizure. "I know that won't kill you, but I hope to hell it hurts like a bastard." I felt my hold on my magic slipping as it desperately attempted to heal me. The magic worked its way into the wound, pulling arteries closed, reconnecting muscle and tendons, but I don't think it would be fast enough this time. After all the fighting, I simply didn't have enough to finish the job before the wound killed me. Then I felt her.

"You are such an idiot Harry James Potter." Warm soft hands found their way to my chest, and I felt renewed energy course through me, boosting the healing process. I was dizzy from weakness, and I doubted I'd be able to stand, but I had to ask.

"He won't be distracted much longer… is it finished?"

She hesitated for only a moment, tears dripped silently down her rain slicked face before she nodded. "Just say the word, you're the one they owe a favor to." I nodded and tried to sit up as I felt the bleeding finally stop completely. The wound was still open, but not nearly as deep, and no longer tunneled straight through me. It was no longer life threatening. I've died so many times before, but this time I was actually afraid, afraid of leaving her behind. She would have had so much to do by herself.

I looked her in the eye. "I love you." She cried then, louder and hugged my gently.

"I love you too, you moron, what would I have done if I'd lost you?"

I shrugged. "You're Hermione, you're awesome, you'd have figured something out." I thought she was going to hit me, but she must have felt sorry for me, considering the near life threatening wound I was still recovering from. "Help me up love, I feel like I need to be on my feet for this next part. Got your fingers crossed? Good, I hope this works."

I scowled at the still thrashing monster, my sword buried halfway through his forehead. "Levitate the bastard into the circle love, It'll be a few more minutes before I'm useful again." She chose to ignore the jab I made at myself and levitated the twisting snarling demon into a containment circle she'd been constructing since our fight began. As soon as it was in the center, its arms and legs snapped outward, as if held taught with chains. The thrashing stopped and the ring glowed with power, straining to hold the beast in place. I grinned, it was working so far.

"Quick Harry, that's the strongest binding I could find, and it might last a few minutes, if we're lucky."

I nodded and took a deep breath, closing my eyes and letting my dwindling magic reach out into the void. "Iarraim ort, fae ghrianstad, teacht a íoc do chuid fiacha."

We waited with baited breath, my Gaelic was rusty, but I thought I'd got the phrasing close enough. I started to relax as the rain falling around us shifted, and became snow. A chill filled the air, and our breath became visible. I'd called someone from the winter court, I wonder who would answer?

Appearing within the blink of an eye, the little fae girl I'd rescued from Abaddon's prison appeared, in the soft flurry of snow. Sapphire eyes and hair so white it was almost blue, lithe frame, porcelain skin. She was clean now, and wore a dress as white as her hair.

"Hello Azrael, you've... changed since the last time we've met." She scrunched up her nose, like a child think hard about something, before they sprung open in surprise and darted between Hermione and me in rapid succession. Then she smiled. "My, you've both changed, you're a lot more like me than you were before. The future is going to be so much fun!" She laughed and spun around in a circle before skipping closer to us. Time with her own people seemed to have healed much of the damage He had inflicted on her.

She reached over and slightly touched the outline of the wound on my chest, it didn't hurt, it cooled and numbed the wound. "I'm not sure if even that would have truly killed you anymore. You two haven't yet realized what you've done. Tell me, what did you do with the ward stone? Was there energy left over?"

Hermione and I shared a look. "There was a bit left, at least of fourth of its original power. We have it, in a safe place." She nodded, smiling knowingly.

"I know what you plan to do, and I must say I approve, but I have to warn you, the fae know of where you are going, and we do not travel there. It is… not a safe place." She skipped over to Hermione and whispered something in her ear. I watched as my love's eyes lit up with shock, and possibility, before settling on excitement.

"That's possible?"

"Oh yes, it will take time, years even, but then, so will your journey. There's much sleeping in your future, Hermione Granger, sister of the Fae." I'd never heard that particular title given out before. It worried me a little, but not much. Mione looked at me and smiled, before winking.

"Now, I think I know what favor you wanted answered." She turned and glared at Abaddon, the innocent girl turning into something otherworldly, alien, but no less beautiful. "You have much to answer for."

My sword faded from his head and the binding circle dropped. I tensed, ready to continue fighting, even if I felt like death warmed over. But he didn't move, he couldn't move. It took me a moment to realize that the Fae had him, holding him in her power.

She looked at me then. "I cannot kill him, just as I could not truly kill you, he would return, in one form or another. But look at what he's done to himself. He's made this particular mortal shell practically ageless, and nearly limitless. So, instead of snuffing out his life again, just for it to return. I will take him with me, and make him my pet, for what he's done to me."

I blinked, and suddenly felt the slightest glimmer of pity for him. He had no idea what he was in for. "Very well then, I'd hoped for a permanent death, but this will work nicely."

She smiled at us then. "Who knows, maybe we'll even be able to reform him to an extent, scrub some of the evil out of him, even if it requires barbwire." She smiled at us a final time, "good luck, you're going to need it." With that she vanished, and took Him with her.

I blinked, the snow stopped, and the rain faded with it. The sun peeked out from behind the clouds.

I fell to my knees, suddenly feeling lost and confused, my heart hammered in my chest, so loudly it hurt. I don't know how long I sat there like that, before a pair of warm, comforting arms encircled me and pulled me close. I sniffed and realized I was crying.

"Shh, its over now." I turned my head and buried my face in Hermione's mass of curls, and wept, for all the dead, all the lost, and all the pain and sacrifice. It might have been minutes, or days, I lost complete track of time, and cried for all my lost friends and family, for the world that lay, dying even now that the cancer had finally been purged.

Eventually, the tears slowed and stopped, I pulled back and looked Hermione in the eyes, just now noticing that she'd been crying as well, crying for me.

"Well, what the hell are we supposed to do now?"

She laughed and wiped her eyes. "We've still got so much to do silly. A whole world's worth of people to save, or those willing to come with us at least."

I nodded, and felt my strength return to me. Of course.

**Epilogue**

Ten years, damn did time fly. Both of us had been worried, about how long it would take, how long we still had before the world just stopped being alive anymore, but here we were, we'd managed it.

I ran my metallic hand over the hull of the massive ship, grinning in spite of everything. It had taken years of research, modifying everything to work with magic, and years more of research to keep everyone alive during the journey, but we'd managed it. Before me stood a ship, with a conical shape with no seams or windows. It was nearly five stories tall, and another three across. The inside had been enchanted to be nearly five times the size of the outside. It was based off of a design I'd found while we were still trapped inside His prison, blueprints that had survived for hundreds of years, buried in an old desk. If his expansion charms had been just a little different, that room might not have survived, and everything in it could have been warped and destroyed, but those old blueprints had survived.

It had given me the idea then, over ten years ago. We couldn't save the world, we'd have to escape it. So that's what we'd been doing, ever since merging with the ward stone, we'd found a world then that had magic and so it should be able to have life.

The hardest thing though, had been convincing people to come with us. The increased earthquakes helped some, as did the erupting volcanoes and the massive storms that grew more frequent over the years, but all the same, not many wanted to come with us. We managed to convince just over seventeen hundred people that the journey would be worth it, and now it was time to go. It would be a tight fit, with all the plant and animal sample we planned on bringing with us, but we'd made it work somehow. I looked over at Hermione and smiled at her. She looked just a beautiful as the day we met, thousands of years in the past, and then again when she fell through that hole in time and space, right back into my life again. Neither one of us had aged a day since we'd absorbed the magic of the ward stone. Mione had theorized that we were aging, just at an extremely slow pace. At this point I just went with it, magic was weird, and it did weird things.

At least we'd be together.

"Ready Harry?" I grinned at her. Today would be the first step in a very long journey.

"Oh yes, ready and willing." I turned to face the crowd of people. They each had a small bag, enchanted to hold what they'd need to take with them. They were all scrubbed clean and magically sterilized to prevent bringing harmful germs with us. I used magic to increase the strength of my voice.

"My friends, it has been a lot of hard work, these last few years, but the day has come. For us to set out to find a new home. We'll all be asleep for much of the journey, but that doesn't mean we'll be idle. When you wake up, you'll be disoriented, we've designed the ship to impart knowledge to you all, knowledge that should help us survive, and thrive on our new world." People murmured in excitement, and a little trepidation. "You'll have access to magic when you wake, we've found a special way to wake it up in people, even those that normally wouldn't be able to use it." That had been what the Fae girl had whispered to Hermione. We'd drained the majority of the power from the ward stone, but it had absorbed so much over such a long period of time, that there was still a massive amount left. We couldn't make people as powerful as us, but we'd wake the dormant magic up in every muggle aboard the shuttle and kick start the development of their core. Every living thing had magic, its the building block of life after all, and now all these people would be able to use it.

"With a little bit of practice, everyone will be able to use it. Now, please take your place in line, and we'll get you all sorted." It took several hours to get everyone on board and into bed, as soon as they lay down in the specially designed cots, a runic ward scheme would come to life and begin the process of imparting knowledge to them, and begin the trickle of power that would jump start their magic. By the time we landed, hundreds of years from now, they'd all be as powerful as your average adult wizard.

Hermione sighed and slumped against me as the last few stragglers lay down for the long rest. "Do you think we're doing the right thing Harry? Changing people like this?"

I shrugged. "Humans have been adapting and evolving to suit their environments since we've been around. We gave them the choice, I think that's the important part." She hugged me tight and nodded into my chest.

After one last once over of the ship to make everything was in order, we looked out on our dying world one last time, before stepping inside the ship ourselves.

I held Hermione's hand tightly as we climbed into the cockpit and the screens lit up in front of us, a beautiful marriage of magic and technology. I looked at her and smiled. "You ready?"

She took a deep breath and grinned at me, manic excitement evident on her face. "Punch it."

I activated the controls, and grabbed the yoke. With the rumble of massive, magically powered engines, we were off, heading for our new home.

The End.

Well, that was fun. Thank you all for reading and reviewing my first completed story on this site. Keep an eye out for the sequel to this if you're interested in more, it won't start showing up for a few months yet, but there's one coming.

Thank you all,

-Harkon