Just Like Fire

Ginny thumbed her wand holster. Despite her attempt to appear relaxed she knew it was a futile effort. And really, even if she hadn't known she was walking into an ambush, it wasn't like she'd be relaxed out in public.

Driving that home was the fact that Diagon Alley was basically deserted. Her hand next went to the pendant around her neck- a portkey courtesy of the Ministry. If worse came to worse, she could portkey out… hopefully. Harry's own anxiety about the situation wasn't making things any easier on her- he was picking listlessly at his breakfast, Demelza and Susan regardling him with concern, while Pansy was absorbed in her own anxieties about today. Luna had been the one to intervene, distracting him by sitting in his lap and kissing him 'since he wasn't using his mouth for eating, anyway'.

Hermione nudged her to Flourish and Blotts, and despite the situation Ginny rolled her eyes. Ginny browsed the books absently, while Hermione plucked several new releases from the shelves. She caught a movement out of the corner of her eye and tensed as she spotted plain woman passing out front of the shop… someone she didn't recognize. Was this the start of the attack, or just a random passerby. The woman nonchalantly turned, meeting Ginny's eye through the window and winked.

Ah, Tonks.

Ginny let out a breath, trying not to react to obviously. It was nice knowing they weren't alone, and that if shit went down Tonks would be there to call for backup.

Hermione lingered at the book shop longer than Ginny would have liked- the tension was getting to her and Hermione seemed to have gotten genuinely lost in her enthusiasm for reading. Eventually Ginny nudged her friend and gave her a pointed look, silently communicating her message.

"Right, sorry." Hermione said somewhat sheepishly, moving the check out the stack of books she had collected, before stuffing them in her bag- which she had enchanted with an extension charm.

"Let's go to Quality Quidditch Supplies next!" Ginny said loudly as they exited the shop, injecting fake enthusiasm into her voice. "I hear the new Cleansweep model is solid, though nothing on a Firebolt's top speed."

"Not that a Weasley would be able to afford such a thing." While the speaker was obscured by both the shadow of the alley he was stepping out of and their mask, the arrogant drawl could only come from a Malfoy. Nervousness left her, replaced by a kindling spark of anger. This was the man who had slipped Tom Riddle's diary to her at this very spot.

All thought of using the portkey to escape melted away, there was only the fight. Without hesitation, Ginny sent a blasting hex at Malfoy's feet. He cast a high powered shield, but had expected her to attack him directly, and wasn't prepared for the ground to blow out from under him- even though he was protected from the shrapnel he was still blown onto his arse. Death Eaters appeared from all sides, walking out of alleyways and disillusioning themselves. All of them were masked saved one- who was honestly more intimidating without the mask- Bellatrix Lestange. Simultaneously to this, Tonks, who had ducked into a nearby shop, had sent her Patronus to call for aid. The aurors would be there soon, they just needed to hold out for long enough.

Harry had risen from his seat, sending Luna tumbling unceremoniously to the floor. His expression was stone faced as he wordlessly stunned Pansy, the force of his spell blowing her body onto the floor. Ginny then felt an enormous surge of magical power, sent from him to her- to the point where it felt it sparking in her veins. She had a feeling that if she cast that blasting hex now, Malfoy would be gone.

Killing them wasn't the goal. Really, they wanted to capture as many of them as possible and dose them up with veratiserum, but in the moment she didn't have the luxury to worry about holding back.

No killing curses were sent at them, but she did recognize several cruciatus curses, and there were many more she didn't recognize and she had no desire to find out what they did. Hermione countered by conjuring a massive torrent of water- several of the curses exploded on contact with the water, while others passed through, their trajectory distorted, causing them to sail harmlessly overhead.

None of Harry's bondmates had the same sort of mental connection to each other as they did to him, but sometimes, in certain exceptional situations, it seemed like she and Hermione just clicked. Ginny had instinctively known what Hermione was about to do and what to expect, and had been ready to follow up on it. A burst of flame vaporized the water, sending steam at the Death Eaters. None of them had been prepared, and most reeled back from the scalding assault. It also had the added benefit of obscuring them- it was all about buying time.

Another volley of curses sailed passed them, and Ginny winced at the sound of explosions behind them. Ginny, Hermione, and Tonks responded in kind, blind firing into the billowing steam that surrounded them.

She was beginning to think that they might have the situation under control, if only the aurors would bloody well get there, when Lestrange plunged through the steam, landing right between Ginny and Hermione. Either she was brilliant, and had figured out that they were stalling for time, or she was insane and lucky. What was worse, Ginny couldn't shoot anything truly dangerous at her without risking hurting Hermione. Perhaps to most people being surrounded was a terrible position, but Lestrange weaved through their spells like it was natural and focused on Ginny unerringly.

The situation only grew worse when Malfoy, his wand snapped by Ginny's opening attack, unsheathed a blade from his cane and lunged at Tonks. Where were the damn aurors! Ginny, worried about their only ally, allowed herself to become distracted, which was her downfall. She barely had time to recognize the cruciatus curse headed towards her before it struck her, and she collapsed to the ground in indescribable pain.

Far away, Harry, who'd been bolting to the edge of the property (and thus, the wards), stumbled to the ground as the pain washed over him. With immense concentration, he rose to his feet and stumbled onward- not caring that he was nearly useless in this state. Sheer desperation pushed him onward.

Ginny screamed and screamed, the pain was unrelenting and indescribable, banishing any concept of time or the world beyond the torture.

And then it was gone.

Ginny blinked blearily, trying to make sense of what had just happened and what she was seeing. Why had the pain stopped?

"Ne la touchez pas!" Fleur's harsh French pierced through the haze- and Ginny began to piece things together. Fleur was standing above her protectively, she looked absolutely furious, her features twisted and more avian than she'd ever seen them. Her robes were singed as fire erupted around her and surged outward, revealing flawless skin that that glowed warmly in the reflected light of her flames. Lestrange was on the ground, her body burnt and rent with… claw marks? Gouts of fire swirled around them, scattering the Death Eaters and coming around them in a vortex. She could also make out Hermione, Fred, George, Katie... and Tonks laying on the ground, blood oozing from a stomach wound with Malfoy's unconscious body next to her. Above and around them the twins' fireworks rocketed through the air- the entire alley must have been lit up by them.

The aurors hadn't saved them. Somehow something got fucked up, but they'd had a backup- Fleur, Katie and the twins had been laying low at Weasley Wizarding Wheezes, just in case something like this happened.

"Fleur…" Ginny said weakly, not even knowing what she should say, but feeling she should acknowledge her somehow.

"Shh, sweetie. We've got you." Katie soothed, crouching down to Ginny's level. Fleur was certainly not in the right mindset to offer any sort of comfort- she wondered if the part Veela was any more in control of herself now than when she was ravaging Harry.

"Is… Tonks… okay?" She managed.

"I don't know." Katie said "We need to get out of here. Cut our losses now." She decided.

"That wasn't the plan." Hermione countered "What about the aurors?"

"Screw the aurors!" Katie spat "They fucked up. We take Malfoy and Lestrange and get out of here. No arguments, there's no time!"

Katie's right. Get out of there, now! Harry's thoughts came though loud and clear for both she and Hermione, and there really was no arguing with him, not when they knew just how terrified he was.

-----

Tonks had been moved to Saint Mungos almost immediately, normal healing spells and potions had done nothing for her stab wound. The situation left a tense, uneasy atmosphere on the group. Katie had ordered Ginny to bed, and Fleur had enforced that order, refusing to leave Ginny's side and acting as a watchful guardian until she fell asleep.

Harry was also wrung out. He was sore and he was tired, having dumped most of his magic into Ginny and Hermione when the fight started, and having to deal with the cruciatus second hand. What was worse, he'd almost lost two of the people who meant the most to him and he'd been completely powerless to stop it. But his day wasn't over yet, far from it.

If Harry had been in a better mood, he might have recognized that war was unpredictable, but it was easy to find a target to blame. "What the hell happened, Kingsley?" While Kingsley hadn't been officially in charge as this hadn't been sanctioned, he'd been the de facto lead on the auror side.

Kingsley, for his part, was unphased by Harry's temper. Perhaps he was used to dealing with pissed off superiors or had heard of Harry's legendary temper during his fifth year. "I'm sorry Harry, we hadn't planned for them to put apparition wards on the entire alley." His tone was even keeled and sincere "We apparated outside the Leaky Cauldron, but the alley entrance had been charmed shut."

"What about flooing, or portkeys?" Harry demanded. Portkeys were very hard to ward against, but also bloody difficult to make- and information on how to make them wasn't exactly publicly available.

"They locked down the floo network, which is… unsettling. The only way they'd be able to do that is if they have a mole in the Ministry itself, pretty deep in, too. As for portkeys… the use of portkeys is highly regulated, we can't use them without authorization. We only have a few to use at our discretion, which we gave to Ginny, Hermione, and Tonks."

"Wait, so you mean the reason why Ginny and Hermione almost died is red tape?" Harry snapped, his hand slamming onto the table. "Bloody useless Ministry." He seethed. At this point, Susan placed a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Auror Shacklebolt, it's been a long day, for all of us." Susan said diplomatically "Right now we are holding three Death Eaters." Counting Pansy as a Death Eater they were, at least "While the original plan was for the aurors to take custody of all captured Death Eaters, at this point we have concerns about how secure this would be. We know the ministry is compromised, and none of us are interested in seeing Malfoy or Lestrange again after they escape from Azkaban."

"The Minister is going to love this." Kinglsey snorted, perhaps imagining the chewing out he'd receive from his superior. He was also shrewd enough to realize that she was after something. "What is it that you need?"

"Veratiserum."

-----

"I hate waiting." Harry grumbled, perhaps petulantly.

Kingsley hadn't been able to give them an answer- having to consult with his superiors at the Auror department and possibly Scrimgeour himself. This left them in limbo, with three Death Eaters captured- disarmed, stunned, tied up, and shoved into a warded room- but nothing to do with them. While Harry's mistrust of the Ministry was purely emotional- and understandable given his history with the organization, it was also becoming apparent that the Ministry was compromised. The need for secrecy had undermined the operation, and a mole in the Ministry had helped the Death Eaters lock down the alley. They had every reason to hold off on handing over their captives, at least until they got what they could out of them.

Katie smirked and patted his head "Sounds like someone needs a nap."

"Oh, shut it." He grumbled again, but with a bit more humor.

"At least we don't have to deal with Pansy anymore." Demelza put in.

"It was kind of fun making her jealous" Katie said "But yeah, her perving was starting to get grating."

"I wonder if we could use that against her." Susan mused.

"What do you mean?" Katie asked "Do you want Harry to seduce her into spilling her secrets."

Susan shrugged, her expression thoughtful "Well, sort of."

"You're joking." Harry grimaced.

"Look, I'm just saying, with Hermione's little lust potion I think she'd be willing to tell you everything."

Harry shook his head in distaste. He hadn't started out loathing Pansy- he knew that she may very well have been pushed into her role, but every minute spent living with her just made him dislike her more, and that was before her actions had almost gotten Ginny and Hermione killed.

He had no sympathy for her, and if the worst she got for what she did was having to deal with the lust potion, she'd be lucky as far as he was concerned. Yet, the idea of interacting with her like that, seducing her made his skin crawl. He wanted nothing to do with her, didn't want her undressing him with her eyes like she always was, knowing that she was fantasizing about him. "I don't like it." He said simply.

Katie was sympathetic "You don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with." She said firmly "I totally get wanting nothing to do with that bitch." He wasn't the only one who'd begun to resent the way Pansy had lusted after him "But damn if it wouldn't be satisfying to see you put her in her place, before carting her off to the aurors."