Bounty Hunter

Title: Bounty Hunter

Rating: R-ish

Author: Snippy

Pairing: H/D, Hr/SS (a little)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Co. do not belong to me. Sadly.

Summary: Warning: dark fic, character death and H/D slash. This story is not light and
hope and puppies, people. The bounty hunter is going after the Death Eaters one by
one, but at what price? This story is not about black and white, it's about shades of
grey. Can people change? Can a hero become a villain? Can a villain save a hero?
And which is which?

FYI:

(****) indicates a scene shift.

(*~*~*~*) indicates a flashback

(*word*) emphasis


****************************************************************************************************

Chapter One: The Boy Who Died


"So do you suppose your family will offer me a handshake for saving you before
they kick me out?" Harry leaned back against a tree, his voice a mocking sneer that
chilled her despite the muggy nature of the night around them.

Ginny Weasley stared at the boy who had been her hero. His black hair was
longer now, a shaggy fringe that swayed around his face. His jaw was constantly
clenched and now sported a dark shadow that slid over his chin and caressed his
mouth, which wwistwisted in a smirk. His green eyes were still bright, and glittered,
harder than the emeralds they had been compared to. Harder than diamonds. She
pressed her lips into a tight line, refusing to answer him.

"Can't say I blame them, though. After all, I did kill their youngest son." He
shrugged.

"Harry-" Tears filled her eyes.

"You wouldn't think they'd be so upset. After all, Ron was their fifth son. He
was my first friend. Ever." He laughed softly, a harsh, dead sound. He looked up at
her and for a second, he seemed lost, but his cruel veneer returned. "Why don't you sit
down, Ginny? It wouldn't do to be jumpy around a killer."

"You're not a killer." She said softly.

"Oh, really?" His voice was so soft, it barely reached her ears, but the danger in
his tone came across clearly. He slowly stood, walking over to her with a grace that his
exuberance in his younger years had never allowed. Harry stopped before her, gently
tucking the tip of his wand under the corner of her jaw. "Do you know what I've done
with this? Do you know how many times I've seen that green light fly at my
command?" He dropped the wand to wrap a hand around her throat. Ginny started to
tremble as she struggled to control her breathing, a sharp edge of fear slicing through
her stomach. "Do you know what I've done with my bare hands?" She shook her head.

"No, you don't. You and I both know that I've killed people." She nodded, biting her
lip. "What you don't know, *Ginny*," He brushed his lips against her ear, "Is how
much I enjoyed it."

A tear rolled down her cheek. Disgusted with himself, Harry released her and
returned to his spot by the fire. "Go to bed. I'll take you home tomorrow morning."

"A-are you, uh," She took a deep breath. "Are you going to s-s-stay -"

"Now, Ginny." He gave her an admonishing look. "You and I both know that
I've been exiled from the Burrow." He smiled, the expression a distortion of what it
should be. "Besides, I have a new assignment to start."

"Who is it?"

"Another Death Eater." He replied shortly. "I know you're a Weasley, and this is
probably a statistical impossibility, but do you think you could stop talking and go to
sleep now?"

Ginny sat down, across from him, losing herself in thought for a moment. She
tried not to look over at Vince, still paralyzed, eyes seeing nothing. A lot had changed
in the past few years. Hogwarts had closed for the duration of the war, and many of
the students had been sent to American Wizard schools to keep them safe, while their
parents and older siblings joined the fight. Her mother had stopped laughing the day
that Ron died, and Fred and George rarely returned home, preferring to stay with
Charlie, protecting the dragons. So many had already died, on both sides of the war.
She spent most of her time in the medi-wizard hospital, tending to injuries of those who
fought. But the one who had changed the most was the boy she sat across from, the boy
she had used to be in love with. Age and experience had changed that, but she still
loved him, missed him. She missed himost ost as much as she missed Ron. And
laughter.

Harry's eyes were closed. He was so till that the trees around him appeared to
be dancing in contrast. Ginny studied him openly as she crouched by the fire. Was he
asleep? Did he kill one moment and peacefully rest the next?

"What is it?" Only his lips moved.

"I was wondering if you were asleep." She ventured.

"I don't sleep."

"Oh." She knew she should give up and hope the night passed quickly. But she
might never have the chance to talk to him again. "Harry?"

"Yes?" His eyes flickered open, skewering through her soul.

"Was it because Sirius died?" She asked, her heart thundering.

"What part of go to sleep confused you?"

"But you were a great auror, everyone's hero, and now . . ." She cut herself off.

"And now?" His voice vibrated with contained irritation. "Now, everyone's
afraid of me."

"Yes." She replied quietly. "And I want to know why."

"Alright Ginny. You wanna know what happened to the Boy Who Lived? Come
here and I'll tell you." She seemed frozen to the spot. "Move or I'll move you."

Slowly she edged closer. When she was in arm's reach he seized her wrists and
pulled her impatiently towards him, forcing her to kneel beside him, and holding her
hands loosely in his lap. "Are you afraid of me, Ginny?"

"A little."

"Good. Now, listen closely, I don't repeat myself." He smiled cruelly. "And
when I die, you'll have the story of the century."

Ginny's hands shook, though his were still wrapped around them. Once, she
would have been trembling with excitement that he was holding her hands. Now, it
was fear that made her shiver. She gripped his hands back and nodded for him to
continue, mentally trying to reassure herself that somewhere inside this man was
Harry, and he would never hurt her.

"The Dursley's made it clear I wasn't welcome back once I was of age. But that
was ok. I had a full year at Hogwarts ahead of me, my last year. The second day of
school, Peter Pettigrew tortured and killed my godfather. The ministry generously
cleared his name the day before the war broke out. As you will rl, Rl, Ron invited me
to stay at the Burrow, but I didn't want to add to your parent's burdens. Remus Lupin
took me in.

"Remus was quiet, withdrawn, but angry. The wolf's bane potion could barely
reign him in. He started inviting Old Mad Eye Moody over a lot. They taught me
about the Dark Arts, and we got to be friends, a family of sorts. It became clear to me
that Remus was planning revenge. We worked the Unforgivable Curses under a
cloaking spell at night, and he used to say to me, 'Carpe Noctem, Harry.'"

"Seize the Night?"

"Yes." Harry's eyes flashed. "Halloween - he decided to make his move. Maybe
I should have stopped him. I was scared for him, and I was afraid of losing him. But
when he left, all I said was, 'Carpe Noctem, Remus.' It wasn't until he was gone that I
noticed the full bottle of potion by his bed." Ginny gasped, realizing the implications of
that statement. "He succeeded. He killed Peter, but before he could get away, Lucius
Malfoy showed up and killed him while he was still in his wolf state. I made up my
mind that Lucius would never hurt anyone again. So I set out to kill him. Ron - "

"Wouldn't let you go alone."

Harry nodded. "We promised Hermione that we wouldn't touch Lucius." He
laughed coldly. "Well, we didn't have to *touch* him to kill him." Harry looked over
Ginny's head, eyes searching the shadows, but only seeing the past. "We hid in the
woods behind Malfoy Manor. I have no idea how that bastard found us. Ron was
shaking beside me as the duel started." Harry's lips twisted. "I think he was going to
beat me later for learning so many Dark spells without telling him. He never got the
chance. I stepped into the opening and told Ron to run. Malfoy closed in one me, he
cast the killing curse. I refused to turn away - wanted to see it coming, but I must've
closed my eyes for a second, because the next thing I saw was Ron's body on the
ground. He was just gone, his body was empty. I felt this anger building inside of me.
I yelled, 'Crucio!' and Malfoy crumpled down. I watched him twitching in pain awhile,
and when I took it off, he couldn't move. That's when I called the snakes. Boomslangs.
They slithered over him, and bit him just like I asked them too. I stayed to watch him
die. It took most of the night."

"Harry, stop -" She began, horrified.

"No - you wanted to know." His grip turned painful for a second. "When I
brought Ron's body back to the Burrow, your mom wouldn't look at me. Your dad
took the body and asked me to leave. Fred and George made it clear I shouldn't come
back."

"I never blamed you."

"Then you're a little idiot." Harry declared icily. "I read in the papers that
Narcissa committed suicide and Draco vanished. Around then, Hermione started
working with the Aurors to invent new protection spells. I moved in with Moody and
started fighting, every day. We worked with a handful of others as a seek and destroy
squad. We got reports from spies about where to find them, and we took them out.
There was a brutal attack on the ministry headquarters and Hermione was taken. I
tried to stop them. I killed five of them trying to get her, I snapped the last one's neck
with my bare hands. That was Blaise Zabini - you remember him? The whole thing
was a set up, a distraction. They were really after Dumbledore, and they almost had
him, but Hagrid stepped in the way." For a moment Harry's eyes glistened, but no
tears came. "We buried him next to Fang."

"Fang?" She asked softly. "They killed his dog?"

"For laughs." Harry grimaced. "Two months later Draco exposed Snape as a
spy and turned him in. That same day, Oliver Wood was found with a broken neck. It
was made to look like an accident, but we all knew the truth. Wood would never just
fall off his broom. Besides, he had that green look in his eyes." Harry looked back into
her face. "When someone is hit with the killing curse, it leaves a light in their eyes. A
dead light. I continued the fight. Everyday, at Moody's side, stepping over the bodies
of former Hogwart's students to cast curses that none of us should have ever learned."
He paused again, releasing one hand to cup her chin and turn her face up to his. "How
did you spend last Christmas, Ginny? With your family? At the Burrow?"

"With what's left of it." She replied harshly.

"Mmm." He was unfazed by her animosity. "I suppose you had dinner, opened
presents? Took Ron's sweater to his grave. Did you cry? I guess you did. I didn't have
time for mourning. I spent the morning recovering from multiple hits of Cruciatus. It
gets easier to recover from it every time, you know." His tone was casual. "I spent the
afternoon burying my friends. Seamus, Neville, Colin, Terry, Cho." His eyes filled
with a hate so powerful it took her breath. "Moody."

"We promised him we would rescue Snape and Hermione, or whatever's left of
them. And destroy Voldemort, if we had to take out every Death Eater one by one to
do so. I'm the last onft oft of those aurors." His voice lightened. "I've been hunting
down important Death Eaters, one by one, ever since."

"That's why you came after Crabbe and Goyle, and -"

"No." Harry's voice softened. "I hunted them because they took you."

"Oh, Harry - "

"You Weasley's are the only family I've got left, even if you do hate me. But
tomorrow, you go back, this little vacation's over, and I go back to what I do."

"Who's next?" She wasn't sure she wantedknowknow.

"Well, Peter and Lucius are dead. That leaves one person in my path to
Voldemort."

"So, there's only one person in your way?" She bit her lip, trying to figure out
who it was.

"Yes, only one. And I don't let anything get in my way."

Her eyes lit up with realization. "You don't mean - "

"Draco." Harry's eyes caught fire. "The Last Malfoy."

**********


Harry frowned. He should never have told her all of that. It felt good to finally
tell someone, but she didn't need to carry that burden. He shrugged, life was hard,
maybe she should just get used to it. He was just so enraged by the innocence in her
face. Why did she get to stay young? Remain hopeful and idealistic? Why did she get
the right to hate him for changing? Without having any idea what it was like to make
the decisions he made on a daily basis? He had felt the need to strike out and erase that
innocence. Now, he felt guilty. He sighed, reaching into his leather bag and producing
two apples, he tossed them both in her lap.

"Aren't you hungry?" She asked, still feeling shaken by his story.

"I don't eat." He turned towards the fire. "Not much, anyways."

Ginny Weasley was still young, but she was every bit Molly Weasley's daughter.
She was strong, and she refused to be intimidated. She bit into an apple, and as she
chewed decided on a light, casual tone. "So, you don't sleep, and you don't eat. What
do you do, Harry?"

"I hunt." He turned cold eyes on her. "Do you ever shut up?"

"We used to be friends, Harry." Those wide brown eyes hurt to look at.

"Used to be." He looked her over, critically, more to embarrass her than out of
interest. Bruised, dirty and tired, she was still a beauty. Fair skin, lightly dusted with
freckles over her small, pert nose. Wide, warm brown eyes, thick straight hair a shade
deeper red than her brothers. "You grew up well."

"Wish I could say the same about you." She watched him run a hand through
his rumpled hair, the gesture reminiscent of the Harry she used to know. He was still
handsome, though leaner and darker then he used to be. He had lost his shine.
Perhaps the light inside of him was dead now. Yet, she had caught a glimpse of it, a
more sinister cast of his passion, when he had talked about Draco. She shivered.
Somewhere in there was the Harry that had saved her from the basilisk in her first year.
After all, he had saved her from the trio of Death Eaters, hadn't he? Or had he made
that up? After all, he had said he was only interested in the bounty on their heads,
right? No, she refused to accept that. Deep down, Ginny still believed in Harry Potter.
"So, you never answered my question, exactly. What happened to the boy who lived?"

"He was lost after the boy who died." Harry settled himself back against his
tree. "Go to sleep, Ginny."

She settled down by the fire. "Harry?"

"Yes?" He sighed.

"Thank you."

"You already thanked me for saving you."

"No." She closed her eyes. "Thank you for killing Lucius."

His eyes glittered in the dark. "My pleasure."