Of Butterflies in a Hurricane

*

Harry barely ducked as a jet of red light flashed past his face, ruffling his hair. Ron and Hermione scattered out of the way as curses began flying, crashing through the walls of the house, whipping past them with furious anger.

Harry dashed to the side and another flash of light barely missed his head. He struck out his wand, aiming for the closest Death Eater.

"Stupefy!" he yelled and a jet of red light shot out of his wand, straight for the Death Eater. It missed, though, streaking just past the Death Eater's ear.

"You think you can get me, Potter?!" a jeering voice called through the dust and flashes of light. Harry neither knew, nor cared, who it was, he just knew he had to get out of there alive.

He saw the other Death Eater advancing on Hermione, who shrieked as a blue slash flew through the air at her. She ducked, but not fast enough.

"Ow!" he heard her cry but didn't stop to look.

More curses were streaming out of the wand of the Death Eater in front of him, bouncing everywhere. One spell hit the table behind Harry, reducing it to smoking cinders.

He watched the smoke curl upwards for just a second before coming to his senses and darting the other way.

"Impedimenta!" he cried, as he came upon Hermione's attacker. The hooded figure faltered in his step but not for long. Hermione was holding her sleeve to her cheek and Harry could see a slash of blood running across it.

She made a slashing motion with her wand and a jet of purple light shot out of the end it, hitting the slowed Death Eater in the chest. He keeled over into a ball on the floor and Harry and Hermione took off the other way.

Harry faltered as something grabbed onto the back of his shirt. He whipped around, ripping himself from its grip. He now saw the Death Eater that had been attacking him up close. Harry's jaw dropped and he was momentarily shocked beyond words.

"Stan?!" he exclaimed. He was staring into the pimply face of the once-conductor of the Knight bus. Even Hermione was shocked into forgetting what was going on.

"Yep, it's me," Stan crowed in a joyous voice. "You dinnit think nuffink when you met me, didja? Well, little ol' Stan idn't the idiot he's made out to be, in'ee?"

"What-- but you're--" Harry was too flabbergasted to say anything. He had been convinced of Stan's innocence the year before.

Stan's eyes darkened as he glared at Harry, his hand tightening around his wand. "I'm wha', 'Arry? Not the type? Not someone oo'd join with You Know 'Oo?"

"Well... no!" Harry said, completely surprised. Hermione was staring at Stan too; they had momentarily forgotten Ron, who was nowhere to be seen.

"You listen up, 'Arry," Stan said in a dangerous voice. "Maybe 'e gives me what I need; Maybe I don't need nuffink you got. 'E'll give it to me."

Stan backed up then, raising his wand high, and Harry and Hermione suddenly realized what was going on. Harry grabbed his wand tightly, bringing it down hard through the air.

"Sectumsempra!" he yelled and a burst of crimson erupted from Stan's chest before he'd even got his spell out. Harry and Hermione stood there for a moment, staring down at Stan, identical looks of shock on their faces.

It wasn't until a panicked cry from the kitchen brought them back to their senses. They had completely forgotten about Ron, having lost him in their own battles. They turn tail and dashed into the kitchen to find two more Death Eaters that had come in from the back.

"Impedimenta!" Harry yelled, hitting one of them in the back. Ron was struggling backwards but was having a time of it due to the fact that his left leg appeared to be crumpled underneath him.

"Ron, are you okay?!" Harry called, as the second Death Eater turned to him. Hermione snuck behind his back to where Ron stood and was helping Ron towards the door.

"Fine!" Ron called back.

Harry stumbled backwards as the second Death Eater bore down upon him. His heart was beating in his chest. The Death Eater made a slashing motion, bringing his wand down hard across Harry's face.

Harry's head snapped back as an invisible whip cut his face. He could feel a drip of warm blood oozing out of the cut. He dodged another curse, flinging himself to the side and scrambling around a chair that was situated around a ruined table.

The Death Eater aimed another curse at Harry, who ducked and heard the spell blast a hole in the top of the chair. He pushed the chair away hastily, moving back, closer to the door. He knew he just had to escape.

The other Death Eater was beginning to come out of Harry's curse, standing up straight, and turning to Harry, his teeth bared angrily. Harry didn't see him, though, his eyes still on the second one that was advancing on him.

"Tag, you're it," a deep, harsh voice came from under the black hood. Harry's eyes widened and he struggled backwards. His legs, it seemed, did not want to work.

The Death Eater raised his wand again, but Harry was ready this time.

Levicorpus! he thought quickly and, in a flash of blinding light, the Death Eater was turned upside down, dangling by his foot.

"Harry!" A high-pitched shriek caught Harry's attention and he whirled around to see the first Death Eater with his wand already raised and about to come down.

"Protego!" Harry shouted, bringing his wand down hard in front of him, an invisible shield springing up in front of him momentarily. The curse rebounded, shooting off and breaking one of the windows. The sound of breaking glass filled the room, shards flying everywhere.

Harry dashed to the side just as a jet of white light barely missed his heels. He whipped around and saw the upside-down Death Eater leering at him from under his hood.

"Stupefy!" he cried, sending the charm straight at the Death Eater and hitting him directly in his chest.

Harry ran to where Hermione was tugging Ron towards the door, trying to support him on his one good leg. Harry grabbed Ron's other shoulder, trying to speed up the process.

He let go of the shoulder abruptly as another flash of gold filled the room. He twisted around, seeing the last Death Eater coming towards him, a manic gleam in the hooded eyes.

"I'll get you, Potter!" he cried, lunging forward and shooting another spell.

Harry yelped in pain as the curse grazed his elbow, sending a searing pain through his whole body. It took great difficulty to move his arm after that, wrenching it through the air. He began to panic as the Death Eater advanced on the three of them.

He was just thinking that he sure hadn't lasted long on his own when a blast of blue light erupted from the tip of Ron's wand, sending the Death Eater flying backwards, landing in a heap on the floor.

The man stirred, groaning softly, as Harry and Hermione seized Ron, dragging him outside since his one leg wasn't working. They could hear yells coming from inside the house and knew it wouldn't be long until the Death Eaters came after them.

They struggled through the trees, away from the house; Ron struggling to hold his weight and Harry trying to force his arm to move. They only got about twenty feet away from the house before they heard a shout and knew they had to make a run for it.

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione for a second, sharing a thought between all three. Harry gripped Ron’s arm tightly, and Hermione the other one. In a second, they concentrated hard and turned, disappearing in a loud Crack that echoed through the trees. The agonized cries of the remaining Death Eaters could be heard for miles thereafter.

***

They reappeared on a small patch of grass in the middle of a big city. Harry and Hermione set Ron down and his leg immediately crumpled. Harry grabbed Ron with his good arm and pulled him forward, Hermione behind, helping.

Harry gripped his wand tightly, his heart pounding madly, as he walked up the grass a little, stopping just before the patch ended. They stood there for a moment in silence until a door suddenly materialized out of thin air, followed by the entire house.

Harry seized the doorknob, wrenched it open and pulled Ron inside. Hermione hurried in after, shutting the door quietly behind them. A muffled silence fell over them as they guided Ron into the kitchen. He collapsed into one of the kitchen chairs and breathed deeply.

Hermione came in after, slamming her pack down on the table, causing everyone to jump. Harry moved over to lean on the counter, trying to calm himself and convince himself that they were safe.

He watched as Hermione pulled book after book out of her bag. He had known she had packed books; what else would she have brought? After the sixth book, she gave a relieved sigh as she found the one she wanted. She opened it hastily, riffling through it until she found the page she wanted.

She turned to Ron, swiveling his chair around and stretching the crumpled leg out in front of him. She glanced back at the book then pointed her wand at Ron's leg. A yellow glow came out of the wand for a moment, surrounding the leg.

Ron stared at it in amazement as it continued to glow. Finally, Hermione moved the wand back and looked at Ron's leg closely. Ron stretched out his leg tentatively then his expression brightened.

"Wow, Hermione," he said, amazed.

Hermione just ignored him and beckoned to Harry. "Harry, come here," she said, indicating he should sit.

He did so, trying his best to ignore the throbbing pain in his arm. She reached up to touch the congealing blood on his cheek then turned, rummaging in her bag for a moment. She came up with a washcloth and a small bottle of something.

She used her wand to wet the cloth, cleaning off the dried blood from Harry's cut. Then she opened the bottle, dipping her finger into it and coming out with some kind of thick potion. She spread it thinly over Harry's cut and he felt a tingling sensation.

"Where'd you get that?" Harry asked once she was done, reaching up to feel his cheek, noting that the cut was no longer there.

"Made it," she replied, shrugging. "Now, give me your arm."

He held out his stinging arm, wondering what had been done to it. He gave a hiss of pain as Hermione pulled it toward herself. Hermione eyed it, her expression becoming more nettled. "This is different," she murmured.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, growing concerned.

"Well," Hermione said. "It seems like it's a combination of a Stinging Hex and Crippling Curse."

Harry looked down at his arm that appeared completely normal on the outside, he just couldn't move it and it felt like it was on fire. He used his other arm to turn it over and noticed a small, red welt across his wrist; remnants of a Stinging Hex.

"But you can fix it, right?" Harry asked anxiously.

"I don't know... I can try," she said hesitantly.

The next ten minutes were taken up with Hermione muttering spells under her breath and tapping Harry's arm, occasionally asking, "Any better?" only to receive a cold glare in return. She paused once or twice, contemplating the arm, sometimes riffling through her book and then trying another spell or two.

Harry was beginning to think that he would never be cured when Hermione said something else and gave Harry's wrist a hard tap.

"Ouch!" he exclaimed, pulling his arm out of her grip and rubbing his wrist. Hermione just sat back and smirked knowingly. It took Harry a moment to realize that the pain he was feeling was now because of Hermione's slap and not the curse. "Hermione, you did it!"

"Yes," she replied slowly, looking back at her book. "Maybe we ought to make a note of this for later... just in case." She said the last few words with a glance at Harry.

Harry sighed. With the pain from his arm gone, his brain was free to think of what had just happened. Why had the Death Eater’s attacked? They had all been so unprepared. Harry guessed he should have known Voldemort might try something like that to catch him off his guard; just on the off-chance Harry might not make it and save him the trouble later.

He couldn't believe he had led his friends into this kind of danger. They didn't know half of what they were getting into. They didn't know the whole reason for this anyway. Harry wondered if Draco had known anything of the last attack. He supposed not. He knew that Voldemort must not be pleased with Draco and, therefore, not divulge any kind plan to him at the moment.

"Why'd we come here?" Ron asked, not noticing the silence that had befallen the table.

Harry looked around, his heart falling. He had thought that he might not ever have to return to the dismal place, full of such dreary memories, but it had been his first thought when it had come to escaping.

His eyes traveled over the dark kitchen, noticing that the spiders seemed to have moved back in the absence of a regular inhabitant. Dust covered the countertop and Harry noticed that the burn from where the soup had skidded onto the table over two years ago was still present.

He sighed, wishing he hadn't thought to come here, but it was the safest place he knew of at the moment. He looked back to Hermione, who was re-shrinking her books and putting them back in her bag. Ron was staring at the table silently. It was as Harry looked at him that he had a sudden thought.

"Ron," he said suddenly. "Where did you learn a spell like that?" he asked, referring to the one Ron had cast back in Godric's Hollow.

Ron looked up, seemingly distracted from his vacant staring. "What? Oh, that, well, Hermione's been making me read..." he said, glancing at Hermione, who gave him a satisfied smile.

"Well, you sure saved us," Harry said gratefully.

"Saved us?" Ron repeated. "You saved me, mate! I was nearly a goner."

Harry rolled his eyes but couldn't help smiling slightly. Suddenly, though, he frowned. "I can't believe it was Stan," he said darkly and Hermione sighed.

"Who?" Ron asked, confused.

"Stan Shunpike, conductor of the Knight Bus," Harry told him then launched into the story of how he had been one of the Death Eater's.

"You mean that crazy bloke the Ministry arrested last year and finally let go a month ago really was working for You Know Who?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Apparently," Harry muttered. He couldn't believe he had fought against Stan's capture. He'd been so naive.

"You didn't know," Hermione said quietly, as if she could read his thoughts.

He looked at her sharply. She just nodded and looked away. For a fleeting second, Harry had the urge to confess everything to her; his aching desire to find Draco, tell her why he was going to such lengths to retrieve someone she believed he hated. But it was gone the next second as he thought that it wouldn't matter. They would be furious and never understand.

Instead, Harry sighed again and got to his feet, going to the cupboard to see if there was any food, leaving Ron and Hermione sitting in silence at the long, dust-covered table of number twelve Grimmauld Place.

~~**~~

A/N: Well, here we are, another update in the week, do you guys prefer this? Please review!