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

Gratuities:

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Draco followed Harry out the door of the Shrieking Shack, feeling more alive than the first time he had stolen his father\'s broom for a late night joy fly. He was also scared spitless, but he had never let that hold him back before. Harry strolled in front of him, a walk that betrayed no fear. They stopped, standing side by side. Three hooded figures carrying lit wands approached and Harry regarded them, head casually tilted to the side.

\"Good evening,\" Harry called, cordially.

\"We have comr Mrr Mr. Malfoy,\" stated one of them as they came to a stop three feet in front of them.

\"Not staying for tea, then?\" Harry smiled, mockingly. \"What a pity.\"

\"We are prepared to make you a deal. We know where you live now. If you let Malfoy come with us, we will leave and never return.\" The man did not stumble over the words, but the tension in his face spoke for itself. \"Will you agree to these terms?\"

\"Do you give your solemn word as a Death Eater?\" He asked with stinging sarcasm.

\"Yes.\" The man replied smugly, sure that he had the upper hand now that they had found the home of the Bounty Hunter.

\"Not good enough.\" With no further warning, Harry drew his sword and cleanly sliced the man\'s head off, smiling as it hit the ground with a satisfying thud. One of the other two caught the body as it fell, spattering his black robe with blood. The other drew his wand, yelling, \"Crucio!\"

Harry grinned as he let the curse hit him and then bounce back at the man who had cast the curse. He let it take full effect before whispering, \"Finite Incatatum.\"

As the man tried to crawl to his feet, two of his comrades approached Harry, one still wore his Death Eater mask, the other had a long scar running down his cheek, a souvenir from his last bounty hunter encounter. Both men had drawn their wands, Scar held a sword.

\"What now, Potter?\" Draco whispered beside him.

\"Don\'t die.\" Harry answered as he offered the advancing Death Eaters a mocking salute with his sword.

Draco nodded and decided it was time he stopped sitting back and waiting for his fate to take him. It appeared he was not supp to to die. Not today, at least. He drew his wand, yelling, \"Expelliarmous!\" The two wands hit the ground near him. \"Accio wands!\"

Harry never hesitated. He was neither waiting for Draco\'s assistance, nor unaware of the advantage he had been afforded. He advanced, sword raised to clash with the armed Death Eater, as the other retreated. Metal clashed, screaming through the air and dusting the men with sparks. Draco felt himself being tugged closer to the battle by his invisible bond with Harry, and quickly learned to shadow his steps to avoid being jarred or interfering with Harry\'s thrusts and parries. It took him a moment to realize that Harry was only playing with the man, letting him feel he was winning before delivering blows that forced him back with speed, grace and skill rather than the sheer brute force he was combating.

\"What are you playing at?\" Scar called out.

\"Why, it would appear I\'m about to kill you.\" Harry answered softly as he nicked the man\'s shoulder a little too close to his neck for comfort.

\"Give up, Bounty Hunter. My Lord is more powerful tyou you can imagine.\" Scar\'s breath came in pants now. \"Join us, and we can both die easy deaths of old age.\"

\"A traitor like you doesn\'t deserve an easy death, and I intend to make sure you won\'t have one when I kill you.\" Harry grinned, easily batting his opponent\'s swoo tho the ground.

\"You want to talk about traitors? How about your mentor, Moody?\" Scar stared at him, knowing that Harry was done playing. \"He was a Pureblood. He should have been on our side. But then he always was a crazy, worthless old git. Kinda glad he decided join Dumbledore.\"

\"Yeah. But you forgot one thing about that \'traitor\'.\" Harry offered the man a mocking grin. \"I killed him, too.\" He smiled as he sliced his sword through the man\'s lower intestines, turned it and pulled it back out. Draco watched in grim horror as Harry let the man bleed for a few minutes before drawing his wand and muttering, \"Avada Kedavra.\"

Harry looked up, sword in hand, challenge written in his eyes. \"Would anybody else like to negotiate?\" He looked around, but the night held a deadly silence. \"No? All right then.\"

Harry leaned down and wiped his blade clean on the grass. He carefully sheathed it once more, now brandishing his wand. He reached out his hand, taking hold of Draco\'s arm. \"Harry? What are you - \"

\"Avada Kedavra,\" Harry whispered, pointing his wand at the masked figure still backing away, shaking his head in disbelief.

Draco shuddered as he felt the magic run up his spine and through his arm to the point of contact with Harry. A gasp escaped his lips as the masked Death Eater fell to the ground. Harry let go and Draco felt the loss like a physical force, after effects tingling down his back. He whispered, \"Dear Merlin.\"

Harry began advancing towards the fourteen figures still left. In a flash, they all vanished. Harry\'s lips curved in a sinful smile. \"Oh, they don\'t want to play with me anymore.\"


*~*~*~*~*~*

\"You\'re insane, old man.\"

\"Mad, actually.\" Moody grinned at him.

\"It\'s impossible. You can\'t throw off \'Avada\'. It either hits you and you die or misses you and you don\'t.\" Harry stated firmly, turning away to gaze at the sky once more. The pair were sitting on the roof of the shrieking shack, having a butter beer and getting ready to turn in for the night when Moody had decided to lay his newest insight into Harry\'s unique abilities on him.

\"No, *I* can\'t. But you can,\" He replied gruffly. \"I\'ve seen you do it, Potter.\"

\"I\'ve only done it once, Moody.\" Harry touched his scar. \"And it had nothing to do with me.\"

\"It had everything to do with you, boy. Stop being a little git and listen to me. I know what I saw.\" Moody turned to face him.

\"What are you talking about?\" Harry felt a twinge in the bottom of his stomach and tried to drown it with the rest of his butter beer, but it only grew as he stared at Mo

\"Today. I saw it today.\"

\"The only person hit today was Lee.\" Harry took a moment to give a silent toast to the fallen Auror. \"Another curse that was meant for me.\"

\"Exactly. Where was Lee standing when he was hit?\"

\"Next to me.\" Harry muttered bitterly. \"I\'m beginning to think Malfoy was right when he said that I was famous for people jumping in the way when I was about te.\"e.\"

\"Lucius said - \"

\"Draco.\" Harry shrugged. \"When we were still in school.\"

\"Potter, pay attention!\" Moody\'s voice carried a new level of intensity to it. \"Lee didn\'t jump in the way of the curse.\"

\"I know, I know. I was just being - \"

\"Shut up, Potter! I\'m not trying to make you feel better.\" Moody\'s hand settled on his shoulder. Harry stopped, meeting his eyes and feeling the dread that had been sitting in his stomach start to consume him. \"curscurse was deflected off of you and hit the closest person next to you. Just like it always has.\"

\"What do you - \"

\"You really think all Death Eaters are that bad of a shot? That not one of them could have hit you in all this time?\" Moody shook him slightly. \"They\'re out there, aiming for you, and you\'re the only one they can\'t kill. They hit you. They hit you all the time, Potter. It just doesn\'t matter.\"

\"So, you\'re saying if Lee wasn\'t standing next to me . . . no, that\'s impossible.\" Harry shook his head.

\"Think, Potter. How many have we lost that were right beside you when they died?\" Moody pointed out.

Images of his fallen friends and former schoolmates danced in his head. One by one, he saw them hit the ground, that maddening green light in their eyes. He saw himself stepping over them to attack once more. Of course, many had been killed regardless to their proximity to Harry. But he had never realized just how many had been physically close to him.

\"That\'s just because the Death Eaters are aiming for me like you said. They\'re in a high contact area.\" Harry stated, trying to sound convinced of that fact himself.

\"Then why not you, Harry? Why aren\'t you dead yet?\"

\"I don\'t know.\"

\"Well, listen to me then, because I do.\" And that was all Moody had to say on the matter. He stood and left Harry to ponder the questions he had raised.

Harry argued violently with the idea for a moment, but stopped to wonder why the idea bothered him so much. His eyes scanned the dark night, and suddenly he knew, just as surely as he knew the pit in his stomach was never going to go away. He replayed Ron\'s death before his eyes, over and over again. He had only closed his eyes for a second. Ron had fallen three feet to his left and slightly behind him. Ron could not have possibly been in front of him when the curse hit. The Weasley\'s were right. He had killed their youngest son. And scores of others.

Harry rested his head on his arms. He could picture Ron the first day he had met him, on tra train. How nervous he had been when he had heard his name. He could hear Ron\'s voice echoing in his ears, \"Is it true then . . .do you really have the . . . the scar?\" Idly, Harry traced the scar on his forehead once more. What had he said to Moody? \"I\'ve only done it once, Moody. And it had nothing to do with me.\" According to Dumbledore, that time was all Lilly Potter.

Suddenly Harry felt as if he would choke. He sat up straight, trying to breathe evenly. If his mother had been that close to him in the room when Voldemort tried to kill him, if what Moody was suggestwerewere true, there was only one conclusion he could reach about his parents\' death. \"It had everything to do with me.\"