Just a heads up that the (i.e. #4.3) will be released on ! Hope you're ready for it.

x Noelle

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Unleashes cursed fire.

Dean was a lush green as the months spiralled into summer. But there was something about this place that always made a chill run down his spine. Even Theo was quiet as they flew through the forest together on their brooms.

They stopped at a clearing. The Ruins was up ahead; a buzz of magic that alerted Draco to the presence of wards. "See anything?" he asked, as Theo came up alongside him. They were both under Disillusionment charms, and he could only guess where his friend was. "Or feel anything?"

"Yes," came Theo's snarky reply. "I feel the bloody heat and it's killing me. Do you think you can make it snow?"

He rolled his eyes. Blaise or Pansy would've been quieter choices, but he'd always worked best with Theo. His friend was a fantastic duellist with killer instincts. And Theo always had his back. "Stay right here," Draco said. With Theo's inactive Dark Mark, there was no way Theo could get in without triggering anything. "If the alarm sounds, light the phials and get into the building immediately."

"I know, I know. If you remind me one more time, I swear I'll hex you."

"As if you fucking could."

Leaving Theo behind, he moved forward on his broom. A tingle of magic brushed past him as he inched through the wards. He held his breath and waited. Nothing. With a surge of confidence, he flew straight to one of the windows on the third floor. It was latched shut, but he quickly undid the magical locks.

"Alohomora," Draco directed the wand at the latch, and it clicked open.

He sighed in relief and climbed into the room. Then he pulled the door open, wincing at the loud creak that it made. The place was empty, just as he'd suspected. He made his way through the top floor, collecting every important piece of information he could find.

He soon arrived at a large room with brass doors on the second floor. This one was important. It had been his target from the very beginning. He'd been here when Bellatrix had enchanted the place, and he occasionally came here to retrieve information for the Dark Lord.

He placed one hand on the brass knocker. His fingers itched to open the doors. He could. He'd always had full access to this room. But...no. Not this time. It was too risky.

Just as he drew away, a sharp searing pain shot through his arm. He hissed and fell to his knees, curling up in foetal position as he dragged his arm to his chest. Merlin. It felt like his arm was blazing. Like someone had dragged him over a pit of hellfire and dipped his bloody arm in.

As his mind sank into a haze of pain, he registered one last thing in the background. The high-pitched shriek of the siren. He'd triggered it.

The Death-Eaters were coming.

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Hermione watched as Harry shifted on his broom; an anxious, almost nauseated expression on his face. The group of them were hidden behind some bushes as they waited for Theo to give his signal. Draco had already paired them up based on their flying abilities. Blaise, who had been on the Slytherin Quidditch team, was paired with Pansy. Ginny, who'd been on the Gryffindor team, was with Luna.

Harry, on the other hand, was less than enthusiastic when Draco told him he'd be paired with Hermione. He wasn't just unenthusiastic - he was terrified.

She moved closer to him and placed a hand on his arm. "Everything alright?"

"Y-yeah..." He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and nodded jerkily. "I'm fine."

She studied him for a moment. "Is this about me falling off your broom three years ago?" His eyes widened and she shrugged. "Andromeda told me before."

He swallowed hard and hunched over in defeat. "Hermione, I'm so sorry. I think about that day all the time. I can't even begin to tell you how much I regret not holding on to you, or catching you..."

"Harry, honestly, it's fine," she shushed him, easing his worries by wrapping her arms around him. "You don't have to feel sorry, or even regret that. It wasn't your fault to begin with."

Harry kept silent, his shoulders shaking from the guilt of the past. Hermione momentarily met Pansy's curious gaze over his shoulder, and the Slytherin witch rolled her eyes, mouthing 'bloody Gryffindors'. Hermione lips tilted up in an amused grin and she shook her head.

She pulled back and met his green-eyed gaze. "I'm scared too," she admitted. "I hate heights; I hate flying. But Draco trusts you enough to pair us up, and I trust his decision. And I know that you won't lose me this time."

"Never, Hermione," he swore, his grip tightening on her elbows, a determined edge on his expression.

She started to reply, but froze when the phials heated inside her shirt. She glanced at Pansy and Blaise, then moved closer to Harry. It was time.

"Okay," Blaise murmured, climbing into his broom and lowering it so that Pansy could get on it as well. He was the one in charge of the group in Draco's absence, and Hermione thought that Blaise's calm voice made the situation a lot more bearable. "Let's go. Don't forget the Disillusionment charms."

Hermione climbed on behind Harry and wrapped her arms around his waist. A rush of wind nipped at her cheeks as they took off. Harry cast a Disillusionment charm on them midway through, and her grip tightened on him as the broom disappeared completely. He took her hand briefly to give her a reassuring squeeze, then returned his attention to flying.

They soon arrived at the Ruins. The siren's shriek was deafening, and she could barely hear anything else. Harry navigated them to the unlocked window on the third floor, and she quickly leapt off the broom when they arrive at the house.

"First floor!" she yelled to him, as she removed her Disillusionment charm. The doors on third were opened – Draco must've already gotten to them. "Pansy and Blaise are putting up shields outside, but we only have a few minutes if their shields don't hold."

"Got it," he hollered back, reaching over to pull her towards the stairs.

Ginny and Luna were on the second floor, methodically going through one room after another. She separated from Harry and went to the left wing. It didn't take long for her to find a desk with a vault of files. Thanks to the Extension charm Draco had casted for her earlier, she could easily stuff them into her satchel.

The next few rooms were empty, until she found a large coffer with the Dark Mark etched on it. "Alohomora." She directed her wand at it, but the locks remained in place. A clattering noise echoed from within when she tugged on it. Something like phials or glass bottles... She would have to take it. She lugged the box out, just as a yell came from the floor above.

"One minute!" Blaise. He'd cast an Amplifying charm so that he could be heard over the siren's wail. "Time to go!"

"This isn't good," she muttered. "Harry?"

Harry rushed out of the next room, and his eyes widened when he saw the box beside her. "Merlin, Hermione."

"Transfigure it, please. I've a feeling this is important."

"Okay." He mumbled an incantation under his breath, and she watched as the box swiftly turned into a quill.

She stuffed it into her bag and nodded. "Let's go."

"Get on." He pulled her onto the broom after him, just as a thunderous bang echoed through the building. "Oh shite, watch out! Protego!"

Her ears were momentarily deafened as rubble crashed down on them. Harry yanked her close beneath his powerful shield. When the tumbling debris stopped for a moment, she glanced upwards. The ceiling above had collapsed onto them – a destructive spell had completely destroyed the third floor.

Harry gripped her arms tightly around him and immediately took off. Pillars crumbled one by one, and he navigated them through it. Their path was blocked by a pile of debris, and she directed her want at it. "Reducto!"

The wreckage shattered to bits, and Harry flew them out of the building. Out in the courtyard, Pansy and Blaise held their round against three Death-Eaters. Her eyes widened; her fingers tightened around her wand to help them.

"Incoming, Red! Look out!

Theo's warning came out of nowhere, but the spell hit her before she even had time to react. She toppled off balance, cried as she lost her grip on Harry and promptly fell off the broom. But his hand had latched onto her wrist before she could take the plunge, and he hauled her back up, a fierce glint of determination in his eyes.

"I'm not losing you this time," he assured her, and she wrapped her arm around him.

"Thanks, Harry."

"Hang on tight." He dipped the broom downwards to avoid a hex.

Keeping one arm around him, she whirled around to cast a Knockback jinx. But as they swerved and dived, she kept losing her aim. Her mind raced through everything she'd learnt from Draco, and she quickly came up with a spell.

"Avis!" Instantly, a flock of birds came streaming out of her wand and she directed it in the direction of the three Death-Eaters who were attacking Pansy and Blaise. "Oppugno!"

The birds rapidly swarmed towards the three Death-Eaters, and she heard Harry laugh in approval. "Good one!"

"Let's get out of here. They're fine now," she told him, relieved when she saw Blaise and Pansy finish off the remaining two Death-Eaters.

"Alright – " Harry stopped when a shrill scream echoed from the other side of the courtyard. He spun the broom around. "Ginny?"

Hermione's eyes widened. He was right – it was Ginny. She'd spent only a few days with the redhead, but she could recognise her friend's scream from anywhere. Suddenly, Luna ran into sight, dragging a badly injured Ginny behind her. Their broom was nowhere to be found.

Right on their tails was a blazing flame like no other. An inferno that blazed and consumed everything in its path.

"Aguamenti!" The spell slipped past her lips before she could even think.

"It doesn't work!" Harry yelled, his voice desperate. "It's Fiendfyre, you can't destroy it."

Harry swooped the broom down, reaching out a hand to grab Ginny along the way, but Pansy and Blaise had grabbed onto both of the girls before Harry could reach them. And then Harry and Hermione were following them, zigzagging through the flames that seemed hell-bent on seeking them out.

Hermione couldn't help glancing back. Where was Draco? She'd seen Theo awhile ago, but Draco was nowhere to be found. Harry suddenly brought the broom to a halt, and she gasped when she saw what had happened. The flames were no longer behind them. They were in front now, curving in to push them back to the Ruins.

"Get back!" Harry shouted to the group in front of them. "Zabini, watch out!"

Blaise immediately reversed on his broom, but the sudden momentum caused Luna to lose her grip on Ginny. And all Hermione could hear was Harry's desperate shout while she watched in helpless horror as the redhead plunged to her death, just the way she had so long ago.

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Draco had been in a state of delirium. The pain had been mind-numbing, but he'd somehow dragged himself into the room, gritting his teeth and biting down so hard on his lip to keep from crying out he was certain that he had started bleeding. He pilfered feverishly through the shelves, his one arm rendered useless because of the searing pain, and stuffed anything valuable he could find inside his bag, including a particular stone that practically buzzed with magic.

That was how Theo found him – hunched over the desk and cradling his arm to his chest, mumbling expletives under his breath as he sorted through a stack of papers.

"Bloody hell, Draco. You triggered the alarm, didn't you?"

"Just take these." He shoved the papers at Theo, who produced a numbing potion in a small phial. "Red gave me this, just in case. Good thing she did, huh?"

Saved by Hermione Granger again. He chugged the potion, then continued to collect the documents with Theo's help. The sizzle of hexes and screams filled the air outside, and he hoped that Blaise and Pansy could hold their own against the Death-Eaters.

"Go," he told Theo at last. "Help them. Create a diversion – anything."

Theo didn't argue. He disappeared out of the room, just as a thundering crash made the ceiling of the room cave in. Draco barely had time to cast a protective shield around him before he was crushed in its entirety. Blaise's protective charms were down.

Time to go. His broom was destroyed in the crash, so he had to crawl through the debris. As soon as he stepped outside, he cast a Disillusionment charm on himself. The best way to fight was when your opponent didn't know where you were.

It was a sheer drop down to the ground, but he remained where he was, hurling hexes at any incoming enemies. Theo had vanished by then, having distracted a group of Death-Eaters away from ground zero. Blaise and Pansy were doing just fine, but Ginny and Luna could barely survive against the more skilled Death-Eaters.

A horrified shout distracted him momentarily, and he felt his heart constrict in terror when he saw Hermione hanging on for dear life as she struggled in mid-air, Potter's hand wrapped tightly around her wrist as he pulled her back up. Relief filled him just as quickly as fury did, and he didn't bat an eyelid when he shot a killing curse in the direction of the Death-Eater that had thrown Hermione off the broom in the first place.

Minutes later, a sharp scream stopped him. Then a blazing heat followed that began to consume the building whole. Fiendfyre. He knew without even having to look. That spell had become a fixture of his nightmares after he'd lost a friend to it in the Battle of Hogwarts. There was only one thing to do. Run.

Without another thought, he jumped off the ledge, casting a Cushioning charm at the bottom to break his fall, stumbling a few steps when he landed. He didn't have a broom, but he was invisible, which made it a lot easier to navigate his way through the barrage of hexes and Death-Eaters that swarmed the courtyard. His other teammates were up ahead, and Draco kept his eyes fixed on the brunette witch behind Harry. She glanced back time and time again, searching frantically for him.

But the walls of the flame soon surged ahead to block their escape. The fire started to circle them. Whoever started the Fiendfyre had perfect control of it. He heard the warning yells up ahead. Then Potter's horrified shout as his girlfriend plummeted to the ground.

Draco didn't even think before reacting, stopping in his stride to get a good aim at Ginny. "Aresto Momentum."

She slowed, the velocity of her fall decreasing exponentially before she collapsed gently onto the ground in a heap.

Draco didn't waste another moment. "Get her, Potter!" He yelled at the group ahead, and they turned their heads in his direction, frowning when they couldn't see him. He rushed forward, narrowly avoiding two killing curses that hurtled his way - damn those bloody Death-Eaters and their ability to sense movement even when their opponent was invisible. "Get her and get out! Partis Temporus!"

His spell parted a small gap between the Fiendfyre. Blaise immediately flew off with Pansy and Luna, while Harry and Hermione swooped down for Ginny. He waited until they had escaped before he released the spell and ran towards the fire. Twenty metres. Fifteen. Ten.

He reached out to cast the same charm on the Fiendfyre, only to stumble when a Crucio hit him out of nowhere.

"Fuck."

His vision blurred momentarily as he dropped to his knees. He was still invisible, he knew he was, but the person had managed to hex him all the same. After he was hit with several more Crucios that made him writhe in agony, he knew it was only a matter of time before someone came to finish him off.

Gathering his wits about him, he directed his wand towards the flames again. "Partis Temporus," he rasped, exhaling in relief when he saw the flames slide apart for him. He practically crawled the last few feet, throwing himself through the gap and crumpling up onto the singed grass ahead.

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Andromeda had let out a gasp when she saw Blaise, Pansy and Luna apparate back into the house, covered in scrapes and bruises, the broom-end charred to bits. Then came Harry, Hermione and Ginny.

Hermione knew that she and Harry were relatively unscathed thanks to his nimble flying skills, but Ginny was in a bad shape. She set the redhead witch down on the sofa, leaving Harry to hover over his girlfriend anxiously, and rushed into the kitchen to grab whatever healing potions she could.

"What happened to you?" Andromeda had already begun to cast healing spells on Luna, who'd taken some nasty hexes to the shoulder.

But the blonde witch smiled despite the split lip and shook her head. "I'm alright, Andromeda. Really."

"Where's Draco?" Andromeda glanced round the group, her eyebrows knitting in worry. "And Theo? When Theo apparated back awhile ago, he saw that none of you were here and went back again."

"Theo went back?" Blaise winced when Hermione fixed his broken wrist. "We couldn't find Draco anywhere. He was invisible, but I know he was the one who parted the Fiendfyre for us."

"There was Fiendfyre?" Andromeda looked horrified, and the others began to explain things to her.

Hermione remained silent. Where was Draco? That question looped in her mind, over and over. She'd insisted on going back for him earlier, but Harry had dragged her off. They had to stick to the plan, he'd said. Draco would never forgive him if he didn't keep her safe.

"Red? Red." Pansy shook her out of her trance. "You've already healed me. You can stop now."

"Sorry."

Pansy's features softened as she noticed how Hermione's eyes were glistening and she was practically gnawing her lip raw with worry. "Draco will be fine," said Pansy, reaching forward to grasp Hermione's hand tightly. "He always pulls through somehow."

"I have to find him," Hermione whispered. "He's not... We couldn't even find him earlier. Maybe he's been caught, or badly hurt, or... Like that time, remember? When he came back from Azkaban, a-and that time w-when..."

"Hermione." Andromeda knelt down in front of her and cupped her cheeks. "Hermione, dear, breathe. Breathe."

"She's having a panic attack," Blaise explained in a low voice to Harry and Ginny, who both had matching looks of shock as they watched Hermione. "She almost blew up the safe-house in Godric's Hollow the last time."

Harry let out a slow breath as he watched Hermione. Her eyes were fixed on Andromeda, and she nodded as the older witch spoke softly to her. Then she climbed to her feet and calmly went to fix Blaise's wounds, as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened in the past thirty seconds.