FicWad

Apologies for the late update, folks, but I got sucked into an awesome new MMORPG called Eden Eternal. You should definitely go check it out if you are into MMOs, because it is truly phenomenal. Anyway, here is the next chapter.
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Return to Privet Drive

The maw of the Netherworld closed up behind Harry as he made his way back to Privet Drive, awash in a turmoil of emotions. As he looked back upon the events of the day, he felt disgust at himself, and wanted nothing more than to just forget that the day had ever occurred. But as much as he wanted to, the face of the dead Ministry employee kept forcing its way to the fore of his mind. A person that he had killed, albeit indirectly.

He shook his head violently. No, he hadn't killed that man. Those wretched Minions had done it, even after he specifically instructed them not to harm him. It was their fault, not his. Feeling slightly better, he turned around the corner to see quite a sight before him. Surrounded by a cordon of police tape, a giant crater had been carved out of a sizeable chunk of the block. Even more amazing, he recognized it as what had been the alleyway in which Piers and his gang had cornered him. How had he survived an explosion like that? More importantly, what had caused it?

"There you are!" Harry whirled around, drawing his wand and pointing it at the feminine voice that had just shouted. A woman with bushy brown hair greeted him, and he relaxed, recognizing his best friend. "We've been looking for you for ages, Harry, where've you been?"

"Hold it right there, Hermione." She stopped, staring at Harry curiously as he kept his wand leveled at her. "Which bottle did you tell me to drink at the end of our first year?"

"Harry, what're you talking about? You must've drunk plenty of bottles, what kind of question is that?"

"You're not Hermione," Harry whispered quietly.

He shot off a stunner towards the woman that stood across from him, but a shield suddenly appeared in front of her. The pleasant demeanour washed away from her face as she raised her wand to meet his. "Not as idiotic as you seem, eh, Potter? Very well then, if I must take you using force, I shall."

Suddenly, the air was thick with spells as the two began to duel. Harry blocked as many spells as he could, dodging those he could not, but he found himself almost completely on the defensive. His opponent was a madman – or madwoman he supposed – shooting off spells like machine-gun fire. He hardly ever had a moment to retaliate except for an odd Stunner or Disarming Hex that he could spare, but his opponent easily sidestepped his meager offence. Off-handedly, Harry had been hoping that his underage magic would be enough to warrant a visit from a Ministry official, but no one seemed to be coming; he was on his own.

Meanwhile, the Polyjuiced Death Eater laughed gleefully. "Is this the best that the famous Harry Potter has to offer? The Dark Lord holds you in such high regard."

The laughter sounded wrong emanating from the mouth of his best friend, and it irritated Harry. Narrowing his eyes, Harry growled and shouted "Bombarda!" The ground exploded in front of the Death Eater with such force that it kicked up a giant cloud of dust and rocky shrapnel. Harry was stunned at how powerful his spell was, certainly much more than it had been yesterday. Was it because of his foray into the Netherworld? The spell stone he had collected came to his mind, but the momentary distraction cost him, as a yellow spell hit him in the legs, causing him to fall over. A red spell quickly followed, and his wand was ripped out of his hand.

The person disguised as Hermione strolled out of the cloud, dusting off her robes and nonchalantly picking up Harry's discarded wand. "Such a pity, Potter. I expected more from you. However, I am curious as to how you realized I was not your precious little Mudblood friend."

"Because I knew Hermione would remember what bottle I drank when we were looking for the Sorcerer's Stone in first year."

The imposter sneered at Harry just as another voice called out, "It was the smallest one!"

Harry's captor whirled around, but took a spell straight to the chest and landed next to Harry with a heavy thump. A bushy brunette entered his vision for the second time that day as he pushed himself to his feet. "Boy, am I glad to see you Hermione." Noticing the person behind her, he added, "And you as well, Luna."

"Likewise, Harry," Luna replied in her dreamy voice.

Hermione, however, was not so quick to answer, wand leveled at Harry. "Back in our third year, who did we save from death and how?"

Harry sighed with relief. "Buckbeak and Sirius Black, and we used a Time-Turner to go back and save them." He scratched his head ashamedly, adding, "And I suppose you already answered my question, huh?" Hermione stared at Harry sternly, then strode up to him and punched him hard on the arm. "OW! What the bloody hell was that for?"

"What? You disappear for almost a whole day, leaving behind nothing but a giant crater, and youhave the audacity to ask me what that was for?" She punched him again. "It was for leaving me so damned worried, that's what!" She lunged out at him and Harry flinched, but found her wrapped around his chest rather than bruising his arm. "You could've been dead for all I knew!"

Suddenly, Hermione was crying into the chest of a very perplexed Harry. He looked at Luna, who gestured for him to wrap his arms around Hermione, so he returned the hug, noticing how light and snug in his arms she felt. "I'm sorry, Hermione. It's been a rather hectic day, that's for sure." He stood there for a minute, doing his best to comfort Hermione.

The moment was interrupted when Luna spoke. "I do so quite enjoy watching you two cuddle, but I do think that it would be in our best interest to leave before more bad guys arrive."

"Right," said Harry. He reluctantly parted with the much calmer Hermione, then regarded the unconscious imposter as he retrieved his wand. "What should we do with her?"

"Well, assuming she is a Death Eater, we can't just leave her here," mused Hermione.

Luna piped up at this point. "What if you tied her up and dropped her off at the Ministry, Hermione? I'm sure they'd keep her out of trouble for a small while at least."

Hermione nodded in agreement, muttering "Incarcerous." The imposter was tightly bound and Hermione gave a gentle wave good-bye to the pair. A stern look clearly told Harry that he was not allowed to move until she came back, and then she was gone with a loud crack.

Harry stared at the spot where Hermione had left, then turned to Luna. He felt slightly uncomfortable standing there in silence, but Luna seemed in high spirits as usual. "So… How has your summer been, Luna?"

"Oh, well enough, thank you very much for asking, Harry. My father and I recently acquired an infestation of Baltoors, which like to trip people walking up stairs, but fairly uneventful besides that." Harry nodded politely, but almost fell over when she continued with, "So how was your day in the Netherworld? It must be frightfully hot down there."

"N-Netherworld? Uh, I don't know what you are talking about, Luna," he stammered.

"Of course you do, Harry. There's nothing to be ashamed of, being the Overlord is a very important job."

Looking around in paranoia, Harry quickly whispered to Luna, "Look, I don't know what you do or do not know about those disgusting creatures, Luna, but I want nothing to do with them. They killed an innocent Ministry employee and show absolutely no remorse or regret for violence. They are the epitome of evil."

"Quite right you are, Harry. I personally find Minions to be rather cuddly, but to each his own, I suppose." A brief pause, and then Luna continued, "I am very disappointed to hear that you turned down the opportunity, Harry, but they say that Evil will always find a way." Harry scoffed. "If you do end up returning to your job, however, please know that I would be more than glad to become one of your Mistresses."

Harry's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "M-Mistress?"

Before he could pursue the discussion further, however, a loud crack signified the return of Hermione. "Come along, you two, we shouldn't stay very long. Who knows if there are any more of Voldemort's goons lurking about." She grabbed Harry's arm as well as Luna's and Harry found himself being sucked through the inner-tube of Apparition and hopefully away from his horrible day.
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Nothing much to say about this chapter from my end. You telling me stuff is always appreciated though. And you shall forever be my favorites if you do review. 3