Three against one is not fair odds, but Harry stood his ground, holding onto Hermione huddled in a heap in a corner of the train compartment. It was then that a thunderbolt tore through the compartment blasting a hole in the ceiling. In the ensuing chaos, Harry dropped his wand, but the boy would not let go of Hermione to get it.

“It would appear that this little battle is over chosen one,” the woman with white hair proclaimed.

“Villainy,” her companion, who was staring out of the new skylight tapped her on the shoulder.

“Not now Exeter, can’t you see, this is my moment of triumph and no one is going to ruin this for me. Bellatrix can move over, I am going to be the Dark Lord’s …”

“Villainy!” the other man screamed. Behind them the compartment door blasted open.

“It’s more over than you think Villainy!” Ottery exclaimed coughing and brushing the dust from his face. "Gah, they never show this in the movies ..." the boy coughed, "some heroic entrance."

“Inflamo!” Ginny exclaimed exploding the other side of the train compartment.

“Ginny what the …?!” Ottery exclaimed.

“She must have learned it from the Neanderthal,” Angel remarked stepping next to Ottery.

“Avada Kedavra!” a forbidden spell went whizzing past Ottery. It sent a chill down his spine, as he’d missed that particular green tinged curse too often barely by the skin of his teeth. But, what was more jarring still was that the curse had come from behind him not the Death Eaters in front of him and the curse had not been aimed at him.

Next to him Angel acted quickly, the grey haired boy threw himself at the female Death Eater, Villainy, pushing her down and kicked the other man, Exeter, off his feet a split instant before the spell flew between them.

Ottery turned around in time to see Ron pushing him out of the way. The red haired boy ran towards Harry who was holding Hermione in his arms.

“Is she all right, Harry?!” the boy screamed in pained agony.

Harry couldn’t face Ron, he turned away as Ron took the bushy haired girl from his arms. The girl who’d fought with him on so many occasions who constantly put him in his place, who secretly made Ron try harder at everything, who made him … well, she made him happier, the boy suddenly realized. She lay in his arms like a lifeless doll.

“Hermione,” the boy whispered standing up, “please Hermione, you can’t … you can’t leave me, baby. You can’t … I … I love you.”

Ron was not crying but his face was contorted in the most horrible mask of pain Ottery had ever seen. An unbidden anger came at him from inside, that anyone could hurt an innocent like Hermione, that anyone could hurt his Ronald Weasley, who was dearer to Ottery than just a mate, however unrequited that love, and he found himself crying and screaming.

“Oh f-,” Angel exclaimed as he saw the dark haired boy running out of the compartment.

Over the course of a lifetime there are many things a person can acquire: wealth, friends, enemies, knowledge, with the exception of wealth Ottery had an overabundance of the others and of particular interest in this instant was his knowledge.

“The best defense against the dark arts” Ottery’s first teacher had said that first day of class in Hogwarts back in 1915, “is to know the dark arts you’re fighting. You cannot best your enemy unless you know him.”

That had led Ottery on a constant quest to know the dark arts, not to practice them so much as to know how they worked … Teddy had helped him there with the rudimentary mechanics and how the spells worked but until that day he had not made use of them. Still, when one is pushed over the edge …

“Crucio!” Ottery exclaimed putting a man to his knees. As a woman walked into the compartment he gazed into her eyes and hexed her, “Imperio!”

“Go! Stop them! I don’t care how, I don’t care what happens to you and neither do you, just do it!” the dark haired boy commanded her and the Death Eater walked out ready to betray her comrades with no care for her own safety, an automaton of death.

Elsewhere on the train …

Teddy stopped and turned to look at Mrs. Jones. “Oh crap!”

“What? Are you hit?”

“No, it’s Ottery … we need to stop this train right flippin’ now!”

Teddy blasted open a window. “Hold me,” he asked.

“I don’t think this is the right time …”

“My legs, toots. Hold my legs while I hang out the window. I'm gonna stop this train the hard way!” Teddy exclaimed.

While Mrs. Jones held his legs Teddy dangled out of the train window pointed his wand at the train tracks ahead of them and fired a spell.

Teddy’s spell had been aimed at the tracks ahead of the train and they expanded busting the tracks breaking them apart as the train ran for them the first car jumped the tracks and crashed into a forest. It was followed by car after car jackknifing and slamming one into the other. Flocks of birds took to the skies as trees tumbled, windows shattered, wood splintered, the world exploded in chaos as compartments flipped over, students flew out of windows, people died and in what seemed like an agonizing eternity the Hogwarts Express came to its final stop.

♥



I must say that your emotional response has left me quite speechless ...



Perceptive Lari but ... this isn't anime. Besides, if I already whacked Ernie, Hermione, Colin and Cormac* ... *Teddy interrupts* Oh yeah, they don't know about uhm ... Why wouldn't I whack Neville? *I've hidden that for spoilers sake.

Thank you Lari.

I guess this is the part where I should confess something to you two. Being that you're my only two readers and my loyalest. Uhm, this is likely my last fic on SS ever. I always planned it that way, I had wanted to make it more epic *ahem* I mean EPIC! than Love's Whimsical Melancholy but ... alas ... I think I've derailed that as you really can't be epic with Ottery around ... I know ... weird. Neways, do you read mangas Lari? Just curious. Connie uhm, uh, dunno what to add except ... from the beginning of this fic it was supposed to, or rather is going to be my last SS Fic. I plan to focus on my own writing from now on and on my art and ... well, don't be surprised if I make this fic run for the next two or ten years I love SS a lot but I need to shift the focus of my writing from fun fiction to fiction that's mine that I can send to a publisher ... someday. *shrugs*

Neways, lets keep that our little secret shall we girls? I always intended for Marxist and the X-mas story to end shortly and well before Human Nature. They're not epic fics like this one ... so ... but yeah, I'm pouring all my heart and soul into this tale, which is why it's taking so long because it's my farewell song ...

*plays you all Dream a little dream of me*

BBL