Chapter 1

"I can't see anything!"

"That's because it's dark, you blithering idiot!"

"Both of you shush, or so help me, I will hex you stupid."

"He started it," muttered Ron. "Been talking since the Ministry Foyer."

"Shut up, will you?" hissed someone else ahead of them. "Ron, you'll be marrying her soon, so you'd best just do as she says."

They all fell silent, making their way slowly and cautiously along the corridor. The woman in the group suddenly stopped.

"Harry, do you hear that?"

"You too?" he whispered.

"Hear what?" asked Ron.

"Some sort of humming," Harry answered. "Any ideas, Hermione?"

"None that make any logical sense," she replied shortly.

"We're dealing with Dark Wizards, Hermione; logic doesn't necessarily apply," said the first man.

"Do you have any bright ideas, Cormac?" she hissed, "because if not you'd really better shut up!"

Hermione saw Harry's head of messy hair silhouetted against the artificial light of a room as he softly opened the door ahead of them. His head disappeared and she heard a soft, "Hominum revelio." After a moment he whispered, "All clear. Come on."

The others followed him through the door silently, careful not to let the door slam, checking for any jinxes that alert the master of the house to their presence. The last young man to come through the door closed it softly.

"Neville," breathed Hermione, "did you see anyone behind us?"

"Not a soul," he whispered back.

The five of them moved on to the door at the end of the great room, and after Harry checked that hallway, they proceeded. This hallway was just as dark as the last one, and their progress was immediately slowed drastically.

"Why can't we use a Lumos?" whispered Cormac.

"Cormac, I swear to God – "

"Sh!" hissed Hermione. "Thomeone's coming!" She spoke this way, not because she suffered a lisp, but because a whispered 's' is much more likely to be heard.

Everyone muttered quick Disillusionment Charms, and all went still. A door at the very end of the hall was opened, and four men quickly came through it. By the light of their wands, none of them seemed very happy. Hermione recognized them as Burl Avery, Donovan Nott, Thorfinn Rowle, and Rabastan Lestrange. All were dangerous men, and all were very, very upset.

"They will fix the situation," Lestrange was growling. "I will see to that myself."

"Yeah, if they don't stop you," retorted Nott. "They already stopped the Dark Lord, and in any case, according to Fletcher, they're looking for us just as much as we're looking for them."

Lestrange eyed him coolly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"The Ministry's allowed Potter, Weasley, and Granger to help the Aurors track us all down," said Nott. "And we're as high on the list as it's possible to get. Haven't you been reading the Prophet? They're scouring the country for us!"

"Could be here any time!" barked Rowle.

"If they're not coming up the drive already," said Avery quietly.

"They wouldn't dare," Nott snorted. "They wouldn't come here. Not those puny, meddling kids. They'll want it on their turf. Try to smoke us out, maybe. Hide behind their old hag's skirts and wait for us to come. They wouldn't dare come here."

"Oh is that so?" sneered Lestrange. "I suppose Potter accidentally disarmed the Dark Lord, I suppose Granger and Weasley accidentally helped him destroy the Dark Lord's Horcruxes, and, hey, why would any one of them have meant to damage our cause? We have, after all, been so damn hospitable." The other men just stared at him uncertainly. "You can bet your arse they're coming, Nott. They're likely already inside the house, waiting for us around a corner. They did manage to break into Gringotts; they'd manage the manor, just you wait and see. Be ready for a fight."

"Or you could just come quietly," came Harry's voice, "and your sentences would likely be cut in half by a – well, I wouldn't say sympathetic, but I'm sure the Wizengamot would take note."

Lestrange didn't wait. He fired off a curse in the general direction of Harry's voice. Hermione sent up a shield and the curse fizzled out. Lestrange's comrades began firing off spells as well, and there was quickly no longer a point to the Disillusionment Charm. Gradually the group let them fall, but it did nothing to alleviate the number of flying curses. Cormac let off an Expulso, which caused the wall to explode behind the Death Eaters. The force of the spell caused everyone to fall to their feet. Hermione could see that Nott and Avery were both on the floor. Nott's head was bashed in quite badly, so there was no chance he wasn't dead. An examination of Avery would be conducive later, but certainly not now, as there just wasn't the time.

Lestrange was busy dueling Harry, Neville, and Hermione, and Rowle was trying desperately to back him up. It was a losing battle, though, Hermione could see it in Lestrange's eyes. He set off one last spell, one Hermione didn't recognize, and the floor gave way beneath their feet. And then she was falling.

Falling.

Falling.

Falling.

Falling.

It felt as though they'd never stop, as though they'd never reach the bottom. Where were they? What was beneath them? Were they really falling, or was it a simulation? Was Lestrange still alive? What about Ron? Dear God, Ron! Hermione looked around frantically, but there was no sign of him. There was no sign of anyone but her. What had Lestrange done?

Falling.

Falling.

Falling.

Would this ever end? How long had she been stuck in this limbo? It felt like hours. Were the others experiencing the same sensation, or was her experience particular to her? She felt sick from the falling, but couldn't see anyway out of it. "Arresto Momentum!" she shouted. Nothing happened. Her falling didn't stop, it didn't even slow by a fraction. She kept plummeting towards the unknown, the nothingness. Then suddenly

WHAM!

CRACK!

CRUNCH!

THUD!

Hermione hit something hard with tremendous force, bounced off it, fell through what felt like a roof, crashed through a floor, and then hit another floor with such momentum it knocked the air out of her chest. Before she could register her surroundings, her injuries, or even if she was still alive, Hermione felt one body slam down on top of her, then a second, and then a third. There was no point in moving just yet, as she still couldn't breathe, but somebody let out a wounded groan.

There was a long silence, and then Hermione opened her eyes. Cormac was spread-eagled on top of her.

"Cormac?" she whispered.

He turned his head. "Hey, Granger."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"No broken bones, or missing limbs?"

"No."

"Good. Now get off me, or I'm going to be very upset."

He moaned painfully, but dragged himself off her and rolled onto the hard floor. Hermione stared up at what appeared to be the ceiling of a storeroom. At first she wondered what use Lestrange could possibly have for a potions cabinet, but then she realized that the items on the shelves weren't potions ingredients, and if the markings on each item were any indication, they were all packaged belongings of Borgin and Burke's.

"Harry, are you there?"

"Yeah," he moaned.

"Harry, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

He grunted, oomph'd, rolled over, considered what Hermione had said, and then swore.

"This isn't good," said Cormac, catching on.

"Is that what your intelligence is telling you?" snapped Harry. "How did we get to Borgin and Burke's, Hermione?"

"Well, gee," she said dryly, "why don't we ask Lestrange?"

"Point taken," he said, trying to sit up. "Careful getting up; there's no telling what we have or haven't broken." He reached over and put a hand on Neville's shoulder. "You okay, Neville?"

There was another moan, and then Neville stirred. "Yeah," he rasped. "I'm okay. Just a little winded, is all."

"Where's Ron?" Hermione said, still not moving from her position.

"No idea," said Harry, looking about in alarm. "He's not in here."

Hermione closed her eyes. 'Please let Ron be okay. Please let Ron be okay.' She breathed deep, and then opened her eyes again. "We have to find Mr. Borgin and ask him about the passage. Then we should contact Kingsley and tell him what we've found. We'll find Lestrange, and if he's hurt Ron, that bastard will be in a very unhappy place for a very long time."

"Sounds like a good plan, Hermione," said Harry. "Except, how do we explain to Mr. Borgin what we're doing in his storeroom?"

"You could explain it to me," said a cool voice, "and I could explain it to him."

Hermione shot up, much too quickly, and looked around at the voice. When her head had stopped spinning, she looked to Harry. He looked a mix of terrified and pissed off, and Hermione could only guess that the devastatingly attractive young man who had found them was a Death Eater, or was very keen on being one.