Lightning Strike

Cho Chang made her way through the crowd as quickly as possible. Beside her two of her companions, John Allwright and Marietta Edgecomb kept pace with ease. They where dressed plainly, having been forced to wear what they could find while on the run. Each one of them was a known member of Dumbledore's army, and even though they had graduated the previous year, where still a target for the Death Eaters.

The minute Cho had gotten wind of a change in policy at the ministry of magic she packed her bag and left, along with her best friend Marietta. Nine months with literally zero contact with anyone, be they friends or family. The only other human soul they had come across was John, when they saved him from a gang of four snatchers. That had been four months ago.

"Cho..." john whispered as he nudged her shoulder and pointed upwards. She followed his arm skyward, and cursed under her breath when she saw the shapes of two Dementors circling overhead. "What do we do?" he asked.

"Act casual," Marietta hissed as all three reached for their wands. "Make for the cover of the trees. Hopefully they won't see us."

"And if they've got snatcher backup?" John shot back quietly as he picked up his pace somewhat. Cho grabbed both his arm and Marietta's, pulling them both to a stop.

"Look," she whispered. Five figures in long, black cloaks where walking towards them. Each carried a wand, ready to be used at any minute. And there was no mistaking their intent. Especially once they saw the three refugees. "Run..." Cho hissed as she turned around and began to sprint through the crowd. A streak of blueish light streaked past her head, and she tucked in between two buildings for cover. Hoarse shouting followed her, along with more streaks of light. She bounded around a corner, only to find it was a dead end. "Ascendio!" she cried, pointing her wand upwards.

Immedietly her body flew into the air and landed on the roof. Barely pausing to regain her senses, she broke into a free-run across the closely knit rooftops that made up the landscape of Crawley, England. Two jets of light streaked past her body as she leaped over a gap between buildings. As soon as she landed, she turned to face her lone attacker, shouting "incarcerous!" a series of ropes flew out of the end of her wand and lashed themselves around her pursuer.

Cho veered to the left, running parallel to John And Marietta, who ran on the street-level back alley. They where being chased by a single Death Eater, who was firing spells left and right like a madman. Cho watched as John turned and fired a non-verbal stunning spell back at the dark lord's servant, who crumpled.

"Up here!" Cho shouted to her two companions, who turned their heads upwards. In unison, both leaped upwards with a magically-enhanced jump. Within seconds they where bounding towards a clearing of trees that marked the edge of the city.

"Why can't we disapperate?" Marietta snapped mid-stride.

"They probably cast one of those spells that makes it impossible," John panted in response. "Like at Hogwarts."

"Great," Cho huffed as she pushed her body even harder, "then there's no way we'll survive this. We can't outrun them and..."

"Look out!" John shouted as the two Dementors swooped down for an attack. Reaching deep within the recesses of her memory, Cho recalled the day Cedric had asked her to the Yule Ball.

"Expecto Patronum!" She shouted. A silver swan burst forth from her wand and charged towards the floating monsters. Soon after becoming entangled in the silver glow the black-clad creatures fled, alleviating a portion of the sense of fear that had been instilled in the air. But only for a few seconds, as curses started flying. Out of the corner of her eye, Cho saw all five death eaters running towards them at a steady pace. One which the three outlawed wizards couldn't match for very long.

"The anti-apparation spell's boundaries should end with the city," John said as his chest heaved. "if we maake it there, we can escape."

"Yeah," Marietta quipped as a series of explosions erupted on both sides of Cho's vision. "But getting there without being killed is the hard part!" she continued as they finally reached the first few trees, "And ..."

"Crucio!" One of the Death Eaters shouted, and a streak of light impacted Marietta's back, forcing her to the ground, writhing in pain. Cho forced her body to turn on a dime as she cast a shield charm, effectively blocking three curses that would have otherwise struck her body.

"Immobulous!" John shouted before diving behind a nearby tree. Cho followed his lead, finding cover behind a large rock. Several spells hit the rock and ricocheted off. "Locomotor Mortis!" Twin jets of emerald flew overhead, and impacted a large oak behind them as Cho reached out from cover.

Reducto!" she shouted, aiming her wand towards one of the death eaters. The spell landed cleanly, and the man disappeared into nothingness. But his companions attacks did not let up, as a flurry of green and red sparks flew in her direction.

"Incendio Maxima!" someone shouted, and a ring of roaring fire sprung to life around the combatants. It's blaze created an inferno that moved inwards ever so slowly. Laughter cried out over the din of flame. "Come out come out and play kiddies!"

"We don't bite!" a second voice called out, dripping with derision. "Much!"

"Drop your wands and we'll come out!" John shouted back as he nodded to Cho.

"Oooh he knows how to play!" A death Eater said challengingly, "Confringo!" A blast rocked the area, sending Cho sprawling backwards as the rock behind which she had taken cover vaporized. Using her Quidditch training, she rolled to her feet in record time.

"Stupefy!" she shouted as she dived for cover behind a tree, only to have it explode in a shower of splinters. "Portego!" she said, casting a desperate barricade between herself and a series of incoming spells as John and Marietta fired n offensive flurry, matched evenly by that of the death eaters as Cho once more dived towards cover. A shower of red followed her, with one spell nearly striking her foot.

She used the brief lapse in spells to assess the situation. Two of the death eaters where down, they where all surrounded by fire and Marietta was wounded. In her heart, she knew it wouldn't end well no matter what. So she decided to go out on her terms. Fighting like Cedric had.

"Depulso!" she shouted as she broke cover. "Pertrificus Totalus! Stupefy!" Two of her spells hit their targets, but the third was deftly blocked by a powerful shield charm.

"Crucio!" the remaining death eater snarled, and intense pain shot through her body. Cho dropped to the ground as every muscle in her body clenched at once. She writhed on the ground as bolts of pain coursed through her body.

"Incarc..." she heard John shout, only to be cut of by the deft shout of an unfamiliar curse.

"Hmmm..." the lone servant of the Dark lord sneered as he stood over Cho's still-incapacitated form. "What shall I do with a couple of runaways like you?" The foul-breathed man continued as he knelt beside Cho, whispering into her ear. "I've got something special for you my dear, I..." The man's words where cut off by a loud crash. A blurry black shape swept into her field of view, crashing against that of the Death Eater. Both figures tumbled to the ground.

"That's not how you treat a woman!" was followed by a loud series of smacks and grunts of pain. Cho found herself able to move once more, and got to her feet steadily. She took one look at her saviour, who was dressed in ripped jeans and a black leather jacket. He had a thick, muscular frame with little neck. And he was pounding the death eater into the ground with his bare hands.

"Cho!" John shouted as she felt something heat up in her jacket pocket. She turned to her fellow magician as she reached inside her jacket. Her hand caught the source of the heat, a small gold coin. Developed by Hermione Granger for the members of Dumbledore's army to use as a means of communication. She had always kept the coin close in the past few months, knowing that she was a member of a resistance that was dedicated to fighting Voldemort and his followers. Then her heart skipped a beat. The numbers on the coin had changed into wording.

"Lightning has struck."

That one phrase lifted her spirits enough to allow a smile to etch across her features. "John!" she shouted, "Marietta! He's back!"

"Who?" John asked desperately.

"Harry!" Cho cheered, "he's calling us!"

"Harry?" John blurted, "Harry who? Not Harry P"

"Yes! Harry's come out of hiding?" Marietta cut in as she got to her feet, barely able to keep the excitement out of her voice. "Where?"

"Hogwarts!" Cho replied, "we've gotta go now!" she said before turning to her mysterious saviour and saying, "thank you...thank you for that...who are you...?"

"It's no problem," the man replied as he wiped the blood off his hands, "and you can tell Harry that Ickle Diddykins has always got his back."