Desperate

*Lovegood House an hour ago*

"The Elder Wand," he said, and he drew a straight vertical line on the parchment. "The Resurrection Stone," he said, and he added a circle on top of the line. "The Cloak of Invisibility," he finished, enclosing both line and circle in a triangle, to make the symbol that so intrigued Hermione. "Together," he said, "the Deathly Hallows."

"It's not Grindelwald's mark, like Viktor said?" Harry asked.

"Merlin, no. It's a common misconception. Few wizards ever realized that the Deathly Hallows were genuine items. Most people thought that there were things that Beedle the Bard had made up to entertain young wizards and witches. That is a children's tale, told to amuse rather than to instruct. Those of us who understand these matters, however, recognize that the ancient story refers to three objects, or Hallows, which, if united, will make the possessor the Master of Death," Xenophilius said.

Harry and Hermione glanced nervously at each other.

"Harry, if You-Know-Who knew about this, we're doomed," Hermione whispered lowly in Harry's ear.

"Don't worry. He was only looking for the wand. I'm just glad Grindelwald didn't have it," he whispered back.

Harry stood up with Hermione following as well. "Well, sir, thank you for your time but we must be off. Good day," Hermione announced as she took Harry's hand and dragged him toward the front door.

Xenophilius, however, ran after them and blocked the door. Harry and Hermione stared at him, surprised. "Sir?" Harry asked. Xenophilius seemed to be mentally fighting with himself and shook his head.

"I'm sorry... they have my Luna. He... He has my Luna," Xenophilius stammered. The teens' eyes widened as they realized what he was about to do.

Harry addressed him, "Sir, please, don't do it. We'll bring Luna back, I promise. You don't have to give us up." Xenophilius shook his head once again.

"No... I have to... You can't... She's with... VOLDEMORT!!"

At once, cracks were heard outside the house. Harry curse mentally. Hermione apologized to Xenophilius as she sent a stunner to the older man. He collapsed on the floor, out like a light. Hermione grabbed Harry's hand, closed her eyes and thought of an area, and attempted to Apparate. When the feeling of being sucked through a tube didn't come, she opened her eyes to find they were still in Xenophilius' house.

"Anti-Apparation wards!!" she whimpered lowly.

"My Invisibility Cloak!!" Harry said in alarm. Hermione began to rummage through her beaded bag when the front door was blasted through its hinges.

"This is the Lovegood bloke, innit?" a gruff voice said, probably having seen Xenophilius' unconscious form.

"Of course it is, Scabior. Someone was 'ere. Search the house!" a familiar rough voice said. Harry's eyes widened as he recognized the voice as Fenrir Greyback's, the werewolf that bit Remus as a child and Bill Weasley. Hermione pulled out a bundle and held it out to Harry. Both of them were wrapped in the cloak in an instant as a Snatcher turned to the corner. Harry crouched low with Hermione in his arms, posed to protect her from the Snatchers any minute.

"Ennervate!" the gruff voice, which belonged to a man named Scabior, exclaimed, probably to bring Xenophilius back to the land of the living.

Thumping sounds were heard as large footsteps landed on the wood floor. Ruffling of clothes were heard as well as a gasp.

"Where are they?!" Fenrir growled.

Harry put a finger on his lips as he pulled Hermione up into a standing position. They rounded to corner to find Xenophilius dangling in mid-air with Fenrir's hand on his neck.

"Th-They were here a while ago, I swear," Xenophilius begged.

Harry pulled Hermione to the front door slowly as she became unresponsive and just stared at the scene before them. He practically carried her to the front door to avoid stepping on the rubble. As soon as they reached the front door, Harry pulled her firmer to him as he walked past the wards.

"Come on, Hermione!! Where do we go now?!" he asked when they were out of earshot.

Hermione stared at him, alarmed. "You're not serious, right? That's Luna's father in there!! We have to help him!!"

"Hermione, if you haven't noticed, he almost sold us out to him!! We have to go now!!"

"I understand why he did that, Harry. He was desperate and wasn't thinking straight. Imagine if you were in his position and He has someone you love. What would you do?"

Harry felt conflicted. He did understand why Xenophilius did what he did. If Hermione was abducted, he'd give himself up, too. But he wouldn't risk the fact that they might get caught. And he can't handle the fact that he'd have failed to protect Hermione. He glanced at her unblinking and firm stare as she waited for him to make a move. He sighed exasperatedly. When Hermione makes a decision, she is unrelenting. And Harry can't deny her anything, especially when her heated gaze is fixed on him. He can't help but find her beautiful even in this moment.

"Fine. Let's go," he almost growled out. Hermione pulled the Invisibility Cloak from them and stuffed it into her beaded bag as Harry rushed to the front door.

"Harry, wait!!" she ran after him. The Snatchers' heads snapped to the direction of Hermione's voice as they saw Harry Potter and the mudblood run after them. Fenrir Greyback sneered. He nodded to the Snatchers as Harry sent a stunner towards them. He stunned Xenophilius and turned to the two Undesirables.

A fierce battle ensued. Harry and Hermione stood off against five Snatchers with Fenrir Greyback. The werewolf proved a formidable opponent. He was face off against Harry with two other Snatchers.

"Fancy seeing you here, Potter. The Dark Lord was right. You can't stop helping others. Pathetic hero complex," Fenrir snarled, hoping to get a reaction out of the younger wizard.

"Save it, Greyback. I want this over with quickly," Harry growled. Fenrir granted it to him as Harry shot a cutting hex towards the two Snatchers. They dropped to the ground, unconsious, and on the verge of death.

"Crucio!!" a red beam shot out of Fenrir's wand and went straight to Harry. He managed to dodge and sent a stunner in Fenrir's direction. Beams shot out their wands back and forth, hoping to overpower the other. They both proved unrelenting and strong willed. Harry managed to avoid glancing at Hermione to check if she was alright. He knew she was holding her ground very well. He focused all his strength to the werewolf in front of him. He felt angered. He was angry at this... this... monster who made Remus' and Bill's lives hell. He was going to avenge them.

In an angry streak, Harry sent a barrage of spells the werewolf's way. "Confringo! Incarcerous! Stupefy! Expulso! Bombarda! Furnunculus! Diffindo! Petrificus Totalus! Sectumsempra!!"

Fenrir had difficulty blocking and dodging the beams of light sent his way. He managed to block most of them but the last curse caught him. At once, deep, sword-like gashes formed in his body as he stared at the wizard before him in anger. He managed to glance at the witch a few meters away from them who overpowered her opponents and was approaching Harry. In a desperate move, he pointed his wand towards her. Harry's eyes widened as he looked behind him and saw Hermione approaching him.

"Hermione, no!!" Harry exclaimed as he broke in a dead run towards her. Hermione stopped dead on her tracks as she saw a cutting hex come her way. Harry reached her before the hex did, faced it, and cast a Protego around them to block the beam. The hex, overpowered, managed to go through the shield charm and went straight to Harry's form. His eyes widened in pain as blood spurted from his mouth. He barely heard Hermione's scream as he collapsed on the ground.

The last thing he heard was the words of the killing curse before everything went black.