Through The Fire

The Fight In London

Saphira's personality and temperament never failed to amaze Draco. He watched from a short distance away as Harry talked with her. With a bit of spell work, Harry had enabled himself to hear the dragon language that was buried beneath the growls and rumbles that the dragon let out. He could now understand some of what she said to him. Draco imagined that some of her commentary was likely pretty sassy considering the way she playfully nudged at Harry to knock him over now and again.

At that moment, there were large heavy bandages wrapped over the dragon's eyes. Charlie Weasley had brought over a colleague from Romania that was an expert in the health of dragons. It was determined that Saphira suffered from a combination of glaucoma and an old injury that had damaged her eyes. A combination of spells and potions had been administered in an effort to restore some of her sight. Charlie would return with his associate, Andrei, that evening to remove the bandages.

"If it didn't work, it'll be okay," Harry was saying, stroking over the scales on Saphira's neck. "You do pretty well without your sight."

Saphira made a rumbling sound while Harry listened intently. A sad smile appeared on his face as he looked over at Draco. "She said that she wants to see me," Harry said, his voice wobbling slightly.

"I don't blame her," Draco replied with a grin. "If I need to, I'll describe how handsome you are to her. You'll have to translate of course. I'm sure that won't be awkward," he added with a smirk.

Harry spoke to Saphira again, resulting in the dragon making an odd sort of coughing sound. "I think she's laughing at me," he said, sounding unsure if he should be amused or offended.

There was a clatter as Ron stumbled out the front door suddenly. He ran to the two Alphas, his eyes wide. "There's an attack," he panted. "Death Eaters. They're killing muggles in London."

Harry hissed to Saphira before grabbing Draco's hand and racing back into the house. In a blink they were pulling on robes and checking their supplies. The Betas gathered close while Harry sent a quick Patronus to the wolves at Viktor's place.

Vince used disillusionment charms on each of them before they mounted brooms and took to the air, racing toward London. It wasn't long before they saw billowing black smoke rising into the air. They found a safe place to land before cancelling the charms and rushing toward the sound of screaming.

All around them buildings shuddered and the ground shook with explosions. Some cars had collided in an attempt to avoid places where the road had broken and crumbled. Tonks and Mad-Eye from the Order could be seen helping muggles escape from their damaged vehicles. Dust and smoke in the air made their eyes sting and water as they made their way through the panicked city.

Hermione gasped sharply as a woman shrieked and collapsed to the ground, bleeding heavily from gashes on her torso, arms and legs. Blaise dropped to his knees to try to stop the bleeding while the others blocked spells from reaching them. The attacker, a man called Dolohov, sneered when he saw them.

"It's the little Malfoy," Dolohov growled. "We've been missing you. The Dark Lord has promised us all a turn to play with you if we bring you back." His lips curled back in a sinister smile that made Draco's skin crawl. He raised his wand to cast a curse.

Draco was faster. He threw one hand out, his brow furrowed in concentration. The spell threw Dolohov backward and sent him crashing over the back of a bench. Another wave had the man tightly bound in ropes.

"I think she'll be alright," Blaise muttered, shuddering at the muggle woman's blood spattered clothes. The terrified woman was sent take refuge temporarily in the nearest office building. Another patronus was sent out before they moved on. Another team of wolves would be along to sweep through and transport the wounded away from the area. The Ministry was going to have a time with altering muggle memories to keep the wizarding world a secret.