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This was a bad idea.
Methos turned a corner in the twisting corridors, wondering how in the world he had managed to get himself into this situation. He'd thought he'd paid off his karma, but apparently the Divine Will of the Universe had decided otherwise. He clutched his sword tightly, hoping he had lost the men following him. It was impossible to tell in the darkness, and he had no idea where he was going. He only hoped that he wasn't heading into their office.
Methos yanked open a door at the end of the hall. He stopped short, taking in the rows of barred doors with heavy padlocks. Someone was obviously using this hallway as a dungeon of sorts. He looked into the first doorway, and saw a blonde girl in a school uniform sitting on the floor, humming to herself. Her face was turned up to the ceiling, but she had her back to the door. "Hey, you."
She stopped humming and turned around. She had soft blue eyes and an absent expression. Her gaze sharpened in a split second. "You're not a Death Eater."
"What's going on?"
"Are you the one that's going to execute me?"
Methos blinked in horror. "Of course not!"
"Oh. All right, then." Her gaze softened again, and she turned back around. She started humming to herself again, something Methos recognized as a lullaby from the Victorian era. He cut the padlock with his sword and yanked open the door. The girl turned around and smiled at him. "Oh, that's nice. So you're really not here to kill me."
"Um... No. Why would someone want to kill you?"
"Oh, because I'm one of Harry's friends. And the Death Eaters don't really appreciate our interference with their plans."
"Who's Harry?"
"The Boy Who Lived, of course," the blonde girl said, getting to her feet. "I'm Luna, by the way."
"Adam," Methos replied automatically. He was going to have to get himself a new alias soon enough; people were going to notice that Adam Pierson wasn't getting any older. For right now, he would rather survive long enough to get out of this place.
"Hullo, Adam. Charmed to meet you." She took in the sword in his hands. "You're a fighter. Lovely. You wouldn't happen to have seen my wand, would you?"
"Wand?"
"I'll take that as a no. Perhaps there's a guard somewhere that might have it." She smiled sweetly at him. "If you're not a guard, how did you get down here?"
"Purely by accident, I assure you. I was here looking for a particular artifact... I didn't expect some bald guy with red eyes torturing some kids."
"Oh! Was one of them a boy with black hair and a scar on his forehead?"
"Yes. There was a redheaded boy and a girl with brown hair with him."
"That's Harry, Ron and Hermione. Are they all right?"
"Well, they were when I ran out after decapitating the bald guy." He took in the girl's shocked expression. He decided not to mention the streaks of lightning from the stranger's Quickening. She probably wouldn't understand something like that.
"Wait! Neville and the others. We should get them out, too."
With a sigh, Methos nodded. Cannon fodder, if anything. "All right. But I don't know the way out of here."
"Well, I remember the way in. I could probably lead us out."
Somehow, they found most of the children's wands. Methos killed two guards on the way out, and was surprised by the fact that not one of the children flinched. They wound up in the large anteroom where Methos had been earlier. The bald stranger's body was still lying in front of his large throne, his head lying three feet away from his body. The windows were all shattered, and there were still bodies lying on the floor. The three children from earlier were nowhere to be found. Methos looked around. "I don't see your friends."
"The way out is that way..." Luna began. "Oh! Our coins!" She dug into her vest pocket and pulled out a small gold coin. She touched her wand to it and muttered some words. "There, they should know where we are now."
"Well, I know the way out from here," Methos said. At one boy's insistence, they waited a few minutes for the others. When the three others appeared, Methos led them out of complex.
Once outside, Luna grasped Methos' arm before he could leave them. "Thank you, Adam." She smiled at him, and then gave him a quick hug. Methos found himself hugging her back. He tried not to think of the fact that he was over five thousand years older than her. She was a pretty girl, especially when she smiled. "I don't think we could have done it without your help."
He gave her a rakish grin. "I'm always ready to rescue a pretty girl at the end."
She returned the smile. "Maybe you should come find me later."
"Maybe I should." Maybe I shouldn't, he thought. But she was at least eighteen, and age had never stopped him before.
Somehow, this hero thing was kind of fun. He should probably do it more often.