Unofficial Portkey Archive

After only walking a few feet, Harry threw his arms out to the side, halting his group from moving any farther forward. No one else surrounding them had moved yet, all transfixed by the immense dark army that was facing them now. The torch lights flickered eerily off of the various creatures, grotesque shapes and figures throwing ugly shadows down on the ground. No movement or sound came from either side, the only noise being the sporadic scream and explosion from Hogsmeade.

"Well, Harry Potter," Voldemort's voice broke through the thick silence, "it seems you and your Heirs are more prepared than I thought. This will make things much more….interesting."

Though his tone sounded neutral, Harry caught an underlying theme of uncertainty under it. Feeling slightly more confident now, knowing the Light had achieved a small upper hand, Harry raised his voice to answer the Dark Lord.

"Tonight will be your end, Tom," he cried. "The Heirs and I will make sure of this. You are outmatched here."

"Do not let overconfidence fill you, Heir of Gryffindor," Voldemort spat.

As the last syllable fell from Voldemort's lips, a burning orange curse was flung out and collided with Hagrid's abandoned hut. Flames burst forth and the small building was soon engulfed in them. Acting quickly, Hermione concentrated on the flames intently, her eyes turning pale blue with the effort. Within seconds, a gust of rain fell from the sky and landed on the hut, the fire being reduced to burning embers. Releasing her power over the rain, Hermione's eyes returned to normal and she gave Harry a small grin, who gazed back at her in admiration.

A scream of rage came up from the Death Eaters and the Light barely had time to react before multicolored lights of various spells and curses fell down upon them. No command was given to either side, each simple charged forward, trying to take out as many of their opponents as possible. The ground thundered and trembled under the weight of the giants and trolls, who were swinging their clubs and knocking people flat to the ground. A deepening cold stretched out icy fingers as Dementors circled in the sky above, and an echoing chorus of howls from werewolves caused the hairs on the back of everyone's neck to rise, werewolves who had been forced to change into their alternate selves by the Dark Lord, since the full moon had yet to rise for several days.

The three Heirs, Dumbledore, and their companions rushed forward, trying to make their way as quickly as possible to Voldemort. Death Eaters swarmed toward them, trying to cut off their pathway, an endless sea of spells surrounding them.

A curse blasted the ground only meters in front of Harry, Hermione, and Ginny, all of them being thrown down from the impact. With a grunt of effort, Harry righted himself and thrust his wand forward, catching a Death Eater by surprise with the Full-Body Bind hex. Hermione and Ginny rolled over, avoiding the legs of a troll who dashed across their path. Dumbledore strayed off to the left, locked in a fierce battle with two Death Eaters and a pair of vampires. Blaise, Hannah, and Luna were holding their own now against a very large Acromantula and an angry horde of serpents winding sneakily through the grass. Ron, though looking frightened, was keeping three werewolves at bay as they snarled and leapt at him fiercely.

Thinking fast, the three Heirs dashed forward to help their friends. Harry blasted a gust of wind at a Dementor who suddenly floated down before him, knocking the deadly creature away. He then began hissing angrily at the snakes, ordering them to back away from their attack. When the serpents refused, Harry aimed his wand at them.

"Incendio!" he cried, watching as the slithering creatures burst into flames with an ugly sound.

Ginny had meanwhile crept up behind the Acromantula, and before it could notice her, she summoned one of the lit torches toward her and caused the flame on top to change into a giant fireball, which she hurled at the menacing animal. With a scream, the Acromantula fell to the ground and incinerated into a pile of ashes. Gasping for breath, Hannah, Blaise, and Luna, gave quick nods of acknowledgment before facing the Death Eaters behind them.

Hermione raced over to Ron and the three werewolves, catching the creatures by surprise when she shouted, "Aguamenti!" causing a jet of water to spring forth from her wand before she turned it into a giant stream with dosed the three werewolves. They cried out and turned on her, hair rising on the back of their necks in anger. Ron gave a yell and tried to distract them, afraid of what they could do to Hermione. Not even flinching though, she raised her wand again.

"Muto Lupus Homo!" she shouted, twirling her wand and aiming at the animals.

A flash of blinding white light surrounded the three creatures, as shouts of agony filled the air. When the light died away, three normal men lay on the ground, panting from exhaustion.

"Stupefy!"

Ron knocked the three out and quickly bound them with thick, black cords. Flashing a tired smile at Hermione, he stiffly made his way toward her.

"Thanks, Herm," he said.

"Don't mention it," she replied, shaking her head.

Suddenly a very loud scream reached their ears, the two friends turning in horror as they saw Hannah being flung to the ground as a Death Eater stood over her, torturing her mercilessly. Just as they started to run toward her, a very large giant stepped before them, swinging his club and almost hitting them. Unable to avoid him, Ron and Hermione shot spells off at random, as Hermione desperately tried to gather some of her powers together.

Harry had then joined Dumbledore in his fight against the Death Eaters and vampires, while Ginny tried to dodge a troll and get to Hannah. Blaise and Luna were fighting side by side, shooting Patronus charms out at a group of Dementors.

All around the grounds of Hogwarts, the battle raged on with increasing intensity. Students and Death Eaters alike fell under curses and spells, never to get up again. Dark creatures swayed under the unending assault, a few even running away in terror, but many more slowly making their way towards the castle. The members of the DA fought valiantly, bringing many of their enemies down, but losing a few of their own. Far below, Hogsmeade continued to burn as Order members and Aurors tried desperately to save it.

Ginny finally managed to strike down the troll before her by slamming her sword through its foot and then causing it to burst into flames much like the Acromantula. Quickly wiping her sword in the dirt, the red-head stared around helplessly at her comrades, realizing that they were losing the battle. Death Eaters were pushing them back, making their way closer and closer to the castle. Hogsmeade was engulfed in flames and so many of her friends were falling and crying out for assistance.

Tears running down her face, Ginny saw that she was alone, the other two Heirs fighting some distance off. They were supposed to be together though, nothing coming between them.

"They're separating us," she whispered in shock. "We can't show our full powers when we're apart."

In an instant, she transformed into a Chinese Fox and dashed through the grass to Harry. She jumped over fallen bodies and wove through people's legs, trying to reach him. She saw him fling his hand out, no wand present, and blast four Death Eaters backwards, while pointing his other hand with the wand in it at a group of vampires and stunning them.

As he pulled himself upright, Ginny watching in horror as Harry suddenly lurched forward and collapsed to the ground, spasms wracking his body as the power of Gryffindor trying to release itself overtook him. She heard a scream come from Hermione and turned her head enough to see the brown haired witch stumbling forward to reach her fallen boyfriend. Ginny then saw a Death Eater raise his wand over Harry's prone and shaking form in an attempt to kill him.

Rage filling her, Ginny bared her teeth and leapt into the air, her pointed teeth clamping down on the Death Eater's wand arm. With a howl, he dropped his wand and flung Ginny off of him, smashing her onto the ground next to Harry. With a loud pop, Ginny was changed back into her normal self, blood sliding down her temple. Harry fell still next to her, his breathing shallow and clumsily groping for his wand. Ginny grabbed her head, feeling dizzy and sick, watching hopelessly as the Death Eater grabbed his wand again and pointed it at her.

Before he could make a sound though, a great black panther collided with him and the two tumbled to the ground in a fierce battle.

"Expelliarmus!" Hermione shouted, knocking the Death Eater's wand away from him as Ron, in his Animagus form still, pinned him down.

"Stupefy," Ginny muttered thickly, the red light streaking forward and hitting the Death Eater square in the chest.

Ron transformed back and raced over to his fallen sister and best friend. Hermione crashed to her knees, pulling Harry to her as Ginny raised herself up. Harry struggled into a sitting position, gritting his teeth and clamping his eyes shut.

"I can't….take much….more of….that," he mumbled out brokenly.

Hermione simply pushed his bangs back and kissed his scar, helping him up further. Ron aided Ginny, allowing her to lean on him as she stumbled to her feet, clenching her wand.

Wiping blood off of her face, Ginny released Ron's arm and stared around anxiously, looking for Hannah, Luna, and Blaise. She barely had time to do so before she was again blasted off her feet and landed in the dirt several meters away. Groaning in pain, the red-headed Heir sat up slowly, a wand pointed directly at her forehead. Eyes widening, she quickly saw that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were experiencing the same thing, a Death Eater standing menacingly before each of them.

"Not so tough now, are you, little Heir?" a high-pitched, girly voice said from behind the mask.

"Parkinson," Ginny spat, standing shakily and wiping dirt off of her cheek.

"Of course," Pansy responded, "who else would want to destroy you so much? You took Draco from me and changed him."

"Maybe you should stop speaking and duel already," Ginny snarled, whipping her wand out and trying desperately to not sway.

Pansy let out a shriek of laughter before ripping her mask off and revealing her glaring blue eyes and pug like nose.

"You can't even stand, little Heir of Hufflepuff, and you want to duel me? Oh, I shall enjoy this!"

As the two girls faced each other and raised their wands, Harry managed to gain his footing and back away from the wand in his face. He saw Hermione out of the corner of his eye, face set with fury, and Ron just beyond her, groping furiously behind himself for his wand. Harry faced the Death Eater before him, green eyes set with concentration.

"Ooo…look what I have here," the Death Eater said, "little itty bitty Potter! And he's all grown up too, thinking he's got such wonderful powers and that he can defeat my Lord with his pathetic band of friends."

"Lestrange," Harry spat, a burning fire of rage building up within his chest when he heard the sound of Bellatrix's voice.

"Yes, Potter," she responded, voice slick with hate, "and I've come to finish you off."

"Aren't you supposed to let Voldemort do that job?" he snapped back.

"Do not speak his name!" she shrieked loudly, tensing her body.

"I'll speak it whenever I please," Harry responded defiantly, gripping his wand harder. "I believe I hold that right after everything he's taken from me."

"Ooo….is itty bitty Potter thinking of his Mummy and Daddy?" Bellatrix cackled. "Do you cry at night over them, over your half-giant friend? Do you cry over my scum of a cousin?"

Something flared in Harry at the mention of Sirius. Rage boiled in his veins and all he could see was red. Something within him roared, fighting to get loose and wreck havoc, fighting to take over and kill the person before him. Harry shoved the feeling away though, simply glaring at Bellatrix with the deepest loathing he could muster.

"You took him from me, you worthless Death Eater," he cried out, feeling a crackle of magical energy around him at his words. "Now its time to pay the price."

"Ooo…I'm scared," she taunted back.

With a sudden snap of her wand, Lestrange shot the Cruciatus Curse straight at Harry, aiming for his chest. As the curse flew at him, Harry watched it come toward him as if in slow motion. Out of instinct, he flung his hand out before him, focusing all his magical power forward. His thoughts strayed to his parents, Sirius, Hagrid, Ron, Ginny, and finally Hermione. He thought only of the love he held for all of them, and as the curse finally hit him, all of his love poured out and connected directly with the curse; creating a type of shield and flinging the curse right back at its caster.

Powered by the anger that first cast it, and the love that followed it, Bellatrix screamed in terrible agony as the Cruciatus Curse rebounded on her, ripping through her like a blazing fire. She fell to the ground, her screams echoing across the battlefield. Harry approached her silently, his eyes an electrifying shade of green, raw power emanating from him. He let his hand drop, allowing the curse to fall away from Bellatrix. She remained coiled up in a tight ball, panting harshly with drops of sweat trickling down her face. Her cold dark eyes raised and stared at Harry with a mixture of awe, fear, and hatred.

"Who knew, Potter?" she said viciously. "Who knew you had all of that bottled up inside of you? You may end up defeating me, but you will never defeat my Lord. Do you understand that?"

"I understand perfectly, Lestrange," Harry hissed back, raising his wand over her.

Just as the words to the most horrible curse started to form on his tongue, two things happened at once. A bright flash of light streaked by his face, and Hermione called out to him anxiously.

"Harry! No!" she cried.

Harry stumbled back in shock and that gave Bellatrix the chance she needed. She lunged forward and knocked Harry backwards, both of them crumbling to the ground in a heap, wrestling desperately for Harry's wand. Another flash of light sped over them, blasting into a tree several yards away. Harry managed to kick his feet out and slam Bellatrix backwards, throwing her face down in the dirt. As she started to straighten herself, Hermione suddenly dashed up and grabbed Harry's wand arm, thrusting it down.

"What are you doing, Hermione?" Harry yelled, frantically watching as Bellatrix slipped and fell down again, obviously dazed from the fight.

"Don't kill her, Harry!" she cried. "Would that make anything better?"

"Its revenge," he spat, pulling his arm away from her grasp. "Or do you not remember what she did to Sirius?"

"Oh, Harry, please," she begged, eyes wide.

But Harry didn't respond to her, his gaze was fixed on the Death Eater coming up behind Hermione, wand pointed at her back. His mask was half-off, allowing Harry to guess who he was. Dolohov. As words started to form on the Death Eater's lips, Harry's eyes flashed out of pure hatred, remembering what had occurred in the Department of Mysteries only one year before.

Harry knocked Hermione to the ground, who gasped in surprise and rolled over. Harry then transformed into his Phoenix form and flew straight at Dolohov, who started and stumbled back. Before Harry could reach him though, the Phoenix gave a piercing cry and crashed to the earth. Much like Ginny before, Harry popped back to his former self, writhing on the ground in agony as another wave of Gryffindor's power fought to come to the surface. Dolohov had a maniacal grin on his face now and stepped up to the Boy-Who-Lived, intent on killing him.

Out of nowhere though, a shining Unicorn galloped forward and its silver horn pierced Dolohov right through his chest. No sound escaped his lips, only a look of utter shock reflected in his eyes as he stared right back at the Unicorn, who slowly pulled away from him. Slumping to the ground, his wand fell carelessly next to him, never again to be picked up by the Death Eater, whose blood seeped out onto the grass around him.

With a soft crack, Hermione changed back, wiping blood off of her forehead with a shaking hand. Tears watered in her eyes and she looked down at the dead Death Eater, his mask askew and only covering half of his face. She hadn't wanted to kill Dolohov; even after the suffering he had put her through last year. Her intentions as an Heir were never to kill anyone, only to knock them out and leave them for the Ministry or the Order to deal with. Hermione hated death and all that was associated with it, and she had never wanted to stoop to the level of her enemies, falling back on mindless killings to create her point.

But now she had just killed a man, and the meaning of it was sinking it. Dropping to her knees beside Harry, she gently shook him, trying to wake him up; his latest spasm had rendered him unconscious from its effects. Noticing a movement out of the corner of her eye, Hermione spun around in time to see Bellatrix lunging forward for her wand which lay carelessly in the grass.

"Don't move!" Hermione snarled, her anger so great that sparks flew out of her wand.

Bellatrix froze in surprise before laughing loudly, eyes glinting back at Hermione.

"Ooo…the Mudblood is so very fierce! Now I really am scared," she shouted sarcastically.

She lunged again for the wand.

"Stupefy!" Hermione yelled.

The spell struck the Death Eater in the chest before she slumped to the ground. Hermione then quickly cast an anti-Apparition ward around her along with conjuring up black cords around the woman's body. Turning back to Harry, Hermione waved her wand over him.

"Ennervate," she said quietly.

His green eyes slowly fluttered open before he bolted upright, breathing hard.

"Where is he? Where?" he said frantically.

"Harry! Harry, calm down!" Hermione said, grabbing his arm. "Dolohov? He's right….there."

Harry's gaze followed to where Hermione was pointing. Sucking in a sharp breath at the sight of the Death Eater, Harry flicked his eyes back to Hermione, a question in them.

"Did…did you?" he asked.

Hermione could only nod, a lone tear falling down her cheek. Harry hugged her to him, despite the fact that his body screamed in protest from moving around. Thunderous explosions and shouts of people surrounded them on all sides, but they remained on the ground, holding on to each other and clinging to a small shred of normalcy.

A shriek of anger interrupted them and they broke apart to see Ginny standing over Pansy just meters away, the red-head so filled with fury that the air around her literally crackled with sparks of fire.

"Stupid blood traitor!" Pansy cried, wiping blood from her mouth. "You'll never take down the Dark Lord!"

"Stupefy," Ginny said grimly.

She then repeated the same actions Hermione had done with Bellatrix, binding Pansy tightly. Looking up, she brushed a wayward strand of her hair out of her face and fixed her gaze on Harry and Hermione, who were watching her silently. Dashing over to them, she gripped them in a quick hug.

"I was so worried about both of you!" she cried. "Where is Ron? And the others?"

A snarling noise reached their ears and they turned in time to see a black panther tussling viciously with a Death Eater, dodging various hexes and swiping the man off of his feet. One of the curses breezed right over the panther's head, scorching the black fur on top and causing him to hiss in anger. And even though Ron seemed to have the advantage, the Death Eater was still managing to keep him at bay.

Just as Harry moved to run to his friend's side, a figure darted out from the darkness and slammed the Death Eater from behind with a curse. The enemy fell to the ground unconscious, Blaise still keeping his wand trained forward. Ron changed back, panting from exhaustion and trying to keep himself upright.

"Thanks…..Blaise," he managed to mutter between breaths.

Blaise didn't answer, choosing to instead kick the mask off of the Death Eater's face.

"Nott," he growled in anger, glaring down at the former Slytherin.

Ron looked at the still form of Theodore Nott in shock before shaking his head sadly. His head turned to see the three Heirs running toward him, worry held in their eyes. Ginny threw her arms around her brother, so glad to see he was unharmed except for a few bruises and cuts.

Nodding to Blaise in acknowledgement, Harry fixed his gaze on to the battlefield, sighing as his eyes took in the sight below their small group. As he started to move forward to join the fight again, Hermione suddenly gasped and gripped his arm tightly, halting his movements.

"Oh God, Harry," she said in a fearful voice. "Look!"

Harry swung his head to the right and his own gasp escaped his lips when he saw what Hermione was pointing to. A large group of Dementors, at least fifty of them, and a small band of trolls, were backing a group of Hogwarts students right to the edge of the lake. Several of them were falling under the Dementors' evil spell while others desperately tried to conjure up Patronus charms. Harry could vaguely make out the figures of Luna, Neville, and Cho among the group.

"No!" Ron yelled out in a strangled voice before dashing off down the hill, not waiting for the others.

"Ron!" Ginny cried, looking as if she wanted to follow her brother but also not wanting to abandon her fellow Heirs.

Her gaze shot to Hermione and Harry, who both seemed to be frozen with shock. Harry suddenly shifted and exchanged a long glance with Hermione, unspoken words transferring between them that Ginny couldn't even begin to understand.

"Let's go," Harry said, squeezing Hermione's hand briefly before the two separated and made their way after Ron, Blaise and Ginny right behind them.

Blasts from wands circled around them, causing the four to duck and sometimes roll to ground as they made their way towards the lake. Dark smoke curled up and darkened the sky, most of it coming from the still burning Hogsmeade. Screams seemed to be growing in intensity, harsh laughter following in their wake. As they came closer to the lake, they saw it was no longer filled with the cold, still water of before; it was boiling, surging forth, and steam billowed over its surface. The Dementors had no effect on it; it was obvious that a Death Eater had put a spell over the lake.

One of the students managed to force a troll into the lake and they heard it give a deep cry of pain before it disappeared below, a bright flash of flames accompanying it. Cho hurled out another Patronus charm, her silver swan colliding with a Dementor, who drifted away, two more coming to stand in his place. Neville was panting hard, keeping two trolls at bay with various multi-colored hexes, trying to knock their clubs away.

Ron had forced himself right into the middle of the fight so he could be beside Luna, who was flicking her wand and producing a silver Patronus over and over again. A bloody gash was across her cheek and she was moving with a small limp, showing that she had been wounded at some point during the battle. She held herself up straight though, not backing down in front of her enemies and causing many Dementors to be banished. Ron fought fiercely next to her, half protecting her, his wand trained on several trolls.

Harry had halted by the edge of the large group, prepared to fire off a strong Patronus charm when five trolls turned and surged at him, clubs raised and teeth bared. Harry dived to the ground as Hermione raised her wand and shouted to Ginny.

"Freeze the water once it hits them!"

Ginny poised her wand, ready to shoot the charm.

Hermione raised her arms up and directed water from the lake straight at the five trolls. It arched over the fighters and slammed into the creatures, throwing them off balance. But just as Ginny started to speak the words to the Freezing Charm, she was slammed from behind by a Death Eater and the two tumbled to the ground in a heap, wrestling.

Hermione released the water and fumbled for her wand, her eyes searching for Harry, hoping he could help her. He was currently fighting another troll though, and Blaise had raced into the middle of the fray, leaving Hermione all alone. The now angry trolls stalked toward her, and as powerful of a witch as she was, Hermione knew she was no match for five.

Memories of her first year came to her out of nowhere though and she shouted one of the simplest spells she knew.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

The club of the first troll sailed upward and smacked him right in the head, causing him to weave and finally crash forward. His four companions gambled around him in confusion before stomping toward the witch again.

And just as one raised his club over her, a loud smashing noise reached her ears and the trolls halted their movements. Spinning around, Hermione watched in shock as the hulking form of Grawp came striding down from the forest.

"Hermy! Hermy!" the large giant shouted. "Grawp help Hermy!"

With a sweep of his massive arm, Grawp knocked the four trolls over as if they were feathers. They piled into a heap, all unconscious. The giant then wrapped his large hand around Hermione and picked her up gently, cradling her like a small doll. She smiled tentatively at Grawp and patted his thumb.

"Thank you, Grawp," she said.

"For Hermy!" he said happily, though his eyes reflected sadness.

Hermione knew that Grawp had been missing ever since Hagrid's death, when Dumbledore had gone into the forest to search for him. No one could figure out where he had disappeared to, but Hermione for the first time was incredibly grateful to see him.

"Hermy return to Harry. Grawp must fight now," the giant continued, depositing her on the ground next to Harry, whose mouth hung open for a second before he charged forward and deflected a spell aimed at his girlfriend.

As soon as he saw Hermione was safely on the ground, Grawp turned and darted off quickly, considering his size. He flung himself into the middle of the battle and began to swap his hand at Death Eaters, catching most of them by surprise. At least the Light had one giant on their side.

Finally focusing on her own battle, Hermione quickly disarmed a Death Eater and turned on the Dementor behind her. Her silver otter leapt forward and attacked the dark creature, causing it to glide away.

Harry had finally whipped out his sword and was swinging it at the Death Eater before him. The large blood red rubies glittered eerily from the haze of spells as Harry missed again and growled in frustration. The unknown Death Eater, his own sword drawn, chuckled dryly at his misfortune.

"Come on, Potter," he said. "Can't handle that big sword?"

Harry raised his eyes from the ground slowly and glared with the deepest loathing at the other man. As hatred flooded through him, he felt the same roaring sensation he had experienced earlier. Something was aching within him to get out. Pushing the feeling away only slightly, Harry launched at the Death Eater, the sword pointed directly forward. Blue light crackled from the end of it and struck the Death Eater only seconds before the point pierced his heart. He slumped to the ground, already dead.

"Guess you were wrong," Harry hissed in a low voice, pulling the sword back out and wiping it off in the dirt.

As he straightened, a loud scream was released behind him, causing Harry to swing around, fear gripping him. As his gaze rested on the source of the scream, it was like Harry was watching the scene in slow motion. Hermione crumpled to the ground, her wand flying to the side. The Death Eater above her slowly pointed his wand at her form, which was shaking and struggling to stand. Dementors circled around her, eagerly awaiting another soul.

The power within Harry surged once more, much stronger than just moments before. His body trembled with anger and he ran toward Hermione, seeming to reach her side in mere seconds. He barely gave a thought to his course of action as he looked at the Death Eater and raised his hand outward.

"Avada Kedavra!" he shouted, love for Hermione pouring from him.

But instead of a green light coming from him, a burst of bright gold shot from his hand with the sound of an explosion. Everyone on the battlefield froze as the sound echoed around them and the power behind the spell caused them to be almost thrown off of their feet. The Death Eater in front of Harry became no more, the force of the spell simply consuming him.

A strange ringing was going off in Harry's ears, but he took no notice as he pulled his wand out and aimed it at the Dementors.

"Expecto Patronum!" he cried, the same force of love behind his words.

The image of Prongs burst from the wand only briefly before a blinding white light followed, striking the Dementors directly before the point of the wand and then spreading out, killing every Dementor that was present on the grounds. Only a faint rustling was heard as empty black cloaks drifted downwards.

Heaving with exhaustion, Harry stumbled sideways as he lowered his wand. His legs refused to hold him any longer and he fell ungracefully beside Hermione, breathing shallow and eyes closed. Hermione struggled into an upright position next to him, clutching her side where a large gash leaked blood and soaked her shirt. She winced as she reached for her wand, and then crawled over to Harry's side, taking his wand too.

Tears sprang to her eyes when she saw him. His face was deathly pale and his scar peeked out from behind his sweaty bangs, vivid red. She gently brushed some strands away and caressed his cheek, wincing again at her small movements.

"Come on, Harry, wake up," she pleaded, watching his chest rise and fall with ragged breaths.

Ignoring her injury, Hermione leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, hoping it would cause him to wake. There was no response for several seconds until suddenly his lips moved beneath hers and kissed her back. At that moment, Hermione felt a tingling sensation on her side and she pulled away in surprise. Looking down, she pulled her shirt up slightly to see that her gash had completely disappeared. Her gaze fixed on Harry's face and saw that his eyes were open, staring tiredly back at her.

"Harry….what….?" she whispered, confused.

But he never got to hear her question or begin to formulate any kind of response, because a loud bang came from by the lake followed by a cry and an angry shout. Rising to his knees, Harry looked toward the lake with Hermione, fear pooling within him and a chill running down his spine when he saw what had caused the commotion.

Though Harry's blast of magic had caused every Dementor to be destroyed, the trolls had remained at the edge of the lake. They had been momentarily stunned into confusion, along with everyone else, so the battle had halted for several seconds. Their fierce rampage had started up once more though, when a troll had swung his club and caught Cho Chang completely by surprise. The witch had been thrown several meters away before crumbling into a twisted heap on the ground. Neville, who had been next to her still, had cried out in anger, killing the troll instantly with an incredible show of magic.

"Oh, Cho," Harry breathed, his hand reaching out to Hermione.

She grabbed his hand in her own, trying to fight back tears, and gently brought them both to their feet. The fight had broken out in intensity again, but they dodged slowly around it, heading for Cho's unmoving form, which Neville was already kneeling by. He was gripping her hand tightly in his own, tears falling freely from his eyes as he stared at her beautiful face. Her eyes were closed and a few scratches marred her cheeks, but she only appeared to be sleeping. Harry could see instantly though that no breath was being taken in by her.

Neville looked up at them, sadness etching his features as he continued to cry.

"She fought so bravely," he whispered. "I thought for sure she would…..would….make it. That troll never gave her a chance to fight back."

Hermione was crying now too, leaning her head on Harry's shoulder as he wiped a stray tear away from his eye. He laid a hand on Neville's shoulder, trying to be comforting but realizing too that they had to continue fighting. Mourning for their lost friends would, unfortunately, have to take place later.

"Come on, Nev," he said quietly. "We'll come back for her, but for now you have to keep going, we all do. Finish what she started, in honor of her."

A sigh passed through his lips before he nodded and stood slowly, still staring down at Cho's lifeless body. Then without a word, he gave the couple a nod and ran back into the battle, headed this time for the castle. The small battle by the lake against the trolls was almost over, the creatures being either killed or forced to scatter. The band of students that had survived leaned on each other for support before walking forward as one and starting another attack, this time with Death Eaters, vampires, and werewolves.

Harry watched them sadly, still holding onto Hermione, his strength coming back to him with each passing minute. Just as the two shared a look which meant they were about to join back in the battle, someone called out to them from their left and they turned. Ginny, Blaise, Ron, and Luna were all running towards them, each bearing multiple wounds. Luna was still limping; Blaise's left arm seemed to be at a crooked angle; Ron was covered in several gashes on his face and arms, each bleeding; and Ginny had a large bruise on her cheek and was limping in the safe fashion as Luna.

"Am I glad to see you two," Ron said, relief flooding his face. "I was hoping that nothing had happened to either of you, but…..you never know."

"We barely managed to get over here," Blaise stated in a strange tone. "Death Eaters ambushed us, but we knew we had to regroup so….."

"Where's Hannah?" Harry asked, frowning.

Ginny hung her head, a tear escaping down her cheek, as Blaise looked away determinedly.

"Oh, Harry," Ginny said, finally looking up. "She….she didn't make it."

"No," Hermione said, horror washing over her features. "Oh please, no."

Harry let go of Hermione finally and just stared at his friends before him, a sinking feeling settling in him. His shoulders slumped and grief filled his mind as he realized what Ginny's words meant. Hannah had been obviously killed by the Death Eater they had seen torturing her. None of them had been able to reach her, although they had tried.

He lifted his head and looked down upon the battle that was raging below them. He felt so removed, safe on the hill above, but at the same time he felt the crushing weight of how much him and the other Heirs were expected to do. This wasn't supposed to be happening. Voldemort wasn't supposed to be winning, and the Light wasn't supposed to be losing so many of their members. Sacrifices were being made that never should have been. Harry's fists clenched at his side in anger as he thought of Hagrid, Cho, and Hannah. The War had dragged on for too long now, it needed to end.

"We have to end this," he said to them, still staring at the battle across the grounds. "We have to find Voldemort now and end the War. I will not let any more sacrifices take place tonight."

No one answered him, determination settling on their faces. Hermione came up behind Harry and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"We're ready," she said into his ear. "You know I'd follow you into anything."

He turned in her arms and hugged her to him, burying his face in her hair.

"I know," he whispered.

He released his hold on her and looked to the others. Ginny was the only one who seemed unsatisfied, her face blazing with a mixture of anger and fear. She directed her words to Harry, but the whole group flinched from how sharp they sounded.

"Why are none of our powers helping us though?" she cried desperately. "We're the Heirs, and they're defeating us!"

"Because we're not complete," Harry snapped back, looking frustrated. "We're missing a member. We can't accomplish certain things as individuals. If we don't get Draco back with us, we'll fail."

"I knew you'd come to appreciate me at some point, Potter," a drawling voice suddenly said from behind them.

Ginny sucked in a sharp breath, not wanting to turn around and realize she was only dreaming. The looks on Harry and Hermione's faces though caused her to slowly spin on the spot, her eyes coming to rest on the most welcoming sight in hours.

"Hey, Gin."

It was Draco.

.........................

Author's Note: Thank you so much for every review you guys have given me! I appreciate them so much and I absolutely love reading them. I'm still sorry about that incredibly long delay from before but I'm getting better at it cause this chapter didn't take nearly as long to write up. I hope you like this chapter though. I know it sounds a little choppy but there are so many people involved in this battle that I have to keep hopping around. I'm focusing on the Heirs and their companions more too, which is why the Order is not really present in this chapter. I also never intended for that cliffhanger to take place, I just needed a place to stop and.....*dodges thrown objects* Sorry!! I really hope you enjoyed the chapter though, I've never written a battle scene like this before so I'm still getting into the hang of it. Please leave a review and I will try and update again soon. :) I promise that the fight with Voldemort is coming! Until then, I hope this satisfies all of you until the GoF movie! I'm counting it down!
Much Love,
PhoenixFirebolt