Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. If it were we would be celebrating a very different epilogue, you know. Everything you can recognize from Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer. The legends about vampires and their explanations are taken from "The Twilight Companion" by Lois H. Gresh.
A/N: Chapter 9 is here. This is the climax…will they manage to defend the castle? Read down to know! :P Thanks to my beta gingercat!
The Cold Ones
Chapter Nine: Battle
It's only a week before the end of the year, graduation, the N.E.W.T.s, and then we will be going on with our lives, finding a job, creating families, and possible living happily. But right now we have to worry about bigger problems, because an army of Death Eaters, werewolves and vampires is marching upon Hogwarts, led by the darkest wizard of our times, Lord Voldemort.
We are ready for this, we have been ready for weeks thanks to Snape telling us the dark lord's plans, and I don't feel nervous at all. We have been tipped by Snape that the attack was going to be tonight, and since then the staff has been in a frenzy to evacuate all the students.
Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick personally escorted them to the Room of Requirements, and then cast complicated charms and transfigurations to avoid the Death Eaters from finding the room, ever. The Head Boy and Girl, Ernie McMillan and Padma Patil, Parvati's sister, were instructed on how to lead the escape through the Floo the room would provide when they would request it. It was set that if after twenty four hours nobody had come to fetch them, they should leave through it. It was arranged for the elves to bring enough food for all the students to live there comfortably for that amount of time without any hardships or going without their needed refreshments, and then the little creatures were evacuated too. Dobby, the one most loyal to Harry had asked to stay back and fight with his friend, and so had done many other elves. We knew they had special magic, and that they could easily Apparate inside Hogwarts so they would be a valuable asset in the battle. But we decided not to risk them.
This was a battle of wizards, vampires and werewolves, and so it should remain.
Now that the most urgent preparations had been made, we are waiting for the show to begin. I look sideways to Harry, and he squeezes my hand. "Nervous?" he whispers.
"Nope" I reply. "We can do it" I say, determined. He looks at me warmly.
"Did you drink the potion already?" he asks me then, and I know which potion he is referring to.
"Of course" I say, willing myself to go vamp for a moment, just to prove it to him. Not that I need to, he trusts me completely.
He chuckles. "You're damn sexy when you go all vamp on me, you know" he teases me, and I blush. I can vividly remember how hot I was feeling when we finished the first training session with the potion still in my body and my senses still vamped.
I think it's a miracle we managed to stop before we went all the way, really, the way we were fondling each other I seriously didn't think we could pull that off. I understood then why vampires are thought to be very sexual creatures.
Every stimulation was amplified ten times, and that means the pleasure was particularly intense. One could get used to that. Also, while I felt no bloodlust during the encounter, Harry told me real vamps do. That's why when cumming, biting your partner becomes almost irresistible if you're a vampire.
My naughty, distracting thoughts were broken by the castle shaking from its foundation.
Harry groaned. "Not giants too!" he muttered, tightening the grip on his wand. "This is going to be a real pain in the arse" he growled.
I could see that his opinion was mimicked by the Weasleys with us just looking into their eyes. The defence of the castle had been planned dividing the Order of the Phoenix members into four groups. There were Aurors from the Ministry though, as much as Kingsley Shacklebolt had managed to get without raising suspicions in the Ministry as to why he was leading them if no attack had been issued yet. The Minister has always been paranoid about Dumbledore and his supposed desire to overtake him and get the power for himself, so the Order of the Phoenix has always had to remain undercover, and those members who worked in the Ministry had often found themselves the target of suspicions of treachery and such.
I roll my eyes as I think of it. Everyone knows Dumbledore has refused many times to be elected Minister, claiming he prefers to care for his school, so how could anyone believe he had turned into a power-hungry wizard is beyond me. Anyway, Kingsley had assured us that once the attack started, more Aurors would arrive, because then the Minister wouldn't be able to object to it.
The vampires have been spread through the four groups, Harry, Ron and Luna are with me, Tonks, Professor McGonagall and other Order members I don't know in the front-west group.
Ginny, Bill and Fred are with another group on the front-east of the castle, and Dumbledore and Shacklebolt are with them amongst the others.
George, Arthur and Molly are on the third group, on the rear-west of the castle, Mad-Eye Moody leading the group.
Charlie, another of the Weasley clan who usually works in Romania with dragons, is with the fourth group, the rear-east one, with Remus Lupin, Hagrid, Dedalus Diggle and Sirius Black, Harry's godfather who escaped from the prison of Azkaban, the prison where he unfairly spent twelve years, some years ago. Given his escapee status, he couldn't get Harry's custody like his best friends Lily and James Potter had planned, and this is why Harry still stays with the Weasleys. Not to mention that he is a vampire, albeit a well-educated one, so it's better for him to actually live with those like him, even if he's more than capable of living amongst humans, after all he spends nine months in a school filled with them…
So, this is basically how we are going to defend the school.
We keep hearing the giants approaching. We have Hagrid's brother Grawp that can help us with them, but he's only one and we don't know how many Voldemort has.
"I think it's time to go give them a welcoming party" Harry growls, and starts to move toward the main gates of the castle. Dumbledore nods, and we head outside.
Placing ourselves in our designated spots, we watch Voldemort's army approaching. The trees from the forest are sent flying by the advancing giants, but I'm not scared. We can do this, I have faith in my companions.
Finally, the Death Eaters come out of the forest too, in their billowing black cloaks and white masks. They must be surprised to see us ready, because they stop for a moment, before charging toward us at full speed.
And so it starts. The biggest and possibly the decisive battle of this war is finally upon us.
I launch myself into the battle attacking a Death Eater with a stunner, he easily dodges and counters with a Killing Curse. I launch myself on the ground at vamp speed and before he knows what's hit him he's on the ground with his neck broken by the impact. Serves him right for completely skipping foreplay.
Looking around I spot Professor McGonagall in a tight spot, with three Death Eaters attacking her. She is defending herself just fine but she has no openings to attack.
"Petrificus Totalus" I quickly cast thrice, incapacitating her opponents. She nods at me before binding them and sending them to the dungeons where we have decided to base the "prison" for the captured Death Eaters.
I barely have time to think about this when another Death Eater is upon me. "Sectumsempra" he cries, and I deflect the curse with a well placed shield. "Expelliarmus" I cry, but he dodges.
"This the best you can do, child?" he snickers before sending a Cruciatus curse my way. I roll on the ground sending a rock flying his way in the meantime so he can't curse me again while I'm rolling, and then I get back on my feet.
"Mmh, you're better than I thought, this shall prove interesting" the man says, before attacking again with a silent purple curse that I don't recognize. Better not take chances though, so I vamp my way out of its path before stunning him as he's still gaping at the spot I was in. Smirking, I bind him and send him away, not before removing his mask. I gasp as I recognize him as Antonin Dolohov, one of the most vicious Death Eaters.
Turning around I see Harry brawling with another vampire, kicks and punches flying between them. I fight the urge to go help him, he's more than capable of taking care of himself, besides this is exactly what we talked about last night.
No silly heroic acts to help someone else and thus distracting yourself from your own part of the battle.
I spot Grawp beating the crap out of one of the Voldemort's giants, and I can't help but smile.
I search for some other Death Eater to engage, and as I do so I notice Dumbledore graciously duelling with four Death Eaters at the same time, and he's not only defending himself either. I'm amazed at the old man.
But this is no time to watch as a fascinated fan-girl. I turn again, and see a Death Eater going toward the school.
"Where the hell do you think you're going" I think, before stunning him from a distance. Satisfied with myself, I move to go bind him and send him to the dungeons, but I'm suddenly kicked with extraordinary violence to the ground. Grimacing, I go vamp, and feel my broken bones mending immediately. Turning, I see the diabolic, red, ringed eyes of a vamp staring at me. He's cockily making his way toward me.
"You will be a very tasty snack" he sneers, stretching his arm to pick me up, but I suddenly kick him in the stomach with all the vamp strength I now have.
"Oof" he groans standing up. "That was a nice blow, girl. You have some unexpected resources, after all" he compliments me, but I don't get distracted by it. Suddenly, I feel a burst of pheromones coming from him, and I chuckle.
"Trying to charm me into submission? Not going to work, dude" I smirk, before lunging at him at full speed. Surprised, he doesn't manage to dodge my "nasty right hook" as Harry has called it after I landed five of them on him during our training together, and before he can move from the ground, I've got my wand out.
"Sectumsempra" I cry, aiming at his neck. The next thing I know, his head is rolling on the ground. "Flamis Eruptere" I shout next, burning his remains to ashes. Only then I let myself come down from my high and I realize I've killed a vampire.
I feel my legs go a bit weak from the realization of how much I've risked because of not being attentive. If he hadn't kicked me but directly bitten me…
Shaking my head as to rid myself of the gory images the idea brought up, I grab my wand tightly searching for another opponent. This allows me to gauge the situation.
The two rear groups have come to help in the front since nobody was attacking from their sides. I see Remus morphed into a wolf, trying to take down a giant.
"Remus! Get down!!" I shout, and he looks at me surprised. He lets go, and the moment he does, before the giant realizes he can strike him, I cast my spell.
"Incarcerous Maximum" I cry, and steel ropes erupt from my wand, tying the giant's legs tight and making him topple over on the ground with a resounding crash that vibrates through the hill. I'm sure they felt it in the Room of Requirements and are wondering what the hell is happening out here.
With the giant unable to lift himself up from the ground, I cast more steel ropes on him, completely binding him. He's not going to get out of them soon.
The idea is successful because I can see others doing the same, and more crashes vibrate through the ground. I pay them no attention, searching for more opponents.
However, the sight of Lord Voldemort coming out of the forest captivates me. He is walking straight toward Dumbledore, saying something that I can't ear. Dumbledore serenely talks back, reading himself for the duel that everyone knows will probably decide this war.
From what Harry had told me, Voldemort always escaped confrontations with Dumbledore if he could, so if he is actually seeking one now, he must be confident about his chances, and thus have something up his sleeve. Or, he could just be tired of this impasse the war is at, and wants to try and resolve it once and for all.
As the duel starts, most of the other fighters stop their own battles to watch it, mesmerized. I do too, lowering my wand, captivated by the light shows coming out of their wands. I'm sure none of us knows even one of the spells they are using, so far advanced is their magical knowledge, that no one can rival it.
The duel goes on for several minutes, but adding it to the fatigue of the battle, I can see Dumbledore growing tired and losing focus. Voldemort must have noticed this too, because he's firing his spells more rapidly now, and Dumbledore is barely managing to fend them off, completely forced on the defensive, without means of attacking.
It's only a matter of time before his defences crumble, and then it will be the end. Everything we have done to protect the school will be useless.
I want to cry at the unfairness of it all, and I fall to my knees the same moment Dumbledore's wand gets knocked out of his hand, out of his reach.
I can feel, if not hear, Voldemort gloating, before he causally flicks his wand and lets loose the Killing Curse. It strikes Dumbledore, leaving him a limp form on the ground, but before Voldemort can shout his victory to the skies, a bullet-like form lunges at him, and topples him down on the floor. I realize then that it's Harry.
I can't believe what I'm seeing, but Harry has Voldemort pinned to the ground and he's sucking his blood from his neck.
I've never seen him bite someone, or something as he usually hunts animals, but he's draining Voldemort of his life blood with a vengeance. I can understand him, because Dumbledore to him was everything, was the reason he was able to attend Hogwarts and not feel like a monster.
I spot from the corner of my eye a vampire lunging at him and with vamp speed I spring into action, running toward the creature to stop his attack on Harry. Right now, it's the best chance we have of killing Voldemort and with Dumbledore gone we won't have many others either.
So I launch myself at the vampire, pushing him on the ground, and starting to punch him in the face, anything to keep him away from Harry long enough for my boyfriend to kill the Dark Lord.
However, this one is much stronger than the one I killed before, and so he easily turns the tables on me, pinning me on the ground under him, my leg broken where he stepped on it while turning us upside down.
"My, what a beautiful face" he whispers. I can see that he doesn't really care about what is going on with Voldemort, otherwise he would have left me there and gone to help him. So if he wants to play, I'll let him, anything to buy Harry time. "I can easily see that you're not really a vamp, even if you have the same speed. You must have drank the potion Snape concocted, isn't that right?"
I say nothing, so he slaps me hard. "Answer me!"
"Yes, I did" I say, defiantly looking him in the eye. He grins maniacally.
"I knew it. So you're human, and pretty. It will take me nothing to turn you into a vampire and make you my bitch" he sneers at me, grabbing my arm. I try resisting him, thinking of Harry, but he's far stronger than me, and I shriek as I feel his teeth sinking into my flesh.
Suddenly, he's lifted off of me, but I don't care, as my whole body is feeling as if I'm on a million needles, piercing me everywhere. My head is pounding hard, and I fear it's going to explode any moment now.
"Don't worry Hermione, it's going to be alright" I hear Luna whispering to me. She's using an extreme effort not to drink my blood, I can see it, because it's still pouring freely from the bite.
Before I know anything else, my vision blurs, I see more forms around me but I can't recognize them, and then everything goes black.
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