So I've had this sitting in my drafts folder for a while now. I had this idea a while back to tell the story of Marietta Edgecombe and her redemption after being outed as a sneak. I never got around to writing the whole thing, but I did have this, and I thought it was pretty funny, so I figured I might as well throw it up.

Probably wont be anything else resulting from this, but nonetheless,

Enjoy.

Makeup, Makeup, Makeup. Never enough makeup. Some days Marietta wished she had never betrayed the DA, but then she would remember her few remaining friends, her family, those few people she had been able to protect with her sacrifice.

She hadn't had any choice! Or at least, that was what she'd tried to tell herself ever since that day. Ever since that bloody, impossible, irremovable charm had damaged her forever.

On the other hand, it had come with certain...benefits. Her eyes scanned over the corridors in front of her constantly now, watching every move in every shadow as she sped down the deserted corridors. It was just her luck to forget her makeup bag in her last class. And potions, no less. Anxiously she traced the outline of the balaclava she still kept inside her robes, wondering if she would have to use it, and hoping that she wouldn't.

With just a faint trace of immature wishfulness that she would. It wasn't so bad, really, even though the other girls picked on her endlessly whenever she wore it. Her parents had gotten it for her after the sneak incident, part thank you and part apology for what she had done for them. They understood, at least, and as a result had gotten it fashioned out of the finest materials available after every attempt to remove the jinx had failed. Bloody Griffindors...they claimed to be the heroes of the story, but what did they know about her? Easy to be a hero when everyone you know is just as stuck up and high-handed as you.

But even if she'd never admit it to anyone, wearing her balaclava made her feel like a superhero.

She snorted derisively, then froze; up ahead, she heard the faint sounds of voices. Slowing to a sneak(yeah yeah, laugh it up), she crept forward just close enough to hear not what was being said, but how it was being said. She knew the tone well enough; it was the tone used by the people that came to visit daddy late at night, when they needed something. The tone they used when they threatened her or mother. She'd asked about it once, but his expression of shame, anger, and fear had answered all her questions before he even spoke.

Marietta's hand tightened on her wand. She hadn't been able to do anything there, but maybe she could do something here. Her better judgment was yelling at her to just leave, but her inner Hufflepuff would not allow that to happen. After all, one doesn't walk up to the sorting hat and ask it to put her in the house that would let her help the most people, and just turn away at the first sign of trouble. Of course, it hadn't put her there in the end...but that was beside the point.

So, anxiously, she started mentally reviewing the dueling techniques she had reluctantly trained after being kicked out of the DA. She hadn't been able to see the actual lessons after that, but fortunately she hadn't been sorted into Ravenclaw for nothing, and she'd figured out an...alternative.

And so, against every thoughtful argument she could muster, Marietta found herself once again being a sneak. Fortunately, nowadays she was good at it. Soon she was at the corner, and ever so carefully she glanced beyond.

Oddly enough, it was two groups of Slytherins; one looked to be upperclassmen; that blonde prettyboy the girls were always fawning over when they weren't drooling over the 'Boy Who Lived', and his entourage of two thugs. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. Crabbe and Goyle were big, but magically speaking they were a nonentity. The other two were first years, and they looked terrified.

Grimacing, Marietta pulled back. It was late at night; neither they nor she should be out right now, according to the rules. If she confronted them, they'd probably stun her...or worse...and leave her to be found by Filch. Then it would be her word against theirs and she knew the Malfoy name; she knew that hair. She'd seen it in her house late at night.

She gnawed her lip. The conversation was growing more strained with every second; she had to act fast or she would be too late. She didn't know what was going to happen to those first years, but she was certain she didn't want to find out. But she could not do nothing. She could not. That would make her worse than Potter.

Marietta made up her mind. Reaching into her robes, she drew out the finely wrought silk balaclava and pulled it across her face. At least they would have a bit of a harder time identifying her.

She dove out from behind the corner just as Malfoy began to utter an incantation; "Imper—Bloody hell!"

"Stupefy!" Marietta yelled, perhaps a bit louder than was technically necessary, "Stupefy! Stupefy!"

To her amazement, all three spells flew perfectly, slamming into the hulking boys and sending them crashing to the floor. And then she was standing there, wand clenched tightly in her hand, drawing in deep breaths in preparation for a fight that was already over.

She stared at the fallen figures for 10 long seconds before her gaze finally shifted to the two first years; they stood frozen in shock. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded, "Get going! I'll take care of this."

They stared at her apprehensively for a moment, and she made a shooing movement with her wand; her hand was clenched so tightly that they jumped as an accidental flare of sparks burst from her wand, and then they were scurrying away terrified down the hall.

Marietta turned to look at the stunned Slytherins on the floor, trying to loosen fingers that seemed glued to her wand, its tip shaking slightly as she tried to calm her singing nerves. She'd attacked the son of one of the most powerful men in the wizarding world; there was only one option now. Aiming her wand at the blonde's head, she muttered the incantation she knew better than any other;

"Obliviate!"

The next morning, Marietta watched from the corner of her eye as Malfoy stomped over to the Griffindor table and accused Potter of ambushing him in the corridor. He might not remember what had happened exactly, but he did remember waking up in a heap in the dungeons, and like he usually did, he made the usual assumption about who was behind it. Of course, he didn't have an adequate explanation for what he had been doing out that late at night either, but that didn't seem to occur to him until the bushy-haired bitch pointed it out.

Hermione Granger. Marietta's lip curled even at the thought of that name. She had been the one to create the spell, she was the one responsible for ruining her life. Marietta was a little disappointed when Malfoy didn't jinx her, finally stomping back to his table with a trail of scorched dignity in his wake. Should have known better than to challenge someone right under the noses of the professors, really.

Then again, from the gossip that was slowly spreading through the hall as breakfast went on, he hadn't had much of a choice if he'd wanted to maintain his reputation; the first years had told someone what had happened, and that person had told someone else, and as rumors do, soon everyone in the school knew that someone had ambushed Malfoy in the corridors late at night. Fortunately, the who had been left out, replaced with "a dark-clad figure", which was almost vague enough to make Marietta laugh. Wisely, the first years had also left their own names out of the story, or it doubtless would be more than just Potter Malfoy would be going after.

And nobody would be breaking her Obliviate. She had learned from the best. Unfortunately, he was still in the mental damage ward of the Hospital, suffering from one of his own spells, but his lessons, extracted via blackmail and threats, were second to none. Gilderoy Lockheart had been perhaps the greatest memory wizard of his age.

With a sigh, Marietta turned back to her porridge, letting the taste remind her of home. After all, she might not be able to walk away from a late night interrogation, but these rumors were hardly her problem.

"Something wrong, 'mione?"

Hermione frowned slightly, watching as Marietta Edgecombe turned back to her food, and shook her head, "No...nothing serious, anyway." But her frown didn't go away.

Harry followed her gaze and frowned too, "Hermione, remember, she was a traitor. If she'd gotten away with it, the whole school would probably be run by the Ministry by now. She deserved everything she got."

Hermione grimaced, "But the intent was to punish her temporarily, not to permanently ruin her life. It was only supposed to lock in permanently if she was a "True Enemy". I didn't think that we'd ever let someone like that into the DA, so I mostly overlooked that part of the spell." She shook her head. "I was just so busy and worried when I made it that I wasn't worried about rare side-effects like that. And when it didn't wear off after the first few weeks, I thought it must just be lasting for a bit longer than usual. But lasting for more than a year? I'd never do that, Harry."

"I dunno, maybe she deserves it," Ron said from the other side, "If the spell thought she was a bad guy, maybe she was doing something worse than we thought she was." He shrugged, "Maybe she deserves it."

Hermione shook her head, "That's the problem; magic has a hard time telling between human things like good and evil. Only a few spells really do that, like the Patronus charm. This one was even more obscure though, because an enemy doesn't have to be good or evil to be your enemy. Supposedly it was an experimental charm made back in 1187 by Wulfgar the Horrible, a hex that could be placed on enemies that would never disappear, but the trouble was it only worked with beneficial magic, so he ended up torching the whole experiment...literally."

Harry reached for a goblet of pumpkin juice, "What's this have to do with Marietta?"

Hermione was excited now, eyes sparkling as she spoke, "Well I theorized that you could use positive magic to create alternative side effects! Nobody really knows how magic works in the body, but every healer worth their hat knows that wizards form a slightly swollen area of their internal tissues near their diaphragm. That is, their body cavity diaphragm, not their vocal diaphragm, where your body begins to transform body waste into its eventual final product before being excreted-"

"Hermione! Some of us are trying to eat here!" Ron nodded vigorously, looking like he was about to start gagging.

"Oh! Sorry!" Hermione blushed again, "Anyway, that's what's know as the magical core, where we get most of our magic. I just thought that if I added a series of micro-cores in a specific pattern, I could create magical symbols with them. That didn't work, of course, but the idea still let me spell out a word. Specifically—"

"Sneak," Harry said.

"...Yes. And that's why it can't be removed. Because it's actually positive magic, your body wont try to fight back. In fact, it will probably attempt to integrate it into the body permanently if it's beneficial enough; magic can be funny like that."

"So you're saying that she might end up looking like that for the rest of her life?"

"No! Well..." Hermione frowned, "Probably not. I put in a safety catch on it, in case the spell went haywire. It had to be a physical action, so I decided that a selfless act would be a good one. All she has to do is commit one selfless act, ideally a self-sacrificing one, and the charm should fade immediately."

"Oh. Well, that's good then, innit?" Ron said with a nod, "If she does, then she's a good person. If not, she isn't, and it sticks forever. Seems fair to me."

"We can't just go about punishing everyone for making a bad decision, Ron," Hermione said with a frown, "If I started hexing everyone who made what I thought were stupid decisions, three quarters of the school would have bats coming out their noses by now."

Harry snorted at the mental image of Snape sprinting out of the Feast Hall with bats billowing from his nostrils. "Actually, Hermione-" he began.

"Shush," she admonished, but betrayed herself with a tiny smile, "But I've decided. If Marietta doesn't break the charm by the end of the semester, I'll start researching ways to remove it. After all, we're supposed to be the good guys, remember?"

Harry and Ron finally nodded thoughtfully. After all, even if she'd made a terrible decision, she was still young, without anywhere near their level of experience or skills.

It didn't even occur to them to think of how arrogant that thought was.

Marietta stroked the folded balaclava through her robes, sitting mostly alone now that most of the other Ravenclaws had left to go to their classes. Wouldn't be like a Ravenclaw to be late, now would it? Of course, that didn't make much difference to Marietta; none of the people sitting nearby her said much to her anyway. After Cho had stopped being her friend last year most people had started ignoring her...which wasn't that big a change really. She'd never felt like she would fit too well into any of the houses, and the Sorting Hat had only confirmed that suspicion.

"Strong in all the traits," It had said, whispering into her ear in that slightly disquieting yet comforting way that only the sorting hat could manage, "Yet weak in all the necessities, aren't you? Fiercely loyal, yet selfish to yourself and your close family, which initially sounds like Hufflepuff, but that selfishness would cause great strife in that house. You'd think selfishness like that would put you firmly into Slitherin, but you're too noble to play with the rulebook they're willing to use; they'd eat you alive. Too logical to go to the cannon fodder—that is, the Griffindors. And while you're smart...yes, quite smart indeed, aren't you? But you hide that intelligence, which wouldn't mesh well with the attitude of arrogant superiority that is trending with the Ravenclaws these days. Hmm, hmm, hmm. Tricky, indeed..."

"What about Hufflepuff?" She had said, nervously, "Just put me where I can help the most people!"

"Don't try to fool me!" The had replied with a chiding snort, "Your outward intentions might be good, but I can see every little crack of your mind. There's a strong part of you that wants to be put into Hufflepuff just so you always have a strong group of friends to take the brunt of your fall, and I won't betray the oldest and loyalest house like that. No, no, I think you'd do much better with a little competition in RAVENCLAW!"

Unfortunately, competition was exactly what she wanted to avoid. The last thing she could afford to do was annoy some rich lord's brat and have him take out his anger on her father. He already had to deal with so much...

Sighing, Marietta drew out of her reverie. Almost all the seats were deserted now, and she should leave before anyone noted her reticence. But nobody could attack her here, like they could in the long unwatched hallways. And if Malfoy found out who had stunned him...well, the entire house would be on her, not just its chief prat. Catching him using an Unforgivable on school grounds...she wouldn't live to see the next day. Or even worse, her sister wouldn't.

And she couldn't tell any of the professors either, of course. If they happened to let slip who had given them the tip-off, as they would have to if they intended to report it, her family would be dead before the Malfoy boy was even aware of what was going on.

Curse her stupid noble streak.

And now it was too late. In her procrastination, the last of the other students had left the Great Hall; she was almost certainly late for class now. If she walked in late, would it attract more attention than not showing up at all?

Marietta weighted the two in her mind, and finally decided that it would be better not to go. Better to skive off and maybe get a detention for it than to show up late and draw unwanted attention. Instead, she headed up, looking for a specific section of empty corridor. Walking past it three times, a door appeared, and she went inside to find exactly what she had required; a dummy with no eyes or nose, yet somehow wearing a pair of round black glasses seemed to stare at her accusingly. "You're late," it said, in a perfect imitation of Potter's voice. "We've already begun practicing the Patronus Charm. Watch my wand movements, alright?"

She watched intently as it made a very precise gesture with its 'wand'; of course, it was only a stick of ordinary wood, and no burst of mist emanated from its tip, but it was good enough.

"Now what you need to do is think of your very happiest memory, bring it to the very forefront of your mind, and then say the spell. Sometimes yelling it helps." The doll tilted its head to the side in what Marietta imagined was a lopsided grin. She'd just wanted to watch recordings of Potter's DA meetings so she could learn the same things, but the Room had been able to do one better; a walking, talking replica of the Boy Who Lived. Sans magic, of course, but she could work with that. Smiling slightly, she held her wand up, ready to cast...and jumped as a hand settled on her shoulder.

"Sorry!" Marietta calmed as she heard Cho's voice came from behind her, "I just wanted to help."

"Cho?" Marietta said hopefully, turning...and jumped back when she saw another blank wooden doll facing her, head cocked to the side curiously.

"Etta? Is something wrong?" The doll said, brushing its long lustrous wig back exactly like...like...

Marietta began to shake her head, "No, No, No, I didn't ask for this! I didn't want this at all!"

"Etta? What's wrong?" The doll asked, dead vacant face staring soullessly at her.

"No! Leave me alone!" Marietta screamed, pushing the doll aside and running out the door, slamming it behind her without stopping, and running down the hall trying as hard as she could to muffle choked tears.

Marietta took nearly five minutes to figure the answer to the Ravenclaw Common Room.

When she finally managed to get it open, she froze; sitting in a chair right near the door was Cho.

"Cho..." Marietta choked out; Cho's eyes darted up, then immediately away, and Marietta let out a half sob. This had gone on for too long. They were supposed to be friends! What right did Potter have to take away her best friend? It wasn't fair!

She tried to hold in a second round of tears as she ran for the stairs to her room, threw herself onto her bed, stuffed her head onto her pillow, and wept.

"Wow, she looked terrible."

It was true; tears had taken off half her makeup, and her scars had shown bright red against her face.

"She deserved it," one of the seventh years said analytically, "She never should have betrayed one of the two most powerful groups in the school. The repercussions should have been clear from the start. If she feels the costs weren't worth it, she never should have been foolish enough to take the risks."

"Don't say that," Cho snapped, "She made a mistake, but you will not punish her for it." Her face was impassive, but her eyes were fiery, "She's paid enough already."

"An emotional response, or a rational one?" The seventh year said, raising an eyebrow, "Her position has waned even further since you stopped being her friend. I would not be surprised if she left the school soon. Don't drag yourself down with her."

Cho exploded to her feet, grabbing the seventh year by the collar and dragging her close. "You...Will...Be...Quiet." She growled.

The seventh year blinked in surprise before nodding, and Cho dropped her back to her chair, "I'm leaving" She said, and stormed out of the common room.

This had gone on for too long. Marietta was supposed to be her friend. How had things gotten so bad between them? She'd known that look she'd seen on her face today. She'd seen it in the mirror often enough for months after Cedric had died, when only Marietta had been there to comfort her. But she'd been too afraid of her friends, of everyone in the whole damn school, to say anything. How had things gotten so bad that it could be a death sentence just to be friends with the wrong person?

Cho walked quickly, legs filled with nervous energy, taking her blindly from corridor to corridor and room to room.

After Cedric had died, Marietta had been there for her every day, every hour, wiping away every tear for months and months and months until she'd finally started to move on. Now, because of Marietta, she could remember Cedric with, if not a smile, at least without tears.

And then she'd made one mistake. Just one mistake. And she'd abandoned her. How could she be such a...a...Bitch!?

Cho stopped and turned into a wall, slamming a palm into the cold stone over and over, letting out slow groan of pain.

And then, suddenly, she realized where she, in her mindless wanderings, had gone; she was standing in the dungeons. She froze as a silky voice came from behind her.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?"

Cho slowly turned around, widening her stance as she found herself face to face with Malfoy and four of his goons. He'd been walking around with a heavier guard since his previous two had been caught off guard earlier this week.

"Malfoy." She said shortly.

"Chang," Malfoy said, oddly lacking his usual sneer. "Strange time to see you about. Shouldn't you be in class?"

"I have a free period," She said tightly.

Now the smirk returned, "Ah, so no-one knows where you are? There's nobody looking for you?"

Cho's hand edged towards her wand, "I...yes! I was supposed to meet a teacher. Professor McGonagal. About transfiguration. She should be here any moment."

"Oh really," He said, smirk growing more pronounced, "In the dungeons? I think you're lying, Chang. I don't think anyone knows where you are. I think..." he glanced at his minions, who moved to encircle her, and grinned, "I think we can have a little fun."

He went for his wand, and Cho's DA training instantly kicked in, and her wand was out in an instant, "Incarcerous!" She yelled, diving to the side; the spell skimmed over Draco's head as he ducked and whipped his wand out.

"Nice try, but you won't get another chance like that. Get her!"

A wave of spells blasted down the hall. "Protego!" Cho yelled, jumping over three spells and blocking the fourth with her shield, "Stupify, Impedimenta, Petrificus Totalus!"

Two of the minions went down, and Draco snarled, "Damn you! Impedimenta!"

Cho barely dodged it and fired off another stupify that missed, and then Draco's next disarming spell hit her straight in the chest, ripping her wand from her hand and sending Cho flying down the hall, almost to the corner.

Draco growled and tossed the wand aside, "You're more trouble than you're worth. I think I'll teach you a lesson instead, something I learned from my father. Sectumsemptra!"

As he yelled the curse, a figure suddenly dove in from the side, knocking her out of the way just in time to take the blast of light to the chest.

Cho fell to the ground with the figure lying limply on top of her.

"Mari-Marietta?" Cho whispered.

"I wasn't...quite...fast enough." Marietta muttered, "Never...quite...fast enough."

And then her head fell to Cho's chest, the pool of red slowly growing across her chest.

Cho stared in frozen shock at the limp form in her arms. She was her only friend. She was supposed to protect her. She'd failed. In every possible way, she'd failed. And now...and now...she carefully laid her onto the floor and stared her her face. In death, it seemed almost like even the scars that marred her face were fading. Slowly she bent down to kiss her pale forehead.

A scream of rage welled up inside her. "DRACOOOOOOOO!" she bellowed, spinning to stare murderously at the blonde boy. "What. Have. You. Done."

"Nothing she didn't deserve," He said with a flick of his wand, "You'll be joining her soon, of course."

Her whole body was shaking with rage, her thoughts fogged with it, and as she looked down at Marietta's still form, a strange power seemed to well up inside her.

"No," she whispered, "Not today. Not today." Her eyes flashed to Malfoy, "Not EVER!"

She flung out her hand towards her wand, and without hesitation it launched towards her and slammed into her hand.

"Stupefy, Stupefy, Stupefy, Stupefy, Stupefy Stupefy Stupefy Stupefy!" She screamed, casting spell after spell down the hallway, casting so quickly that Draco was quickly forced entirely to the defensive.

Soon, however, he began to laugh, as his shield slowly grew more and more durable instead of less, and tears began to blur Cho's vision.

"You won't get anywhere with as pathetic a spell as that," he taunted, "Or with such a pathetic dueling technique!"

Cho stopped dead. "Wrong. Thing. To. Say." she snarled out. "You should know better than to antagonize a RAVENCLAW. SINGULARIS NEX!"

A blot of pure blackness emerged from her wand, ripping off portraits and cracking the stones of the floor as it traveled, and leaving a sheen of ice covering everything behind. And when it contacted Malfoy's shield, it exploded with a force large enough to shake the castle to its foundations.

In the Headmaster's Office, Dumbledore froze at the sound. That didn't sound like an ordinary classroom accident; that sounded like a full-on assault!

"Fawkes!" He called, and the bird disappeared in a flash. The bird would be more useful informing their allies of the situation than transporting him around, and he had his own ways of moving about the school. With a flurry of robes, he disappeared out the door.

In the Slytherin Common Room, all activity ceased as, like the calm before the storm, everything seemed to go deathly silent. And then, in a massive explosion, the door and ten feet of wall beside it came bursting in, exploding fragments of stone and mortar across the entire common room, with blasts of cold flame searing everything the explosion touched.

"Call the Dark Lord!" Pansy Parkinson screamed, "They're attacking us!"

"My Lord!" Peter Pettigrew gasped as he ran into Voldemort's chambers, "Dumbledore has launched an attack on the Slitherins! He's already breached the front defences!"

"That fool!" Voldemort cursed, "He knows not what he is dealing with. Arm, Pettigrew!"

His arm was already exposed, and the Dark Lord pressed a long thumb down on the Dark Mark there, hard. "Order the recruits to move on Hogwarts; I will disable the wards myself. He may have made us act early, but the old fool will pay for forcing my hand!"

At the Weasley Household, Molly Weasley froze as the hands for everyone in the family instantly moved to "Mortal Peril". She didn't hesitate. She grabbed her wand and reached for the floo. She would tell as many people as she could what was happening before apparating to Hogwarts. If someone wanted to get to her children, they would have to go through her!

In the Ministry of Magic, alarms went up everywhere as floo usage abruptly spiked to nearly 2000% normal. All across the Wizarding World, people were sending hundreds of messages, and everyone seemed to be trying to get to the same place; Hogwarts School.

In the Auror's offices, Madame Bones responded almost instantly. All along the hall , fireplaces blazed with inquiries about what was happening at Hogwarts, but she didn't have time for that. The signs were there; something terrible was happening at Hogwarts, and she would be damned if she let something happen to it while her daughters were there!

She tapped her throat, whispering the Voice Enhancing charm. "AURORS!" She yelled as loud as she could, her voice booming throughout the entirety of the Ministry, "There has been an attack on Hogwarts! We will be reinforcing them in exactly ONE MINUTE! Prepare yourselves for battle!"

There was no way in hell the ministry was going to let this go unpunished. They weren't that far gone, not by a long shot!

Hundreds of Apparations crackled around her, and spells were now flying like a horde of fireflies throughout the entirety of Hogwarts, but to Cho, none of that mattered. The spell had taken almost everything out of her, and with her last remaining energy she had managed to crawl back to Marietta's body, holding it tight. She had been right; the timing was always off, wasn't it? They'd never had it quite right.

And now Cho watched, desperately, as the word Sneak faded more and more from her face. She could hardly see it now. She wasn't sure what would happen when it disappeared completely, but she knew she wouldn't be able to handle it when it did. But she was too tired to cast any of the healing spells she knew. Too late...too late.

And finally, the last of the curse disappeared from Marietta's face. For a moment, she seemed almost...peaceful.

And then it reappeared. This time written in glowing light, it seemed to emerge from her skin, glowing brighter and brighter, setting the dark corridor into sharp relief. Now a sound like rushing wind cave, and the floor began to shake, and a rumble echoed throughout the school...

And with a start, Marietta's eyes flashed open, and she drew in a deep breath.

"Mari? Marietta?" Cho whispered incredulously, "Is that you?"

Marietta blinked, confused, "Cho?" Her face fell, "I'm dead, aren't I? And you are too? This isn't how it was supposed to end. It was supposed to be better than this! But...why are you hurt? How can you be hurt if you're dead? Unless...you're not dead? I'm not dead?"

Cho just shook her head with tired amusement, "No, we're not dead. Not yet. But the battle's getting worse."

"Battle?"

"After you d...after I cast that spell, people started coming from everywhere. There must be thousands out there by now. Lots of people are going to die because of me, Mari. At least I've got my best friend to keep me company..."

"Best...friend?"

Cho sighed, "I'm...I'm sorry I treated you so badly, Mari. I just felt so hurt, and I didn't want to be kicked out too! And then I wanted to go help you, so very badly, but I...I couldn't! Please, you have to understand, I-"

"Shhh," Mari said, putting a finger over Cho's lips, "You don't need to explain anything. As long as we're friends again, that's enough for me."

Cho closed her eyes in relief.

"Now, we need to do something about this battle," Mari said, decisively, jumping to her feet before pausing in confusion. "That's strange," She muttered.

"This is out of our league, Mari!" Cho said, "Voldemort is out there! And I think I saw the Lestranges running by a few minutes ago, they'd kill us without a second look! ...And I guess you don't really care, do you? And I don't care. Why don't I care? That's strange." she blinked in confusion.

"After getting you back, not much else matters to me now," Mari said, "But if we want to stay alive, we need to help end this battle, and quickly."

"I...I can't even stand, Mari. I'm sorry."

As if out of thin air, Marietta's wand appeared in her hand, "Ennervatus Primus!" She muttered, and a ray of golden sunlight burst from her wand and slammed into Cho; a moment later, she felt like she'd just had the best night of sleep in her life. Better than that.

"That's strange," Marietta muttered again, helping Cho to her feet before bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet, "I feel...Good. Better than good. Better than I've felt in my whole life. Why do I feel so good? What's going on?"

"You did it."

They both started, looking down the hall; a bushy-haired wizard they both recognized stood there. Blood covered half her face, and part of her hair was burned off, but it was clearly Hermione Granger. "You managed what Wulfgar never could!" She whispered.

"What are you talking about, Hermione?"

"One Hundred and Eight. That was the ultimate combination of Magical Cores that Wulfgar the Terrible predicted would give the ultimate power. But it only worked on enemies..." she stared at Marietta with shock, "But you managed to unlock it. You've integrated them all. Each one multiplying the power of the last, each one growing more and more powerful..."

Marietta glared at the bushy-haired witch, "What are you talking about? Why aren't you defending yourself? You hate me!"

"Not hate. I distrusted you. But you've apparently proven yourself now, so I know I can trust you. An act of willing self-sacrifice, the ultimate power in Light Magic."

"What are you talking about?"

Hermione seemed to jump out of her reverie, "No time to explain!" She said abruptly, "We need to get back up and rejoin the battle! Voldemort's giants are causing carnage in the east flanks. Wait. They should be...over there!"

She pointed into the solid stone wall, "Cast a blasting curse that way!"

"But it will hit the wall!"

"Just do it!"

Marietta shook her head in confusion, "Okay..."

"Hold the line!" Amelia Bones bellowed, "We will not allow them to breach the defenses!"

"Bones, the giants! We can't hold them back, there are too many!"

Amelia apparated in a blink, appearing on the east side of the castle. "Hexus Flaiys!" she yelled, groaning at the strength of the spell, but another giant fell to the ground, head missing from its shoulders. "Concentrate fire!" She yelled.

"There are too many!" another auror yelled, "We need to retreat!"

"This is no time for retreat!" Bones yelled back, "We stand or we die! Now Fire!"

"There are too many! We cannot-!"

His words were cut off by a peculiar silence. It seemed like every sound in the battlefield was being drawn into a single spot, when-

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A massive explosion blasted out of the ground, a tremendous wash of orange light blasting forth and sending giants by the dozens launching into the sky.

"It's Dumbledore!" Some of the aurors yelled, rejoicingly.

"It's Harry Potter!" Others said.

"It's...a girl?" Bones said, curiously.

Marietta stumbled, staring at the massive trench her spell had wrought in shock. "How...?" she murmured.

Hermione stared for an instant before shaking her head and seizing Marietta's arms urgently, "It's doesn't matter!" She said, "What's important is, you have the power to end this, once and for all! Cast the Flight Charm on yourself!"

"But I don't have the magical power to-"

"Do you think you had the magical power to do this?" Hermione said, gesturing wildly to the hole in the castle walls, "This isn't the time for strategy, or for politics! This is the time for raw, insane power!It's time to bring this stupid war to a close!" She met Marietta's eyes, "Do it!"

Marietta's gaze went to Cho's; they seemed to communicate a thousand things in a short instant. Then she nodded, "Go."

Marietta slowly smiled, "Levicorpus Personae!"

In a flare of magical power she leapt into the air, and the next instant she was into the skies. But wait—she paused mid-flight; what if she missed someone, and they recognized her? Her family...and her hand brushed over the Balaclava in her pocket, and she smiled. Drawing it over her face, she changed it into a white hood with a simple spell. The next instant she was off.

Madame Bones didn't know what was happening. One moment their forces were being pressed in on from all sides. The next, the Dark Forces were being driven off on all sides, blasted away by impossibly powerful blasts from a blur in the skies.

...But never let it be said that she wasn't one to press an advantage. "All forces, focus on remaining opposition!" She yelled, a Sonorus amplifying her voice, "We'll show these pretenders why they should never threaten our children!"

A ragged cheer came up from her forces, and once again they pressed the assault.

Harry Potter, Albus Dumbledore, and the Dark Lord Voldemort stood in the great hall. All of them were breathing heavily, and great holes in the walls and ceiling showed the results of their battle.

"You cannot win, old man," Voldemort sneered, "Even if I cannot defeat the two of you alone, my forces will be here soon, and then you will face a fate beyond your imagining!"

"Are not all fates beyond our imagining?"Dumbledore said, quietly, "It is your efforts to avoid your fate that have brought you to such a twisted and warped state, Tom."

"Stupefy!" Harry yelled, for the nth time. Voldemort casually reflected it towards the Headmaster, who effortlessly absorbed it into his wand.

"Nonetheless, this will all be over, soon." Voldemort hissed.

"Sooner than you'd think."

All three of them turned in surprise to see a figure float down through a hole in the ceiling, wreathed in an aura of power, a white hood over their face, only her mouth visible. "Tom." She said, softly.

"Do not call me that name! Avada Kedavra!" The dark lord yelled, drawing back in surprise as the spell withered to nothing as it struck her glowing aura. Glowing wings unfurled from her back.

"It's time to go home, Tom," she said quietly.

"Who...who are you!?" he said, fearfully, "Avada Kedavra! Avada Kedavra! Crucio! Sectumseptra!"

"That wont work on me, Tom. You know that."

"Who ARE you!?" He screamed, letting loose a torrent of spells at the glowing figure before collapsing to his knees, barely conscious.

She was right next to him now, and leaned in close to whisper in his ear, "I am...a distraction." she murmured.

And a moment later, Harry Potter slammed a chunk of rock into the back of his head, sending the Dark Lord into the darkness of unconsciousness.

"For he has power the Dark Lord knows not..." Dumbledore whispered incredulously. The figure stared at him for a moment, then from beneath her hood, a quirky smile appeared, "I dont think Tom saw Harry pick up that chunk of rock, do you?"

Dumbledore blinked, "It couldn't possibly be that simple...could it?"

The figure shrugged, "Who knows. I suggest immediately dosing him with a draught of eternal sleep and keeping him well dosed until you manage to hunt down all his horcruxes, however. If he wakes up, you could have a bit of trouble on your hands."

She turned and leapt into the air, but before she could disappear out of sight, Harry called out to her, "Wait!" She paused, turning back curiously, "Who are you?"

She smiled faintly, "Sometimes salvation can come from the unlikeliest of places."

An instant later, she was gone.

The Battle of Hogwarts went down in history that day, for a number of reasons. Interestingly enough, a surprising number of people claimed to see what appeared to be an angel guarding over the forces of light in the castle; some believed it to be an actual angel, others claimed it was the Spirit of Hogwarts, protecting its boundaries and its students in physical form.

The few people who knew the truth simply smiled and remained silent. But even those who didn't give that much thought noticed a new, much happier Marietta Edgecombe, face now mark-free, running through the castle with her long time friend and confidante, Cho Chang, at her side.

And from time to time, she would stop and talk to the bushy-haired witch from Gryffindor. They were never best friends, but they were friends.

And from time to time, when evil rose and danger appeared, an angel rose and traumatized nearby civilians by turning the evil into a fine red mist.

The End.