The Death Eaters gathered in a circle surrounding Voldemort, Softly stamping their feet and rubbing their hands together in a futile attempt to ward of the frigid Scottish chill. As flecks of snow fell on their shoulders He-who-must-hyphenate-his-name growled in a low voice full of anguish and blood lust "They won't be expecting it but go in and fight fast and hard and do it quickly". After a short stop he added "And make sure you save Potter for me, I have a special treat in store for him and don't want one of you idiots ruining it" This last comment brought a knowing smirk to Lucius Malfoys face. As they moved up street in muggle Scotland some of the human shapes began to melt and remould into their vampire forms. All of the vampires were clutching swords, axes and guns in their claws. Growling at the thought of fresh blood they slinked onwards. Malfoy placed his hand on his wife's shoulder and slowed her down until they were bringing up the rear of the death eaters when they approached the road towards the cottage.

The rough-hewn log structure was barely visible through the falling snow, but the vampires could all smell the odour of the wood fire going inside, the added aroma of the witches and wizards' blood caused their mouths to water in anticipation of the feast that was to come

The Dark Lord, confident of the element of surprise took the driveway, Bellatrix Lestrange at his side, and waved the others into the dense forest that surrounded the cottage "spread out and approach from different angles" he urged them in a gruff voice.

Crabbe and Goyle senior circled of to the left and jumped over the dry creek bed, crouching low. They'd moved barely thirty yards when a bright light came on in a tree just ahead of them, blinding them with its glare.

"What the hell" Crabbe said, taking another step forward and tripping the ward between two trees. A tremendous explosion from five feet in front of him sent a huge cloud of smoke and dirt into the air, along with several hundred four inch nails. The dense cloud of nails blew Crabbe and Goyle of their feet, shredding and flaying their arms and legs to ribbons.

Crabbe screamed in agony and rolled over; staining the snow scarlet with his blood and feeling his broken bones grind together. Sobbing in agony and sudden terror, he stared up through the one eye left to him as a apparition of a young woman, dressed all in black with chestnut hair, snarled at him through clenched teeth, her lips curved in a savage grin as she raised her wand in her hands and swung it down to him like a baseball bat, Crabbe put up a bloody, broken arm to fend off the blow but the razor sharp "Septum Sempra" sliced through his arm and then his neck like a hot knife through butter. His head catapulted through the air, staring back at his body lying shattered and bloody in the snow. It was the last thing he saw before the darkness opened up and swallowed him.

Goyle, who took the brunt of the explosion and most of the nails couldn't see anything as he opened his mouth and screamed for help, for both of his eyes were ripped from his skull by the force of the explosion. He didn't even see the flash of light as Potters "katana" tore his head clear off his neck. He was dead before his screams quit echoing through the forest.

As the explosions and bright lights and screams pierced the night, The two Malfoys slowed even more allowing Voldemort and Bellatrix to pull ahead of them to the cottage. Lucius put his hand on his wife's arm and whispered in her ear "I think from the sound of things we'd better get the bloody hell out of here". She snarled at him and bared her wand as the smell of burning flesh and fresh blood wafted towards them on the nights breeze making her own bloody boil. She shook her head and tried to pull her arm away "Potter" she hissed pointing to the cottage. Lucius tightened his grip on her arm and shook it "don't be a fool Cissy" he said urgently keeping his voice low so the Dark Lord wouldn't hear them "They're ready and waiting for us. It's a trap and we're going to die here if we don't leave"

After a moment, Narcissa's eye's cleared and she forced the blood lust aside and nodded her head. "As much as I hate to leave a good fight, I think you're right".