A shimmering white portal opened next to Hermione. She didn't even flinch. Portals had been opening constantly for the past three days. She turned and casually observed a slender teenager with dark hair and a brightly colored costume step out of the light.

"I'm Robin." He pointed to the other four strangely garbed, cartoon teens behind him. "Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven. We're the Teen Titans."

Hermione just nodded. "You can check in over there." She pointed to a large red tent on a small rise with orange trim and numerous pennants.

Robin thanked her and headed to the wizard-made headquarters tent with his team.

Slowly, Hermione's eyes swept over the valley of tall grass surrounded by hills and primordial forests. Rows of tents stretched from one end of the valley to the other. Tens of thousands of people in every manner of dress from primitive to futuristic mingled together. Portals opened constantly, depositing more TV and movie heroes.

Hermione shook her head. She had seen many unbelievable things since she had learned she was a witch. Never in her wildest imagination did she think she'd ever behold a sight like this.

Gladiators, mecha, cartoon characters, soldiers in every sort of uniform imaginable. Thousands upon thousands of fictional characters all brought together in one place . . . for one critical battle.

Hermione's awe at the sea of heroes was tempered by one troubling thought.

Will it be enough?

Another portal opened near her. A muscular dark-haired man with a large machine gun stepped out.

"John Rambo," he nodded to her before scanning the landscape. "Am I in the right place?"

"Yes. Check in at that large tent over there."

Rambo nodded again and stalked off.

Hermione stared at the distant hills. Beyond them lay the entire Stacyx army. Her heart hammered in her chest as she imagined 800,000 of the creatures bearing down on them.

She shuffled back to the tent city, hugging herself. Throaty caws echoed overhead. She looked up and spotted half-a-dozen pterodactyls circling high above her. They looked more like puppets than real animals.

She negotiated the maze of tents. All around her men and woman sharpened swords, cleaned guns and worked on vehicles and mecha. Hermione thought back to the pitched battle they had in the show 24. What they went through there nearly rivaled the night Voldemort's forces attacked Hogwarts. All the explosions, the quaking of the ground . . . the deaths.

And it would likely pale in comparison with what lay ahead.

She trembled. Fear threatened to crush her. Hermione did her best to fight it off. This wouldn't be the first time she'd faced death. She made it through the Battle of Hogwarts when so many others didn't.

So why did this time feel different?

Hermione walked by a tall handsome man with a charming smile, who was talking to a dark-skinned woman with gleaming white hair.

"Hi," said the man, a twinkle in his eye. "Captain Jack Harkness, Torchwood."

"Storm, of the X-Men." She shook Jack's hand, a smile forming on her lips.

Hermione's lips tightened as she continued to stare at them.

She needed to see Ron . . . now.

Picking up her pace, she headed for the tent she and her husband shared. Along the way she passed two men conversing near a U.S. Army Jeep.

"You're serious?" said Hugh Jackman's Van Helsing. "You can't use a wooden stake to kill vampires on your world?"

"I've already told you that three times," grumbled Wesley Snipes' Blade. "My answer won't change the fourth time."

Hermione made it to her tent and threw back the flap. Like all wizard-made tents, it was larger on the inside than the outside.

She spotted Ron on a sofa, hunched over, rolling his wand back and forth in his hands.

"Ron?"

He straightened up and turned to her. "Oh. Um, hey Hermione." He tried to tighten his face, mold it into a stone mask.

Hermione canted her head. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Sure. Fine." He stood and drew a deep breath. "Just . . . anxious for this battle to get going, you know. I hate all this waiting around."

Hermione gave a slight nod. "It's all right to be scared."

"Who says I'm scared?" He snapped.

"Well I am. I think anyone with a brain would be."

Ron's shoulders sagged. "Okay, yeah. I'm scared. But, you know . . . we've been in tight spots before. Look at everything we went through tracking down the Horcruxes. And then there was the Battle of Hogwarts. Scary, yeah. But we got . . . through it . . ." His voice trailed off.

Hermione canted her head. "Ron, what is it?"

"Nothing." He shook his head and turned away. "Stupid stuff. Don't worry about it."

"I'm your wife. It's my job to worry about you."

"Thanks, but I don't need you to." His voice went up as he stomped toward the dining room table.

Hermione began to forget about her fear. Anger replaced it. Something else was troubling Ron, something more than the usual fears of going into battle. And once again she'd have to rip down his emotional wall to get at it.

"You know, you can't say nothing's bothering you and walk away from me." She stepped toward him. "Is it me? Are you worried what might happen to me?"

"Well of course I'm worried about you." Ron spun around to face her. "You're my wife and I love you."

Hermione raised an eyebrow when she saw her husband draw in his lower lip and bite down on it.

"But that's not the only thing that's bothering you, is it?"

"Um . . . I don't know what you're talking about."

Hermione scowled. She closed the rest of the space between them with hard footfalls. "Ron, now is not the time to keep things from me. You remember what happened to . . . to Tonks and Professor Lupin. How many things did they never get the chance to say to one another?"

Ron closed his eyes and lowered his head. As hard as he tried, he couldn't keep his jaw from trembling.

"Ron. Please." Hermione gently grasped her husband's shoulder. "Talk to me."

Ron turned his head from her. "At least they had Teddy," he muttered.

"Teddy? What does he have to do with this?"

Hermione jumped when Ron banged a fist on the table. He looked back at her. Hermione held her breath when she noticed his eyes glisten with moisture.

"They left a part of themselves behind," he said, a slight quiver in his voice. "They have Teddy to carry on for them. What do I . . . we have? I keep trying, Hermione. I wanted so much for us to have a child. But I . . ."

He dropped his head. Tears formed in Hermione's eyes.

"You want a baby so bad," Ron mumbled. 'And I . . . it's like everything else in my life. I just can't do it right."

Hermione drew her head back, trying to keep a tear from rolling down her cheek. The strength she couldn't find for herself she now had to find for Ron's sake.

"Ron, the healers said sometimes it's just . . . well, it's just harder for some people."

"Always seems to be harder for me, doesn't it? It didn't take Bill long to get Fleur pregnant after they got married, did it?"

Hermione moved closer to him, her body pressing against his. She slid her arms around his neck. "Just because I haven't been able to get pregnant doesn't mean I think you're inadequate as a husband. You've always been there for me."

"That's a lie. I left you when we were looking for the Horcruxes."

"But you came back. Ron, I love you. I wish we did have a child like Bill and Fleur or Harry and Ginny. But there's nothing we can do about it now. And when we fight the Stacyx who knows . . ."

"Don't talk like that."

"Well I can't help it." The tears threatened to spill from her eyes. "Eight hundred thousand of them, Ron. Even with all the heroes we've brought in from TV shows and movies, we're still outnumbered."

"We'll find a way to win."

"How do you know?"

Ron shrugged. "Don't we always? The Sorcerer's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets, the Battle of Hogwarts. When it didn't seem possible, we managed to come out on top somehow."

Hermione tried to smile. "I hope we can do that this time."

"We will. We have to."

Hermione closed her eyes as Ron held her against his chest. All her fear and worry vanished. She could only feel content as she drew strength from Ron's embrace.

"When we've finished stomping the Stacyx into the ground," he said. "No matter what it takes, we're going to have a child."

Hermione looked up at him. This time she did nothing to halt the tears from cascading down her face.

Ron wiped her tears away and kissed her. It began as a gentle, comforting kiss. That soon led to open mouths, dueling tongues and roaming hands that clenched fistfuls of clothing and yanked them off.

XXXXX

"YO JOE!!"

Harry whirled around . . . and jumped out of the way as a line of animated male and female soldiers rushed out of a portal. Vehicles of all shapes and sizes, many festooned with all manner of weaponry, soon followed. He kept his gaze locked on GI JOE as they headed toward the command tent. They seemed a pretty impressive fighting unit. Harry was glad to have them aboard.

Even though it did nothing to change the fact his side remained outnumber.

We'll just have to deal with it. In a few hours, outnumbered or not, they would have no choice but to attack the Stacyx army.

Two people stepped suddenly stepped out of the tent next to him. He bumped into a tall, dark haired man with angular features.

"Sorry."

"Quite all right," Sean Connery's James Bond nodded to him. He then turned to Angelina Jolie's Tomb Raider and stroked her braided black hair. "I must say, Miss Croft, it certainly was enjoyable uncovering such a wonderful treasure."

Lara Croft smiled, then kissed Bond.

Harry shook his head. Dean was right when he described James Bond to him. Anywhere, anytime . . . with anyone.

"Harry! Hey, Harry!"

His chest tightened when he noticed Dennis running toward him, waving a small booklet.

"Harry, you won't . . . oh wow." Dennis' eyes widened as he stared past Harry's shoulder. "Was James Bond just shagging the Tomb Raider?"

"I didn't stop long enough to ask."

"Oh. Well anyway, you won't believe how many autographs I've got already. Colonel Carter from Stargate, Naruto, Robocop, the Fourth Doctor. You know, the one with the long scarf. This is cooler than going to a Muggle science fiction convention."

Harry stared at Dennis' face, his wide-eyed enthusiasm. All he could think of was a similar look on Colin Creevey's face when Harry would simply say "hi" to him in the corridors of Hogwarts.

"Come here, Dennis. We need to talk."

"Sure."

Harry led Dennis past the gray armor suit of Alphonse Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist and to the rear of a nearby tent. He checked to make sure no one was within earshot.

"So what's up, Harry?"

Harry bit his lower lip. Several seconds passed before he could bring himself to speak. "I want you to go home."

Dennis' face contorted in a look mixed with confusion and surprise. "Excuse me?"

"You should go home. It's dangerous here."

"Well of course it's dangerous. We're on a battlefield . . . or it will be in a little while."

"You don't belong here, Dennis. You're not an auror."

"Okay, I'm not. But I am part of the D.A."

"There is no more D.A.!" Harry snapped.

Dennis' mouth fell open in shock.

Harry took a breath, settling himself. "This isn't a game, Dennis."

"I know that. I've seen what the Stacyx can do."

"Yeah, and it almost cost you your life."

"What, a nasty bump on the head?" Dennis patted his skull. "If this is the worst I get in this whole adventure I'll be fine with it."

"It is the worst you're going to get. I'm sending you home."

The surprise melted from Dennis' face. His aimed a firm gaze at Harry. "Like hell you are."

"I said I'm sending you home and I will, even if I have to arrest you!" Harry stomped over to Dennis. "I'll be damned if I'm going to let another Creevey die because of me."

Dennis' jaw tightened. He took a deep breath, locking eyes with Harry's. "Is that what this is about? Is that why you didn't want me to come in the first place? Because of Colin?"

Harry closed his eyes, trying to settle his breathing and rapid heartbeat. "Yes, it is. He died because he wanted to help me. Your mum and dad mourned him because of me. They already lost one son, I'm not going to let them lose another."

Dennis looked away for a second, clenching his fists. When he looked back, Harry saw an expression he'd never seen on either Creevey brother.

Dead seriousness.

"You know what, Harry. There are times when you can be one selfish bastard."

Harry blinked. "Excuse me?"

"You think Colin died because of you? You think Colin snuck back into Hogwarts just for you? What, do you think my brother's whole life revolved around you?"

"I thought it was pretty obvious. Always wanting to take my picture or have me sign his autograph book."

"Okay, fine. You were a hero to Colin. He practically worshipped you. Half the stories he told me at Hogwarts were, 'I shook Harry Potter's hand after he won the Quidditch match,' or 'Harry Potter loaned me his quill because I lost mine.' But you weren't the only reason he snuck back into the school the night of the battle. Remember, we're Muggle-born. Had Voldemort won, we'd both be dead by now. He went back to fight for our right to survive, for all Muggle-borns' right to survive. And yes, he died because of it. And yes, I still miss him more than you can imagine and wish he was here."

Harry couldn't look Dennis in the eye. Selfish. It was a term he never thought anyone would use to describe him. How many times did he face danger and pain by himself so his friends wouldn't?

He swallowed. Could Dennis have a point? How many times had he blamed himself for Fred's death? Did he get so caught up in his connection with Voldemort that he believed that was the sole reason for the last war? Had it never occurred to him that Fred and Colin and the others fought and died for something much larger than one scar-headed boy? That they fought and died so the world would not exist under the oppressive boot of a maniacal dark wizard?

"Harry." Dennis slapped him on the shoulder. "I'm proud of what my brother did that night. He sacrificed his life so me, my parents, all Muggle-borns and Muggles could live. Voldemort wasn't just your fight. It was everyone's fight. And the same is true now. My family's at risk, too, and I damn well am going to do something about it. So, unless you plan on stunning me and carrying my unconscious arse back to the real world, I'm staying."

Harry stared into Dennis' determined eyes. Slowly, a smile spread across Harry's face. He clasped Dennis on the shoulder. "You're right, Dennis. I'm sorry. And your brother would be proud of you."

"I know. Now . . ." He tapped Harry's arm with his autograph book. "I spied a couple of the Doctor Who companions around here. Rose Tyler and Nyssa. What say we go chat 'em up? Merlin's beard, they are hot."

"Dennis. I'm married."

"I know. But it couldn't hurt to have the famous Harry Potter put in a good word for his single friend."

Harry couldn't help but laugh.

XXXXX

"Madame Maxine. So good to see you." Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of the Hogwarts School for Wizarding and Witchcraft, shook hands with the red-headed giantess who ran the Beauxbatons school in France. Behind her stood several of her former students.

"It is a shame we could not meet under better circumstances. Unfortunately, these Stacyx have killed Muggles in our country as well. We stand ready to assist you."

"Your help is most appreciated. Our headquarters tent is over on that small rise. We're asking everyone to check in there."

"Very well." Madam Maxine turned to her charges. "This way, everyone."

She nodded to McGonagall and led the French contingent toward the tent.

McGonagall drew a deep breath and surveyed the area. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen such a gathering of wizards and witches. Not just aurors from around the world, but members of the Order of the Phoenix and its sister organizations abroad. Britons, Irish, Americans, Canadians, French, Russians, Dutch, Poles, Egyptians, Israelis, Zulus, Chinese, Japanese, Australians, Brazilians, Panamanians. All united for one common cause.

Hopefully not a lost cause.

Even with their allies from Muggle TV shows and movies, they would still be facing the Stacyx outnumbered. But with hours to go before that Muggle contraption landed on the Moon, they had no choice but to attack with whatever forces they had on hand.

Another portal opened near McGonagall. She wondered who'd be coming out. Another TV hero? Perhaps members of the Guild of the Light, the Order's counterpart in the States. She expected them here by now.

Then again, Americans do like to make a grand entrance.

A single figure emerged from the portal, a wizened old man with just a few wisps of gray hair. McGonagall peered at his wrinkled face. Her forehead crinkled. Something about that face seemed familiar.

The man lifted his head and seemed to hold his breath. His eyes fixed on her.

McGonagall gasped, her hand covering her heart. In her mind the man's face became younger. His hair was thick and brown. His body wiry yet firm. Merlin's beard, she remembered how firm it was.

She pressed her hand harder against her chest, as if trying to hold in her beating heart.

"Bentley?"

"Hello, Minerva. It's been a long time."

Her mind catapulted her back in time nearly sixty years. The argument they had before Christmas, begging him to get help. He had screamed his head off, hurling all sorts of insults at her, including the one that hurt the most.

"Traitor!"

McGonagall had chucked her engagement ring on the floor and stormed out of his flat in tears. She hadn't seen or spoken to Bentley Basham since that horrible night.

"How . . . how are you?"

Bentley grunted. "Well, just like you said, I wasted my life. Thirty years I spent looking for the Stacyx. Never did find them. You're boy wonder did, though. Did in a day what I couldn't do in three decades."

McGonagall's mouth moved silently for several seconds. "Bentley, I'm . . . when I heard about the Stacyx . . . Oh Bentley, I'm so sorry."

"It's a little too late for that, isn't it? Sixty years too late."

McGonagall's lowered her head. Her stomach sank. "I wish I . . ."

"What? Had believed me? You did. You could have helped me find these things."

"I did help you."

"For what? Six stinking months. Then one day you decide Gridley's lies are more credible than the words coming from your fiancé's mouth."

McGonagall's legs quaked. Her cheeks twitched as moisture gathered in her eyes. "You . . . you just became so obsessed."

Bentley sneered. "Is that what you thought, or did your parents convince you of that? Heaven forbid the almighty pure-blood McGonagall family that can trace its lineage back seven centuries admit a lowly Muggle-born into its bosom."

"My mother and father had nothing to do with my decision. I was the one around you every day. I saw how Gridley and the Stacyx consumed your life. You say you wanted my help? Toward the end you didn't even know I existed."

"And now look." Bentley swept his hand toward the distant hills, toward the direction of the Stacyx army. "They're real, Minerva. They're ready to invade our world again. Maybe if you'd stuck by me longer, we could have tracked down the remaining Stacyx. Destroyed them once and for all."

"Or we both could have spent decades looking for them and never found them."

"Well, we found them now. And that's why I'm here." Bentley pulled out his wand. "Where else do I have to go, anyway? As you said all those years ago, the Stacyx are my life."

McGonagall's throat tightened as she watched Bentley stomp off. She opened her mouth, trying to find the right words.

Her heart skipped a beat when Bentley stopped. He swung around, still scowling.

"Good-bye, Minerva."

He continued on without another word.

McGonagall sniffled, a tear running down her cheek.

"Yo, witchy-poo," someone said from behind.

McGonagall wiped her cheek and took a settling breath. Face set in a stone mask, she whipped around to find a stocky man clad in a black uniform and helmet and holding a slim rifle. Behind him stood fifty others decked out similarly.

"My name is Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, Sir. And you are . . .?"

"Michael Garibaldi, Security Chief of Babylon 5. So is this where the big rumble's going down?"

"Yes. Please go to our headquarters tent and check in."

Garibaldi chuckled. "Check in. Do we get little stick-on nametags, too?"

McGonagall narrowed her eyes at Garibaldi as he and his troopers walked past her.

Moments later other portals opened. Dana Sterling's 15th Tactical Armored Corps from Robotech, Sergeant Sam Troy's Jeep-riding commandos from the TV show The Rat Patrol and the boyish cowboys from the movie Young Guns emerged around her. McGonagall forced out all thoughts and emotions regarding Bentley Basham from her mind. She had a battle to prepare for.

XXXXX

"Thank you very much." Dennis beamed as the woman in the dark red skin-tight uniform shook his hand.

"Sure thing." Jennifer Garner's Elektra nodded to him and headed off to join Batman from Justice League and the Bruce Lee from Enter the Dragon.

Dennis wagged his autograph book in front of Harry. "Elektra, Harry. I got Elektra's autograph."

"You also got drool on your chin," Harry grinned.

Dennis chuckled and wiped his chin.

Another portal opened a few meters away. Dennis spun around, autograph book and quill at the ready.

But TV or movie characters didn't come out of this portal. Harry's eyes widened when he recognized a familiar face.

"What's the big idea, Harry?" A smiling George Weasley bounded out of the portal. "You set up the ultimate battle between good and evil and you don't invite your good friends to it?"

Harry stammered, trying to say something coherent. All attempts at speech failed when more people he recognized appeared behind his brother-in-law.

Neville Longbottom, the Patil twins, Seamus Finnigan, Ernie MacMillan, Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, Terry Boot, Justin Finch-Fletchley. Within a minute most of the D.A. stood before him.

"What? How?"

"Um, that would be my doing, Harry."

He turned to find Dean Thomas walking up to him, displaying his special galleon.

"Dean? What . . ."

"Hey, it's like Dennis said. 'Once in the D.A., always in the D.A.'"

Harry was about to express his reluctance about involving them in this fight, until he remembered Dennis' words.

This was their fight, too.

He plunged into the group, exchanging handshakes and hugs. By this time Ginny had joined them, along with her brothers Charlie, Percy and Bill and her sister-in-law Fleur.

Harry just broke from a hug with his former Quidditch teammate Alicia Spinnet when another portal appeared. A short gray-haired witch stepped out. It took Harry a few moments to recognize her face, which he'd seen on numerous newspapers and magazines.

Athena Esmeralda, the Headmistress of the Salem Witches Institute in the United States.

Another person followed her out of the portal. A young man with a solid athletic frame and brown hair. Harry knew him instantly.

"Jimmy Boy!" George threw out his arms.

Jimmy O'Bannon smiled. "I figured you'd be here for this one, bro."

The two hugged, pounding one another's backs. Other members of the D.A. crowded around Jimmy, as most of them had played on the Triad hockey team he formed during his one year at Hogwarts.

Other Americans came through the portal, a few Harry recognized as O'Bannon's closest friends from Salem. Rosa Infante, a very attractive Hispanic woman with long curled black hair and numerous earrings. Next came her short but muscular cousin Jared Diaz, followed by Artimus Rand, a tall man with a noticeable paunch.

"Jimmy." Harry walked over and shook hands with his American friend. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey. I'm part of the Guild of the Light. Besides, my buds in Britain need help, I'm there. I even managed to find my way to the movie Slapshot and recruit the Hanson brothers. Wait till you see these guys kick ass."

"Where's Mireet?" Ginny asked about O'Bannon's wife, a former Beauxbatons student and member of the Triad.

"I had to put her on baby-sitting duty with Luna and Mrs. Tonks." The two women had agreed to watch the children of several of the wizards and witches here in The Land That Time Forget, including little James.

"Why?"

"'Cause she's got a bun in the oven."

Several D.A. members gave him quizzical looks.

O'Bannon sighed. "She's pregnant."

As they congratulated him, Ron and Hermione approached hand-in-hand. Harry worried how they might react to O'Bannon's good news when another portal opened.

Harry drew back his head in surprise when he saw Viktor Krum march out, leading a contingent of former Durmstrang students. Four of them bounded over to O'Bannon when they saw him. Harkorth, Tortorov, Kurdzeli and Velich, more former Triad players.

"Viktor?" Hermione stammered.

"Greetings, Herm-o-nee-nee."

They almost hugged, stopped, and settled for a handshake. Ron stood there scowling.

"I can't believe you're here. How did you know about this?"

"Harkorth is an auror in Romania. He alerted us. Said he needed as many good wizards and witches as possible to fight these Stacyx." Somehow a smile cracked his usually stony expression. "It is good to see you again, Herm-o-nee-nee."

"Um, you too." Hermione seemed to flush as Viktor bowed to her.

Ron cleared his throat loudly.

"Ronald. You are taking good care of Herm-o-nee-nee?"

"Of course I am."

Viktor grunted at him and turned toward Harry. "Harry. Good to see you."

"Likewise." He shook hands with the former Durmstrang champion for the Tri-Wizard Tournament. "I'm glad you could be here. We could use all . . ."

The opening of another portal interrupted Harry.

"Wonder who we've got coming now?" Dean asked.

"Charlie's Angels if we're lucky," joked O'Bannon.

But TV characters didn't step out of the portal. Harry froze when he saw a man with a pinched face and pale blond hair turn to him. A dozen other men and women formed up behind him.

"What are they doing here?" Katie said with a look of disgust.

Ernie shook his head. "Are things really so desperate we need their help?"

Harry walked in between the harsh gazes exchanged by the two groups until he came face-to-face with the pinch-faced man.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?"

Draco Malfoy twisted his lips and forced out the words. "We're here to help."

"Help who?" Ron blurted. "Us or the Stacyx?"

Malfoy glowered at Ron, then looked back at Harry. "The Stacyx said they plan on exterminating all wizards and witches. That includes me and my wife . . . and them." He jerked his head to the others behind him.

"Uh-huh. I guess that's somewhat noble of you." Even though Harry had saved Malfoy from the Fiendfyre, too much had happened between them to ever be friends. The best they could do was tolerate one another's existence.

"There's also another reason. Pansy's pregnant."

Lee and Justin groaned.

"Oh just what the world needs," O'Bannon muttered. "Another friggin' Malfoy."

Malfoy shot the American a dirty look. That look softened slightly when he turned back to Harry. "I would like my child to actually have a world to grow up in."

Harry's mouth tightened. He looked away for a moment, then scanned the other Slytherins. Goyle, Urquhart, Blaise Zabini, Miles Bletchley, Graham Montague, Millicent Bulstrode. How sincere were they about helping?

Grunting, Harry stared back at his old enemy. "All right. Check in at our headquarters tent."

Malfoy gave him a perfunctory nod and led his Slytherins away.

Harry looked back at his friends. George and Terry shook their heads. Angelina and O'Bannon looked ready to rip something, or someone, apart.

"Harry, can you really trust them?" asked Parvati Patil.

"Yeah," added her twin, Padma. "What's to stop them from going over to the Stacyx if things turn sour for us?"

"She's got a point, Harry." Ron glanced at the Slytherins in the distance. "Some of those guys were open supporters of Voldemort. They'll probably stab us in the back the first chance they get."

"I know I'm taking a chance, but we need all the help we can get. Still . . ." He turned to two members of his family. "Bill, Fleur. Keep an eye on them. Just in case."

"You got it, Harry." Bill nodded. He and Fleur headed after Malfoy's bunch.

"So what now, Harry?" asked Angelina.

"You can go check in at the headquarters tent. They'll figure out . . ."

"Hey!" Seamus interrupted him. "Who's that?"

Harry and the others turned. A man in heavy brown clothing and a coonskin cap approached on horseback.

"He's with us." Harry broke away from the group.

The man pulled back on the reins of his horse, halting it a couple meters from Harry.

"Mister Potter." Fes Parker's Davy Crockett nodded to him. "You best get your friends ready. Those Stacyx are headed this way."

Harry's lungs seized up. Bone-chilling, invisible hands threatened to crush him. "How many?"

"Not sure exactly. Somewhere between eight to ten thousand. Probably comin' to soften us up before the rest of 'em show up."

"Thank you, Mister Crockett."

Crockett nodded and galloped off.

Slowly, Harry drew in a lungful of air. He took in the faces of each and every friend and family member. How he wanted to send them all home, where they'd be safe. He had no desire to add to his already long list of people to mourn.

But the looks of determination in their faces forced him to keep his tongue still.

They wanted to be here. They had to be here. They all had families to protect, just like him.

He straightened, pride swelling inside him. He was truly blessed to have people like these in his life.

"All right, everyone. Let's go."

They all fell in behind Harry, who led them toward the headquarters tent. The Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, was already hurrying toward an earthen berm, leading several aurors and other Ministry employees. He was joined by McGonagall and the Order of the Phoenix, Headmistress Esmeralda and the Guild of the Light and Madame Maxine's contingent from France. Seconds later some of the Hogwarts staff arrived. Professors Sprout, Flitwick, Sinistra, Firenze the centaur . . . and Hagrid.

"Whoa." Padma's brow furrowed. "Did you feel that? Is that an earthquake?"

Professor McGonagall slowly shook her head. "Unfortunately, Miss Patil, I don't think so."

Harry felt it to. A constant drumbeat rolled underneath his feet and shook his legs. He gazed across the valley to a distant hill.

A purple wave crested the top. Inch by inch it engulfed the green-brown grass. Harry's heart beat furiously as the undulating wave continued forward.

A throaty wail carried across the valley. Cold pinpricks traveled up Harry's spine as thousands of Stacyx cried out in unison. He scanned the other wizards and witches around him. Some gulped, some shivered, a few even shed tears.

A horrific roar pounded his ears. The Stacyx broke into a full run, charging across the valley.

More than one person openly wept.

"Wait for my signal!" Kingsley Shacklebolt held his wand to his throat, magically amplifying his voice.

The wave of Stacyx drew closer.

Wizards and witches held up their wands. Elsewhere, guns cocked and energy weapons powered up with high-pitched whines.

"Wait for it!"

Harry licked his lips, sweat pouring down his forehead and stinging his eyes.

"Wait for it!"

His heart beat out of control. How much longer before . . .

Kingsley raised his wand. An orange contrail shot into the air and burst above them. It formed one large sparkling word.

ATTACK!

NEXT: The Epic Battle begins.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Jimmy O'Bannon, Rosa Infante, Jared Diaz, Artimus Rand and Headmistress Esmeralda are all original characters of mine who appear in my story Incursion. The story of the Triad hockey team is chronicled in my story The Puck Drops Here.