Disclaimer – I do not own anything. J.K.Rowling does. If I did, everyone will wish that I didn't. I am making no profit from this story; I am only doing this for amusement. Although it won't be amusing when people read this chapter, and flame me for it……

Twisteddagger – OUCH! That hurt. Sooooooo sorry that I took sooooo long to get the next chapter up and all.

Ma petit – I do follow these bands, though I have as yet to update my profile, and thank you for reviewing., Oh! I also Love breaking Benjamin

A-man - go H/G!!!

!ON TO THE NEXT CHAPTER!

Harry held his head in his hands. Though he did not cry, tears were threatening to fall from his eyes, which were equally tired as the rest of him. Organizing warriors may seem easy on the computer, and on video games, but in real life, it was much harder.

All Harry wanted to do was to curl up in his transfigured bed, and sleep. Maybe he could get a rain-check on the battle. It seemed a good idea, but the more he thought about it, he knew it was stupid.

People were fighting again, though one well placed yell of 'Quiet' had every sound stop for a brief moment, before it began again, at a much lower level. Girls were fighting with each other over who got certain spot near the fire and also cute guys. Guys were fighting because they were guys, and wanted something to do. Too much testosterone in some of them for Harry's liking. Particularly one called Robert, a 19 year old mage/elemental, with a superiority complex bigger then Gwarp.

Deciding to get some fresh air and stretch before lights out, he stood, and made sure he was still Venombane, before pulling the flap of his tent open, and stepping out. Dinner was still going on, and the smell of over cooked meat hung in the air. It wasn't a bad smell, but neither was it a good one. He sat down near the fire, to warm himself. It was surprisingly cold tonight. "What's the plan for tomorrow, Venom?" asked Shane, as he took a spot next to him.

"I don't know." He ran his hand through his hair, and sighed.

"Well, we need one." Shane's voice sounded tired and exasperated.

Harry stared into the fire. "I know." He whispered.

"Look, I don't like this, and I know that you don't either. But we have to do this."

Harry sighed once more, and stood up. "Come on. Let's get everyone to bed. They need to be up early"

After stopping the three fights that had built up, Harry opened the flap of his tent, and got ready for bed. Vomity butterflies were crowded in his stomach as he pulled the covers over his head. Silent tears streamed down his face as he thought about the potential casualties. It was just like last time. As sleep took its hold over him, Harry prayed desperately that there could be another way to settle this.

d.r.a.c.o. .d.o.r.m.i.e.n.s. . n.u.n.q.u.a.m. . t.i.t.i.l.a.n.d.u.s.

You know that feeling you get, before having to stand and deliver a speech or something like that? Times it by about one billion, and you get what Harry was feeling. Using a bit of leather strap, he had tried to tie his hair back; though only about 2/3 of it would behave. The rest framed his face slightly.

At the moment, it was 11:45. It would not be too long now. About 20 minutes ago, an archer had taken down a scout, though the other one had gotten away. They would be informed about the reinforcements, and would be rethinking their strategy.

As if lady luck was laughing at their situation, the clouds that had set in late last night had begun to open up, and a light rain had begun to set in, with every promise to become heavier.

Vampires had heightened sight as well as smell and hearing. They didn't really need sight all that much; rain was not a problem to vampires. Their natural grace compensated for low traction, like mud and oils. Humans had not such luck when it came to those things. It seemed as though it was over, even before the contender had even arrived. There was no way to beat the vampires with weather like this, and the warriors knew it. They had begun to get restless and fidgety.

Harry looked up at the castle that he had sworn to protect. Faintly, he could see the faces of 1st and 2nd year students, as they crammed the windows to get a look at the menace that was to attempt to storm the walls any moment from now.

VAMPIRE HOURD –

He ran as fast as he could, with his injured leg, arrow hanging out of his thigh at an awkward angle, making it hard to run, as the head kept poking his other leg as they brushed together. No one noticed him as he made his way to the large black tent at the middle of the camp. The two guards who had been positioned at the door, however, did notice him, and held the flap open for him.

As the flap closed, darkness enclosed around him. The figure covered in the shadows sat leisurely in a large armchair, feet propped up on one of the legs, face turned to face the door. He opened his eyes slowly. This had better be good.

"Sir. They are about an hours walk from here, due north. They have reinforcements. The Lost. We lost Degen to an archer. And they have him with them."

The shadowed man smirked cruelly. Everything was going as planned. He motioned for the scouts' dismissal, and contemplated this new information. A few of the Lost were no problem. The real threat however was him. Belle Morte had told him of his existence, though at the time he had dismissed it as her being senile. But, now…. Now he wasn't as sure as before. He sat back in his chair, and let his cruel smile grow in size.

Lighting struck and the rain took it as a queue to pour down harder. Harry pulled the hood of the cloak he wore over his head. It would do him no good to get sopping wet. Another bolt of lighting illuminated the edge of the forest, and many pairs of eyes that it held within its cover.

The first arrow caught Harry's pant leg, grazing his skin. The vampire in him wanted to attack. To kill whoever the fool was to try and shoot him. The pain of the arrows head as it cut his flesh, the feel of his own blood run down his leg. A subconscious growl escaped from his throat, and he snarled at the collective eye of the vampires.

He clutched his Katana as one lone vampire strode up to the front of the hoard. He had hooded brown eyes the color of two bronze coins, though you could hardly see it with his neck length obsidian hair plastered to his face from the rain. The paleness of his skin made the combination of hair and eyes even more striking. He stopped about 12 metres from where Harry stood at he ready, and equal 12 metres from the rest of his 'army' you could say. 'Blacky' smirked at Harry in a condescending way, like he knew that he was going to win just by the looks of both forces. In return to his smirk, Harry glared at the vampire, who only chuckled, and smirked even more. Another lightning strike, illuminated the sky and ground in a flash of light.

"It is…. Upsetting zat vee did not meet under different circumstances. No matter. My people vill tell stories about your brave, yet futile attempts. I shall take great pleasure in mounting your head on a pole outside zese gates." He spoke with a transylvanian accent. Harry thought it to be cliché, and therefore, fake, but he spoke it with practiced ease, making him rethink his ethnicity.

"Go. To. Hell." Harry ground out through his teeth, flashing fangs, menacingly. The vampire laughed, head thrown back, his elongated canines flashing as another lightning strike illuminated the field.

Still smiling, the vampire brought his head back down, and looked Harry straight in the eye, still showing his fangs. Long tendrils of power seeped along Harry's skin, passing him, making the hairs along the base of his neck stand at attention. He swallowed, as the vampire looked out to the group of students and lost. "I know your deepest fears, Venom. And before my hands extinguish your life force, I shall make you vatch as all you have fought for is burnt to zee ground, as well as whom you've fought for."

Harry snarled once more, itching to strike first, to rip his heart out with his bare hands, to main and kill, so that no one else would have to. That was it.

Caught up in his own thought, he barely heard the last of the vampires' word.

"Kill 'em."

Standing next to Hermione and brother Ron, Ginny strained her neck to try and get a look at the vampires in the lightning. She had to admit, they looked quite intimidating. She watched in curiosity, as one vampire stepped out from the rest, and stood about 20 metres from Venombane. She saw as he rolled his head back in laughter, and she just knew this wouldn't end very well.

An inclination of his head, or was it a verbal command, Ginny didn't know, and the forests' edge poured out vampires left right and centre. Some hid in the trees, shooting arrows, safe in the cover of the forest, while the rest began to move forward, weapons poised, ready to strike, and bloody thirsty eyes. A tall, nineteen year old boy from the other realm stood beside her, and swore loudly in elvish, French, Japanese, and finally English as he saw them approaching. Ginny gulped, the grip on her wand tightening considerably. Brina had them hold…. Hold…. Hold…. Her breath sped up to match her heart. Was there a mouse or gerbil in there? A raindrop fell into her face, though she paid it no mind.

"FIRE!!!!!!!" a barrage of spells, differentiating in color and power flew at the first four lines of vampires. Angered by the assault, their orderly battering ram of power broke up, and there was mass confusion. Running, or maybe a jog, they began to get closer, weaving in and out in patterns, making it hard to fire spells.

Further up, Ginny saw Venombane turn around, a look of horror and shock sweeping across his rain stained face. She knew that look, what was he going to do?

He took out his wand, ignoring the arrow that had embedded itself in his leg. Twisting and flicking his wand in a bizarre pattern, a powerful shot of baby blue light shot out, and landed 3 feet from the front line. The light did not disappear, however, like most spells should when fired at the ground. This light built itself up like a wall, around all that stood outside of the castle, defending it.

He glanced back to the vampire, and then proceeded to charge the vampires who had been stopped by the blue shield, katana at the ready, as he ran; he sliced vampires that stood in his way, leaving them to fall after he had decapitated them. He was not up to his full strength, as the shield surrounding the castle and its occupants needed constant magical energy to function, and as he kept rushing the seemingly never ending barrage of vampires, he felt the glamour charms flickering on and off at random times, obviously not taking the strain on Harry's magical core very well. Come to think of it, neither was he. He could feel himself tiring out, his magical reserves drying up to compensate for the shield taking his power away to fuel itself.

"What the fuck?!" Yelled Brina, as the shield pulled itself up around them. She glanced at Shane to see him thinking the same thing. What had he done? She tried to send a spell out through the shield, but to no avail. Spells from either side of the shield were instantly absorbed into it. Brina gingerly touched its surface; full expecting it to send her flying, but what she met was more like a plexi-glass wall.

"Brina." Shane put a hand on her shoulder.

"Why'd he do this? We can't get through." She looked worryingly over to him.

"He's making sure there's a not casualty on our side." He mumbled, staring out at Harry, as he slashed and dodged four vamps at once.

"What? NO!" Brina banged on the shield, trying to get through to Harry. "He's on our side! He can't do it alone! Venom!" she screeched, all the while banging on the shield, fists clenched. The shield, however, did not relent to her force. White ripples occurred from where she banged on the wall, but other then that, nothing.

Harry saw Brina try to break through, knowing that if he survived, she would kill him. But it was the only way for no one to get hurt. Never again would his loved ones perish because he could not get there in time.

As he turned to face another vampire, he swung his katana, to cut a head off. But it was blocked. Sin, the transylvanian vampire, smirked at him, as he pushed Harry back using his katana for leverage. "Very impressive vork wiz zee shield, zough you must know, zat as soon as I kill you, it shall fall. Just as zee rest vill soon follow. All of zis vill be in vain, and vee shall soon rule all."

Sin moved, and forced Harry into defensive maneuvers, ducking and weaving out of the way of the katanas' path. A thin film of sweat soon collected on his body, as Harry tried to fight off Sin's advances, and still have power to keep the shield up. He was soon panting, while Sin was all the while smirking at Harry mercilessly. Quicker then the eye could follow, Sin got under Harry's defences, and slashed at his right arm, cutting it deeply on the upper portion. Harry winced, and his left arm went instinctively to the wound, his katana held limply in his right, giving Sin time to slash again, this time at his leg, sending Harry to the ground, just as another lightning bolt pierced the sky.

Brina and Shane stood helplessly and watched this all take place. And as Sin lifted Harry's chin so he could slit his throat, Brina resumed her attempts to pull the shield down. "Venom! Venom!! HARRY!!!"

"Harry?"

Sin lifted Harry's chin up to see the look on the vampire's face before he ended his life. But it was not the face of Venombane that he looked into. To keep the shield up, Harry's body had to cancel the glamour on his body, so Sin saw the face of Harry Potter.

If anything, Sin's smirk grew in size, and he bobbed down so that he was eye to eye with the boy who lived. "Harry Potter. Vell, vell. Zis IS a surprise. Und here I zought zat I would not get zee HONOUR of killing you. Zis is definitely my lucky day, is it not?"

To answer, Harry spat in Sin's face.

As the spittle ran down Sin's cheek, he back handed Harry, sending him flying 3 feet. He stood up and walked over to Harry, who spat a mouth full of blood into the wet grass, his teeth having shredded the inside of his cheek. Harry was thankful that the blow had not broken his jaw. Though if he did not think of something quickly, it might not have mattered in the least.

From his place on the ground, he saw Sins' boots come to a stop in his line of sight and reach. Smirking to himself, Harry abruptly grabbed Sin's ankle, and pulled it towards him, sending Sin to the floor, a look of shock and disbelief on his face. It had just occurred to him, but the rest, on both sides, had stopped to watch this little fight. Once again, the outcome of another battle was resting on Harry's shoulders.

"Impudent little BRAT!" growled Sin, wiping the mud from his face, eyes looking murderous. It reminded Harry of Snape's Harry-Potter-is-near glare ™, although Harry knew that he was serious about the threat of killing him. They both got to their feet slowly, knowing full well that if they opened their defenses, the other would use it to their full potential. Sin's katana had been thrown away when Harry had dragged him to the mud. He pulled out a dagger from his left boot, and began to circle Harry, which Harry followed.

While bodily following Sin, it put him face to face with the shield, and to all that thought him missing, presumed dead. Sirius stood out from the rest. Full expecting to see hatred and disappointment marring his face, Harry was surprised to see, yes, shock, but also the fatherly love that had always been his main emotion Sirius showed when talking about Harry. It lifter Harry's spirits, though when he saw who else stood out, they took a nose dive.

Ginny stood, wand limp at her side, the other hand pressed against the blue shield, eyes worried about Harry's safety. It made his heart break to know that the reason she looked so sad was because he thought she may not love him anymore. As he thought about his reasons for pushing her away, again, he came to realize that he was being a right prat, and he knew that his friends, when they began to talk to him again that is, would never let him live it down.

Being unarmed, Harry was, once again, forced to be defensive, sharply turning backwards from the razor sharp tip of Sin's dagger. It became difficult, from the rain beating into his eyes, despite the lack of glasses, a side affect of the glamour that was permanent (not that Harry minded), and also the collection of mud at his feet made it difficult to move quickly, and not go arse over tit.

Ginny looked on in horror. Harry was getting his butt kicked. Figuratively AND literally. "What's wrong with him? He's not going at full strength." She murmured to herself. Though she was still over heard by the guy who swore in three languages before English.

"He is." He paused to look at Ginny, who stared back at him, questioningly. "it's the shield."

"The shield?"

"Yeah. To stay strong, it has to feed from its castor. Its sucking his magical energy."

"How do we pull it down?"

"You don't. The only ways it's getting down is if he ends the spell, is knocked unconscious, or is killed. And by the looks of things, I'm guessing the later will most likely come to pass."

"What?!"

"Just look at him. He's getting in some good punches, but they're lacking the energy and power that really count. The vampire knows it, and is just waiting for him to get to the point when the shield will basically suck him dry enough to kill him."