A/N- Yo! Lol, it's only been THREE months. No, but in all Siriusness, I've recently decided that I'm going to make a poll. The reason being that personally, I think the plot has gone past Hades and all the way to Tartarus. Okay not quite that bad, but some of the plot is definitely cringe-worthy (to me at least). So here are the choices.

I continue onward with what I've got and finish it since I'm almost done and the plot is not that horrible.

I continue onward with what I've got and finish it, and then I turn around and change it.

I drop all work on it for now and change everything and then finish up with the new plot.

So you've got till 7:00 Eastern Time on June 30th to do it!

Chapter 11 – Collaboration and Division

June 29th, 1996

The weather was perfect. It was neither hot nor cold, yet he seemed to be on a quaint Caribbean island. Harry idly wondered how he'd got here before he lost himself in the soothing breeze.

He walked to the coastline and peered at his reflection in the water. He stumbled back, tripping over himself as he saw the familiar green eyes that he'd parted with what seemed like years ago.

"Death eaters, and they're headed to the Ministry," Kingsley answered.

'Should've known the giant tosser wouldn't even give us one night to rest…" Harry grumbled. Harry gave him a calculated look, "How did you manage to learn of it?"

Harry could not keep the accusatory tone from his voice. There were few people you could trust these days, especially purebloods who worked for the government.

Kingsley scowled. "And here I thought you had a good judge of character. Dumbledore told the Order."

"You never can be too careful these days," Harry said as a sort of apology.

"Very true, lad. I can't say I wouldn't have done the same. Anyways, Dumbledore gobbed on about having it under control and all, but I figured he was bluffing."

"How can you be sure, Queen?" Amelia asked, entering the conversation.

Kingsley scowled at the derogatory name that seemed to have stuck despite all his efforts, but replied with only a slight increase in hostility in his deep voice, "Well considering it was quite obvious who he sent…"

"Who did he send!?" Harry interrupted, afraid that he was right on his guess.

"Judging by your reaction, I'm guessing you've guessed it."

"Gather the department!" Amelia barked. "I want all available aurors scrambled at once."

"You're a bit behind the times, Amy-dear. It's already done," Kingsley said smirking.

"That's great, Queen. You looking for a promotion?"

"Not exactly what I had in mind but it would certainly be appreciated…"

"Come off it," Amelia growled. "Now get out!"

Harry stared at the door as the dark-toned Auror ran out, though he didn't really see it. 'Ron, Hermione, what are you thinking?'

"What are you talking about, Luna?" Hermione asked angrily.

The ditzy blonde girl was rather annoying. Hermione was surprised to find that Ginny had a female friend outside Gryffindor and even more so when the girl's personality was revealed. Her "theories", as without fact that is the best they could be considered, were unrealistic and certainly unorthodox, though not lacking in originality.

"Can't you see them? The thestral is right in front of you," said a confused Luna. "Could it be that the Nargles have impaired your eyesight?"

"I think not!" Hermione exclaimed, her dislike for the girl showing in a bit of annoyance.

"We don't have time for this, you two!" Ginny whispered fiercely at her two bickering friends. It had been bad enough sneaking away from their parents and they needed to be back preferably before sunset.

Hermione continued to glare at an increasingly innocent looking Luna. Ginny sighed.

"Ron, help them up onto these…horse thingies or whatever," she ordered, hoping that a push in the right direction would get them going.

Ron had fallen asleep standing up.

"Ronald!" Hermione snapped.

Ron's eyes flew open. "I'm awake," he slurred, his mind still trying to reboot.

"Children…I'm not sure if this is…"

"Shut it, Trelawney!" Ginny snapped.

Hermione certainly could not say she liked Trelawney very much at all, but to Trelawney's credit, she did not speak again. If she was anywhere near as smart as Hermione assumed she might be, she was probably wondering why she had agreed to this ridiculous plan. Hermione knew she certainly was.

After a couple more minutes of arguing, Hermione finally gave in to Ginny and Luna's urging to get on the "Thestral" (she was still loathe to believe that one of Luna's mythical creatures actually existed) and after giving a vindictive shove to a dozing Ron, they were off, to London and destiny.

The atrium was just as alive as it had been nearly five months ago. Aurors and hit-wizards alike ran in all directions, Amelia directing them.

"Lawton, we need anti-apparation squads over there! Davis, I want four squadrons of hit-wizards targeting that entrance! Shacklebolt! Where the hell are the medics? Greengrass, I want those breastworks now!" Amelia ordered with the fierceness of a tried military officer.

Harry stood somewhat in awe. He'd never been much of a tactician (hell he had never been much of a commander); all he'd done was fight and had never really paid much attention to how his fellow legionnaires stood their ground. Susan had been class at that.

Right before his thoughts turned to self-loathing, the fireplace closest to him burst to life. Harry quickly turned his wand upon it, only to find a familiar girl with red hair stumbled out of the floo, who'd just recently been in his thoughts.

"Susan!" Harry called, rushing over to steady her.

She grabbed him as soon as he came into contact with her, her eyes dancing with a sort of calculated fury.

"What's wrong, Su? What are you doing here?"

She seemed to calm a bit and after glancing around at the hectic scene answered, "I was at Neville's when I heard. Weasley, the other Weasley, and Granger escaped and word has it they were going to the Ministry."

Harry grew uncomfortable in her grasp and lightly shrugged her off. "You shouldn't be here. Voldemort's coming."

"I assumed as much," she said with fake haughtiness. "If Voldemort comes, let 'em! We'll whip him every time!"

No sooner had she said that did the sound of apparation fill the Atrium. Scores of death eaters now occupied the other end of the colossal room.

The two sides stared at each other. The auror's reactions, Harry understood. From what he'd heard, many had never seen a death eater, much less fought one. But the enemy…Harry could only assume had not expected to be faced with a room full of brandished wands.

Within seconds, the battle was on full-fledged. Harry and Susan found themselves trapped in the no-mans-land, which was certainly not a positive development.

Harry shot off a couple of Reductos and Percutios each and pulled Susan towards the safety of the magically-constructed defenses. At first glance, they seemed untrustworthy, due highly to the shimmering that often accompanied constructs. To the contrary, these seemed to be holding up quite well under a hail of destruction.

An explosion to their left threw them to ground. Susan whimpered, but stood all the same, and they were off again.

Harry heard shouts of spells dangerously close behind them and he pulled his companion to the ground, watching as spells tore the ground in front of them to shreds.

The aurors in front of them sent a volley of Reductos that sent the death eaters scurrying.

"We're almost there, Su, keep going!" Harry yelled over the incredulous amount of noise.

Susan nodded, her red hair already mucked with rubble, and they made a dash to the safety of the defenses, springing over them as death eater curses rained down on the defenders.

Harry, now feeling much better out of the open, made to fire back but he was stopped by the scene in front of him. It was a kill zone. Heaps of the enemy lay dead or dying and the survivors huddled amongst the dead for some sort of protection.

Honestly, it made Harry sick. He'd seen war before, but this…this was just slaughter. He wished that the aurors would cease their incessant barrage. They did nothing of the sort.

Two death eaters decided they'd had enough and attempted to escape through the floo. Fortunately, they made it through the fireplace, but wherever they were going, their corpses would arrive riddled with spells.

One death eater was looking frantically for his arm so that it had a chance of being reattached in the sea of flesh, but it didn't matter because a piercing hex hit him right between the eyes.

This went on for several minutes, the cries of the wounded prevalent throughout, before the situation drastically changed. The floos came alive and out from the green fires poured giants, followed by all manner of creatures, not excluding death eater reinforcements.

It was here that Harry put all his qualms about slaughtering the death eaters behind him. If he didn't fight, the roles very well might be reversed.

Chaos once more descended upon the Ministry. The woman to his left took an Avada Kedavra to the face and the man to Susan's right was attacked by a werewolf.

She quickly disposed of it with an overpowered Everbo, but she would've been swatted away like a fly if Harry hadn't managed to pull her to the ground as a giant's club swept over their position.

They picked themselves up and were immediately re-engaged.

"Thanks," Susan said as she dodged the spider's lunge, slicing off a couple of its legs which allowed her to finish it with a Reducto.

"No problem," Harry grunted as he dodged an attack from his own six-legged problem. Fortunately, Harry's problem was squished underneath a giant's foot, so he needn't come up with some overcomplicated way to defeat it, but it did present a whole host of problems.

With the position compromised and the majority of the aurors and hit-wizards dead or scampering back to the next defensive line, both Harry and Susan simultaneously agreed that perhaps this wasn't the best place to be anymore.

"Are you sure this is the way, Ronald?"

Hermione had never seen this part of London before and certainly not late at night. More than a few of the indecent people around this late at night looked lecherously at their weak-looking group.

"Of course, 'Mione! What d'ya think me of, a common dolt?" he replied with a healthy dose of confidence.

"To be fair, Miss Granger's question does have merit, I've never been to this part of London before," their unwanted, but ultimately necessary, professor spoke up.

Ron immediately came to an abrupt halt. "You mean we've been walking around London for half an hour and this barmy bint didn't even tell us we're in the wrong place!"

"Ronald!" she shrieked. Despite their current situation, it was never decent to curse or be disrespectful.

Ginny and Luna's eyes flicked uneasily at the unmoving eyes that stared them down.

Trelawney took a much larger gulp from a flask she had briskly procured than was necessary and as she placed it back in her coat pocket, it clanked against something.

'So that's why she's always so batty…'

"Oh, yes…that's right. Dumbledore did give me that portkey, didn't he?"

Hermione blanched.

Ginny fingered her wand dangerously with an enraged expression.

Luna giggled.

Ron blew a gasket. "WHAT!?"

Despite all the noise, the shout of Avada Kedavra stood out. Harry watched as the sickly green light exploded from the end of an auror's wand and slammed into the large torso of the nearest giant. It crashed to the ground with a tremendous crash, sending cobblestone in all directions.

Harry quickly curled up next to the barricade, taking cover from the hail of pebbles.

He stood back up as quick as possible and found the enemy had advanced a bit too close for comfort.

"Percutio!"

The spell pierced a charging death eater through the leg. He toppled over and Harry was about to move on to the next target before the wounded man stood up again, a curse evident from his posture. A quick disarming curse took care of that problem.

Harry didn't know how many he'd killed today, at least half a dozen, and he didn't care to add more to that number. Fate was against him.

No sooner had he moved his wand to the next enemy, that a werewolf bounded across the defenses, landing directly on top of him. Perhaps Harry could've taken care of it easily had he not looked into the werewolf's eyes.

They were a light green, much like Lupin's. The advantage passed to the unknown werewolf who certainly didn't care who Harry looked like.

The weight was suffocating; the werewolf was standing right on his chest. Bones began to crack as his chest gave in. It wouldn't be long until his vital organs were crushed under the unfathomable weight of the grown werewolf.

The wolf snapped with its teeth, aiming for Harry's uncovered head. In a sudden act of self-preservation, Harry threw his arm in front of the attack. Surprisingly, the dragon armour cracked, but the werewolf's teeth did not penetrate.

Harry took one last glance at his opponent's eyes. They were not warm and comforting like Remus' green eyes, they were decidedly much more hate-filled. This wasn't Remus.

His right arm was currently entrapped in the razor sharp maw of the dark creature, which was coincidentally, his wand arm. Harry used every ounce of strength to attempt to push the wolf off of him. It very quickly became obvious that he would never be strong enough to push a grown werewolf, especially one with the added advantage of gravity.

The wolf unlocked its jaws from Harry's arm in preparation for another fanged assault, this one likely for a more vital and uncovered part of his anatomy. Harry was willing to accept any assistance at this point and used the short lull to his advantage. It proved to not have been quite enough.

As Harry rolled out from under the wolf (which took no small amount of effort), an unimaginable force slammed into him from behind. He rolled uncontrollably as his body was racked with another bout of pain.

Had he been any less of a battle-hardened soldier, Harry probably wouldn't have walked out of this alive at this point. As it was, after only a couple seconds, the victor, or perhaps survivor, of the first engagement of the war at Leadburn, Scotland, the first aerial battle in magical warfare in the skies above Northampton, and the slaughter at Cranwell Village, was up on his feet and dodging a lunge from the nightmarish beast.

True, Harry had never fought a werewolf before tonight. But it mattered not, no creature was immortal. And Harry had already found its weakness.

The weakened fifteen year old boy stumbled as he hit the ground and in a stroke of luck common for Harry, his hand retrieved his fallen wand. It was a good thing too, the wolf had already lunged.

He had barely enough time to bring his wand up and utter the spell, before it was upon him.

"Reducto!"

With precision perfected after months and years of training and horrid situations, the orb of destruction entered the wolf's salivating mouth. The subsequent explosion was not pleasant to anyone in the vicinity.

With the werewolf dead at his feet, Harry peered over the barricade. He had been so focused on his own battle that the world around him had faded into a distant dimension. There could've been a lull for all he knew. He was sorely mistaken.

The death eaters and their allies were attacking just as ferociously as before and their numbers seemed endless. But the aurors were not at a disadvantage by any means. They mowed them down almost as fast as the enemy could replace them. In front of Harry's section alone, he roughly counted around one hundred dead enemies, as opposed to their sixty.

"Lady Bones has asked for your immediate departure to the rear."

Harry's heart very nearly flew out of his chest and he swung around, not sure what to expect. It was a man, dressed head to toe in a deep midnight colour. The outfit, or whatever it was, gave off no discerning body structures or facial expressions, even the eyes were covered.

Harry stared strangely at the man, unsure if this was just some convoluted death eater ploy to capture him.

The spellfire intensified. Harry was forced to take cover before he could properly formulate his thoughts. He watched as the man whipped out his wand and cut down two unsuspecting death eaters.

A firm grip on his shoulder temporarily took his attention from the new entity on the battlefield. "He's an Unspeakable, Harry. It seems they're here to help us!" Susan yelled over the ferocity of the baffle.

Sure enough, the sea of red Aurors was now dotted with hundreds of black specks. Susan lightly took his hand. "...and that means we better follow his orders." Harry could've swore he saw a smirk on the man's face, despite his emotionless mask.

Amelia glared at them with vehemence. There stood her Susan, dressed in jeans and a light blue blouse, covered in blood, sweat, and grime. Harry looked little better and seemed to be in pain with every breath he took.

"Susan, dear, whatever are you doing here? I thought you were with Neville!"

Faced with the anger of Amelia, Susan always crumbled. She'd heard stories from Harry about Susan's ferocity on the battlefield, but Amelia was quite sure she was scarier than any death eater.

It proved to be true once more.

"I'm sorry, auntie...it's just...well I heard from Neville's grandmum that Ron and Hermione were headed to the Ministry, Molly Weasley flooed her in a right state, and I thought that..." Her mumbles were incoherent from this point on.

Despite being in quite a state herself over the impetuousness of her niece and husband to throw themselves into dangerous situations, Amelia gave a hearty laugh.

"Well don't worry yourself, Su, your friends are alright. They probably just decided to go for a walk, the weather is grand this evening!"

An explosion nearby nearly threw them to their feet. The atrium was a big room and the enemy had covered almost a quarter of it in less than half an hour.

"How can you be so sure, Amelia?" Harry asked. Perhaps there was no need to worry, he'd simply overreacted...

"The only way into the Ministry is through those entrances over there, dears. And with the aurors here all night, they couldn't possibly..."

Both teens in front of her jumped.

"Amelia, you really shouldn't overestimate the defences of the Ministry, especially when someone as talented as the Supreme Mugwump is involved."

Amelia didn't jump as high as the others, but she was quite embarrassed to say she jumped nonetheless. The infuriating man always did that to her.

Harry had his wand pointed quite directly at the intruder's head, looking rather threatening if she did say so herself.

"Ah, Amelia, the youth you surround yourself are lively. It seems you've trained your protégé quite well, or might I amend, husband."

The voice was deeper than Kingsley's and belonged to the man who was constantly in the shadows, Amelia's superior in every way other than rank, the leader of the Department of Mysteries: Saul Croaker.

Amelia sighed. "And how wonderful it is to finally grace us with your presence," she snapped whilst motioning to Harry to lower his wand.

He complied but only after an intense scrutiny of the man.

"Well, I decided it was time to come and play, after all, your department isn't doing a very good job of winning this war. Relying on schoolchildren to do your dirty work, Amelia? Quite pathetic." His voice had taken one of hostility.

Amelia was just as vicious in her reply. "Perhaps if your department had done its job, this wouldn't have happened!"

"And what makes you think we haven't?" he smirked as he spoke.

"You're no longer alone in this war anymore, Amelia," he continued in a softer voice. "So let's give it to 'em! Aurors, hitwizards, and Unspeakables work quite well together after all."

Amelia scowled, but inside she was exuberant as she realized that she and Harry would no longer hold the weight of the war on their shoulders.

"Fine. Just don't get in the way."

Croaker smiled. "One more thing, some of those Order pests have infiltrated my department. I'd send some people to take care of them, but it seems I'm needed here."

No quicker had he said that that Harry was speaking. "I'll take care of it for you!" he said nervously. He didn't want Ron or Hermione to become casualties due to a misunderstanding, even if they were no longer his friends.

"Yes, you picked nicely, Amelia. Courageous and decisive, you don't see much of that these days. Sure lad, take care of it for me. Perhaps I'll even consider you when some new spots come open."

Harry blushed but smiled in what he hoped was confidence.

"Thank you, sir. Let's go, Susan," he added, grabbing her hand.

"Wait!" Amelia called, "take Tonks with you too."

The woman in question scurried over from her position in the reserve line, stumbling more than a few times.

"Wotcher, Harry and Susan! So what's all this about?"

Explaining the situation rapidly, Tonks, in deep thought, responded with: "Goldstein, Rockford! Get your arses over here!"

Hermione was still trying to figure out Professor Dumbledore's choosing of them as the members of this mission. There were hundreds of Order witches and wizards that were a hundred times more skilled than she was and could probably ever hope to be.

Perhaps it was because he feared that the war would last long and he was preparing the next generation to lead their fellow Hogwarts students into battle. This took her thoughts to a dark level as she remembered just how fantastic Harry had been at being a leader…

Hermione's thoughts were thrown off their track as the arrived at their destination: aisle 91? And the prophecy that Trelawney had made. The ninth floor of the Ministry's cove had been eerily quiet up until this point as they passed hundreds of identical shelves, stocked full with thousands of identical cyrstal blue balls.

According to Dumbledore and solidified with her own quick research, only three people could retrieve a prophecy: the two that it affected (or sometimes one in particularly strange cases) and the one who made the prophecy. As they were short on the former two, Trelawney was the next best, though Hermione was skeptical that the barmy "seeker" had ever truly made a prophecy, much less an important one.

"Alright, Trelawney, hurry and nick it so we can get out of here. This place gives me the creeps!" Ronald said, his voice penetrating the silence. "My bed has sent me an invitation, the pillows are fluffed and the blankets comfortable!"

Hermione marveled at Ron's articulation. She'd been trying for years and now it seemed that he might've actually absorbed her lessons. But it was more probable that he was simply passionate about sleep.

Hermione gasped at the names under the prophecy ball that Trelawney had obviously targeted. Harry James Potter. Thomas Marvolo Riddle Jr.

The prophecy that they were there to collect was Harry's! The implications of that were abundant in her mind. Could that be how Harry survived Voldemort all those years ago?

Her mind was quick to race with thoughts of the young man with brilliant green eyes. Why would Harry betray the light to be with the person who had murdered his parents? What proof was there that he had even allied with the dark? It was quite obvious at this point that he was wrongly imprisoned. But then, why was he hiding?

As soon as Trelawney carefully pulled down the vibrant, glowing ball of prophecy, Hermione's attention was drawn from her conflicted thoughts to find them surrounded by black beasts with skeletal masks, ones she hadnt seen since her embarrasing flight at Azkaban.

Two stepped forward and removed their masks and Hermione gasped. There stood Bellatrix Lestrange in all her glory; her once emaciated frame was no more, several months out of Azkaban had made her body strong once more. Her eyes showed with an energy that had not been seen in the Daily Prophet photograph from six months ago and she was regaining some of the beauty that she had once been known for.

Next to her stood Lucius Malfoy. While his presence was not as surprising given Harry's testimony of the graveyard last year, it proved that Voldemort was truly confident if his death eaters were reveiling their identities.

"Perfect, boy, you've done our work for us. Now hand it over." Lucius Malfoy's smirk was prevalent even through the dim light. It sent shivers down her spine. Nothing that Hermione had encountered, however, was quite as horrible as Lestrange's smile. When that smile was shown, it was obvious death would follow.

"Potter is not with you then? A pity; that boy should learn his place," Bellatrix began and seeing little change in expression in all but Hermione, she continued, "But nevermind that. Hand it over to dear Lucius and just perhaps, our time shall be short."

Hermione didn't doubt for a moment that time with Bellatrix would end in an interesting death to be sure. But to be honest, they had little choice. It was four hardly-trained teenagers and one witch, that was hardly prepared with battle magic, against at least eight death eaters and two of which were of You-Know-Who's Inner Circle.

"I think not," Trelawney challenged, her words fierce, but her voice an octave or two higher. "Dumbledore entrusted us with this."

"Dumbledore!" Bellatrix sneered the name with all the decency of a wild animal.

Hermione glanced at the rest of the group, caught Ginny's eye, and nodded to the rear. The two death eaters behind then didn't notice, or at least, gave no inclination of such. Her eyes widened and nodded her head fiercely; she had clearly given up on getting out of this alive.

Ron stood like a statue, glancing at each individual enemy, sizing them up. Ginny caught his eye and he, Luna's, and soon the whole group looked anxiously at Hermione. Meanwhile, an increasingly furious Bellatrix bantered with Trelawney the nutter.

"You know, I've seen people with hair like you before; it has never been good. Perhaps I could give you some herbs to lessen the…"

"Close it, barmy bint! And they say I'm mad!" Bellatrix cried, seemingly enjoying the encounter. Malfoy Sr., however, was certainly not.

As the other death eaters shifted uncomfortably with the exchange, Malfoy fumed. "Bellatrix," he said darkly, "remember the Dark Lord's orders."

This seemed to sober her up and she dismissed Trelawney's next statement about tea leaves. Malfoy turned to them and stated simply and ominously, "Give us the prophecy or I will force untold horrors upon you, or rather she will," glancing meaningly at Bellatrix. Hermione understood the message even before the "Dark Lady" grinned widely, showcasing her yellowed teeth.

"Never," Trelawney supplied foolishly.

Bellatrix reacted quickly, but to her credit, so did Hermione. Snapping off a quickly nod to her comrades, she turned and sent a point-blank blasting hex into the two individuals directly to her right and then executed a ninety-degree turn, stunning the death eater behind her.

Ron did the same, blasting the two death eaters on the other side of Luna to dust and nimbly catching the prophecy ball as it flew out of Trelawney's hands. A concerted tackle by Ginny and Luna finished off the final death eater to their rear and all of them took off, occassionally putting up shields as Lestrange's and Malfoy's rage were thrown against them in vicious spells.

Hermione, though not liking her brief teacher one bit, was sad to say that they could not bring back her body. Bellatrix had done a number on her torso and what was left of her body included only a few scattered limbs and her dismembered head.

It soon became obvious that the death eaters that had cornered them were not all Voldemort had sent. Potshots were taken by death eaters from on top of shelves and in-between. It was rather nightmarish, but somehow they made it out all together, but on their exit they recieved quite a surprise.

It didn't matter that he was under a glamour of some sort, or perhaps under the influence of a Polyjuice potion, she'd known him for years and his expression was still the same.

"Harry!?"

The boy in question looked at her with shock and weariness. "Hermione?" he asked tentativily.

Hermione was shocked to see Susan and Tonks there as well, both of which it had been ages since she'd last seen. Susan, not so much, though their last meeting could've went better.

No need to dwell on memories now, the death eaters were almost on top of them. The others seemed not to notice that fact with Ron and Ginny looking suspiciously at Harry (they were in the middle of a death eater trap after all) and Susan carefully asking Luna why she was with their lot.

The situation seemed to come to a boil when Harry swiftly reached out and grabbed Ron by his shirt. Ron was so surprised by the action that he had no time to process that he was being attacked.

Hermione soon realized, which to her dismay was probably at the same time as the others, that Harry was only protecting Ron from a enemy attack and put up a Protego.

"We've little time for this now. We need to get out of here," Harry said, his voice decidely deeper than before.

Ginny was reluctant to follow Harry and his entourage, but with their exit cut off with death eaters, they were forced to run deeper into the interior, the aurors fighting off the enemy as they retreated.

There were eleven of them, not including Tonks, and they seemed relatively talented and were much better than the average You-Know-Who lackey.

They finally came to a floor with a depression and nearly everyone fell as they jumped blindly into the shallow abyss. An explosion and shook the entire floor and the aurors followed them down, each landing better than the children.

"Well Tonks, I must say, it was great that you decided to include us, but next time you talk to an Ensign like that, I'll have your head!" Goldstein said chuckling. He was clearly enjoying being in the thick of the fight.

"Yessir!" Tonks said, snapping off a salute.

"Aurors…barking mad, the lot of 'em," Ron mumbled under his breath.

"Let's go, we're almost clear," Harry said quietly enough, but loud enough for everyone to head still.

Ron as stubborn as always, was not just about to let that slide. "I don't think so! I'm not going anywhere further with you until you tell us what's going on!"

Harry looked remorseful. "We really don't have time, Ron..."

"Like hell! Look, Harry, I'm sorry. I was wrong to blindly follow Dumbledore, and I'm trying to return the favour."

"And you think you can just walk back into my life after that? You're more arrogant than I thought!" Said Harry, but he must've not meant it because he started into his story anyways. In five minutes, Hermione felt her heart break several times as she realized just how much she'd lost when she decided to follow an authority figure instead of her best friend.

She should've been beside him during Azkaban, as he struggled when he found that his parents weren't who he thought, when he fought members of Voldemort's Inner Circle in duels, and especually when he was forced to marry someone twice his age. Did the woman have no decency!?

Hermione was forced to dry her tears for the young hero when the undeniable sound of feet were heard against the hard worden floors. Ron's stubborness for an answer had allowed the scattered death eaters time to reorganize and begin their attack anew.

They formed a half circle around the room, they seemed to be coming from all directions, and prepared to fight anew. Hermione was distracted and she noticed Ron was too, but they could do little about it right now.

She finally noticed how strange the room seemed. In the middle stood a giant, pitch-black portal (or at least that was what it looked like). It was a strange feeling that washed over her, one of complete helplessness.

They poured into the room, dozens upon dozens of them. It didn't matter that they mowed them down as soon as they rushed in, they were soon being pushed back with casualties. Three of the aurors were dead, but Hermione couldn't tell if it was Tonks or Goldstein, she was busy herself.

Harry was a monster. He waved his wand and weaved in between enemies with the grace of battle-heartened veteran. Of course, if his stories were to be believed, he was, and Hermione was certainly not about to not believe him now.

She herself had stunned two and was in preparation for stunning another, something she was quite proud of as she refused to kill anyone. Two more aurors fell dead. The weight of the attack was decreasing, but they'd still all be dead if they didn't keep fighting.

Ginny went down clutching her arm. Luna cut down a death eater by herself, proving she was a capable fighter. Ron was doing a good job also, which was a far cry from the three of them running off in the first battle at Azkaban.

Harry and her came to a position where they were back-to-back. "Hermione," he called, "I know you. I know what you're thinking. They'll just keep being revived if you keep on shooting stunners."

"I won't kill, Harry! These are…they're people!"

Another auror went down. It was this glance that nearly had her killed. An unsuspecting death eater hit her with an Expelliarmus that sent her wand flying. He was upon her in moments and Hermione screamed, but in a flash, Harry was there. He kicked him in the chest and immediately sent a blasting hex into his throat. Blood splattered everywhere.

Hermione heard the next event before she saw it. An unclear spell was shouted and she had to struggle from her vantage point on the ground to see. She wished she hadn't. A purplish hex hit Susan in the stomach and she toppled over without a word. She didn't get up.

Harry didn't even stop to see if Hermione was alright; as soon as he saw Susan fall, he charged the man, planting his elbow into the death eater's face.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed another auror fall, fortunately only wounded. The death eaters took care of that quickly and mercilessly, with at least ten reductor curses tearing his back to shreds.

Tonks, Goldstein, and the remaining aurors rallied as the death eater tide began to stem. Harry, however, had only eyes for the death eater, who he could tell was not normal. He was of the Inner Circle, but Harry had little time to question his sanity at once again fighting a top death eater leader; he was overwhelmed with anger.

"Well, Herakles," he said, smiling dangerously as he came to his feet, "you've certainly grown. I helped your bitch of a mother deliver you."

"I don't care!" he yelled. Reducto.

He batted it away. "What? A bit sore that I gave that bitch over there the "Dolohov Special?"

Harry unleashed everything he had, pumping out spells strong enough to knock over an elephant with its force. Not surprisingly, Dolohov (Harry could only assume that was his name) was able to counter with just as much force and ferocity, not uncommon for a high ranking death eater.

Faster and faster they dueled, destroying the room in brutal displays of magic. Harry saw everything and countered accordingly. He was in his element.

He noticed Hermione and Ginny staring at their duel in wonder. He noticed Ron take a kick and the opposing party snatch up a strange blue ball. He saw the remaining death eaters flee and then he saw his mark, the one that would end Dolohov.

Dolohov had overextended his arm to the right to block one of Harry's Incendios. The man was sweating profusely, a sure sign of tiredness, and Harry struck a Percutio into his left thigh. He had barely enough time to shout in pain before an overpowered Depulso pushed him twenty feet into the black portal and death.

Exhausted but determined, Harry rushed to Susan's side. If he was hoping for some kind of dramatic words before she died, he was to be sorely disappointed. She was already dead.

So were seven of the aurors. Goldstein had a large gash in his leg, to the point that he was struggling to stand. Ginny's arm was little better.

Thirty-five death eaters lay on the ground of the room: twenty-five dead and ten wounded or stunned. Compared to their casualties, they had done astounding, but the cost had been high.

Harry was barely holding back tears.

Amelia may have physically joined her troops on the battlefield, but her mind was elsewhere. Were Harry and Susan alright? Surely they should back by now. Maybe for once in their lives, they'd used a lick of sense and went home instead of sticking their heads in dangerous situations.

A Spider bounded across the defenses and chomped a hit-wizard in half and stabbed an auror before Amelia and a subordinate were able to take care of it with a couple of well-placed Reductos. This certainly counted as one of those situations.

"So," her hated comrade said as he seemingly materialzed from nowhere, idly brushing gore from his robes, "shall we begin?"

"I was ready five minutes ago!" she declared heatedly.

"Ah, my poor friend. You've always been so impetuous, perhaps, if you'd…"

Amelia had already jumped up; she didn't have time to listen to the teasing, she had a battle to win. A wise man once said: "The one who takes the initiative shall be victorious."

True or not, it had worked well for her in the past and the enemy was winded down.

"FORWARD!" she shouted with her wand pointed at the enemy.

Though hesitant at first, they joined her in her possibly suicidal charge. The forces of the dark were caught off guard. Many fled, but the vast majority countercharged.

The two forces crashed into each other with the force of a train. Amelia had just killed a spider and death eater grunt when she ran into her hated enemy, and the enemy of many a woman: her mother-in-law.

She seemed to have been waiting for her, twirling her wand idly as the auror at her feet tried desperately to shove his entrails back into the gaping hole that had been his stomach.

"How nice of you to finally join us Amy! I'm sure Auror Smith here wished you'd gotten here a bit earlier, eh, Tom?"

The man at her feet had grown so weak that he could no longer move. Amelia was unsure what to do. The poor man was too far gone, but she desperately wanted to help him…

"No matter, its just one less mudblood to taint the world," she said, obviously pleased that she'd done something to further her master's Grand Crusade. With a speed Amelia believed impossible, a knife inbedded itself in the auror's forehead.

Bellatrix held the other knife threateningly in her hand. "Don't look so green, Amelia. This is what you joined the aurors for, right? To get rid of baddies like me?"

Amelia knew she was only taunting, but it didn't stop the spell from leaving her lips. "Percutio!"

Bellatrix simply leaned to the right, leaving the spell to soar past her and slam into the back of one of her hit-wizards, who fell to the ground dead.

Amelia was horrified. Never had she killed one of her fellow law-enforcers on the job. Horrified or not, Amelia was still able to counter the entrail-expelling curse. She would not loose this battle over a mistake, no matter how horrible.

Around them, the battle raged on, but it was obvious the aurors had gained the upperhand and the enemy was close to breaking. It mattered little to Amelia. She and Bellatrix were the eye in the middle of the storm, the only place where the fighting was not brutal.

This was due to change. And change it did. They dueled faster than Amelia ever had before. Bellatrix outpaced her by miles and kept going. Only due to Bellatrix's apparent wish did she stay alive, though it seemed, only just.

The force of the Everbo slammed into her and forced her to drop her wand while sending her soaring several feet. Her dazed brain was only able to process Bellatrix walking up to her, a grim expression on her face.

"I thought you would be better Amy. I must say, I'm disappointed. I thought I'd finally met an equal. Apparently not."

She kissed the dazed Amelia on the forehead as if she was a small child, cackled maniacally, and apparated away. What was left of the death eater assault force followed.

Harry saw Amelia straight away. He had no idea what to do. Last night, during their…moment, she had said that she loved him. Perhaps it had been the passion of the moment, but Harry had believed it to be true. It was the first time he could remember someone telling him that they felt that way about him.

He didn't want to loose it. But he knew he would. Susan had died and it was his fault. He should've paid more attention to his surroundings. Perhaps he should've helped Susan instead of Hermione. Even as he thought it, he knew that he could never do that. Hermione may have been horrible to him, but he would never want anyone to die that was precious to him.

Back to the problem at hand. He had two choices. He could simply walk up to her brazenly and tell her the heartbreaking truth or skirt around the edges and make up something untruthful. Harry knew immediately what he should do.

He walked up, dragging his feet and was immediately ingulfed in a bear hug. "Oh thank Merlin! You're alive!" And then: "Where's Susan?"

Harry went rigid. This was going to be worse than he could've ever imagined. "We…I…She…she didn't make it."

Goldstein just happened to lay her body down next to them, as the spot they were currently at had conveniently been nominated as the graveyard.

Amelia looked between him and Susan's body with her mouth gaped like a fish. The implications finally started to set in. Her entire body quaked with anger and her eyes flashed dangerously. Harry felt it before he saw it; the massive amount of magical energy pouring out of her pores.

The slap echoed across the Atrium as Harry was thrown back twenty yards.

"YOU'RE WORSE THAN SCUM, HARRY POTTER! NO WONDER YOUR OWN FAMILY THREW YOU AWAY, YOU'RE HIPPOGRIF DUNG! YOU TOOK MY ONLY FAMILY AWAY FROM ME YOU, BASTARD, AND BECAUSE OF THAT, I'LL TAKE AWAY EVERYTHING THAT YOU LOVE!"

She fell to her knees and sobbed uncontrolably over Susan's body before apparating away.

Harry tenderly stood to his feet. He quickly realized that every eye in the room was on him. He didn't mind though. All his mind could process was how much he'd lost in a mere ten minutes.

He stared idly at Susan for he didn't know how long. Her hair was still as vibrant as it always was and it seemed she was merely sleeping, except for the blood around her mouth and the deep gash in her stomach. Susan Bones was gone from the world, taking her hopes, dreams and ambitions. How many more would this war take from him?

A gentle hand came down on his shoulder. Harry didn't jump.

"I hate to ask, lad, but we could use some hand cleaning up," Shacklebolt's voice was soft but demanding.

He understood immediately what the auror was doing. He wanted him to let go of Susan. There was nothing more that he could do. Despite an internal battle, Harry decided to follow him.

Amelia arrived home in a fury. She wanted Harry to feel pain, true pain like she was feeling. She was determined to make his trip to Azkaban feel like a walk in the park.

"Harry. Amelia. Is that you?" Sirius stumbled into the room, obviously more than a bit enebriated.

Amelia pounced before he could even gain his footing. She forced him to the wall and smashed her lips onto his in a desperate plea to end to the pain and inflict it on someone else. The fight in Sirius died quickly as he gave into lust.

In but a minute, they were ripping each others clothes off.

Voldemort could not help but smile. Everything had went perfectly. He had lost quite a few soldiers, much more than he would've liked, but it had been necessary.

He'd been trying to get the prophecy for months, but that had been near impossible with the Unspeakables snooping around. When he'd heard Dumbledore was sending some pawns to the Ministry, he'd set up an ambush.

Unfortunaetly, to do this, he'd had to launch the attack on the Ministry to get rid of the Unspeakables. In a stroke of luck, he'd managed to achieve all his objectives without a snag: he'd scared the Hippogrif dung out of some late duty workers at the Daily Prophet and retrieved the prophecy and learned of its contents.

Contents which made no sense. If he was indeed Potter's, or Black's, or Riddle's, or whatever he was calling himself these days, father and Bellatrix his mother, then how could the prophecy possibly be?

Bellatrix made mistakes, that was to be sure, but never had she intentionally defied him. And certainly had he never defied himself. Had Dumbledore gone mad? Or perhaps Harry was not the Child of Prophecy after all?

Once more he touched the prophecy ball, its light's dimmed due to its contents having already been accessed, and the voice of Sybil Trelawney penetrated the silence of the throne room.

The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...

In the end, it did not matter. Things had already being set in motion. Tomorrow was the day that he would crush his enemies. Tomorrow was the day he would overwhelm Hogwarts and punish those who had defied him. Tomorrow was the day the prophecy would become true.

A/N- Don't forget about the poll!